Richard Barone
Encyclopedia
Richard Barone is a rock musician born in Tampa, Florida
who gained attention as frontman for The Bongos
. He works as a songwriter, arranger, author, director, and producer, releases albums as a solo artist, tours, and has created major concert events at Carnegie Hall
, Hollywood Bowl
and New York's Central Park
.
, a critically acclaimed new wave band at the center of the early 1980s Hoboken, New Jersey
music scene. After their first string of independent singles, released on the U.K.- based Fetish label and compiled for the U.S. as Drums Along the Hudson (PVC), the group signed to RCA Records
. Barone has been called a "gifted pop-rock tunesmith," and, stepping out as a solo artist, Barone's albums have ventured into chamber pop, orchestral, and more narrative singer-songwriter
territory.
Barone actually released his first solo album, Cool Blue Halo (recorded live at the Bottom Line
in New York) before The Bongos' amicable breakup in 1987. Anthony DeCurtis
, writing in Rolling Stone
, praised Barone's "spare, elegant arrangements" and credits him with fashioning "a kind of rock chamber music." While Trouser Press
described the record as "intimate but confused," NPR
's Tom Moon, in a more recent assessment, called the album "a plaintive masterpiece," and credited Barone with foreshadowing Nirvana
's Unplugged performance of David Bowie's
"The Man Who Sold the World
," adding "Cool Blue Halo feels timeless, and maybe even exotic."
Two studio albums followed: the rock-dominated Primal Dream (MCA) in 1990, and the more acoustic-based Clouds Over Eden (WEA) in 1994, the latter dedicated to his late friend, rock journalist Nicholas Schaffner
, and bearing a cover portrait by photographer Duane Michals
. Trouser Press championed the "fine set of yearning love songs" on Primal Dream, while calling their production and arrangements as a "step backwards" from his debut album. But David Browne, writing in Rolling Stone
, gave the album four stars and commented that "Barone is fast moving beyond the limited vocabulary of twelve strings and wimp-pop vocals." Billy Altman, in The New York Times
, called his next album, Clouds Over Eden "unquestionably the most fully realized effort of Barone's career," http://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/20/arts/recording-view-holding-true-to-the-idealism-of-the-new-wave.html?scp=1&sq=richard%20barone%20clouds%20over%20eden&st=cse while Trouser Press described the album as "wrenching and thoroughly worthwhile" and "the great album fans always imagined [Barone] making."
In 1997, Barone released Between Heaven and Cello, an album recorded live at NYC's intimate Fez nightclub, on some songs accompanied only by cellist Jane Scarpantoni
. A boxed set of his first three solo albums was released in Europe in 2000 as The Big Three. In 2004, he released a limited edition solo anthology entitled, COLLECTION: An Embarrassment of Richard, comprising personal favorites from his back catalogue. http://web.me.com/richardbarone/Site_2/Bio.html
Barone then turned his attention to producing
, helming a number of recordings for a variety of artists including a recent duet between Liza Minnelli
and pianist/vocalist Johnny Rodgers
, a children's album for former model Jolie Jones, daughter of Quincy Jones
, recordings for B-52's
frontman Fred Schneider
, and others. As a producer/director, he created large-scale concert events, including all-star tributes to Peggy Lee
at Carnegie Hall
, the Hollywood Bowl
, and Chicago
's Ravinia Festival in 2003 and 2004, and concerts for New York's Central Park SummerStage.
Other projects have included executive producing The Nomi Song
DVD (Palm Pictures, 2005), which includes his remix of operatic New Wave countertenor Klaus Nomi
's "Total Eclipse"; musical direction and orchestration for Bright Lights, Big City
at the New York Theatre Workshop
(with Rent
director Michael Grief); as well as directing and performing in The Downtown Messiah, a modern interpretation of Handel
's baroque
oratorio
, broadcast annually on over 200 public radio stations nationwide for six consecutive years from 1999-2004. His songs and collaborations, including those written with singer-songwriter Jill Sobule
, have been heard on several popular television programs, including The West Wing, Dawson's Creek
, Felicity, and South of Nowhere
. In 2004, Barone joined his childhood inspiration Donovan
for series of the latter's Beat Café concert events, including nine performances at New York's Joe's Pub
, at which he sang and read excerpts from Allen Ginsberg
's Howl
. Later, in 2008, he would produce a concert for Donovan, backed by an all-star band, which was recorded and released on DVD.
