Paul:After I left Rough Cutt, I went into cut some tracks with Quiet Riot. Initially, they
were trying to keep me secret from Spencer Proffer. We were recording at Pasha, but the entire time we were recording there, it was
without Spencer being around. He would come in and they would hide me. They only had one more album to do on Pasha and they
wanted out of their record deal because Spencer owned all of the publishing. So, when Spencer made space, we go into record
"Stay with me Tonight", "Your Time is Going to Come", which is a Russ Ballard tune and another song.....and then we went into
litigation for a year. It cost me $30,000 of my own money, to join Quiet Riot.....to get their publishing back. It cost Frankie
and Carlos, between them, $24,000.
FIB MUSIC: Why does it cost you more?
Paul:It was my attorney making the deal, which it should have been like a
$54,000 debt as a band, not my debt for getting something back that they never had. They didn't have any publishing. Spencer's sitting
at a table next to me going, "listen, they're fucked. They have a deal and they have to honor it. Whatever deal you want, I'll
make it with you" and I said, "no, this is a band. I think I'll hang with these guys"....We're the entity and you are the outside
entity...., but if I would have done it, it would have saved me $30,000.
FIB MUSIC: Spencer was going to just give you your publishing?
Paul:Yeah. He was sitting there in a meeting telling me, "I own the name
Quiet Riot; they don't even own the name, your the new Quiet Riot, you don't even need them when it really comes down to it" and I'm
thinking, I'm not going to buy this, we're a band. Well, this goes on for a year and then we get all that crap sorted out now the
managers, Quiet Riot's manager and my manager, Wendy Dio have to get some paperwork together and agree on and sign it. So now,
Quiet Riot gets their publishing back because of me.
FIB MUSIC: Just for the new record, right?
Paul:Well, any record from that point on.
Quiet Riot (L-R) Frankie Banali, Sean McNabb, Paul Shortino, Carlos Cavazo
FIB MUSIC: Sure, but not for the previous records, right?
Paul:No. No records before that...they weren't getting any money......and our managers
go from 20% to 15% and we have two managers.....and I'm going, this is great. So now, they are ready to sign their paperwork....and
I was going to the gym in the morning and going to private lessons, from a guy who did the choreography for "Cats" because I
wanted to do some really cool moves that were different.....and that weren't sissy looking.....so he showed me some stuff. This was
my everyday routine, by three o'clock in the afternoon, I had worked out, went to a dance class and then went to private
choreography lessons. Then I go to rehearsal at 3 o'clock and no one is there; they're having a meeting, without me. It was
all over my manager Wendy. So nobody talks to me for two weeks.
What happened at the meeting was Wendy says, "look, I manage Paul, I manage Jimmy Waldo", the keyboard player, who had been in Alcatraz, I got him into Quiet Riot. Sean McNabb, they didn't want him
to sign with Wendy because there would be three guys, in Quiet Riot, signed with Wendy and their manager would have the two original
guys....it was all political. In the year that I hung out with Frankie and Carlos, I have worked on both of their cars, moved both
of them into different homes, as a friend. Well, now all of a sudden, no one in the band would talk to me, including Sean McNabb who they
went to and made him sign a piece of paper, that I didn't even know about at the time, that said if he were to sign with any other
management, he was out of the band. He was a side man and he wasn't in the band, either sign this piece of paper or he was out.
