Gold Star News

Hollywood’s Gold Star Recording Studios founders Stan Ross (left) and David S. Gold (left) inaugurated The Grammy Museum’s Studio Profile Series with a program honoring after the legendary home of the ‘wall of sound’ in March

PRESS RELEASE

10 April, 2009

For Immediate Release

Photo and Downloadable text at http://steveeastis.tripod.com/id19.html

Contact: Kent Crowley, Crowley & Associates (909) 899-2465 or GoldStarStudios@aol.com

HISTORIC HOLLYWOOD’S GOLD STAR STUDIOS KICKS OFF

GRAMMY MUSEUM SERIES

LOS ANGELES, CA -- The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles inaugurated it’s Studio Profile Series with a program honoring the legendary Hollywood’s Gold Star Recording Studios and founders David S. Gold and Stan Ross at the museum’s L.A. Live entertainment complex location in March.

     Gold and Ross were featured in the museum’s state - of - the - art soundstage in a live panel format joined by Academy Award - and Grammy - winning composer Richard Sherman of The Sherman Brothers, and Grammy Award - winning composer, arranger and producer Perry Botkin Jr., to discuss the historic studio and the evolution of the recording arts and sciences that resulted in Los Angeles becoming a recording capitol during the second half of the 20^th Century.

     “It was a great honor to launch this program with the founders of Hollywood’s Gold Star Recording Studios, the very studios that launched so much incredible music as well as formidable, creative, and independent recording in Los Angeles,” said Grammy Museum Chief Curator Ken Luftig Viste, moderator of the event.

     The event also featured a special filmed tribute by ’The Wrecking Crew’ documentary filmmaker Denny Tedesco honoring long - time Gold Star Studios engineer Larry Levine, who died in May, said Museum Public Programs Manager Lynne Sheridan

     The two - hour event drew over 165 Grammy members, historians musicians, engineers, producers, musicians and even former Gold Star staffers Don Snider, Tina Hoffman, Bruce Gold and Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde.

     Accompanied by historic photographs and recordings, the panel explored the history, artists, innovations, technical evolution and influence of the studio that produced between 1950 and 1984 over 120 Billboard Top 40 hit records, BMI’s most - programmed recording of all time (’You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling’ by The Righteous Brothers) and more NEA/RIAA Songs of the Century than any independent recording studio in history.

     Panelists discussed in depth the technical and artistic recording innovations that resulted in historic recordings such as the first Rhythm & Blues Grammy winner “Tequila’ by The Champs recorded by Ross and the role of Gold’s custom - built hand-crafted technology in developing Phil Spector’s ’Wall of Sound’ and other recording innovations.

     The event kicked off a series of Studio Profiles that will explore the history and legacy of additional Los Angeles era recording studios, Viste added.

*****

BACKGROUNDER: HOLLYWOOD'S GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS

Between 1950 and 1983, Hollywood's Gold Star Recording Studios spawned:

* more 2001 RIAA/NEA "Songs of the Century" than any independent American studio in history,

* the first R&B Grammy Winner : “Tequila“ by The Champs“ (Rock and Roll records were considered R&B records when the Grammys were first awarded)

* the most-programmed record in history: "You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin'" by The Righteous Brothers

* the world's first recording production style (the Wall of Sound),

* the first hit record incorporating 'musique concrete' or electronic music: 'The Big Hurt' by Miss Toni Fisher

* over 100 Billboard Top 40 hit records; and

* was hailed by the National Association of Recording Arts and Science's (NARAS) Grammy Magazine as one "of a handful of studios that made recording history".

Gold Star also pioneered or gave the first popular exposure to such modern innovations as phase shifting, 'looping', controlled distortion, 'flanging' or automatic double tracking (ADT) and many other recording techniques commonly used today.

BIOGRAPHY

<I>“It was just another day of greatness at Gold Star Recording Studios on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood” - Jules Siegel, "Goodbye Surfing. Hello God."<I>

     “Kid, you're going out there a nobody, but you're coming back a star” is the classic show business cliché, and for 33 1/3 years, Hollywood's Gold Star Recording Studios founded by David S. Gold and Stan Ross breathed life into that phrase for hundreds of major artists.

