Why Pete Holly {and the Look's}have no Bio
There is a good reason why there is only one accurate Bio
{GreatSong-France}} of me on the internet even though i started
my website before any other musical artist on the internet.I got
up on the internet first because of a Genuis Marine Biologist
i knew.He told me about the Web in the very first day's of it's
inception.
He was a really big fan of my Band "The Look's".He predicted
that the internet would become a very big source of music for the
public and it turned out his prediction was right on the mark.
He saw this potential way before anyone else did and his enthusiasum
inspired me to start my website 14 years ago.
I was the first music artist to use my name as the name of my
Domain website-peteholly.com .Something that other music artists
didn't start doing until much later.
But the reason there are no real bio's of me on the internet is
because the story of my career is very differant from most music
artists.
First of all "The Look's" never moved to a Bigger City and/or
Music Town.I was able to talk Greg Shaw at Bomp Records into
financing a studio session in L.A. over the phone simply by the
strength of our demo tape and by my own gift of salesmanship.
{My father was well known in the Car Business as being the greatist
Car salesman of all time}
To get a chance to record a single in this way was unpresidented
in the entire History of Pop/Rock Music.No other band from any time
period was ever able to pull off what i accomplished.Getting a record
deal without ever leaving my Hometown of Boise,Idaho.One of the
other reasons we were able to accomplish this impossible task was
the perfect timing of the first inexpensive home recording decks
with really great sound quality becoming available to the public in
1978.By 1979 i had figured out how to get the best sounding recordings
from this new advance in recording equipment.
In many way's our band's sound didn't fit into any of the styles
that Bomp released in those day's.Greg Shaw saw us as futurists whose
sound was a harbinger of things to come.We weren't a "Garage Band",
we didn't play "Power Pop" or "Psychadelic" music.We really were just
a straight,street smart,original rock band.When we first meet our
producer,"Scott Goddard",in a brand new state of the art 48 track
recording studio-the pairing of the former "Surf Punk" Scott and
"Pete Holly and the Look's" looked promising.We started to play a
bunch of songs i had written and which were being recorded and
both Scott and our engineer,the famous Thom Wilson{the best ears in
the business} were very confidant in the potential of my songs.
We were getting a deal from the studio by using "Spec Time" which
meant anytime the studio wasn't being used by someone else.So it
could be day's or even a week before we could get back in the studio.
Finally we got the call from Greg Shaw that some more time was
available{We were staying with our drummers family in La Puenta
in East L.A.}
When we finally all got back in the studio,our second session,we
were meet by a totally differant "Scott Goddard".He was completly
wasted on pot,cocaine,alcohol and god only knows what else.He was
extremly beligerant and arguementative.I grew up in an alcoholic
family so i knew it was just the booze and the drugs talking but when
he started harrassing Mitch and Lenny,calling them unspeakable
names and making racist remarks to Lenny-I just couldn't stand
it.I got him cooled out a little by using some of my Barrage of tactics
that i had developed to deal with my dad when he went on a bender
and it worked well enough that at least i got him to stop badgering
Mitch and Lenny.
Needless to say we didn't get much work done that day but at the
end of it we all listened to the playback of what we had recorded so far.
After hearing the playback i realized that the band on the tape didn't
sound anything like "Pete Holly and the Look's".It sounded like some
really slick power pop band from L.A. and i was not pleased.
Thinking about this later i thought of one possible reason why
Scott might think we had a sound similar to all the power pop bands
in L.A..He must not have ever heard our Demo Tape ! I called Greg
and he confirmed my suspician-he's never givin our demo tape to Scott
so he could get an idea of what kind of band we were.I told Greg that
what we had recorded so far sounded like shit and that he had to get that
Demo tape to Scott as soon as possible-plus i asked for one more favor-
to ask Scott to be Straight at the next Session.Greg agreed.
Now we finally get to our third and last session{I told greg that we
had to leave soon-we'd allready spent over 3 week's at lenny's family's
home and i could feel the tension mounting from the cramped living
conditions,i had started to hear arguements and i knew we had to
leave soon}of in the studio-and a straight and humbled Scott Goddard
was there apoligizeing for his behavior at the last session,saying that he
had listened to the tape and now he knew why we were unhappy with
the sound he'd applied to my music.It was early morning and our last
chance to fix everything that was wrong with the recording.
First we re-recorded every electric guitar part including all the lead
Guitar work.Only this time i had every knob on my 250 watt amp turned
up all the way nearly blasting the two 15 inch speakers in my Randall Speaker
cabinet to smithereens .It was the most beautiful,ground shaking{literally}
and powerful sound i'd ever heard in my life and i loved it."Today",Scott had
annouced earlier-speaking directly to me-"You have to be Superman".
We did background vocals,tons of them,Handclaps{me and scott},
Over dubbed an acoustic 12-string guitar part on "What Did I Say"
and both myself and scott did the vocal harmonies on it as well on it.
Finally everything was falling into place and just in the nick of time.
So i didn't get to make the record i wanted to make-but the record
that we did make was totally unique and had pleasures of it's own.Which
now i can appreciatte much better than i could back then.
