Q: What was the name of your high school band?
A: The Futuras


Q:What type of songs did you play?
A: We played songs like “Gloria” by “Them”, Van Morrison’s first band. We were the first band in the area to play this and a lot of kids thought it was our original song. We did songs by the Animals, the Kinks, the Zombies, the Ventures and Spencer Davis Group. We did a few Four Seasons numbers and the Beau Brummels. I was the lead singer and my first rock song I ever sang was “Wooly Bully” by Sam Sham and the Pharaohs. I also enjoyed “Louie Louie” by the Kingsmen with the “naughty lyrics” and all.


Q: Why did you decide to stop going to Roosevelt University
A: I wasn’t going to be a music teacher and I wasn’t a virtuoso on the piano. My calling was writing songs and playing in a band, so I followed that road. I also had a rough time paying my tuition as my family didn’t have that kind of income to support me. I lived at the Irving Park YMCA and played weekend gigs to pay for the first three years. I recorded an album down in Pekin, Illinois, which started my studio experience. I had recorded songs in Nashville in 1969, but never on my own with my own band.


Q: And was that when you moved out to Los Angeles?
A: I moved to LA in 1972 after traveling with my own various band for 2 years. Wolfman Jack, who was a big star on Midnight Special had a manager who heard my demo album done in Pekin. He found an apartment in Laurel Canyon where I lived with my band till we did Windy City Breakdown for Bearsville. We were still playing in clubs around LA and really had a tough time of it. Bearsville didn’t really like the record when it was done, so I quit doing the band thing and sold stereos for 6 months at Cal Stereo.


Q: What did you expect to happen in LA, and what really did happen?
A: We didn’t have many expectations back then. I was hoping to come up with a single that would get us out of the clubs. Wolfman’s management was very supportive and helpful and I got a ton of experience watching all those Midnight Specials week after week. Quitting the business was the low point in my career but a necessary evil, I guess. I was frustrated and bitter about Windy City and I guess everything that could go wrong went wrong. Albert Grossman, Janis Joplin’s manager signed us but was unhappy about the outcome even as he watched us make it in Woodstock, NY.


Q: Did the Jonathan Cain Band come together in Chicago or LA? How did the band come together (friends/agents)?
A: The Jonathan Cain Band came together in LA. My brother Mugs and Jimmy Arnold, who also sang in the clubs needed a bass player. So we met Gary, who could sing real good as well. We played in lots of rock clubs around the LA area and in the “Mine Shaft” in Calabasas, we were considered the house band for a few years. Our producer JC Phillips was a kind, patient man, who turned out to be gay. He taught me many things and was a great friend during these days.


Q: How long was the Jonathan Cain Band together?
A: The Jonathan Cain Band lasted about 3 years.


Q: How did the Jonathan Cain Band end up on the Dick Clark show?
A: A single “Till It’s Time to Say Good-bye”, which got recorded at Quantum Studio in Torrence, CA. was released by “October Records”; a small indie run by a friend of our producer JC Phillips. It had pretty good promotion and ended up a top 40 hit in the LA area. Wolfman’s management did a great job in promoting the record by calling the stations and following through on the record. Wolfman was home and taped the Dick Clark show on his VCR. He was happy and proud for me and the band.


Q: The LP Windy City Breakdown is recorded at the wrong speed. How and what happened to cause that?
A: We were so disoriented in Woodstock, we played everything too fast. When we got into mastering, slowing everything down a little made the record feel less frantic and gave more space to everything.


Q: What runs through your mind everytime a fan shows up with one of the LPs to be sign? How many pressing were made?
A: A good bunch of songs recorded in the wrong place and wrong time. I think we were “city guys” and should have made the album in our backyard at Quantum. It was “haunted” at Woodstock Studios, where we stayed and it really freaked out everyone, while we were there. Everything was constantly breaking in the studio back in those days and Todd Rundgren was borrowing stuff and not returning any of it. The AC went out along with the power and it got frustrating for all of us. We had fun anyway and drank Metaxa (Greek Brandy) and partied on way through, in true rock-n-roll fashion. 5,000 were pressed, we had to force Bearsville to release it.


Q: Why did the Jonathan Cain Band dissolve?
A: We hit a wall with “Windy City Breakdown”. If it was a decent outcome maybe we would have stayed together, but the release came out and went, despite some “critics acclaim”; the album went down without any attention at all. Albert Grossman, didn’t want another record and with more nightclubs as a future; I wanted to concentrate on writing songs and get out of the “club grind”. I did meet Robbie Patton, an English songwriter, who told me about the “Babies” audition. It happened as a result of being associated with Albert’s publishing company. So everything has a reason. The outcome had changed and I moved on.


Q: How did you become involved with the movie “A Whale of A Tale”?
A: Wolfman Jack’s management, “Don Kelly Management” had been approached by an independent film maker, who had Shatner, who was trying to break into the movies. Don played my stuff for them and they liked it. I had fun scoring “Whale of a Tale” and wrote my own orchestration, conducted and produced all the songs.


Q: Did you have musical freedom or did they prompt you on what to write?
A: I worked with the director on the cues and found out what kind of “feel” he wanted. Otherwise they were delighted. The main song “They Don’t Know You Like I Do” had whistling by Chris Christenson the Executive Producer on the film. He was an awesome whistler and did his part in one take. Overall, a great experience and I should mention my brother “Mugs” and some friends played on the sessions; done in a cheap studio out in the valley.


Q: Was the experience a positive one or a negative one, and why?.
A: I did this project quickly and effortlessly and thought there might be more opportunities for me, which never materialized. I guess I didn’t knock on the right doors at the time, since LA is really about “who you know”. I had a blast watching the “movie-ola reels” in the cutting room as they placed my cues in the film. I hope to do a film someday once my Journey days end.


Q: Have you ever thought or been approached to compose for a movie again?
A: Absolutely, would love a shot again!


Q: When did you join The Babys and how long was it between the time you auditioned and then got the job?
A: I auditioned for the Babys about three times. They kept calling me back to “jam” and eventually, I got the gig. I was writing with Robbie Patton who wrote with Christie McVie and Distant Shores with me. He was supportive and encouraging during those dark times in my career.

John Waite really liked a song I had written “Stick To Your Guns” and that seemed to seal the deal. Seems they were looking for someone who could write. The Baby’s recorded “Stick To Your Guns”, but it was never released on Union Jacks sessions cause it didn’t fit the color of the rest of the record.