Looking back at this interview
Tod Howarth’s “West of Eight” cd was selling quite heavily for us. We always have the upmost respect for multi instrumentalists like Tod. Add Tod’s stellar voice to the mix, and he is the perfect all around musician. We were very happy that he took some time to answer some questions for us.
Tod Howarth (Sept 2003)
singer/guitarist/keyboardist-Frehley’s Comet, 707, Ted Nugent, Cheap Trick
Hi Tod. Thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions for us.
You’ve had quite an A-List group of people you’ve played with over the years. Ace Frehley, Ted Nugent, Cheap Trick. Can you give us a rundown on how you wound up playing with each of these acts?
Cheap Trick:
When I first moved to Los Angeles in 1980 I ended up played with a few guys that would eventually end up replacing Tom Petersson. Those guys were Pete Comida and then Jon Brant. We briefly played in different bands together, although they had played together as well. I also did some recording with one of the bands where the producer ended up doing some work with Cheap Trick – and he too had referred me to them. However I ended up joining the band 707 from ’80 to ’83 and moved on to Ted Nugent after that so it wasn’t until 1985 that their manager had gotten a hold of me to audition.
Ted Nugent:
While touring with the band 707 we had done many shows with many big bands of the day including Ted. He took a liking to the band and even helped in the management area when we had let go of our managers at the time. 707 could not hold it together after a lot of internal problems and disbanded in 1983. Ted’s camp wound up doing some vocal tracks in San Francisco for the ‘Penetrator’ album late ’83 and had enlisted the help of me and Kevin Russell – the guitar player for 707. In early 1984 Ted got a hold of me to see if I could do the tour because I could do many jobs at once – you know the key/guitar/backing vox thing. So off to Michigan I went
and about a month later we were in France.
Ace Frehley/Frehley’s Comet:
Cheap Trick (with me on keys and vocals) had done some co-headlining shows with John Waite back in 1985/86 and I used to marvel at their sound checks – John Regan on bass and Frankie Larocka on drums. Oh how good the rhythm section sounded. I introduced myself to John Regan and he said ‘Oh yeah, you’re the guy doing a lot of the singing’ We got to talking and I told him about my other talents and he said ‘We should exchange numbers because I have this project back in New York that I’m working on.” That project turned out to be Frehley’s Comet – the beginning of the final recording band. About six months or so had passed and he gave me a call and off to New York I went to jam.
Your tenure in Frehley’s Comet was quite different than the typical “hired hand” scenario that so many solo star vehicles wind up being. You were a co-lead vocalist and co-writer from the very first album. Was that the initial plan for the Comet or did it just evolve that way? How did you impact the dynamic of the group?
It was planned to a certain degree. Ace is not really a singer or songwriter and he’ll readily admit it. (or least he used to) He needed help in the vocal department and it would be nice if someone else in the band could write too. On the ‘Second Sighting’ I had more of a handle on the song input because quite frankly Ace did not have enough tunes to record.The dynamic was affected in two different ways. Some fans liked it, some
did not. I wanted to evolve in the co-writing department with Ace because I thought that it would be a lot more convincing in the long run for us but we never got a chance to do this obviously. There was a lot of talk about this album being my ‘solo’ effort, which is bullshit. If it had been it would have been a lot heavier
– this coming from the guy who penned “It’s Over Now”.
We know you’ve played a million shows over the years, but since we’re based out of Houston, Texas we have to ask about a show back from the Comet days. Many of our staffers saw you at the Sam Houston Coliseum in support of the first Comet cd. The “Metal Mania” bill featured Y&T, Frehley’s Comet, TNT,Loudness, Gary Moore and a new band at the time Faster Pussycat (replacing a canceled appearance by another new band Guns N Roses). Do you remember anything about this show ? Any anecdotes you could pass along?
Well let’s see……hmm this is going back a bit. All I remember is that we did a co-headliner with Y&T but we were the draw so there were certain rules that they had to abide by. Y&T were not to use certain lightings for their show that were supposed to be used for ours only – sounds petty but it’s show biz. Now I don’t know if this happened in Texas or not but one night they appeared to be using ‘extra lights’ and I let it be known – on the stage floor right in front of everyone – that I was not pleased with it. The lighting director finally got fed up with my mouth and jumped off the platform to – I guess – ‘quiet me’. I was ready and all too waiting but it was never to be, crew members intervened and there was no brawl. Too bad, in my younger days I wouldn’t blink an eye to mix it up Yeeehaw!
There was also a spot in there somewhere where Ace, John and I secretly approached Y&T’s drummer Jimmy Degrasso to join up with us because we were about ready to let go of Billy Ward but again, I’m not sure if this took place there. Other than that…Hmm, there may be a few ‘women’ stories that took place here but damn if I can remember if in fact, it was there!
