Eagles Hotel California History and Legendary Sound Experience

Over the course of our lives, we get to listen to countless songs. Some hang with us forever because they are associated with important events in our lives and some songs hang with us because they are so unique. In my case Hotel California by The Eagles that one special song that rises above all others.

In the 1950s with the emergence of television singers such as Perry Como and Rosemary Clooney, who had popular television shows dominated the Billboard charts.

Eagles band members Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, Randy Meisner, and Glenn Frey

Then in the 1960s the Beatles brought the British sound to America with bands such as the Rolling Stones and Led Zeplin.

The 1970s brought the California sound... mellow ballads from groups like the Byrds, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and the Mamas and the Papas.

Eagles Hotel California History

In the early 70s a young singer named Linda Ronstadt recorded some hit records and became very popular. She was ready to parlay her radio song successes with a tour of the United States. She needed a backup band and was impressed by four young men who were the house band for an LA hotspot known as the Troubardoour. The four young men were Randy Meisner, Bernie Leadon, Glenn Frey and Don Henley. Linda Ronstadt asked the four young men to be her backup band for her US tour and they accepted.

Ronstadt's tour was very successful and the backup band played a huge roll in that success. The backup band drew the attention of a young entrepreneur named David Geffen who had just started his own record label named Asylum Records. He approached Linda Ronstadt with the idea that he wanted her backup band to become part of his label. Instead of rebelling Geffen, Ronstadt was very supportive and the four member backup band became known as the Eagles.

If you missed Tony's other recent posts, you can find them here at Papa's Corner.

This band became so popular, so fast that they were a phenomenon, an American version of the Beatles. In the 70s the Eagles produced two albums that have sold and been played multi-millions of time. In fact of the countless record albums produced and sold over the last hundred years "The Eagles Greatest Hits" and "Hotel California" rank in the top 5 alone with the Beatles, Led Zeplin and Michael Jackson.

They were riding high in the period 1971-1975. Then because of creative differences Bernie Leadon left the band and was replaced by Joe Walsh in 1974. A short time later in 1975, they added a fifth member named Don Felder. A few years later Timothy B. Schmit was chosen to replace Randy Meisner who was tired of the endless tours.

When Don Felder joined the band as a guitarist in 1975, he brought with him music he had written. Felder had been friends with Bernie Leadon when they both lived in Florida. And when Bernie left the band he recommended they bring in Don Felder. Instead, they hired Joe Walsh but decided to add Felder because they wanted more guitars in their songs.

So the band is highly successful and Felder says to Frey and Henley, "I've got this music I wrote but I'm not a lyricist so could you help me with the words." So the three get together and composed Hotel California.

By the time they were done composing they had a 7 minute song. "No way... we cannot have a 7 minute song... the most we can have is a 3 and a half minute song." The record execs told them to cut the guitar prelude and the guitar ending. That would put the song at about the 3 and a half minute mark. Henley, Frey and Felder argued vehemently against it and it was produced and distributed as a 7 minute song.

The song went on to become number 1 on the Billboard charts for weeks and anchored the number 3 album of all time making making millions of dollars over a 50 year period for the artists, composers and record lable.

Then in 1993 a popular country singer named Travis Tritt asked Henley and Frey if he could make an album of their songs. Henley and Frey consented and Tritt called the album... Common Threads - Songs of the Eagles.

Tritt's album of Eagles songs became a big hit and Tritt asked the five Eagles if they would be part of a music video on MTV to promote the album. The 5 Eagles consented and the video became the most viewed on MTV in 1993. This was a wake up call to the 5 Eagles..... a best selling album and a super popular music video. It looks like the Eagles should get back together and tour. In effect "Hell Had Frozen Over" and Henley laughed that the famous line he stated 14 years ago was no longer valid.

The Eagles tour in 1994 was an enormous success filling arenas and stadiums in countless venues all over the world. My wife Carole and I went to see them at Padres Stadium in San Diego on their second comeback concert in 1994. The stadium was packed and it was SRO.

For the last 32 years the Eagles have continued to play before sold out crowds in whatever venue they played.

The song epitomizes what it means to live in California... the endless Pacific Ocean beaches, the mountains, deserts and Spanish architecture. It tells of happiness, decadence and the magnetic attraction that makes people never want to leave.

The famous line from the song tells it all... "You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave".

The dueling guitars of two of the greatest guitar players in history is fantastic to listen to and an unbelievable experience at their concerts. Felder and Walsh always put on a crowd-pleasing show that is the highlight of their concerts.

The Eagles like another super successful group - the Beatles broke up after 10 years so in 1980 they disbanded and each of the 5 members went onto a solo career. Henley and Frey had very successful solo careers. Henley issued the famous saying when a reporter asked if they would ever reunite... "We will reunite when hell freezes over".

A couple of years ago they stopped touring and established a residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas. The Sphere has 167,000 speakers and is the most futuristic music venue in the world.

Over the last 32 years, Glenn Frey passed away and Don Felder left the band. Henley, Walsh and Schmit were joined by Deacon Frey (Glenn's son) and famous country singer Vince Gill.

Ther is talk this is the last year of the Eagles performing. They may stop performing live but their music - especially Hotel California - will live on forever.

Dan Tanas: West Hollywood Timeless Italian Experience

My All-Time Favorites

I thought I would write about some of my all-time favorites such as a restaurant, song, movie and TV show. Everyone has a favorite and I will share mine. This article will be about my favorite restaurant.

Opening screen shot of Dan Tana's website

Dan Tanas West Hollywood

Hands down my favorite restaurant is Dan Tanas West Hollywood. Located in West Hollywood this little Italian restaurant is known for its great food and frequent celebrity customers. It was established in the 1930's and has been a Hollywood staple for almost 100 years.

I live in Orange County, California and a trip to Los Angeles is 100 miles and takes about 2 1/2 to 3 hours depending on traffic, but Dan Tana's is worth the trip.

As I mentioned in previous articles my company MarketSource was a leader in college marketing bringing household name brands such as Kellogg's, Apple, Colgate toothpaste, etc. onto large college campuses through signage, events, and sampling. We did very well in virtually all brand categories except one, the movies. The reason was one fantastic salesperson named Gene who worked for a competitor, U Magazine. His office wasn't in some LA office building... His office was a corner table in Dan Tana's restaurant where he did all his business.

If you missed Tony's other recent posts, you can find them here at Papa's Corner.

My business partner Marty Levine, whom I had written about in previous articles said to me "Tony, meet up with this guy Gene who works for U Magazine and gets a ton of movie ads every issue. See what it would take to get him to work for MarketSource."

So I call Gene and I introduced myself over the phone and requested a meeting. Gene said to meet him at Dan Tana's at 6 PM where he conducted all his business.

I enter Dan Tana's and I am greeted by the maître d', a tall good-looking guy named Craig (more about Craig later). Craig escorts me to Gene's booth. I notice that the man in the booth to Gene's left is Jerry Buss who owns the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team. Then I look to Gene's left, and I see Sumner Redstone who is a billionaire who owns Viacom (CBS, MTV). Gene is standing at his booth talking to Gary Marshall, creator of "Happy Days" and "Laverne and Shirley". Gene introduces me to Gary who smiles and leaves to go to the bar area. I said Gene I am impressed. He just smiles and calls for his favorite waiter Arturo to get us some drinks. Gene then waves to George Clooney who is walking to his table.

A celebration for the movie, Kramer vs. Kramer for the Gene, third from left, from his days at Columbia Pictures, with the actor, Dustin Hoffman, 4th from right. Dustin won Best Actor for the movie. The person on the far left was Stanley Jaffe, Gene's brother-in-law, who produced the movie.

Clooney comes over and says to me "Hi I'm George," I said "Nice to meet you, George." Then he kiddingly says, "I judge people by who they associate with, but I'll make an exception in your case." We all laugh and he departs. I ask Gene how often he is at Dan Tana's and he says Monday through Friday, 6 to 10 PM, at this booth every night but weekends. I come to find out that Gene is from Rye, New York and married a young lady named Marsha for 30 years and has a son and daughter. I asked Gene what brought him to California and he said, "I got a job with Columbia Pictures where my father-in-law Leo was CEO for many years." He also said his brother-in-law Stanley was CEO of Paramount Pictures for many years and won an Academy Award as producer of "Kramer vs. Kramer". I'm thinking, this Gene fellow is more connected than I could have ever imagined.

