Welcome to my blog. This will be a place for me to reflect on my career and all of the amazing experiences from the past. It will also be a place to talk about where I am now and all of the wonderful possibilities for the future. Please visit often for updates and insights. Just drop by any time...~SL
TorQue (Steve Luongo -drums, vocals / Mark Hitt - Guitar / Larry Hobbs -bass) performed LIVE at Yabo, located in SW Florida.
We were honored to have had the incredible Howie Lindeman at the board streaming live sound from www.TorQue103103.com. Heartfelt appreciation to Aphex Audio, DDrum, Dean Guitars, Howie Lindeman, Wizard Amplification, YABO, Karen Brown at StardustBlue Media, Gene and the whole Attic Chat crew, Joe and his crew at Jet Productions AND ALL of you for tuning in!
Produced by Bitsa Talent.
Note: A select group of people attended the concert in-person. This exclusive event was streamed world-wide.
Bio - TorQue
Late in 2001 Steve Luongo and fellow Rat Race Choir member, guitarist Mark Hitt formed the progressive rock band TorQue. The two musicians co-wrote 11 songs for the debut album titled TorQue 103103. The original band was started as a power trio with Mark Clarke (Billy Squier) on bass and vocals. This line up was joined in the studio by Chris Clark on keyboards. The new quartet served as the backing band for 2 tracks on the CD Songs From The Material World - A tribute to George Harrison on Koch Records. They performed with Leslie West on "Old Brown Shoe" and John Entwistle on "Here Comes The Sun." The tracks were produced by Steve Luongo.
While recording 103103 Mark Clarke was tapped by his former band for a tour. Luongo & Hitt added bassist Jeff Ganz(Johnny Winter). Luongo served as producer and lead vocalist in addition to his usual spot as drummer. Both Luongo and Hitt have said that 103103 is among their proudest musical achievements. TorQue 103103 is considered to be a huge step in their progressive musical journey which began in 1974. TorQue toured nationally in 2003-2005.
The band has also backed up some familiar names on the live concert stage. Robin Zander & Rick Nielsen (Cheap Trick), Buck Dharma (Blue Oyster Cult), Eddie Money and Mark Farner (Grand Funk Railroad) to name a few. Mark and Steve recorded and toured in 2007 with Brian Johnson & Cliff Williams (AC/DC). They also performed a set of Cream material with bass legend Jack Bruce for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
After a break Luongo and Hitt reformed the band as a trio with bassist Larry Hobbs. They played some one off gigs in 2011 including an appearence at the famed Playboy Mansion in LA. The band recently invited Tommy Zvoncheck(Blue Oyster Cult) to fill the keyboard seat and is once again performing as a four piece group. This progressive rock band is looking forward to playing some "prog" festivals in the fall. Dates will be announced here and on all of the band's media outlets.
Mark Matthews brought Steve Luongo to the St. Petersburg Palladium on March 26th 2012 - This is what he has to say about Steve and his experiences.
Music partnership brings internationally known drummer to Palladium March 26
Internationally known drummer, songwriter and producer Steve Luongo will host a drum clinic and music insider lecture at 7:30 p.m., Monday, March 26 at the Palladium at St. Petersburg College. Entitled “My Career in Show Business,” the event is the first in a series that stems from a recent partnership between the college’s Music Industry/Recording Arts program and Aphex, an audio enhancement technology company based in Burbank, Calif.
MIRA interns will help produce Luongo’s show, just as they did for the recent Billy Joel appearance. Luongo, who has played with the Who’s John Entwistle, Mountain’s Leslie West, Cream’s Jack Bruce, Todd Rundgren, Alan Parsons, Billy Squier, and AC/DC’s Brian Johnson and Cliff Williams, will give a solo performance on drums and provide an insider’s look at the music business. He hopes to give newcomers to the industry an edge when they enter this highly competitive business.
