this is my shit.
always played in a band since i was a kid. eliza jane. climbadonkey. in 1979 i was part of the formation of the ravyns, who recorded raised on the radio, the first single from the film fast times at ridgemont high. we made three videos. after leaving mca records in 85 or so, we scammed our way into mtv's basement tapes competition pretending to be an unsigned band, and won with the video, rhythm of the heart, directed by then-college student tim rataczak.
in the late 80s i moved to nyc, lived in squalor, and was a host at the hard rock cafe for a while. johnny vamp and i also got jobs at colony records in times square so we could nick the top 40 cassettes to smuggle out to a long island record store for profit enough to pay our rent. satan turned me onto singing tv commercials whilst i was looking for a record deal. sang a ton of em, made a ton of bread, met a bunch of people. i still do voiceovers. around that time frankie larocka, steve & john conte and i formed company of wolves and got a big record deal with mercury/polygram. the wolves toured a lot more than the ravyns and i had a lot of fun. we had three aor charting singles: "call of the wild", "the distance", and "hangin' by a thread." in 1991, after recording two videos and a second full album the band was dropped. we had run up a million-plus tab. that was the last major label i went after.
i got into releasing solo indie albums around 1994. me & my big mouth, salvador deli, and bright jewels included cuts which made their way into numerous popular and embarrassing television shows like party of five, dawson's creek, baywatch, jag, smallville, one tree hill, king of the hill, entourage, ed, jake 2.0, etc... you should never watch most of these shows, but i made some money.
in 1999, vh1 hired me to narrate before they were rock stars, which ran for four years and 34 episodes. i got to make fun of rock stars. good stuff. i've done a couple of audiobooks too, probably not worth mentioning. google me.
in 2002, bright jewels was all but lost in the swirling toilet of modern radio. i'd always had a love affair with old world music and found this celtic niche in barleyjuice that allowed me to write and play and tour again, and that's what i do now. if not for the internet fans and those tv shows, i think the solo stuff would be forgotten entirely. so here it is. eat it up.
Getting ready for Ireland! Eating my McCann's oats every day. Yours, MAJ Tom Below, Japanese Halloween [Obon]. Should be happening soon. There's nothing like a hundred Japanese teen-age girls yelling "Ika! Ika!" in that Marilyn Monroe style voice they affect. Get's the gaijin to buy lots of teriyaki squid.
Hope you are SURVIVING these crazy economic times! Enjoy our new video "Whiskey Tonight" and stop by our site for a FREE download of the new song. Yes, something for FREE. * * * Cheers!
hey, did you hear from jill about the hammerjacks reunion july 18th? vaudeville is playin and wants to a rayvns song(or 2?). i know the guys r dyin 4 u 2 sit in! :~)
