After the breakup of the Retros (which occurred around the same time as John Lennon's murder on December 8, 1980), I found myself not only directionless musically but absolutely depressed about Lennon's death. The Retros had been the greatest musical experience I'd ever known but it was all over before the end of 1980. Fate entered the picture a few days after Lennon's death: an old friend of mine (Steve Weinstein) had called me from New York City regarding the tragedy. He mentioned that I may want to consider moving to New York if things didn't pan out for me in the music scene. From that moment on, the seed was planted and I made up my mind: I was going to take the plunge and move to NYC!

In February of '81, I visited my friend, cased the city out, and promptly moved to NYC the same month. Once I got a job and my own apartment, I started checking out the ads in The Village Voice for bands needing a bass player/singer. After answering a few of these ads and auditioning, I decided what the hell, I'd start my own band. I placed an ad in the Voice and started auditioning potential members for a band. This eventually led to the formation of The Tickets around May of 1981.

The original lineup of the band included Larry Manolio, lead guitar and vocals (and whose sister incidentally became the inspiration for my solo song "Annie"), Mario Trombetta, drums, and Willie Rivera, guitar, vocals. After a few months of practicing (in Union City, NJ) and a couple of gigs, Larry was replaced by George Fonteboa on guitar and vocals. We actually had a manager back then and it was his suggestion that Larry wasn't "fitting in" and should be replaced by someone more suitable (shades of another similar scenario?!) In all honesty, we really weren't getting along well and the idea seemed like a good one. George was auditioned for the band on that fateful day in Astoria and the band sounded better than it ever had. George not only was a Beatles fanatic like myself and knew a million tunes, but he also lived in my neighborhood so the vibes felt totally right. Not long afterwards, Willie left the band and The Tickets evolved into its final 3-piece lineup.

We worked up a few cover tunes but quickly concentrated on the originals that either George or myself had written. We played a lot of showcase clubs including S.N.A.F.U, Cartune Alley, Great Gildersleeves, The Bitter End, and other Greenwich Village clubs. We had a high-energy sound that was distinctly different from the Retros and decidedly more pop/rock/dance oriented. The vocal harmonies were very prevalent and the sound quite full for a three piece band.

Like the Retros, The Tickets recorded frequently, using my old trusty Teac in George's apartment. In 1982 we went to Firehouse Studio in Asbury Park, NJ to record what was to be our first 45 but it never happened (It's Alright, It's Okay b/w You've Got It) But before the recordings could get on plastic our manager suddenly fired us! We then took matters into our own hands and did our own bookings and promotion from then on. We later recorded a few more songs at Rock-Bite Studio in Manhattan for a potential single later that year. The result was our first and only 45, Turn Me Away b/w The People Next Door. We designed our own record sleeves and promoted the thing at our gigs but it never really took off. Undaunted, we went back to making our own home spun recordings again, finding that we were much happier with our own production, anyway.

The music scene in NYC and for that matter, all over the world, changed dramatically over the 3 years that the Tickets were together. Music videos and MTV had just emerged on the scene and video truly was beginning to kill the radio star, big time. We saw the demise of the Mudd Club and scores of other showcase clubs as they slowly but surely gave way to the techno-disco clubs that were springing up like the Palladium, et. al. The old concept of a band being "discovered" in a showcase club in NYC was quickly going out the door and being replaced by music video demos submitted to the record labels by pretty boy and girl bands. Music was suffering in the midst of all of this and so were bands like The Tickets. Yes, the times they were a changin.'

Because there is so much more to say about this band than there is room for here, you can visit The Tickets Official Web Page to hear the whole story of this pop/rock/new wave band. You can also purchase the Tickets CD, Local Heroes, by clicking here.

The Tickets marked the end of my musical career. All that is left now of my "career" is the music that has managed to survive on my tapes and all of the memories. What I've been up to since the breakup of the Tickets (including my solo projects and future endeavors) are on the next page.

1981-1983

THE TICKETS(left to right) S.W, Mario Trombetta, George Fonteboa