The partnership, a first for both organizations, will help broaden MIRA’s curriculum by allowing MIRA students to become certified in using Aphex’s products in a professional setting. The unique partnership also means the company will install its audio products at the Palladium Theater and MIRA’s production suite and will host a series of clinics and workshops with artists, leading engineers, and other manufacturers.
“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Aphex,” said Mark Matthews, lead instructor SPC’s Music Industry/Recording Arts program. “The company’s philosophy is perfectly aligned with our commitment to helping future sound professionals develop ‘real world’ skills in a collaborative environment. I know Aphex will benefit equally from working side by side with a younger generation of sound pros.”
“Using both MIRA classroom settings as well as the beautiful Palladium Theater in St. Pete for practical applications of engineering techniques, we aim to create unique and exciting real-world lessons for these passionate students of music and recording,” said Aphex CEO, David Wiener.
The event is free for SPC students and staff with ID, and $12 for the general public.
Its hard to believe that 10 years have passed since we lost
John Entwistle.
The last time I saw him
in person we had just finished a tour in Japan and we were having the customary
end of tour party in John's hotel room.
We were due to catch our flights home the next day. I remember leaving his room a bit earlier
than usual because I had an early flight from Tokyo back to the states. He was scheduled to leave the next afternoon
for the UK. I knew I'd be speaking to
him almost daily by phone but I had no idea it would be the last time we
would ever be in the same room. Maybe I
should have stayed a little longer...
Over the months that followed we spoke almost everyday and
I'd get the odd fax here and there with some of John's unique humor scribbled
across the page...a drawing, a joke or a fax of John's hand in the fax machine
flipping me off. I still have all of
those faxes. If he were still with us
we'd be using Face-time or Skype, but 10 years ago it was a good ol' landline
and a fax machine.
As I write this blog entry (06/26/12) I realize that 25
years ago I had not yet met John Entwistle.
Of course I knew him as a musician that would turn out to be the bassist
of the millennium! I had no idea how my
life would be transformed by a simple introduction thanks to a mutual friend in
Chicago on June 27th, 1987.
I am proud to say that John Entwistle was my friend for 15 years. I miss him to this day and still find it hard to listen to our music or watch our performances. On this blog I shared the story of my first meeting with John 25 years ago. Today I am posting the eulogy that I was invited to write and deliver at his memorial service in London. It was truly an honor. They called him 'the quiet one' but I still hear him ringing in my ears. ~SL
The following is the eulogy delivered by Steve Luongo at John's memorial service,
Thursday, October 24th, 2002 St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, London
John Entwistle was a man of few words and many notes. His Mother, Queenie, told me that by the age of 3 he was standing on a table performing Al Jolson songs at a social club that was frequented by the family. This was the beginning of his public performance career and John loved the attention.
When he wasn't singing or entertaining the adults he spent his time trying to perfect a suit of cardboard armor to indulge his childhood fascination with knights. A fascination, by the way, that he never outgrew. As a child he used to build castles in the rubble of the bombsites in London and play knights for hours even though his cardboard armor made him look more like a robot than a knight.
John was 14 when he was asked to play the trumpet in Teddy Fuligar's band. He was given a hand-me-down tuxedo and played with Fuligar every Saturday night. At 15 he was also performing and passing the hat in local pubs to raise a little extra money during the Christmas holidays. John soon traded in his trumpet for a bass and the moth-eaten tuxedo for some snappier stage clothes. They didn't call him "Big Johnny Twinkle" for nothing.
John went on to change the face of bass guitar and revolutionize the role it played in modern music. He did for bass what Jimi Hendrix did for guitar and there isn't a bassist alive today that hasn't felt the everlasting effect of John Entwistle. But he was much more than a musician. He was also an artist and loved to draw or paint and even built models as a child. His art appears today on album covers and in galleries.