During this time, the year, we had already gone to Japan, Sean had been in the band two weeks and we went to Japan and did a
concert there. Dio was on the bill and the headliner was James Brown. Anyway, we did a couple of festivals, made some money and
came back home, still in litigation. Like I had said, I went to rehearsal one day and they were having the band meeting without me. So now
the money and publishing is finally all cleared up and now its down to the managers signing an agreement because my managers is saying
what am I supposed to do with my client if I can't participate in the management of Quiet Riot. Their manager didn't want
anything to do with her. So she says, "what am I supposed to do, get him his own solo deal", so their manager goes back to
the band and tells them, "Paul is only in this to get his own solo deal". So now, all of a sudden, no one is talking for two
weeks. I've got Spencer calling me, I've got the head of........ Tommy Mottola from CBS is calling me and he's asking me just
settle everything and let's get this record out. The reason Tommy contacts me is Quiet Riot's manager had gone to the record
company and say "we're having problems with the singer", well, that's why they got rid of Kevin because they had a problem with
the singer. So now, all of a sudden, they think they have a problem with the singer and it really didn't have anything to
do with me....I had nothing to do with it. We finally have a meeting and sort everything and now we've got to do a
video together, the "Stay with Me Tonight" video, after all this drama....and it's like I've seen everyone's true colors. So to
make a long story endless....we went back into the studio, made a great record and when it was all said and done....after the blow up.....what
they don't understand is that they wanted to change the name of the band to Delinquent Dogs, right when the
record was released because Quiet Riot had such a bad name. We didn't do that, which would have been a better thing to do because
it didn't sound anything like Quiet Riot. That's pretty much the story of the Quiet Riot thing, it was all political, they
got their money's worth.
After that, we release the record....everybody makes up. We did a video.....we shoot the video and everybody is happy with it. Now
we book the tour and we do South America and Japan and come home and they are putting together a huge tour for us, a bunch of
500 to 1500 seaters. Frankie's mom is really sick, at that time, he didn't want to tour because it would cost money. So he
goes out with Blackie Lawless and W.A.S.P., while we sit home all year and watch our record just die.
Then they call me to do another record.....and I kind of wish I would have done it for the money, but I quit. We formed
Badd Boyz and Spencer picked us up as an act, but everyone in the band didn't want Spencer to have anything to do with it. So we
spent another year and a half in litigation.
FIB MUSIC: How did you sort out the manager ordeal?
Paul:She just wasn't a part of anything. They signed the papers and Wendy just
couldn't be a part of it.
FIB MUSIC: Was she still your manager?
Paul:Yeah, she still managed me, but she didn't have anything to do with the
band. Before that, the band was letting Wendy run with it, she was buying everybody new clothes and giving us a place
to rehearse. Where Warren, their manager, wasn't putting a penny out. Before they even got to the paperwork, Wendy had
already spent about ten grand on Quiet Riot because she thought she was a part of the management. But the bottom line was
she was my manager, as far as they were concerned and she had nothing to do with Quiet Riot. At first, we had two
people working for us and what I didn't understand from Frankie and Carlos' view was since I had joined the band, you've
got your publishing back, something you never had and we have two managers for 15%, instead of one for 20%. What's wrong with
this picture? It really just comes down to power.
FIB MUSIC: They were probably so sensitive about everything because they got so screwed in the past.
Paul:
Oh yeah, they were screwed......when Kevin signed the deal.....they all go on about what a bad deal they got. They signed a
deal with Spencer Proffer and he gave him a contract, they had an attorney and they agreed on what they ended up with. Here
was a guy who had a studio and was taking a long shot and said, I'm going to make you guys rock stars.....I'm going to put up my
money, my time, my studio and sign you guys and if something happens with it, then I am going to own this, I'm going to own that. When
they signed the deal, they didn't care. They wanted to get out there. When you watch the Behind the Music, you see Kevin bagging
on Spencer and the bottom line was Spencer didn't do anything that a lot of other record companies weren't doing. You give us
everything; we give you just a little bit, that's just the way it works. The smartest guy in the business was Ray Charles. He said,
hey man, I'll record anything you want, but I get to keep my masters....I want to own my masters. He was the first artist to
do that. If Quiet Riot owned their masters, the CBS / Sony couldn't continue to releasing records with their shit on it and put
my stuff on it....you lose the power and Ray had something to say about it.
FIB MUSIC: Do you guys get along, in the studio, while you are recording the Quiet Riot record?
Paul:Oh yeah, we got along great, until we were done with it and then like I said, we
had that big meeting and after we were done with the record, we had the meeting and.....
FIB MUSIC: So all the manager shit went down after the recording of the record?
Paul:Yeah after. We were in litigation for a year just on the band signing
the deal with Pasha. Once we got through that....
FIB MUSIC: Then you start recording the record?
