WELCOME!!!
Hello Everyone, and I hope you're having a nice day. Today we have a Guest Host. She will be conducting an interview with me, but first I will like to explain how I met our friend and guest host, "XmasDolly".
I subscribe to Reporter Connection, a site that has listings of people looking for guests for radio shows, ( I did Dr. Veronica a wellness show, and the topic was older guys with younger women and older women with younger guys), comments for books or papers and of course bloggers looking for products to review and giveaway. I need all the publicity I can get and this site has provided several good spots for me. Anyway I answered a post for A Christmas review and give away, and Xmasdolly contacted me and she did a wonderful campaign for my just released CD "LOVE PASSIONATELY. About the time Christmas was over I released a sexy instrumental instrumental CD called "SILKY & SENSUOUS SPECIAL EDITION" a sequel to my best selling CD "SILKY & SENSUOUS.' I asked Dolly if she wanted to do the same deal with S&S S.E., she did and she did another fabulous job on promoting my new release. I believe it's called a "Review/Give-Away" in blogger talk, and now we
continue our very good relationship today. This week she has so graciously consented to interview me, and I guess we should just get started.
Hi Everyone! How's goin'? XmasDolly here, and without further ado I think we should get this party started whatcha think?
Unfortunately, Tom and I have not met in person, but maybe some day who knows. Since our introduction through Tomoson.com (I think that's what it was), and the review/give-aways I did for him we have written back, and forth many times, and what I have learned I decided you all should know too because our new friend here is a very interesting person, and has lived a very interesting life. I have met many amazing and interesting people even some I now call my friends throughout my lifetime during employment,.neighborhoods, blogging, and how I am in awe of what they do and have accomplished. So without further ado let me roll out the red carpet for our guest. INTRODUCING "MR. COOL" himself, "MR. TOM TOMOSER".
*When and why did you start this career as an entertainer, and how did it come about? As a singer and Producer?
I have always wanted to be an entertainer since I was little kid. I tried to play the French horn in the Jr. High Orchestra, but that was a bust. The conductor suggested I go to sax. After I got out of the Navy as an adult student I studied alto sax for about 6 months, then my first marriage blew up and I let music go for a while. I dated an exotic dancer who was a great singer as well as a beautiful dancer. I was a party animal in those days, and could generally get the bands that played in the joints I frequented to let Josephine sing a couple of cuts or more and Jo and I tried to figure out how to get her a recording contract. She wanted me to manage her and we gave it a hell of a good try but she had to travel the club circuit and I had to work in one place so we hated to do it but we gave up on us and on a singing career for Jo.
Fast forward to 1981. I had figured the easiest way to get into the music business would be to write a hit song and get it to a big star. I had some very good breaks in my day job and was making enough money to study music theory, voice, and production. By 1983 my voice coach said why don't you start performing and see if you can build a vocal career. I tried that for about 5 years and decided it was easier to take some of my best songs and record them with some of the great talent I met along the way. Finally in 1997 I released my first CD called "COOL SMOOTH & SASSY" starring Joe Genovesi a tenor sax man.
So I opened my own record label and continued to write and produce instrumental CDS with the musicians I met, but I kept singing and doing my demos trying to get songs to the big starts. I think as it stands to day I have written 160 songs and have 2 unfinished tunes on my piano. Somewhere along the way somebody suggested I learn and add classic hits to my repertoire and I have accumulated about 25 classic hits that I use in my new CDs and in my shows.
Didn't mean to get so lengthy on this, but it took 31 years to get to this point, and it was just 2 years ago that it came together for me as a performer. I was doing my radio show in Kansas City and they asked me to sing My arrangement of America, which is on my CD BY Special Request, for memorial day 2009. A woman who owns a restaurant heard me sing and called the station to see if I did live shows, I of course replied, yes I did, and she hired me to do a ladies night out at her restaurant and I did. It was a great gig took the lady I was dating with me to run the sound and sell CD's, which she did well, but more importantly that launched my career as a night club performer.
*How and what made you decide on the name "Mr. Cool"?
I didn't decide on the name "Mr. Cool." After I released "Cool Smooth & Sassy" in 1997, the man I hired to build me a web site to sell my cds from said your name is now "Mr. Cool" so my classic reply to him was, "Cool I Love it. See musicians have been using "Cool" since the 30's, I just am continuing in some great peoples foot steps.
*What performance stands out in your mind the most?
After the exilleration of the KC show wore off I had this huge thirst to perform, but no where to perform. One night on my day job, I had a fire watch after Omaha's only Kosher restaurant burned down. It happened to be right across the street from a Karaoke Bar. I asked some of the people coming out how the place was and how big a crowd. The girl said it was great place and usually more than 100 on weekends. I got off the following Saturday night and walked into the Karaoke bar and asked the DJ if he could play my CD Tracks. He said it was a go. I of course wore my black double breasted suit with a red tie and pocket sq. my black hat and white shirt with french cuffs and my Rollex. I sang You don't Know me the first time up and was very pleased with the reception I got. The second tune I did one of my songs Aw Right one of only a hand ful of up tunes I do. Then about 30 minutes before close he called me up fro a 3rd tune, and I did "My Way", for the first time since about 86 and I got their attention from there word now. No chatter no chinking glasses no noise they were listening to me. I have a fantastic arrangement of Frank's great hit and I set it up for performance no intro no instrumental interlude. I worked out and ending that goes way up and sustains then comes back to resolve and lock in. This was the first time I ever got a standing ovation. they got on there feet as I went into the ending and didn't stop clapping until a good 45 secs after I finished the last note! Talk about adrenalin rush, I couldn't fall asleep till 5 am. Since then I have had 18 S.O. on My Way, 3 on You Light Up MY Life,and 2 on I dreamed of you.
