Tony Monaco
How did the band form?
Thrills began life as “Bad Company” LOL we actually had the name first but had to change it for obvious reasons. When we were in the process of changing the name, we had to replace our bass player and that is when Bill Gilbert came aboard
How did you meet each other?
Basically in school. There was a bit of a “musicians click” that we were all a part of.
How much time went into writing and the studio, roughly, per album?
Well our first album was easy as we all had a ton of material between us. The second and third albums were done a bit quicker out of necessity. That’s just the nature of the beast. Basically an artist has their whole life to write their 1st record but if you’re lucky enough to do a second, it usually is done under a time crunch and a contractJ We would typically spend time writing and then move into pre-production and lastly in the studio. Tha process usually took a few months.
What is your fondest memory of Thrills?
Honestly the brotherhood we had / have. It was a very special time on all our lives and one we all cherish.
What was your favorite part of being in the band?
The creative process. Someone once said, “I hate writing but love having written” Honestly, I love the writing and recording process. It was simply hanging out with good friends doing what we loved.
Is there one gig in particular that has been the most memorable?
Wow that’s tough. One that always stands out is when we performed at the Point in Downtown Pittsburgh. There reportedly was about 18,000 people there. My Mom and Dad never stopped talking about that one.
What were your musical influences at the time?
Chicago, Styx, REO Speedwagon, and definitely some Billy Joel. In addition we were all into jazz fusion aka Jeff Beck, Chick Corea etc.
When and why did you learn to play your instrument?
As a young boy, I always wanted to play piano but that wasn’t financially feasible so I ended up playing guitar. My move to keyboard was out of necessity as we couldn’t find an organ player and I morphed into that guy. I would say I was more of a Hammond Organ / Synth player but moved to piano later in our carreer.
What is the best thing came from Thrills?
The music. Looking back, we were very exceptional for our age and collectively had a great sense of hooks and writing pop songs. Then ultimately I’d say the memories….I wouldn’t change a thing. Well, except I wish our career would have gone a bit farther.
How did you come up with the name Thrills?
Good question. I think Dave came up with it. We changed it to THRILLS when we had to lose the Bad Company name.
What was the tour life like?
Exciting, but a bit trying being away from loved ones. We were on a shoestring budget and unfortunately we we were tourinh during the era of going on the road to promote the records. There was no MTV, Internet, or social media. We would drive to the next city, do a guest spot on a local radio show, then head to an in-store signing where fans could come to a meet and greet before the show. Then head back to the hotel with the food from the dressing room in a bucket with ice (literally), eat, sleep and do it all again!
What are your hopes for the revamping of your digital music?
I would say having the chance to expose it to the masses again. I was good music that should have been heard. We are blessed that people like Tom take the time to keep it alive.
What were your initial thoughts on the revamp?
I was elated. Once again, knowing that on some level it is still viable speaks volumes to me. We did something pretty special.
Where did you grow up and where do you reside currently?
Grew up in Pittsburgh, Moved to Long Island NY in 1977 with Thrills and moved to South Florida (Boynton Beach) in 1995…Been here since
What is your current job?
I work for an Automotive supply company as a Business Development Manager. I hope to retire in about 3 ½ years.
Do you still play? Were you in any other bands before/after/during Thrills?
Well I always played in bands since I was old enough to hold a guitar! After Thrills, Dave and I worked on another original project called “Cinema” that did some recording etc. Then it was mainly cover bands. I did write and record with a blues band “Blues Dragon” that did very well. We won a blues music award for “Song of the year” and had some regional success. Now, Dave and I are performing with TURNSTILES, A tribute to Billy Joel that began in 2011. We do a considerable amount of travel and we are having a ball with it.
What was your favorite song to play live?
All of our originals of course but we had a lot of fun doing some great classic covers….Frankenstein by Edgar Winter was one!
What are some of your favorite songs overall?
