#wayne avers

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Nico Assumpção, Kathleen Battle, Danny Bonaduce, Mickey Bradley, Dave “Baby” Cortez, Cliff Fish, Dan Fogelberg, Don Ho, Lee Hyla, Midori Ito, Luis Mariano, Paul & Linda McCartney’s 1971 “Back Seat of my Car” single, Clayton Merrill, Mulgrew Miller, Big Chief Russell Moore, Annie Oakley, Kamya Panjabi, Ric Parnell, Elvis Presley’s 1956 “Don’t Be Cruel” single, Son Seals, Feargal Sharkey, George Shearing, "Big Mama" Thornton’s 1952 single “Hound Dog,” Charles Williams, Jim Yates, and Screamin’ Steve Barlotta, band leader of The Sensational Soul Cruisers and former saxophonist for Davy Jones (Monkees). Steve performs in this video from the early 90s. Creating it was the first major project I did with Davy Jones, the Monkee who also kept busy as a solo act. He cut this track in 1993 with his then-road band: Screamin’ Steve + Wayne Avers (guitar & vocals), Jerry Renino (bass, music director, & vocals), Jimmy Riccitelli (keyboards & vocals), & VJ Riccitelli (drums). The music track was mixed by Grammy-winning engineer Rusty Richards (Julie Miller, Brian Wilson). I was brought in to edit the video and sweeten the tracks—Davy and I spent hours curating through footage with the goal of making a fun collage around the band’s live performance. He released it as a VHS video single with a 1992 live version of "Girl" as the second cut (this edition of the video was remastered in 2021). Meanwhile, happy birthday Steve—keep tootin’ and Soul Cruisin’ and be well!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OnB7Qls5w8

SATURDAY MATINEE MUSIC VIDEO “Saturday’s Child” by The Monkees (live 2011) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy2fcnIz9mk This performance features guitarist Wayne Avers, who has played with The Monkees in all their manifestations since 1990 (and he’s also worked with Christopher Cross, Rick Derringer, Todd Rundgren, & other notables). David Robicheau and Felipe Torres are rockin’ it in this clip, and I always enjoyed playing it. “Saturday’s Child” was the second track on The Monkees’s debut LP. It’s one part bubblegum and one part hard rock akin to The Yardbirds. The song was written by David Gates (later of Bread fame) and was first recorded by the garage pop band The Palace Guard (with Emitt Rhodes and actor-musician Don Grady) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy2fcnIz9mk