News

MARDONES RECORDS AT WARRIOR

Los Angeles, CA (March 30, 2005) - Adult Contemporary staple Benny Mardones is recording new material at Warrior Records, as announced today by Jim Ervin, CEO, L.A. Entertainment, Inc.

"I have worked with Benny on various projects since 1994 and he is one of the most talented vocalists in the business," expressed Mr. Ervin. "His biggest hit, 'Into The Night', is in the Top 25 most radio performed records of all time. Currently, Benny is writing some of the best material of his career and I look forward to producing his new album."

About Benny Mardones
Benny Mardones exploded onto the music scene in 1980 and was quickly nicknamed "the Voice" due to his incredible vocal range and soulful, passionate performance of his signature song, “Into the Night”. The track became an instant nationwide radio classic, topped the charts twice, and remains one of the most frequently played tunes in radio history. It is estimated that Into the Night has been played more than 4,000,000 times in the U.S. alone. The melody is forever etched into the collective psyche of American culture; however, few people know the story of the man behind the song.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised in Savage, Maryland, a young Benny saw Elvis Presley perform on the Ed Sullivan Show. The decision was made then and there to become a rock and roll singer. Benny formed his first band as a teenager, performing at local high schools and colleges in the Maryland area.

After a stint in the Navy during the Vietnam War, Benny moved to New York City where he met Joel Diamond, then President of CBS Publishing. At Joel's suggestion, Benny tried his hand at songwriting and soon co-wrote the song “Too Heavy To Carry” with Alan Miles. Two weeks later, Brenda Lee recorded it, and Benny's career was born.

Various artists recorded the first seven songs penned by Benny and Alan providing the duo with the reputation of being the hot new songwriters in town. On many occasions during this period, Benny sang and Alan accompanied him on piano as they recorded demo versions of the songs they had created. After hearing one of these demos, Tommy Mottola and Joel Diamond suggested that Benny sing his own songs. They set out to find Benny a record deal and within a few months had succeeded. White Whale Records, best known for the band The Turtles, released “Stand and be Counted” by Benny Mardones and Alan Miles. However, concerned that 'Benny Mardones' was inadequate as a stage name, White Whale put out the record under the unlikely pseudonym of Troy.

After some corporate shake-ups, Benny and Alan found themselves unemployed. Alan decided to move to California where he started a group called The Band with No Name and released a record on the legendary disco label Casablanca. Benny moved to Woodstock, New York with his friend D.L. Byron and started a short-lived band called Justice. Consequently, D.L. Byron moved back to NYC and eventually signed a deal with Arista Records where he co-wrote the song “Shadows of the Night”, which became a number one hit for Pat Benatar.

While living in Woodstock, Benny met legendary musician & songwriter Richie Havens. Havens was so impressed by Benny's talent that he invited him on the road as his opening act. During the tour, Benny's live show impressed legendary concert promoter Ron Delsener so much that when Blue Oyster Cult canceled as the support band for Dave Mason and Peter Frampton, Delsner asked Benny to open the show at Madison Square Garden.

Benny's New York appearances brought him to the attention of Andrew Loog Oldham (producer of the first seventeen Rolling Stones records) as well as Larry Utall, President of Private Stock Records (the original home of Blondie). Benny signed a deal with Private Stock and the record “Thank God for Girls” was released in 1979.

As luck would have it, Private Stock folded not long after the records release. However, Benny's friend Bill McGathy (now one of Benny's closest friends and confidants as well as the godfather to Benny's son Michael) had just taken over as the head of National Rock Promotions at Polydor Records. Through Bill's efforts, Benny was signed to Polydor. With his new writing partner Bobby Tepper, Benny put together a collection of songs that far surpassed his earlier work. Together with producer and friend Barry Mraz (Styx, Ohio Players), Benny recorded the album “Never Run, Never Hide”. The record included the song “Into the Night” which quickly became a number one record on the CHR and AC charts.

Despite his professional success, Benny's personal life was at an all time low. He found himself battling the demons of drug addiction, which are all too common in the world of rock n' roll. Benny discontinued all concert performances, recordings, and appearances. To the rest of the world, it seemed as it "the Voice" had fallen from the face of the earth.

Following numerous personnel changes at Polydor, Benny released his next album entitled “Too Much To Lose”. Benny's drug problems, coupled with Polydor's financial woes, rendered the album a colossal disappointment. Benny sunk even deeper into secluded depression. He was nowhere to be found… nowhere, that is, except for the unlikely city of Syracuse, NY. With the help of fans like Tommy Nast, then program director at local station 94 Rock FM, Benny's music was constantly on the air in Syracuse.

