‘xiao ye shi yao’

You know, it is so great when you encounter one of the pioneers in the music business, a guy whose name you have heard many times with admiration and awe, and he turns out to be a terrific guy, and you have connections with him you did not even know about.

This happened to me today, April 9, in Lancaster, PA when I met Charlie Gracie, a true legend in the rock and rockabilly field, and who is billed, quite accurately, as the first rock’n'roll performer from  the city of Philadelphia. Before Frankie Avalon, before Fabian Forte, before Bobby Rydell, there was Charlie Gracie. Charlie is perhaps best known for his hits, ” Butterfly” and “Fabulous,” on the Cameo label. His hits basically bankrolled Cameo-Parkway for a number of years while they increased their stable of performers. Andy Williams did a cover of ” Butterfly” which put him on the road to stardom, and awhile back, Sir Paul McCartney did a cover of ” Fabulous.” George Harrison loved Charlie’s guitar playing. Charlie was appearing at the Pennsylvania Music Expo in Lancaster, and I decided I wanted to meet him and get my photo with him. What a nice man, and his wife Joan and his son and daughter-in-law were great too! You can read all about Charlie at www.charliegracie.com. Meantime, here’s my photo with Charlie. He is going to be 70 this year. I should look so good!

Thanks, Charlie! It was great to meet you! Here’s hoping to see you in Green Bay in may 2007!

Our erstwhile webmaster, who is now living in Santa Monica working on a movie, is in the process of updating the Starfires webpage. He is a very busy guy, so we probably will be getting a webmaster closer to home. check out www.starfiresforever.com.

The other exciting news is that our lead vocalist, Eddie Day, ne’ Edwin Pashinski, is running for the state legislature. Check out his website at www.eddiedaypashinski.com. You folks in Pennsylvania’s 121st district had better get out and support this guy. He is one of your own, born and bred in NE PA!