My Life in The Wings

By Kim A Zonneville and David Spero

David Spero began his career in music at the tender age of thirteen as the cue cardholder on his father's rock and roll music show, Upbeat, in Cleveland, Ohio. He went on to become one of the pioneering DJs of the new FM format in radio, a free form limited only by the DJ's imagination. He left radio in 1973 to become the manager for Michael Sta

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mumford House Publishing
• Release date: May 27, 2022
• ISBN: 9781734433241

Book preview

A Life in The Wings

My Sixty Year Love Affair with Rock and Roll:

A Memoir

David Spero

With

K. Adrian Zonneville

Copyright © 2022 D. Spero/K. Adrian Zonneville

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 9781734433234

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to those who live the dream, create the beauty and the thunder, to those who spend their lives as musical gypsies, moving from town to town to play, sing and perform. Who have accepted this as their life, their love, their mission. And to those who make it possible by hauling the equipment, setting up and tearing down, driving through the night for the next show. To those who chase the gigs, get the paperwork in order, make sure the rooms are ready when the band arrives, the food is hot, everything is in order so the musicians can bring their best to the stage. To all who come to listen, who support, who hang on every word, every note,

these stories are yours.

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

From the heart of David Spero

First and foremost, I want to thank my wife, Ellen. She is the real rock of our family.

Thanks for not complaining about my many travels that started as a hug in the driveway. But the trips you came on…we saw the world! I’m not even sure how many countries we have seen. And, of course, almost all of North America! You have been there for me at every turn. Giving me love, hope, confidence, drive, and spirit. 

So, you, my dear, get the first dedication.

To my son Adam. My hero! You had the coolest job ever! Thanks for letting me live MY dream through you. I’m so proud of what you have accomplished and who you have become. (Hi Linda) Sorry about the limo pickups at school, it was more convenient!

Harry, Bear and Sheri. Thanks for answering my calls! It made it so much more fun for me to share it with you!

Ahhh, and Charlie or Kim or whoever you are. You believed in this project more than I did. When you called to say that it was finished, my stomach dropped. We have had so many laughs and tears while getting this story together, I’m really going to miss that. Thanks for pushing me when needed and letting go when I had to get away from it.

Michael Stanley…. what can I say? You were my first! You took a chance on a local disc jockey to take you to fame and fortune. We accomplished more than I ever imagined. And you opened doors for me that I can’t thank you enough for. My client, my friend, my mentor, oh my God, I miss you.

To my parents, Herman, and Joy Spero. Who had a better childhood than us Spero kids?

Whose Mom would drive from Cleveland to Pittsburgh because they had a comic book we wanted. Ours did! Whose Dad brought home every record that came out, sometimes months before the release? Again, ours did! My Mom was always my biggest supporter. She had every news clip or picture of me and some famous person.

My Dad was my teacher. He showed me how to treat artists and how to make it through the sinkholes of our business. He knew nothing ‘just happened’. He told me I would never get what I deserved, only what I could negotiate! Expert advice. My first thought after they had both passed was, ‘who's going to be proud of us now?’

It didn’t take long to find out… our parents taught us to watch out for each other. And we always will!

And finally, in no particular order, to Michael Stanley Band, Joe Walsh, Mark Farner, Jesse Colin Young, David Gordon, Connie Young, Albert Hammond, Patty Smyth, Don Felder, Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam), Ian Hunter, Nelson, Survivor, Glenn Frey, Dickey Betts, John Fogerty, Julie Fogerty, Hearty Har, Richie Furay, Loaded, Ted Neeley, Paul McCartney, Jimmy and Jill Fox, The Funk Brothers, Tommy Rich, Kenny Loggins, Petula Clark, Eric Carmen, Graham Nash, Chuck Levell, Toots and the Maytals, Harry Nilsson, Al Kooper, Allman Betts Band, Dave Mason, Toots and The Maytals, Ringo, Bad Company, Paul Rodgers, Cynthia Rodgers, Billy Bob Thornton, Simon Kirke, Mike McVay, Jeffery Stephenson, Jules Belkin, Derek Trucks, Styx, Mudcat Grant, Alex Beven, Bob Ragan, Jim Felber, Alecia Lyman, Henry Diltz, Janet Makoska, Ken Koslen, Alan Rogan, Jack Caine, Erica Brett, Josh Solomon, Jim Marshall, Peter Price, Walt Masky, Mikey Silas, Guy Snowdon, Al Jardine, Simon Kirke, Pat Donovan, Billy Preston, Stephen Stills, Lisa Vinciquerra, Scott Hamilton, Irving Azoff, Polly Novak-Balzer and Dennis, Woody Harrelson, Jackson Browne, Ace Young, Styx, Felix Cavalierie, Nate Jones, Guy Snowden, Vanilla Ice, Father Guido Sarducci, JD Souther, Jon Anderson, Lori and Kevin Pellini, January Jane, GE Smith, Josh and Erika Solomon, LeRoy Bell, Zak Starkey, Duane Betts, Steve Schenck, Pete Townshend, Rueben Williams, John Loeffler, Jon Bova, Ann Henningsen, Leo Lavoro, Madden Edwards, Terry Stewart, Jack's Deli, David Crosby, Rob Weil, Michael Jensen, Marc Cohn, Bill Szymczyk, David Knopfler, Donna Betts, Buffalo Springfield, Devon Allman, Steve Schenck, Gary Belz, The Empty Pockets and every musician and crew member that I’ve had the opportunity to witness your amazing talents first hand! Thank you and I’m honored to have worked with you!