     Between 1950 and 1984, Ritchie Valens, Eddie Cochran, Phil Spector, Brian Wilson, Sonny & Cher, Buffalo Springfield, Duane Eddy, Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young, The Ronettes, Dick Dale, The Righteous Brothers, Iron Butterfly, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, The Runaways' Joan Jett and Cheri Currie, Meat Loaf, The Champs, The Baha Marimba Band...even Alvin & The Chipmunks among dozens of others, all had their first introduction to the art of recording at the trailblazing studio that changed the course of modern music.

     Located in the heart of Hollywood, Gold Star Studios' efforts encompassed the entire entertainment industry and threw open the doors of unbridled creativity to music, film, television, radio and Broadway artists and impresarios such as Frank Loesser, Johnny Mercer, Sammy Fain, Dimitri Tiomkin; legendary West Coast Jazz artists such as Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker, Oscar Moore, The Hi-Los and the classic swing bands such as Louis Bellson's.

     As the recording 'home' of ABC-TV's first prime-time Rock & Roll Show 'Shindig'; Gold Star Studios hosted virtually every major pop artist of the 1960s.

     And for established artists like Bobby Darin, The Who, The Monkees, The Band, The Go Go's, The Ramones, The Association, Art Garfunkel, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Tommy Boyce and others; Gold Star Studios provided safe creative harbor, an opportunity to revitalize flagging careers, explore new sonic territories free of 'bean-counter' constraints or to pay homage to Gold Star's rich heritage still reverberating in the walls of Gold Star's 'perfect' echo chambers - the walls in "The Wall of Sound".

     And most importantly: Gold Star between 1950 and 1984 generated more National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) and Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) "Songs of the Century" and Grammy Hall of Fame winners than any other independent studio in America.

     Combining David S. Gold's custom-designed and hand-crafted technology with Stan Ross' relentless creativity and groundbreaking approach to recording as an art form, Gold Star Studios pioneered or gave the first popular exposure to recording techniques and effects that define modern music: from the first platinum album to such now - commonplace audio effects and techniques as phasing, flanging, automatic double - tracking and others.

     In 1959, Gold Star created one of the most innovative recordings in history with Toni Fisher's "The Big Hurt", introducing a modernistic, sweeping electronic effect that introduced electronic music (or 'musique concrete) to a worldwide audience.

     Unencumbered by major record label restrictions, Gold Star's freewheeling "recording-is-art' approach ultimately changed the course of modern music and modern recording studio design while wrestling America's recording capital crown from New York, Nashville and Memphis.

     Featured in hundreds of books, hit films, documentaries, accredited college courses and magazine articles; Gold Star Studios pioneered the single most important innovation in 20th Century music: what Sir George Martin called "the recording - studio - as - instrument" concept.

     In the 1950s, recording equipment and console technology was primarily designed for radio or television uses and available through professional audio contractors. Today, entry level, semi-pro and professional recording technology and software is as far away as your nearest music store and is as essential a tool for songwriters, composers and musicians as pens and paper.

     Today, entry-level musical instrument, amplification and effects technologies routinely incorporate the sounds and effects that shocked listeners and revolutionized the entertainment industry decades ago when they first appeared on Gold Star recordings.

     Today, recordings from "Summertime Blues" though "Pet Sounds" through "End of the Century" still resonate today with listeners of all ages because two brilliant, upstart Los Angeles kids in 1950 envisioned the future of music - and made it happen at Gold Star Studios- where hundreds of hungry young artists and esteemed 'elder statesmen' all captured their Days of Greatness!

Notable Gold Star Recordings 1950 - 1984

* asterisk indicates songs listed as NEA/RIAA "Songs of the Century"

(parentheses) indicate major recording innovation introduced on a Gold Star production or significant recording.

20 Flight Rock - Eddie Cochran

40 Miles of Bad Road - Duane Eddy

A Christmas Gift to You (LP) - Phil Spector & Philles Artists

A Taste of Honey - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass

All I Really Want to Do - Cher (Cher's first solo hit)

Another Stormy Night - Mystic Moods Orchestra

Angel on My Shoulder - Shelby Flint

Another Stormy Night - Mystic Moods Orchestra

Arman's Theme - Ross Bagdasarian (first 'looped' hit recording)