First Thrills: Lie For Your Love, Breaking My Heart, Good Friends, Blinded by Love – Front Page News: Tonight, High Side of 55, You Don’t Remember Me, Take a Bite – Thrills 3: Best of Everything, It’s too Late, You’ll be Back, Let Me Love You
Dave Fullerton
How did the band form?
Myself, Tony, and Rob were in a Band with another Bass Player called "BAD COMPANY". When we decided to dismiss the Bass Player, We found BILL GILBERT in another Local Band, ask him to Join, and changed the name to "THRILLS".
How did you meet each other?
We all played in different Bands, in PENN HILLS, and went to the same High School. Tony and I met earlier, when we were about 12 or 13 years old, through other friends.
How much time went into writing and the studio, roughly, per album?
If I remember correctly.....Several Months. Between Writing and Rehearsing.
What is your fondest memory of Thrills?
The WHOLE Experience with "THRILLS" was Fond!!! LOL! It was something that ALOT of Musicians don't get to experience, and I am Forever Grateful and Blessed, for being able to be Part of!
What was your favorite part of being in the band?
I Loved Playing the LIVE Shows for Large Crowds.
Is there one gig in particular that has been the most memorable?
The ONE that really Sticks in My Mind is opening up for "FOREIGNER" in New York.
What were your musical influences at the time?
I listened to SO MUCH Music back then, but My Biggest Influence was "CHICAGO", and TERRY KATH, the Guitar Player for The Band.
When and why did you learn to play your instrument?
I was 8 years Old, when I saw one of My friends holding a GUITAR, sitting on his Porch. He said "LOOK WHAT MY DAD GOT ME"!!! That was IT!!! I wanted One TOO!!!.... and Then when I Heard "THE BEATLES"......I WAS ON MY WAY!!!!! LOL!
What is the best thing that came from Thrills?
It was a GREAT Learning Experience!! I had Been writing SONGS for Myself and All of my Other Bands before "THRILLS", So to actually be Part of a Team, and Hear Our Music on RECORDS......Phenomenal!!!
How did you come up with the name Thrills?
It's funny, but I usually came up with the Names. I was always thinking of COOL NAMES for Bands!!.....One day "THRILLS" popped Up in My Head.....SOUNDED COOL......OK.....DONE!!! LOL!
What was the tour life like?
Touring was TIRING, But we were YOUNG Rockstar Wannabees , So WE would Do anything we Had To, If It was Part of Getting to THE TOP OF THE HEAP!! We WERE DETERMINED!!!!!
What are your hopes for the revamping of your digital music?
I have always LOVED "THRILLS" Music, and VERY Proud of What we did and Wrote! I have always Thought that WE should Have Made THE RANKS of The ELITE. I truly Believed and I still Do, That there definitely was a SPOT for "THRILLS"!! I hope More people can Experience The MUSIC of "THRILLS".......Because It TRULY is......BADASS!!!!!!!
What were your initial thoughts on the revamp?
It's Been SO Long ago, and I am NOW "62" Years Old. If whoever wants to REVAMP, or Whatever........GO FOR IT!!!! Its All done with GOOD intentions.
Where did you grow up and where do you reside currently?
I grew Up in Wilkinsburgh, Pa (Pittsburgh), Moved to Penn Hills, Pittsburgh, when I was about 10 years Old. Now I Live In BOYNTON BEACH FLORIDA.
What is your current job?
I am an ASST. Operations Manager for HELENA CHEMICAL CORP.
Do you still play? Were you in any other bands before/after/during Thrills?
I have NEVER Stopped Playing!!!.....I have always been Involved in some Sort of Music through the Years, and have Always Continued My Songwriting, Which is in Full Force as WE Speak. I am Also Playing in an AMAZING "BILLY JOEL" Tribute Band With TONY MONACO!!!....Called "TURNSTILES"....Check It Out... thebillyjoeltribute.com.......YES, Tony and I are STILL performing together on STAGE, and It IS absolutely Phenomenal!!!!
What was your favorite song to play live?