David Spero

May 5, 2022

Just a word from K. Adrian Zonneville; as always to the love of my life, my Mumford, to my kids, Katie, and Adrienne, to my loves Greta and Harper for letting me walk you every day so we can discuss the newest book! Thank you for letting me live my dream!

A Life in The Wings is Edited by Barbara Norris, Eighth Grade School Marm

Tech Support-Tom 'Bob' Misuraca

Photos courtesy of the David Spero Collection

Dateline New York

3/15/2010

Waldorf Astoria Hotel

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies

Graham Nash Speech on the Hollies induction;

"…I'd like to thank everybody at the Hall of Fame,

specifically Jann Wenner, Seymour Stein, and Robbie Robertson,

and I'd also like to thank David Spero and Little Steven…"

Wait! Who's David Spero?

Introduction to David

Yes, David Spero. For those who just paused for several seconds and, again, said, who?, please, don't feel uninformed. When it comes to the music business, the names you know, buy their records, go to their concerts so you can sing their songs back to them, the folks you love, are the music. The ones who take care of the details to allow the freedom for those select few to create, play rock and roll star, and tour the world, the names you are not usually familiar with, are the business. If you would like to become educated as to why, then have a conversation with David Spero. It is a stroll through rock and roll history, both music and business.

David Spero is the business. Though unlike many of his contemporaries on the biz side, he is also an extremely fun, loving person who adores his artists—well, most of them, anyway—and revels in relating stories about his life, his friends, clients —famous, infamous, neer-do-wells and the unknown—and life on the road. A half hour stop to catch up on life with a sandwich and a salad at Jack's Deli, soon becomes a two-and-half-hour narrative replete with hysterical stories and humble reminiscences of his luck surviving a lifetime in the biz. How fortunate he has been to have met and befriended some of the most talented, well-known people in musical history and hung on to, clung to, life-long friends and family.

That is another thing you find refreshing about Mr. Spero, in a business almost solely devoted to ego and vanity he is humble. Oh, he knows what he has accomplished in his life. He always claims luck, though those who know him, know different. Hard work, constantly on the lookout for talent and never accepting defeat create luck.

It is entertainment itself to be sitting at Jack's Deli for lunch with David while his phone constantly pings, dings and flashes announcing call after call after call. He will casually flip back the cover, glance, and ninety percent of the time, hit silence, and close the cover without comment. It's the ten percent that are the interesting ones. The calls you know will come while at lunch because they come at all hours of the day and night.

Hang on, it's Toots, he will say wiping his hands on the paper napkin, I have to take this, the words roll off his tongue as casual as if he is asking for another Diet Coke.

Yes, it's Toots of Toots and the Maytals. For those not of the Reggae mode, one of the founders of the genre and one of David's newest clients. Or it might be Joe (Walsh) or just a minute it's John (Fogerty) or Patty (Smyth) all of whom are, or have been,clients. It is not that the famous call him that is amusing it is his reaction to the call. He seems genuinely verklempt that they would be calling him. This kid from Cleveland who talks to the stars either because they need to have a word or two with him or just to catch up on life. The excitement in his voice as he announces the name in hushed tones so no one else will know that freaking John Fogerty is on the line. He is a kid in a very exclusive candy store, living his dream and terrified someone will pinch him awake.

He has dealt with this level of fame throughout his career and yet still gets such a kick out of the whole deal. And then he says to these famous, talented people, 'I'm at lunch with Charlie, can I call you back in ten?'

By the way, old friend Charlie is pantomiming for him to talk to these folks so the conversation can be overheard. David knows that, so he hangs up. Business is business and it ain't nobody else's business.

