Mike Ragogna: all lead & background vocals, acoustic guitar / Fino Roverato: electric guitar / Steve Welch: keyboards / Christopher Holden: electric guitar / John X: keyboards, bass, drums / Paul Buckley: drums / Guests - Dobie Gray: vocals on "Home" / Tony Lunn reply vocals on "Not Your Father's Folk Song" and mandolin on "Truth" / Cico Silva: trumpet
Influences
Simon & Garfunkel, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, Cashman & West
In the music business since his teens, Mike Ragogna has been a singer, songwriter, guitarist, keyboardist, producer, arranger and even a songplugger. He’s worked on projects ranging from those by Joni Mitchell to Ringo Starr, Burt Bacharach to Toby Keith, Aerosmith to Cher, and Sublime to Al Green.
At 15, New York-born Mike Ragogna was signed by producers/songwriters Terry Cashman & Tommy West (Jim Croce, Dion, Mary Travers, The Partridge Family, Cashman & West, Cashman, Pistilli & West) who developed him as a songwriter for their company Blendingwell Music and as a recording artist for their label, Lifesong Records (Crack The Sky, Henry Gross, Dean Friedman, Gail Davies). Mike’s “Peter Stays and Spider-Man Goes” was covered on the classic college-promoted album Spider-Man: Rock Reflections Of A Superhero. After writing and recording songs for Tippi Hedren’s international hit movie, Roar, Mike teamed with producer Terrence P. Minogue to record his debut album in 1982, Safari In America that included Bon Jovi drummer, Tico Torres, and Crack The Sky guitarist, Rick Witkowski.
His first major label release was in 1985 on MTM—Mary Tyler Moore's Nashville-based record company that was distributed through Capitol Records. Mike’s album The Almost Brothers (recorded Everlys/Simon & Garfunkel-style with vocalist Steve Mosto) featured four country charters—“Don’t Tell Me Love Is Kind,” “Birds Of A Feather,” “What's Your Name” and “I Don't Love Her Anymore.” Label-mates Girls Next Door recorded Mike’s first big hit as a songwriter, “Slow Boat To China” that was a Billboard Country Top Ten and one of 1986’s top-selling country singles. It also was the first major hit for MTM’s publishing division, Uncle Artie Music, and received an ASCAP award honoring it as one of the most frequently-played country singles of that year.
Mike Ragogna and Steve Mosto then recorded and performed as the groups Body Politic and Bone People before moving on to solo careers. Mike’s next solo album, Minefield Diaries, was independently released in 1999, and his 2003 studio effort, Invisible World, recast Mike Ragogna as a maturing recording artist and songwriter. Musicians included drummer Zoro (Lenny Kravitz, Bobby Brown, New Edition), keyboardist Dick Simms (Eric Clapton), Joe Sublett (Stevie Ray Vaughan), Novi Novog (Michael Jackson, Doobie Brothers, Carly Simon) and jazz/blues-rock guitarist, Fino Roverato. (2005 saw this batch of recordings finally released as the album Valentine’s Day.)
In 2004, Mike recorded Writer’s Block, which actually was inspired by the affliction. Including a handful of Mike’s originals, Writer’s Block took a cue from the legendary Brill Building, adding songs by Carole King, Gerry Goffin and Barry Mann. Building on the Brill concept, Mike added material by solid writers such as John Mayer, John Ondrasik (Five For Fighting), and Bob Hillman, a singer-songwriter he discovered at NYC’s Sidewalk Café. Musicians for this project included Richie Gajate-Garcia on drums, and Lester Chambers, formerly of The Chambers Brother. Mike's new album, Summerland, has just been released and it features 12 original Ragogna songs with Fino Roverato and Steve Welch returning on guitar and keyboards. Produced by John X and Christopher Holden, Summerland also features a duet with '60s and '70s pop icon Dobie Gray titled "Home," its companion video enjoying much exposure on YouTube and The Huffington Post as well as many other websites.
Mike's day gig has been performing A&R duties for various record labels, including EMI-Capitol, Universal, BMG and Razor & Tie, where he produced and oversaw catalog compilations and reissues since the ’90s. Other than the above-mentioned, he also has compiled and produced high-profile anthologies and reissues by such diverse artists as Joe Cocker, Crosby & Nash, Fats Domino, Joan Armatrading, Herb Alpert, Gin Blossoms, Sublime, Suzanne Vega, Joan Baez, John Hiatt, Flying Burrito Brothers, Joe Jackson, Rush, Sammy Hagar, Scorpions, Whitesnake, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, Pat Benatar, Three Dog Night, 38 Special, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Peter Frampton, Neil Diamond, Cher, Carpenters, Lisa Loeb, Amy Grant, Rita Coolidge, Olivia Newton-John, Pat Benatar, Chris LeDoux, D'Angelo, K-Ci & JoJo and Jodeci.
Go to this link to view Mike Ragogna voiceovers for the online school Universal Class:
youtube.com/ragognamusic
Also, the below is a video for Mike's duet with Dobie Gray "Home" from the album Summerland.
