April 10, 2008
Wally Heider saved me from a life of electronic drudgery and obscurity when in 1973 Ken Hopkins and Grey O’Dell hired me to work at the SF studio. I had spent a little time at the 245 Hyde St. address during my school days, assisting an independent mixer and my good friend Neil Schwartz. Neil brought me in for a James Brown date and later we worked with Ty Porter on demos with groups like “CRACKIN”?, “COAL TRAIN”?.
Upon graduating from Heald College, just as I was about to accept my sentence, er, I mean “position”? with a digital safe company in San Jose (bend over sucker), my phone rang with a call that changed my life for good. Ken Hopkins, the Studio manager, asked me if I were interested in joining the Wally Heider Staff. (Duh!) It was at this point I met Wally for the first time and was completely overwhelmed by the force of his personality. What a guy! What a boss!
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