Baby I Love You - The Ronettes

Ball (lp) - Iron Butterfly

Battle of the Bands (lp) - The Turtles

Be My Baby - The Ronettes*

Be True to Your School (single version) - Beach Boys

Bette Davis Eyes (original version) - Jackie DeShannon

Black Oak Arkansas (LP) - Black Oak Arkansas

Blackula (soundtrack lp) - Gene Page

Bony Fingers - Hoyt Axton

Buffalo Springfield (lp) - Buffalo Springfield

Cabin/Essence (from Smile) - The Beach Boys

Call Me - Chris Montez

Call Me Lightnin' - The Who

Carlin & Burns Live - George Carlin and Jack Burns

Chanson D’Amour - Art & Dotty Todd

Charge of the Nightriders (lp) - Jon & The Nightriders

Cherry Bomb - The Runaways

Cindy's Birthday - Johnny Crawford

C'mon Everybody - Eddie Cochran

Come On, Let's Go - Ritchie Valens

Crystals - He's Sure the Boy I Love

Da Do Ron Ron - The Crystals

Death of a Ladies' Man (LP) - Leonard Cohen

Deirdre - The Beach Boys

Do I Love You? - The Ronettes

Do You Wanna Dance? - The Beach Boys

End of the Century (lp) - The Ramones

Endless Sleep - Jody Reynolds

Express Yourself - Charles Wright & The Watts 103d Street Rhythm Band

Flash Cadillac - Flash Cadillac & The Continental Kids

For What It's Worth - Buffalo Springfield* (Neil Young's and Steve Stills' first hit)

Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys*

Got Along Without You - Patience & Prudence

Grazin' in the Grass - Hugh Masakela (First American hit by African group)

Gris Gris (lp) - Dr. John

Guitarist (lp) Mundell Lowe

Heroes & Villians (original version) - The Beach Boys

He's a Rebel - The Crystals (First "Wall of Sound")

Home of the Brave - Bonnie & The Treasures

Hugh Masakela - Grazin in the Grass

I Can See for Miles - The Who

I Got You Babe - Sonny & Cher*

I Just Wasn't Made for These Times - The Beach Boys (First use of Therimin on pop record)

I Live for the Sun - Sunrays

I Love How You Love Me - the Paris Sisters

If I Were a Carpenter - Bobby Darin (Bobby Darin's 'comeback' hit)

If I Were a Carpenter (LP) - Bobby Darin

I'm Available" - - Margie Rayburn

Inna Gada da Vida - Iron Butterfly (first platinum album)

Inside Out (LP) - Bobby Darin

Jackie DeShannon - The Weight

Jim Dandy - Black Oak Arkansas

Johnny Are You Queer? - Josie Cotton

Jungle Hop - Don & Dewey (first electronically distorted guitar)

Just Once in My Life - The Righteous Brothers

Key to the Highway - The Band

Koko Joe - Righteous Brothers

La Bamba - Ritchie Valens* (First Spanish Language Rock & Roll hit)

Land of 1000 Dances - The Midnighters

Laugh at Me - Sonny Bono

Laurel Canyon (LP) - Jackie DeShannon

Let's Dance - Chris Montez

Listen to the Band - The Monkees

Little Bitty Pretty One - Bobby Day

Little Latin Lupe Lu - Righteous Brothers

Long Distance Operator - The Band

Love Song (lp) - Love Song (first 'Christian Rock' album)

Luck Be a Lady - Marlon Brando

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - William Shatner

Mission Bell - Donnie Brooks

Misty Roses - Tim Hardin

Mr. Soul - Buffalo Springfield (album version)

My Diary - Rosa Lee Brooks - (first Jimi Hendrix record)

Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing - Buffalo Springfield

Oh Donna - Ritchie Valens (First hit record featuring 'flanging' or Automatic Double Tracking)

Ooh My Head - Ritchie Valens

Ooh Wee Marie - Dick Dale

Pamela Jean - The Survivors

Please Mr. Custer - Larry Verne

Popsicles & Icesicles - The Murmaids

Primrose Lane - Jerry Wallace

Puddin' & Tain - The Alley Cats

Pushing Too Hard - The Seeds

Reason to Believe - Bobby Darin

Rebel Rouser - Duane Eddy (First hit featuring guitarist considered Rock & Roll's first 'Guitar God')