It is in his caring about the people who are, or have been, clients. Like an older brother or dearest friend, he keeps them working, keeps their faces and names in front of you and me, nurtures, consoles, listens and acts as the foundation they can build from and the rock they can lean on. He doesn't work for the money—yes, he gets remuneration—but that isn't the focus. The focus is, and always has been, the music and the people who create, perform, and put in the work to succeed. His job is to abet, guide, and make those dreams possible.

It's interesting when one reflects on a relationship, business or otherwise, and think of what should have brought people together and what actually did. David has done favors over the years for just about everyone, big and small, because he can. He pushed to have local NE Ohio acts open for Michael Stanley when he toured. But really it isn't always music that brings those he loves close. It is baseball, specifically the Cleveland Indians, and politics.

He has been involved intimately in both. One of his proudest stories doesn't involve him. He loves to talk about the summers his son Adam, now forty-two years old, was a batboy for the Indians. David is more proud of that than most anything he has done. During this period, The Cleveland Indians asked Spero to produce a series of events called Tribe Jam. He had a bunch of the players like Jim Thome, Mark Langston, Omar Vizquel, and others play and sing with a group of local musicians. Pros like Jim Fox from the James Gang, guys from the Raspberries and, of course, the Michael Stanley Band filled out the show. It was an automatic sellout and was a staple of the Tribe’s glory years of the 90s. Players who, like the musicians, became as close as family.

That is the key to his life, family. He learned from his father, Herman, family is everything. Herman Spero was the TV genius at WEWS 5 in Cleveland who came up with the concept of the Big 5 Show in 1964, which became The Upbeat Show in 1966 and was seen in the top one hundred markets of the USA for seven years. And where David learned much of what he knows of music, promotion, how to treat people from the cue card holder (his job when he started working his dad's show) to the biggest stars. And to note how they treated those around them.

Herman was a television producer at the beginning of the medium. He produced a local version of Romper Room, with their very own Miss Barbara. Instead of attending kindergarten, David was on the show until he was part of a milk commercial on the show. They had him drink a glass of milk, but David, with tears in his eyes, blurted out, ‘I want it with Bosco, like my mommy makes it.’ Hershey’s, being a sponsor, was not happy. The next show David got his certificate and his Romper Room ring and was sent into TV oblivion until Herman started a new kids show in Richmond, Virginia called Kiddie Kapers. David's bit parts in both would lead to naught.

His father made TV commercials, lots of TV commercials as that was what was mostly being produced by the local stations. One featured his older brother Harry, for Kahn's Wieners, The Wiener the World Awaited, in which his brother Harry boxed Rocky Marciano, knocking him out with a left hook containing a Kahn's Wiener. Mighty powerful wieners, them Kahn's.

Herman also produced early boxing shows in the 1950s. A sketchy vocation to be involved in. At the top of that list was the fact that the mob controlled boxing and wanted Herman to make sure the fights ended the way they wished. He refused to play along. His conscience and principles, his belief in fair play, would not allow him to compromise.

One night a phone call came to the Spero house from the local police. The parents had been involved in a bad accident. The kids were worried sick, it was morning before they knew what was going on. The discovery that the accident wasn't an accident but an 'on purpose' led them to the witness protection program and Raleigh, North Carolina. This would be the first of several moves around the eastern US. Also, the first time David and brothers attended school with a 'chaperone'.

The Speros moved many times in David's young life before finally returning to Northeast Ohio in the early 60's. Where he has remained ever since. It is believed these moves are where his love of the road was born, right alongside his love of a stable home, both sides of the coin.

He has been married to the same lovely woman, Ellen, since 1977. It takes an unbelievably tolerant, strong, independent, and intelligent woman to put up with someone who lives a life on the rock and roll road. She has to be his confidant, Rabbi, lover, nurse, and psychologist, waving goodbye and welcoming home. And she still seems to like him, huh?

It can be a lonely life traveling from town to town, night after night, while you are attempting to break a band nationally. Time spent in crowded cars, sleeping in a sitting position, eating while in motion. Your only friends are the ones who share the experience. That is where his belief that you cannot manage someone you don't like, are not friends with, or has no sense of humor came from.

You have to love what you're doing and why. Again, this goes back to David's younger days when his father first came up with the idea for the Big 5 Show. Like many of the boomer generation David was first introduced to the Beatles on Ed Sullivan and was hooked, though not like every other guy in the world. He didn't want to be in the band, or any band for that matter, he wanted to be a DJ. He wanted to be the one turning on his friends, hell, the world, to this new music. Even as a very young man, when he was thirteen, he would create his own radio show on a reel-to-reel tape deck.

