GERRY GRANAHAN
On October 15, 2011, music business legend Gerry Granahan was inducted into the Rhode Island Music Hall Of Fame during an all-star doo-wop and rock ‘n’ roll show at The Rhode Island Center For Performing Arts at The Park Cinema in Cranston.
The concert, which also starred The Jayhawks, The Marathons, The Vibrations and rockabilly legend Jack Scott, featured a career retrospective performance by Mr. Granahan which touched on all facets of his work as a performer, composer and record producer. He was backed by an assemblage of some of New England’s top musicians and vocalists including Charlie Quintal, his daughters Gerrianne Genga and Tara Granahan, and girl-group legend – and former member of The Angels – Kerri Downs (Gerry’s real-life wife, Marylou Kiernan).
At the end of his performance, Mr. Granahan’s life and career were celebrated during a tribute by Hall Of Fame Vice-Chair Rick Bellaire and Archive contributor Mike Edwards. He was welcomed into the Hall Of Fame by 2010 inductee Peter Anders (The Videls, The Tradewinds) who presented Gerry with a plaque honoring his lifetime achievements in the field of music.
Although a Pennsylvania native, Gerry has been a resident of Rhode Island for the last fifty years. He first found Top 40 success in New York in the late 1950s as a singer-songwriter with “No Chemise, Please”; and as a singer, songwriter and producer with his two vocal groups, Dicky Doo & The Don’ts (“Click-Clack”) and The Fireflies (“You Were Mine”).
By the early 1960s, Gerry had started his own label, Caprice Records, where he pioneered the girl group sound with two smash hits by Janie Grant (“Triangle”) and The Angels (‘Til) and matched Motown’s crossover success with several hits from R&B legend James Ray, most notably, “If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody”. It was at Caprice that Gerry met his future wife and the couple settled in Warwick, Rhode Island. For the next twelve years, Gerry became a “commuter” – weekdays in “The Big Apple” as a record executive and weekends in “Little Rhody” with his family.
In 1964, Gerry took over the A&R department at United Artists Records and was responsible for the most successful era in that company’s history. As a producer and songwriter, he racked up a long string of hit singles and albums with Jay & The Americans, Patty Duke and comedian Pat Cooper, among many others. As an executive, he was responsible for the American releases by some of the world’s biggest stars including Manfred Mann and The Easybeats. In 1968, he accepted a vice-presidency at Dot Records and another long string of successes ensued including his production of one of the most acclaimed jazz albums of the modern jazz era, “Black Orpheus Impressions” by Brazilian guitarist Luis Bonfa.
He has spent the last thirty-five in Rhode Island working mostly behind the scenes, running his own recording studio and helping young artists get their start in the business.
Gerry Granahan, 2011
For more information on Gerry Granahan’s life and career, please visit his entry in our Historical Archive:
www.ripopmusic.org/musical-artists/musicians/gerry/
ANDERS & PONCIA
Peter Anders & Vini Poncia
On October 16, 2010, the famed Brill Building-era team of Anders & Poncia (Rhode Island natives Peter Andreoli and Vincent Ponci, Jr.), internationally recognized songwriters, performers and producers, became the first musicians inducted into The Rhode Island Music Hall Of Fame. The duo were presented with plaques commemorating their lifetime achievements by Rhode Island’s John Cafferty of The Beaver Brown Band during a retrospective concert celebrating their music at The Rhode Island Center For Performing Arts.
John Cafferty, Vini Poncia & Peter Anders, October 16, 2010 (Photo Credit: Tim Siekiera, TJS Photographic)
The duo first achieved success in 1960 when their doo-wop group, The Videls, went national with an Anders & Poncia original, “Mister Lonely”. They parlayed their success into a decade-long career as staff writers (for Hill & Range Music and Buddah/Kama Sutra) whose song were recorded by such notable artists as Elvis Presley, Jackie Wilson and The Ronettes; producers (The Critters, Cher); and performers under the names The Tradewinds (“New York’s A Lonely Town”) and The Innocence (“There’s Got To Be A Word”).
After splitting in 1972, each of the two artists continued on to even greater heights. Vini Poncia, working as an associate producer and songwriter for Richard Perry, was involved with all four Beatles during the solo years composing the smash hit “Oh My My” for Ringo Starr and became a Grammy winner for writing and co-producing Leo Sayer’s #1 hit “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing”. He has won many platinum awards for producing such major acts as Melissa Manchester and Kiss. Peter Anders released a solo album in 1974 and then concentrated on his song writing career with compositions covered by dozens of artists including Phoebe Snow, Dion and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts.
The two reunited to work on a track for Peter’s latest album (2010’s “So Far”), and plan to work together again regularly for the foreseeable future.
- Rick Bellaire, February, 2011
Anders & Poncia, 2010
Visit The Anders & Poncia Website
Due to the large volume of work to be documented concerning the careers of Peter Anders and Vini Poncia, as a team and as individuals, The Rhode Island Popular Music Archive & The Rhode Island Music Hall Of Fame has established, produced and maintains a separate website chronicling their many achievements in the field of popular music. Documenting their enormous output is an ongoing process. Please visit the following link to find out more about these legendary Rhode Island musicians:
KEN LYON
In April, 2007, Rhode Island musician Ken Lyon became the first inductee into the Rhode Island Popular Music Archive Hall Of Fame during a gala celebration of his career at The Stadium Theatre in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.
A Newport native and a lifelong Rhode Island resident, Kenny’s career spans five decades beginning with his days as a folk-blues singer on the Greenwich Village scene of the early 1960s which produced Bob Dylan, Eric Andersen, David Blue and Ken’s close friend, Richie Havens. The “folk” phase of his career was capped by the nationally released Decca Records album “Ken Lyon In Concert” in 1970.
Beginning in the late ’60s, Ken experimented with various electric/acoustic combinations culminating in the Columbia Records album “Ken Lyon & Tombstone” in 1973. Along the way, he achieved legendary status in southern New England as a “godfather” of the blues – the American counterpart to John Mayall’s work in England, if you will. His sharp ears and selfless approach as a band leader provided the launching pad for dozens of other fine Rhode Island-based musicians including tenor sax legend Scott Hamilton, roots rocker Steve Nardella, blues and swing guitar hero Duke Robillard, Brenda Mosher of Prince’s Vanity Six and Apollonia Six, Christian music giant John Polce, and folk singer/songwriter Jay Bolotin.
For further information, please visit the more extensive page at this site.
Due to the length of his career and the shear volume of his accomplishments, the Rhode Island Popular Music Archive has established and maintains a separate website dedicated to this legendary Rhode Island musician. For a complete biography and discography as well as up to the minute news on his continuing career, please visit: