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Bob Gallo: The busiest man in showbiz Ask iconic music producer Bob Gallo how he got where he is today and he will answer simply. "Luck", Gallo says. Gallo's business partner, flamboyant entertainment mogul Ricki Landers Friedlander begs to differ. "Bob isn't lucky. Bob is a genius. He's got pure talent and he's levelheaded. That's how Bob outlasted Spector, Ramone and all those other guys he came up with. He just thinks it is luck. I say it's talent." Fresh off of his work on the Al Gore endorsed multimedia children's project The Adventures of Billy and Joey, Bob Gallo is set to raise the bar yet again with his hysterical throwback to the golden age of comedy with Gallo's Follies: Season One – Giovannino & Filomena, a hilarious homage to the old fashion chemistry of classic TV couples like Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz. To understand Bob Gallo's recent trend of success, one must go back to the beginning of this man's illustrious career. 
Bob Gallo started his celebrated career in music at the age of sixteen as an intern in the distinguished Brill Building in New York City. Working for Audio Sonic Recording Studios gave Gallo an education that he would take to form his own studios leading to his work as a contract producer for Atlantic Records. A quick glance at the roster of talent that Gallo has worked with reads like a 'who's who' of the music industries best and brightest stars. Gallo's work at the Brill Building put him in the company of numerous great artists. "Carole King used to come into my studio to practice the piano. I would get coffee with Ray Charles, I smoked a joint with Sonny and Cher. I was coming up at a time when rock & roll and the music industry really started coming into its own." It was Gallo's determination and ear for smash records that lead him to encourage Atlantic Records president Jerry Wexler to sign an Australian trio of brothers simply known as The Bee Gees. "Jerry didn't have an ego," Gallo says. "I wouldn't back down and I knew what these artists were capable of. Jerry had great trust in me and ended up signing the band."
Bob Gallo's career also includes discovering Elvis Costello outside of a CBS records convention. "I heard this guy playing his heart out on the street corner. I thought, 'man, this kid's got balls,'" Gallo says. After yanking the president of CBS records, Costello was signed on the spot. One of Gallo's greatest feats was going toe to toe with the Father of Soul himself, Mr. James Brown. "James Brown walked into my studio wearing a white leather suit with a six foot blonde hanging all over him. 'Hi. I'm Brown,' he says to me. I go, 'I'm Gallo'. We ended up working together and I had to convince him to put a string arrangement on "It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World". James says, 'There ain't no strings in R&B music.' I had to fight him on it. I even told him that I would pay for the players and the studio time if he didn't like it. Of course he kept the strings and that song went on to win him a Grammy." Gallo worked with Johnny Maestro and the Crests on the all time classic "Sixteen Candles", playing guitar on the track as well as co-producing it. Bob Gallo also produced The Young Rascals classic "Groovin", helped usher in the birth of garage rock and alternative music with his work on ? and the Mysterians epic "96 Tears" and brought a little known Detroit act called Kiss into the studio for their first ever recordings. Gallo also still writes music with Ben E. King of "Stand by Me" fame. It was King who introduced Gallo to Canadian R&B singing sensation Jimmy Young, whom together with Gallo produced five successful albums. "I got a check the other day from Warner Brothers for $25, 000," Gallo says laughing. "I thought it was a mistake, but it turns out that a song Ben and I wrote is being used in a show in Paris. Things like that happen all the time. It's hard for me to keep track sometimes." 
"I've done so much with music that I wanted to branch out," Gallo says. "The Adventures of Billy and Joey was something that I have been working with for years. I really wanted to make something that could entertain and educate kids. A lot of the educational material out there is cold and unappealing. I really want to get through to the kids." The Adventures of Billy and Joey started off as a series of albums, but now that Gallo has teamed with Ricki Landers Friedlander, the project is evolving into a multi-media extravaganza with plans for a film, merchandise, live tour, and animated feature. "I think big," Ricki Landers Friedlander says. "Bob is modest and I am aggressive. We work well together like that. There is nothing we can't accomplish". With a whopping total of 18 albums available internationally, Bob Gallo remains a thriving force in today's music industry.
These facts are just the tip of the iceberg for a gentleman whose rich life has taken him further than most peoples wildest dreams would allow. Still continuing his production work in Toronto, Bob Gallo puts himself in the position to release Gallo's Follies, a comedic DVD collection of skits that he wrote, stars in, directed, and scored. "I have had more fun making these shows than I have in a long time. There isn't enough comedy out there that the whole family can watch together without having to cover their ears or eyes. I wanted to make something that reminded me of what I liked as a kid and bring that back into fashion," Gallo says. "Comedy is in right now. People have had enough war and it is time to laugh again," Ricki Landers Friedlander says. "They are going to be rolling in the aisles with Gallo's Follies." Bob Gallo stays busy with his non-stop recording, splitting his time between Toronto and New York. |
