Hey, this is Paul Martin and Ray the Roadie for the Rock & Roll Chicago podcast. How you been Ray? Oh yeah, you're right, it's fall, isn't it? Oh no, I should go listen to some fall music, some autumnal melodies. Now is that a hint of who we've got today? It sure is.

And who might that be? We're speaking with Mike Arturi of the Lovin' Spoonful, the current drummer of that group. Yeah, he's been with them since 1996 and been playing drums with them and he's a Chicago boy. He's a Chicago boy, western suburbs, born and raised.

Currently residing in Red Wing, Minnesota, home of the Red Wing Shoes. Yeah, not the Detroit Red Wings, but Red Wing Shoes. Yeah, no, I wouldn't think it'd be Detroit Red Wings, but... No.

No. No, I don't want to confuse you. Unless they moved, I don't know.

That's possible with this COVID thing. Maybe they said, Detroit, we're going to Red Wing. Yeah, it could be.

It could be a possibility. Well, Mike's got a lot of things going on. He's the director and the founder of Universal Music Center.

I just go from the Kennedy Center. He's just got a lot of things going on. He's a busy man.

Yes, he is. But we also want to mention that we have a sponsor now. We have a new sponsor.

We do. Yes, GHS Strings and Musical Products from Battle Creek, Michigan. They're now our sponsor, and we're proud to have them aboard.

Yes, we are. Thank you, GHS Strings. This is Paul Martin and Ray the Roadie, and we're here to talk to you about GHS Strings.

That's right, Ray. Whether you play electric guitar, acoustic, or bass, or even banjo, mandolin, or ukulele, then GHS has the strings for you. GHS Strings are easy to play with a rich, full balance tone available in many different gauges.

Great for all musical styles. So if you play, play with the best. Play GHS Strings.

So if you're a guitar player, go out there and get some GHS Strings to support our sponsor right there. But let's get to Mike Arturi right now and find out what Mike had to say. Let's do it.

Hello, everyone. Welcome to the show. Today we're speaking with Mike Arturi, drummer for the Love & Spoonful, Universal Music Center director and founder.

How are you today, Mike? I'm doing great. Thank you for having me, guys. I'm very happy to be here.

Glad to see you. So where do we begin? You sound like you're a pretty busy guy. Oh, yeah, yeah.

Being busy has never been a problem. I've got several projects going right now. I have my school that I founded, a 501c3 nonprofit music school here in Red Wing called Universal Music Center.

So that's pretty close to a pretty much a full-time commitment and then some. Up until the pandemic hit, I was touring with the Love & Spoonful, which I've been doing since 1996. And I do session work up here.

And I have a couple of music projects here that I'm involved in with some Minnesota-based musicians. And I also work as a, I do social-emotional arts learning programs for, I'm a national artist for the John F. Kennedy Center Turnaround Arts Program and also for the Compass Arts Organization here in St. Paul, Minnesota. And I work with at-risk youth, incarcerated youth in juvenile correctional facilities.

I work with seniors. I work with vulnerable adults. And I do programs using hand drums as a medium.

And it's sort of kind of like a drum circle, but it's a little more involved in that the outcomes are stated prior to the event. You know, like for instance, if a school wants their students to get along better, I will use drum circle facilitation moves, techniques that kind of have them work with each other. Like I'll give Paul one rhythm to play and I'll give Ray another rhythm to play and have them learn those independently of each other.

Then I have them play them together and they realize that it's making one big rhythm, you know, so here you go. You know, they're working together and they're smiling, you know, and it's happening, you know, and they realize that, you know, Paul's cool. And, you know, Paul realizes Ray is cool, you know, so, so that would go so far.

That's what you do with the Turnaround Arts School. Yeah, it's a program. I'm a national artist for that program.

And also for Compass Arts Organization. This is based by the Kennedy Center in Washington is the host of the Turnaround Arts. And there's an organization here in St. Paul called Compass that hosts those.

I see, I see that. I know that Michelle Obama has something to do with that organization. Yeah, yeah, definitely.

And there's some big names, you know, on the roster. You know, I look at that website and I'm like, wow, you know, it's, you know, Paul Abdul's on there. Oh man, Elton John.

I did a double drum thing with Taylor Hawkins from the Foo Fighters. He's an artist. So that was kind of really cool playing with him.

Great guy too, by the way. He was, it was so fun, you know, to get together with him. We did this, we played on two drum sets playing off each other for about 11 minutes in a grade school in Rochester, Minnesota.

It was like, it was, you know, it got real intense, you know, but it was so, you know, he's such an open, nice guy. I mean, there was no competition or anything. It was really, you know, supporting each other and, you know, feeding off each other.

It was very, it was really exhilarating experience. Yeah. So that's Turnaround Arts.

And Compass is, this is an organization that has all different artistic disciplines, spoken word, hip hop, painters, people that work with little beat, you know, beat art, you know, and stuff. And they go into all these different facilities, you know, senior care, you know, senior facilities, um, uh, schools, you know, all these different, uh, types of, uh, types of venues and use art as a medium for, for learning. I see.

