ABOUT RADIO/TV TALK SHOW HOST RAY SHASHO

Rock and Roll, the Blues, Jazz, and Country Music are America’s contribution to the arts, so why are we not fighting to preserve our own musical legacy and culture?  

Music Journalist Ray Shasho has been on a rock and roll pilgrimage to help promote and save the greatest music the world has ever known. Before the internet and Napster, virtuoso musicians traditionally introduced their music by way of mainstream radio stations while anxious music enthusiasts hurried to their favorite record stores and purchased a copy of the artist’s latest release. Talk radio wasn’t popular because there was way too much great music to play over the airwaves. Advertisers didn’t rule the airwaves, the music did. Rock legends toured the world to promote their latest albums and prices of concert tickets were extremely affordable. Proficient musicians, singers, and songwriters are what made the music so great!

Music journalist Ray Shasho was dubbed ‘Rock Raymond’ by friends and family for his love of rock music. Since a kid growing up in Baltimore, Maryland he became obsessed with music. In high school, he attended hundreds of rock concerts and even took a job at the famed Capital Centre arena to meet his favorite rock stars before and after their shows. After graduating from a CBS owned broadcasting school in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, Ray became a Top 40 radio deejay in the late 70’s and early 80’s and his life became the music. Unfortunately radio stations trusted computers (Arbitron ratings) over human instincts. It was the early radio jocks who discovered great music and put it out over the airwaves. Radio became mundane when they began mimicking each other based on the Arbitrons.

After his stint in radio, Shasho became an entrepreneur in electronics. Ray and his family owned and operated cutting-edge retail electronic businesses in Washington, D.C.  Shasho witnessed all the technological advancements firsthand and how it affected the music industry. From early transistor radios, record players, reel to reel tape recorders, cassette and eight track tape players, walkmans, CD players to MP3’s. Some of Ray’s clients included … Chuck Norris, James Mason, Ted Williams, Alex Haley, Art Buchwald, Dick Gregory, Dionne Warwick, John Candy, Jon Voight and General Colin Powell.

Ray Shasho published his first novel entitled Check the Gs, Ray’s comical and awe-inspiring novel about growing up in the family business. Shasho subsequently released a second novel entitled, Wacky Shenanigans on F Street-Proud to be Politically-Incorrect in Washington D.C.

In 2010, Ray Shasho became a classic rock music journalist in St. Petersburg, Florida.  It started out as a fun gig to help promote his book but something very extraordinary transformed. Shasho began covering concerts and music events around the Tampa Bay area and decided to take a crack at interviewing some of the rock music legends that he idolized all of his life. 

Ray’s very first “rock star” interview was Joe Lala who lived in Tampa, Florida. He contacted Joe by way of the internet and scheduled an interview at Joe’s home. Ray was surprised how cordial and amendable Joe was to tell the story about his rock and roll past. Ray and Joe spent hours together reliving his days of playing percussion with Blues Image, Stephen Stills and Manassas, The Bee Gees and Firefall. Joe disclosed stories about jamming with Jimi Hendrix and throwing Mick Jagger out of his hotel room in New York City. After the interview, Joe asked Ray to be his personal assistant and later to help write his own personal memoir.  Shasho was so overwhelmed with the ease of the interview that he immediately began his search for the next one.

Ray quickly became one of the top music journalists in the country. His column is read by thousands of music enthusiasts daily and Shasho’s in-depth interviews, album and concert reviews are featured on artist websites around the globe.

Shasho began asking each legendary musician, singer and songwriter this question … If you had a “Field of Dreams” wish, like the movie, to play or collaborate with anyone from the past or present, who would that be? The question became eminent to the interviewer and interviewee and the responses will surely surprise the most discerning music enthusiast.

So sit back, relax and reminisce to those carefree days of your youth, when your rock and roll heroes changed the way you looked and felt about life. 

MY NEW BOOK 

IS FINALLY OUT!

ENTITLED

THE ROCK STAR CHRONICLES

SERIES ONE

CHRONICLES, TRUTHS, CONFESSIONS AND WISDOM FROM THE MUSIC LEGENDS THAT SET US FREE

 …Order yours today on (Collector edition) Hardcover

 or E-book

 at bookbaby.com and amazon.com

Featuring over 45 intimate conversations with some of

the greatest rock legends the world will ever know. 

CHRIS SQUIRE... DR. JOHN... GREG LAKE... HENRY MCCULLOUGH... JACK BRUCE … JOE LALA…  JOHNNY WINTER... KEITH EMERSON... PAUL KANTNER...  RAY THOMAS... RONNIE MONTROSE... TONY JOE WHITE... DAVID CLAYTON-THOMAS… MIKE LOVE... TOMMY ROE... BARRY HAY... CHRIS THOMPSON... JESSE COLIN YOUNG... JOHN KAY... JULIAN LENNON... MARK LINDSAY... MICKY DOLENZ… PETER RIVERA ...TOMMY JAMES… TODD RUNDGREN... DAVE MASON... EDGAR WINTER... FRANK MARINO... GREGG ROLIE... IAN ANDERSON... JIM “DANDY” MANGRUM... JON ANDERSON... LOU GRAMM... MICK BOX... RANDY BACHMAN… ROBIN TROWER...  ROGER FISHER... STEVE HACKETT... ANNIE HASLAM… ‘MELANIE’ SAFKA... PETULA CLARK... SUZI QUATRO... COLIN BLUNSTONE… DAVE DAVIES... JIM McCARTY... PETE BEST

 

THE ROCK STAR CHRONICLES

BOOK TRAILER

BOOK REVIEW

-By Literary Titan (5) STARS

The Rock Star Chronicles, by Ray Shasho, is a splendid book written by a music enthusiast who has poured their heart and soul into it. It’s a story of a boy who loved rock music, and his obsessive passion of it earned himself the name Rock Raymond. He went to school but instead was schooled in all matters of music while his peers were buried chin-deep in coursework. He then became a radio DJ and has now compiled a book on all interviews he held with Rock gods who raided the airwaves back in the 70s and 80s. It’s a compilation of interviews with outstanding vocalists, legendary guitarists and crazy drummers in the rock music scene. Each interview gives a reader an in-depth view into their personal lives and the philosophies that guide their lives which all serve to humanize these great icons. For readers who are old enough to call themselves baby boomers this book will bring old memories back to life. Millennials, on the other hand, may think of this book as a literal work of the Carpool Karaoke show. 

The Rock Star Chronicles is a book I didn’t know I was waiting for. To come across a book that will talk me into trying something new. One brave enough to incite me to venture into new frontiers. This book made me a believer- I am now a bona fide Rock and Roll music fan. 

Ray Shasho masterfully gets the interviewees talking. He smartly coaxes answers from them with crafty questions designed to get a story rolling out of them. The artists talk about diverse issues ranging from music, politics, and their social engagements. Having been on the music seen all his life, Ray Shasho knows the buttons to press, how to get them comfortable about talking about their lives. 

The book’s cover is befitting of its subject matter with the leather look offering a royal background to the golden letter print. It speaks to how high a level rock music holds in the pecking order- arguably, modern music as we know it has originated from blues and rock music.  The second noteworthy thing is the use of high-definition pictures to reference the musician being interviewed in every sub-chapter. This ensures that the book is for both original rock and roll lovers and aspiring new ones. Together is makes for a refreshing and consistently enjoyable read.

I recommend this book to rock music enthusiasts, aspiring musicians wondering what it takes and all readers curious to learn new things by going back in time.

 https://literarytitan.com/2020/05/03/literary-titan-book-awards-may-2020/   Gold Award Winner