STEVE RODRIGUES - BEHIND THE MUSIC - PART ONE

My son, Steve, has had a long career in Music, Radio, TV, Commercials, and even a few bit parts in Movies. For those of you who don't know Steve---at different times he has had a TV series on ABC, been a San Francisco Radio Personality, played parts in TV shows and movies, voiced thousands of commercials, and performed hundreds of times with his bands on stage. He has interviewed Hollywood stars and rock and roll stars, getting them to tell their story for radio and TV interviews. As interesting as it was, he has walked away from it all and focused on spending time with his family, and a somewhat quieter life in the advertising business. But it all started with Music.

It was in the early 60's, when Steve was in grammar school, that he first learned to play the accordion. At all the Castro family functions, he would watch Uncle Manuel Castro playing the accordian, and he wanted to learn how to play it too. He had been taking lessons for about a year, when, one night he saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show, he noticed that none of the members played an accordian. Just guitars and the drums. Then one day, when his brother's band was rehearsing in our garage, he kept watching, Mike, the bass player, and after rehearsals, Mike showed him how to play a few bass lines. That did it. He traded in his squeeze box for a bass guitar. He took guitar lessons, and started practicing singing and playing. Listening to AM radio in the 60's, Steve learned to play lots of top 40 and rock and roll music from late night stations like KFRC and KYA. (He also got the bug for something else from listening to the radio, but more on that later, in Part Two.)

It was in the late 1960's when Steve first performed with his brother Don. They both had auditioned, and were asked to join a group called "The Young Americans." This group was well known for backing up big stars like Bob Hope, and like, "Up With People," they were an all Red, White, and Blue American type group. Steve sang in the chorus of 20 vocalists, while Don played drums in the 18 piece orchestra. For two years, they performed 40's and 50's style big band and patriotic music all around California. They also did a TV special with Tennessee Ernie Ford! Don got drum solos, and Steve got a few vocal solos doing vaudeville type songs like " Standing on the corner watching all the girls go by". Steve also sang with the chorus that would introduce Ford by singing "T-E-double N- E, double S, Double E, spells Tennessee --- and now, here's America's #1 pea picker, Tennessee Ernie Foooooord !"

The chorus and orchestra was inclusive of school kids, so they didn't get paid, but were given free music training, in return for performing. What a great training ground for show business !

After watching his older brother, Don, play in bands for a few years, Steve started playing in his first band at the age of 14. Playing bass and singing lead, he joined his brother in using the family garage for rehearsals. Whenever one of the Rodrigues bands rehearsed, the neighborhood kids, along with cousins who lived nearby, would hang out in the driveway to hear them play. Steve played with several bands through Jr. High and High School, all with typical goofy 60's and 70's names, like, Lodestone, The Percussion of Sound, and one band called "The Matrix" ( seems like that name was way ahead of its time).

His first gigs (jobs) with his own band, were high school dances, but the band got really good, and at age 16, Steve started playing the Naval Base clubs in Alameda, and local night clubs. (He lied about his age to get in.) Back in those days you just had to be 18 to play in a bar, but were not allowed to drink. At family barbecues, held at Mike and Connie Castro's house, and at many other family get togethers, he enjoyed jamming with the family musicians: Uncles, Tony Castro, Bill Castro, and Manuel Castro, and cousins: Gilbert Trujillo, Mal Castro Jr., John Castro, and his brother Don.

By the time that he graduated from high school, he was playing night clubs to earn his way through college. His first full time music gig? Well, leave it to family, to help each other out. His Uncle, Tony Castro, offered him a full time job in his band, called, "Tony Castro and Friends". They played at clubs like the "17 West" and "LeBaron Hotel" in San Jose, and the Nevada casino circuit, including Harveys in Lake Tahoe, and the El Dorado in Reno. During this time, Tony and Steve opened for acts like "The Ink Spots" and "Chuck Berry."

Needing to stay close to home and finish college, Steve left the band, and got a job as a house musician at the Villa Hotel in San Mateo. Eventually, he started his own band that helped pay the rest of his way through college. The band was called "NYTE FLYTE', and with some connections from his brother Don, Steve got a contract with the Black Angus restaurants to play their chain of clubs. Cousin, Ron Kuzmicky, was his roadie, and attended most of his shows. About this time, he started writing what would become an album worth of original songs. Hoping to get a record deal, Steve called his brother, Don, and together they put a side group of musicians to become the "Steve Garland Band."

