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This Towne Rocks: Tune in for a rockin’ good time during Show 16 on ClayRadio!
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Two former members of Ace Frehley’s band, Richie Scarlet and Tod Howarth, are headed to Jacksonville, and they’re sitting down with TTR hosts Curt Towne, Freddie Oca, and Mike Cella to share stories from the road about Frehley, the former KISS guitarist.
Plus, don’t miss The Richie Scarlet Band live at Jack Rabbits in Jacksonville on Sunday, May 10!
Catch the interviews on ClayRadio:
Friday 5/8 at 12 PM & 9 PM
Saturday & Sunday at 7 PM
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And that music means only one thing. It's time now for this. Town rocks. Yes. It's a good thing this isn't YouTube because quite honestly, somebody would have thought we had Elaine from Seinfeld at our last time.
SPEAKER_07Come on.
SPEAKER_04I'm a great air band. Air drums.
SPEAKER_03You're royal tone, man. I'm Phil Collins, man.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Hey, this is Mike Steller with uh Kurt Town and Freddie Oka as uh we get together and do this thing that you listen to on Fridays at noon and 9 p.m., Saturday and Sundays at 7 p.m. I think that flow was great. That was good. I perfect myself in the back. All right. And uh today we're all patting ourselves on the back because we got some special guests coming.
SPEAKER_02It was awesome.
SPEAKER_04It was fantastic. It's good to hear. We we took it right up to the ninth hour as to whether they were going to be able to be with us or not. Kurt and got the rockers up. Yeah, yeah. You want to tell us who they are real quick?
SPEAKER_02Yes, Richie Scarlet and Todd Hallworth of the Ace Freely's bands. You know, it was Freely's Comet with Todd, and it was well, both of them actually did Fraley's Comet and Ace Freely, but they're their musical icons and just so much looking forward to talking to them today. Uh they're great guys, and they're gonna be playing Jackrabbits here in Jacksonville, Florida the Sunday, May S May 10th.
SPEAKER_04May 10th.
SPEAKER_02And and it's gonna be it's gonna be great and it's gonna be a blast talking to them.
SPEAKER_04Terrific, yeah. And then uh Freddie, you got uh you had a show uh the other day, I think it was.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, we were at the uh Ramada Inn comedy zone in Mandarin and uh It was really crowded. I think when rain happens and you're indoors doing an event, I think that always has been a question. So there was a lot of people there because uh that show that was canceled at the holiday in a couple months ago, this is the one that took place over it. So it's been four months and they did a big show. Wow, that's great.
SPEAKER_04All right. Well, and uh of course I was gonna come see you uh during the show, but uh then I found out not only was it raining, but they were doing work on the Buckman Bridge. Oh, yeah. So it was like down to one lane. I was like, uh, I love Freddie, but I'm not sitting in that traffic for a while. Don't love me that much. Probably from a distance. Well, that's what you got on store for you here today on uh this town rocks, and we of course always turn to our dad joke of the day. Extraordinaire! And here he is with Mr. Freddie Hoka.
SPEAKER_03All right, hold all the vegetables, don't throw them at me. All right. If your house is cold, just stand in the corner. It's always 90 degrees there. One for two, ladies and gentlemen. Here comes the throw. Do you want me to two or one?
SPEAKER_02Yes, do it, do it.
SPEAKER_03Did you hear about the guy who went to the doctor for a headache? Uh the doctor examined his ear and found money. The doctor kept pulling out and pulling out money until he had $1,099. Then he said, Well, no wonder you're not feeling well. Uh you're not feeling too grand.
SPEAKER_04But a bunch. Wait a minute. I've got a change of the button here for just a quick second. Give me a second. That makes it funnier now. Yeah. All right. Well, that's just a sample of what you're gonna get here the next hour or so. And so uh stay with us. Uh, we'll be back with more here with this town rocks on Clay Radio after this.
SPEAKER_00Thank God it's what it's on your day.
SPEAKER_04Hey, and welcome back to This Town Rocks here on Clay Radio. We appreciate you uh tuning in with us, and uh it's a big day for us here at uh Clay Radio. We all love to have musicians uh call in uh from the road, tell us a little bit about what they're doing. And uh, this is a gentleman that uh Kurt met a few years ago. Kurt, right? And why don't you take over from there?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so Richie Scarlet, we played a show at Brian's Backyard BBQ in New York on the same bill. And uh I think maybe even um uh Jolym Turner may have been on that same bill. It was a great day for me because I'm a big fan of theirs, everybody's you know, get to see Richie Scarlet play was awesome. So anyway, Richie Scarlet, you know, you you get you play with Ace Freely, you have your own band, you've done uh a tremendous amount of stuff, and uh you have a new book, and we're super excited to talk to you about all those things. And not only that, but you're on tour with Todd Hallworth, and you and you guys are doing a tribute to Ace Freely, which is wonderful because of all of us fans of yours and Ace's, you know, we're excited for that. And you'll be playing in Jack Rabbit at in Jacksonville at Jackrabbits Sunday. So uh I'm super excited. I'll be there. I can't wait to get your book, and so you know, hey, thank you for coming on.
