Going through some of my old articles recently, I came across this one that appeared in the Long Island bi-weekly “Good Times” way back in 1975: a review of the Johnny Thunders-fronted Heartbreakers, who had formed that year, at CBGB. They wouldn’t release an album until 1977.

I was invited to the show by former Demons member Walter Lure, whom I met at the home of fellow Bronx buddies Annette and Larry Everston.  Walter told me that he had just joined a band with Johnny Thunders, formerly of the New York Dolls, who I had seen in 1972 at Mercer Arts Center on their way up.

Looking back on the Heartbreakers show, this was my first exposure to music that started to be called “punk.” At 19 years old, I was spooked by the show’s dark vibes, which the article illustrates. As much as I had trouble wrapping my teenage head around the gig, which featured Richard Hell before he would depart the band, I was also excited by the music I heard. (Embarrassingly, I misspelled Johnny’s last name throughout the piece.)

Here are the “five best rock ‘n’ roll memoirs,” according to author John Wray in the 6/24/23 Wall Street Journal. Proud to say we were involved in the PR for three of them: “Crazy From The Heat” by David Lee Roth,” “I’m With the Band” by Pamela Des Barres and “I Am Ozzy” by Ozzy Osbourne.

In honor of what looks to be a vital 2023 summer tour season, here are four tour books from of legendary artists we’ve worked with: David Bowie, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Depeche Mode, and Ozzy Osbourne (our longtime client represented here via Ozzfest).

Back in the day, we received physical copies of these books before our artists went on tour (it’s done digitally now).

They were also a Bible of sorts to the artists themselves since the books listed important contact numbers and the hotels they were staying at, including which ones had saunas + indoor pools, etc.  The books are dated in the captions.

Bowie 2002 Europe and North America

Ozzfest 2006

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, 2001, America

Depeche Mode Europe 2006

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In honor of the recent passing of Andrew Fletcher, we wanted to share this set list from the period we handled PR for Depeche Mode (2000-2007). This was a reliably great Depeche show at Madison Square Garden on 12/7/05 when the band toured their ‘Playing The Angel’ album which they released in October that year. Fletch was always so gracious to Mitch Schneider, Marcee Rondan + everyone at Schneider Rondan Organization. May he rest in peace…

Here’s a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers set list from May 2001 (Gill Coliseum, Oregon) that Mary Klauzer of East End Management faxed to Mitch Schneider back then to share with the press. Mitch always dug when Tom played the slow + moody “It’s Good To Be King” like he did on this night. When Mitch first heard his ‘Wildflowers’ album, he told Tom that he thought “…King” could be a really big hit.  Mitch remembers Tom saying, very matter-of-factly,  “that won’t happen.” Tom explained that the song’s double minor chords right at the top (E minor, A minor) worked against it being a big hit. He was right, but the song, released as the album’s third single, still made a pretty good showing. It reached No. 6 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart + peaked at No. 68 on the Billboard Hot 100.  “It’s good to be king, if just for a while/To be there in velvet, yeah, to give ’em a smile.”

21 years ago this week, then-clients The Black Crowes + Oasis (not clients) roared into the Santa Barbara Bowl as part of their cheekily named “Tour of Brotherly Love.”  Here are both bands’ set lists from that very special night of American and British music in 2001.

Here’s a little snapshot of what was happening in the music/culture worlds in 1998 via this promo mailer featuring MSO PR clients on various covers. This was before we changed the name of our company to SRO PR.

Here’s the set list from the second night of Alanis Morissette’s three-night stand at NYC’s Roseland (February 6, 7 and 8 in 1996) when Taylor Hawkins was in her touring band. As Alanis’ publicist back then, Mitch Schneider was there for all three nights. Says Mitch: “Taylor’s drumming style helped elevate Alanis’ live show to an arena level that was beyond the theaters she was performing at back then.” May Taylor rest in piece…