This has been his passion for the entirety of his life. First as a DJ then as a manager, find someone whose music you love and then convince the rest of the world they should too!

What you have in your hands is not some expose` of what an ass so-and-so is, or how this big rock star screwed everybody he knew physically, financially, or professionally. This book not a tattle tale, tell all unless you seek a tell-all book of how much someone loves their job and the people they share their life with. If you want the other kind of book save your cash for the great romp of sexual deviation, perversion, and insanity by the seventy-eight-year-old former groupie to the C-list 'stars' coming and going.

They are the best stories because they are personal, behind the scenes with friends and pals. They are not the embellished, tawdry, imaginary tales told by a friend of a friend of a cousin who was pretty high when he heard about it but he's sure it happened this way. Nope these are the real deal that, until now, have been shared between those involved and those who could then bust balls with them over a beer and cold fried chicken.

It is love and respect. And passion, for without the passion there is no music, without the passion you won't survive a month on the Rock and Roll Road.

These are tales told over a corned-beef and fries and a David’s Veggie chopped salad with a side of fruit. Yes, his favorite dish at Jack’s Deli is named for him. Of course, it is.

Old Friendships

It was an overcast day in New York, the city that never sleeps, so David was napping. It was the evening of the 2010 Rock and Roll Induction Ceremonies in The City. Most of the current and many of the elders of Rock and Roll had gathered to celebrate themselves and those being ordained rock nobility. He was there because he knew inductees, they were friends, acquaintances, pals.

The temperature was in the forties, it was early spring, the threat of rain pushed down on those great and small, but for the rock and rollers, it was time to party. As usual, in rock, the inductees were all over the map stylistically. Being inducted were ABBA, Genesis, Jimmy Cliff, The Hollies and The Stooges, therefore the attendees reflected the fashion sense of each, if a bit more worn. David Spero was in town for The Hollies. His concern for the weather only went so far as the lobby windows. He was staying at the Waldorf where the ceremony took place.

He wanted to get to the venue early so he could spend some time with friends like Jackson Browne. David Spero's clients are friends, and friends of clients are friends. Hell, folks he has met and intermingled with along the way are friends. There is business and there are friendships, David will never allow business to supersede friendship. If it does, then business goes by the wayside.

David was there to show love and support to a friend of many years, Graham Nash, who was being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an original member of the Hollies. He was just as pleased he would get to catch up with other friends and close acquaintances while here.

The only itch between the shoulder blades was, a rift between original members of the Hollies and those who came later. Only the original members were being inducted, though the group continued to have success after Nash left. David had petitioned the Rock Hall to include Terry Sylvester, Graham’s replacement in The Hollies, but it was not enough. A tad bit of animosity was brewing which could only mean problems at the show. One of the many things David Spero hates is problems at the show. He was going to have to be babysitter to the stars. He just wanted to enjoy the evening and celebrate with a friend.

Steven Van Zandt, Little Steven of the E Street fame, would be doing the presenting, an honor in and of itself for the band. Graham Nash and Allen Clarke would be performing a couple of Hollies hits with Paul Shaeffer and his band.  Patrick Monohan from Train would join in for ‘Long Cool Woman’, one of the hits from after Nash left the band. Terry Sylvester was very pissed that he wasn’t included in the performance. David had moved to the side of the stage where, number one, he is more accustomed to being, and, number two, he could watch over Mr. Sylvester, now well into his cups and swaying with intent. It is not the band who decides which members are original enough to be inducted, it is the Rock Hall Governing board, but that does not always assuage bruised feelings.

Graham Nash would be the first of the band members to speak, to begin the important job of acknowledgement and thank you's to those most instrumental in their success. He began by thanking and congratulating their fellow inductees, The Rock Hall, Jann Wenner, Seymor Stein and Robbie Roberston. He then threw a name out that almost knocked David from the side of the stage area, it was his name.

And I want to thank David Spero, he said. Many in the audience thought, ‘Who the hell is David Spero and why is Nash thanking HIM?’

The simple answer was belief. David's rock-solid belief in the Hollies, Graham Nash, and the inevitability they would be inducted. Graham had wondered over the years and David had reassured; his old friend would be immortalized along with his first band. And here he was.

Speeches completed, it was now time for music and celebration. And then it happened, Sylvester ran on the stage, snatched the mic from Monahan, and started singing to the disbelief of everyone. Spero, and Hollies bass player Bernie Calvert had tried to grab him, but it was too late, Sylvester was singing. Just another Rock Hall moment in the books.

David's mind raced back forty-five years to Cleveland, Ohio, and the set of the Upbeat show. It was 1965 and the Hollies were appearing on the show. David was a huge fan of the Hollies. Second only to the Beatles in David's fourteen-year-old mind. He got to meet Graham Nash who invited the young David onto the tour bus. This would be his first experience of getting to hang with someone whose music he admired.