SPEAKER_05Hey, well, thanks for having me, guys. Absolutely. Yes, uh yeah, so uh it's great to be uh you know together with Todd Howorth again, and uh, you know, he's one hell of a singer, man. Oh yeah, so um so we had a great show uh Saturday night in Boca, Raton. And I'm looking forward to doing a Jacksonville show for sure. Uh we're up in uh four Myers on Friday night. We're in Stewart on Saturday night, and uh Sunday will be in Jacksonville. And uh we're doing this uh it's a tribute to Ace, but it's not really like a tribute tribute. I mean, we're doing songs I wrote with Ace from the Trouble Walking uh album and some early kiss songs, and uh, but I'm also doing some songs from a band I was in called Mountain. Uh so we're doing a few mountain songs and uh some of my songs, but it's but the night is dedicated uh definitely to the spirit of Ace, really. And all four of us in this band, at one point, uh Andy Rice and Steve Butchie Warner and Todd and myself had you know at some point had played with Ace or toured with Ace. So um, yeah, I mean it's the four of us. Uh and it also goes out to John Regan, who was Ace's bass player for many years, who passed away, and uh Paul Cochran, bass player who played with Ace, who we lost uh uh maybe a year and a half ago. So it's kind of uh just a celebration of life for uh Ace and some of the members of Ace's band that are no longer with us.
SPEAKER_02Well, I for one uh greatly appreciate the opportunity to get to see you guys do that. I'm a you know, I'm a lifelong fan. Uh loved going to KISS conventions, you know, back in the day and doing all that stuff where we could kind of meet you guys from time to time or you know, get some really cool stuff that you guys had been involved in either at the time or previously, you know, that kind of deal. And so to me, uh to be able to uh see you at Jackrabbits uh is gonna be fantastic. It's in our backyard, Jack Rabbits is a fun venue, and uh Tim, the owner, has been a great guy for many years. He's had some incredible bands there. And so yeah, man, it's great. And uh even you know uh a lot of guys, uh local guys like myself love to play it every now and then uh just because uh the spirit of it is so cool, you know, which is is a really cool thing. It's you know, so we're excited to have you and uh we're excited uh for all the things, you know.
SPEAKER_05I'm yeah, well I'm certainly excited to be playing there, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's great, man.
SPEAKER_05And so looking forward to it.
SPEAKER_02So a lot of people don't understand, you know, life on the road. Life on the road is challenging. So for you to get up this morning, thank you. To do that, to do that, you know, that's uh that's asking a lot, and I appreciate it greatly because I understand, you know, I understand exactly what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, it's all good, man.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. So so tell me, tell me a favorite Ace Freely story, uh, you know, touring with him, on the road with him, something funny, you know, just a funny story. Give me a funny story.
SPEAKER_05Oh, Jesus, you know, Ace was such a funny guy. Um we were just always a lot of pranks, and uh I'm sorry to take one story of it. I can't really think uh particular story off the top of my head the second. Uh but uh, you know, we had wonderful, wonderful times. Uh Ace and I go back uh I guess to 83 and uh I think it was 85 when we did the first tour, uh, which was just kind of funny because no one knew what he looked like.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_05Uh I know because the other guys had put out the uh unmasked uh the uh lick it up record, so but uh Ace uh no one ever really knew what he looked like. So that first tour in 85 I did with him uh the fund of you know before the Freely's Comet record, you know, just the original Freely's Comet with Anton Fig and uh John Regan. We did about 12 cities on the East Coast, and you know, he was uh knowing that uh photographers were all waiting to you know, everybody was waiting to see what he looked like, you know.
SPEAKER_02Including myself.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, you know, so um, you know, it was it was uh it's kind of a stressful thing for Ace, I think, uh to get over, you know, just to be f photographed without any makeup on. But uh you know, I used to tell him, put the makeup back on, you know, you you know, you're one ugly motherfucker. Just messing with him, you know, and uh he would laugh. Uh but uh we and so that very first tour, uh, you know, that was a big deal for him to come out without the makeup. And uh so there was a lot of funny pranks, you know, jokes about about his makeup. And so those were some funny times, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's great. That's fantastic.
SPEAKER_04Hey, we're uh talking with uh Richie Scarlet here on uh This Town Rocks. And uh Richie, I guess uh, you know, uh a lot of those stories will be in in a book that you've got coming out.
SPEAKER_05I have a book out now. Uh guy named John Ramsey uh in Europe uh put this book together. I really didn't have a lot to do with it. It's uh 365 pages. Uh the guy did an incredible job. It's my life in photographs, basically, of all the people that I've uh worked with in my career. Um a lot of great shots of Ace and Ace and I uh all over the world. And uh yeah. So that book will be available at Jackson and Jacksonville, Jack Rabbits, and uh Tony is uh Cicero is the running this whole show for me down here in Florida. She's uh the one that uh book these shows, promotes promotes them, and she's also the merchandise uh lady. So uh come and see her at the table Sunday night in Jacksonville at Jack Rabbits and pick up a book. And uh I'd be happy to sign it and uh I'll be there at the table. And uh you know, we have all the other usual merch t-shirts and and uh I guess she's got photos and CDs and stuff like that. But the book is cool. I'm doing a book signing in Stuart, Florida tomorrow. Uh she's at a music store. I can't remember the name of the store. But uh um yeah, so the book is uh the guy did a hell of a job on this book. He really did.
SPEAKER_03Well, Richie, I was gonna say, I'm glad that they're all pictures, because me and Kurt, the only kind of books we get into are the ones we color in. So there you go. Richie, I was gonna tell you, uh, if you're able to get to the there's a so where you're at at Jack Rabbit's next door is one of my good friends, William. He owns yesterday and today records, and I think they close at five on Sunday. I'm sure they would love to maybe promo your book over there at the store and uh maybe get you a little more, you know, uh hits on on social media for your book and promote that and your music as well. That's great.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we can we can set that up. William's a great guy. He's a he's a really cool dude, and it's literally like next door. It's next door. So it's not far to walk. Cool record store, too. Yeah, it's really cool. You'll dig it very much so. Very much so.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, so you know, uh, like I said, the combination of this band with Andy Rice on bass and Steve Budgie Warner drums and Todd and myself. Uh we're, you know, uh doing a at least four songs from the trouble walking record. And uh, of course, Todd was in Cheap Trick, uh on and off playing keyboards with them for a number of years. So we're doing a Cheap Trick song and some mountain songs. And uh I'm a blue, you know, I I I was um weaned on the British blues as a guitar player. So uh I do a blues uh tune and a song I wrote for Robin Trower called Eastbound Train. I'll be performing um at all these shows, uh obviously in Jacksonville. But the spirit of the night will be for Ace. Uh and uh, you know, we're doing some stuff from his first solo record, Rip It Out, and uh um Rock Soldier is a little piece of that, and uh it's an interesting set, uh that's for sure. You know, we just banged through the uh a couple of early kids songs, Parasite, and uh uh of course uh Deuce and um yeah, so um it's uh it's a powerful band, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, what what a what an all-star lineup. We're we're super excited. I can't wait to be there. So I'm gonna be there. I'm sure several of my friends are gonna be there. And uh it'll be like a kind of a reunion with our buddies out here. So it'll be it'll be awesome to see them and to see you guys. So we'll be yelling and screaming and hollering for you. It'll be it'll be fantastic.
SPEAKER_05I appreciate that very much, and uh we're certainly looking forward to playing it and uh and uh just having a good time because that's you know time's going by very quickly, man. So you gotta just enjoy life and enjoy the good times, and so that's certainly what we want to give the the people there a good time, a great time.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, you know. And uh good memories, right? Absolutely. That's what that's what we end up with, regardless of uh who we are and where we are, right?
SPEAKER_05Absolutely right.
SPEAKER_04All right, we're talking with Richie Scarlet of the Richie Scarlet Band. He's uh appearing with the rest of the band uh at Jack Rapids on Sunday, that's uh the 10th of May, uh 1528 Hendricks Avenue in Jacksonville. I'm gonna give you the number. You can uh give them a call directly at uh 904-398-7496. And uh, you're listening to uh This Town Rocks here on Clay Radio. We're back with more coming up after this. Hey, welcome back to This Town Rocks. Uh Mike Sella here with uh Kirk Town and uh Freddie Oka, and uh we've got a special guest on the uh line as well today. And if you're uh listening in on uh of course uh clay radio, don't forget that this goes to uh podcast uh right after uh the weekend. Well, Richie Scarlet on the line with us, and uh Richie, you're doing pretty well for a guy that didn't know there's two eight o'clock.
SPEAKER_02That's for sure. Well, yeah, so so uh I'd love to know what you're what you're up to now. Like what do you got cooking? What's going on?
SPEAKER_05Well, I have a new single coming out. Uh the song is called Living Doll, and uh it'll be coming out, you know, uh digitally, but also on Colored Vinyl. It's being mixed by Tom Lord Alge, who uh is a legendary engineer. Um Tom Lord Alch mixed uh piece, you know, U2 and Peter Gabriel's records and uh The Rolling Stones and uh Pink and you know his his credentials just go on and on and on. So I'm very uh very honored to have him mix the record that will be being mixed at the end of this month. Uh my manager Gary Lefterwith uh is uh this record's coming out on Orchard, which is uh distributed by Sony. And um Gary Leftwith is the guy that's uh you know running the show as far as he produces a record. And Gary produces uh a lot of records for a lot of great rockabilly artists and Chubby Checker's last few records. So uh, and I've got Matt Starr uh plays drums on one one of the the uh B side of the single, and Matt, of course, was from Mr. Big. He played with Ace Really for on and off for many years, and uh and uh got some great players on it. Lenny Lee on bass guitar and uh Michael Cavan on the piano and myself doing the vocals and guitars and uh his uh was engineered by Mike Rogers at Lasonic Studios in Kent, Connecticut. So the that's coming out along with another book. Uh the this book is uh a series of interviews um that was done by a guy named Dave Ashdown uh out of Chicago, and uh so he he uh recorded many, many hours of you know just rock and roll stories and you know had it all edited down, nice manuscript. So the record of the book should be being released at the same time, and I'm guessing sometime in July uh that this that the the new record would be a living doll is the title. And uh so I'm excited about that for sure. And I'm uh I'm producing uh a record by uh singer named Dino Fergosi, who's a really wild singer from uh East Coast, New York and Philadelphia area. Uh and writing songs with him for this his new record and um just trying to stay creative. Uh kind of uh constantly that's my thing. I always try to be as creative as possible and uh and just keep moving ahead. And um, you know, I'm very blessed to still be out here doing what I'm doing after many years of touring, and uh so yeah, I'm definitely I've been I've had a very blessed life, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_03That's fantastic. Hey Richie, uh, this is coming from like the fan aspect of it. Um when you guys are on stage, what's like the craziest thing that's been thrown on the stage or something that's like is out of the order, like just something that you'll never forget. Like I heard somebody said they threw up a uh a um a prosthetic leg one time on the stage of her band. So I've I'm just I'm just amazed at some of the stuff.
SPEAKER_05Uh and through the years, sometimes you know, girls get a little out of control. Right. They do some crazy things like you know, try to rip your pants down when you're in the middle of a solo. Um you know, you just never know what's gonna happen. Um had a lot of crazy times when I was out with Sebastian Bach years ago, you know, like girls would just run right after him, of course, back then, and uh the whole stage would be filled with crazy girls and throwing their panties at you, and and it's just all rock and roll. Sex, you know, you got the sex into the rock and roll, and uh, but uh it's unpredictable, but there's been a lot of crazy times. I don't think anybody's throwing a prosthetic leg at me. But uh but uh you know it's definitely been some um you know wild moments and uh um yeah, so you just never know what's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_04Hey, hey, Richie, uh uh you know, being in radio, same thing happens to me. You know, I can't put I can't get into a Walmart without somebody, you know, some woman chasing after me. You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_02There you go, man. Oh my god.
SPEAKER_04That's terrific. Well, that it's great. You got two books, new one coming out, one's already out. You got uh this tour going on.
SPEAKER_05The one that's out now was done by John Ramsey in Europe, and uh uh you know he did just uh a a great, great job on it.
SPEAKER_04And uh Yeah, I can't wait to see those pictures. They they've got to be something else.
SPEAKER_05You know, he he got permission from like, I don't know, 70 photographers or something to use. So he he worked for quite a while on this book and researched me with all the photos. So the photos in this book start from when I'm like a baby, I guess. I don't know where he I don't know how he came up with so many photos, but you know, and he goes through all the different uh you know, years with Ace, uh and uh, you know, just different um artists that I've worked with. And uh so he he he did a heck of a job on this book. And uh it's called Richie Scarlet, My Life and Photos. Uh uh I believe that's what it's called. I haven't seen. Yeah. So uh come out to uh Jack Rabbit's on Sunday in Jacksonville, pick up a book, uh come and see me at the merch table. I'm looking forward to meeting everybody out there uh and having a great show, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and we're we're you know, we're very appreciative t for the opportunity to come out there and meet you and to get to see you guys play and meet you guys. Very excited about that opportunity. And yeah, you you definitely have had a had a wonderful, blessed life. And can continue to do so uh with music, it's a it's a beautiful thing. I mean when you can share your music with the world, that's a that's a wonderful blow.
SPEAKER_05You know, like I mentioned earlier, Todd Howard. I mean, you know, what if he said alongside that man? I man sings and plays guitar, and anybody wanted a killer drummer who worked with Ace really, uh three years together with Amy Longer with Budgie and uh kind of people and uh Andy Rice and Acework with Ace really uh you know it's great to be you know it was so brutal in New York over the winter when uh nasty, nasty winter winter's over, but it's just nice to be down here underneath some palm trees and looking at the lizard trees. We don't have that in New York, man. We don't have palm trees and lizards running around, but uh but it's uh just an honor to be uh out here in Florida and uh like I said, four Myers Friday night, Stewart Saturday night, and Jack Rabbits on Sunday in Jacksonville. So guys, I'm looking very much forward to meeting you guys and uh keep doing what you're doing on that great show of yours, and uh we'll see you at the show.
SPEAKER_04All right. Well, Richie, thanks so much. Yes, thank you for for coming on.
SPEAKER_05Thanks for having me on, guys. I appreciate it very much.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, best of luck with uh with the books and the tour and all kinds of things that you got going on, and uh the guys will be up there rooting you on there on uh Sunday at uh Jack Rabbits. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_05You got it, man. All right. Okay. Richie, thanks. Have a great day. You guys take care. Bye-bye. Bye.
SPEAKER_04And there he goes. Uh the Richie uh Scarlet Band at Jack Rabbits. It's at uh 1528 Hendricks Avenue in Jacksonville again, 904-398-7496. The number will be there on Sunday, May 10th. And the reason I put the whole address in is because uh the show is uh replayed at various times, and we want to make sure that somebody doesn't show up thinking that they're gonna be there you know Monday morning at 7 o'clock or something when they're listening to uh you know on demand or something like that effect. But uh there he is, he's got some stuff going on with the books and it is so great that he called in.
SPEAKER_02Thank you again, Richie, for calling in and chatting with us. Man is fantastic.
SPEAKER_03Awesome, it's just awesome talking to like I said, it's uh on the other side of the table for on the fan aspect of it. I just I think it's just uh cool hearing all these stories and people he knows, and it's definitely a small frame of a community that that that people regular people are not used to. So cool hearing all these stories about these uh these little pockets of communities of uh rock stars that uh Kurt knows and has played with. So it's fun.
SPEAKER_04It's awesome. And I I saw Freddie light up when he said, uh are you gonna is that gonna be on vinyl? He's like, my man!
SPEAKER_03I just love promoting like artists. It's just the coolest thing ever.