So, so now you're in Red Wing, Minnesota, right? Yes. But, um, but you started out here in Chicago, right? You grew up at, Oh, absolutely. Yeah.

What neighborhood did you grow up in? I grew up in Westchester. I was born in, uh, Taylor and Halsted and, um, I grew up in Westchester and then I moved out to Lombard where I wound up raising my family out there. I've been in the music business and, or the music scene in Chicago since 1966 is when I started working professionally.

So, um, I came up through all the clubs, you know, and I have a long list of, uh, local bands that I've played with in Chicago. Um, I moved out to LA in 77. I lived there for about two years and then came back and, uh, continued working.

I've lived there since, uh, up until I moved here. So, so when you started here in Chicago, uh, I, I, I, I think I read somewhere where you started pounding on pots and pans, right? Yeah. Spaghetti pot in my grandmother's kitchen.

I still have it. Actually. I still have the spaghetti pot.

Really? Yeah. The bottom's all caved in, you know, where, where I was playing it with the wooden spoons. Yeah.

I was two years old and that's when I started. Wow. So, so then, uh, did, did you, uh, did you take drum lessons then as you grew older or how did it progress? In the very beginning, um, when I was like five and six, seven years old, something like that, I was taking lessons, you know, and back then it was, um, you know, I took lessons from a guy named Hal Dean in Westchester and, you know, he'd go to his house and go in the basement and he'd show you the rudiments and stuff.

And, uh, so I was doing that, you know, and, and he was slowly getting me on the drum set and then the Beatles came out and, um, it was all just about bands then, you know? So at that point I stopped the drum lessons and, um, actually, no, I went even further, you know, uh, I studied with another guy named Randy Shostak and, uh, with him, I played in a band, the band at St. Joseph High School and, uh, did, uh, played at Proviso West High School, you know, in those bands. And then by then, you know, bands, you know, then I started working actually in, in actual working bands, you know, so I kind of left the formal education end of it then. But what happened with me is, um, at that point, um, I, I got in this band in Berwyn, you know, that was a working band, you know, I was 15 years old and these guys were 21, 22, you know, and they were working.

And you guys remember in those days, you know, there were all kinds of rooms. I mean, every, every place had a band, you know? So we were playing all over the place, you know, doing five-nighters. I was, you know, I'd get home at two in the morning or three in the morning and be in high school, you know, at seven sleeping on my desk, you know, and, uh, but, um, but playing, you know, and, um, but at one point I realized that if I was really going to do this, I really had to learn my craft.

So at that point, this was about 1970 or 71. I went to Triton College and joined this program with a guy named Shelly Elias and Shelly completely changed my life. I mean, everything changed after meeting him.

He was, uh, Petula Clark's drummer when she first came here from, uh, England. And, uh, he got off the road with her and got himself, uh, he, he was like, why am I touring? You know, there's work in Chicago. I don't have to be on the road.

So as a married man, he went back to school, got a master's degree and started teaching on the college level. And in the meantime, he had the house gig at the empire room in the Palmer house. He was writing jingles.

I mean, this guy was amazing, you know, and he could do anything. And he taught me, you know, he was the guy, you know, the like, no, you, you know, you gotta go learn sight singing and ear training. You know, you gotta learn how to play the piano.

You know, you gotta go learn music theory, you know, much more than just drumming. Um, and I was in his percussion ensemble where I learned how to play all the hand percussion instruments, you know, and actually really play them, you know, like I really play a pair of maracas, you know, um, uh, when we played all these, you know, John Cage comp compositions and everything and read music and all, you know, so it just turned my life around. But along with that, he taught me how to work, you know, and how to be a professional musician.

I mean, you know, he would let me come to his gigs at the empire room, you know, and I'd watch him perform and how he interacted with the, you know, he'd be backing Barbara Eden or it'd be back in the, you know, all these stars, that would come into the empire room for runs. None of them carried bands or orchestras, you know, they had maybe a musical director and, uh, and he was a percussionist and drummer on these things. And he was doing all these shows and, you know, he'd run, you know, I'd watch him running out of Triton virtually running to his car because he had to get to a rehearsal at the McCormick place or something, you know, and then he showed me, you know, how, how to use 24 hours of the day, you know, in a productive manner and how to be a pro, you know, how to, how to show up on time, you know, how to, how to, um, be respectful of leaders, you know, how to, uh, you know, just how everything, how to, how to work, you know, how to get dates, how to get work, how to network everything.

There's not a day that goes by to this day that I don't use something that I learned from that guy, you know, so, um, hugely important person in my life. And, and, you know, from, and I guess maybe along with all this, one of the most important things I learned from him is through the language of written music, you know, the actual traditional notation, I learned how to learn, you know, I could learn anything I want to learn now, you know, because I could read music and I can just go and say, okay, I, I want to get this technique and there's, you know, I could find it notated online now, you know, or by books, and so I've continued learning and I've continued my education all along. I studied with Greg Bissonette, you know, I studied with, uh, one of my best friends is Ainsley Dunbar.