In 2006, he and the original Bongos
reunited in the studio with Moby
producing, to create a new version of "The Bulrushes," an early Bongos single, and a music video for the special edition re-issue of the group's debut album. The 27-track collection, Drums Along the Hudson - Special Edition, was released by Cooking Vinyl Records in June 2007. Several Bongos reunion concerts were held, culminating with an outdoor concert in Hoboken, at which the band was honored with a Mayoral Proclamation and the keys to the city
.
In September 2007, Barone's memoir, FRONTMAN: Surviving the Rock Star Myth, with a nude cover photo of the author by Mick Rock
) was published by Backbeat/Hal Leonard Books. That same month, his complete solo catalog was re-launched at the iTunes Music Store. http://itunes.apple.com/artist/richard-barone/id4070650 In late 2007, he began staging a series of 'musical readings' of FRONTMAN, both live and on radio, with excerpts of the book read by television actress Joyce DeWitt
and radio personality Vin Scelsa
, among others. Musical accompaniment was performed using the new Gibson Les Paul
HD.6x-Pro Digital guitar (an instrument to which Barone contributed as artist consultant) in surround sound
. http://web.me.com/richardbarone/Site_2/Bio.html On his birthday, October 1, 2008, he brought FRONTMAN: A Musical Reading to the stage at Carnegie Hall
in New York City
, with "Special Guests and Legendary Friends," including Moby, Lou Reed
, The Band
's Garth Hudson
, Marshall Crenshaw
, Terre and Suzzy Roche
, Randy Brecker
, Carlos Alomar
, and others as a benefit for public radio station WFUV
. http://www.richardbarone.com/
In July 2009, Barone entered the recording studio to complete production work on the album he began at age 16 for performer Tiny Tim
. The album, "I've Never Seen a Straight Banana
- Rare Moments: Volume 1," was released in October 2009 on Collector's Choice Records
.
In May 2010, he produced, on behalf of Jonas Mekas
, a concert to benefit Anthology Film Archives
and honor avant-garde filmmaker/author Kenneth Anger
. Performing on the bill were Lou Reed, Sonic Youth
, The Virgins
, Mekas' ensemble, Moby, M.C. Ben Foster and a rare appearance by Anger's experimental music project, Technicolor Skull. In July 2010, Barone joined forces with Pete Seeger
, producing and performing in "Reclaim The Coast: Gulf Coast Oil Spill Benefit" at City Winery in New York. In August 2010, he and co-producer Matthew Billy recorded Seeger performing aboard the Sloop Clearwater, symbol of the drive to clean up the Hudson River
, which started in the 1960s. The song and video have not yet been released.
Glow, Barone's fifth solo album, helmed by veteran producer Tony Visconti
, was released in September 2010 on Bar/None Records
. Also working on the project were producers Steve Rosenthal and Steve Addabbo, songwriter Paul Williams
, engineer Leslie Ann Jones
(at George Lucas
' Skywalker Ranch
in Marin County, California), photographer Mick Rock, and others. A tour of the U.S. and the U.K. followed, through Spring 2011.
In August 2011 Barone was named to the Board of Advisors of Anthology Film Archives
.In that same month, he was named music supervisor on a feature documentary chronicling the final days of Anna Nicole Smith
. Besides his own music, the score will contain music by Moby
, Scissor Sisters
. and others. In Fall 2011, "Mr. Bricks: A Heavy Metal Murder Musical," directed by Travis Campbell was set for release, with Barone both appearing onscreen and performing on the soundtrack. Distributed by Troma Entertainment
, Inc., the film yielded a music video for Barone's performance of "Brick by Brick."