SPEAKER_04Absolutely. Well, I think they appreciate it, and and uh you know, we we never try to get into the gotcha or or you know try to drill down on somebody. I mean, we we we take them at face value, they're they're out there just trying to make a living like everybody else, just a little bit different, the way they make a living, you know, and it's not easy. That's for sure, like you said. It ain't easy. I don't think he really knows where he is at uh today because he's he's three different places, like three days in a row, plus book signings and all that. So as long as he's got his manager pointing him in the direction, we're going this way today. There you go. There you go. That's right. Uh so uh you got your little person trailing after you here, telling you where to go.
SPEAKER_07Yes, I do.
SPEAKER_04All right. Well, we we're gonna take a time out here. We'll uh we're gonna regroup and then uh we'll come back. We got uh some other stuff uh planned for you. So uh stay with us. Uh you're listening to this Town Rocks, as always. You can listen in on uh Fridays at noon and 9 p.m. Sundays at 7. And I also snuck an extra play in a Saturday at 7. Oh wow, just sort of testing that as part of the decades on the weekend. So we got the 60s, the 70s, the 80s, the 90s right here on Clay Radio. So stay with us back uh after this. Hey, thanks for tuning in. This is This Town Rocks here on Clay Radio, and as always, you can uh listen in on uh Fridays at noon at uh nine o'clock, and then again on Sundays at seven. And we're sneaking in that extra play on seven as well to get uh a little extra listenership, so uh that's a good thing. Uh hey, we uh just talked to uh Richie Scarlet from the Richie Scarlett band. He's got a bunch of great musicians that are playing with him. They're gonna be here in the Jacksonville area at Jack Rabbits, and I'm gonna let uh uh Kurt uh introduce our next guest for you.
SPEAKER_02Hey Todd, this is uh so this is Kurt, and I want to introduce Todd Hallworth. He's uh an incredible musician. I've been a fan of yours for a very long time, and and I have the 707 record uh and all that stuff. So yeah, I go I go way back. I actually got to meet you uh well, I've met you a few times, but um, I met you with Cheap Trick uh actually. I met you with Cheap Trick and just all different times on the road. And so I've always been a fan of yours uh in the free release comet days and and and you know continuing with all the work that you do. So Todd Hallworth, ladies and gentlemen, yeah!
SPEAKER_06Cue the crowd.
SPEAKER_04We had to pay them to be here, but for damn sure.
SPEAKER_06I'm old and everybody else is uh busy, but hey Kirk and guys, thank you so much for having me here. Um, yeah, it's it's uh I took a big long beautiful walk on uh the beach uh yesterday, which you know, I live I live in San Diego as it is, so that's the other side of the beach, which is beautiful. But uh I was walking and of course it started raining and I knew how that works. So I just you know got over by the lifeguard tower, waited about 20 minutes or so, and then it stopped. It kept walking. It's beautiful.
SPEAKER_02There you go. That's great. That's great. Well, we're excited that you guys are playing Florida, we're excited that you're on tour, and uh, we're excited that you're gonna be in our backyard in Jacksonville. I'm I'm gonna be there. I can't wait to see you guys. It's gonna be a blast. I'm gonna uh drag a bunch of my buddies in there that are big kiss fans and fans of you guys, and so you know, we're just gonna have a big fun time, and I encourage everybody to come out and support you know music and having a fantastic time. That's what it's all about. So we're gonna we're gonna be yelling real loud for you guys. It'll be great.
SPEAKER_06Well, that that's so much so appreciated, and thanks for mentioning all the bands I've playing, which totals up makes me about a hundred years old. I appreciate that. But I started early, you know, 707 at 23 years old. I made my first record. And uh, of course, I jumped from 707 to Nugent, and then Nugent to Cheap Trick, Cheap Trick to Ace Fraley, Fraley back to Cheap Trick, and then uh, you know, uh some solo bands, um, and then uh with Four by Fate, and then Return of the Comet with Richie. And then Richie just recently asked me, hey, we're gonna do some shows. Can you can you talk like this? Come on, do some shows. I said, sure, yeah, with anything for you, Richie. So, you know, we're doing with uh Budgie Werner, Steve Budgie Werner, and he's phenomenal on the drums. As a matter of fact, he's my my roomie right now, and and uh that's working out great, uh, because we're both uh of the same schedule. And and then we got Andy Rice on on uh bass, uh a guy that I just met out here. And we we've um we're having a good time. We've just done one show, and and uh it I got one person that I think they got about four, uh, and uh it went pretty smoothly uh despite a couple little small train wrecks, but you know, you laugh and acknowledge them and have a good time and have some energy on stage as as much as we muster up nowadays, which is a lot for an old dude off my lawn.
SPEAKER_04That's awesome. Yeah, you are you are from California, so we would expect that uh lawn comment to come up with something. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_06Well, they're trying to get rid of the lawns out there because they're pretending they have no water. I know which points to the left to go, see that there? That's the ocean. You know what's in there? Water water. Okay. What's gonna be in the next year? It's gonna be freaking water.
SPEAKER_04You know, I can see the guys have a good time with you, uh Todd out on the tour. That's for sure.
SPEAKER_06It's it's fun. We we do have a good, a good time. I mean, it uh it's it's yeah, I mean you you have to, especially when you you you we're all used to doing long tours, and this is not really a long tour, but when you you you you either have to find your niche in your comedic timing or you hide in the back of the tour bus, you know, but cheat trick, that was a whole different dynamic for me. And the the back of the bus is the front of the bus. Front of the bus is gambling and uh listening to nostalgic tapes, the back of the bus is movies, and and uh we used to when Rick Nielsen's kids were little, he'd bring them out sometimes on tour, and Ricky tired of beating him up. We go beat up on this on Dax fly with you, so I beat up on Dax and now he's their drummer.
