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Black 13

Richard Black, Damir Simic-Shime, Ricky Riccardo, Simon Wright, and myself.

Some time in 1995, Shime took me out to Pasadena, to meet Richard Black. I really didn’t know what to expect. All I really knew about Richard was that he had been in Shark Island, and then a "supergroup" called before hitting it big, this guy was an instrumental figure on the LA club scene. Contraband; that he had a very identifiable voice; and,

Shark-era Richard.

We pulled up to his house, and I was expecting to meet this sterotypical, half-drunk rock star. What I found was something very different. Richard is one of the most alert, intelligent, and well-thought-out men I have ever met. I mean - he didn’t get his band’s notoriety by accident. Richard has an extensive knowledge of the business, having seen it all first-hand.

We started talking about the music business. And cars. Shime’s car was making noise, so Richard popped the hood, grabbed a wrench, and adjusted some stuff. Still talking about the business. He asked us what kind of music we liked. (I just met the guy, and wanted to make a good impression...How do you answer that one?) So, Shime & I started naming various bands we were into. Richard then got into what made these groups special; and, pointed out that these trends were actually nothing new; they were just recirculated, from another time. Richard believed that the way to be truly original, is to create a scene; to create a trend. This is how something truly new and exciting comes into being. Then, he asked for a larger wrench. Not your typical rock fanfare. Thing is, I'd always believed this concept, too; but I never heard it put so eloquently. Since then, our discussions have given me new perspective in the various aspects of this dirty business. But, we're getting ahead now...

A few months later, Shime told me Richard was looking to jam, and we met up in a very well-furnished (and well hidden) studio in the Valley. It was myself, Shime, Richard, and Simon Wright, who had spent 11 years playing with AC/DC. And a bass player who Simon brought in, whose name unfortunately escapes me. I don’t even remember what songs we did - there were some Shark tunes, and jams on others that we all knew. All I remember was that there was an electric grand piano, and a stack of Playboy magazines, with Pamela Anderson. We made great use of both.

Regular rehearsals followed, this time with bassist Ricky Riccardo. Those were fun times. The rehearsals were very demanding, no doubt. And, not just musically! It took two of us just to carry Simon’s snare drum! His kit was made by Sonor, who has a reputation of having the most sturdy (and expensive!) hardware on the market. Just setting him up was a workout. But, his road stories, and quirky sense of humor always kept us in stitches!

We ran through a lot of unreleased Shark material, and some songs from Shime’s catalogue, too. Simon eventually went on to join the re-formed UFO, and after a long auditioning process, we finally found Keith Graham.

Up until now, Shime's solo career was pretty much on hold; but, finding Keith was like a breath of fresh air for all of us. We moved into his studio, and began rehearsing twice a week; one night doing Shime's material, and the other developing Black 13's repertoir.

We spent many hours working on these songs, and before we knew it, a year had passed. The band was finding it's own sound, and we really wanted to get out there. We wanted to gig, and record, and do all the great things that bands do.

At this point, Shime's solo career started coming into focus. He started booking shows, just to shake us loose, and test the waters. Richard would occasionally come on stage for a few songs - which was always great fun, because this made it a double-show, of sorts - and I got off on watching Richard on stage! The band became very tight, and we eventually went in to record Shime’s instrumental debut, The Quest. During this process, Tony MacAlpine asked Ricky to join his band; I began work on the new Takara record; and, Shime began the monumental task of producing his monster guitar album.

We’ve had a couple of false starts since then, although nothing recent; but I still see Richard from time to time. I love to talk with him, and glean some wisdom from his experiences. His tales about building a scene in LA, putting together Contraband, and their eventual demise, are fascinating. I think he should put together a rock and roll handbook, for surviving in the business. The guy has seen it all.

Over time, I've received quite a few e-mails from Richard's fans, and industry folk alike, asking about those great, unreleased songs. (I continue to forward this mail to Richard to this day.) I’ve got to say, his material is really great. If Shark would have followed up their breakthrough Law of the Order record with such unreleased tracks as Make A Move, or Looking for the Sun...they would have been huge. Simple as that. Strong rockers, beautiful ballads, and lots of great arrangements. There’s still talk about these being released sometime soon. I'm really looking forward to it.

Simon Wright is now out touring with Dio, after a slew of other gigs he’s done in between. The rest of us are promoting the hell out of Shime's new record, and gigging constantly. Creating a scene. And so, it begins...

Shark Island Sound Clips
Wav Files	MP3 Files	Title	Comments
		Paris Calling	Shark Island's signature song, from Law of the Order.
		Father Time	A staple in rehearsals; from the soundtrack album to Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.

To hear a longer sound clip, in "CD quality", try the MP3. If you have never done this before, try downloading

Special thanks to the webmasters of the Shark Island and Contraband web sites, for use of their graphics. For insightful details about the history of these great bands, please be sure to visit these fine sites.