Um, I've studied with a guy named Zorro, you know, I've worked with, you know, every time I'm out on the road with a spoonful, when we go to New York or California or some of these bigger Meccas, I'll find an A-list drummer, you know, and I'll find, you know, they, they all teach, they'll all take a student, you know, so, um, I sent him an email, you know, and I, you know, the name Love and Spoonful gets him to at least open the email up, you know, and, uh, and usually I can connect with them and go and I'll go take a hour or a two-hour lesson. Bernard Purdy's another guy I studied with and I'll learn enough in two hours that it takes me six months, you know, to digest and actually learn everything that they just taught me, you know, and I don't go in there asking them about licks and stuff, I'll go in there asking about a specific thing that, a style that I want to, that I want to understand better, you know, or a concept, you know, it's, I don't really care that much about fancy drum fills, you know, I mean, with me, it's all, it's about the language of drumming and how to make, um, these various styles work, you know, what, what's the mechanics of them. So, so I just, I still do this, I'm taking a lesson with Greg online, uh, Greg next week, actually, you know, so I, I continue to try and learn to this day.

Wow. And, and you teach as well, uh, on the, on the, on the opposite end of the spectrum, you're a teacher as well, right? Yeah. Right now I don't teach one-on-one lessons, you know, I'm doing more group stuff, you know, at my school, Universal Music Center.

Um, I'm really too involved in the administrative end of it and trying, and trying to promote it and make it grow and be a sustainable, um, uh, business that, um, I, I hired a drum instructor, you know, who's, uh, actually more dedicated to teaching one-on-one than I am, you know, so, uh, but I, I do all the group, you know, I do, um, four, uh, official UMC concerts a year with the students, you know, when I produce those concerts and, um, and this other stuff I was talking about earlier, this social emotional arts learning stuff, these are the types of things I'm doing now with teaching. So, uh, so, so let's get to, to, to some of the bands that you played with in the Chicago area. This is, this is the Rock and Roll Chicago Podcast.

We'll talk a little bit about some of your Chicago connections. Oh, I'm happy to. The first notable one was a band called Joshua Tree.

And, um, this goes back, you know, to, uh, Haymakers and, um, Rush Up and, you know, Rooms Like That. And I think that might've been in 1971 or something like that, the early seventies, I was playing with them. From there, I moved to Los Angeles and in, in LA, I played with Robbie Crager from The Doors, you know, and I did a lot of session work at, um, uh, the Record Plant and at Warner Brothers.

And I did a bunch of, bunch of projects, songwriter projects in, in LA. Then I came back to Chicago and I started working with Nancy Davis, who, um, was, who went on to become the lead singer in, in, uh, Tough Love and Bitch. In this day, in these days though, she was a lounge singer, right.

You know, and we used to do like the Holiday Inns and the Sheridans and all that. And, you know, we'd sit in, um, you know, the, the Sheridan downtown for four months, working six nights a week, you know, and then we move over to Arlington Heights and do three months there. She was great.

You know, I mean, she could sing anything and I was the one that prompted her to sing rock and roll because I said, man, you know, you could, you could really, what, you know, she had a groove, you know, she had a feel, you know, a groove, you know, and, um, and next thing I know she's singing with, uh, Tough Love, which was Bitch at the time, you know. So, but from her, I got the job with Rick, the Rick Saucedo Show. And, uh, this was when Rick was in his prime.

Um, I caught about the last year of his heyday. So I got on that band, you know, and, and it was just fantastic. I mean, you know, he, he was packing places.

I mean, he, that guy, we would sit in a like field supper club, you know, and play six nights a week for six weeks in a row and sell out Tuesday nights and stuff, you know, and he would have, uh, they would rent halls, you know, they used to rent this place called the Four Torches on 53 and, um, Lake Street. And, you know, this was a banquet hall, you know, and he'd sell the thing out, and we went to New York. We played the Paramount Theater in New York.

We used to play in Cincinnati, all these places all over the country. It was tremendous. You know, it was really a great experience and great band, you know, and, and he was, that guy was a hundred percent on every night.

I mean, he, he was tremendous. He still, he still is. I know Rick quite well and he's, and he, he still is.

I, he still draws a crowd too. I tell you where he's the best. You know, among the first anyway, you know, um, and you know, what a singer too, you know, you take away the, um, the, the jumpsuit, you know, and the, um, the Elvis act and man, I mean, you got a guy that can sing his butt off, you know? So, yeah.

And he was good front man too. What was it? What was the name of the band? Was it the Ambassadors or something? Yeah. The Famous Ambassadors.

Right. Right. Okay.

Yeah. I've, I've worked with Rick. I, I was the house sound guy.

It's a blue chip casino in Michigan city, Indiana for, for many years. And I worked with him there, uh, on a regular basis, at least once a month. Sure.

Yeah. Oh yeah. He's great.

So from there though, um, I got the, uh, the, the, you know, uh, Jade fifties at the time approached me about, about playing with them and Rick, um, Joe Contafio, Joe Contafio. Yeah. Uh, Rick's, Rick's dates were starting to, you know, they weren't dwindling, you know, by any means, but it was getting less and less, you know, um, uh, you know, we were having gaps, you know, when I joined, there was no thought of where we're playing next week.

