Drake Near The Alley

TOP 10 for 2013!! - Beverly Paterson (Something Else Reviews) Wow!! Gary is at it again. After his highly praised 'Hum, Sing...

Repeat!' CD from 2011, and his 'Pop! Radio' album from 2006, he's back and rockin' the joint. Yes, the volume has been turned up a bit. This may be considered more of a 'Guitar' album than his previous work. Oh, don't get me wrong...

The POP is still there but with a definite edgier sound. The catchy melodies, harmonies, pounding drums, cool guitars are still front and center. Imagine if the Kinks, Herman's Hermits, The Who, The Beatles, Hollies, The Romantics, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Fastball, Nick Lowe, Bobby Fuller 4, The Records, Badfinger, The Raspberries all got together to play Everly Brothers tunes. Well, you get the picture. This is a labor of love and you can feel it. So turn it up....and RUN! as Gary likes to say. Here's a little background on Gary.... IN THE BEGINNING... Gary Ritchie a lifelong CHICAGOAN (nw side) uh..er.. until recently (more on that later) thought he was going to be the next shortstop for the CHICAGO CUBS, until one night some kids on T.V. were singing YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! Then came the DAVE CLARK 5, The ANIMALS, KINKS, Gerry & the PACEMAKERS, HERMAN's HERMITS, and many more. He was in! The next thing he knew was that his younger brother got a guitar, formed a band and was playing at the movie theater BETWEEN movies. People applauded and there were um...

GIRLS acting friendly! He thought, in the words of JOHN LENNON, 'THAT seems like a good job'. The next thing he knows is that his brother is asking him to audition for his band THE PARAMODS. Well, he didn't even own a set of drums, but, he could try-out on the other drummers drums! The first thing they ask him to play is WIPEOUT! He couldn't play WIPEOUT. So needless to say, he failed the audition. But, that really got him interested in playing. So during the great SNOWSTORM of '67 his dad drove down to the south side of CHICAGO to get his first set of drums. Oh, by the way, Gary's brother Greg has still never said a word about the failed audition! Gary went on to play in many bands, toured, recorded and just had a good 'ol time. And he has his younger brother to thank for getting him started. Oh, and of course those four MOPTOP guys too!! That leads us up to the NOW! Gary was sitting around one day preparing to record one song from every 'BEATLE' album, just for the fun of it. His friend from a former band (LOOSE LIPS) called and asked what he was up to? His buddy JEFF KING, wanted to be part of it. So they went on and recorded 'Beat The Meatles'. They ended up recording 22 songs for the album. It was so much fun they decided to do it again, this time doing ORIGINAL material. So 'POP! RADIO' was born, as was 'HUM, SING...

REPEAT! And now 'DRAKE, NEAR THE ALLEY' has joined the catalog. These records were made in the UPBEAT spirit of FUN! FUN! FUN! Oh, by the way. If you ever see a copy of 'Beat The Meatles'...

GRAB IT!! It's Goooooooood. Gary hope's you enjoy 'DRAKE, NEAR THE ALLEY', 'HUM, SING...

REPEAT!' & 'POP! RADIO' as much as he does. Gary is now living in AUSTIN, TEXAS as of 11-5-06. He went 'kicking & screaming', but is starting to get used to the change.