Expressions of Creative Passion: Part Four-Serendipity

WHAT IS CREATIVE PASSION? How can one define or describe it? I am writing my fourth blog post attempting to answer these questions. This clearly indicates two things. The first is my fascination with the topic CREATIVE PASSION and the second is the proliferation of information aka creative passion in American Music History between the 1920’s and the 1970’s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-45_qOb8St4

EXPRESSIONS OF CREATIVE PASSION: PART FOUR
SERENDIPITY OR FOLLOWING A SERENDIPITOUS PATH
AS EXEMPLIFIED BY KEITH GALLIHER JR. MUSIC
Keith Galliher Jr. Music
Keith Galliher Jr. Music

Keith Galliher Jr. has been a Las Vegas based litigation attorney for over forty years. About five years ago, he decided to record an Eric Clapton song, ‘Wonderful Tonight’ as a gift for his lovely wife Linda. He surprised her with it. She was moved to tears when she found out that he was singing it. That is the second element of serendipity in this post. The first serendipitous piece to this path began some years ago when Clarence Collins, founder and former member of Little Anthony & The Imperials became a client of The Galliher Law Firm. So when Keith starting singing, Clarence was the logical person to seek out to help him on his new path.

 
 

Clarence Collins
Clarence Collins

Clarence brought several crucial elements to their musical union. The first was Clarence’s own immense talent and musical history. The second was the relationships and connection he had in the music industry. Important questions had to be asked and answered.

What kind of music would suit Keith’s voice best? What songwriters did he feel passionate about singing? What ideas did Clarence have? The answer to these questions led to the next step on the serendipitous path, making a connection with the right music.

 
 
 

Two Paths, Internet Radio Show
Two Paths, Internet Radio Show

In the midst of this, Keith created a two-part radio show, Two Paths. One week featured some aspect of the legal profession. Alternate weeks featured his music. The show is one of many on the streaming audio network, America Matters Media. One of the owners is Eddie Floyd. He is also a host on Two Paths which can be heard on Fridays at 10am PST. As a correspondent on another show, A.M. News, I heard about Two Paths and started listening to it. I was fascinated by both features. I called in several times and soon became a familiar voice on it as well. I introduced myself to Clarence. As they got to know me, they realized I had a keen eye for research. I became their #AceDetective, commissioned with two Music Mystery Challenges. The second one had to do with the Randazzo family. In solving the mystery, I got to know Teddy Randazzo, Jr. rather well.

 

creative genius, prolific songrwriter, wonderful singer and teen movie idol
Teddy Randazzo

Although Teddy, Sr. had died several years before Keith started singing, Teddy Randazzo was someone Clarence knew well. He was intimately familiar with his music. Teddy had written some of the songs that were ‘Little Anthony & The Imperials’ biggest hits as well as hits for other artists. For example, Shimmy, Shimmy, Ko Ko Bop, Tears on My Pillow, Hurts So Bad, It’s Gonna’ Take a Miracle, I’m on The Outside Looking In, Song Without An End. Keith was a natural for these types of songs and so Imperials Plus Records was born.

By 2015, Keith had completed two full CDs of songs featuring various artists, ‘Love Songs For Linda’ and ‘Two Paths’. Some of them were written by Teddy. Some were not. Anyone who hears Teddy’s music falls in love with it. He wrote over 650 songs, was a singer in his own right and a teen movie idol as well.

 

Imperials Plus Records
Logo for Imperials Plus Records, the company owned by Keith and Clarence

Keith Galliher Jr. wanted to work with the music of this brilliantly talented man. He had started adapting some of Teddy’s music to his style. He has created an entire CD of only Teddy’s music calling it, ‘Teddy’s Songs’. That CD has just been released by Imperials Plus Records, the company belonging to Keith and Clarence. The final song, ‘Destiny’ was recorded with special technology to include Teddy’s voice. The name says it all. It has been and is the destiny of everyone accompanying Keith on this journey to experience the magic, the passion and the ‘evergreen’ or timeless quality that Teddy’s music has. It is truly due to Keith’s passion to follow a serendipitous path.

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Degrees of Separation Introduced

Degrees of Separation
50 Years of Separation

INTRODUCTION
Degrees of Separation is a play on the words of the famous Broadway show that was made into a movie, Six Degrees of Separation. The playwright, John Guare illustrated how it is by six degrees of separation that everyone on the planet is connected. I am not sure that I agree. This blog post will explain why.

FIRST DEGREE: KEVIN
It all started with Kevin. I met Kevin J. Gillard on the Internet. He had developed a comprehensive marketing system using facebook pages and groups to enhance people’s ability to network and improve their businesses. It took me years to master his system. In the meantime, we became good friends. Besides inventing his own system, Kevin was quite good at discovering what other people were doing with social media.