We're working, you know? So it started to get a little more sporadic, you know, and then, um, Those were the good old days, weren't they? Oh man. How about it? You know? Yeah. I tell nobody understands it today.

You know, you know, nobody understands a five nighter or a six nighter. Right. Right.

But then I went to work with Joe and Jade and learned about seven nighters. That guy worked like all the time, man. He was just, I love him.

You know, I mean, he's one of my closest friends, you know, and we were friends to this day when I first got in that band, man, it was, you know, it was just on fire. It was like the end of that, um, era where the drinking age was 19. They were hanging off the rafters, you know, and, um, and we worked, you know, I, I did one time we played 48 nights in a row, 40 or 48 dates in a row without a day off.

And some of those days had like two and three gigs on them. It was summertime, you know, like two festivals booked in a club at night, you know, and, um, he found Monday nights, you know, and Sunday afternoons, you know, and it just worked, you know, and it was great. You know, I, I, you know, he was, um, you know, fellow Italian, you know, all those guys were Italian, you know, and, um, so it was like, it was like a Sunday at my parents' house, you know, the whole thing.

So, yeah. So I spent a long time with him and then the same thing started to happen, you know, where it's, we started, um, we tried to do the original music thing, you know, um, this was the time, you know, when, um, oh, you know, off-Broadway was big, uh, all these groups, you know, were getting record deals and stuff. So we wanted to try and get a piece of that.

And, um, so it changed the show from that fifties, uh, Shahnana thing, you know, into a more of an original music thing. And, you know, he, we did four, four singles, you know, and got airplay and, um, um, could never actually got the national record deal, you know, but, um, um, did great, you know, we did great. And then, um, from there I joined Big Twist, Big Twist and the Mellow Fellows, you know, and I played with him for about, uh, about a year.

Now, what year, what year were you with Big Twist? 84 and 85. I was going to say, who, who was, uh, I'm trying to think of one of the band members, Pete? Pete Special. Pete Special, right, right, right.

Um, Pete, Pete sadly passed away, you know, but, uh, another great band leader, you know, I mean, he, there's the guy, you know, that we used to rehearse and he would assign bass drum, kick drum parts to me, you know, I mean, he had that music just inside out, you know, they, those guys had parts, you know, worked out, there was not, there was nothing left to chance in that band, you know, and I, I loved it, you know, I mean, we, there was a guy named Gene Barge, Daddy G, you know, from the song, uh, quarter to three, uh, uh, dance with Daddy G, you know, that's Gene Barge. And, um, he produced us. So he used to come, we'd rehearse a dress rehearsal, um, with Don and, um, um, Monica, um, Grayless and, um, and Gene would come in and, you know, he'd have his horn sectional rehearsal, he'd work with the rhythm section, you know, and, you know, that was a tight, tight band, that sounded great every single night.

And we used to travel, we had days on the road, 500 miles, we'd go and play that night, go straight to the club, you know, and clean up in the, in the bathroom, the men's room at the club and hit the stage, you know, and be dead tired, you know, be hungry, be dead tired, but man, once that downbeat happened, man, that band was just on fire every night, never, never, it never was not great on stage with them. Now, was it, was it, they do all original music or, or was it? No, no, there was, there was only a few originals actually, you know, and the rest were rhythm and blues, um, uh, staples, you know, like standard rhythm and blues stuff with, with their own take on them, you know, when, you know, I mean, Twist was a, you know, uh, an energy force of his own, you know, and, and, you know, a very, you know, just a super talented guy, you know. I remember doing a show once was, it was Big Twist.

Uh, uh, I, I played in Dancing Noodles and I know we, she, we shared a, a, a dressing room with, with Big Twist at one point, somewhere along the way. So I, you may have been there then, I don't recall. That's why I asked you what year it was because it had to be, it had to be 84, 85, something like that.

I'm thinking, you know. That's a unique experience sharing a dressing room with that band. Yeah.

We'll leave it at that. Yeah. Yeah.

Yes, it was. What was happening with that is, um, it, it was, that's all you did. You, you can only play with Big Twist.

There was time for nothing else in your life. You know, my wife and I, you know, got pregnant with our first, uh, our first child during the time I was in, in the playing with Twist. So I thought, you know, man, I'm going to, at the time too, it was, it made sense to try and start your own band, you know, cause there was still enough places to play, you know? So I crafted this plan, you know, to start my own group and go into business for myself.

And, um, I left Twist and I started this little band called Decades. I was working mostly the B-rooms, you know, I never really even got the band up to playing haymakers or anything like that, you know, but worked all the time, you know, and from, from there I founded a, uh, entertainment company, you know, and I wound up doing, booking three stages at the Hollywood Casino for three and a half years and, um, started playing with Joe again with this band called the Giant Killers that we put together, this big horn band. And then I met, um, I was playing drums on, um, with Dan Hampton from the Chicago Bears, um, on this Sport Vision TV show called Bears 89 and Bears 90, where I met Big John Howell from U.S. 99 Radio, who at the time was on WCKG.