SPEAKER_02That's awesome. Well, you you've got so many you know great memories, I'm sure. Uh you know, tell us tell us uh some of the things. I wrote a book.
SPEAKER_06It's the book is is yeah, it's it's gonna be edited here shortly once I get back from this. I mean, not to brag or anything, but uh once I get back, my wife and I go on Hawaii for about uh eight days, and I'm gonna be uh submitting my book to have it, the editing done, and then it'll be uh hopefully out uh a few months after that.
SPEAKER_02Well, man, that's great. We'll have to have you back on to talk about the book. I I read I read a lot of books, man. I read a lot of books, and and music is obviously my favorite being a musician. So I read a lot about music and silly stuff like entertainment law. Keep me.
SPEAKER_06It really is an insight to to fans of you know what what what went on, what goes on, and and even things that you have to imagine because you really can't write that, although I've written a couple things, but that's another topic. Anyhow, um, yeah, it's it it is people have a lot of fun. They a lot of fans want me to do an audio book, which I'm going to do. I'm gonna read it myself. Oh, that's great.
SPEAKER_04Todd, what's the book called?
SPEAKER_06I don't have a title for it yet, but it's gonna have something to do with the word canvas, because my I recorded three solo CDs uh that were finished in 2022, uh, and they were shipped to the hotel that I was playing at uh for a like a Kiss Cruise, pre-Kiss Cruise thing, and Anton Figg came out and played drums. John Regan couldn't make it because he was having some issues with his blood pressure, uh, which is very upsetting for us. And that was just you know before he passed. Uh so we had Brad Lang from the Bullet Boys and Foreigner uh come out and play bass, and he even sang a song, Guy's a Monster. And then a young kid, uh Keith Robert War, who's a good friend of mine out of Vegas, he did the ace parts and and nailed them. Uh but anyhow, I did this, the solo CDs there, and they're all uh they're heavy canvas, uh coastal canvas and comet canvas, which is one's real heavy, one's uh adult contemporary, and the other one is acoustic versions of the songs I sang or wrote in Fraley's Comets.
SPEAKER_02That's great.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. It was a lot of fun. I'll never do it again. It was about 30 songs. I did everything, I played everything, which you know, I play all the instruments uh anyhow, uh, but it's the the the the time and the effort. I mean, it's it's just deadly. My ears are still ringing, you know. Uh I I blame that partly on uh Rick Nielsen uh and then and Ted Nugent, but uh yeah, and I got them on my my store to Shopify. But uh yeah, that's it uh it's gonna be called Canvas some I think like beneath the canvas or under the canvas or I don't know, underwear of the canvas, who knows, something like that.
SPEAKER_02So tell us your your Shopify, how can we get it on Shopify?
SPEAKER_06Uh just look up my name, uh ToddHowarth.biz, I believe that, or uh just look Shopify Todd Howarth, and it'll pop up somewhere. I should know that by now, but I I never shop there. So but yeah, if you go there, there's all kinds, there's there's there's um and and I manage it myself, so sometimes things take a while to get to people, but there's my solo CDs and some shirts and some memorabilia, and even some Rock Soldiers uh original Rock Soldiers cards that uh uh John Regan's widow gave me just uh a year ago, yeah, uh over a year ago, and uh she had a supply that never saw light of day, so I'd have those out on and you know, some stuff that that true fans will really want. And uh it's it's fun to give them out to people that that really are you know, I mean some people buy them, occasionally I'll give them out like at NAM. I have given some out at NAM that people just floored. Uh I gave Mad Starve of some. I gave uh God, I forget who else I gave uh at Nam in in uh Anaheim. But yeah, there's there's some things there people might find it's interesting. But you know, playing with Richie's a blast. You know, when when I first met him, um it was at a KISS convention, uh, and this was uh after, was it after, I think after Freya's comment. And uh everybody thought we hated each other. That was not the case at all. I I never knew the guy, and he never knew me, but we held no animosity towards each other at all, miss. That's sh stuff that was made up, of course, uh on the internet. But uh you know, he he just he's just such a wonderful character. I mean, Ace is the deal. He lives, eats, breathes, and probably goes to the bathroom by music. So you know, he to put it politely. He's a real deal. I mean, he's a he's a guy that will stay on your couch and jump up in the morning, yeah. I'm gonna play some songs now. He is a he is the deal, but love the guy to death. He's he's a great guy.
SPEAKER_03Hey, Todd, we uh I asked uh we asked um Richie about the craziest thing that's come across as a fan on the stage, or you come across somebody that's just kind of wild and just throws you off. Something that you'll never forget, like something that was just crazy that happened to you personally from another fan.
SPEAKER_06From another fan.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, like like when you're touring stuff. Yeah, he's like he asks about throwing stuff on stage like a prosthetic leg, yeah, yeah, that kind of thing.
