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Frankie LaRocka
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frankie LaRocka (b. c 1954 - d. 11 May 2005) was a notable musician and producer. He was a member of Scandal and at various stages played the drums with Bon Jovi, David Johansen, Bryan Adams and John Waite. In the 1990's, he became an A&R man and producer with his most notable work being with the Spin Doctors on their breakthrough album A Pocketful of Kryptonite.
LaRocka started his career playing drums with David Johansen on Johansen's self-titled album from 1978. He joined Scandal in 1982 and played on their self-titled album of the same year as well as earning credit on John Waite's self-titled album.
Bon Jovi opened for Scandal in a 1984 tour which led to that band being signed to Polygram Records. La Rocka played drums on their 1984 Bon Jovi album. After parting company with Scandal, he returned to session work playing on sessions by John Waite as well as working with Byan Adams.
LaRocka started working for Sony Music in their A&R department. One of his first signings was the Spin Doctors and he produced their 1991 debut Pocketful of Kryptonite. The album sold slowly at first but it eventually became a hit after their song "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong" started picking up airplay on MTV and radio. The follow-up single "Two Princes" was a top ten hit and the album reached a peak of #3 on the Billboard charts in 1993. LaRocka produced subsequent albums for the Spin Doctors but they failed to achieve the same success.
He produced the soundtrack for the 1993 movie Philadelphia. It reached #12 on the Billboard 200 album charts and featured a top ten single hit in the Bruce Springsteen song "Streets of Philadelphia". Springsteen also won an Academy Award for Best Song as well as a Golden Globe. Neil Young was also nominated for an Academy Award for his track "Philadelphia" and the album also featured tracks by Peter Gabriel and the Spin Doctors.
By the end of his career at Sony, LaRocka was Vice President of the A&R Department. He was back playing drums for a New York band Hot Monkey Love and with Noel Redding on a 2002 live album recorded at Prague. He also had an independent Straight Line Productions company and had signed the band happyendings to J Records where they are recording their debut record.
LaRocka died after undertaking heart surgery in New York in May 2005.