At the back of the bus was a woman David was fairly certain he recognized, if only marginally. Graham turned to David and said, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine, Momma Cass.

And in that instant, in that extraordinary moment of clarity, David realized, these people were friends. They hung out with each other because they liked each other, they were not competitors. They were not pop stars to each other, just friends.

And in the next instant he realized this was what he wanted. Not to worship musicians but be friends. Oh, he would love their music, but he wanted friendship.

The dream of a boy became the reality of the man, his life had become just that. Representing, helping, taking care of friends. They might be your idols but to him they are more, they are friends.

Who Are You?

Some lifelong friendships have to run a rocky course to find where that true friendship is.

It was 1967 and The Who had just released the song 'Pictures of Lily' and now they were on a spring/summer tour of the US in support of the new release. At the same juncture in time my dad wound up booking rock shows in a room in Ann Arbor, MI. It was a typical Rock and Roll club of the time, it used to be a bowling alley. One of the first acts he booked was The Who.

Harry and I were huge Who fans. We'd been turned on to the band by reading about them in our musical obsession, Melody Maker, a rock magazine out of London. It was a huge investment at the time for a couple us. Imported Magazines did not come cheap in the 1960s! We would combine any money we could earn with chores to splurge to buy the magazine, and then spend hours combing over all the news of newest British bands, what they were doing, who was the upcoming sensation.

The Who had figured prominently in the news coming from across the pond. Enough so, that we saved every nickel we could earn or borrow and bought the UK release of the first Who album, My Generation. It took three weeks to be delivered, coming from out of the country as it was. The best thing about the album, it was not available in America, and it was on this foreign label neither of us had heard of; Brunswick Records. We immediately fell in love with The Who and their raucous style of music.

An agent got in touch with dad and explained The Who were doing their first American tour, in support of their new release 'Pictures of Lily', they need places to fill holes in the schedule. Sure, dad could help. They got booked in a former bowling alley in Ann Arbor Michigan. It held, maybe, two hundred folks, but no one was familiar with who The Who were, and the Who needed gigs.

Harry and I hopped in the car for the trip up to see how The Who could do. My brother Harry was a drummer and, of course, his favorite drummer was Keith Moon. Harry would get to meet his hero.

Everyone was excited. We were hanging with The Who and The Who were excited to be touring America, even if it was playing some small venues. They had played larger venues as part of a package with the Fifth Dimension, but these were their gigs. Ann Arbor might not be New York City, but it was America! It was college town America!

I hit it off with Pete. I think because even then I was not intimidated by rock stars, or any stars for that matter. When I was young my folks were friends with Bob Hope (who was born in Cleveland), Henny Youngman. I had been around rock and pop stars for a couple years now working on Upbeat. Bob and his wife Deloris used to help babysit us when they were in town so the Spero elders could have a night out. Not to brag but we were used to hanging with some heavy hitters, though we probably didn't quite get just how heavy! So, even at fifteen or so years old I was not intimidated by anyone, because I didn't realize I was not in the inner circle yet. I had no clue that I was not part of 'the group'.

I was a fan, but not a FAN! I was more inclined to talk about details, the intricacies of the music rather than the worship. And Pete appreciated the difference. He loved to talk about his guitar sounds and style with someone, even a fifteen-year-old me, who had a clue. He would much rather talk about guitars than what his favorite food might be or what he wore to bed.

Pete's and my relationship would grow and expand over the years. If you are old enough to remember, as The Who continued to climb the charts and become bigger and bigger stars, their official opening act for several years was The James Gang. Sharing the road for European tours and several American tours. They loved the Joe and the guys. Over the ensuing years, even after The James Gang were no longer opening for them, Pete would call me anytime they were near and offer tickets, backstage passes, whatever I wanted or needed. This was a friendship old enough to drink at this point.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was going to be built in Cleveland, OH and the day, June 7, 1993, was approaching for the groundbreaking ceremony. Pete had been invited to dig a shovel into the fertile soil of Cleveland. He arrived at the airport. I went to pick him up. Pete was hammered. Drunk out of his mind. A common problem among entertainers which will be addressed in later chapters.

The dirt was dug, the soil turned, there was now a large party on the William G. Mather ore boat/museum. We were shooting the shit on the ship, catching up, trading stories of life in music, the usual, and the conversation turned to how Joe Walsh was doing and what he was doing. Now remember, Pete was smashed out of his mind and had known Joe for a long time and loved the guy. Out of left field he came after me, right there, in the middle of this party.

