GARY RITCHIE: Vocals, Drums, Guitar (4, 6, 12 string) B.V. Casio, Percussion, Writer of songs;
JEFF KING: Bass, "Good Guitar" stuff, Background Vocals, Keys, Recording & Mixing, Resident Comedian;
HARRY MEATLES: Clappity Claps, Tea Maker, Good Mood inducer.
Influences
Beatles, Dave Clark 5, Animals, Kinks, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Young Rascals, Zombies, Badfinger, Raspberries, Nick Lowe, Ricky Nelson, Elvis (both), Leon Russell, ZZ Top, The Records, Buffalo Springfield, The Leaves, The Seeds, Steppenwolf, The Who, Pezband, Doors, Cream, James Gang, Monkees, Paul Revere & the Raiders, Ernie Banks (Mr. Cub), Elton, Byrds, Garage Rock, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Everly Brothers, Edgar Winter, Nazz, Rhinoceros, Quick Silver Messenger Service, The Knickerbockers, James Brown, Electric Flag, The Music Explosion, British Invasion (original), The Wonders, Cold Blood, Buddy Rich, Moby Grape, Buck Owens, Faces (large & small), Mauds, C.T.A., Procol Harum, Cryan' Shames, New Colony 6, Turtles, WLS (big 89) radio, Del Shannon, Beach Boys, Bee Gee's, Hollies, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Shadows Of Knight, Terry Reid, Cap'n Geech & The Shrimp Shack Shooters and many, many more.........and that's just the first couple of years!
Now, let's give the Drummer some!
These guys were very influential in molding my drumming style:
Ringo, Dave Clark, John Densmore, Denny Horan, Mitch Mitchell, Ginger Baker, B.J. Wilson, Mick Avory, Dino Danelli, Buddy Rich, John Bonham, Don Brewer, Bobby Colomby, Clyde Stubblefield, Buddy Miles, Mick Rain, Carmine Appice, "Pretty" Purdie, Simon Kirke, Danny Seraphini, Hal Blaine, Frank Beard, Thom Mooney, Kenny Jones, and many more! Disc Of The Week: (11-23-09) (More) Juliana Hatfield "Bed"
5 albums I'm listening to at home right NOW!
1.The Flying Machine - "Flight Recorder"
2.The Marmalade - "Fav's Compilation"
3.Fastball - "Little White Lies"
4.John Fogerty - "Revival"
5.The Pills - "A Fistful Of Pills"
In the car: Beg, Scream & Shout - "Soul Anthology" The Beatles - "Early Fav's Compilation" Gary Ritchie - "18 New Tracks" (See (BLOG) for more)
A few really good music DVD's:
1. The Who - "30 Years Of Maximum R & B Live"
2. The Beatles - "Live On The Ed Sullivan Show"
3. Monterey Pop Festival - "Various Artists"
4. Allison Moorer - "Show"
5. The Dave Clark Five - "Compilation"
6. Joe Cocker - "Mad Dogs & Englishman"
7. Webb Wilder - "Tough It Out"
8. Concert For George - "Various Artists"
9. Jim Lauderdale - "In Concert"
10.The Everly Brothers - "Reunion Concert"
License Gary's music for commercial use through Pump Audio
CDBABY LINK for GARY RITCHIE: Pop! Radio
YUMMY, YUMMY, YUMMY, YUMMY, YUMMY!!!!
Hum, Sing... REPEAT!!
Who do dat voodoo?
My 1st Big Concert. May 10th, 1968
Every guy in America........1965!
>
A monkey made a man out of me!
Oh No!, the attack of the dreaded..... CLAMP!
