I grew up singing into my hairbrush or sometimes a big wooden spoon. Singing, music always kept the monsters away. I wrote my first song when I was 8 years old and one of my uncles decided to take me downtown and get it recorded. We went to this recording studio he knew of and the studio "musician" had to be a 100 years old if he was a day, he played honky tonk piano but the kind that you expected to see a monkey dancing around holding out a cup. I don't know whatever happened to that recording but one day when I was going to sing the song for the family and the next door neighbors...the guy next door dropped dead..really dead..he had a heart attack. Needless to say I never sang that song again. The next time my singing killed somebody was about 7 years ago, first night at a club in Philadelphia. Man just fell over and died..yep, he had a heart attack...that put a bit of a damper on the show. I haven't killed anybody since.I won quite a few talent contests when I was younger (much, much younger). I was always told by family that the prize would be a bike. Never got a bike, oh I always won first place but it was usually a savings bond or music lessons.
I appeared on the Ted Mack amateur hour on TV and I won 1st place. NO BIKE..I got a watch! Just a side note: I never did get a bike my mom just shook her head and said "you'll fall off and kill yourself".
In the late 60's I was recording with Windy City records in Chicago. It is a thrill the first time you hear your name on the radio only it wasn't my name because at that time the record company thought I should change my name which I did ..No magic formula there..just walking around town and one of the guys see a name in a store and decides I look more like a Sandy then a Mary so they change my name. I'm a kid and at that time they probably could have called me Ralph and I would have went along with it...Man I was making a record and I got air time on the radio. I was like the "BOMB" Yeah ok!! Of course I paid my dues, I worked all the dives, the bars that stayed open till 5 Am. the ones you walked in not knowing if you were going to walk out again. I still enjoyed it. Between radio and some TV exposure I started getting better gigs. I appeared with some Country greats. It was a very good time.
Eleven years ago I was approached by a major record company to go to Nashville and record a demo. Some of the original songs on my player were to be on that demo. As Sometimes happens life gets in the way and I could not make the session or meeting. I had no choice but to get out of Dodge.So, here I am on myspace. I guess this is really a very self indulgent page for me. I am a mother and a grandmother and as I look and listen to the artists on my space the one thing I see aside from how very talented most are is how dang young they all are. I think with all the bad rep MySpace gets it should be commened for the exposure it gives to young new artists. A place to put their music and hopefully be heard by the right people. I will continue to indulge myself here. Music has always been a big part of my life..made the good times better and the bad times tolerable. To all you great new artists..don't ever give up on your dreams or let anyone step on them.