For the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 in September 2011, Barone and frequent collaborator Matthew Billy created a special version of the 1894 song The Sidewalks of New York
, which was released to excellent reviews and radio popularity.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNlOi9SeHwc&feature=channel_video_titlehttp://www.hitsdailydouble.com/news/newsPage.cgi?news08682m01 In October, it was announced that a special 25th Anniversary Edition of Cool Blue Halo was to be released in 2012.
Barone lives in Greenwich Village
, where he is currently writing and producing for others as well as planning the followup to Glow.
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
who gained attention as frontman for The Bongos
The Bongos
The Bongos were a rock band from Hoboken, New Jersey, primarily active in the 1980s. With a unique blend of British Invasion-flavored power pop, jangly guitars, and dance beats they made the leap to national recognition with the advent of MTV.-Biography:...
. He works as a songwriter, arranger, author, director, and producer, releases albums as a solo artist, tours, and has created major concert events at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, Hollywood Bowl
Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl is a modern amphitheater in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California, United States that is used primarily for music performances...
and New York's Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
.
Biography
Barone began his career at age 7 as 'The Littlest DJ' on a local Tampa top-40 radio station, and later gained attention as the lead singer and songwriter for The BongosThe Bongos
The Bongos were a rock band from Hoboken, New Jersey, primarily active in the 1980s. With a unique blend of British Invasion-flavored power pop, jangly guitars, and dance beats they made the leap to national recognition with the advent of MTV.-Biography:...
, a critically acclaimed new wave band at the center of the early 1980s Hoboken, New Jersey
Hoboken, New Jersey
Hoboken is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 50,005. The city is part of the New York metropolitan area and contains Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub for the region...
music scene. After their first string of independent singles, released on the U.K.- based Fetish label and compiled for the U.S. as Drums Along the Hudson (PVC), the group signed to RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
. Barone has been called a "gifted pop-rock tunesmith," and, stepping out as a solo artist, Barone's albums have ventured into chamber pop, orchestral, and more narrative singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
territory.
Barone actually released his first solo album, Cool Blue Halo (recorded live at the Bottom Line
Bottom Line
The Bottom Line was a music venue at 15 West Fourth Street between Mercer Street and Greene Street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City...
in New York) before The Bongos' amicable breakup in 1987. Anthony DeCurtis
Anthony DeCurtis
Anthony DeCurtis is an American author and music critic, who has written for Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Relix and other publications.-Career:...
, writing in Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, praised Barone's "spare, elegant arrangements" and credits him with fashioning "a kind of rock chamber music." While Trouser Press
Trouser Press
Trouser Press was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow Who fan Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" ...
described the record as "intimate but confused," NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
's Tom Moon, in a more recent assessment, called the album "a plaintive masterpiece," and credited Barone with foreshadowing Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
's Unplugged performance of David Bowie's
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
"The Man Who Sold the World
The Man Who Sold the World
The Man Who Sold the World is the third studio album by David Bowie. It was originally released on Mercury Records in November 1970 in the United States and in April 1971 in the UK. The album was Bowie's first with the nucleus of what would become the "Spiders from Mars", the backing band made...
," adding "Cool Blue Halo feels timeless, and maybe even exotic."
Nicholas Schaffner
Nicholas Schaffner was an American non-fiction author, journalist, and singer-songwriter. As an author, his works include the biographies The Beatles Forever and A Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey as well as the children's book The Boys from Liverpool: John, Paul, George, Ringo...
, and bearing a cover portrait by photographer Duane Michals
Duane Michals
Duane Michals is an American photographer. Michals' work makes innovative use of photo-sequences, often incorporating text to examine emotion and philosophy.-Education and career:...
. Trouser Press championed the "fine set of yearning love songs" on Primal Dream, while calling their production and arrangements as a "step backwards" from his debut album. But David Browne, writing in Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, gave the album four stars and commented that "Barone is fast moving beyond the limited vocabulary of twelve strings and wimp-pop vocals." Billy Altman, in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, called his next album, Clouds Over Eden "unquestionably the most fully realized effort of Barone's career," http://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/20/arts/recording-view-holding-true-to-the-idealism-of-the-new-wave.html?scp=1&sq=richard%20barone%20clouds%20over%20eden&st=cse while Trouser Press described the album as "wrenching and thoroughly worthwhile" and "the great album fans always imagined [Barone] making."
