At the age of 19 Tony sang lead vocals and played
guitar, bass and piano with a 4-piece rock band "Chamaeleon
Church". The band included Chevy Chase on drums and piano,
Ted Myers on vocals and guitar, and Kyle Garrahan on
vocals, guitar, bass, drum and piano. They recorded an album of
original songs, released on MGM Records in 1968. They briefly toured the
East Coast and appeared on an ABC Television generation-gap special
called, "What Gap?"
performing their single release "Camillia is Changing".
During this time Tony also began writing and performing early comedy
videotape material with Chase at Ken Shapiro's original "Groove
Tube" studio and theater in New York.
Toured and recorded with "Ultimate Spinach"
with guitarist Jeff Baxter (who later went on to join Steely Dan and the
Doobie Brothers). Recorded the album "Ultimate Spinach
III" in 1969 for MGM Records.
After Ultimate Spinach disbanded, Tony played
several small clubs in and around the Boston area as a solo artist and
recorded demos with Jeff Baxter and Andy Pratt at Aengus Studios (these
recordings have never been released).
Tony was selected for a lead musical comedy role in
National Lampoon's "Lemmings" which played off Broadway at New
York's Village Gate and toured with the show until January 1974.
The cast of 7 included Chevy Chase, John Belushi and Zal Yanovsky,
formerly of "Lovin' Spoonful".
Recorded National Lampoon album "Missing White
House Tapes" on Blue Thumb Records with Chevy Chase and John
Belushi.
Contributing Writer for the "National Lampoon
Radio Hour." Much of the material included rock parodies
published in 1976 in the "National Lampoon Songbook."
Parodies written and produced by Tony include the Grateful Dead, James
Taylor, Cat Stevens, Leon Russell, Leonard Cohen and Neil Young.
The Neil Young parody ("Southern California Brings Me Down")
appeared on the National Lampoon Grammy-nominated Epic Records release
(1976) "Goodbye Pop."
Tony also wrote and recorded many short spots on Radio Hour including
Subliminal Radio, Tom Carvel phone message, James Taylor, Man Bricked
Up, Rod Serling, Bob Dylan, and Neil Young.
Besides writing for and appearing in the National Lampoon show
"Lemmings", Tony also performed in the show "If We're
Late Start Without Us" and in 1976 was writer and production
assistant for the nationwide tour of the show "That's Not Funny,
That's Sick".
Tony continued to write and record many more songs.
We have catalogued over 100 original compositions. Many of them he
recorded at Sunset Beach Studio (in the basement of his home). He
performed as a muppet on Sesame Street singing the song "With a
Little Yelp From My Friends" written by Sarah Durkee and Paul
Jacobs.
Since Tony's death on October 31, 1993,
Rhino Records released a 3-CD compilation of Radio Hour
material including Tony's James Taylor parody "Methadone
Maintenance Man" and his Neil Young parody "Southern
California Brings Me Down"("Buy This Box or We�ll Shoot This
Dog: The Best of the National Lampoon Radio Hour." "Methadone
Maintenance Man" receives regular airplay on the "Imus in the
Morning" radio show. Big Beat Records re-released Chamaeleon
Church & Ultimate Spinach III on CD. In December 2000 Akarma
released "Chamaeleon Church" and in May 2001, Varese Records
released "The Best of the Boston Sound" and "The Very Best of
Ultimate Spinach".
In 2002, Wham Records released 'Gaining on You', the first of four planned albums of Tony's music.
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