He had found an online, streaming radio station, AmericaMatter.us that broadcast live around the world. He mentioned a particular show to me, A.M. News, unique in that it was correspondent driven. I jumped at the chance to sign on as a local correspondent. That was on February 10, 2015. I have listened to the three-hour, weekday morning show and been on the air almost every show since.

SECOND DEGREE: A.M. NEWS AND AMERICAMATTERS.US
Over time, I started listening to other shows on AmericaMatter.us. One show in particular caught my attention. It starred and is about, Keith Galliher, Jr., a Las Vegas attorney who realized after many years of practicing law that he also had a beautiful singing voice. Dedicated to pursuing both professions, he named his radio show, alternatively featuring law and music segments, Two Paths.

THIRD DEGREE: KEITH AND TWO PATHS
I started listening to Two Paths as often as possible. I got to know a bit about Keith and his unusual story. I also noticed, after a while, that whenever the show was about music, Keith would mention a man named Clarence. Clarence always seemed to be within earshot on the music shows. I became curious about him. Some of his story emerged on Two Paths. He was the founder and part of the very popular, Little Anthony & The Imperials group from the 1950’s and 60’s. But I did not know how he and Keith met. My curiosity was aroused. I could not imagine the catalytic connection.

FOURTH DEGREE: CLARENCE COLLINS
It turned out that Clarence has settled in Las Vegas. Keith’s law practice is in Las Vegas. Clarence Collins needed to consult with an attorney on a musical matter. He sought out the legal services of Keith Galliher. When the time came for Keith to take his step into the music world, who did he turn to for guidance, musical arrangement and production? He sought out none other than the ‘man of music’ himself, Clarence Collins.

Once I found out this connecting detail, I wanted to know more. I got permission to speak with Clarence on the phone and had a delightful conversation that lasted about an hour. During that time, I found out many things we had in common. There were the coincidences of both having lived in Brooklyn. He briefly worked for a butcher. My great-great grandfather was a butcher. That was enough connections for one day. But it was only the first of many connecting conversations to come.

FIFTH DEGREE: THE TWO BROTHERS
One Friday afternoon when my husband and I were listening to Keith’s music show, something was mentioned about ‘two brothers’. I only vaguely caught the gist of the conversation until I heard these words. I am paraphrasing. ‘We really have to find these brothers and we just know that Alison Gilbert can do it’. My husband and I turned to each other with our mouths dropped open. Before we could even recover to speak, the challenge was repeated. ‘We have been looking for these brothers for over a year and we just have to find them. We know that Alison Gilbert, our ‘Ace Detective’ can do it if anyone can’.

Somewhat in shock, I picked up the phone to call the radio station. But the show had just ended and they were no longer on the line. Since Keith calls in from his office in Las Vegas to do the show with Clarence, I realized I could call there directly. Keith was on a business call but Clarence was still there and available. So I was able to speak with him. I asked him what kind of challenge I had just been given? I needed a bit more information to live up to my reputation as an ‘Ace Detective’. Somehow that is what they decided I was or would be when I found these missing, mysterious brothers.

My questions ranged from were these ‘birth brothers’ or ‘brothers from the hood’? How did he know about them and what was the reason they needed to be found? The story goes something like this. Clarence knew their father, a man also in the music business. But Clarence could not remember his name or find the demo of the brothers’ songs that their dad had given Clarence. Clarence and Keith has searched high and low throughout music industry organizations including Halls of Fame, etc. But all they had were the names of two songs. ‘Good Times, Good Times’ was one of them. No one was able to direct them to resource archives or provide a clue.

So given the ‘father and two brothers’ challenge, I commenced to my sleuthing. By coincidence, in talking with my musical sister, I learned that the Library of Congress was a great resource for musical archives. So my next step was to call there. I was connected with the Music Dept. and after a few steps that required additional information from Clarence, I was able to locate a page in the Library of Congress musical archive with the name of the song, ‘Good Times, Good Times’. There were several gospel versions that I knew were not what the brothers had composed. But there was one that was copyrighted around the year that fit the brothers’ profile and could be their style of music.

So the next thing I did was click on the year link provided on the records. It brought me to a page. Without having final confirmation yet, I knew I had found all of them, Clarence’s contact, John Paul Fetta, their dad and his twin sons, JP (Jon Paul) and Rich, the two brothers.

CONFIRMATION
I was also able to find a page for one of the brothers on facebook. JP lives in New York, north of NYC. I live in New York south of NYC. His phone number was on his page so I was able to call him, asked him a few questions and quickly confirmed that the year old mystery was indeed solved. I asked JP for his dad’s phone number in Las Vegas and excitedly called Clarence’s number to give him the good news. I left him a message. While I waited for him to call back, I had an initial interview with Jon Paul while he was driving to a business appointment.