Gene asks about me and I tell him the MarketSource story and how great it would be to have him on our team.

Gene says, "I'm interested but it would have to be for substantially more than I make at U Magazine." He said, "Before we talk business lets enjoy a nice dinner and get to know each other."

I said, "Gene since you eat here practically every day, what do you recommend." Gene said, "The New York steak is great, as are the New Zealand lamb chops, white fish, spaghetti and meatballs and his favorite chicken parmesan."

Notes from my dad's story

I order the shrimp cocktail as an appetizer, lamb chops entre and NY cheesecake for dessert. Gene ordered the calamari, white fish and spumoni. I'm thinking this is the best dinner I ever had, no wonder the place is so popular. The chef comes out and asks how it was, Gene and I say terrific. Gene hands him a $20 and he smiles and goes back to the kitchen. Craig the maître d' comes over and asks if we need anything and we say no, everything was great. Gene hands Craig a $20 and he heads for another table. Then Arturo comes to the table and Gene hands him $60. The bus boy cleaning the table is handed $10. I'm thinking the dinner was $200 and the tips $110 or a total of $310 times 5 nights a week is about $1,500 a week times 52 weeks comes to about $75,000 a year.

Then Gene tells me he has a top-of-the-line BMW as his company car and limo service if he doesn't feel like driving to Dan Tana's.

So now I get into salary, commission on sales and bonuses. Gene says he delivers 7 to 8 million a year in movie advertisements to U Magazine. His base salary is $200,000 and his commissions are 10% or about 750,000, so when you add up salary, commissions and expense account, Gene is pulling in about $1,100,000 a year, not bad in 1994. No wonder he has a constant smile on his face.

I leave Dan Tana's telling Gene I would discuss everything with Marty Levine.

I call Marty and tell him that every night Gene is sitting at Dan Tana's entertaining executives from Paramount, Warner Brothers, Universal, Sony, 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate and MGM. He comes with a contract and after dinner he gets them to sign. He loves them and they love Gene and Dan Tana's. There is no way MarketSource could break that bond.

Then Marty asks how much Gene is making and there is stone silence. I'm not sure if the phone has a bad connection or Marty has passed out.

This posed quite a dilemma for MarketSource. Gene could give us a major brand category we couldn't touch. It would increase the value of the company and make us more attractive to potential buyers and to investment banks considering us for an IPO. However, on the flip side the compensation imbalance between Gene and our 50 advertising sales reps would be of such significance to cause morale problems, requests for higher salaries and commissions on sales and company cars.

The cons were more than the pros. MarketSource had prided itself on a culture of family and it resulted in significant annual growth and very low turnover. Hiring Gene would risk jeopardizing the culture of the company despite the attractiveness of the entertainment industry.

Marty and I made that decision and let it stay in silence since there was no need to rattle any cages.

It was a great meeting with Gene, a great dinner at Dan Tana's and fun meeting celebrities. So I called Gene and said how great it was to meet this legendary salesperson and we considered making him an offer, but we decided not to because of the factors enumerated. I thanked him and he said maybe we could get together again at Dan Tana's but the next time just as friends. I said I look forward to it.

Well, since that sunny day in 1994 Gene and I have had at least 200 dinners at Dan Tana's and although Gene no longer lives in California, we speak every Monday morning from 7 AM to 8 AM. We talk about sports, politics, business happenings and family.

Ironically back in 2003 when Alloy Entertainment purchased MarketSource, Gene was working for Alloy and knocking it out of the park even though he was in his 70's. I became a member of Alloy's board of directors and got involved in the entertainment industry as Alloy produced very popular teen and young adult television shows such as "Gossip Girl", "Vampire Diaries" and "Pretty Little Liars". Alloy has since been sold to Warner Brothers.

At the beginning of this article, I mentioned the maître d' at Dan Tana's, Craig Susser. Well Craig opened Craig's Restaurant in 2011, and it has become the most popular restaurant in Los Angeles, even more popular than Dan Tana's.

My next article will be about my favorite song.

Lifelong Friendship Bonds and the Power of Shared History

Three longtime friends, Frank Spero, Tony Fiore, and Matty Tricorico. Tony has been friends with Matty for 70 years and Frank 66 years.

A Note from Rooted & Refined Living

This is a story about my dad and his two lifelong friends shared from my dad's perspective. There is a small section towards the end that talk about the careers his friends had in the FBI and their high-profile case against the Mafia. There is a small part to this post that discuss violence, but it is in the context of the story. More than anything, this is a story about friendship. Following my dad writing the story, it generated a new flurry of activity between the three friends that still talk at least once a week to this day. At the end of the day, that is what this website is about.

My Friendship with Matty

I was lucky to have a great

family and I was also lucky to have great friends. Two of my close friends have been lifelong friends — Frank Spero and Matty Tricorico.

Tony Fiore at Port Richmond HS

In a previous writing I mentioned about Little Johnny and George Gomez — the elementary school bully who was left back two years and who got his jollies by beating up his classmates after school. I avoided the wrath of Gomez by giving him my homework to copy and Little Johnny got a pass because he was famous for being in a Campbell’s Chicken Soup commercial.

Now I am in the eighth grade and a funny thing happened — in two years I grew from 4'10" to 6'2". Gomez stopped growing at 5'6" so George feared me. My dramatic growth spurt did not go unnoticed by the Public School 44 basketball coach Mr. Quin. He put me on the team and made me practice for hours. He would throw the ball against the backboard and whack me as I went up for the rebound. He would step on my toes and yell as the ball was coming down. The motive was simple — if I could withstand that kind of punishment in practice, the actual game would be a cakewalk. I averaged 20 points a game and made the All Star team. So when I entered Port Richmond High School that fall, I tried out for the Junior Varsity and was the only freshman to make the team.

If you missed Tony's other recent posts, you can find them here at Papa's Corner.

Matty "Sonny" Tricorico at Port Richmond HS in Staten Island, NY

One of my classmates at Port Richmond was Matty Tricorico. He was a little over 5 feet when he started as a freshman but by the time he was a junior he was 6'2". I stopped growing so we were the same height. Ironically, Mr. Quin, my PS 44 coach, became the JV coach at Port Richmond and he put Matty through the same regimen he had put me through. Matty was a late bloomer and in our senior year on Varsity, Port Richmond won the Staten Island Championship and Matty was the star player. I had a decent year but Matty was the go-to player when we needed a goal to win. Matty finished second in the voting for Staten Island's best high school player. As a team we played in Madison Square Garden and although we lost to a great Brooklyn school, Matty excelled. He was offered a basketball scholarship to Colgate University and Wagner College. At Wagner he was a big star and years later made the Wagner College Hall of Fame. Matty and I were good friends in high school and college and have remained good friends for decades.

My Friendship with Frank

At Port Richmond High School, I had a very good grade average and was a cinch to be placed on the school's Permanent Honor Roll. On the last day of my senior year, my English class grade was mostly based on an essay. The subject of the essay was "Political Indifference in the United States." I must have had a brain fog that day because I wrote a 10-page essay on "Political Differences in the United States." I wrote an A graded essay but on the wrong subject. My teacher tearfully told me she loved the essay but had to give me a D. I appealed to take it over. My parents appealed but to no avail — the D stuck.

Frank Spero in the Marines

As a result, I no longer made the Permanent Honor Roll but had to take Remedial English for a year at Wagner College where I had enrolled. "Remedial English" was also referred to as "Donkey English" because most of the students were football players who had to take the course. Our professor was a tall, lanky guy named Herb Brandcamp. Professor Brandcamp took the course seriously as did I. It was a practice at Wagner that incoming freshman wear little caps called dinks the first two months of class. Naturally I was the only one in the class who adhered to this tradition, and I was ridiculed by the football player classmates — with one exception — a tough ex-marine who was a gritty lineman on the team. His name was Frank Spero. He had graduated from Lyndhurst, New Jersey High School where he excelled in football. Frank befriended me when the hazing got out of hand. After high school Frank enlisted in the Marines and served for three years. When his tour of duty with the Marines ended, he returned to Lyndhurst and was reunited with a former football teammate — Wally Pagan. Wally convinced Frank to apply to Wagner and he did, receiving a partial scholarship to play football. Frank was a guard on offense and a linebacker on defense. He was a key player in Wagner's undefeated 9-0 football team. Frank was awarded the Robb Trophy as MVP of the annual Homecoming game.

Frank Spero, Lyndhurst (NJ) High School

Eventually Frank, Matty and I became fraternity brothers of Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity. We became very close friends throughout our college years at Wagner.

Frank and I were on the Wagner baseball team and one story sticks out of our time together on the team. It was our first spring practice, and I was working out at first base and Frank was our third baseman. I had gotten a new first baseman's glove for Christmas and had oiled it and did all the things necessary to break it in. So, I am taking grounders and throws, scooping up the short hops and happy as a lark with my new glove. All that ended when a hot shot freshman named Curt Blefary approached me at first base and said, "You better get a fielder's glove Fiore because I'm playing first base." I said, "Curt, I thought you were a catcher." Blefary said I was, but the crouching up and down is wearing out my knees and I don't want to wind up injured with bad knees. Then he said, "Besides, do you see those 5 guys in the stands watching our practice? They are Major League Baseball scouts from the Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles, Giants and Dodgers. They are here to see me, not you."

Curt Belfray (2nd row, 2nd from left) and Tony Fiore (2nd row, 4th from left)

So Curt Blefary is in the on-deck circle waiting to take his cuts and Frank comes over to talk to me, and I tell him the story. "That Blefary has some nerve — I wonder if his bat can back up his mouth."

Then Curt Blefary puts on a batting practice show I and Frank will never forget. He hits ball after ball 385, 400 and 425 feet over the right field fence into the Augustinian Academy schoolyard. Everyone is in awe — the guy is superhuman. Frank's only words to me is, "Tony, I heard Fred Muche's Sports Store has a sale on fielder's gloves."

From left to right, Curt Belfray, Boog Powell, Brooks Robinson and Frank Robinson

Curt Blefary wound up playing 10 years in the Major Leagues. He was American League Rookie of the Year with the Baltimore Orioles and won a World Series with the Orioles in 1966 playing alongside Frank Robinson, Boog Powell and Brooks Robinson. Considering there are only 1,000 Major League players and 5 million young boys who want to be Major Leaguers, it was quite an experience playing with Curt Blefary. Frank and Matty and I reminisce occasionally about "The Blef."

The Years After Wagner

My years after Wagner are well documented in my recent two-part series. Frank and Matty had careers that have been written about in bestselling books.

Upon graduating Wagner College Frank became a Probation Officer in Bergen County, New Jersey. After a few years as a Probation Officer Frank Spero joined the FBI. After tours of duty in Miami and Atlanta, Frank was assigned to The Organized Crime Division and stationed in Manhattan.

Matty had a different career path as he started out as an elementary school teacher at none other than Public School 44. After 9 years as a schoolteacher, Frank convinced Matty to apply for the FBI. Matty got into the FBI and wound up in the same Manhattan division as Frank within a few years.

In New York City there were 5 organized crime divisions named after prominent gang leaders — the Gambino Family, Colombo Family, Bonanno Family, Genovese Family and Lucchese Family. The most notorious was the Gambino Family led originally by Carlo Gambino, and eventually by Paul Castellano and John Gotti.

The history of the New York City Mafia, or Cosa Nostra (Our Thing) traces back to the early 1900's. It evolved from disorganized, localized Sicilian clans into a highly structured, syndicate-style criminal empire that profoundly influenced the city's labor, construction and political landscapes.

In 1931 a violent power struggle erupted between older, traditional Sicilian bosses and a younger generation of Americanized mobsters. Following the end of this bloody war, the Mafia reorganized all of New York's Italian American gangs into Five Families. A commission was established by Charles "Lucky" Luciano. The Commission was a ruling body consisting of the five bosses that mediated disputes and coordinated territorial assignments.

The Mafia was glorified by the bestselling 1970 novel called "The Godfather". It went on to become a monster hit movie and is regarded as one of the top 5 movies of all time. As a result, many young Italian American men aspired to become Mafia members. With the rise of the Mafia came huge profits through infiltration of labor unions and an enormous drug trafficking business. The years from 1970-1995 were known as "The Golden Age" of the New York City Mafia.

Matty Tricorico (left) Sammy "The Bull" (center) and Frank Spero (right) heading to court to testify against John Gotti

Even though Staten Island is the smallest of the 5 boroughs of New York City, it had a little over 100 Mafia members residing there. As a result, Frank and Matty were assigned to the Staten Island office in 1980. The big, powerful boss of the Gambino family back then was Paul Castellano, and he lived a flamboyant life. Whereas most of the Mafia leaders downplayed their ill-gotten riches by living in middle class neighborhoods, Castellano lived a sprawling mansion known as "The White House" atop Todt Hill in Staten Island. Todt Hill is the highest point on the East Coast and Castellano had a view of the Atlantic Ocean and New York skyline. One of the Mafia members who reported to him was John Gotti. Another member was Sammy "The Bull" Gravano. When Castellano's number 2-man Neil Dellacroce passed away, John Gotti thought he or his mentor Neil Dellacroce would be next in line. Instead, Castellano was set to appoint Tommy Bilotti as his number 2 man. Gotti then engineered a December 1985 hit that killed both Castellano and Bilotti on the street in front of Sparks Steak House. The hit on Castellano was engineered by Gotti and Gravano who were parked nearby when the killings took place. Although the killings were done in broad daylight, none of the many witnesses who saw the crime could remember anything.

John Gotti became head of the Gambino Family and Sammy Gravano became his underboss. Gotti had gone to trial a number of times, but he was always acquitted. It came to be known that jurors and/or their families were threatened. Gotti became known as "The Teflon Don" because nothing would stick. He loved the fame and made sure the paparazzi was around when he took his walks around the Manhattan neighborhood where the Ravenite Social Club was situated.

Frank Spero and Matty Tricorico were assigned to monitor the comings and goings of Mafia members as they hung out at the club. Frank and Matty were in a van keeping track of the goings on. When the van became suspicious to the Mafia members, they rented an apartment with a view of the Ravenite. They learned through an informant that an old lady lived above the Ravenite Club and that was where all the key Mafia discussions and decisions were being made. Gotti would give the lady a couple of hundred dollars to take a walk or go shopping and he and his cohorts would go upstairs to her apartment to discuss business. The FBI learned that the old lady was going out of town for a few days and in the middle of the night they were able to enter the apartment and bug it.

Page one of the story about friendship

The FBI through the bug recordings learned that it was Gotti who was behind Castellano's murder. Now came the tough part — getting a jury to convict him.

This is where Frank and Matty played huge roles in his conviction. Sammy "The Bull" Gravano lived in Staten Island with his wife and two children. There were a number of times that Sammy had to be questioned or served with a subpoena or warrant. Frank and Matty respected the fact that Sammy had a family and close neighbors. They made sure that anytime they had an exchange with Sammy his kids and neighbors were not around. As a result, Sammy built a trust and liking for Frank and Matty. So in the early 1990's when John Gotti was arrested and put on trial for the umpteenth time, Sammy reached out to Frank and Matty and wanted to talk. He said he would be willing to give his testimony implicating Gotti in the killing of Paul Castellano, Tommy Bilotti and others in exchange for the Witness Protection Program. In essence Spero and Tricorico got a notorious, lifelong Mafioso to flip. This trial to jury was unidentified and sequestered. They found Gotti guilty and he was sentenced to life in prison. They nailed the most famous Mafia member since Al Capone.

Frank Spero and Matty Tricorico were heralded for their part in finally putting John Gotti in prison. Bestselling books such as "Boss of Bosses", "Gameland", "Underboss", and "The Gotti Wars".

With Gotti in prison, many other Mafia members broke their silence and eventually the NYC Mafia became a shell of what it once was. There is still organized crime in New York, but it is run by Russian and Albanian crime families.

Frank and Matty retired a little over 25 years ago from the FBI.

Lifelong Friendship Bonds

I am still close friends of Frank and Matty and we keep in touch quite frequently. As I said at the beginning — I am lucky to have great lifelong friendship bonds.