Oh man, THIS is the life! (Mojo)
YEAH! What you lookin' at? (Dr. Wu)
Sounds Like
SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2009
Gary Ritchie "Pop! Radio"
Although not new, this is a great example of excellent and timeless melodies from Gary Ritchie. Originally from the Chicago band, Loose Lips, Ritchie teamed up with band mate Jeff King to channel his love of those classic jangle bands in Pop! Radio. Fans of Pezband, , The Raspberries, The Rubinoos, and The Spongetones will just love this album. From the opening chord riffs of "I'll Be There" you'll hum along to the beat that has that 70's rock feel. The Beatles-jangle isn't far behind on "You Were Only Using Me" and the hooks just continue to fly by. The excellent rocker "Living On Lies" is a humorous autobiography of a rocker who hasn't gotten "a life" due to his love of rock and roll. Most of the songs are about moments in a relationship and what happened "Last Night" (a great Dwight Twilley reference here) and other odes to the girl of your dreams. The gems here keep coming, and to get into any more tracks here seems superfluous. Not a single scrap of filler here, so if you never heard it do yourself a favor and stop reading. Get a hold of this album. 9 STARS!! POWERPOPAHOLIC
"Power Pop fans who remember "Kyle", and "Who's Cryin' Now" by Chicago's LOOSE LIPS back in the 80's will enjoy GARY RITCHIE's full length cd "Pop! Radio". Vocalist/Drummer Ritchie gets strong support from fellow LOOSE LIP Jeff King. Melodic songs like; "I'll Be There", "Last Night" and "Out of Style" recalls the FUN of the original BRITISH INVASION!!"
-Terrence Flamm, ILLINOIS ENTERTAINER
"Talk about classic styled POWER POP from the early/mid 80's, this utterly excellent dose of perfect melodies, hooks and pure power pop is not to be missed. Fans of Pezband, The Rubinoos, Raspberries, The Innocents & early BOMP pop bands have a winner here. Just a quick taste of the soundbites says it all. Ritchie has that classic 70's pop voice and has a way of keeping it from being a nostalgia fest. While firmly footed in a majestic, rich past, it has a modern sound that dates the music comfortably for modern-power pop fans.
"EXTREMELY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!"-Bruce Bodeen
CLASSIC POWER POP that sounds like the Raspberries, Pezband, and of course The Beatles! Everyone I know who's picked this up has raved about it and can't believe it isn't better known by the masses! That's reason enough to get this. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED POWER POP at a fantastic price! Grade A-Jeremy Morris
"Gary certainly studied his MERSEYBEAT sounds as a kid". GREAT STUFF!!!
-Ray Gianchetti
KOOLKATMUSIK
"Hey Pop enthusiasts! This "sleeper" is a wonderful record by GARY RITCHIE entitled "POP! RADIO". The disc features twelve strummy and jangly tunes, with "Living For Dreams" heading the pack. This primo song combines early REM/Peter Buck jangle and 60's merseybeat sound. It is definitely in my TOP TEN for the year!!"
-Eric Sorensen
AMPLIFIER MAGAZINE, FUFKIN.COM
Here is what the fine reviewers on GARAGEBAND.COM compare the sounds of POP! RADIO to; Nick Lowe, Beach Boys, Raspberries, Beatles, Graham Parker, Tom Petty, Elvis Costello, Traveling Wilburys, Matthew Sweet, Badfinger, The Wonders, Roy Orbison, Rembrandts, Gin Blossoms, Romantics, Peter Noone, Knack, Smithereens, Big Star, Weezer, Velvet Crush, Flamin' Groovies, Teenage Fanclub, Records, Monkees, Brendan Benson, Partridge Family (ouch), Cheap Trick, Byrds, The Thorns, Rockpile, T-Rex meets Help!, Del Amitri, Fountains of Wayne, Marshall Crenshaw, T.V. Theme song....
To check out FULL reviews of POP! RADIO, go to garageband.com/gritchie or cdbaby/cd/GaryRitchie
The Scene Of The Crime
Enjoy some LOOSE LIPS tuneage!
IN THE BEGINNING... GARY RITCHIE, a lifelong CHICAGOAN (nw side) uh..er.. until recently (more on that later) thought he was going to be the next shortstop for the CHICAGO CUBS, until one night some kids on T.V. were singing YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! Then came The DAVE CLARK 5, The ANIMALS, KINKS, Gerry & the PACEMAKERS, HERMAN's HERMITS, and many more. He was in!
