128 - Jon “Bermuda” Schwartz - A Drumming Chameleon

The Rich Redmond Show

Jon “Bermuda” Schwartz - A Drumming Chameleon

Born in Chicago in 1956, drums came into Jon's family from Wm. Ludwig Jr. as a gift to Jon's older brother in return for some advertising work their father did for the drum company. After a family move to Phoenix, Arizona, Jon inherited the kit and began taking formal lessons in 1965. He also listened and played along to the radio hits of the day, as well as albums including everything from Gene Krupa to Elvis, Latin orchestras, and especially the Beatles.

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Another family move took the Schwartzes to Los Angeles in 1968, and it was then that Jon decided to be a professional drummer. He continued to take lessons, joined his school's advanced band class and a local junior marching band, and later drummed in a precision marching band where he brushed up on his rudiments.

One such distraction began on September 14, 1980, when Jon was invited by Dr. Demento to be interviewed on his live radio show to talk about the songs he'd submitted years earlier; Jon and his friends were among the first people to have home-made music played on the Dr.'s show at the time. It was there that Jon met "Weird Al" Yankovic, who happened to be answering request lines that night. Already a staple of the Dr. Demento show, the 20-year-old Yankovic played accordion and had been sending his homemade parody tapes to Demento on a regular basis. That night, he would debut his newest parody, Another One Rides The Bus, live on the air. Al asked Jon if he'd mind pounding out a straight beat... on the accordion case! Jon cheerfully agreed, and evidently had a great time:

It wasn't long before permanent bass and guitar players were recruited, and Al's first album was released in May, 1983. Guitar legend Rick Derringer produced Al's first six albums through 1989's UHF Soundtrack, and Al himself took over the production duties starting with 1992's Off The Deep End. To date, Al and the band have released fourteen studio albums, most of them reaching Gold and Platinum status with a few Grammy Awards thrown in for good measure. In 2014, the Mandatory Fun album debuted at #1 on Billboard's Top 200 Album chart! They've toured 3 continents, made videos, and appeared extensively in electronic and print media. Jon is also Al's archivist, assembling an unmatched collection of Weird Al's music and appearances on retail and promo audio and video products from around the World. Assorted memorabilia, tour merchandise, personal items, magazine articles, and more than 100,000 concert, studio, tour, and behind-the-scenes photos round out the archive.

In 1996 Jon left Westwood One, and his fascination with the Internet since 1993 soon led to another pursuit: designing web sites. He'd already developed a site for Weird Al in 1995, and within a few years, business license in hand, Jon sought additional clients, and continues to keep busy on the computer both at home and on the road. In 2020 Jon became a published author with BLACK & WHITE & WEIRD ALL OVER, a coffee-table book featuring his unreleased black-and-white photographs of Weird Al from the early '80s.

There are still gigs and recordings with various local players, but none quite as notorious as Jon's perennial association with Al, which he regards with great pride:

Some Things That Came Up:

-Black, white and Weird

-Taking pics for Al over the years

-Creating sound design

-Getting the parodies to sound exactly like the original

-Getting to record in Michael Jackson's favorite room

-Getting the gig via the Dr. Demento show

-Al puts on a highly produced show

-Playing at the same level as e did 30 years ago

-Al's near misses.....

-Working the Bermuda Schwartz name

Follow:

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The Rich Redmond Show is about all things music, motivation and success. Candid conversations with musicians, actors, comedians, authors and thought leaders about their lives and the stories that shaped them. Rich Redmond is the longtime drummer with Jason Aldean and many other veteran musicians and artists. Rich is also an actor, speaker, author, producer and educator. Rich has been heard on thousands of songs, over 25 of which have been #1 hits!

Rich can also be seen in several films and TV shows and has also written an Amazon Best-Selling book, "CRASH! Course for Success: 5 Ways to Supercharge Your Personal and Professional Life" currently available at:

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One Book: Three Ways to consume....Physical (delivered to your front door, Digital (download to your kindle, ipad or e-reader), or Audio (read to you by me on your device...on the go)!

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Jim McCarthy is the quintessential Blue Collar Voice Guy. Honing his craft since 1996 with radio stations in Illinois, South Carolina, Connecticut, New York, Las Vegas and Nashville, Jim has voiced well over 10,000 pieces since and garnered an ear for audio production which he now uses for various podcasts, commercials and promos. Jim is also an accomplished video producer, content creator, writer and overall entrepreneur.

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