Vincent "Vini" Poncia Jr. (born April 29, 1942) is an American musician,
songwriter and
record producer.
Life and career
The 1960s
In the 1960s, Poncia formed a songwriting team with
Peter Anders (née Peter Andreoli).
An album of songs co-written by these childhood friends, ''The Anders & Poncia Album'', was produced by
Richard Perry and released in 1969. Their songs were recorded by artists including
the Ronettes,
Bobby Bloom
Robert Bloom (January 15, 1946 – February 28, 1974) was an American singer-songwriter. He is known best for being a one-hit wonder with the 1970 song, "Montego Bay", which was co-written with and produced by Jeff Barry.
Biography
Bloom was bo ...
, and
Darlene Love. Anders and Poncia were also members of
the Trade Winds and
the Innocence.
The Trade Winds's debut single "New York is a Lonely Town" reached #32 on the ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' Hot 100 chart in 1965.
In 1968, with Frankie Meluso (aka Mell) and Peter Anders, Poncia founded MAP (Mell Anders Poncia) City Records in
New York City. Their company included a small
recording studio
A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...
brought from a 3 track studio to four tracks (on a Scully Machine) by their chief engineer, Peter H. Rosen, who recorded sixteen albums before the company dissolved in 1970.
The 1970s
During the 1970s, Poncia became
Ringo Starr
Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...
's co-writer, and appeared on several of his solo albums:
''
Ringo
Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...
'' (1973), ''
Goodnight Vienna
''Goodnight Vienna'' is the fourth studio album by Ringo Starr. It was recorded in the summer of 1974 in Los Angeles, and released later that year. ''Goodnight Vienna'' followed the commercially successful predecessor '' Ringo'', and Starr used ...
'' (1974), ''
Ringo's Rotogravure'' (1976), ''
Ringo the 4th
''Ringo the 4th'' is the sixth studio album by English musician Ringo Starr, released on 20 September 1977. Its title is sometimes ascribed to him being the fourth member of the Beatles. Others have suggested that it is his fourth mainstream albu ...
'' (1977), and ''
Bad Boy'' (1978).
He also produced albums for
Melissa Manchester and
Lynda Carter's 1978 album ''
Portrait.'' As a songwriter, he wrote songs for
Jackie DeShannon, Martha Reeves, and
Tommy James. Poncia is also listed as co-writer on "
You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" with
Leo Sayer. He was also the producer for
The Faragher Brothers
The Faragher Brothers is a blue-eyed soul family band from Redlands, California. It initially consisted of brothers Tommy Faragher, Davey Faragher, Jimmy Faragher and Danny Faragher. Siblings Marty Faragher and Pammy Faragher joined the group in ...
albums, ''Open Your Eyes'' (1978) and ''The Faraghers'' (1979).
In 1978, he produced
Peter Criss' 1978
solo album.
At Criss's prompting, Poncia was brought in to produce
Kiss's 1979 album ''
Dynasty'' and co-wrote their hit song "
I Was Made for Lovin' You" from that album.
The 1980s
Poncia also produced another Kiss album, 1980's ''
Unmasked''. He sang backup vocals and helped with songwriting on both albums, having eight co-writing credits on '' Unmasked''.
In 1981, he produced the album ''Turn Out The Lights'' for the band
Tycoon.
Poncia also produced the Detroit rock band
Adrenalin and their song "Road of the Gypsy", from the film ''
Iron Eagle'' in 1985. He also produced DC Drive and their self-titled album in 1991. Poncia produced Criss's second post-Kiss solo album, 1982's ''Let Me Rock You'',
and he was credited as co-writer for five songs on Kiss's 1989 release, ''Hot in the Shade''.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Poncia, Vini
1942 births
Living people
Record producers from Rhode Island
Songwriters from Rhode Island
American male singers
Kiss (band) personnel
Grammy Award winners
People from Providence, Rhode Island