Michael Condello (May 6, 1946 – August 17, 1995) was an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
musician, producer, and songwriter.
Early life
Mike Condello was born in
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
May 6, 1946
[Facebook site,The Late Great Mike Condello] and moved to Phoenix, Arizona when he was 7.
By the time he was 14, Condello was already a key player the Phoenix music scene, playing in the Stage 7 Club's house band although four years
underage
In law, a minor is someone under a certain age, usually the age of majority, which demarcates an underage individual from legal adulthood. The age of majority depends upon jurisdiction and application, but it is commonly 18. ''Minor'' may also ...
. Before he was 20, he had records issued by several labels using different names. In 1963, Condello was hired by ''
The Wallace and Ladmo Show
''The Wallace and Ladmo Show'', also known as ''It's Wallace?'' and ''Wallace & Company'', was a children's television show produced by and aired on KPHO-TV (Channel 5) in Phoenix, Arizona, from April 1, 1954, to December 29, 1989. For most of i ...
'', hosted by Bill "Wallace" Thompson and Ladimir Kwiatkowski, as bandleader.
[Condello]
, Technicolor Web Sound
Rock and parodies
Condello formed a group called Hub Kapp and the Wheels, fronted by comedian
Pat McMahon, that played
garage rock
Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...
although their act was mainly a spoof of both the
Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...
and
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
. The group's hits “Work, Work”, “Let’s Really Hear It For Hub Kapp” and others made them known in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
and they appeared on ''
The Steve Allen Show
''The Steve Allen Show'' was an American variety show hosted by Steve Allen from June 1956 to June 1960 on NBC, from September 1961 to December 1961 on American Broadcasting Company, ABC, '' and the ''
That Regis Philbin Show''.
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
signed them as a rock band, possibly ignoring the spoof element of the act. Hub Kapp and the Wheels were to prove an influence on teenager Vincent Furnier, who later became known as
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...
.
[Mike Condello biography]
, ''Last.fm
Last.fm is a music website founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. Using a music recommender system called "Audioscrobbler", Last.fm builds a detailed profile of each user's musical taste by recording details of the tracks the user listens to, e ...
''
As part of ''The Wallace and Ladmo Show'', Condello had subsequently several more records released, many of which entered the repertoire of
Dr. Demento
Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941), known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograp ...
and other comedy or parody acts, records such as “Soggy Cereal”, “Ho Ho Ha Ha Hee Hee Ha Ha” and “Pollen’s Found A Home In My Nose”. Others were parodies of Beatles music such as “A Day On The Tube”.
[
In 1967, ]Lee Hazlewood
Barton Lee Hazlewood (July 9, 1929 – August 4, 2007) was an American country and pop singer, songwriter, and record producer, most widely known for his work with guitarist Duane Eddy during the late 1950s and singer Nancy Sinatra in the 1960s ...
signed Condello's band, named them Last Friday's Fire, and released through his LHI Records
LHI Records was an American record label founded by Lee Hazlewood. LHI stood for ''Lee Hazlewood Industries''. The label was first distributed by Decca Records then by ABC Records (both labels were eventually be absorbed by MCA Records). By 1969, ...
three single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
s with them.[
]
Psychedelia
In the same year as the Hazlewood singles, Condello became involved in the formation of the parody ensemble Commodore Condello's Salt River Navy Band, which released two EPs
EPS, EPs or Eps may refer to:
Commerce and finance
* Earnings per share
* Electronic Payment Services, in Hong Kong, Macau, and Shenzhen, China
* Express Payment System, in the Philippines
Education
* Edmonton Public Schools, in Edmonton, Al ...
and performed on ''The Wallace and Ladmo Show
''The Wallace and Ladmo Show'', also known as ''It's Wallace?'' and ''Wallace & Company'', was a children's television show produced by and aired on KPHO-TV (Channel 5) in Phoenix, Arizona, from April 1, 1954, to December 29, 1989. For most of i ...
'' as well. Also in 1967, Condello got invited by the psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...
band Superfine Dandelion to play on their song "Ferris Wheel."[
In 1968,][ he formed a band named Condello, featuring a young ]Bill Spooner
William "Sputnik" Spooner (born August 16, 1949) is a musician, guitarist, singer and songwriter, and the founder of The Tubes, a theatrical rock band. His songwriting is known for its use of humor and satire. He has released three solo albums ...