SPEAKER_06Oh, yeah, that's I don't, you know, I have to go. I'm I'm going through the oh boy, well it seems it's I'm trying to figure out through which band and uh and uh a couple of them I cannot say. Right. So we'll just steer away from that. Uh see what else? Um what was the strangest thing that was ever thrown up on on stage? Um nothing strange. I think I was given a real cool airbrushed uh airbrushed sweatshirt of Fraley's Comet. That's cool. That's awesome. Yeah, it's it's and it's on a sweatshirt, and I still have it today. It's in one of my my uh uh Halliburton suitcases of memorabilia, and that was cool, but not nothing, nothing bizarre. I mean, you know, uh bras come up there occasionally, and uh of course it's always horrifying when a pair of boxers land up and threw this up there. Give that guy absolutely no backstage pass.
SPEAKER_02Denied. Well, do you have uh you got any funny ace stories? You know, just funny, silly, you know, well, yeah, there's there's a few.
SPEAKER_06You know, Ace, well, we used to go shopping for clothes and stuff, um, occasionally, uh Ace would would get these outfits that were uh um uh like I guess unisex, you know, I guess you better say he brought these shorts and tank top that belonged to like a woman. I mean, he could get away with it, but the problem was it was kind of like too much of sharks, sharks, you know, and so he had those on. And then he had his black bag, which we always carry bags, you know, over our shoulders, but this one was kind of small, so it looks like a purse. So we're at a tour, one of the tour buses. I don't know if it was with Iron Maiden or Alice Cooper, but we stop at a truck stop. The wrong thing to do, because he gets off the truck stop and he's in his short shorts with his matching tank top, and he's got tennis shoes on, so it looks like it looks a very confused woman kind of look. But we and he didn't give a you know, he didn't give a damn. He just thought that was funny. And you can see all the truckers were stopped and looking and going, not just what in the Sam Hell we got here. Right lizard. And we walked in, you know, got our our dinner, our lunch, what it was, I guess, you know, uh uh uh a bathroom stop and and got our lunch and walked back on. And and I think he even mentioned something like, I got some weird looks in there. Yeah, you think.
SPEAKER_04Well, I guess I guess Kiss was the perfect group for him, right? Because then he didn't have to decide what to wear. Put this on, go out there.
SPEAKER_06It's a school uniform.
SPEAKER_04I get to wear the same thing every day. That's excellent. That's excellent. Hey, we're uh talking with uh Todd Howorth uh from uh uh the Richie Scarlet band uh this weekend, as uh that they're uh touring uh Florida, and uh we really appreciate Todd that uh you you joined us. You got a few more minutes with us, or do you got a Sure.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, yeah, yeah. My wife tried to call me, but I'm sure it's something that uh will thoroughly irritate me, so go ahead.
SPEAKER_04Mayor hold another press conference out there in Los Angeles or something? I'm not sure.
SPEAKER_02Well, uh yeah, if we got a couple more minutes, you know, I just uh you know, I wanted to thank you. I I tell you, um, it was funny. One of the things about 707, you got the song Megaforce, right? And so, you know, hearing that, and then you were re-recorded it with Ace Freely on Freely's Comet, right? Right calling to you, right? Am I correct on that? And it's so funny because it was on Mega Force Records. And I thought, I thought, how cool is that? You know, he's singing Megaforce, and I thought, did they get the Mega Force name from the song from the 707 band by any chance? You know, of course, I you know, I was a kid and I didn't I didn't know if it was a timeline issue or not, but I just always thought it was so cool. And then all the stuff that you did with Ace Freely and Freely's Comet, you know, that I I've always loved a lot of melody. I'm uh I love melodic things. It can be pretty much anything, I don't care, but if it's got a strong melody, then I'll gravitate towards it. And you've always had incredible melody, so I have to give you kudos, man. You're great guitarist, great singer, great songwriter, great, great hooks, you know, great melodies. You know, so it's it's it's really cool. Really cool stuff.
SPEAKER_06That was my forte. I I am a songwriter first, and I I write melodies and orchestrations. I mean, I play lead, but I'm not a lead player. Everything has to be like a melody or have some type of of uh uh dynamic texture and meaning to me because I learned on piano, you know, as a piano player at seven years old, start playing piano. So I appreciate that for noticing that because that's exactly what I do. And I was singing too, because I sang to all the Beatles stuff, you know, back then. I learned every harmony that they I could hear. Oh, and uh um Budgie just walked in almost naked and did a little flabber dance, which was very alarming. Um, but we'll go into that later. Uh then he hauled that uh butt out of here. Uh but uh so yeah, I I yeah, I and I learned how to play I played drums and and guitar and bass and all that. But that's yeah, it and it's it's always good when you want to write all your own stuff. Uh and and that's how I did the the Canvas series. I mean, when I didn't have to wait on anybody else, I could do all stuff myself. But getting back to the Megaforce thing, short story on that was when Ace and I first got together after I auditioned twice for the band um while it was with Cheat Trick, uh, he wanted to go through my catalog of music. So I just happened to play him the song Megaforce uh from 707 that that I wrote the principally that song with uh Kevin Russell, the guitar player, and Jim McClarty, who wrote the drummer who wrote the lyrics, and I wrote the melody and and a lot of the most structure and on the tune. And he said, What's it what's this song? Megaforce, what's this? That's the name of my record company. I said, Yeah, I know. I said, Well, we should do this. And you know, after he listened to it, I said, I really don't want to do that song because um there's a real there's a backstory on the tune, there's a lot of writers on it. At that time, I was not getting along with uh uh uh Kevin at the time, but uh stuff I don't need to go into really. But uh I said I'd really not like to do it. And plus, you know, Jonathan Cain uh got a piece of the song too for for not doing anything with it when you're in Keith Olsen's studio in LA, a Pat Benatar's uh producer. And it's just like it was just a lot of, I just like let's just play some new stuff. So he said, no, we gotta do this because it's the same name as my my record label. I said, apparently you didn't hear anything I just said. But you know, he was the boss and he made a right decision, and uh we redid it. He added a couple of lines like strike the drums, stand up and shout, you know, something like rocking well, it's what it's all about. So it it worked. And I I was really against it until the very end, but you know, I was just I was a little man on the totem pole so low that I was probably just above ground. Uh but it it uh it came out and people loved it, and that's how that came to be.