He had his hands around my throat, choking me, rage spilling over, he's cursing me, You're killing Joe! You're the one buying his drugs, aren't ya! You're the one making sure he has bottles of booze wherever he wants them! You're killing him!

I couldn't breathe; Pete was choking the life out of me. Yes, I was managing Joe, but I had nothing to do with his addictions! Hell, at this point in life I had years of my own sobriety under my belt, the last thing in the world I would do was enable another, especially someone I loved. Finally, Pete let up, yelling, 'Get out of my sight!'

What the fuck! I wanted to scream back but I couldn't, not here. None of these accusations were true, but Pete didn't care, he believed they were true and that made it truth. And in his drunken state of mind, it threw him over the edge. As far as he was concerned here I was killing a friend of his! And I was supposed to be guiding Joe's career, taking care of Joe, not using him up! Which I wasn't, let me make that abundantly clear!

I was now out my mind pissed and figured, 'fuck him, I'm done with this!'  I left the party, totally shaken up, physically shaking as none of these accusations were true.

A few years later The Who were on one of their Quadrophenia tours. The phone rang, it was Pete. They were staying at the Ritz Carlton in downtown Cleveland for a while, using it as a hub for the tour. Bands would often do this. They would find a place like the Ritz in Cleveland. A nice joint they could call home, less expensive because Cleveland was, while they jumped up to Detroit over to Chicago, down to Columbus, Cincy, over to Buffalo or Pittsburgh. Cleveland is centrally located to many towns and there is a small airport conveniently located five minutes from the hotel.

I was taken aback that Pete would call me for anything. We had not spoken one word to each other since the Rock Hall groundbreaking.

Can you come down to the Ritz, asked Pete quietly.

Why? Maybe not charitable but I thought it.

I really need to talk to you. Pete said into the silence on the other end of the line, It's important to me and I think you will find it is important to you as well. Please, there was a pleading, though not begging, in the tone.

I told Ellen, I'm going down there, I don't know why. Maybe so he can kill me, but now you know where to look for the body. Pete and I had been friends for a couple decades before the falling out, I felt I owed Pete, and, to be honest, myself, this chance.

Up at Pete's room, I knocked, the door was opened by my former dear, old friend who welcomed me with a huge hug. Not what I expected.

You know I've gotten sober, said Pete after a few awkward moments.

Yes, I'd heard rumors.

Well, I've gotten to that step where I have to accept the wrongs I've done and apologize to those I've wronged, Pete looked me in the eye, fell to his knees and said, I am so very sorry, so, so sorry for that day on that boat. I had just seen Joe, I was worried for his life, I was worried for my life, I was out of my mind. All I could remember thinking, 'David is close to Joe, he can fix this.' I didn't know then, though I am well aware of it now, that you can't fix somebody who doesn't want to be fixed. Tears filled his eyes begging for understanding, for absolution, forgiveness.

What do you say to that? It was one of the heaviest moments in my life. And you can bet, Pete's as well.

We have run into each other many times since. I am happy to say we are friends, we have been for most of our lives, including that small vacation on crazy island. Friends forgive. Friends let go of the past. It is good to see Pete whenever it can be arranged. Pete seems overjoyed to see me as I am to share time with him. Life can be treacherous, but it can be filled with joy. Friends do that. Old friends do it better.

It's funny, we share hearing problems, as many in the rock community do. Pete helped me adjust, we share hearing tinnitus, hearing systems, things that bring two people together. We are there for each other. Two men of mature years molded and tempered by time.

I am always reminded that Pete was featured in a movie we showed at the Rock Hall where Pete was being interviewed about Keith Moon, Jimi Hendrix, many rock idols he had known and performed with that had passed, and at one point he explained to the interviewer;

To you these are all your heroes, your idols, but to me they were my friends.

I totally related to that.

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Upbeat a Brief History

In 1964 a brand-new teenager saw all his dreams on the horizon come so close he could touch them. Two momentous occurrences were to change young David's life. The first happened February 9, 1964, Sunday night, the Ed Sullivan Show broadcast the very first introduction of the Beatles to the USA! The country stood still and when it came out of its next day stupor, kids went nuts, David with them. He had tasted the Beatles and the British Invasion. He wanted all he could get. He wanted a store filled with Beatles and the new sound, so he would never have to leave.