The next thing he knew was that his younger brother got a guitar, formed a band and was playing at the movie theater BETWEEN movies. People applauded and there were um...GIRLS acting friendly! He thought, in the words of JOHN LENNON, "THAT seems like a good job". The next thing he know's is that his brother is asking him to audition for his band THE PARAMODS. Well, he didn't even own a set of drums, but, he could try-out on the other drummers drums! The first thing they ask him to play is WIPEOUT! He couldn't play WIPEOUT. So needless to say, he failed the audition. But, that really got him interested in playing. So during the great SNOWSTORM of '67 his dad drove down to the southside of CHICAGO to get his first set of drums. Oh, by the way, Gary's brother Greg has still never said a word about the failed audition! Gary & Greg DID however, eventually form The Grapes Of Wrath with Tom Piekarski (Bass) and Emilio Cardona (Rhythm Guitar) (and later, Bob Losik (Guitar), and had a good, fun time. Scroll down the page to see the first band picture.
Gary went on to play in many bands, toured, recorded and just had a good 'ol time. And he has his younger brother to thank for getting him started. Oh, and of course those four MOPTOP guys too!! And oh yes, he still plays Shortstop in his dreams!
That leads us up to the NOW!
Drummer/vocalist Gary Ritchie, has recently moved to the Austin, Texas area (Wimberley). He came "kicking & screaming", but is now starting to get used to the idea.
Gary and former "Loose Lips" bandmate Jeff King have been writing and recording music for many years now. They seem to have that special musical bond rarely found these days. They first got together back in 1979 in a very popular Chicago band called "Loose Lips". They, along with Richie Mayer (guitar, vocals) and Danny Welch (bass, vocals, resident pretty boy) were among the top bands in Chicago. In 1980 they released what is now a classic Pop record. "Hung Up On Pop" received heavy air play for quite a while. The band went their separate ways in the mid-80's, but remained good friends. There were even talks of a reunion some years back. But, they came to their collective senses. Richie and Danny check in every once in a while just to make sure G & J are still breathing.
A few years ago, Gary was about to embark on a project saluting his musical hero's, The BEATLES. He was going to record one song from every Beatle album. Just about that time, Jeff King called to see what he was up to. Gary mentioned the "Beatle" project. Jeff wanted in. So, that's how they got back together. They went on to record 22 Beatle songs and called it "Beat The Meatles". It was so much FUN they decided to do it again, but this time doing ORIGINAL material. That is how "POP! RADIO" was born. It is a true and great collaboration. They are now working on TWO follow up albums. One for Jeff and one for Gary. We hope that you will enjoy "POP! RADIO" as much as we do. And by the way, if you ever see a copy of "BEAT THE MEATLES"...grab it! It's Goooood!!! To pick up a copy of "POP! RADIO" click(HERE)or APPLE i-tunes (HERE)
Welcome to my 3-Ring Circus!
And always remember to...Turn it up.....................AND RUN!!!
BELOW ARE SOME OF MY EARLY MUSICAL HERO'S.....
HERE IS ONE OF THE BEST VOICES IN THE BUSINESS. MIKE SMITH's "SUBTLE AS A FREIGHT TRAIN" SINGING STYLE!!!!!
SOME GREAT SHOW'S OVER THE YEARS!!!
You are sleepy, very sleepy.....now give me all of your money!
"Keep yer hans off me DROOMS!"...Yeah!
We're taking notes!
Look! It's that famous recluse, Mr. Two Dollar "BILL"
..
..
....
....
HEY!! Let's Go To The MOVIES! (Some Of My Favorites).
Cap'n Geech at your service!
Bulletin!! Bulletin!!!
Ah....Those 70's 10-21-73, 2-5-76 Wink Wink!
Congratulations to The DAVE CLARK 5 for their HALL OF FAME induction!!
The Grapes Of Wrath: Tom, Emilio, Gary, Greg
Hello Gary! I did have a fun weekend! I went to a record show and bought some great vinyl. I even found a Beach Boys 45 complete with it's picture sleeve!
Thanx a lot Richie. We really appreciated that! Please spread the word and give us a shout if you need a copy! P&P looking forward to your NEW one...and did you know that we come from the same town as Vibeke and our drummer and bassman played with her in Weld, her first band!
Thanks for the Birthday greetings! Yes, I had a nice day with some good friends, beer and music. I hope all is well in your part of the world and that you've had a wild weekend. Cheers Lars
we're very happy to be your friends and we're really excited about our brand new band...members of all reaches of the earth...recording together...we will have our cd done and good to go by early 2010...please come back and enjoy
SOME GREAT SHOW'S OVER THE YEARS!!! 
Bulletin!! Bulletin!!!
Online Now!