Rhythm of the Rain - The Cascades

River Deep - Mountain High - Ike & Tina Turner

Rock & Roll High School - The Ramones

Rockin' Robin - Bobby Day

Rumors - Johnny Crawford

Sacred - The Castells

Slip On Through - The Beach Boys

SHINDIG - First Prime-Time Pop Music Television program

So This is Love - The Castells

Soul & Inspiration - The Righteous Brothers

Start Your Motors (lp) - The Association

Still in Love with You Baby (original version) The Beau Brummels

Summertime Blues - Eddie Cochran*

Tall Oak Tree - Dorsey Burnett

Teach Me Tiger - April Stevens/Don Ralke Orchestra

Ten Good Reasons - Donna Loren

Tequila - The Champs* (First R&B Grammy Winner)

That's All I Know- Art Garfunkle (Art Garfunkle's first solo hit)

The Baja Marimba Band - Jules Wechter

The Beat Goes On - Sonny & Cher

The Best Things in Life are Free - The Hi Lo's

The Big Hurt - Toni Fisher (first phase-shifting or 'phasing' effect)

The Birds & The Bees - Jewel Aikens (first 'chorused' guitar)

The Girl I Knew Somewhere - The Monkees

The Happy Whistler - Don Robertson

The In Crowd - Dobie Gray

The Many Moods of Murry Wilson - Murry Wilson

The More I See You - Chris Montez

The Morning After (lp) Maureen McGovern

The Runaways (lp) - The Runaways

The Story of Rock & Roll - The Turtles

There Will Never Be Another You - Chris Montez

This Could be the Night - The Modern Folk Quartet

This Guy's in Love with You - Herb Alpert & Bert Bacharach (Alpert's and Bacharach's first #1 hit)

Thou Shalt Not Steal - Dick & Dee Dee

Three Stars - Eddie Cochran (Recorded to commemorate the deaths of Ritche Valens, Buddy Holly & The Big Bopper)

Tijuana Taxi - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass

To Know Him is to Love Him - The Teddy Bears (Phil Spector's first hit record)

Tonight You Belong to Me - Patience & Prudence

Unchained Melody - The Righteous Brothers (mastered)

Utee - Rosa Lee Brooks (Jimi Hendrix' first recorded guitar solo)

Various tracks SMiLE - The Beach Boys (unreleased)

Various tracks - Led Zeppelin II - Led Zeppelin

Various tracks: The Misunderstood (known as the 'Gold Star Tapes')

Walkin' in the Rain - The Ronettes

We Got the Beat - The Go Go's (original L.A. version)

Wheatstraw Suite (lp) - The Dillards

White Christmas - Darlene Love

Wipe Out (lp) - The Surfaris (various album tracks)

Why Do Fools Fall in Love - The Beach Boys

Wonderful Summer - Robin Ward

Wouldn't It Be Nice - The Beach Boys

You're Sixteen - Johnny Burnette (original demo version)

You're The Reason - Bobby Edwards

You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin - Righteous Brothers* (Most programmed record of all time)

Zip A Dee Do Dah - Bobb E. Soxx & The Blue Jeans (first distorted lead guitar solo on a hit record

PRESS RELEASE

19 February, 2009

For Immediate Release

Contact: Kent Crowley (909) 899-2465/GoldStarRecordingStudios@aol.com

          ATTN: METRO, FEATURE, BOOK EDITORS

         WHAT: RELEASE OF EXPANDED AND ENHANCED FOURTH EDITION
                        ILLUSTRATED   DISCOGRAPHY OF SURF MUSIC BY JOHN
                        BLAIR

         WHEN: JANUARY 15, 2009

         WHERE: ONLINE SALES AVAILABLE WWW.JOHNBLAIR.US

CAPTION: Author of the newly - released Fourth Edition of The Illustrated Discography of Surf Music John Blair is shown here performing at the August 2008, Surfer Joe Music Festival in Livorno, Italy.