My Favorite Song to Play LIVE was...........MMMMmmmm...........I can't answer THAT!! I Loved Them ALL!!!! I wish I would have been able to Perform "THRILLS 3" LIVE......But It ALL ended Before we had a Chance To Do THAT!!
Do you have a favorite song overall?
Thrills 3: You’ll Be Back, Best of Everything, It’s Too Late, Let Me Love You, Falling Out Of Love – Front Page News: Tonight, Don’t You Know, High Side Of 55, Follow Your Dream, Take Me Away, You Don’t Remember Me – First Thrills: Changing My Ways
What are you up to now?
Well at This Point in My Musical Life, I am Still writing MY SONGS, Playing in "TURNSTILES".....And I will be Concentrating More on MY SONGS in 2018!! I will be Retiring Early from MY Day Job, which will give ME A LOT more Time to DEVOTE to MUSIC!! I am SO Looking Forward to THAT!!!!
I heard you had "about a billion guitars". Do you have a favorite?
Well I don't have a BILLION!! LOL!....But I do have ALOT!..... I get Most of My Guitars from a Company in CALIFORNIA named "KIESEL/CARVIN". They are Custom Made, and NOT sold in Stores. They are INCREDIBLE Instruments, and I even Played them Back In "THRILLS"!!!
Rob Owens
How did the band form and how did you meet?
All four of us went to the same High school and grew up with in a few miles of each other. When you are musical ( or any other interest ) you tend to travel in the same circle of people that share the same interest. So we knew of each other and had seen the others play.
Tony and Dave played in a band that had horns which was popular at the time, but eventually decided to become more of a rock band as opposed to a jazz / rock band.
The drummer they had in the current band was a very very strong drummer, perfect for the Jazz rock style, but not for the heavier rock type of music that they wanted,,,which is where I came into the band as both a drummer and singer....the same process happened when we changed bass players to add Bill....and then we were four.
How much time went into writing and the studio, roughly, per album?
I would say it took us about a year per album project to do a full cycle, including the creating the songs, recording, learning to play the songs live and then going out in the bus to play the music, then it would start all over.
What was your favorite part of being in the band?
My favorite part of being in the band was....and I would think it would be a similar answer from my band mates.....
I was born to play drums, as were the other guys with each of the chosen instruments..it's what we wanted to be doing, what we should have been doing, and we did just that, we found each other and we played. That's what the great memories are..we were doing what we loved.
Is there one gig in particular that has been the most memorable?
There were bigger shows than others, but we played thousands of times together, so there were memories from almost every time we played..sometimes it was the venue, sometimes just how a particular song affected someone, sometimes it was the 800 steps we had to haul our equipment up and down.
What were your musical influences at the time?
Musical influences came from any song we ever heard or played, as is true with any musician, you hear things from everywhere and try to learn to duplicate the sound, so influences come from everyone else that plays..
When and why did you learn to play your instrument?
For me personally, I knew as a very young child that I was a drummer, from when I first heard music on the radio , I starting banging on things and have never stopped, I also believe that almost every drummer out there would give you a similar answer.
What is the best thing came from Thrills?
I believe that we came out with a solid body of musical work as a band, but it was also our lives. So we came out as musical brothers, musical family members, which has lasted from our teen years to this very day. Tony , Dave and Bill are with me everyday.
How did you come up with the name Thrills?
We needed to change the name of the band as we were called Bad Company, and the English band decided to use that same name..so after every name we could ever come up with, we chose Thrills
What was the tour life like?
Tour life.....we were on a pretty tight budget , but we were actually doing it, we were out playing.
As a band the reward of being a musician is the time you are on stage, the playing time.
The travel time was just what we needed to do to get from stage to stage
What were your initial thoughts on the revamp?
The reissue of our music, just means that it lives on and maybe new listeners will enjoy the music
Do you still play? Were you in any other bands before/after/during Thrills?
Yes I still play, I still play drums, I will always be a drummer, but I also play piano and have been taking lessons for years, because I still love to play and sing.
What was your favorite song to play live?
Besides our original music, we were a kickass cover band..my personal favorite cover song to play was Edgar Winters Frankenstein.
