More More More (Than You Ever Wanted–or Cared–to Know) About Andy...
Without Going Into Embarrassing Detail
Liz
Torres & Andy shortly after meeting at The Fridge, Cleveland, OH,
1990, where he was guest-DJing (up from Cincinnati) before and after
her live concert.
[imaginary "soundtrack" titles are inserted in brackets]
Disco Done It
In high school Andy discovered Disco ["Disco Nights" – GQ]
but it wasn't until the triptychal epiphany that was 1/3 Albert
Goldman's scriptural book Disco, 1/3 "A Night At Studio 54"
(Casablanca)
and 1/3 Interview magazine (back when Richard Bernstein
did the covers), that he instinctively knew that Manhattan was where he
was meant to be. [B52's – "Planet Claire"] After struggling with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at Miami University of Ohio ["I Travel" — Simple Minds],
he fled to Cincinnati where, after a brief department store stint in
Men's Fragrances (from which he was booted to the Siberia known as
Sporting Goods), he became the manager of DJ shop, Culture 7 Records. ["Bostich" — Yello]
There, he picked up DJing and was soon spinning special parties
throughout the state requiring an authentic House DJ (rare outside of
Chicago and New York at the time). ["J'Adore Dancer" — Mark Imperial]
It was at a gig in Cleveland that he met The Queen of House — Liz
Torres — with whom he's been friends ever since. Subsequent New Music
Seminar visits to New York City (and clubs like The World ["Break For Love" — Raze], Sound Factory ["Took My Love Away' - Ellis D.], The Choice ["Shadows of Your Love (Fierce Mix) — J.M. Silk]) only intensified his desire to move to New York.
Scary Shit
["Move Your Body' — Xpansions]
It was also at Culture 7 that he hatched the fetid, fetish-oriented,
Xerox-art hell that was the shop newsletter, featuring the aptly christened, "Da
Shit." Reading it became an industry-wide guilty pleasure and, scarily
enough, eventually it landed him the position of editor/creative
director of venerable trade magazine Dance Music Report (DMR). (The
magazine was overhauled as the result of a new joint publishing deal
between Tom Silverman and Vince Pellegrino, who hired Andy.) Within
weeks he moved from Ohio to Hells' Kitchen, and never, ever looked back
-- not even at his cat, Sweetness, yowling, vomiting and shitting up a
storm in the back. ["Daylight" — Gypsymen].
D Mess R
["It's Happening' — Plus One].A
few botched DMR covers ("who knew that Ultra Naté would print as a
purple stone drag queen -- I'm telling you, the original print was
fierce!"), a little sparing with just about everyone even remotely
involved with the magazine, a mess of open bars, numerous nasty nights
at Limelight ("I think he's up in the Helen Keller Room"), and as many
ecstatically brilliant moments at Sound Factory ["Love Me Forever Or Love Me Not (Dub Of Doom)" — Trilogy]
(more punch, please) were the order of the day/night/whatever. The
magazine rocked until Streetsound Magazine assimilated it — firing
everyone except Andy who quit six months later. ["For You" — 4th Measure Men]
Whoring
["Calypso of House" — K.T.E.]
He was then rescued from the clutches of self-unemployment hell by
shining knight Gianni Ruberti, at the time, the General Manager of the
New York office of Italian label,
Irma Records. (FYI: Irma was named
after a WWII madam in whose former establishment the label had their
first office: Casa di Primordine.) He was hired to do retail sales,
which he loathed, but endured due to the labels' fabulous catalog (Soft
House Company, Kekkotronics Ensemble, Don Carlos, etc.) ["Alone" – Don Carlos]— a catalog so
fab that it inspired him to put together four lovely Irma Classics
compilations that, though never released, clearly awakened his love for
every aspect of album production. (He also wrote the liner notes to the
first Don Carlos album.) ["I Want To Be Free" – The Luna Project]
Claudja Barry's Make-Up Table
["Muzik Express" — X-Press 2]
From Irma it was off to Radikal Records after being snatched up by the
label's owner Jürgen Korduletsch, the producer of the first LP Andy ever bought, the Disco Circus
album. ["Over And Over" – Disco Circus] (Andy had been a fan of the label's
innovative and
aggressive licensing of European product since he
interviewed Korduletsch for a regular DMR feature, "Executive
Exposure.") He went in on the ground floor — literally--starting off
working in Jürgen's basement with only a clipboard, a phone and ["Work Me Over" — Claudja Barry]
Claudja Barry's old make-up table. Acts like 2 Unlimited, Eve
Gallagher (left), Rozalla, Gloria Gaynor, France Joli, Dolce & Gabanna,
The Porn Kings, Sunscreem, the very same Liz Torres (for whom he
orchestrated and designed the "Set Urself Free" single) and many others
of various dance genres followed. Five years later Radikal had become
Popular, Andy had become General Manager and everyone was sittin'
pretty in the label's fabulous full-floor Times Square office. ["Breakaway" (Junior Vasquez Remix) — France Joli]
Then, due to some critically unscrupulous activities on the part of
their distribution liaison to BMG, the label folded, sadly disbursing a
hysterically close-knit staff of maniacs throughout the industry.
Ooh, Work That Basement
While, er, "exploring other options" he heard Taana Gardner
's comeback
record, "I'm Comin'" on Jeannie Hopper's influential Liquid Sound
Lounge radio show. ["Resurrection" — Amalgamation of Sounds]
He called Jeannie up, begged a promo copy, and submitted a small
feature to Dance Music Authority magazine. The review brought tears
(literally) to the eyes of West End Records label owner Mel Cheren and,
one day before New Year's Eve 1998, he and label president, Kenton Nix
called Andy up and offered him the position of General Manager of West
End Records. At West End Andy burrowed/created a, er, unique office
space in the basement of Mel Cheren's Chelsea neighborhood bed &
breakfast hotel, Colonial House Inn. ["Is it All Over My Face" (Kenny Dope Unreleased Remix) — Loose Joints]
Funky, yet functional (with a fan, a space heater and a little
therapy), the office was the label was home for three and half years,
until a changing of the guard made the dream that was Penetration, Inc.
a necessary reality.
Penetration, Inc.
Fueled by
the need to control the destiny of his career, call the shots and the freedom to take on — and
in some cases create — projects simply because
he likes them was all the inspiration needed to create Penetration,
Inc. in the Fall of 2003. though though eyes may have rolled, the
name was initially chosen for its literal meaning ("penetrating the media, market") — as opposed to well,
you know, what you were thinking.
Popular Publicity 2010 brings a new decade and with it a new name, Popular Publicity. With an eye toward a wider variety of project and media, it felt right. While many, mostly longtime clients and friends will miss the edge and punch of "Penetration, Inc.," we hope who had more of a clutch-the-pearls reaction to the name will now sit down, have a glass of water, blot the brow and consider Popular Publicity for their media needs.
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