Paul:Yeah. We had already cut three songs and "Stay with Me" was the first one. It was
the only one we picked out of the first three we tracked. Then we recorded the rest of the record after that. Me and Jimmy Waldo
actually wrote most everything, but because of our deal, I had to give credit to everybody. I realized, after the fact, that I
didn't have to give them writing credit, where I could've kept the writing credit and just give them a piece of the publishing. They
definitely wanted the publishing....they had gotten so screwed, well, they thought they had gotten so screwed; I didn't think
they got screwed. I think they agreed on what they got. They could've always renegotiated that contract after they made it
huge. They chose not to and make another record and move one and they were unhappy with the deal. They made millions of dollars....let's
say they made 2 to 3 million dollars a piece, while Spencer made 6 or 7 million. So as far a they were concerned they got
ripped off. They were still doing well and were making good money, but he was making more. It takes everybody to make
money. You shouldn't worry about this guy is making more....that's what everybody seems to get locked up in. It just
seems like it's human nature almost. You just need to know, ok, I'm content with what I'm getting. If they would have taken
all the money they made from their records and had invested it properly, they would all still be quite wealthy. But they didn't
and they're all scrambling to make a living. It's just the way it goes. You get a shot at the title, or success and its how
you portray yourself and take the money around and make it work for you. I mean, Carlos bought a Lamborghini Countach and had
a beautiful home. He still has that Countach, but he doesn't have a home. When I was with him, he should have sold the car
and kept the home that he had, but he didn't.
FIB MUSIC: Yeah, I think I remember hearing that he did not have electricity in his home, at some point.
Paul:Oh yeah. He had a beautiful home that was on Laurel Canyon that is
probably a 7 or 8 million dollar home now. Instead of selling the car and holding onto that home, he sold the home and moved
to another home, which he lost.....he still has the car and that car isn't worth anything compared to what it was worth back
then. He could have gotten 90 grand for it back in 1987 or '88. It's twenty years old now.
FIB MUSIC: How does he make his living now?
Paul:He's been out touring......he's in a band called the
Hollywood All-Stars with Jimmy Bain and Vinny Appice...he does that and he is also
working with Juan Croucier from Ratt.
FIB MUSIC: I couldn't believe that Kevin was still doing cocaine.
Paul:Well I knew when I went out and filled in for him a couple of
years ago and he was locked up in his house and I just went, man, some people just don't learn.
FIB MUSIC: I remember when I interviewed him, he was speaking a million words a minute, but he talked down
about people who still use it and even said he never really had that much of a problem compared to some of the people.
Paul:No, he was king of the blow. (laughs) He had convinced himself that he
didn't have a problem with it, but he did. I was talking to Frankie, he came out and did a show with the Sin City Sinners, with
Bret Muscrat, or whatever. He came out and we talked about Kevin and he said he just didn't see it. He was just blind to it. When
Kevin wasn't showing up for gigs, there's a reason behind that. When you're in Chicago, waiting for your singer, who didn't get on
the plane.
FIB MUSIC: That was the reason you did the gigs?
Paul:Yeah. Actually, they were gettin paid by promoters and they needed someone to
come in and do some gigs for cheap, so they could take some money back to pay off the promoters. I made the big mistake when they
called and asked if I will do the gigs. I just thought they would do the right thing.......he paid me like 200 bucks per show. Then
I figured out that they had to pay off promoters for weekend gigs, two in a row, where Kevin stood them up. They were being sued, so
they had to take back a certain amount of bread....it took me awhile for me to get my money, but I finally got it. It just taught me
a lesson. You have to tell people how much you're worth, what you want....you've got to tell people that. Even with friends, you've
got to tell them. I should have known with those guys, after everything I had already been through with them. You definitely need
to lay it all out.
FIB MUSIC: How was it working with Spencer Proffer? It sounds like you had a good experience with him.
Paul:I think he's a great producer. He brought out some of the best things in me. He's just
a good business man. He's jewish and they know how to make money and they know how to work money. I don't have anything bad
to say about Spencer, other than the year we spent in litigation.
