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I just got back home from another wonderful weekend at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut. Both shows were a blast. Some friends of mine; Lou Christie, Mary Snyder-Fox ( The Shangri-Las, Lou Christie), keyboardist Dennis Debrese (Lou Christie, Dion) and manager Dick Fox stopped out to see Peter’s second show and I was able to spend some time with them after the show which made the evening even more special.

December is another month that’s flown by…if I wasn’t on the road performing or at home Christmas shopping, I was locked away in my studio recording and producing new material for Billy Hufsey. The first week of the month was spent finishing his Christmas songs, which can be heard on his myspace site: www.myspace.com/billyhufsey The rest of the month has been spent recording Billy’s new material along with my old musical cohort in crime Billy Sullivan. I’ve had to start referring to them as Billy H and Billy S. Hufsey’s new TV show “Confessions Of A Teen Idol” debuts on VH1 January 4th at 8:00pm…make sure that you tune in.

On a sad note, this month saw the passing of a dear friend Dennis Yost. I had the pleasure of playing keys, sax and singing background vocals for him on most of his shows in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Hey homeboy, your friendship and your voice will always be remembered.

“with Dennis Yost backstage in 1994″

Reminder: The Cleveland Boys will be at The Mad Cactus this Friday, Dec 26 at 9:00pm. That’s the day after Christmas!! And I’ll be at Art’s Pub in Fairview Park with my piano bar this Saturday, Dec 27 starting at 8:00pm.

Speaking of the Cleveland Boys….Wes’ new band FINALLY has a name and will be debuting on January 17th at the Train Station in Elyria. The band is called “That 80’s Band”. Gee, I wonder what kind of music they will be playing?

Have a wonderful Christmas!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I’d like to thank everyone that stopped out for our “Spina, Sullivan & Hudak” reunion show last Wednesday and made it such a huge success. The Mad Cactus was rockin’ and we performed almost an hour beyond our scheduled time. Because of the great time everyone had, we’ve decided to reform our “Spina & Sullivan” duo for a Thursday night open-end engagement at the Mad Cactus. It will be the only place and night that the former duo will perform beginning this Thursday, Dec 4th and starting at 9:30pm. I won’t be there on Dec 11th because I’ll be up in the great white north performing with Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone but Billy March (Beau Coup) will be there in my place. For those of you that used to see our duo you will probably remember that whenever any of the stars that Billy and I performed with came to town, they always stopped out to see us and would more times than not, sit-in. So you never know who might show up. Below is a pic of Billy and I from the early 90’s with Bartle & Jaymes.

“Billy & Rich with Bartle & Jaymes”

In other local news, December will be a busy month. My dear friend Billy Hufsey, (Fame & Days Of Our Lives), flew in from LA to record some Christmas songs for a WDOK benefit show for “Feed A Family”. It will be on December 12 at Great Northern Shopping Center at 5:00pm. I was supposed to sing and perform with him on this show, which would’ve been the first time that we would have ever performed together live other than in the studio, but unfortunately I will still be traveling and will not be able to make it. I will be there in spirit.

The Cleveland Boys (Wes Coolbaugh, Mike Hudak, Darren Frate and myself) will also be performing at the Mad Cactus (I’m sure there a lot) the day after Christmas. Make sure to mark it down on your calendar. That’s Friday, Dec 26th at 9:00pm. Below is a pic of Wes, Mike & myself….Wes & Mike are pointing to where Darren might’ve ran off to as he doesn’t like pictures being taken of him.

“Rich, Mike & Wes”

But we found him in the dressing room trying on his new red leather Christmas outfit. Rumor has it he will wear this on Dec 26th.

“Darren in his Christmas duds”

Lastly, along with Christmas, December is also the month of my parent’s birthdays. My mom turned 80 on Dec 1st and my father will turn 89 on Dec 26th. Happy Birthday!!!! I’m a lucky man. See ya soon!!

“dad, mom & me after a Cleveland Boys show last year”