, later of The Tubes
The Tubes are a San Francisco-based rock band. Their eponymous 1975 debut album included the single "White Punks on Dope," while their 1983 single "She's a Beauty" was a top-10 U.S. hit and its music video was frequently played in the early day ...
fame. They released only one album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
, titled ''Phase One''. In 1969, the band released two singles and was dissolved. None of their record releases were a major hit, although subsequently the album was hailed as "one of the most acclaimed and influential psych albums of the late 60s"[ and a "psychedelic masterwork."][Condello: ''Phase I'']
''Rock Asteria'', 17 April 2014
Power pop
Mike Condello continued to be the music manager of the TV show until 1971, at which time he quit to work as a musician. He got involved with the power-pop band Elton Duck Elton Duck was an American power pop band from Los Angeles, California. They played southern Californian stages in the period 1976 – 1981, a time described by Bud Scoppa as when new wave and punk launched "countless bands that filled clubs from t ...
, which featured future- Bangles bassist Michael Steel. They played many concerts in Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, opening for the Knack
The Knack was an American rock band based in Los Angeles that rose to fame with its first single, "My Sharona", an international number-one hit in 1979.
History Founding (1977–1978)
Singer Doug Fieger was a native of Oak Park, Michigan, a no ...
, The Motels
The Motels are an American new wave band from Berkeley, California, that is best known for the singles "Only the Lonely" and "Suddenly Last Summer", each of which peaked at No. 9 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, in 1982 and 1983, respectively. In ...
, The Tubes
The Tubes are a San Francisco-based rock band. Their eponymous 1975 debut album included the single "White Punks on Dope," while their 1983 single "She's a Beauty" was a top-10 U.S. hit and its music video was frequently played in the early day ...
, and Phil Seymour
Philip Warren Seymour (May 15, 1952 - August 17, 1993) was an American drummer, singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known for the singles "I'm on Fire" (with The Dwight Twilley Band), his own solo hit "Precious to Me" and for providing back ...
. They recorded an album for Arista Records
Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertainmen ...
in the 1980s, but Clive Davis
Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer, in 2000.
From 1967 to 1 ...
decided to shelve it, and after a few months Elton Duck disbanded.[
In 2012, the Elton Duck's only album, through a ]crowd funded
Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...
effort, was officially issued for non-commercial use to benefit the Mike Condello Music Scholarship Fund.[
]
Session musician
Working as a session musician
Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...
, Condello played on records of several artists, such as Jackson Browne
Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 18 million albums in the United States.
Emerging as a precocious teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he h ...
, Juice Newton
Judith Kay "Juice" Newton (born February 18, 1952) is an American pop and country singer, songwriter, and musician. Newton has received five Grammy Award nominations in the Pop and Country Best Female Vocalist categorieswinning once in 1983as well ...
and the Tubes
The Tubes are a San Francisco-based rock band. Their eponymous 1975 debut album included the single "White Punks on Dope," while their 1983 single "She's a Beauty" was a top-10 U.S. hit and its music video was frequently played in the early day ...
. He played guitar on Keith Moon
Keith John Moon (23 August 19467 September 1978) was an English drummer for the rock band the Who. He was noted for his unique style of playing and his eccentric, often self-destructive behaviour and addiction to drugs and alcohol.
Moon grew ...
's 1975 solo LP, ''Two Sides Of The Moon''.[
]
Death
On 17 August 1995, Condello, suffering from severe depression
Major depressive disorder (MDD), also known as clinical depression, is a mental disorder characterized by at least two weeks of pervasive low mood, low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. Introdu ...
, killed himself in his Santa Monica
Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...
apartment.[The Psychedelic Pop of Mike Condello Remembered With Two New Releases]
by Jason Woodbury, ''Phoenix New Times
''Phoenix New Times'' is a free digital and print media company based in Phoenix, Arizona. ''New Times'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue ...
'', 22 August 2011
See also
*Allan Sherman
Allan may refer to:
People
* Allan (name), a given name and surname, including list of people and characters with this name
* Allan (footballer, born 1984) (Allan Barreto da Silva), Brazilian football striker
* Allan (footballer, born 1989) (Al ...
*"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specifi ...
*Comedy rock
Comedy rock is rock music that is comedic in nature. Oftentimes it is mixed with satire or irony.V. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra and S. T. Erlewine, ''All music guide to rock: the definitive guide to rock, pop, and soul'' (Backbeat Books, 3rd Edition. ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Condello, Mike
1946 births
1995 deaths
Guitarists from Arizona
20th-century guitarists
20th-century American guitarists