Tom DeLuca

  Origin: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (USA)

TOM DeLUCA

Tom DeLuca

Discography:

Down to the wire - 1986 (with lyrics)

Notes:

- The year 1986 was a good year for Rock n Roll. The inaugural Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony took place. The first artists honored were Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elvis Presley.

"Down To The Wire” was released on Epic records. The album was in the making for at least a year before it was created. Living in Nashville was not the best place to live for a Rock n Roller, at least not in 1986. Los Angeles and New York Labels did not yet take Nashville seriously, thinking it was only for country music and that rock bands did not come from the South. The truth is that there were many different kinds of bands and writers living in Nashville then from all over the country. The acceptance now of such bands as Kings of Leon and Paramore demonstrates what we already knew in Music City then.

I was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania but grew up in Lake Worth, Florida, I played with many bands in bars and clubs all over southern Florida before I moved to Nashville in 1977. Within a couple of months I was signed as a writer to Charley Pride’s publishing company, Pi-Gem Music. Nashville was very much a songwriters’ town — we all knew each other and we all wrote together. It was not long before I hooked up with the writers that I would eventually co-write this album with - Taylor Rhodes, Gary Harrison, Ronnie Brooks & Howie Tipton. I wrote the Jennifer Rush hit "Heart Over Mind" with Taylor. Years later, he would also write "Where Does The Heart Beat Now” for Celine Dion and "Cryin'" for Aerosmith. Gary would write "Strawberry Wine”, the song that won the Country Music Association Song Of The Year award in 1997. Ronnie, Howie and I co-wrote “Women In Chains" for Joe Perry of Aerosmith and "Son Of The South” for Southern Rock rebel David Allan Cog, later re-titled as "Son of Detroit” in 2003 for Kid Rock’s album. Ronnie, Howie and I also became the nucleus for a band called the Piggy’s — we were "alternative rock” before the term evolved. We toured all over the south and for 6 years were one of Nashville’s hottest rock bands. It was while touring with The Piggy’s that I co-wrote a song called "Satisfied Man” with a writer named Tom Jams ("Loving Arms"). Tom became a mentor and close friend. The day we learned that southern rockers Molly Hatchet were going to record "Satisfied Man” for their album "The Deed Is Done”, Tom died unexpectedly - it hit me hard. It was bittersweet when Hatchet asked me to co-write half of their album. Later, when they invited me to join them on tour, Epic (CBS) Records took notice and signed me as an artist.

I wrote most of this album with Taylor and 90 percent of the production work was done in a little studio in his basement. By the time Epic sent me to England to record my album with James Guthrie (best known for his work with Pink Floyd), most of the guitar parts and arrangements had already been worked out. I brought Taylor with me - we did a week of rehearsals with musicians that were hand picked by Guthrie. It was an exercise in patience for us to get accustomed to the "civilized" English studio pace under Guthrie. We were used to pulling all nighters when we were on a roll - tea breaks were unheard of and we held our tongues, anxious to keep going. Eventually we got our rhythm moving and 3 months later I was back in Nashville awaiting my record release.

There was quite a lot of hype building up to the release of the album — press, photo sessions, meetings with the label. Finally the day was here — unfortunately for me, the same week of the release, an executive name Lawrence Tisch took over Epic Records. He immediately fired the entirte A&R staff, along with the promotion team. In an instant, there was no one left at the label who had ever heard of me — and to make matters worse, my manager was on holiday in Hawaii, oblivious to the bomb that had just gone off at Epic. The album essentially was buried in the turmoil and although it did make it into stores (the Epic marketing guy seemed like the only one left), it was never really released. The frustration of the experience and what seemed like a year of wasted time soured me from pursuing another record deal and I returned to my first passion, songwriting.

It's ironic that over 20 years later, a record company in Germany, the same country that gave me my first songwriting hit, somehow discovered my album and gives it an official release. I hope that is received like a time capsule from the era when Rock and Roll was king but I'd also like to think that these songs will still hold up in today’s world of Music. -

(Notes from booklet notes from the 2009 re-released cd 'Down to the wire')