In 1997, Barone released Between Heaven and Cello, an album recorded live at NYC's intimate Fez nightclub, on some songs accompanied only by cellist Jane Scarpantoni
Jane Scarpantoni
Jane Scarpantoni is a classically trained cello player who has played on a number of alternative rock albums.She was a member of Hoboken, New Jersey's Tiny Lights in the mid-'80s, then went on to play with other musicians especially those associated with the Hoboken underground rock scene of the...
. A boxed set of his first three solo albums was released in Europe in 2000 as The Big Three. In 2004, he released a limited edition solo anthology entitled, COLLECTION: An Embarrassment of Richard, comprising personal favorites from his back catalogue. http://web.me.com/richardbarone/Site_2/Bio.html
Barone then turned his attention to producing
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, helming a number of recordings for a variety of artists including a recent duet between Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli
Liza May Minnelli is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli....
and pianist/vocalist Johnny Rodgers
Johnny Rodgers
Johnny Steven Rodgers is a former American college football player voted the University of Nebraska's "Player of the Century" and the winner of the 1972 Heisman Trophy.-College career:...
, a children's album for former model Jolie Jones, daughter of Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
, recordings for B-52's
The B-52's
The B-52's are an American rock band, formed in Athens, Georgia in 1976. The original line-up consisted of Fred Schneider , Kate Pierson , Cindy Wilson , Ricky Wilson , and Keith Strickland . Following Ricky Wilson's death in 1985 Strickland switched to guitar...
frontman Fred Schneider
Fred Schneider
Frederick William "Fred" Schneider III is an American rock singer, best known as the frontman of the rock band The B-52's, of which he is a founding member. Schneider is well-known for his sprechgesang which he developed from reciting poetry over guitars.-Early life:Schneider was born in Newark,...
, and others. As a producer/director, he created large-scale concert events, including all-star tributes to Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...
at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, the Hollywood Bowl
Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl is a modern amphitheater in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California, United States that is used primarily for music performances...
, and Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
's Ravinia Festival in 2003 and 2004, and concerts for New York's Central Park SummerStage.
Other projects have included executive producing The Nomi Song
The Nomi Song
The Nomi Song is a 2004 documentary about the life of singer Klaus Nomi, written and directed by Andrew Horn. The film debuted at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2004, where it won a Teddy Award for "Best Documentary Film."-Structure:...
DVD (Palm Pictures, 2005), which includes his remix of operatic New Wave countertenor Klaus Nomi
Klaus Nomi
Klaus Sperber , better known as Klaus Nomi, was a German countertenor noted for his wide vocal range and an unusual, otherworldly stage persona....
's "Total Eclipse"; musical direction and orchestration for Bright Lights, Big City
Bright Lights, Big City (novel)
Bright Lights, Big City is an American novel by Jay McInerney, published by Vintage Books on August 12, 1984.- Plot :It is written about a character's time spent caught up in, and notably escaping from, the mid-1980s New York City fast lane. It is one of the few well-known English-language novels...
at the New York Theatre Workshop
New York Theatre Workshop
__notoc__New York Theatre Workshop is an Off-Broadway theatre noted for its productions of new works. Located at 79 East 4th Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, it houses a 198-seat theatre for its mainstage productions, and a...
(with Rent
Rent (musical)
Rent is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème...
director Michael Grief); as well as directing and performing in The Downtown Messiah, a modern interpretation of Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
's baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
oratorio
Oratorio
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
, broadcast annually on over 200 public radio stations nationwide for six consecutive years from 1999-2004. His songs and collaborations, including those written with singer-songwriter Jill Sobule
Jill Sobule
Jill Sobule is an American singer-songwriter best known for the 1995 single "I Kissed a Girl", and "Supermodel" from the soundtrack of the 1995 film Clueless...