SPEAKER_02Well, I'm I'm super grateful that it that it did. And before we let you go, because I know we gotta we gotta wrap up the segment, but before we let you go, just to let you know, if you ever need a cheap musician, I know a guy, me, Curtin. I play all kind of jokes. I play guitar. I'm a cheap guy, but don't tell nobody because that would get around. I can't have that.
SPEAKER_03But for you, I'm in, man. Yeah, me and me and Mike. Me and Mike can play the triangle or the kazoo for you, too. Yeah, we're cheap too.
SPEAKER_06You know what? You guys are a stiff competition because my mom, 95 years old, wants to play Tamarine. There's no chance you're playing Tamarine. She says, Why not? Oh, geez, mom.
SPEAKER_04I was gonna say, well, she's uh she's gonna get a higher rate.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, I don't think so. I don't think so.
SPEAKER_04Hey uh Todd, thanks so much. Uh we gotta run they only give us so much time to have fun on the radio and uh so we've reached that, but uh we appreciate it. But best of best of luck on the rest of the tour. And with the I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_06Thanks guys for calling. I really I really appreciate it.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, we'll look uh to see if we can't get you when the book comes out, too.
SPEAKER_06Yes, we'll do we'll do that. I'll I'll definitely just get in contact and and I'll I'll be there.
SPEAKER_04All right, very good. Thank you so much. All right, thanks again.
SPEAKER_06See ya.
SPEAKER_04Bye-bye. Take care. All right, there he goes. Uh Todd Howarth, uh the uh special guest with the Richie Scarlet band uh this weekend, uh May 10th, the Sunday at Jack Rabbits, 1528 Hendricks Avenue, Jacksonville, 904-398-7496. And uh, we'll come back in just a minute to uh wrap things up. But you're listening to This Town Rocks here on Clay Radio.
SPEAKER_06Hey, this is Todd Howorth from Fraley's Come and a bunch of other bands. You're listening to This Town Rocks on Clay Radio.
SPEAKER_01The Impact Clay Train returns to Keystone Heights Junior Senior High School on May 16th from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Come enjoy a welcoming environment full of free resources, community partners, and support for families. Don't miss this chance to gather, grow, and discover what's on board. Find details at impactclay.org or call 904-330-1848.
SPEAKER_02Hey, this is Kurt Town of the Kurttown Band, and of This Town Rocks, right here on ClayRadio.com. You gotta check us out on Fridays at noon, 9 p.m., and then Sundays at 7, This Town Rocks.
SPEAKER_04And of course, we welcome you back here to This Town Rocks here on Clay Radio. And of course, what would a show be without Pam Greer? Lover. Big fan. Yeah. Yeah. Didn't have time for the music this time around, but earlier in the show we did, so listen, listen to the repeat. I'm dancing in my head. Yes, you are. At least that's a safe place to be. All right, don't have a lot of time, but uh special show today is uh we talked to uh Richie Scarlet of the Richie Scarlet band, special guest Todd Howorth. Uh he is uh a great uh vocalist, musician as well. And of course he's got uh Steve Budgie Warner who runs around naked there in hotel rooms in South Florida, I guess. Uh I don't I don't know how to Florida. Yeah, I don't know how else to explain that. Uh oh boy. But they're uh they're appearing out at uh Jack Rabbits and we uh thank them. Uh that's in uh Jacksonville, by the way. 904-398-7496, the uh number. And uh we thank them very much for taking time out of their schedule to talk to us.
SPEAKER_02It's so fun talking to you guys. Thank you.
SPEAKER_03Yes, awesome to get different aspects from it from the other side of the other side of the uh stage, I guess is what you call it.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Yeah, we didn't mention that Kurt's got the big sign here in the studio now. Kurt is my hero. I'm sure, I'm sure they never had one of those.
SPEAKER_02Ah, yeah. Talking about things done on stage.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, just men throwing their boxers up there, which is a whole different story. You get a lot of stories when you talk to rock musicians, right?
SPEAKER_02Freddie, Freddie, Freddie. That's a great question.
SPEAKER_04That is, yeah, that was good. All right, so uh that's the uh show for today. That's uh good stuff, right? Freddie's got a sort of a sign-off for us today. He especially wanted to make sure we got this out there.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, we want to everybody here at the station wants to wish you guys the mothers out there happy Mother's Day. Yes. We have a dedicated song for all the mothers out there, so make sure you tune in. You're gonna laugh and enjoy it. So happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there.
SPEAKER_04Happy Mother's Day. We love you. Happy Mother's Day from all of us here at Clay Radio. And uh thanks for listening. We'll talk to you again next time.