When we played our music, all of it was our favorites to play
I do have one additional comment...the most exciting moment for ANY musician that has fought the musician,band member, artist battle and spent years of their lives trying to be successful, is the first time that you hear yourself on the radio..your band..your voice..your drums or guitars or keyboard.....many many musicians never get to experience that moment...but we did.
It's the reward for all of the years of struggle. It erases a lot of the tough times.
Waiting for the payback.....waiting for the playback.. (Kid rock) but great lyrics
Tom Ingegno
How did you meet each other?
I was an agent in Pittsburgh at the time and my then partner had seen this young band of 16 year old kids (except for the bass player) and he told me to check them out. They were called Bad Company which they later had to change for obvious reasons. I booked them at many colleges, frat houses and high schools. Eventually, I sort of took them over and they allowed me to pick and set up a new repertoire of club songs so we could break that circuit. Some of the guys weren’t even 21 yet. I soon took over management and proceeded to build them in the Pittsburgh area.
How much time went into writing and the studio, roughly, per album?
It is hard to tell since Magical Hands was a fully produced demo from a slew of songs we were performing on the Long Island club circuit and experimenting for a few years. First Thrills evolved out of that as we started to write more and more. Front Page News probably took the least amount of time as we were cocked and ready to go. My estimation would be within a six month period. Thrills 3 is our pride and joy and I would say the process took about six months.
What is your fondest memory of Thrills?
Writing, recording and watching the band perform.
Is there one gig in particular that has been the most memorable?
For me it was when the band played my old college St Vincent with Donnie Iris.
What were your musical influences at the time?
Influences are one thing but inspiration was another. My inspirations came from listening to Carole King and Nash & Crosby albums. Whenever I would hit a writers block, they always got me through it. My influences would be Beatles, Asia, Styx, and Doobies. I loved harmonies as did the band members so we were a great match. Thrills was always complemented on harmonies which was always a strong suit.
When and why did you learn to play your instrument?
I learned to play guitar so I could write. Not a very good player at all so I can hardly call it that.
What is the best thing came from Thrills?
Certainly the experience of writing and then hearing your work come to life.
What was the tour life like?
Tiring but looking back it was definitely something I would do again.
What are your hopes for the revamping of your digital music?
That everyone become exposed to what we did and maybe someone would do a remake. It is great music for an 80’s themed project.
What were your initial thoughts on the revamp?
I have to keep on trying. I just can’t let it go and felt that we never really go our chance.
Where did you grow up and where do you reside currently?
Grew up on Long Island where I currently live but went to school in Latrobe PA and stayed in Pittsburgh until 1975
What is your current job?
Talent manager for comedians and actors
What was your favorite song to watch live?
I loved listening to them all.
From: Tom Ingegno: Thrills manager, songwriter and producer. Currently a manager of comedians and actors at www.omnipop.com
I am thankful for the opportunity of being able to write, produce and manage. I certainly have no regrets about the lyrics and songs I wrote. Everything has a starting point and we were given an opportunity. I now laugh at some on the old lyrics, many of which bring a smile to my face (Ladies In Waiting and Carrie in particular). I sometimes think I would love a second chance at rewriting the lyrics to some of the songs but then I remember, it was the times. The words we used then have different meanings today. Why change an emotion at the time now? I hope both old and new fans listening now, can transport themselves back to that era the same way I do and listen for the way it was then. They do say everything old is new again.
The band did have a sense of humor and songs were just written as they came to us. We never really rewrote songs but instead kept writing new ones. Not sure that makes sense but to a songwriter it might. Some of our songs have the most amazing memorable movements that crescendo quite nicely. I still get goose bumps when I listen to some of the passages.
I have many favorite recording moments. It was so much fun watching my partner Mike Frenchik write charts and conduct the strings on Magical Hands/From Kingdom Come. I can still remember the string leader, Irv, chain smoking through the entire session. Nobody worried about second hand smoke back then. Also, picking up bags of cash from an avid fan who sponsored the entire recording and shopping process.