, have been heard on several popular television programs, including The West Wing, Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek is an American teen drama television series which debuted on January 20, 1998, on The WB Television Network and was produced by Sony Pictures Television. The show is set in the fictional seaside town of Capeside, Massachusetts, and in Boston, Massachusetts, during the later seasons...
, Felicity, and South of Nowhere
South of Nowhere
South of Nowhere is an American teen drama television series created by Thomas W. Lynch. Aimed primarily at teenagers, it first aired on November 4, 2005 and was one of six original series on The N. The second half of the third and final season aired October 10, 2008 and the final episode aired on...
. In 2004, Barone joined his childhood inspiration Donovan
Donovan
Donovan Donovan Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music...
for series of the latter's Beat Café concert events, including nine performances at New York's Joe's Pub
Joe's Pub
Joe's Pub at Public Theater is a nightclub that hosts live performances regularly. The venue, which is a non-profit operation, is located at 425 Lafayette Street near Astor Place in Manhattan, New York City...
, at which he sang and read excerpts from Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
's Howl
Howl
"Howl" is a poem written by Allen Ginsberg in 1955 and published as part of his 1956 collection of poetry titled Howl and Other Poems. The poem is considered to be one of the great works of the Beat Generation, along with Jack Kerouac's On the Road and William S. Burroughs's Naked Lunch...
. Later, in 2008, he would produce a concert for Donovan, backed by an all-star band, which was recorded and released on DVD.
In 2006, he and the original Bongos
The Bongos
The Bongos were a rock band from Hoboken, New Jersey, primarily active in the 1980s. With a unique blend of British Invasion-flavored power pop, jangly guitars, and dance beats they made the leap to national recognition with the advent of MTV.-Biography:...
reunited in the studio with Moby
Moby
Richard Melville Hall , better known by his stage name Moby, is an American musician, DJ, and photographer. He is known mainly for his sample-based electronic music and his outspoken liberal political views, including his support of veganism and animal rights.Moby gained attention in the early...
producing, to create a new version of "The Bulrushes," an early Bongos single, and a music video for the special edition re-issue of the group's debut album. The 27-track collection, Drums Along the Hudson - Special Edition, was released by Cooking Vinyl Records in June 2007. Several Bongos reunion concerts were held, culminating with an outdoor concert in Hoboken, at which the band was honored with a Mayoral Proclamation and the keys to the city
Freedom of the City
Freedom of the City is an honour bestowed by some municipalities in Australia, Canada, Ireland, France, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, Gibraltar and Rhodesia to esteemed members of its community and to organisations to be honoured, often for service to the community;...
.
In September 2007, Barone's memoir, FRONTMAN: Surviving the Rock Star Myth, with a nude cover photo of the author by Mick Rock
Mick Rock
Mick Rock is a British photographer best known for his iconic shots of rock and roll legends such as Queen, David Bowie, Syd Barrett, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop and The Stooges, The Sex Pistols, The Ramones, Joan Jett, Talking Heads, Roxy Music, Crossfade, Thin Lizzy, Motley Crue, and Blondie...
) was published by Backbeat/Hal Leonard Books. That same month, his complete solo catalog was re-launched at the iTunes Music Store. http://itunes.apple.com/artist/richard-barone/id4070650 In late 2007, he began staging a series of 'musical readings' of FRONTMAN, both live and on radio, with excerpts of the book read by television actress Joyce DeWitt
Joyce DeWitt
Joyce Anne DeWitt is an American actress most famous for playing Janet Wood on the ABC sitcom Three's Company.-Early life:...
and radio personality Vin Scelsa
Vin Scelsa
Vincent Anthony Scelsa, better known as "Vin," was born on December 12, 1947 in Bayonne, New Jersey. He is the host of a freeform radio show known as Idiot's Delight....
, among others. Musical accompaniment was performed using the new Gibson Les Paul
Gibson Les Paul
The Gibson Les Paul was the result of a design collaboration between Gibson Guitar Corporation and the late jazz guitarist and electronics inventor Les Paul. In 1950, with the introduction of the Fender Telecaster to the musical market, electric guitars became a public craze. In reaction, Gibson...