FIB MUSIC: What did you think of Kevin?
Paul:I knew Kevin back then. I didn't really have anything bad to say about him. When I joined
Quiet Riot, it was really weird. I hear all these horror stories about Kevin and I had never experienced that with him. He was
always nice to me and I was always nice to him. Then I hear all these stories about him bagging on people.....people from the radio
industry, interview people are just bagging on Kevin and they wanted us to bag on him as well. But I didn't jump on that
bandwagon because I didn't have that experience with him.
FIB MUSIC: Why didn't the record you did with them do better?
Paul:I think what killed that record was the fact that we didn't tour and their
manager going to CBS and telling them that Quiet Riot is having problems with their singer because they were
so ecstatic about that record. They wanted to put everything into that record. That's why they thought about changing the
name. They thought maybe we'll screw ourselves if we use the name. Of course, we didn't.
FIB MUSIC: Any idea how many copies sold?
Paul:I have no idea, probably a couple hundred thousand or so.
FIB MUSIC: Wow, I would've thought it sold more. I remember "Stay with Me Tonight" getting a ton
of airplay.
Paul:They were playing it on the radio, but then it stopped because of
the politics involved.
FIB MUSIC: Any idea what the budget was for that record?
Paul:No because we couldn't ever find out anything with Spencer. He
was charging $150 an hour for his studio. We could've picked another producer, but we had to use his
studio and he'd have to ok it. Just stupid stuff with contracts. It's like they own the hemorrhoid and the ass
that goes along with it. They cover ever aspect when they get the lawyers involved. It's a shame it has to be
the music business. If they kept the business out of it, it would really be something special. It would be
creative and beautiful....as soon as the business part gets in there, it really gets ugly.
FIB MUSIC: That's all it seems to be now.
Paul:Oh, no doubt. MTV killed a lot of that. In the past, there was mystique, you didn't
know what they looked like. You had to go see the band in concert. Maybe at first MTV was cool, but you don't have to go
seen the band.
FIB MUSIC: So you are offered to do another Quiet Riot record and you just quit?
Paul:I said no because we had been working on a Badd Boyz record with Sean McNabb,
Mitch Perry and Rich Carlton and that time we were working with James Kottack, the drummer for Kingdom Come and now the drummer
for the Scorpions. We were recording some stuff with him and then we actually went on tour with them and Quiet Riot came
to me wanting to do another record and I said no. Like I said, I should've done it for the money.....and to see where we
would've went with it. I was just pissed off that Frankie was out touring with W.A.S.P. and we were sitting at home. Actually, right
when we were recording the Quiet Riot album, Carmine Appice asked me if I'd be interested in joining Blue Murder and I said no. They
were trying out singers....they tried out Derek St. Holmes and Jeff Scott Soto....and then Sykes ended up doing it himself, which was
smart because he was a good singer.
FIB MUSIC: Yeah, but that would have been a cool album for you to be on.
Paul:Oh yeah, that was a great album. "There's a Riot Goin On" and what was that...."Jelly Roll"
FIB MUSIC: I could never understand why David Coverdale fired John Sykes. He was the complete package.
Paul:Oh man, if Coverdale would've sang on that album, it would have been the
next best Whitesnake album. The would have been one hell of a Whitesnake album.
FIB MUSIC: With Badd Boyz, did you sign a Japanese deal?
Paul:Yeah, we did the deal in Japan and went on the road here.....that did its
thing and slowly that fizzled out. It would have been cool if we stayed with Spencer, we went to track four songs, before it
was even signed. Then Mike Guy took the cd....and he didn't even play anything on it.....maybe a few little things, but
Mitch Perry ended up taking over the guitar parts on the whole record and then Mike Guy took the cassette tape that we
had all made copies of and he went to the band House of Lords and said he did all the guitar parts and got a gig with
them. He wrote the songs, but he claimed he played all the parts, when in reality, Mitch played all the parts. So he
got into House of Lords because he didn't want to play with Mitch and Badd Boyz went from a four piece to a three piece and then
we started playing around. At that point, Mitch got a gig playing with Cher and put a halt on the band and it ended up falling
apart.