John's humor still rings in the ears of anyone who came in contact with it. John was a very funny guy with an extremely dry sense of humor. He could make anyone laugh at any time and often chose the most awkward times to do so. He could tell jokes for hours and when the old standards ran out he'd start making up his own. If you asked him who his favorite bass player was he would respond "ME…of course." That was John!
He loved old classic period films like Ivanhoe and High Noon. He spent many Sundays with his son Christopher watching the classics and passing on his love of old films mixed with a bit of Buck Rogers. John was somewhat of a historian on the old American west. In fact he knew more about that period in American history than most Americans. He would always know when they were using the wrong gun in a western movie. He'd point it out and say "that gun wasn't invented for another 3 years." He knew about these guns because he collected them along with all sorts of period weaponry and of course knights in armor. He was very proud of the full suits of armor, swords and shields that could be found thoughout his house.
John collected of all sorts of things. In fact he is still the only person I know of that has all of the Marilyn Monroe collector plates. He collected trains, lighters, Disney porcelain, guitars, animated toys, teapots, rugs, art and the list goes on and on.
He also loved dogs and had several of them. He even built them their own miniature estate that he named Dun Sniffin.
He collected cars too although he never learned to drive. He was asked during an interview "What do you do with all those cars if you don't drive them?" He replied, "I drink in them."
John loved deep-sea fishing and cherished his vacations to warm exotic places. He enjoyed good brandy, fine wine and the occasional Cuban cigar. He could sit alone for hours doing a crossword puzzle or spend the day with friends on a shoot in the countryside. He also enjoyed sitting by his koi pond where he could always find peace even in the midst of turmoil. However he hated the heron that kept stealing these expensive fish out of the pond when he wasn't there.
John loved to give gifts. He enjoyed watching the expression on people's faces as they opened whatever he gave them. Sometimes the gift would be humorous and he would wait for you to get the joke. Other times he would touch your heart by turning up with the most thoughtful gift picked out just for you and carried half way around the world. He once scoured the toy shops in the United States until he was able replace a hard-to-find toy that was stolen from his son during a train ride. John loved the holidays and enjoyed decorating his home for Christmas. He would shop for Christmas presents year round and spoil everyone that he was close to on Christmas Day.
John was a truly the definition of a friend. When he found out that an old friend of his was dying of cancer he invited that friend and his family to stay in his house. He opened his home unconditionally and indefinitely in order to make an old friend comfortable in his final days. That is the kind of friend John was.
John did a lot for charity. Too much to even begin to address today. But one thing he did does stand out. John had a tour planned for his band during October of last year. After the disaster at the World Trade Center John wanted to add a fundraiser to the band's schedule.
We later found out that the concert for NY would fall right in the middle of John's tour. Rather than cancel a single date or disappoint a single fan he managed to do all the performances including his benefit. When The Who were finished performing at Madison Square Garden John jumped in a car and was driven 8 blocks uptown to perform again with his own band.
I met John Entwistle on June 27th 1987 and he was a gift in my life the likes of which I will never know again. He was the most gifted musician I have ever had the pleasure of playing with. He was my musical soul mate for 15 years. I was inspired by far more than just his talent. I was inspired by how he lived his life. No excuses and no apologies. He remained one of the most grounded people I have ever known despite his immense celebrity.
John Entwistle was honest, sincere and truly cared about his family, friends and his fans. He was one of the kindest people it has ever been my privilege to know. I have watched him stand in the rain and sign his name on anything until the last autograph was signed. Of course then I listened to him complain for the next half hour about what the rain did to his hair.
I had the honor of calling him my band mate, my writing partner but above all these things he was my friend. I loved him like a brother with all my heart and I will miss him forever…
I would like his fans to know that he loved them very much and would, as he used to say, "play at the opening of an envelope" if they were there.
I would like his family to know that while there is a breath in my body I will sing his praises.
I say to you all…when it thunders…think of John Entwistle.
Pop Music* John Entwistle steps out with his own band, but he and his old mates may yet record again.
