His favorite color was blue. Hence the blue shirt he
always wore, the blue and white bass with his name on it, and his blue bird costume in the Birds And The Bees skit on the
show.
Chico smoked Camel cigarettes.
Chico played Fender guitars.
He once picked up his friend Mal Gray in a limousine at the airport with a crate of champagne. As Mal said,
the boy had style.
Wrote a song once called "I'd Rather Ride A Brahma Bull Than Spend
One Night With You". Can't help but wonder what girl inspired that ditty.
Referred to as "the cutest kid
on the block". He sure was!
Bill Haley encouraged Chico to wear his leather jacket on the tour he
did with Bill, although most
of the time, it was strictly Comets uniforms. Bill's record company at
that time, strongly objected to Chico wearing his ShaNaNa trademark
leather jacket. But he wore it anyway with Bill's agreement, apart from
on TV shows. Hey, Chico was a tough street greaser.
Chico sported a beard when he was on tour with Bill Haley.
Yeah, he covered up that cute mug of his with a beard. Naturally you know it's him when that smile appears!
Pamela Myers once did an interview with TV Guide and stated that Chico had the best body out of all of the guys.
I concur. He looked great in a bikini.
She also said they had a kissing booth set up on one of the show's episodes
and he was the most bashful about kissing her. Is that cute or what?
First gig with
Sha Na Na was at Chico State University and the name "Chico" stuck.
Chico enjoyed writing and recording
music with others even though a lot of it never was released due to contractual obligations. He wrote and recorded around
30 songs with Mal Gary. He wrote and recorded three songs with Bill Haley and Mal Gray for a record that unfortunately
didn't come out due to Bill's untimely passing. Chico also visited the U.K. to record with Mal Gray, Pete Wingfield
('18
with a Bullet'), Mick Grabham (Procul Harem), and Steve Murray (the
Comets).
When Mal met Chico they got on quite well and Chico organized a recording session in Boston with
Danny McBride (Dirty Dan) and Jim Baker and along with Mal recorded some music. Chico was always full of ideas and encouraged
Mal to write songs. Their first release written by Chico and sung by Mal was a song called "Tonight" which was released on Decca Records.
Chico, Dirty Dan, Bob Henderson (from Rockin' Ramrods fame) and Doug Kupper (producer at Tapeworks) recorded some
of Doug's original songs together in Hartford, CT.
Chico was always looking for the next good gig which would become Sha
Na Na.
Chico and Sha Na Na would have a couple of gigs in Connecticut during their tours and Doug would
party with him until the wee hours. Chico was a very fun loving guy. Doug described him as affable, hard working,and
positive.
Chico enjoyed touring with people when he was off the road or the show was on hiatus. He
said he played bass with Sha Na Na for money and guitar for fun.
Chico got Dirty Dan his audition
with Sha Na Na. He also brought Glen Jordan into the band.
Chico lived in Woodland Hills, CA
during the TV show.