And while we were doing that show, he got the gig at, um, U.S. 99. So, um, during these days, you know, Steve Dahl had a band, Jonathan Brandmeier had a band, you know, um, uh, you know, all these guys had bands, you know? So I'm like, let me, you know, let me put a band behind you, you know? And he's like, nah, I'm a jazz trumpet player. You know, I don't know anything about country music, you know, and, you know, I don't want to play.

So we can do this, we can do this, you know? So, so I finally got him to agree to let me, uh, put, to try and do it, you know? So we got a gig doing an after concert party for U.S. 99. And we learned a set of country stuff, you know, and it went great, you know, it went great. We loved it, you know? So I called Joe Contafio at the time, who had KCM, and Joe put us on all his festivals, you know, because what would happen is you not only got the band, which wound up becoming a phenomenal band, you know, in the beginning it was a little shaky, you know, but, but that band became a monster band, you know? And you would get the band and you'd get mentions on John's program, you know? So you hired the band and you also got advertising for your event, you know? So we were kicking butt.

We did like 63 dates, you know? Oh yeah, yeah. Big John Holland, the Born to Boogie band. That was it, yeah.

Born to Boogie, right, yeah. Yeah. And from there, you know, from that, that period, um, I got the audition with the Lovin' Spoonful and got that gig in 1996, and I've been there ever since.

And during the time I played with the Spoonful, or been playing with the Spoonful, I toured with Badfinger for a year and a half, um, I did Gary Lewis and the Playboys for two years, and I did, uh, three tours with Head East all, all while I was playing with the Spoonful, you know? So I was able to kind of, you know, by luck, you know, the things didn't conflict, you know, and it didn't work. Yeah, I've done some shows with Head East too, or a couple. Yeah, Roger Boyd.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we just, uh, we, uh, our band just played last night and we told a, told a story about, um, the road crew came and, and they forgot his keyboard. Oh, boy.

So he, he used our keyboard, uh, player's, uh, equipment, and then at the end of the night when they did, uh, um, Never Been Any Reason, they called us up and we, we got up there and sang it. Ah, cool. The whole band was up there playing with that.

Yeah, that's great. He was working out of Kansas City or somewhere though. Where Chuck Berry is from.

St. Louis? Yeah, that's, that's where he lives. Okay, maybe it was, maybe it was St. Louis, I know, yeah. Didn't you do a stint with, uh, Black and Blonde too? Yeah, I did.

I was in the original Black and Blonde and, um, I subbed with, um, Dick Holliday and the Bamboo Gang for four months. They, uh, um, Greg Marsh was going to come in and be their drummer. He was playing in a, a band that had a record deal at the time and they were recording and they needed somebody to play until he was available.

So I went in and auditioned and got the gig and had a great time with those guys. It was one of the, one of the coolest times in my life. I subbed with, um, Deluxury.

I did dates with them. I was on the Big Bear Band, you know, that played in on the field, um, at the Chicago Bears, uh, did that for seven years with Bill Archer. Um, and with Joe Cantafio, I played with, um, a boatload of, um, stars from the fifties and sixties, you know, Chuck, we did Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, uh, the Coasters, the Drifters, the Marvelettes, Martha Reeves, Freddie Cannon, um, Del Shannon.

Uh, there was a long list of artists, you know, that we played with, um, with Joe, you know, so, um, so those were, those were really great experiences as well. Let's take a time out here for a second. Road to Rock Radio is proud to welcome Paul Martin of M&R Rush and the Dancing Noodles and Ray the Roadie, the Rock and Roll Chicago Podcast.

Join Paul and Ray as they bring you weekly interviews from bands that have rocked Chicago. It's the Rock and Roll Chicago Podcast. Monday night at six on Road to Rock Radio.

Now, when, when, when, when Foote was inducted, uh, you, you got to play obviously, right? No, they just, they used the four original guys who were still alive. And so they pulled the four original guys together and that's the only time they played together since they broke up in the, in the sixties. They did a little thing in the eighties with, um, they played, um, on, um, uh, this movie called, uh, One Trick Pony, I think it was called.

Um, they did the soundtrack for that, you know, they reunited for that. But, um, John has been a solo artist since the sixties and, uh, Zolianovsky had a real successful restaurant in, um, Kitchener, Ontario, I think, uh, in Canada. He's from Canada.

He had this restaurant called Shea Piggy and, uh, he was doing great, you know, with the restaurant. So he wasn't interested in playing, you know, and, um, but, um, when I first joined, it was, uh, Joe Butler, who was the original drummer, who was an upfront singing, phenomenal singer, sings all those songs. He's almost 80 years old.

He sings all those songs in the original keys still. And it's great. He's a killer every night, you know, great, great performer.

Um, Steve Boone, uh, original bass player, one of the most unique bass players I ever played with in my life. Um, and then Jerry Yessir was in the group and Jerry replaced Zal in the original lineup. So, um, that was, that's the spoonful.

And then we had a, we have a guitar player named Phil Smith out of, uh, Harrison, Arkansas. So how often is the band playing? Or we're not, not with COVID, I know. We're playing.

