Herb Alpert and The Tijuana Brass were a mainstay on the charts from their first single, The Lonely Bull, in 1962 through to Making Love In The Rain, their final single in 1987. Herb Alpert had been playing trumpet since he was eight years old. He got into the music business and joined the A&R (Artist and Repertoire) department at Keen Records, produced the first Jan And Dean recording session, and even wrote Wonderful World for Sam Coooke. He first recorded under the name Dore Alpert and then formed A&M Records, with partner Jerry Moss in 1962.I had the pleasure of working for A&M Records from 1975 to 1986, also in the A&R Department, and I eventually became Vice-President. In 1978 I discovered Bryan Adams. Both Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss were gentlemen and I enjoyed working with them very much.
Incidentally, Herb is the only artist of the rock and roll era to have both a #1 Instrumental record and #1 Vocal record (Rise in 1979 and This Guy's In Love With You in 1968). For the first record in 1962, Herb used studio musicians for theTijuana Brass sessions, then in 1965 he formed his own band. During a very successful run between 1962 and 1987, there were forty songs that hit the charts, including nine in the Top Twenty and two Gold Records.
This week as we present the return of the Instrumental Gems - Wordless Wonders Special on Treasure Island Oldies, Voice Your Choice features a very fitting artist: Herb Alpert and The Tijuana Brass. Come to Treasure Island Oldies and cast your vote for either The Lonely Bull or Zorba The Greek. As usual, we'll play the song with the most votes in Hour 3 of this week's show.