While shopping the demo in Los Angeles, Mike and I had some very interesting meetings. Fabian and Mark Lindsay were working for new labels and we had set up a meeting with Fabian in a car on a street corner. We had a meeting with Mark Lindsay at his office and I remember us laughing and wondering if he still had his pony tail from his Paul Revere and the Raiders days. He did not. I guess a highlight was when Phil Spector called to say that, “Thrills was destined for bigger and better things than Longs Island.” He was never heard from again.
When recording Frist Thrills, engineer Don Casale and I were avid pipe smokers and the control room was one big cloud, poor Mike Frenchik. Also, when we forgot to add the Hammond B3 to the tracks, we didn’t want to load it into the basement studio so we recorded it outside.
Front Page News was just a dream to me. I felt like I was walking on a cloud. For some reason I remember a smokey/cedar type smell and it was so comfortable. I guess that is why it was called Smoketree Ranch. It was like recording in your living room. I was so relaxed that I began writing lyrics to Thrills 3 while watching and listening to the band on the other side of the glass. I never wanted this session to end.
On Thrills 3, I felt it all finally came together. The writing and production skills, studio chops, a revived energy and every one totally focused and determined. We worked so hard at analyzing and dissecting every song for perfection. We finally understood the process and were extremely disciplined. Hard work but it was still a lot of fun too. I totally felt this was our launching pad into the future. I believe this on to be our Rumors.
Thrills Live From My Father’s Place was never really intended for a release but thanks to Dane Spencer/Rewind it was. Oh what a night it was. So much fun, so much energy and the fans really came through for us. MFP was sort of home to the band and was the only place on Long Island that we performed original set. We also shared the stage once with Arlen Roth.
I often tell the comics I manage today that their best joke hasn’t been written yet. For me, I feel the same way when it comes to songwriting. While recording Thrills 3, I was already writing lyrics for Thrills 4. The juices constantly kept flowing especially when you were in the studio. I always believed that our best songs were yet to be written. I still feel strongly that if Thrills 3 had been released and heard, there would have been more Thrills to come.
The live performances were another thing. You start hearing different ways you would have liked to rearrange already recorded songs.
I did realize a few things over the years and while I was always considered the 5th member of the band, I was never really part of the brotherhood that was and could have only happened if I had actually performed and shared the stage with the band members. The band always respected my writing and I always felt comfortable making presentations to any of them, but I could never quite achieve the comradery they all shared. I certainly admired and respected their feelings for one another. I always knew which member to bring my lyrics to and felt that we had that connection. I am proud of the work I did with the band and even after all these years, I am still a believer. Thus, the reason for my commitment and resurgence of it all. I have to “Keep on Trying” and continue to “Follow Your Dream.” I am not delusional in any way and just hope we can find new and old fans of music from the 80’s.
Linda Mackley
How did you meet each other?
We all grew up in the same town near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
What is your fondest memory of Thrills?
Going to California to record.
What was your favorite part of being in the band?
We all got along so well. We were really like a family.
What were your musical influences at the time?
Led Zepplin, Genesis, Doobie Brothers, Yes, Kansas
When and why did you learn to play your instrument?
My Uncle, Babe Fabrizi, was a big influence on me as a small child. He was a drummer and owned his own music shop back in Pittsburgh. He noticed my sense of rhythm early on and insisted that my parents let me play.
What are your hopes for the revamping of your digital music?
I’m hoping that people will get to hear and enjoy the music we were so passionate in creating.
What were your initial thoughts on the revamp?
I think it’s a great idea.
Where did you grow up and where do you reside currently?
I grew up in Penn Hills, Pennsylvania. I left there and moved to Long Island, New York at age 19 to pursue my music career.
What is your current job?
I am a professional musician.
Do you still play? Were you in any other bands before/after/during Thrills?
I have been in many bands before, during and after Thrills.
Yes, I still play. Currently with “45 RPM”, and “One” a Three Dog Night
Tribute band.
Q&A's
