Joe

Short version: Joe Recchia was a talent agent & concert promoter from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s in southern Ontario, Canada. Joe started small -- local dances and providing entertainment for university students in Kitchener-Waterloo . . . and then began bringing up-and-comers into the territory who would later become global superstars.

The talent that Joe booked is eye-popping: Alice Cooper, Kiss, MC5, Iggy & the Stooges, Elton John, Supremes, Roxy Music, Yes, Genesis, Frank Zappa, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Queen, Rush and many, many more.

The legend about The Guess Who writing & performing "American Woman" for the first time -- that was one of Joe's shows.

And then there's the infamous Led Zeppelin concert that Joe booked. The local daily newspaper wrote up an article the past few months ("The Day Led Zeppelin Came to Kitchener") that claims 3/4 of the house tickets went unsold. (Joe disputes this. He says many tickets went unsold, but nowhere near the exaggeration the Record remembers.)

So... in his capacity as a booking agent of top talent, Recchia acquired a LOT of stuff that he's hoarded in his basement for half-a-century, including a couple tons of LP records, many of them vintage promotional releases, and a substantial number that have never been played.

Stay tuned....