 I
resisted putting up a web sight for years. I’m
not sure why. Maybe I thought it was bad juju, I
don’t know. Well, here it is! The long awaited
Greg Kihn.com. Two people were instrumental in this
undertaking: my manager and business partner for
decades Joel Turtle, who’s been after me to
do this for years, and Rick Baretta, another old
friend of mine, who is the actual architect and
webmaster of this baby. Were it not for the encouragement
of these two men, this would undoubtedly still be
a dream.
I have a ton of archival stuff just sitting around
oxidizing in my closet. Here it can find a home.
You’ll be able to view pictures going back
thirty years, look at posters and live footage,
read some of my literary work, absorb my own pithy
comments, and even buy stuff.
I plan to keep an online journal of events and thoughts,
and make available some previously unreleased items,
all in an effort to inform and entertain you. These
are lofty goals, and I’m the world’s
busiest man, so the question springs to mind- just
how long will it last? If you ask Rick and Joel,
I’m sure they would shout together in unison,
“As long as you’re still kickin’!”
In this website I will endeavor to keep you abreast
of all my careers: music, radio, and writing, as
well as pass along some of my philosophy of life.
I sincerely hope it doesn’t suck. By all accounts
it should be a great adventure.
Updates should be volumous.
So here goes.
Steve Wright:
Steve had a massive heart attack following
our concert at the Shoreline Amphitheater last August.
He was on vacation with his family at the time and
had to be airlifted to the hospital. Shortly thereafter
he suffered a debilitating stroke which paralyzed
the right side of his body and robbed him of his
ability to speak. Steve’s recovery is slower
than we’d hoped but the good news is he has
recovered some of his speech and movement. He continues
to work at hard at his rehabilitation and I am confident
that it is only a matter of time before Steve rejoins
the band. Steve has been with me from day one and
his contribution to the Greg Kihn Band was, and
is, invaluable. He co-wrote all the hits with me
and served as band director since 1975. I should
add that he’s been my best friend for most
of my adult life and has outlasted several wives,
managers, record companies, and booking agents.
Steve’s remarkable family have been very supportive
and inspirational in this trying time. We all pray
for a full recovery. I’ll update Steve’s
condition as it changes. Cards and letters can be
sent to a P.O. Box to be set up soon.
Ry Kihn:
My son Ry has been quite busy lately with
his own career which is about to explode. Besides
playing lead guitar in the |
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GKB, he’s
also part of Big Fun, a popular Bay Area cover band
that features Cythia Osevedos on vocals. For the
first time in years I’m writing new songs.
Working on the new material with Ry is reminiscent
of working with Steve in the heyday of the GKB.
Ry’s solo effort, entitled K2, is in production
now and should be out commercially very soon. The
songwriting credits on the CD will read Kihn &
Kihn. I am extremely proud of that. Ry is far more
talented than I, and his career in music should
be long and successful. His guitar playing is spectacular.
A graduate of Cal Arts with a degree in Jazz Guitar,
Ry also gives guitar lessons privately at his own
studio in San Jose. By the way, one of Ry’s
early guitar teachers was Joe Satriani, who played
lead in the GKB back in 1985. As we finish the new
songs, I’ll be excited to post updates on
Ry’s project.
Radio:
My morning radio show on classic rock station
98.5 KFOX in San Jose, California is going great
guns. The ratings are through the roof and the last
time I checked we were #1. I am currently renegotiating
my contract with KFOX, and hope to be there for
many years to come. Radio has been a passion of
mine since the early days. I’ve been on the
air at KFOX for eight years now, but it only seems
like a few weeks. The people there are friends I’ve
known for years. Chris Jackson, my producer for
the morning show, is the consummate pro. Laurie
Roberts, who follows me after the morning drive,
used to interview me way back when I was young and
wild. Working alongside these radio veterans has
been like getting a P.H.D. I couldn’t be happier.
For all those people who say I talk too much for
a classic rock morning show can now take solace
in the fact that I am about to launch my own call-in
show for conservative talk radio station KNEW (Talk
910) in San Francisco, tentatively scheduled for
Saturday mornings. I am opinionated and I ain’t
shy about it. I can’t wait to get my teeth
into the topics of the day, and hear what people
think about the world these days. It truly is a
world gone mad. Civilization is at the crossroads.
Tune in to see how it all comes out.
Writing:
After taking several years off from novel
writing, I have finally resumed work on my Beatles
novel RUBBER SOUL. It should be finished by the
end of the year. CARVED IN ROCK, an anthology of
short stories by musicians which I edited and contributed
a story, has been published by Thunders Mouth Press,
a subsidiary of the Avalon Publishing Group and
is available now at your favorite bookstore. It’s
a really cool book featuring stories by some of
your favorite musicians like Joan Jett, Ray Davies,
Pete Townsend, and Kinky Friedman. I am preparing
a movie script called GODZILLA IN LOVE for my agent
to peddle around Hollywood. It’s a romantic
comedy if you’re keeping track of such things.
Hopefully, in a few years, we will be standing in
line to see it. Don’t hold your breath though,
Hollywood is still La-La Land, and most movie scripts
never get made. Still, I keep writing. I have a
horror story called ABOMINATION coming out this
fall in the erotic horror anthology HOT BLOOD (Hot
Blood Vol. 12 Strange Bedfellows).
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