Jon Paul Molfetta's facebook page
Jon Paul Molfetta’s facebook page

SIXTH DEGREE: JOHN PAUL MOLFETTA, SR. AKA JOHN PAUL FETTA
I had secured the father’s phone number for Clarence. They both resided in Las Vegas. When Clarence called back, we were cheering with excitement. It has take me, their ‘Ace Detective’ about two hours to solve the mystery that they had not be able solve in a year. Clarence and the twins’ dad connected. The next thing I knew, two weeks later, Keith Galliher’s music show was dedicated to me and featured the two brothers. We all spoke on air and it was very exciting.

Rich and JP Molfetta have written and sung some extraordinary songs over the years. They had recording contracts with major music labels. But as family became a priority, they both went into the more financially stable business world. They still write and sing. In addition, Keith Galliher and Clarence Collins will be carrying on the Molfetta music legacy.

THE JOURNEY COMES FULL CIRCLE
Clarence Collins became famous at the tender age of 16 with the song, Tears on My Pillow. He had a long history as part of Little Anthony & the Imperials. When it was time to stop, he became part of Imperials Plus, Keith’s recording company. A journey of about 50 years brought Clarence full circle, writing music, recording music, arranging music and discovering talent for more music. Jerome Anthony Gourdine and the Imperials, Keith Galliher Jr. Music and Molfetta Music Productions are all contributors and beneficiaries of their serendipitous journey.

CONCLUSION
Is this journey six degrees of separation or layers of connections? Either way, it doesn’t matter. What is important is that it has happened. But personally, I prefer to think that we are not separated by degrees of a linear path but connected by layers of spontaneous bonds. And if you are on the same layer as someone, you will connect with them. Neither time, space nor circumstances can impede a process that is meant to be. You know it when it happens because you can feel it. That is why I am so strongly in favor of the concept of layers of connection.

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The Doo Wop Revival

Doo Wop music was popular when I was a young teenager

So the revival of Doo Wop is really special and precious to me. In case you did not know there is a revival of Doo Wop music or even know what Doo Wop music is, this blog post will educate, enlighten and entertain. I promise.

Without going into great depth, this Doo Wop post will focus on three pivotal people and one musical group involved in this revival. To focus on more would become encyclopedic. The four focal points will start with, Little Anthony & The Imperials.

Doo Wop Revival
Little Anthony & The Imperials

Next is Clarence Collins who has the distinct honor of being not only the founder of this musical group but had a history with another group. When Anthony (nicknamed ‘Little Anthony’) came into the picture, the Imperials were born. Here’s Clarence’s own words about his story as only he can tell it.

Clarence Collins, Founder of Little Anthony & The Imperials

Doo Wop Revival
Doo Wop Revival Clarence Collins, founder of Little Anthony & The Imperials and singer

Keith Galliher Jr. Singer and King of the Doo Wop Revival
Keith Galliher Jr. is, in my opinion, the king of the revival of Doo Wop Music. His radio show, Two Paths, on America Matters Media reintroduced me to Doo Wop and resulted in my falling in love with Doo Wop all over again. He is also responsible for tying all of the above together. Without going into too much detail here, let me just say that Keith is an attorney. At some point in his career, he realized he could sing. He decided to take his talent seriously. He chose one of the most famous Little Anthony and the Imperials songs to record, Shimmy Shimmy Koko Bop.

doo wop
Keith Galliher Jr. Music, photo from Keith Galliher Jr. Music website

As an attorney, Keith Galliher had met Clarence Collins, singer and founder of Little Anthony & The Imperials. The rest is history. Clarence became Keith’s music producer. They make music magic together. The videos on this blog show samples of original tunes as well as an example of something Keith has recorded with Clarence’s guidance. Many more can be found through a Google search.

Doo wop
Keith Galliher and Clarence Collins, Photo from Keith Galliher Jr. Music website

Below is a video interview made by Doo Wop historian, Tom Meros. Clarence Collins, founder and member of Little Anthony & The Imperials is interviewed about the history of Little Anthony & The Imperials as well as Clarence’s own, very entertaining story starting off in Brooklyn, NY as a butcher!

Tom Meros, Music Historian
Almost nothing is known about Tom Meros except for his copious collection of videos and interviews with musicians from this general time period, referred to as the rock ‘n roll universe. Here is the collection on YouTube. He also has a Google+ page which is also a collection of music videos.

Doo Wop Revival
Tom Meros, Music historian, on Facebook

Doo Wop After Note
I had the honor of speaking with Keith Galliher Jr. who informed me that Clarence Collins is not partial to the term ‘Doo Wop’ to describe their music. So in deference to him, I am adding the fact that Clarence prefers the description R&B or rhythm and blues. That sounds good to me.

I hope he will forgive my calling this blog post ‘The Doo Wop Revival’ rather than ‘The R&B Revival’. Therefore, I will end this blog post with a website which will most likely be the topic of a future blog post, The Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame.

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