LONG - AWAITED FOURTH EDITION SURF MUSIC
DISCOGRAPHY RELEASED

NEWPORT BEACH, CA -- Now featuring full - color graphics and updated data from nearly four decades of painstaking research, the revised and expanded Fourth Edition of The Illustrated Discography of Surf Music by premier Surf Music historian, composer and producer John Blair is now available through Blair’s www.JohnBlair.us website.
     The volume will be soon be available through Amazon.com and other commercial websites, said Blair.
      Hailed by Phil Dirt, webmaster of the premier California music fan website www.ReverbCentral.com as “a fascinating read for the collector and the casual fan alike,” the updated Illustrated Discography of Surf Music covers the full spectrum of the 1961 through 1965 phenomenon of Surf Music - the first style of popular music to feature the lead electric guitar as the central instrument.
     Featuring a forward by Dick Dale, the fourth edition of the discography is the essential volume for historians and Surf Music enthusiasts for understanding the music style that opened the doors of success for many artists who later became famous or even legendary in the early years of Rock & Roll including Frank Zappa, Brian Wilson and many others,” said Hollywood’s Gold Star Recording Studios co - founder Stan Ross.
     Containing nearly every known record or album released as a Surf Music recording between 1961 and 1965 from artists as diverse as The Beach Boys to blues guitarist Freddie King and composer Henry Mancini, the expanded fourth edition features more artist, label, record sleeve and album cover images as well as mini - biographies than previous editions.
     “This book is more than just an invaluable resource for historians and record collectors,” said The Gold Star Album co - author David S. Gold. “In terms of painstaking detail and unerring accuracy, this is the discography by which all future Surf Music discographies should be measured.”
     Lauded by ReverbCentral.com as “loaded with the obscure, the familiar, and the strange,” the Illustrated Discography of Surf Music “includes the full spectrum of surf music, from its inception in 1961 through the end if its heyday in 1965. (Blair) has compiled the authentic: the commercial, the garage, and the studio groups.”
     Blair “defines the rules of engagement,” said Dirt, “…both the instrumental and vocal variants, the use of the classic band equipment, and the song structures too.”
     Long regarded as the world’s preeminent Surf Music historian, archivist and author; Blair originally came to the public’s attention as the founder of the Second Wave of Surf Music with his band Jon & The Nightriders when he released the 1979 instrumental classic “Rumble at Waikiki.” After a series of highly regarded albums including the award-winning Fiberglass Rocket lp, Blair produced and contributed liner notes for the legendary “Cowabunga - The Surf Box” collection issued by Rhino Records in 1996. In addition, Blair is a major contributor, lead historian, producer and collaborator on a series of upcoming documentaries and books including the first feature - length documentary on Surf Music <Italics>Sound of the Surf<Italics<I>, an upcoming documentary about Frank Zappa’s early recording career <Italics>Freak Out in Cucamonga<I> (both to be released in 2009) and the first history of Hollywood’s Gold Star Recording Studios by David S. Gold and Stan Ross.
     Recognized as “the Segovia of Surf Music” in a historic Vintage Guitar Magazine profile, Blair recently guest starred at the world’s first International Surf Music event, the August 2008, Surfer Joe Music Festival in Livorno, Italy.
     Blair is also author or co - author of several other noted discographies including The Illustrated Discography of Hot Rod Music, 1961-1965.
     "The Illustrated Discography of Surf Music, 1961-1965" Revised and Expanded Fourth Edition costs $46 plus $4 for domestic postage and handling, and $20 postage and handling for overseas sales. Online sales are available at www.johnblair.us using PayPal or credit card. For mail order copies using cash, checks, or money orders to: John Blair, PO Box 358, Corona Del Mar, CA 92625.

*****

Additional Resources:

Jon & The Nightriders on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GQbGQCzgCw

John Blair performing at International Surf Music Festival
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNH34l2cAjg

www.SoundoftheSurf.com
www.FreakOutinCucamonga.com

MEDIA ALERT/PRESS RELEASE

5 December, 2006

For immediate release

Downloadable text and photo: http://steveeastis.tripod.com/id19.html

Contact: Kent Crowley, The Gold Star Album

(909) 899-2465 or Moontide02@aol.com

     WHO: Hollywood’s Legendary Gold Star Recording Studios Founders

                 David S. Gold and Stan Ross

     WHAT: Gold Star Founders Aid Effort to Honor Fellow Recording Pioneer

     WHERE: WWW.GoldStarRecordingStudios.com on the web

Gold Star Studios Founders to Help Honor Fellow Recording Pioneer

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA -- Legendary Hollywood’s Gold Star Recording Studios founders David S. Gold and Stan Ross have been named honorary co - chairs of a committee to honor another one of California’s most historically and culturally significant recording studios in Rancho Cucamonga.

     Ross and Gold will serve as historical and technical consultants for the Committee to Honor Pal Recorders/Studio Z composed of local residents, business leaders and documentary filmmakers Adam Fiorenza and Derek Miley, whose “45 Miles East of L.A. – Freak Out in Cucamonga” is expected to debut domestically in the spring and internationally at the Zappanale Frank Zappa festival in Bad Doberan Germany.

