'The Roar of L'Amour'

WHITE LION - The "Pride" of L'Amour and Mike nicknames me "The Roar"

You can't talk about L'Amour in the heyday without talking about White Lion.

They were truly "The Pride" of the club.

Critics might argue that they had the "machine" behind them. That I played them and promoted them, That the owners (who managed them) gave them opportunities others didn't have and all of that is true, but ...

THEY DESERVED IT.

You can't argue that Mike Tramp had "it" and that Vito Bratta was one of the best guitarists in the world.

The owners and I recognizing that made sense.

Let's go back to the beginning.

I knew of Vito years prior to him meeting Tramp and eventually met him in 1981.

I used to be the daytime manager at The Factory in Staten Island where a cover band Dreamer played weekly. 

One of the guitarists for Dreamer was a 20-year-old Vito Bratta.

We got to know each other, and I actually got Dreamer their last drummer Mike Arbeeny (later of Tyketto).

One day Arbeeny calls me and says "I quit Dreamer and Vito, Bruce (bassist) and I are in a band Lion with a singer that is a star.

I was excited for Arbeeny, but the foursome was short-lived and the rhythm section quit.

Tramp and Vito wound up getting Vito's old drummer Nicky Cappozi and Felix Robinson (Angel).

The Felix story is interesting (I don't even know if Tramp knows).

Felix wife contacted me about a band I was managing that needed a bassist. The band was good, but they were in the early stages and there would have been no money in it for a bit. I suggested they contact the owner of L'Amour (who were now managing White Lion) and ...

The band was immediately signed to Elektra and then dropped. it made zero sense.

The band had a good solid album and Elektra refused to release it or allow someone else to.

The band was in limbo to no fault of their own.

During this time, I started working at L'Amour East and would drive in with George Parente (L'Amour owner) who had the cassette lodged in his car's stereo.

By the time I began in Brooklyn 4 months later, I knew every lyric, note and inside story on White Lion.

In November of 1984, I was in an owners meeting at George's house and when it came time to talk "owner stuff", I was told to leave the room and "go talk to Tramp", who was in the basement.

We started talking and had a great conversation, so much so that George and his brother Mike told me that Tramp told them that I was the guy to get behind regarding the club. I will always appreciate that.

By the time i was in Brooklyn, White Lion had another rhythm section, and I was given a test pressing of the unreleased album and eventually the video for 'Broken Heart'.

On the album was a song called "All the Fallen Men" which i thought was brilliant. It was arena rock, but with deep lyrics, I still think it is their best song.

I would get in arguments with George/Mike because i wouldn't play White Lion on heavier nights. I told them that the crowd would turn on the band if I shoved them down their throats and to their credit, they wound up agreeing.

I had zero issue playing WL on the more commercial nights, the video was one of my most requested in my 49 months there and the band deserved it.

The band finally settled on Greg D'Angelo (drums) and James Lomenzo (bass) and both guys became good friends with James and I getting particularly close.

The band and I will always be identified with each other, so much so that Tramp gave me "The Roar of L'Amour" moniker (see below) and I even traveled to Roanoke to see them open for Aerosmith.

The rest of the band's history is well-known and recently I reconnected with Tramp and Greg and Tramp.

The band was truly THE PRIDE of "L'Amour and I couldn't be prouder of my affiliation.  

"The thing about playing L’amour in the 80’s. Was that you always ended up going on stage real late, so we just sat there listening to Chuck Kaye (the L'Amour DJ) cranking out one great rock’n’roll song after another and hearing Chuck announce upcoming shows and other interesting things over the big PA system. But it wasn’t your average airport announcement, but more like a rocket taking off or a hungry lion roaring. And it was there one night, I just belted out to the rest of the band, well there he goes again "The Roar of L’Amour” and from that day on, Chuck was known for that, It was a great time." 

- Mike Tramp (White Lion)

Chuck Kaye

Ah Yes Indeed

BACK