VINTAGE NEON: LA 1979
In 1979, singer and long time New Yorker Billy Vera relocated to Los Angeles to write songs for Warner Bros Music. After a decade off the charts, his song, "I Really Got The Feeling" had reached number one in a recording by Dolly Parton. "It felt like an omen, like I was back in show business," says Vera today.
Hooking up with his former bass player, Chuck Fiore, who'd been in town for three years, the two hit upon the idea of forming a band, "to meet girls." Thus, Billy Vera & the Beaters were born.
While in St. Croix in the Virgin Islands, Vera had taken some photographs with a camera borrowed from a well-known fashion photographer who told him he had a natural talent and an unusually good eye for composition that he should develop.
With the newcomer's eye that sees what locals tend to ignore, Vera noticed that there were a lot of great old neon signs in LA, so he recruited his friend Fiore to drive him around at night to shoot pictures of them. In time, he had gathered almost a hundred slides. Compiled together, these told a noirish story of a city at night, a visual history of a time and place long past.
He considered a book but, not knowing the first thing about how to get a book published and with his musical career taking off, thanks to his number one hit, "At This Moment," the photos sat, hidden away from all eyes, until now.
One day not long ago, going through an old drawer, he came across some old slides and negatives and these neon shots jumped out from the rest. Shyly, he showed them to his friend, Tamela D'Amico, who immediately saw the value in the images and went about the task of securing a gallery showing and a book of this "found art."
Grammy winner Billy Vera has a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and has reinvented himself for a new generation with his album BILLY VERA: BIG BAND JAZZ.
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About the Author: Billy Vera is a singer, composer, lyricist, actor, and writer, born in California, and named after his father, Bill McCord, a news host on NBC-TV. His mother, Ann Ryan, was one of the Ray Charles Singers, appearing regularly on TV with Perry Como.
Billy made his first record while a teenager. His first hit song - as a singer - was Storybook Children, recorded with Judy Clay. Meanwhile, the first song he ever presented to a publisher, Mean Old World, became a chart hit for Ricky Nelson. Artists eventually recording his work include Fats Domino, the Shirelles, Bonnie Raitt, and Tom Jones. Dolly Parton's recording of his, I Really Got The Feeling, made it to #1 on the country music charts.
After moving to LA, Billy formed Billy & the Beaters. The group's song, At This Moment, wound up in an episode of Michael J. Fox's, Family Ties. The song not only eventually made it to #1, familiar even to people who did not follow his music, but slowly making its way around the world to where its melody is immediately recognized by people from every culture.
Besides Billy's excellent words and melodies, a number of music followers have noted the clarity of his sung lyrics, paying him perhaps a singer's greatest testament: outside the sometimes-mentioned Fred Astaire and Frank Sinatra's incomparable ability to put across the meaning of the words in a song, few performers have done it better than Billy.
Billy has also carried on two other careers. Via his acting, he has appeared on stage, TV, and in movies. Many production names are well known: Blind Date; Baywatch; Beverly Hills, 90210; there are many others. Meanwhile, Billy was quietly putting together radio and voiceover careers. He is widely heard over the air waves and on TV, and though they may not know whose it is, his voice is recognized by millions of people.
Over these years, a writer's life has been developing behind the scenes. Besides two books, with others underway, Billy managed to blend his music and literary careers by writing dozens of magazine articles and hundreds of liner notes. As to the latter, Billy had the eventual distinction of winning the "Academy Award" of music: a Grammy for his liner notes for Ray Charles, ' Singular Genius: The Complete ABC Singles.
Visitors to Hollywood can find Billy's star on the Hollywood Walk of fame - at Yucca and Vine, right in front of the Capitol Records Building.