In 1983, he played a legendary concert at Longbranch Park with more than 10,000 people in attendance. Suddenly, BennyMania had taken hold in upstate New York. In 1985, Benny sold-out four shows at the 3,500 seat Landmark Theater. At his peak Benny would draw 24,000 fans to a show at Weedsport Speedway, one of the regions largest venue at that time.

With Benny’s records out of print, local promoters released two "Syracuse Only" records, “Unauthorized” and “American Dreams”. Each of these sold over 18,000 copies in that city alone. Benny's numbers topped even those of new releases by performers like Bruce Springsteen.

When Benny’s son Michael Everett was born in 1985, Benny knew that raising a child gave him no choice but to quit using drugs. He settled in upstate New York in an attempt to get his life in order and concentrate on being a father.

A few years later, in 1989, a major Arizona radio station (KZZP) played “Into the Night” and their phone lines immediately lit up. Sensing that their listeners still loved the now classic song, they added it to their current rotation. “Into the Night” quickly became the most requested track on the station. Scott Shannon, then program director for Pirate Radio in Los Angeles, took notice of this and added the song to that station's playlist. Soon, radio stations across the country followed suit. “Into The Night” once again established itself as the most requested record on radio. Through a twist of fate, Benny Mardones was thrust into the spotlight once more!

Due to the renewed success of “Into the Night”, Curb Records signed Benny Mardones and he quickly recorded an updated version called “Into the Night '89”. The track appeared on a self-titled release (known as the Blue Album by his fans). Benny was then asked to appear on a tribute to Roy Orbison broadcast by the cable network Showtime. This event placed him alongside such luminaries as Bob Dylan, John Fogerty, Johnny Cash, and K.D. Lang. Elvis Presley's band was the house band for the evening! When Benny stepped on stage to sing “Running Scared”, few people know Benny's name, but upon finishing the song he received roaring applause and a standing ovation!

The so-called Blue Album was followed by one more release on Curb. Despite their best intentions, the label was not able to propel Benny's career and they eventually parted ways. In 1998, Benny was signed to Mariah Carey's Crave label and released the record “Angel”. Despite positive reviews and strong radio support, Crave went out of business three weeks after the record's release. Fuel Records, a division of Universal, reissued the album as “Bless A Brand New Angel” later that same year. Unfortunately, too much momentum had been lost, and the record went unnoticed.

To this day, Benny Mardones remains a superstar in Syracuse. His live shows have become major events and his fan base continues to grow. Because of Benny's popularity in his hometown, Greg Ross (a Syracuse native and owner of the underground label Go-Kart Records) took it upon himself to make a documentary about Benny's life. Considering the fact that this was Ross' first attempt at filmmaking, his efforts have met with considerable acclaim.

The documentary entitled “Into the Night: The Benny Mardones Story” has been wildly received at film festivals all over the country and was even called "a classic" by the Austin Chronicle. Negotiations for the documentary are ongoing with many major distributors and cable companies.

Ross approached nationally syndicated radio host Delilah with the idea of having her act as the film's narrator. However, upon viewing a rough-cut of the project, she found herself so moved by Benny's story that she decided to champion his cause. In fact, so anxious was Delilah to begin this crusade, only an appeal from Benny himself could restrain her from playing songs from the film's soundtrack on her radio show immediately! She conceded to at least wait until the record was in stores. Thus, what was simply supposed to be the soundtrack to the documentary quickly became Benny's new album.

“A Journey Through Time” features some of Benny's best and most loved songs from his twenty-five year recording career. It includes two versions of “Into the Night”, one of which is acoustic and another that duplicates the classic hit version. Four brand new tracks appear on the record as well. On one of the songs, Delilah enlisted support from adult contemporary superstar Jim Brickman, who appears on the song “Unfinished Symphony”. The first single from the album was the song "I Need A Miracle", which was co-written by Robert Tepper and received extensive airplay on Delilah's nationally syndicated radio show.

Currently, Benny has connected with producer Jim Ervin and is writing and recording a full album of new material to be released fall of 2005.

About Warrior Records
Warrior Records is a music company whose products are distributed worldwide. Its businesses also include publishing divisions that administrate a wide range of copyrights, a music supervision firm specializing in motion picture and television soundtracks, a marketing & promotions company, and a new media and technologies division that develops and implements new formats, e-commerce, and emerging Internet methodology.

Warrior Records is a division of L.A. Entertainment, inc., a California based entertainment corporation.

L.A. Entertainment, Inc.