      The committee aims to honor the original site of Pal Recording Studios, later Frank Zappa’s Studio Z, home of such hits as The Surfaris’ ‘Wipe Out’ and ‘Surfer Joe’, Rey & Rene’s ‘Queen of My Heart’ and many early Frank Zappa productions, some of which surfaced later as tracks on Zappa and Mothers of Invention albums.

     The original studio was originally located in downtown Cucamonga, which became Rancho Cucamonga in 1977, just north of Route 66 and torn down in the late 1960s.

      Gold and Ross, who’s Hollywood Gold Star Recording Studio generated over 100 Billboard Top 40 hit records and was the sit of Phil Spector’s ‘Wall of Sound’, said that marking historic musical sites such as Pal Recorders/Studio Z provides numerous benefits to communities both in preserving their unique history and in generating revenue streams from tourism to keep local economies healthy.

     “We still get regular requests from visitors to visit Gold Star Recording Studios, even though it closed in 1984,” said Gold, who founded Gold Star in 1950 with Stan Ross at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard (Route 66) and Vine Street in Hollywood.

     “When people do want to visit the original location,” added Ross, “they have no way of knowing the exact location and often come away disappointed to find no historical markers or recognitions.”

     While honoring locations such as Pal/Studio Z are important because of the historic recordings and innovation that took place, acknowledging historic locations offers considerable economic benefits for local communities, added committee member Steve Eastis, executive director for Historic Main Street Upland.

      “What is important to remember is that the recordings, innovations and artists that emerged from studios like Gold Star or Pal/Studio Z had a huge cultural impact that resonates today,” said Eastis, a former professional musician. “People - especially historians, fans and collectors from all over the world regularly make pilgrimages to sites such as Pal or Gold Star because these were the birthplaces of a tremendous amount modern music and modern technology.”

     Marking historic locations, he added, often spurs increased tourism that generates revenue streams for local communities.

     “Tourism spending is the type of spending that helps fuels local revenue streams because it is primarily retail spending,” Eastis said. “Tourists tend to be far more liberal spenders than when they are at home watching their budgets.

     “Secondly, protecting and promoting historic sites in historic areas such as downtown Upland promotes a far greater diversity of independent business opportunities such as unique restaurants, shops and other enterprises.”

     “Historical sites for popular music in California our like our sunshine,” said Gold. “They’re so abundant that Californians tend to take them for granted. Yet throughout the nation and the world, sites like Pal Recording Studio are acknowledged as key locations in introducing music and innovations that have touched the lives of millions of people.”

     “American artists such as Zappa, The Surfaris and many others are revered in Europe, Asia and Latin America“, added Ross. “So memorializing the places where these great talents were formed or where they made great artistic statements allows us as Californians to recognize our own home grown talents.

     The effort to place some historic recognition came about as Forenza and Miley began filming the first documentary chronicling the early years of surf music and Frank Zappa’s pre - Mothers of Invention years in Cucamonga.

     “Like Gold Star, Pal Studios/Studio Z was an independent studio featuring custom technology located along historic Route 66 that offered a variety of recording services for the community,” Eastis said. “For many Inland Empire groups and artists like The Tornadoes, Johnny Fortune and others; Pal/Studio offered the only local professional quality recording services the area.”

     “We’re honored to be a part of this effort recognizing a great recording studio and a great recording pioneer like Paul Buff,” added Gold.

      The epicenter of the ‘West Coast Sound,’ Hollywood’s Gold Star Recording Studios were located at the intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard (Historic Route 66) and Vine Street between 1950 and 1984. The studios generated over 100 Billboard Top 40 Hit Records, more National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) ‘Songs of the Century’ during its operation than any independent recording studio and figured prominently in the careers of such artists as Cher, Neil Young, Brian Wilson, Herb Alpert, Ritchie Valens, The Ramones, The Beach Boys and hundreds of other film, radio, television and recording artists.

*****

CAPTION: Legendary Hollywood’s Gold Star Recording Studios founders David S. Gold (left) and Stan Ross have been named honorary co - chairs of an effort to honor another one of California’s most historically and culturally significant recording studios, Pal Recorders/Studio Z in Rancho Cucamonga. The studio was founded by fellow recording pioneer Paul Buff and later purchased by Frank Zappa. It was the site of many important recordings of the early 1960s, including The Surfaris’ ‘Wipe Out’ and many of Frank Zappa’s earliest record productions prior to forming The Mothers of Invention in 1965.