FIB MUSIC: What year is this?
Paul:It was '90 or '91.
FIB MUSIC: But the record doesn't come out until 1994?
Paul:Yeah. We all went our own way and actually during that time I had
done a record with Jeff Nortrup called Shortino and Northrup, "Back on Track".
FIB MUSIC: That's not in print anymore is it?
Paul:No, not right now. It was, some people signed it here....it's been
bootlegged before.
FIB MUSIC: What do you do through the 90's?
Paul:Well, I did the "Back on Track" record with Jeff and then I
went to Europe and recorded a couple of albums over there and toured over there.
FIB MUSIC: Were you living in Europe?
Paul:Yeah, I lived over there for a year with my wife Carmen. It took us about
four years to do those records because of the people that were producing them and money running out, back and forth. In that
period I also play with John Entwistle and Jeff Baxter from the Doobie Brothers....they had a band together and I was in Europe
doing another Shortino record and they were calling me because I had done an audtion for them before I left Europe. Then I
came home and about a couple of months after that, I hung with them for about a month and tried to work things out. They ended up
breaking up their band......I had replaced Mickey Thomas. In the 90's I stayed over in Europe for most of it. Later in the
90's, I started recording a blues record with some guys and Amir and Matt produced. After that, I did the Jimmy Crespo record
with Howard Leese and a bunch of other guitar players, which that was actually in the 2000's.
Hear n Aid - Stars The Singer Sessions - 1985 Paul's interview & vocal part - located at 8:25
FIB MUSIC: What was the Hear n Aid experience like for you?
Paul:Oh that was great....that was a great thing to be involved in because all
these rock stars are all together and hanging out.....with no ego.
FIB MUSIC: Did you sing the entire song and then they just picked your part?
Paul:Yeah. Everybody got to sing certain sections....not the whole song, but
just certain section. Like someone would do a whole verse....like the whole second verse. It really was a lot of fun to do.
FIB MUSIC: Any funny stories?
Paul: There was this time where me, Geoff Tate, Neil Schon and Jimmy Bain are talking at the Holiday Inn in the penthouse suite, where we
were doing all these interviews and next door was Rob Halford's room and he was in there just slamming his boyfriend and we
could hear the guy screaming.
FIB MUSIC: So you had no doubts that he was gay back then? (laughs)
Paul:Yeah, it was very evident. I was just hoping he wasn't fisting the guy
in there.
FIB MUSIC: Everyone always knew, or at least it was a widespread rumor. But hearing Rob talk, you wouldn't guess
that he was gay......it wasn't like George Michael, where he finally came out in the late 90's and announced he was gay. I remember
thinking, well no shit, didn't you see yourself in that freaking video you were in (Wake Me Up Before You Go), there really was no doubt in
anyone's mind from that point on.
Paul:No doubt. Rob disguised it pretty well didn't he?
FIB MUSIC: Yeah, he doesn't act gay.
Paul:No, he acts real macho. But then I started to see some of those same
people with the same outfits, with the leather hats on Santa Monica Blvd and I'm going, now wait a minute.
FIB MUSIC: How long did the Hear n Aid recording session last?
Paul:Oh, they were weeks in the making. One day to do the big choruses. Everyone
came into A&M Records to do that part. All the other parts were done at different studios all over L.A....whoever was
giving up time.
FIB MUSIC: Then everyone came in and did the video?
Paul:Well, they would just film while you were doing your part. It was really put
together well. Unfortunately, all that stuff that everybody did, didn't do a damn bit of good for the people in
Africa. Most of the food sat on the docks rotting because of their government. A lot of those people still starved. The way
it worked was you get the food there and it was up to their government to disperse it and they were selling it off.....you know,
another crooked thing. It was really sad. Now I think twice about giving money out....I would rather just give the money to
someone on the street.....at least they look like they need it.
FIB MUSIC: Paul Shortino is transported back to the year 1984. What would you do differently?