HD.6x-Pro Digital guitar (an instrument to which Barone contributed as artist consultant) in surround sound
Surround sound
Surround sound encompasses a range of techniques such as for enriching the sound reproduction quality of an audio source with audio channels reproduced via additional, discrete speakers. Surround sound is characterized by a listener location or sweet spot where the audio effects work best, and...
. http://web.me.com/richardbarone/Site_2/Bio.html On his birthday, October 1, 2008, he brought FRONTMAN: A Musical Reading to the stage at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, with "Special Guests and Legendary Friends," including Moby, Lou Reed
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
, The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
's Garth Hudson
Garth Hudson
Eric Garth Hudson is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist. As the organist, keyboardist and saxophonist for Canadian-American rock group The Band, he was a principal architect of the group's unique sound...
, Marshall Crenshaw
Marshall Crenshaw
Marshall Crenshaw is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist best known for his song "Someday, Someway".-Biography:...
, Terre and Suzzy Roche
The Roches
The Roches are a female vocal group of three songwriting Irish-American sisters from Park Ridge, New Jersey, known for their "unusual" and "rich" harmonies, quirky lyrics, and casually comedic stage performances.The Roches have been active as performers and recording artists since the mid-1970s,...
, Randy Brecker
Randy Brecker
Randal "Randy" Brecker is an American trumpeter and flugelhornist. He is a highly sought after performer in the genres of jazz, rock, and R&B, and has performed or recorded with Stanley Turrentine, Billy Cobham, Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed, Sandip Burman, Charles Mingus, Blood, Sweat & Tears,...
, Carlos Alomar
Carlos Alomar
Carlos Alomar is an American guitarist, composer and arranger best known for his work with David Bowie, having played on more Bowie albums than any other musician...
, and others as a benefit for public radio station WFUV
WFUV
WFUV, 90.7 FM in New York City, is Fordham University's 50,000-watt, non-commercial radio station, with studios on campus and its antenna atop nearby Montefiore Medical Center. First broadcast in 1947, WFUV has an airstaff which includes such New York radio veterans as Pete Fornatale , Dennis...
. http://www.richardbarone.com/
In July 2009, Barone entered the recording studio to complete production work on the album he began at age 16 for performer Tiny Tim
Tiny Tim (musician)
Tiny Tim , , born in Manhattan, was an American singer and ukulele player. He was most famous for his rendition of "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" sung in a distinctive high falsetto/vibrato voice.-Rise to fame:Born to Lebanese parents in 1932, Khaury displayed musical talent at a very young age...
. The album, "I've Never Seen a Straight Banana
I've Never Seen a Straight Banana
"I've Never Seen a Straight Banana" is a novelty song from 1926, written by Ted Waite. A short film was made in 1926 in the Phonofilm sound-on-film process with music hall comedian Dick Henderson singing it....
- Rare Moments: Volume 1," was released in October 2009 on Collector's Choice Records
Collectors' Choice Music
Collectors' Choice Music is a company primarily in two businesses. They are best known for re-issuing albums originally recorded in LP record form as compact discs...
.
In May 2010, he produced, on behalf of Jonas Mekas
Jonas Mekas
Jonas Mekas is a Lithuanian-born American filmmaker, writer, and curator who has often been called "the godfather of American avant-garde cinema." His work has been exhibited in museums and festivals across Europe and America.-Biography:...
, a concert to benefit Anthology Film Archives
Anthology Film Archives
__notoc__Anthology Film Archives is a film archive and theater located at 32 Second Avenue on the corner of East Second Street in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City devoted to the preservation and exhibition of experimental film. It is the only non-profit organization of its...
and honor avant-garde filmmaker/author Kenneth Anger
Kenneth Anger
Kenneth Anger is an American underground experimental filmmaker, occasional actor and author...
