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Vini Poncia | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | Vincent Poncia Jr. (1942-04-29)April 29, 1942 (age 83) |
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Vincent"Vini" Poncia Jr. (born April 29, 1942) is an American musician,songwriter andrecord producer.
Poncia was born in Providence, Rhode Island. He is of Italian ancestry.
In the 1960s, Poncia formed a songwriting team withPeter Anders (né Peter Andreoli).[2] An album of songs co-written by these childhood friends,The Anders & Poncia Album, was produced byRichard Perry and released in 1969. Their songs were recorded by artists includingthe Ronettes,[3]Bobby Bloom, andDarlene Love. Anders and Poncia were also members ofthe Trade Winds (later called The Innocence).[3] The Trade Winds' debut single "New York is a Lonely Town" reached #32 on theBillboard Hot 100 chart in 1965.
In 1968, with Frankie Meluso (aka Mell) and Peter Anders, Poncia founded MAP (Mell Anders Poncia) City Records inNew York City. Their company included a smallrecording studio brought from a 3 track studio to four tracks (on a Scully Machine) by their chief engineer, Peter H. Rosen, who recorded sixteen albums before the company dissolved in 1970.
During the 1970s, Poncia becameRingo Starr's co-writer, and appeared on several of his solo albums:[3]Ringo (1973),Goodnight Vienna (1974),Ringo's Rotogravure (1976),Ringo the 4th (1977), andBad Boy (1978).[4] He also produced albums forMelissa Manchester[3] andLynda Carter's 1978 albumPortrait. As a songwriter, he wrote songs forJackie DeShannon, Martha Reeves, andTommy James. Poncia is also listed as co-writer on "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" withLeo Sayer. He was also the producer forThe Faragher Brothers albums,Open Your Eyes (1978) andThe Faraghers (1979).
In 1978, he producedPeter Criss' 1978solo album.[3] At Criss's prompting, Poncia was brought in to produceKiss's 1979 albumDynasty and co-wrote their hit song "I Was Made for Lovin' You" from that album.
Poncia also produced another Kiss album, 1980'sUnmasked. He sang backup vocals and helped with songwriting on both albums, having eight co-writing credits on Unmasked.
In 1981, he produced the albumTurn Out The Lights for the bandTycoon.
Poncia also produced the Detroit rock bandAdrenalin[3] and their song "Road of the Gypsy", from the filmIron Eagle in 1985. He also produced DC Drive and their self-titled album in 1991. Poncia produced Criss's second post-Kiss solo album, 1982'sLet Me Rock You,[3] and he was credited as co-writer for five songs on Kiss's 1989 release,Hot in the Shade.