Then, on August 29, 1964, his dad, Herman Spero, television producer, creator of children's shows, live boxing matches, producer of local Cleveland show Polka Varieties, and commercials, premiered a new music show, The Big 5 Show on WEWS channel 5, Cleveland, OH. And, oh my, the new sounds, the bands, the songs his dad had on the show blew David's mind! All he had to do was to hold cue cards for the host. That's it. Hold the cue cards, help around the show, and he could have all of the wonderful, succulent ear candy his head could hold. Music hath charms alright and they hypnotized and enthralled the young boy. He was addicted to sound and the new music.

The show offered Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrel, The Hollies, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, The Box Tops and the Who, and in the next week was Bobby Sherman and BB King, The Left Banke and The Lemon Pipers, The Yardbirds, Little Anthony and the Imperials, and Otis Redding. Every week there were more incredible songs. It was beyond anything he imagined possible. Herman believed music, and, through its words and melodies, society, should be color blind. He wanted all the greatest bands and musicians on his show. The best in Rock and Roll, the best of Motown and Staxx.

The Big 5 Show was hosted by the hippest DJs in Cleveland. Sadly, Herman couldn't get the national sponsors he needed to keep the show going, he needed a hip, young, good-looking host. When, as fate would have it, he was vacationing up near Toronto he saw a young emcee, named Don Webster, on a local dance show. He was perfect for what Herman knew the show required. He had an easy manner with the acts. Herman made him an offer that was impossible to turn down. Luckily, he didn't.

Over the years the bands and entertainers became family friends, Otis Redding visited the house and played poker with Herman. Al Kooper was a regular at the Spero house regaling young David, brothers Harry and Ted, and sister Sheri with stories that filled their heads and fed David's musical addiction.

One thing David didn't want was to grow up and lose this connection to music. His father had gifted him the greatest dream any boy could dream, music. Not playing it but helping those who did. And like his father he would be honorable, respectful of those who made the dreams. At an anniversary show at the Rock Hall Landmark Series, Jerry Butler said of Herman Spero, He had a way of treating every artist like they were the Beatles. Whether they were riding a number one record or had slipped to number two hundred. Herman treated them like stars. I saw it time and again, young bands just starting out, Herman was there to encourage and give advice. He let them know they mattered, and he cared.

The Big Five Show became the Upbeat show. It was now syndicated in over 100 cities across the country. It took 10 weeks for the show to play out.Record companies and promoters loved the idea as they knew exactly where and when their bands would be featured on TV stations around the country. They could get ahead of radio promotion and touring. It was brilliant and revolutionary for the time!

The Upbeat show, was not American Bandstand or an imitation. Instead of one band coming on and doing a couple tunes and then having the kids dance to records, Upbeat would have nothing but bands. All kinds of bands, bands from all over the world, from all over the musical spectrum. Bands toured, the tours came through Cleveland, and they could get on national TV to showcase and build audiences in towns where they were headed next.

The Upbeat dancers performed the newest steps in the hippest gear. Everyone wanted to be an Upbeat dancer. Choreographed first, by Dick Blake and then Jeff Kutash. Kutash went on to work with Michael Jackson, teaching him the Moon Walk, then to the Academy Awards and a huge Vegas show called Splash. He was replaced briefly by Linda Wikes. It was a fast-paced hour, every single week. Everybody gathered in front of the TV and listened to and more importantly, watched this new and exciting music. The dancers were local kids found at dances and sock hops at high schools and dance clubs. According to Linda the dancers were paid the exorbitant rate of twenty dollars per episode, provided they appeared; not all dancers were seen every week. Linda was lucky enough to appear on most every episode since joining the dancers in 1966, the last week of Dave C and the Sharptones as the house band.

Dancers were strictly forbidden to fraternize with the acts or members of the staff. Although they would find ways to sneak out, if discovered they would be banned from the show, something none of the kids wanted.

Linda remembered David was one of the kindest and most decent kids she met. Whether musician, dancer, cameraman, production, everyone, he was genuinely interested in what everyone did. One of her fondest memories was David would invite the dancers over to the house so he could turn them onto the newest records he'd acquired before anyone else would hear them.

She explained that everyone connected to show thought Herman was a genius in his approach to music and his 'color blindness' to the acts was far ahead of its time. After all, this was the mid 60's and race relations were on the front burner and the front pages. Spero Senior never cared what others thought, just was the music good, would the kids like it.

Herman had shown David he didn't have to grow up, not really. All he had to do was treat people fair, be a good, decent person, don't screw anybody, be somebody they respected, and he could remain this kid who loved music forever. And a friend to those he admired.