. Performing on the bill were Lou Reed, Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
, The Virgins
The Virgins
The Virgins are an American band formed in 2006 in New York, consisting of Donald Cumming , Wade Oates , and Nick Ackerman .Their first outing on the road was a 7-week American tour in direct support for the Australian band Jet...
, Mekas' ensemble, Moby, M.C. Ben Foster and a rare appearance by Anger's experimental music project, Technicolor Skull. In July 2010, Barone joined forces with Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
, producing and performing in "Reclaim The Coast: Gulf Coast Oil Spill Benefit" at City Winery in New York. In August 2010, he and co-producer Matthew Billy recorded Seeger performing aboard the Sloop Clearwater, symbol of the drive to clean up the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
, which started in the 1960s. The song and video have not yet been released.
Glow, Barone's fifth solo album, helmed by veteran producer Tony Visconti
Tony Visconti
Anthony Edward Visconti is an American record producer and sometimes a musician or singer.Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers; his lengthiest involvement with any artist is with David Bowie: intermittently from Bowie's 1969 album Space Oddity to 2003's Reality, Visconti...
, was released in September 2010 on Bar/None Records
Bar/None Records
Bar/None Records is an independent record label based in Hoboken, New Jersey.-Early history:Tom Prendergast started Bar/None in early 1986. Having previously worked in pirate radio and booked and promoted bands in his native Ireland, Prendergast moved to Hoboken in 1982 and started Pier Platters...
. Also working on the project were producers Steve Rosenthal and Steve Addabbo, songwriter Paul Williams
Paul Williams (songwriter)
Paul Hamilton Williams, Jr. is an Academy Award-winning American composer, musician, songwriter, and actor. He is perhaps best known for popular songs performed by a number of acts in the 1970s including Three Dog Night's "An Old Fashioned Love Song", Helen Reddy's "You and Me Against the World",...
, engineer Leslie Ann Jones
Leslie Ann Jones
Leslie Ann Jones is a multiple Grammy Award-winning recording engineer working as Director of Music Recording and Scoring at Skywalker Sound, a Lucasfilm, Ltd. company. She is a past Chair of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Board of Trustees, the organization that awards Grammys...
(at George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
' Skywalker Ranch
Skywalker Ranch
Skywalker Ranch is the name of the workplace of film director and producer George Lucas. It is located in a secluded, but open area near Nicasio, California, in Marin County. The ranch is located on Lucas Valley Road, although Lucas is not related to the road's namesake, who was a...
in Marin County, California), photographer Mick Rock, and others. A tour of the U.S. and the U.K. followed, through Spring 2011.
In August 2011 Barone was named to the Board of Advisors of Anthology Film Archives
Anthology Film Archives
__notoc__Anthology Film Archives is a film archive and theater located at 32 Second Avenue on the corner of East Second Street in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City devoted to the preservation and exhibition of experimental film. It is the only non-profit organization of its...
.In that same month, he was named music supervisor on a feature documentary chronicling the final days of Anna Nicole Smith
Anna Nicole Smith
In 1992 Smith was chosen by Hugh Hefner to appear on the cover of the March issue of Playboy, where she was listed as Vickie Smith, wearing a low-cut evening gown. The centerfold was photographed by Stephen Wayda. Smith said she planned to be "the next Marilyn Monroe". Becoming one of Playboys...
. Besides his own music, the score will contain music by Moby
Moby
Richard Melville Hall , better known by his stage name Moby, is an American musician, DJ, and photographer. He is known mainly for his sample-based electronic music and his outspoken liberal political views, including his support of veganism and animal rights.Moby gained attention in the early...
, Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters are an American band "spawned by the scuzzy, gay nightlife scene of New York" who took their name from a sexual position between two women also known as tribadism...
. and others. In Fall 2011, "Mr. Bricks: A Heavy Metal Murder Musical," directed by Travis Campbell was set for release, with Barone both appearing onscreen and performing on the soundtrack. Distributed by Troma Entertainment
Troma Entertainment
Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974.The company produces low-budget independent movies that play on 1950s horror with elements of farce...
, Inc., the film yielded a music video for Barone's performance of "Brick by Brick."
