Author Bio
I grew up in the San Fernando Valley, in Southern California, just north of Los Angeles and Hollywood. As a youngster in the early 50's I was able to listen to my mother's 78-rpm record collection and around 1953 also was able to hear my older brother's collection. My mom had the Ink Spots, Mills Brothers and Four Tunes among many others and my brother started early with the Orioles, Clovers, Drifters, Chords, Robins etc. I was hooked on vocal group recordings before I knew exactly what they were.
I started collecting records around 1958 and continued into the 90's buying 45's. In the late 70's I met Mike Whitlock who was one of the top collectors of vocal group records in the world. He owned a record store and I spent hours over the next several years adding group records to my collection.
At that time, I also started gathering information on all the groups and the history of the music that would eventually lead me to writing this book. After I retired from the grocery business in 2003, I was able to spend the time needed to get the book where it is today.
I've been living in Simi Valley, CA (just west of the San Fernando Valley) for the past eight years with my wife Illise and my daughter Alexandra. Illise and I were married in 1996 and "Alex" was born in July of 2000. I also have three older children (two daughters and a son) and three grandaughters.