Sincerely,
Pete Holly
note:So that's why you don't see Bio's of me or the Look's.Because
we never fitted into any one catagory-and that has continued to
be the case when i finally got around to recording my solo CD's.
There are no Bio's because the story of my music career both
with "The Look's" and as a solo artist doesn't fit neatly into
any catagory and also because of the miracleous way in which
i got my start in show business.You just can't explain a miracle
in a Bio.
CODA:In memory of Scott Goddard
About 7 years ago i got an e-mail from Scott telling me
how glad it made him to hear that i was doing so good ! It was abit of a shock because
i hadn't heard from him since we made the "Pete Holly and the Look's " single in 1980.
I hadn't seen or heard anything about him in the music business either-and that did
seem strange to me because Scott-despite his struggle's with drugs and alcohol {I
had my share latter too}was a very talented musician,vocalist,and Producer.
He wrote to apoligize for his being so fucked up that 2nd session and being such a jerk
to me and the Look's.He also mentioned that he'd allway's felt really bad about the
the mix he made of the record and that it really had bothered him all these years.
{After we returned to Boise Scott made a horrible mix of the single that Greg had
sent to me-he'd speeded everything up to chipmonk level and and the guitars and
vocals that we'd worked so hard to get right on that last session were buried in the
the mix-it was a mess-that took the combined force's of Greg Shaw,Thom Wilson
and me-giving them instructions over the phone to fix everything and get back to
the way it sounded on that last play back we heard after the 3rd and final Session.
I have to say here that it was only because Greg Shaw had complete confidence in
my ability to know just how my music should sound-that the single finally came
out sounding as great as it did-without Greg's confidence in my judgement we
never would have been able to get through all the the problem's we had too and
and have the single finally be released with such a Great Sound and Mix.
I wrote back to Scott and told him that it all happened along time ago and
he should just let it go.The e-mail he sent back was estatic-i could tell he felt a
great sense of relief from what i had wrote.I had no idea until i saw an article
on the internet allmost two years later that just a few weeks after he's written
to me-Scott had passed away.All of a suden it all made sense-Scott was making
his final amends knowing he didn't have much time left to do so.Farewell-
My friend-for all the trouble you caused-you were the one who stepped up-
to the plate and took a chance at producing an unknown band-for that and for
being the great and funny guy you were when you were straight-I Love You !
With my Deepest Respect and Admiration to a man that changed my life and
helped me and my band make our dreams come true-Rest in Peace-Scott-Rest in Peace.
Written by Pete Holly-2010-Copyright-All Rights Reserved
{GreatSong-France}} of me on the internet even though i started
my website before any other musical artist on the internet.I got
up on the internet first because of a Genuis Marine Biologist
i knew.He told me about the Web in the very first day's of it's
inception.
He was a really big fan of my Band "The Look's".He predicted
that the internet would become a very big source of music for the
public and it turned out his prediction was right on the mark.
He saw this potential way before anyone else did and his enthusiasum
inspired me to start my website 14 years ago.
I was the first music artist to use my name as the name of my
Domain website-peteholly.com .Something that other music artists
didn't start doing until much later.
But the reason there are no real bio's of me on the internet is
because the story of my career is very differant from most music
artists.
First of all "The Look's" never moved to a Bigger City and/or
Music Town.I was able to talk Greg Shaw at Bomp Records into
financing a studio session in L.A. over the phone simply by the
strength of our demo tape and by my own gift of salesmanship.
{My father was well known in the Car Business as being the greatist
Car salesman of all time}
To get a chance to record a single in this way was unpresidented
in the entire History of Pop/Rock Music.No other band from any time
period was ever able to pull off what i accomplished.Getting a record
deal without ever leaving my Hometown of Boise,Idaho.One of the
other reasons we were able to accomplish this impossible task was
the perfect timing of the first inexpensive home recording decks
with really great sound quality becoming available to the public in
1978.By 1979 i had figured out how to get the best sounding recordings
from this new advance in recording equipment.
In many way's our band's sound didn't fit into any of the styles
that Bomp released in those day's.Greg Shaw saw us as futurists whose
sound was a harbinger of things to come.We weren't a "Garage Band",
we didn't play "Power Pop" or "Psychadelic" music.We really were just
a straight,street smart,original rock band.When we first meet our
producer,"Scott Goddard",in a brand new state of the art 48 track
recording studio-the pairing of the former "Surf Punk" Scott and
"Pete Holly and the Look's" looked promising.We started to play a
bunch of songs i had written and which were being recorded and
both Scott and our engineer,the famous Thom Wilson{the best ears in
the business} were very confidant in the potential of my songs.
We were getting a deal from the studio by using "Spec Time" which
meant anytime the studio wasn't being used by someone else.So it
could be day's or even a week before we could get back in the studio.