For the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 in September 2011, Barone and frequent collaborator Matthew Billy created a special version of the 1894 song The Sidewalks of New York
The Sidewalks of New York
"The Sidewalks of New York" is a popular song about life in New York City during the 1890s. It was created by lyricist James W. Blake and vaudeville actor and composer Charles B. Lawlor in 1894. The song proved successful afterwards, and is often considered a theme for New York City...
, which was released to excellent reviews and radio popularity.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNlOi9SeHwc&feature=channel_video_titlehttp://www.hitsdailydouble.com/news/newsPage.cgi?news08682m01 In October, it was announced that a special 25th Anniversary Edition of Cool Blue Halo was to be released in 2012.
Barone lives in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
, where he is currently writing and producing for others as well as planning the followup to Glow.
Discography
-
- For the Bongos' discography, see The BongosThe BongosThe Bongos were a rock band from Hoboken, New Jersey, primarily active in the 1980s. With a unique blend of British Invasion-flavored power pop, jangly guitars, and dance beats they made the leap to national recognition with the advent of MTV.-Biography:...
.- Collection 2: Before & Afterglow (2011), compilation (RBM Special Editions)
- Glow (2010), produced by Tony ViscontiTony ViscontiAnthony Edward Visconti is an American record producer and sometimes a musician or singer.Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers; his lengthiest involvement with any artist is with David Bowie: intermittently from Bowie's 1969 album Space Oddity to 2003's Reality, Visconti...
, Steve Addabbo, Steve Rosenthal, and Richard Barone (Bar/None RecordsBar/None RecordsBar/None Records is an independent record label based in Hoboken, New Jersey.-Early history:Tom Prendergast started Bar/None in early 1986. Having previously worked in pirate radio and booked and promoted bands in his native Ireland, Prendergast moved to Hoboken in 1982 and started Pier Platters...
) - Glow E.P. (2008), produced by Tony Visconti, and Steve Addabbo (RBM Special Editions)
- Collection: An Embarrassment of Richard (2004), compilation (RBM Special Editions)
- The Big Three (2000), box set (Line Records, Germany)
- Between Heaven and Cello (1997), recorded live (Line Records)
- Clouds over Eden (1993), produced by Hugh Jones (MESA Bluemoon/Atlantic RecordsAtlantic RecordsAtlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
) - Primal Cuts (1991), remixes by Ben Grosse and live tracks (Line Records)
- Primal Dream (1990), produced by Richard GottehrerRichard GottehrerRichard Gottehrer is an American songwriter, record producer and record label executive.-Career:Gottehrer came to prominence as a songwriter in the 1960s with his most notable songs being "My Boyfriend's Back" and "I Want Candy". As Feldman-Goldstein-Gottehrer , he wrote various songs including...
and Don Dixon (MCA RecordsMCA RecordsMCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
) - Cool Blue Halo (1987), recorded live at the Bottom LineBottom LineThe Bottom Line was a music venue at 15 West Fourth Street between Mercer Street and Greene Street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City...
, New York City (Passport Records) - Nuts and Bolts (1983), with James Mastro; produced by Barone, Mastro, and Mitch EasterMitch EasterMitch Easter is a songwriter, musician, and producer. As a producer, he is probably best known for his work with R.E.M. from 1981 through 1984, though he has also worked with many other acts including The Hang Ups, Pavement, Suzanne Vega, Game Theory, Marshall Crenshaw, Velvet Crush, and...
(Passport Records)
- For the Bongos' discography, see The Bongos
Publications
- FRONTMAN: Surviving the Rock Star Myth, Backbeat/Hal Leonard Books, 2007, ISBN 0-87930-912-1, ISBN 978-0-87930-912-1
External links
- RichardBarone.com - Richard Barone's official website
- YouTube.com - Richard Barone's video channel on YouTube
- [ Allmusic] - Richard Barone overview on Allmusic
- "Man About Town Barone Heads for Fresh Fields," by Jim Bessman -- (Billboard Magazine, September 22, 2001)