Old school. Start at the bottom. Go to the top. During my years in the advertising music business at Griffiths/Gibson Productions in Vancouver B.C., we had some high-octane gas in the tank. When we built our own recording studio, Little Mountain Sound, things got interesting.

 

Bob Rock, Metallica producer started out in the dubbing room, then he learned sound engineering. Ultimately he became a producer extraordinaire. Not bad for a young kid with a mullet.

 

Local Vancouver talent David Foster co-wrote and played piano on a bunch of spots. David went on to greatness and always stopped by the office when he was in town.

 

Bryan Adams hung around the studio all the time. We had him sing lead vocal on a Pontiac TV spot. It rocked. The drummer on that session was Jimmy Vallance who went on to co-create with Bryan for years to come.

 

Aerosmith, Metallica, Bon Jovi, Loverboy and dozens of other chart busters did their thing in one studio. All the advertising guys worked in another. The ad business was 9 to 5. The rockers started showing up around 4:00.

 

There were some real good years at Little Mountain.

 

Once, not long ago while being vetted for a drug trial in State Supreme Court, the prospective jurors were asked if they had any experience around recreational drugs. I said, “Your honor. I spent the 70’s working in a rock and roll studio.” After laughing he said, “You may be excused.”

 

-Charlie