No, we're not playing at all. We had, the whole year was canceled. We do have some dates booked starting.

We have actual, quite a few dates booked starting in April of next year. We don't know, you know, what's going to happen, if they're going to come through or not, you know, if they're, if it's going to be safe to work at or not, you know, um, the word from agencies and so forth is that larger venues are going to have trouble. You know, they're going to be the last ones that come back on board.

Because if you think about just the economics of it, you know, if you take a $15,000 band, you know, um, and you lose, you have a, you know, 1500 seat venue and you can only use a third of the seats, you know, the math just doesn't work anymore, you know? So it's, um, it's tough, you know? So the next, the next wave, you know, the next focus is going to be smaller venues. And another problem with national acts is that airline is so expensive, you know? So it's just, um, it's, it's, it's tight economically, you know, to, um, to have a band like that, you know? So you, you've got to, you have to have a price tag of some sort, you know, that, that you can afford to, to, to buy air, you know, and, um, and get to the dates, you know, and make it worthwhile. What kind of dates was the Love and Spoonful doing before COVID struck? Theaters, um, showrooms and casinos and package shows with other sixties artists.

So all, all concert based, uh, stuff, you know, uh, no corporate, no, uh, very few festivals. How many shows a year would you be doing? We did about 30, you know, we're doing about 30 dates a year, which doesn't sound like a lot, but if you consider any one of them takes up three days, you know, you fly out the day before play and then fly home the next day, you know, it's 90 days on the road, you know, um, not a breakneck pace. It's certainly, you know, I mean, I was able to get my school going, you know, while I had all that happening, you know, but, um, uh, but it was enough, you know, it was steady, you know, and, and, you know, we're, no one is expecting to not get back together.

You know, we, we, you know, the band is still alive and kicking and ready to go. You know, we just have to. Who were some of the, who were some of the bands, the 60s bands that you worked with, uh, uh, that you did shows with? Um, all, all the bands from the sixties, the turtles grassroots, um, uh, Paul Revere and the Raiders, uh, Felix Cavalier from the rascals.

Um, who would be some of the others? Um, uh, we, we did a couple of tours with America, you know, where we, we were the opening act for America. What else, uh, you know, all those groups, you know, I mean, basically you name anybody that had a record, you know, sixties, we played with them. Uh, we did, um, uh, two of those, um, PBS fundraiser things, you know, um, where I got to, uh, meet, um, uh, Michelle from, uh, mamas and papas and, um, spanking McFarland from, uh, spanking our gang, you know, and, uh, Denny Doherty, I met him, um, you know, got to meet a lot of people with them.

You know, it's, it's been a great experience, you know, and they're chomping at the bit to get back. You know, I miss playing that stuff, you know, and I miss them, you know, and, um, it's another family, you know, that I've been fortunate enough to be a part of. Yeah.

So, uh, so, you know, um, um, uh, Tommy Shackle. Yeah, of course. I know him real well.

We just did a cruise ship not long ago together. I've known Tom forever from, from the scene in Chicago. Right.

We, we interviewed, we did an interview with him and he's, he's a character. Yeah. Yeah.

Great guy. Yeah. Great drummer too.

Ray, you gotta know this guy, uh, Ron Lemon. Ron had quality concerts at his company. Right.

You probably worked with him, Paul. I'm sure. Yeah, I know Ron.

Noodles and stuff. Ron got me the audition with the Spoonful. Oh, really? I met Ron when I was playing with Twist.

You know, Ron owned the PA system that Twist rented and took out on the road with him. Okay. So, um, I got, I got to meet and hang with Ron back at, back then.

And when I started decades, um, he gave me a ton of, uh, festival work on all the festivals that he was producing. So Ron is a big part of my life, you know, and I spent a lot of time in airports and airplanes and hanging with him on the road and had a lot of fun with that guy. So, uh, what, what, uh, what's the, what's the Spoonful, uh, do you have favorites, a couple of favorite songs that you love to do with them? I mean, I mean, I'm, I get, I have to tell you that I was a big fan of Summer in the City was one of my favorite songs as a kid.

You know, I'll tell you what, Paul, you know, we've all played these songs in bands, you know, but there is nothing like playing them with the guys that played them on the records, you know, and Summer is one of my favorite songs to play. I love that one. There's a song called, didn't want to have to do it.

That was all, it was cool to play. Um, I, all of them, you know, I like all of them. You know, we, we opened the show with, you didn't have to be so nice, you know, which is a great opener, um, starts with a drum fill.

I like that, you know, and, um, all those songs go over, you know, people relate, you know, you could just see, you know, you can just feel the, uh, memories and the things that that music is bringing back to people. And, you know, we, we sell merchandise and sign autographs and, uh, you know, so many touching, um, comments, you know, of guys that were Vietnam veterans, you know, that music helped them get through Vietnam, you know, and, uh, uh, who met their wife, you know, who met their husband, you know, listening to Love and Spoonful music, you know, I mean, it's just, you know, it's a part of, uh, American music, you know, so, uh, I'm, I'm very grateful to be in that band and, and extremely proud of, uh, being a small part of that heritage. Do you have any endorsement deals with, uh? I have WFL3 drums, which, um, are, are phenomenal drums that are made by, um, Bill Ludwig III, you know, the grandson of the founder of the, um, of the Ludwig drum company.