When it came time to go into the recording studio, they called on a family friend and high school buddy of Don's, named Paul Covarelli, to play guitar. With Don on drums, Steve on Bass and vocals, they recorded a dozen tracks and submitted them to several record companies. One of them, Atlantic records, was interested. There was a catchy single called "Leave a Message", all about those new "answering machines"( that everyone was using, in the early 1980's ) and several other songs that could be a hit. After a long wait, the label decided they wanted the band to re-record the entire album with a more "Hard Rock" screaming sound, to be considered. This was the 80's and rock music was getting harder. That wasn't their style, so between that news, and the cost involved to re-record it, the album was never signed or released. *

That was ok with them, as Don was busy with his band, and Steve had started a side career that had really started to take off, in a little thing called ----RADIO. (That story, in part two, coming up)

*To hear two songs that had potential in the album: "Letting Go" and "Leave a Message" go to these two links: http://stevegarlandradio.com/media07/lettinggo.wma and

http://stevegarlandradio.com/media07/leavemessage.wma

Maui 2007

maui 2007 027
Originally uploaded by wheelerbobc

Tell me one more time, WHY DID OUR FAMILIES LEAVE THE ISLANDS????????????

don rodrigues xmas 2007 001

don rodrigues xmas 2007 001
Originally uploaded by wheelerbobc

DON RODRIGUES, PART TWO, THE CORPORATE WORLD

In 1984, when Don quit the band business, he went to work for Guitar Center, in Oakland. The band outfits and long hair were "out" and casual clothes and shorter hair were "in". He started working as a salesman in the drum department, and 6 months later he was promoted to Assistant Manager. In 1986 he was promoted to Manager and stayed at that store untill 1987 when he was transfered to a bigger store in San Jose. This was the beginning of many transfers to other stores.

1989 he was was transferred again. This time to manage a store San Francisco . He was at the store when the Loma Prieta earthquake happened. Looters had rammed a car into the storefront window and stole some instruments. That night, Don stayed at the store with a couple of his salesmen, sitting in the darkened store waiting for the reinforcements he had hired. They armed themselves with a baseall bat and some bricks. The reinforcements came in the form of two mercenary guards. (ex Marines) They arrived with guns, fully loaded, and they patrolled the store front. That stopped the looters!

The next day, the store front window was boarded up. There was no electricity for a week, and for months, because of a collapsed freeway overpass in Oakland, Don had to take a ferry from Oakland to San Francisco, every day, in order to get to work.

1990, another transfer. This one was to an upscale community called, Sherman Oaks, in California. He worked there until he was transferred to a store in San Diego, where he worked from 1992 to 1993.

About this time, Don's personal life was changing too. No more "Living La Vida Loca" (Ricky Martin's song.) He married Debi Neal in September 1992. They bought a home, and 'settled in.' On August 21, 1993 their daughter, Bianca, was born.

On the move again, in 1994, when he was transferred to a Fountain Valley store, in Los Angeles. They sold their San Diego home and bought a new home in Oceanside, so he could be closer to his work. He planted a vegetable garden, and got interested in cooking, as a hobby. He found it relaxing, after a hectic day at work.

On September 12, 1995, their son Brandon was born. Life was 'pretty normal', until July 1999. One more move ! This time to South Florida. (Miami area) At that time there were only 8 Guitar Center stores in the entire east coast. He over saw the stores in two states, Florida and Georgia. As new stores were built, he helped develop the Eastern and South Eastern U.S. stores. It was at this time that he was promoted to District Manager.

September 11, 2001. When terrorists were bombing the Twin Towers in New York, Don was on a plane heading for Atlanta, Georgia. It was 9:00 a.m. When they got to the airport, the plane circled it for one and a half hours. The pilot didn't tell the passengers why they couldn't land. When they finally landed, they were greeted by armed guards. Don managed to get a rental car. He drove to Charlotte, North Carolina, where a new store was being built. A couple of days later, he drove back to Atlanta. He spent a few days in an Atlanta hotel waiting for the airport to begin flights again. The day he left Atlanta, the airport was deserted of passengers, and there were National Guardsmen with rifles, all over the airport. The 747 that he was on just had four other people on the plane.

In 2004 he was promoted to Vice President of district managers, in Florida, and continued to see the building and opening of new stores, and continued management of all the new stores.

He was advanced to Regional Vice President of the Southern part of the U.S. in 2006. He now oversees 60 stores. The stores are in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida.

Because of his job, Don does a lot of traveling. He has been in every state of the union, visiting manufactures of lighting systems, for concerts, Fender Guitar factories, etc. He has also traveled overseas, at the invitation of various manufactures, who would like to sell their equipment to Guitar Center. He has been to Mainland, China, Hong Kong, and Tokyo, Japan.

Don and Debi bought a home in Coconut Creek, Florida. They love the area, and don't want to move any more. He would like to retire in about 5 years. We shall see.