Your cd “West Of Eight” has been one of our best sellers. How did this cd come together?
That’s great news! ‘West of Eight’ was a follow up for ‘Cobalt Parlor’ of which I did completely alone. I put a band together to support ‘Cobalt’ after I got a small record deal, however the deal fell through(big surprise) and I had to do a little convincing to get the band to record yet another CD to see what might happen for us. Well more problems ensued towards the end of this CD and I had to fire the bass player and re-record all the bass guitars and backing vocals myself. The band members finally went their separate ways until about a year or so later when we did a warm-up show in 2001 for Cheap Trick here in San Diego – we had a blast.
You have several other discs that are now out of print. Any chance we could see 707 or any of your earlier solo cd’s re-released?
Funny you should ask. My old drummer from the ‘Hardware’ days Troy Farrell, just came down this last weekend to visit and asked me if I ever thought about releasing some of our demos. Some of the tunes are really great – old style but the kind of tunes that the Comet fans would love, so it’s a serious possibility. The 707 stuff is being re-released by an internet company called Renaissance Records, I believe.
You’ve put out another cd recently, “Winter”. This cd expresses some different musical elements from your bag of tricks. How did your approach to “Winter” differ from your previous recordings?
The approach was just to write what I heard in my head and heart without any pretense to style or conformity, consistency (but it kinda’ happened anyway) all the while staying somewhat afar from the heavy rock pond. I would lay down ideas on my 16 track with a click track and then go back and embellish with different instruments and sounds. I did everything here myself again except for some female backing vocals on one tune that my (then) 15 year old daughter sang – thata’ girl! – and an old friend of mine, Bob Sale who played with me in my top forty days here in San Diego. This guy is amazing, he was great back in the day and still is. I may have to get him on some new rock tracks that I’ll be doing. Anyhow, no egos or schedules to contend with, just my schedule, so it made the recording somewhat productive.
You have a few hobbies involving 4-wheelers, fast cars, lots of speed and even a bit of skiing. Are you a daredevil trapped in musician’s body? Do you have a little Evel Knievel morphing into your psyche?
Yes I am and yes I do. I’ve always loved things with an engine. Fast engines and then make them faster And I’ve always torn them apart except for when I was younger I couldn’t put ’em back together.
Right now I’m putting back together my Yamaha 660 Raptor Quadrunner. It was fast stock, then I modified it. It was way faster – 49 horsepower over the stock 34 – I broke my hand on a jump and endo-ed (end over end) it at night almost killing myself. So what am I doing now? I’ve blow it out to a 727 with about 70 ponies. Oh yeah. I’ve busted both my hands (one during a break on tour) skiing and snowboarding. I’m doing all this shit now because
(maybe) one day I won’t be able to. I will be taking it easier now (maybe) because it’s taking longer to heal.
What are current plans/projects?
I don’t know. I mean really, I don’t want to tour as of yet – I’m enjoying my time away from the road but I may have to get back out there before ‘father time’ absorbs my ass. I love doing all the off-road stuff that I never got to do while traveling – along with all other sports activities with my friends here but…………it may be necessary. I’d love to do it for the fans so that’s the good thing about it – besides making a living.
I may record one more heavy rock album, real heavy, real me.
If you could put together a definitive Tod Howarth time capsule (spanning your whole career) what 5 songs would definitely have to be in the time capsule
‘It’s Over Now’ Frehley’s Comet/ Second Sighting
‘The Way To Pahrump’ solo CD Cobalt Parlor
‘Misgivings’ solo CD West Of Eight
‘Don’t Go’ solo CD Silhouette
‘Your Face’ solo CD Winter
What was your “Spinal Tap” moment ?
Flying into a city, going back out on tour, but then realizing that I have no itineraries, no phone numbers, and no idea what hotel I was to be staying at.I kid you not, it was a long night.
You have only 5 albums you can listen to for the rest of your life. What are they? (no greatest hits,live albums, or box sets)
‘Blow by Blow’ Jeff Beck
‘Dirt’ Alice In Chains
‘So What’ Joe Walsh
‘Shangri-la-dee-da Stone Temple Pilots
‘Blue Murder’ Blue Murder (John Sykes)
Dream Band. You get to put together the “Tod Howarth Dream Band”. Who is in it?
Dean Castronovo Drums/Bad English
Reb Beach Guitar Winger
Michael Starr Bass/Alice in Chains
Me
Tod, Thanks for taking the time to answer a few
questions for us
You are another warrior keeping the spirit alive.Please keep us updated on your current and future
endeavors. Keep Defending The Faith !!
UPDATE 2019
Tod has joined forces with former Frehley’s Comet alumni Jon Regan, Richie Scarlet and drummer Steve Werner in the band Return of The Comet Tod Howarth Facebook
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