*What would you say is the main content of your career?
Producing and arranging great tracks to put together with great love songs, and both record them and perform them.
*What made you decide to become a blogger?
I liked what happened when Dolly blogged my songs so Thought it would be a good way to meet people and let them know what I had to offer them musically and my other entertainment products, dog training DVDs , books and CDs on Owning and maintaining a car. (Those will be posted at a later date).
*How often do you post?
This depends on work time as I do have another job besides entertaining etc. I am a security guard.
*What are some of the things that you love about blogging?
Being able to interact with people. I am a people person and always have been.
*What are some of the negatives?
Haven't come across any yet, other than it's time consuming!
*Name 1-3 favorite items/postings that you have/do on your blog?
Like to put up videos of my songs and other of my entertainment products. Especially like to read the comments. Feed Back is how you improve your products. In recording the most important part of the process is PLAY BACK. When it's al;all down and you think you have the mix right and your product is ready for Public Consumption, PLAY BACK confirms or denies your hopes.
*Any advice you would give to new entertainers? New bloggers?
Since even the good size starts are blogging I think My advice would be if you want a direct link to your audience out side of live performance BLOG.
*What is your favorite song you love to perform and why? How do you decide which songs to add to your repertoire?
My Way because when I sing "AND NOW," it gets quiet, I know it's in reverence to Frank and they are waiting to see if I honor him or make a mess. The song has been part of me since we wrote the arrangement in 85. I didn't get standing ovation them but I would get requests to do it, that's a start. Since I have now 2 other songs that are capable of getting people on their feet I have choices for openers and closers. I also keep adding more Barbra and more frank to the repertoire as I Love them both and want to sing their songs to honor them. I am adding 4 songs that I recently wrote new lyrics for . See I studied music theory for 10 years and wrote some very good music but never studied lyric writing till 93-7 and now I go back to my songs from the late 80s which I produced with great tracks but lets say "uneducated lyrics" now I can write lyrics as good a my music and I can achieve prosody, which is the perfect marriage of lyric and music. So these 4 songs of mine will find a spot in the new cd for 2011.
*Would you please share 5-7 things about the person behind the screen so that we get to know the "real" you!!
1. I am a free wheeling happy go lucky guy with a brain for business and a flair for love and life. would like to have said Love and marriage, but I have failed 2 many times at marriage so not willing to give my heart away again.
2. Been an avid hunter since I was 6 yrs old and try to catch Pheasants at the railroad yard with my dog. Have been too busy with music to hunt this year but I have a 13 year old grand son who is chompin at the bit and I have a fine bird dog so this fall me and the kid will see if we can't put a bird or two in the freezer.
3. I Have few regrets one regret I have is I could have marched at Selma with DR King, but opted to save my vacation for pheasant season. Tony Bennet marched at Selma but I blew it and went pheasant hunting.
4. My 4 wonderful Kids all graduated college are well and happy and are all making 6 figure incomes.
5. I have a very strong religious conviction and am a church going guy, as my on call 24/7 schedule permits. If I'm off Sunday Morning I'm in church, cause I know with out His magnificent Love and guidance I don't know where I would be. I cling to the scripture that says,"With men some things are impossible, but with God all things are possible." Like my idol Fran Sinatra said, "People can say whatever they want to about me, but when I sing "I BELIEVE," That's who I am!"
6. I am an 11th generation American. My mother's family, (The Chapins) came to this continent in 1623 from Pagington England. My sweet little British mother married a 1st generation Hungarian/Scotish American man, making me 3/4 Brit 1/4 Hungarian. I’m learned more from these two wonderful people growing up during the war years than I learned in 11 years of school. Things they taught me in the 40s and 50s I live by today.
7. Last but not least I am a workaholic, I started a business that raced to 2.5 mil in sales in 4 years, but made some bad decision in the beginning to get the money to build the business, and was not suspicious enough of the people I was working with who were so deep in greed I don't know how they hell they lived with themselves. No regrets I had a good 20 years run in that business and lived quite a ways up the hog for most of those years and best of all it paid for my musical education!!!
*Any other info you would like to share.
Dolly, there is a whole lot more to Tom Tomoser, but we'll have to dig into that another time. Thanks for helping me to let the wonderful people in bloggerland know more about me.
Tom, thank you for opening up to your fellow bloggers here, and sharing part of you with all of us. I know I enjoyed learning a bit more about you, and for those that don't know our Tom, we have corresponded on several occasions and he is such a interesting and nice person. He has just taken the next step with his blog whereas he is now coming about and sharing with us his interviews from TV, and other articles. You can find this information in the left side bar. Also, he will be hosting giveaways shortly of a few CD's and DVD's he has produced, and performed in soon. I have also gathered from his emails that he has no plans to slow down any time soon. I hope you enjoyed meeting Tom, if you didn't know him or getting to know him better if you do. Please stop by again soon, and browse around at a fewer older posts or just say hi ! Thank you for your time, and for stopping by. Have a nice day!
