RAINMAKERS: MYSTERY MACHERS

History of the Music Biz 3: Rainmakers, soon to be hitting your desk, is a special issue compiling profiles of music-biz figures who are making history now. Can you guess which entry from our forthcoming Rainmakers special issue yielded the following? Look for the answer to this question—and the full issue, studded with sensational, classic photos—in the coming weeks.

His mother was a dancer, and his father ran a baseball school, served two terms in the New York State Assembly and became chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission in 1983. When his parents split and his mother left Mount Vernon, N.Y., for L.A., he stayed behind and followed in his father’s sports-oriented path. Baseball was #1, for playing and card collecting. Today, he owns one of the world’s most notable baseball-card collections.

He soon started to display a passion for the guitar and songwriting; at 13, he had his first band—The Other Half, who cut an album for GNP Crescendo—and by 16, his Pasternak Progress band secured a deal with Art Laboe’s Original Sound label. They opened for The Doors and were regulars at Gazzari’s on the Strip. Like most kids, he was dabbling in drugs and showing little interest in school, even getting expelled from boarding school. He put his energy in the band until his mother gave him the “get a job or go to college” ultimatum.