Paul:I would definitely stand my ground and I wouldn't have allowed those things
to happen...and the money that was wasted....I wouldn't have allowed. I would've been more conservative and we probably would've
cut the whole album at my parents studio. They would have made some descent money and we wouldn't have spent so much money. I don't
think I would've paid so much for producers because I don't think they really did anything. Tom Allom didn't really do anything
for the band. Jack Douglas did.
FIB MUSIC: ...and Spencer did, right?
Paul:Yeah. Spencer Proffer did a phenomenal job at producing. He brought
the best out. I think we would've chosen Neil Kernon to do the second album and instead of letting the young guys make
the decisions, I should have taken the reigns and made more of them. We might have had a different outcome, instead of
waiting for a year, on the first record, to find a producer. We were waiting for Ted Templeman for the longest time, he signed
the band and he was going to be the producer, but he was dealing with Eric Clapton and Lindsey Buckingham, at that time. He was going
to do the first Rough Cutt record and we waited for the longest time.
FIB MUSIC: What were some of the things that made Spencer Proffer such a great producer?
Paul:Just his intuitiveness to find what you do better. That's what a good
producer does. Somebody that doesn't tell you what to do, or how to do it, as much as, finding out what you do best.....like
a coach. Like Lombardi took the Green Bay Packers, switched the players around and made them Super Bowl champions. Spencer
found what you did best and brought it out of you......that and the first producer knew I was a good singer, but didn't know
what I did best. He just took the material we had, whether or not it was the best material. It all comes down to the song.
It's not about a great singer, or a great drum sound you have...it comes down to how great the song is. The problem with
Rough Cutt was we got signed on "Dreaming Again", which they should have made a single. If they signed us on that song, then
they should have made that a single and produced it as a single, instead of a four or five minute song. You put headphones on
and if you're not stoned, you feel like your stoned because it has all these little trips going on and the producer got into
that end of it.
FIB MUSIC: Did Spencer help craft the songs as well?
Paul:Well, he just helped me with how I presented the song. We already had the arrangements
down; we had spent the year in pre-production, while we were waiting on the contract to sort out. We recorded at Jimmy
Waldo's studio for a year and had all the songs worked out. When I got in there, Spencer really focused on the
vocals. There were times when he would sing / hum a melody and he'd say, "sing that for me" and I would have to sort out what
he was trying to tell me, but he would get it out of me. I really enjoyed working with him. There are a whole lot of people that
would tell you different.....
FIB MUSIC: It's nice to hear. I think your the first I've heard that had a good experience with him.
Paul:I really did. Everyone else didn't because of
political & financial reasons.
FIB MUSIC: Anything else you would have done differently?
Paul:I think I would have done everything differently. I wouldn't have rushed into
the heavy metal thing. At that point in time, it was a door opening.
Rough Cutt "Dreaming Again" 1985
Actually, when I was a kid, I wanted to be signed to
Warner Brothers.....I wanted to play the Forum....I got to do all those things, so I actually fulfilled most of my
dreams....I just didn't get the success like some of my other colleagues and friends.
-THE FAST 5-
FIB MUSIC: What is your most disgusting habit?
Paul: Pick my nose.
FIB MUSIC: What is the most feminine thing you do?
Paul: When it's my wife's time of the month, I get the
PMS stuff....the crying, the chick flicks....she knows two or three days before she starts. I'm so in
tune with her that I get the PMS stuff too.
FIB MUSIC: If there is a God, what is the first question you would ask God when you arrive?
Paul: Well, I believe there is a God. I would ask why he let
Adam & Eve destroy the Garden of Eden. I would have much rather run around naked all my life, instead of having to
buy all these clothes. We wouldn't have to worry about disease, hunger. If we would still be living in the
Garden of Eden, it would be splendid pleasure for the rest of our lives
FIB MUSIC: Greatest Rock band of all time?
Paul: It would have to be Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith.....well actually, the
greatest of all-time is the Beatles, but as far as the heavy rock it would be Led Zeppelin.
FIB MUSIC: What were you doing 40 minutes before you sat down to do this interview?
Paul: I was still in bed, about thirty minutes before you called, I was having
a cup of coffee and having a bowl of Cheerios.
Quiet Riot