BACKGROUNDER: GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS

Between 1950 and 1983, Hollywood's Gold Star Recording Studios spawned:

* more 2001 RIAA/NEA "Songs of the Century" than any independent studio in history,

* the most-played record in history ("You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin'" by The Righteous Brothers and produced by Phil Spector)

* the world's first recording production style (the Wall of Sound),

* the first hit record incorporating 'musique concrete' or electronic music ('The Big Hurt' by Miss Toni Fisher)

* over 100 Billboard Top 40 Hit records; and

* was hailed by the National Association of Recording Arts and Science's (NARAS) Grammy Magazine as one "of a handful of studios that made recording history".

Gold Star also pioneered or gave the first popular exposure to such modern innovations as phase shifting, 'looping', controlled distortion, 'flanging' or automatic double tracking (ADT) and many other recording techniques commonly used today.

BIOGRAPHY

“It was just another day of greatness at Gold Star Recording Studios on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood” - Jules Siegel, "Goodbye Surfing. Hello God."

     “Kid, you're going out there a nobody, but you're coming back a star” is the classic show business cliché, and for 33 1/3 years, Hollywood's Gold Star Recording Studios founded by David S. Gold and Stan Ross breathed life into that phrase for hundreds of major artists.

     Between 1950 and 1984, Ritchie Valens, Eddie Cochran, Phil Spector, Brian Wilson, Sonny & Cher, Buffalo Springfield, Duane Eddy, Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young, The Ronettes, Dick Dale, The Righteous Brothers, Iron Butterfly, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, The Runaways' Joan Jett and Cheri Currie, Meat Loaf, The Champs, The Baha Marimba Band...even Alvin & The Chipmunks among dozens of others, all had their first introduction to the art of recording at the trailblazing studio that changed the course of modern music.

     Located in the heart of Hollywood, Gold Star Studios' efforts encompassed the entire entertainment industry and threw open the doors of unbridled creativity to music, film, television, radio and Broadway artists and impresarios such as Frank Loesser, Johnny Mercer, Sammy Fain, Dimitri Tiomkin; legendary West Coast Jazz artists such as Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker, Oscar Moore, The Hi-Los and the classic swing bands such as Louis Bellson's.

     As the recording 'home' of ABC-TV's first prime-time Rock & Roll Show 'Shindig'; Gold Star Studios hosted virtually every major pop artist of the 1960s.

     And for established artists like Bobby Darin, The Who, The Monkees, The Band, The Go Go's, The Ramones, The Association, Art Garfunkel, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Tommy Boyce and others; Gold Star Studios provided safe creative harbor, an opportunity to revitalize flagging careers, explore new sonic territories free of 'bean-counter' constraints or to pay homage to Gold Star's rich heritage still reverberating in the walls of Gold Star's 'perfect' echo chambers - the walls in "The Wall of Sound".

     And most importantly: Gold Star between 1950 and 1984 generated more National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) and Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) "Songs of the Century" and Grammy Hall of Fame winners than any other independent studio in America.

     Combining David S. Gold's custom-designed and hand-crafted technology with Stan Ross' relentless creativity and groundbreaking approach to recording as an art form, Gold Star Studios pioneered or gave the first popular exposure to recording techniques and effects that define modern music: from the first platinum album to such now - commonplace audio effects and techniques as phasing, flanging, automatic double - tracking and others.

     In 1959, Gold Star created one of the most innovative recordings in history with Toni Fisher's "The Big Hurt", introducing a modernistic, sweeping electronic effect that introduced electronic music (or 'musique concrete) to a worldwide audience.

     Unencumbered by major record label restrictions, Gold Star's freewheeling "recording-is-art' approach ultimately changed the course of modern music and modern recording studio design while wrestling America's recording capital crown from New York, Nashville and Memphis.

     Featured in hundreds of books, hit films, documentaries, accredited college courses and magazine articles; Gold Star Studios pioneered the single most important innovation in 20th Century music: what Sir George Martin called "the recording - studio - as - instrument" concept.

     In the 1950s, recording equipment and console technology was primarily designed for radio or television uses and available through professional audio contractors. Today, entry level, semi-pro and professional recording technology and software is as far away as your nearest music store and is as essential a tool for songwriters, composers and musicians as pens and paper.

