The
ExZel Music Co. - Encapsulated History
Exzel Music was founded
in 1989 by three aerospace engineers.
Rocket scientist/Musician Roy Lund from Britain, Morgan 'momo
modine' Greig from Oregon and Rick Costello from New Jersey
had just been signed by Gemini Records in Scottsdale and needed
a publishing company. Alas! Exzel Music was formed.
The
'boys' first album, 'Lost European'
was never released. While Gemini was in the final death throes
and going belly up, Roy, Rick & Momo took advantage of the
vacant studio and created a compilation album entitled 'shop
'til you drop' the Job Shopper album (1990). This album was
the inspiration of the weary road shopper- traveling from state
to state, wife to wife, always partying, always working, always
broke…basically something the boys could relate to.
(Note: This CD and cassette are hard to find unless you know
our address and send us a check. It is soon to be a collector's
item! Of course we'll keep printing the shirts as long as someone
buys 'em.)
The
Job Shopper album was soon followed
by Exzel's second release 'Lost European' (1992) Roy, Rick &
Mo's self-titled album originally recorded for Gemini Records.
This alternative/progressive band was the remnants of the 80's
bar band, the Dive Zealots. While with the Dive Zealots, Rick,
Roy & Mo wrote 'Blood Hot City' and 'Just a Miracle apart'.
They formed Lost European around a new song Rick had written,
'We've come a long, long way' and this is the song that led
them to Gary Strausbaugh- producer extraordinaire. Gary has
platinum records to his credit and has produced some big names
including the legendary Richie Havens and Mary Wilson of the
Supremes. Gary introduced the band to executive producer Daniel
Rivera, who instantly offered the boys a record contract in
return for three personal checks. (Note: Although 'Blood Hot
City' never made the first album cut, the album was built around
the other two songs.)
Lost European decided to tour
the Southwest and hire a manager- no other than Three Dog Night's
keyboardist- Jimmy Greenspoon, who ran Desert Management out
of Tucson, AZ. The boys had leased a rehearsal house in Mesa
and put out ads for a drummer and bass player. They soon took
on Randy Walker and Jimmy Mack, two seasoned pros who had the
right equipment and chops- and who were crazy enough to work
on a percentage.
Roy had come back from China
somewhere around this general time period and while there had
hooked up with a girl who's father had a lot of influence in
the Communist party and the entertainment industry as well.
After singing live on Chinese TV (to Lost European no vox tapes)
they were offered an 'official' invitation to tour China at
the Chinese' expense. This 'too good to be true' story was in
fact, too good to be true. With the heart-breaking departure
of Morgan, the band and the record company were on its last
leg. After bank rolling their mortgages and carrying the band
close to a record contract and tour, Exzel went on hiatus.
Rick
took a job in Fort Worth, Texas then Tulsa, Oklahoma, the only
state, by the way, where his license was revoked. He spent 4
months driving very slowly and living in a motel room, working
out songs on the acoustic guitar. Most of these and a few leftover
ideas that didn't quite fit the rock theme became 'the
Lemming Shepherds' the brainchild
of 'the Rickster'. From the name alone, it became an album,
then a children's story, then a children's storybook on CD-ROM.
Rick & Roy once again bankrolled this project and managed
to land a wonderful deal with 800-GIFTLINE, who are partners
with American Express. (These bastards managed to string us
along and stiff us so "screw them"!)
Rick and Roy were putting the
finishing touches on a new Lost European album. Many of the
songs were written while on tour in LA. Some of the songs were
written for the feature length movie, 'Jimi' a movie about Jimi
Hendrix, filmed in Phoenix, by Daniel Rivera. Rick and Roy's
friend, producer Gary Strausbaugh, happened to be the music
producer on the project. The boys once again took advantage
of a brand new state-of-the-art studio, Joy Productions, where
the movie's soundtrack was being recorded.
Although
this album is an absolute masterpiece, and has at least four
#1 songs on it, (our manager, Jimmy Greenspoon swears that 'Angel'
is a number one hit, and he should know- he's had seven of them)
the boys didn't push it very hard. At the time, being told to
hold out, they waited to be signed by the multitude of big name
movie studios who were in talks with the producer about buying
the film…. which never happened. Finally in 1998, Exzel
decided to released Lost European's second CD, 'Images'.
Unfortunately, They didn't have any finances to promote it properly
and didn't have a touring band. Roy was living in LA and Rick
was living in Phoenix. (Note: By the way- this CD is still available
but we're down to two unless Roy has any left. Hmmm -a collectable!
Maybe you'll see them on E-bay one day….)
This
leads us up to the new millennium, the year 2000. Roy has been
missing in action for the past 3 years, last seen jumping out
of airplanes with his sexy young wife. Meanwhile…Exzel
Music is releasing a brand new album from a brand new band.
Angelwing's 'the nymphaeum'
was recorded at Joy productions and also Rising Sun studios
in Phoenix. Rising Sun is owned by Mr. Victor Bradley, a bass-playing
guru. Victor contributed to the recording of the album, while
Rick and Gary wrote and produced the tracks. Reenie Varga, who
met Rick while in LA and had sung with the Lemming Shepherds,
contributed two songs which are bookends on this CD. Along with
Erin Shawn Hawkins, a young cello playing siren, Rick and these
two beautiful songstresses form the nucleus of Angelwing.
The nymphaeum part I thru V were
originally parts for 'Symphony of the Census', the Lemming Shepherd
album, but had run out of room. Gary wrote a fantastic song
that complimented this new project and could well be the hit
of the album.Exzel Music is busy marketing Angelwing and has
already landed a distribution deal with New Leaf as well as
selling the CD on Amazon.com, AmazingCDs, Fusiongrooves, MP3.com,
Cdbaby and many other internet sites.
We will 'endeavor to persevere'
or declare war on some small nation when we run out of patience.
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