Finally we got the call from Greg Shaw that some more time was
available{We were staying with our drummers family in La Puenta
in East L.A.}
When we finally all got back in the studio,our second session,we
were meet by a totally differant "Scott Goddard".He was completly
wasted on pot,cocaine,alcohol and god only knows what else.He was
extremly beligerant and arguementative.I grew up in an alcoholic
family so i knew it was just the booze and the drugs talking but when
he started harrassing Mitch and Lenny,calling them unspeakable
names and making racist remarks to Lenny-I just couldn't stand
it.I got him cooled out a little by using some of my Barrage of tactics
that i had developed to deal with my dad when he went on a bender
and it worked well enough that at least i got him to stop badgering
Mitch and Lenny.
Needless to say we didn't get much work done that day but at the
end of it we all listened to the playback of what we had recorded so far.
After hearing the playback i realized that the band on the tape didn't
sound anything like "Pete Holly and the Look's".It sounded like some
really slick power pop band from L.A. and i was not pleased.
Thinking about this later i thought of one possible reason why
Scott might think we had a sound similar to all the power pop bands
in L.A..He must not have ever heard our Demo Tape ! I called Greg
and he confirmed my suspician-he's never givin our demo tape to Scott
so he could get an idea of what kind of band we were.I told Greg that
what we had recorded so far sounded like shit and that he had to get that
Demo tape to Scott as soon as possible-plus i asked for one more favor-
to ask Scott to be Straight at the next Session.Greg agreed.
Now we finally get to our third and last session{I told greg that we
had to leave soon-we'd allready spent over 3 week's at lenny's family's
home and i could feel the tension mounting from the cramped living
conditions,i had started to hear arguements and i knew we had to
leave soon}of in the studio-and a straight and humbled Scott Goddard
was there apoligizeing for his behavior at the last session,saying that he
had listened to the tape and now he knew why we were unhappy with
the sound he'd applied to my music.It was early morning and our last
chance to fix everything that was wrong with the recording.
First we re-recorded every electric guitar part including all the lead
Guitar work.Only this time i had every knob on my 250 watt amp turned
up all the way nearly blasting the two 15 inch speakers in my Randall Speaker
cabinet to smithereens .It was the most beautiful,ground shaking{literally}
and powerful sound i'd ever heard in my life and i loved it."Today",Scott had
annouced earlier-speaking directly to me-"You have to be Superman".
We did background vocals,tons of them,Handclaps{me and scott},
Over dubbed an acoustic 12-string guitar part on "What Did I Say"
and both myself and scott did the vocal harmonies on it as well on it.
Finally everything was falling into place and just in the nick of time.
So i didn't get to make the record i wanted to make-but the record
that we did make was totally unique and had pleasures of it's own.Which
now i can appreciatte much better than i could back then.
Sincerely,
Pete Holly
note:So that's why you don't see Bio's of me or the Look's.Because
we never fitted into any one catagory-and that has continued to
be the case when i finally got around to recording my solo CD's.
There are no Bio's because the story of my music career both
with "The Look's" and as a solo artist doesn't fit neatly into
any catagory and also because of the miracleous way in which
i got my start in show business.You just can't explain a miracle
in a Bio.
CODA:In memory of Scott Goddard
About 7 years ago i got an e-mail from Scott telling me
how glad it made him to hear that i was doing so good ! It was abit of a shock because
i hadn't heard from him since we made the "Pete Holly and the Look's " single in 1980.
I hadn't seen or heard anything about him in the music business either-and that did
seem strange to me because Scott-despite his struggle's with drugs and alcohol {I
had my share latter too}was a very talented musician,vocalist,and Producer.
He wrote to apoligize for his being so fucked up that 2nd session and being such a jerk
to me and the Look's.He also mentioned that he'd allway's felt really bad about the
the mix he made of the record and that it really had bothered him all these years.
{After we returned to Boise Scott made a horrible mix of the single that Greg had
sent to me-he'd speeded everything up to chipmonk level and and the guitars and
vocals that we'd worked so hard to get right on that last session were buried in the
the mix-it was a mess-that took the combined force's of Greg Shaw,Thom Wilson
and me-giving them instructions over the phone to fix everything and get back to
the way it sounded on that last play back we heard after the 3rd and final Session.
I have to say here that it was only because Greg Shaw had complete confidence in
my ability to know just how my music should sound-that the single finally came
out sounding as great as it did-without Greg's confidence in my judgement we
never would have been able to get through all the the problem's we had too and
and have the single finally be released with such a Great Sound and Mix.
I wrote back to Scott and told him that it all happened along time ago and
he should just let it go.The e-mail he sent back was estatic-i could tell he felt a
great sense of relief from what i had wrote.I had no idea until i saw an article
on the internet allmost two years later that just a few weeks after he's written
to me-Scott had passed away.All of a suden it all made sense-Scott was making
his final amends knowing he didn't have much time left to do so.Farewell-
My friend-for all the trouble you caused-you were the one who stepped up-
to the plate and took a chance at producing an unknown band-for that and for
being the great and funny guy you were when you were straight-I Love You !
With my Deepest Respect and Admiration to a man that changed my life and
helped me and my band make our dreams come true-Rest in Peace-Scott-Rest in Peace.
Written by Pete Holly-2010-Copyright-All Rights Reserved
Labels: Trust in California
posted by P. Holly at 5:49 AM
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