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Rock 'n' roll music's 'Hoochie-Koo' man
Rick Derringer's career began with a No. 1 song and has been going strong ever since.
By JANE MADDEN WELCH, Times Correspondent
Published October 17, 2007
In the summer of 1965, a 17-year-old guitarist and singer from Celina, Ohio, launched a music career that is still going strong today. Rick Derringer was a member of the McCoys, a '60s rock 'n' roll band whose bubblegum anthem Hang On Sloopy hit No. 1 on the charts that year, knocking Eve of Destruction out of the top spot. Since then, Derringer has had a remarkable career, spanning more than four decades and covering a wide range of music genres. On Thursday he will be making his first appearance at the Largo Cultural Center with longtime bandmates Charlie Torres on bass and tour manager Tom Curiale on drums. Derringer has worked with dozens of artists, including Alice Cooper, Richie Havens, Todd Rundgren, Steely Dan and Cyndi Lauper. In 1974, he had another hit on the charts with Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo. Starting in the 1970s, he toured extensively with Edgar and Johnny Winter. The trio performed a reunion show last May in Germany. In 2002, he made a foray into smooth jazz and recorded a CD that includes the successful single Hot and Cool. Derringer, Torres and Curiale typically play 35 to 45 shows a year, down from the more frenetic pace of 200 shows a year in the 1990s. Derringer said during the winter months they tour less and use the time to write, record and work with other bands in the studio. Following Thursday's Largo concert, Derringer will be in Atlanta for a music store opening on Friday, at an outdoor concert in Arizona on Saturday and in Texas for a guitar show on Sunday. "I just enjoy the fact that I still feel young," Derringer said, speaking in a phone interview from his home in Bradenton, where he has lived for 10 years. Derringer, who turned 60 in August, said performing gets easier all the time. "It's a little bit like an athlete," he said. "The more you keep doing it, the easier it gets." Derringer, his wife Brenda Jean, a teenage son and daughter and two dogs live on a canal that runs into the Manatee River. Brenda Jean, whose professional name is Jenda Hall, is a singer and songwriter. She co-wrote Hot and Cool and worked with her husband on their 2001 Christian CD, Aiming 4 Heaven. "I have a great, great family, and a full life that includes way more than just music," Derringer said. "We're happy people." Derringer said he plans an eclectic mix for Thursday's show. "We'll do the big ones people want to hear...a couple things from the smooth jazz album and some newer stuff people may not be expecting," Derringer said. He also will share a few of his experiences with the audience from his 42 years of performing. "It's more than just going to hear a band play rock 'n' roll," Derringer said. "I guarantee they will really enjoy themselves." If you go Rick Derringer in concert Where: Largo Cultural Center 105 Central Park Drive, Largo When: Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Cost: $28 VIP, $25 advance, $28 day of show Contact: (727) 587-6751 About Derringer Greatest Hits: Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo, Hang on Sloopy andHot and Cool Other artists he has worked with: They include Alice Cooper, Richie Havens and Cyndi Lauper
[Last modified October 16, 2007, 22:06:11]
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