November 21, 2001|THOMAS MELLANA | STAMFORD ADVOCATE
Thunderfingers. The Ox. The Quiet One.
John Entwistle has been called many things in his career, but the one thing he's been called more than any other is this: the greatest bass player in the history of rock.
Longtime bedrock of the Who, Entwistle earned the title by changing radically the role of the bass in the music and attacking the instrument with a skill still unmatched in the 35 years since he tossed off the first rock bass solo in "My Generation."
Entwistle put together the John Entwistle Band--whose lineup includes drummer Steve Luongo and guitarist Godfrey Townsend--in the mid-1990s. The group, with keyboardist Gordon Cotton, released "Left for Live" in 1999.
Fronting his own band gives Entwistle more room to shine than he had in the Who. Always a good songwriter, he had the "misfortune" of being in a band that had, in Pete Townshend, one of rock's very best. A typical Who album or performance would feature one, maybe two Entwistle songs.
"It gives me an opportunity to play my material," Entwistle said in a telephone interview from England. "It's nice, it gives me the chance to play more solos and sing a lot more."
The mention of more Entwistle solos is sure to get many Who fans running. There was a time, of course, when the very idea of a bass solo in a rock song was unheard of. The instrument was firmly planted in the background, providing little more than a foundation, usually noticed only if missing. Entwistle moved the instrument to the forefront, often propelling the Who's volatile sound forward.
Entwistle's unique approach to the bass is most likely the result of having played piano and trumpet as a child. He picked up the bass after he grew up and his taste in music began to change.
"There weren't a lot of trumpet players in rock 'n' roll bands, and I didn't want to play jazz," he said.
Although he gravitated naturally to the instrument, Entwistle was never content with the diminutive role expected of bass players.
"The great thing about the Who is that there are only the two guitars, so I got to fill in a lot more holes when Pete was playing the rhythm parts," he explained.
Townshend wasn't the only reason the Who allowed Entwistle to develop as he did. In every rock band, the bass player and drummer work closely. Pair a guy like Entwistle with a traditional 1-2-3-4 drummer and chances are it would all fall apart. Fortunately, he was paired with the prototype for unconventional drumming: Keith Moon.
Entwistle said he's had similar luck in the John Entwistle Band.
"I was kind of lucky to find Steve," Entwistle said. "His style has kind of modulated from my own. I'm able to play a lot freer because Steve goes with me. We push each other."
"The first time we played together, it was like 'Oh, thank you,'" Luongo said. "John really is a lead bass player, and I consider myself a lead drummer. It's kind of like playing with another drummer who has notes."
"Bass players have to think like drummers anyway," Entwistle said. "But we have to think faster."
Entwistle said there's a good chance that fans clamoring for new material from the Who may get their wish, even though the last time the Who released an album of new songs was 1982's "It's Hard."
"It's what we're hoping to do," Entwistle said. "What we're doing now is writing separately, then we're probably going to take a few days in my studio and see what we have."
"The first time we played together, it was like 'Oh, thank you,'" Luongo said. "John really is a lead bass player, and I consider myself a lead drummer. It's kind of like playing with another drummer who has notes."
Today I decided to write "the book" that I have been living for all these years.
I believe that I have enough life under my belt to say something that
means something. I have been toying
with the idea for years but I am truly committed to it now! I think it will be fun, cathartic and a little
scary. To be continued... SL
There has been a lot of "Entwistle" action in my life recently.
With the apparent rebirth of Van-Pires and some other Entwistle related projects that I am working on my friend has been on my mind a lot. I thought I'd share an interesting fact along with a funny story about meeting John for the first time.
I met John at a NAMM show in Chicago at approximately 2pm on June 27th 1987.
I was attending the music trade show at McCormick Place with my band. Our studio engineer and good friend, Joe Berger, was there too. He knew John and had performed with him. It was Joe who arranged for us to meet Entwistle. We were outside the convention center when Joe came walking up with John and introduced us all.