And he's making his own drums now and they're super high quality instrument, you know, and they're just beautiful. Um, yeah, but WFL3 drums, you know, are something that I'm using now, you know, and, um, yeah, and I'm very proud of those too. It's just been a great drum set.

Bill, I had a Ludwig endorsement in, um, while I was playing with Rick, I got a Ludwig endorsement back in the seventies and I did three of those worldwide, um, uh, Ludwig endorser posters and, um, been friends with Bill ever since. And, uh, when he started this company, he called me and offered me an endorsement and probably accepted it as well. That's very good.

Yeah. Now, uh, you're currently involved with the Illinois Rock and Roll Museum on Route 66, aren't you? Yes, I am. Yeah.

In what capacity are you involved? Well, um, I'm going to be the education director, you know, and what I'm going to do is I'm going to set up a, an entire, um, uh, music education department for them. So we've been working on that. And, you know, as you know, they're, they're building right now and they're getting the facility together.

And, um, I'm going to implement a lot of the procedures and the things that I've worked out for the past 10 years here in Red Wing with my own school. You know, I'm going to bring the, you know, I've got all the invoicing down, you know, I've got the marketing part down, you know, I've got the paperwork down, you know, uh, processes, procedures, you know, so all of those things that I've, that I've, uh, created for, for my school, Universal Music Center, I'm going to implement with, um, with, uh, with Ron in the, in the museum. So, um, and I'm really looking forward to it because, um, uh, I'm excited to see how it goes.

You know, Red Wing is a, um, it's a tremendous arts community and a beautiful, beautiful setting here. And it's a, but it's a small town and 16,000 people and, um, Goodhue County, which is the county where we're in Southeast Minnesota is about 45,000 people in the whole county. So, um, you know, I've got a strong attendance, you know, at Universal Music Center, but I'm interested to see how these things work in a, in a more of a, uh, urban setting, you know, in a, in a larger population.

So I'm looking forward to, um, you know, to that. There's a lot of good, um, uh, symmetry, you know, there's a lot of good, good things happening with that museum, you know, that can translate out into the community. So we, we've already established a relationship with, uh, District 86, uh, Joliet School District, um, to, uh, to, uh, funnel students in and, uh, I've got some instructors lined up that I'm interested in, in bringing on board.

And, um, you know, as, uh, as the buildout gets closer, you know, that's when I'm going to, uh, kind of flip the switch on all of this and, and make it all become a, an actual reality. But, um, I've very much enjoyed, you know, knowing Ron, you know, and putting the thing together with Ron and Debbie Jo, you know, and watching it, uh, come to fruition. So, yeah, that's going to be great, you know, and I'm looking forward to it.

Um, I don't know a timeline right now, you know, it's all based on the, uh, the buildout and them getting, um, you know, all their permits together and everything, you know, to allow people to come into the building on a regular basis. But, uh, I'm confident as soon as that hits, you know, there, there's going to be a great, um, influx of students there, you know. Well, good, good luck with that.

I know Ron's doing great things with the, with the museum and, and hopes to get it up and running very soon. Yeah, he's got his, you know, he's definitely got his heart in the right place and he believes in it. And, um, and he's, he's focused on doing good, you know, and, um, and it's, this is something I experienced here in Red Wing, you know, the, I get a lot of support from the community because I'm, you know, I'm, I'm truly and honestly focused on, you know, a positive environment and doing something good and, and having an outlet for not only children, but people of all ages that are interested in learning to play music and, and kind of share that gift of music and the things that it'll do for you.

Um, it, it, it's a, it's a great positive thing to put out. When I was putting this thing together, UMC, uh, I had to do a presentation to all the powers that be here in, in Red Wing. So I'm on a flight with the Spoonful from all the way across the country.

We were going from New York to California. So I was racking my brain trying to think of what, what did I learn playing music? You know, what, you know, what were the life skills that I gained, you know, through the music industry, you know, and through playing music and being involved in it. So I came up with a list of about maybe 15 things, got into my hotel room.

I Googled life skills learned by, uh, uh, playing music. Every single thing that I thought about that I realized from my own regular natural experience, with playing music was on all of these webpages, you know? So, so this is all tried and true real stuff, you know, that I didn't, um, I mean, it was verbiage that was verbatim of the things, self-confidence, uh, people skills, um, uh, using your creative mind, um, networking, uh, you know, all of these types of things were, were on the, um, were on that list. So these are the types of things that I've kind of based the, um, the, uh, experience in the learning process on.

So I think it could be a great thing for the, for the community in Joliet. Have you ever considered writing a book? I thought, you know, it's a funny thing to think about. Before all of this changed with the pandemic, I was going to try and get into public speaking, you know, and I put a public speaking presentation together.