     Today, entry-level musical instrument, amplification and effects technologies routinely incorporate the sounds and effects that shocked listeners and revolutionized the entertainment industry decades ago when they first appeared on Gold Star recordings.

     Today, recordings from "Summertime Blues" though "Pet Sounds" through "End of the Century" still resonate today with listeners of all ages because two brilliant, upstart Los Angeles kids in 1950 envisioned the future of music - and made it happen at Gold Star Studios- where hundreds of hungry young artists and esteemed 'elder statesmen' all captured their Days of Greatness!

The Gold Star Top Fifty Recordings

* indicates songs listed as NEA/RIAA "Songs of the Century"

(parentheses) indicate major recording innovation introduced

on a Gold Star production

All I Really Want to Do - Cher (Cher's first solo hit)

Arman's Theme - Ross Bagdasarian (first 'looped' hit recording)

Be My Baby - The Ronettes*

For What It's Worth - Buffalo Springfield* (Neil Young's and Steve Stills' first hit)

Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys*

I Got You Babe - Sonny & Cher*

La Bamba - Ritchie Valens* (First Spanish Language Rock & Roll hit)

Oh, Donna - Ritchie Valens* (First 'flanged' or automatically double-tracked hit)

Summertime Blues - Eddie Cochran*

Tequila - The Champs* (Stan Ross arranged and co-produced)

A Christmas Gift to You (LP) - Phil Spector & Philles Artists

A Taste of Honey - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass

Angel Claire (LP) - Art Garfunkle

Angel on My Shoulder - Shelby Flint

Baby I Love You - The Ronettes

Black Oak Arkansas (LP) - Black Oak Arkansas

C'mon Everybody - Eddie Cochran

Death of a Ladies' Man (LP) - Leonard Cohen

Express Yourself - Charles Wright & The Watts 103d Street Rhythm Band

Flash Cadillac - Flash Cadillac & The Continental Kids

Grazin' in the Grass - Hugh Masakela (First American hit by African group)

He's a Rebel - The Crystals (First "Wall of Sound")

I Can See for Miles - The Who

I Just Wasn't Made for These Times - The Beach Boys (First use of Therimin on pop record)

If I Were a Carpenter - Bobby Darin (Bobby Darin's 'comeback' hit)

Inna Gada da Vida - Iron Butterfly (first platinum album)

Johnny, Are You Queer? - Josie Cotton

Jungle Hop - Don & Dewey (first electronically distorted guitar)

Land of 1,000 Dances - Thee Midnighters

Little Bitty Pretty One - Bobby Day

Little Latin Lupe Lu - Righteous Brothers

Love Song - Love Song (first 'Christian Rock' album)

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - William Shatner

Maureen McGovern - The Morning After

My Diary - Rosa Lee Brooks - (first Jimi Hendrix record)

Please Mr. Custer - Larry Verne

Popsicles & Icesicles - The Murmaids

Primrose Lane - Jerry Wallace

Pushing Too Hard - The Seeds

Rebel Rouser - Duane Eddy (First hit featuring guitarist considered Rock & Roll's first 'Guitar God')

Rhythm of the Rain - The Cascades

Rock & Roll High School - The Ramones

Rockin' Robin - Bobby Day

Ronald Reagan Syndicated Radio Series

That's All I Know- Art Garfunkle (Art Garfunkle's first solo hit)

The Baja Marimba Band - Jules Wechter

The Beat Goes On - Sonny & Cher

The Big Hurt - Toni Fisher (first phase-shifting or 'phasing' effect)

The Birds and the Bees - Jules Aiken (first 'chorused' guitar)

The Happy Whistler - Don Robertson

This Guy's in Love with You - Herb Alpert & Bert Bacharach (Alpert's and Bacharach's first #1 hit)

To Know Him is to Love Him - The Teddy Bears (Phil Spector's first hit record)

Utee - Rosa Lee Brooks (Jimi Hendrix' first recorded guitar solo)

Wouldn't It Be Nice - The Beach Boys

You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin - Righteous Brothers* (Most programmed record of all time)

Zip A Dee Do Dah - Bobb E. Soxx & The Blue Jeans (first distorted lead guitar solo on a hit record)

Gris Gris - Dr. John (Dr. John's first album)

The Story of Rock & Roll - The Turtles

Let's Dance - Chris Montez

Call Me - Chris Montez