John was well dressed as you might expect. After all they called him "Big Johnny Twinkle" because of his unique fashion sense. He was always put together and wore his clothes like a true Rock-Star. As Pete Townshend once told me "he was a snappy dresser" which was true.
As we were shaking hands and the introductions were taking place a seagull passed overhead. As fate would have it the bird deposited a small offering on John's shoulder.
Always cool...John glanced at his shoulder and casually pulled a tissue from his pocket to remove the gift from above. As it turned out the dry tissue did little to remove the bird dropping so Entwistle tried moistening it with his tongue. Realizing what he had done and without missing a beat he squinted eyes and calmly uttered...Shrimp!
We became and remained friends for the rest of his life. This June 27th will be the 10 year anniversary of his passing. I still miss my friend everyday.
When bassist John Entwistle died of a heart attack on June 27th on the eve of The Who's summer reunion tour, he left behind many aggrieved fans and several unfinished projects. Some of that business will be settled on November 26th with the release of Left for Live: Deluxe, a twenty-four-track expanded version of the John Entwistle Band's 1999 Left for Live album. In addition to a healthy dose of Entwistle solo material ("My Size," "Love Is a Heart Attack," "Too Late the Hero"), Who songs ("The Real Me," "Boris the Spider") and classic covers ("Summertime Blues," "Shakin' All Over"), the album features a never officially released Keith Moon drum track behind "Bogeyman," the band's walk-on music.
"This is something John and I planned to do before he died," said Entwistle's long-time friend and drummer, Steve Luongo, who produced the album following Entwistle's death. "I had listened to board mixes and there was no rush about it [at the time]. We thought the expanded version was a great opportunity to recreate a full one of our shows so people could hear what the band sounded like live. I re-sequenced things and added his stage chatter from different shows, because that was half the fun of it, how loose he was on stage. He was a very different guy in his own band than when he was with the Who."
The album chronicles more than fifteen different dates from the 1998-99 Left for Dead: The Sequel tour by the band -- Entwistle, Luongo, guitarist Godfrey Townsend (no relation to the Who's Pete) and keyboardist Gordon Cotton. It tacks twelve previously unreleased songs onto the 1999 original.
"This album is the best representation of this band that exists in the world," Luongo said. "And it lays to rest that whole 'quiet one' thing. John always used to say that when the Who were first taking off, Keith was the maniac, Roger [Daltrey] was the face and Pete [Townshend] was the intellectual, but nobody knew what to do with the bass player, so they made him the quiet one. Well, he wasn't, and you'll hear that on this album, which is what John intended."
In addition to his thundering bass lines, Entwistle's signature dark humor is all over the set, none of it more chilling than in the introduction to "Darker Side of Night." "This song is probably the last song I ever wrote," Entwistle says of the track from the never officially released Vanpires soundtrack album. Luongo quickly corrects his pal, saying, "most recent song . . . let's hope it's not the last." In an ironic twist the morbid bassist would have loved, Luongo says, it was the last completed song Entwistle penned on his own.
Earlier this year, Entwistle teamed with Luongo to write a dozen songs for possible inclusion on a potential Who album. Luongo said he is also considering recording one of the scotched Who songs for the debut record from his new band, Torque. Another Entwistle Band studio album might also eventually be released, composed of a least a dozen songs recorded for a never-aired second season of the syndicated Vanpires animated show.
In the meantime, Luongo is editing an Entwistle documentary he shot with Justin Kreutzmann, son of Grateful Dead drummer, Bill. "It covers his life from the time he was three years old and dancing on tables at a working man's club to how he was feeling about going out on tour with the Who this summer," said Luongo of An Ox's Tale, which has not yet secured a distributor.
Welcome to my blog. Here we will discuss live drumming and studio techniques, recording drums, music production, composing music for film & TV and all things entertainment.
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