Kevin Stonerock : Day Before Tomorrow Kevin Stonerock's thoughts, March 1999

I first met Moe in 1976. I had written several songs and was looking for someplace to do a demo. I knew that my classmate, Mel Cupp, had recorded an album there with Primevil, and I liked what I heard, so my friend Paul Herr and I decided to check it out.

I had never been in a real studio before, and that big farmhouse at the end of the lane sure didn't look like any I had imagined. We knocked on the door and were greeted by a tall, lanky fellow wearing a white V-neck t-shirt and fly away hair. We were invited inside and escorted to the control room where we arranged an appointment to do my first professional demo session.. an inauspicious beginning to what was to become a milestone in my life.

From the beginning, I always felt a sense of camaraderie at 700 West. Moe was not just the engineer, but also the producer, arranger, vocal coach (you haven't lived until you've witnessed Moe demonstrating a high harmony pad!), guitar tech, session player, publisher, promoter, and guidance counselor. Nobody's fool, I'm sure he saved many of us from being eaten alive by the industry sharks.

One of our favorite pastimes during recording session lulls was to come up with parodies of the popular songs of the day or whatever project was currently in the studio. No one could best Moe at this game. I used to feel sorry for the sensitive "artiste" types who's lyrics were sacred to them, because I knew that after about three listens, Moe would rework it into some uproariously bawdy parody (anybody remember the "many physicians" or "floating lily pads" lines? He still has insulting titles for most of my tunes. In later years, when producing projects for other artists, I've had to be careful not to fall into Moe's pattern in that regard. ..some of those guys are way too serious!)

I spent a great deal of time at 700 West in the late seventies and early eighties and I can't remember not having fun. Moe, Betty, Bobbie, Maury, David and Mark all made me feel like part of the family, sharing their food and even putting me up for the night when the power steering belt broke on my 1970 Bel Air.

Here are afew things I learned from Moe:

1. If one of your kids messes up, send them all to bed, because "it's the army way!"
2. Kalamazoos really can sound like Marshall stacks!
3. Don't take yourself too seriously
4. There's always a way to fix it (but let's do it BEFORE we mix!)
5. Take care of your livestock. Goats got milk too. (This one in memory of Thor, the wonder horse)
6. Don't be a clock watcher
7. Overly busy rhythm parts just add clutter
8. The wonders of high-string guitar
9. The difference it makes when somebody believes in what you're doing
10. A lack of gadgetry can be overcome by creativity
11. I could be better than I thought I could be (thanks for the push)
12. Do it until its right

Since my days at 700 West, I have recorded or produced a fair number of albums and several hundred demos for myself and other writers all across the country. The roots for much of my production and recording work can be traced directly to what I learned from Moe. Of all the projects I've been involved in, nothing surpasses the pride and satisfaction I take in my first LP, Day Before Tomorrow, on 700 West Records. There was just something special about those days when dreams were so alive and "the music mattered more than the bottom line".

Thanks Moe!

P.S. Oddly enough, about two weeks before I knew about Moe's website, I wrote a song about those days. Here are the lyrics:

DREAMING AGAIN

Young man on a bridge with a stick in his hand
I wonder what ever happened to him?
It was a long time ago in a fairy tale land
Sometimes I wish I could go there again

When the songs we sang were real and they came from our souls
And the music mattered more than the bottom line
It was a lifetime ago but I remember it well
Late at night when I am all alone
Dreaming Again
Beneath this calm exterior lies a frantic man
Frightened by the things that he don't know
With dreams too wild for dreaming out loud
But every now and then I let them show

When I get out on the road with nothing but time
An echo from the past comes calling me
And the years just melt away until I find
That who I was is what I'll always be
When I'm dreaming again

Dreaming again

Sewing patches on my jeans or patches on my dreams
Either way the stitches come undone
Try to save them as you may, they soon fall away
And leave the threadbare remnant in the sun

But when I get out on the road with nothing but time
An echo from the past comes calling me
And the years just melt away until I find
That who I was is what I'll always be
When I'm dreaming again

Dreaming again

Copyright 1999 Kevin P. Stonerock (BMI)