Randy Oda (born 1953) is a composer and musician who performed with

Tom Fogerty Thomas Richard Fogerty (November 9, 1941 – September 6, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist for Creedence Clearwater Revival. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. Biography ...

and the band

Ruby A ruby is a pinkish red to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum ( aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sa ...

, recording the albums ''

'', '' Rock & Roll Madness'' and '' Sidekicks''. He composed the 1982 hit song, " Think I'm in Love", which

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

also used on an exercise video. His "BART" instrumental was used by

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

School Music during intervals. His latest band is 'OPO.

Early life and education

Randall Keith Oda was born in 1953 in

Alameda County, California Alameda County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and 21st most populous nationally. The county seat is Oakland. Al ...

. He attended Kennedy High School in

Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 7, 1905, and has a Richmond, California City Council, city council.

. Oda married Jean Nugent in 1985, and their son Daniel Thomas Oda was born in 1990. In 2017 he married Theresa Michele Barranco.

Career

Beginning in late 1971, Randy Oda, his brother Kevin Oda, Art Pantoja, and Kyle Schneider formed the band "Oda", producing two albums on the Loud Phonograph Albums label. A local

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

band, they played gigs in Berkeley. They also played a reunion benefit at

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

in 2015. In the early 1970s, Oda joined

in the band Ruby, with Oda on guitar, Anthony Davis on bass, and Bobby Cochran on drums. Reviewer Phillip Elwood of the ''

San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst, and flagship of the Hearst Corporat ...

'' wrote, "...when Randy Oda, nominally the band's solo guitar, gets into an extended theme the band backs him with all the flair of a seasoned jazz-blues-rock orchestra." A 1978

Santa Cruz Sentinel The ''Santa Cruz Sentinel'' is a daily newspaper published in Santa Cruz, California, covering Santa Cruz County, California, and owned by Media News Group. Ottaway Community Newspapers, a division of Dow Jones & Company bought the paper in 1982 ...

review of Ruby said Oda was: Oda's "BART" instrumental was used by the

during school intervals in the 1970s and 1980s. Ruby released two studio albums, ''

'' in 1976 and '' Rock & Roll Madness'' in 1978, and then disbanded. They released ''

Precious Gems A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, ...

'', a compilation album, in 1984. Oda and Fogerty's '' Sidekicks was'' released in 1992 after Fogerty died, with Oda's credits on the album listed as "Arranger, Composer, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Keyboards, Primary Artist, Producer". Oda composed the 1982 single, " Think I'm in Love", recorded by Eddie Money, which reached #1 on the ''Billboard''

Top Tracks Classic Vinyl is a Sirius XM Radio channel focusing on classic rock music mostly from the late-1960s to the mid-1970s, with the channel's name meant to indicate that it consists of music that first appeared on vinyl records. This encompasses musi ...

chart. It appeared on Money's 1983 album, '' No Control'', as well as ''

Arnold Schwarzenegger's Total Body Workout ''Arnold Schwarzenegger's Total Body Workout'' is a 1983 musical compilation. The album has significant camp value amongst music collectors today due to Schwarzenegger's recognisable thick Austrian accent issuing fitness instructions layered on to ...

'' video, and multiple compilation albums. Oda joined his brother Kevin Oda on drums and Michael Politeau (bass) in the band 'OPO, an acronym for its members (Oda, Politeau, Oda), which also means "to lay a foundation" in Hawaiian. 'OPO produced the album ''Getaway'' in 2011.

References

External links

'OPO band website
* (video, 5:00 minutes) * (audio, 6:25 minutes) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oda, Randy 1953 births 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American musicians 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American musicians American male guitarists American musicians of Japanese descent American rock guitarists Guitarists from California People from Contra Costa County, California Rhythm guitarists Living people 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians