I spent 30 years in the music business as a musician, singer and concert booker/promoter. I was a recording artist on several labels including Epic and Capitol Records. Later I was a partner at the Agora Ballroom chain of night clubs.

I will be posting a blog once or twice a month going forward on ClevelandRockAndSoul.com. Each post will be an excerpt from my upcoming book, “Rock and Roll Tales Straight Outta Cleveland”.

I will tell stories about my experiences being a musician in Cleveland in the 60’s and 70’s … stories of the musicians I knew and played with. And while the website was the “Cliff’s Notes” of the bands profiled on the website, the blog will go into more detail with backstage stories and behind-the-scenes stuff.

I’ll talk about Cleveland bands like The James Gang, The Outsiders, The Raspberries and others.

I will tell stories of friends like Hank LoConti, Steve Popovich, Kevin “Dugie” Dugan, Roger Abramson and many others.

For those of you who lived it, you can skip this part. But for you young ones, here’s a recap of a very magic time to be alive.

The 1960’s and 70’s was an amazing era in rock n roll history that for me actually began in 1964 with Beatlemania and the English invasion. It was an explosion of music. And Cleveland was a major market in the world of big-time rock and roll. Record companies would come here to try to get airplay on our radio stations to “break” records … turn them into hits. We had great AM stations like WHK, WIXY and great Deejays like Alan Freed, Mad Daddy, Johnny Holiday, Larry Morrow, Billy Bass and later FM stations like WMMS.

A whole rock n roll industry sprung up almost overnight. It revolved around 3.2 beer. Dozens of clubs opened catering to 18 year old kids who could go to bars and drink beer. Every bar had live bands and there were hundreds of bands to fill that need. Upbeat a nationally syndicated weekly TV show (originally called the Big 5 Show) was produced in Cleveland. Recording studios opened and rock and roll became big business. I was right in the thick of it playing music and making records trying to “make it”.

And after I hung up my rock n roll shoes and retired as a musician, I worked with Hank LoConti for years at the Agora in the late 70’s and early 80’s as Vice President. Although it was not widely known at the time, we opened a chain of Agoras around the country with clubs in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Tampa and the Miami area. We had Ohio covered with clubs in Columbus, Toledo, Painesville, Youngstown and Akron.

We also did 3 outdoor shows every summer at Legend Valley, managed Artful Dodger and released their album,” RaveOn” on Agora Records, and in our spare time had a weekly television show “Onstage at the Agora” which was on WJW TV and simulcast on WMMS.

It was a crazy time. That building on E. 24th was a beehive of activity. Looking back, I don’t know how we kept all these balls in the air.

My job was booking all the shows at all the Agora clubs. During that time, I put on hundreds of concerts for the chain but most importantly booked and promoted hundreds of legendary shows at the home base, The Cleveland Agora on E 24th Street.

Of the many shows I put on at The Agora, over 40 of the headliners are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame today. Some were already big stars like Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, and David Bowie.

Other “baby acts” who are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame today played their first Cleveland appearance at The Agora. Among them were U2,The Pretenders, The Ramones, AC/DC, Elvis Costello, The Police, Lou Reed, The Cars, Tom Petty, The Clash, Blondie, John Mellancamp, Talking Heads, Tom Waits, Patti Smith, Dire Straits, Genesis, Joan Jett, Iggy Pop and Journey.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. There were hundreds of shows. Every concert tells a story.

And, I’m interested in your comments about the Cleveland music scene in rock’s Golden Age … memories of your favorite bands, various clubs of that era, and concerts you attended. It’s all part of Cleveland Rock and Roll history. So go ahead let me hear it.