As I'm learning about the ins and outs of public speaking, they all say you need to write a book because a book makes you an expert in the eyes of the public speaking world. You know, I know they were saying people had a book, you know, that had blank pages and it's saying, what do you think about this? You know, and that's their book. Write your thoughts down, you know? So it's a funny thing to sit there and think of writing.

I'm like, who cares about my life? You know, you know what I mean? I don't have, you know, gold records or, you know, platinum albums I can tell people about, you know, but if you think about it, everybody's got a story and there's something to be learned, you know, from everyone's story, you know, from, so I'm thinking about it more and more, you know, and not in the sense of trying to have it become a New York Times bestseller or anything like that, but maybe just as a way, you know, to go back through my life, you know, and, and, and see, you know, what kind, what kinds of things happen? What did I make happen? You know, what did I focus on? You know, what was a goal, you know, that I accomplished and how, how did I do it? And maybe someone can gain from that. You know, maybe, maybe it's close enough to resonate with somebody that that's the part I wasn't thinking about. You know, that's the thing I should think about and do.

So if I ever were to write a book, it would certainly not be from an egotistical, you know, look at me standpoint. It would be a complete standpoint of maybe I can help with some of the experiences that I've had. Maybe you can rub off and help with somebody else.

That'd be, that'd be the only reason I would do something like that. That seems like the educator in you. I like to share, you know, I like that.

I like to share, you know, all of us, you know, I mean, we all have mentors, you know, we all have musicians and people that do what we do that, that we look at, you know, and see, like, I want to do that. You know, how did he do that? And if you get to meet that person, you talk to them about it and they tell you, you know, and you go, man, I was, I'm going through the same thing. I was thinking that already, you know, so it reinforces what, you know, what your gut feeling is already thinking, you know, so these kinds of things that I, I like to try and help, you know, if there's, I gave my son a drum lesson years ago, right.

And then came back and gave him a couple more, you know, and he came back and he's playing, you know, and he's, he's out in and going, you know, so I'm like, well, okay, I got to share what I gave my life to with my son for four drum lessons. So maybe, maybe I could talk to somebody else with all this stuff, you know, so that kind of got all this started, you know, just trying to think of, well, yeah, I gave my life to this, you know, committed in a committed, you know, serious manner, you know, so if I could help anybody save a step, you know, or something like that, I'm happy to do it. If this is okay, I don't mean to promote myself because there's nothing there to promote, you know, in terms of, you know, like, you know, but I have a website called mikearturi.com and I do a weekly radio piece here in Red Wing called A Minute with Mike.

And I talk about all these things, you know, it's a little two and a half, three minute little, little blurb, you know, about some of my thinking on this, that, and the other, all about this kind of stuff, you know, like ways to, to think about things and save, save some time. And I got a bunch of music that I played on, on there and there's a ton of spoonful stuff on there. And some of my drum solos and things, you know, and, but a lot of that, a lot of that, that thinking and that, that kind of thing is on the website.

So if anybody wants to check it out, it's mikearturi.com. Well, we thank you for, for spending some time with us today, Mike. Guys, I'm grateful. Thank you.

I'm, I'm, I'm very grateful to be here and I'm, thank you very much for having me. And I've been talking about this all, but anything I could do to help, please call on me. I'd be happy to, to chime in.

Alrighty. Thank you very much. Appreciate your time.

Thank you. Thank you so much, fellas. Thanks.

Bye. What a day for a daydream. What a day for a daydreaming boy.

And I've been lost in a daydream, dreaming about my bundle of joy. So that was Mike Arturi, drummer for The Love is Spoonful. He's drummed with a lot of people, hasn't he? Holy cow.

So many people, I mean, and played with so many different bands and got to know all these people. It's, uh, it's been a busy, busy life for him. Yes, it is.

Yes, it is. And, uh, and he's, uh, he's quite the educator as well, too. He does some teaching and, uh, uh, teaching in group basis and, uh, and helping kids.

A very knowledgeable man. Underprivileged kids. Yes.

Yeah, he's got, he's got the, he's got his non-profit organization going there, which is awesome. And, uh, there's no, there's no signs of him slowing down. No, and he will soon be involved with the Rock, Illinois Rock and Roll Museum.

Yeah. Which, uh, which you can hear our podcast on every Monday on the Road to Rock radio, right? That's right. He'll be our neighbor there.

Yes, he will. He'll be, he'll be right near our studio if we ever get back to our studio. Well, we'll be sharing a room.

We may be. I think, except I think they're going to, I think he's going to be downstairs. Oh, okay.

The classrooms will be downstairs and, and we're going to be right in the window. We are in the window. We're going to be in the front window.

So when the studio is all up and around, you guys can come and watch us do a podcast and really see that we definitely have faces for radio. That's great. That's great.

Well, I thought I'm going to just kick back and I found myself some autumnal music. This is called Autumn Leaves. I got out of the summer in the city out into the country with the autumn leaves.

With that, I bid everybody a fond adieu until next time. You go relax with your autumnal music. I am going to relax with my autumnal music.

Have a good week. Talk to you soon. See you next time.

Rock and Roll Chicago podcast does not own the rights to any of the music that's played on this podcast. The music is used to promote the band or musicians that are interviewed.