Upbeat would last until 1971, continuing to break barriers with Steppinwolf, Iron Butterfly, Paul Revere and The Raiders and the only national TV appearance of the Velvet Underground. You saw the last appearance anywhere of Otis Redding and four members of the Bar-Kays, who would perish in a plane crash the next day. The Outsiders, Blood, Sweat and Tears and Spanky and Our Gang. The first TV appearance of Simon and Garfunkel, crammed into the bleachers with the audience, singing ‘Sounds of Silence’. Local bands got a shot as well, The Damnation of Adam Blessing, The Baskerville Hounds, The James Gang, early incarnations of soon to be famous folks like Joe Walsh with his band the Measles or Glenn Frey and Bob Seger in the Mushrooms.

The Upbeat show became a 'must stop' on any tour for any band. David watched and learned. It outlasted both Shindig and Hullabaloo, both produced by national television networks.

Like his father he would use his knowledge and influence to launch artists. He would emulate the best of the Upbeat show. A show that catapulted hundreds of artists into the public consciousness and turned a nation on to some great music. It was a perfect launching pad for, what would be, a lifelong career in show business!

One of David's favorite memories of the show was an appearance by 'Little' Stevie Wonder, who was known as a goof and a practical joker. As he prepared to do a take for the show, he faced the wall. For those not familiar, Stevie is blind. Herman and the engineer not wishing to offend came over the studio speakers and asked him to turn slightly to his right. Then to move back, turn again, turn a little more, Until Stevie, knowing exactly where he was, faced the wall once again. He was hysterical and a brilliant musician. He remains so to this day.

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Figure 1  Don Webster, Bobby Goldsboro, Billy Bass

Figure 2 David hard at work on Upbeat

Figure 3 David learning from the master, Herman Spero

That's Why God Made The Radio

David Spero does not 'listen' to music, he puts together shows. Even now one song will suggest another which leads to six more of the same genre or concepts. He doesn't want to hear one road song. He wants a road show, to live the road through music. Something to set the mood, drive the mood and end the mood. He breathes the art of radio, not a guy who just wants to hear a favorite tune. And he worships the well-crafted lyric and the melody it rides. They should fit together and raise each other up like lovers. If there is no passion, there cannot be music. If the lyric does not entice the tune, if the melody does not stroke and caress the lyric, what is there?

When he was missing the road, he would let WDAS radio, his made-up radio station from his youth, bring back all he longed for. He would dig into his library of music and weave a tale of excitement, remorse, love, and home. That was what he thought of as radio, it flows through his veins as naturally as the music flows through the airwaves. He will start the proceedings with Paul McCartney's, 'Rock Show', It is always about the road, that's where the music has to go. It cannot just sit in one place, comfortable, on a couch or an easy chair, rock and roll is made to move, to drive fast, to play loud, it pounds in your head, your heart, your veins, and your soul. Crank it up, baby! Let's go visit some 'California Girls' live! Then 'Ziggy Stardust', song after song we're pushing the limits for forty minutes or so and now it's 'Motel Blues', Loudon Wainwright III, 'come up to my motel room and save my life', it has been a long, long tour, Paul Simon, solo, 'Homeward Bound', and you think you're done until, 'Rock and Roll Suicide', Bowie makes a reprise to end the set. It is nirvana and a glowing bowl of joy.

He talks about radio and his love for it, maybe going back to it, but then sighs. He wants to do radio, not just play songs that have no soul, no purpose. It should truly move you. It should weave the tale and they don't do that on radio anymore. Computers have no soul. It is not 1969 or 1971 or art. It is commercials and jingles and money, money, money, money!

In order to understand what David means when he talks about 'doing' radio, you have to understand where he comes from. Where his love was born.

In the mid-1960s the world was in flux. Music, mores, the way we thought of sex, race, and what we expected of each other was changing almost daily. There was a new art form being born called FM radio. At birth it was an offshoot of its mother, AM radio. It was loud, abrasive, playing the same music that could be heard on the AM side for the most part, just now in stereo. What wasn't copied was from other cultures. There were Polish Polkas, German oompah music, Irish reels, and classical in stereo as never heard before on radio. You had to buy a converter for your car, kind of half stereo.

Over in the corner, where no one was actually paying attention, though, was another, freeform, anything goes format. It was being created by people who cared more about the music than they did 'radio'. They weren't banging out songs while banging out quick time and weather like top-40, they were trying to fit the songs together in a beautiful mosaic that created the soundtrack of our lives. They were David Spero, Billy Bass, Martin Perlich, Shauna, and others. You could tell what time of day it was by the songs being played, they told you who was on and what you could expect to hear for the next several hours. The music described the DJ and the mood of the day. It was truly theater of the mind.

They would segue from rock to acoustic, swing and jazz, spoken word, comedy, poetry, or stream of consciousness. There were no boundaries to the music, no color barriers, no stylistic barriers, no genre barriers, just, was the music good?