All Photos: Alan Mercer
Tommy Monroe has the distinction of being the person who has employed me more than anyone else in my career. With the exception of Mamie Van Doren, I have probably taken more shots of Tommy than anyone else. This alone would qualify him being on my blog. On top of all that, Tommy is one of the good guys in Hollywood with a real story. He is currently writing a book on his life story. He had a lengthy and very successful career in the now mostly defunct music business when it was hot and happening. He met and worked with all our favorite Superstars! For the past few years Tommyhas lovingly been caring for his wife Joni’s Alzheimer’s disease. Tommy always has a smile on his face...always!
I met Tommy the way many of us are meeting these days...through Facebook. The first time I took photos of him I went to his home out in the San Fernando Valley. Since this first shoot we have had about ten more photo sessions, always outside on location. Since Tommy shines with a big, bright smile I like to put him in everyday circumstances and watch the magic happen. We usually just walk around a neighborhood and visit with each other until I see a circumstance with good lighting and we pause for a moment and I snap a few shots.
AM: Tommy, why don’t you give me a bit of your work history. Didn’t you run your own company?
TM: Yes, my company was called Tony Joni Art Display Inc. The company commenced in 1978 in my garage for the next 26 years in the music biz.
AM: That is a pretty long time. You must have a thousand stories.
TM: I've been working on my own book but I've been held back with the task of taking care of my wife Joni's Alzheimer’s disease.
AM: You are a good soul Tommy. How blessed she is to have you to take care of her.
TM: She is in her eighth year with the disease. We used to travel and work our business together. She was a really good business woman. She was full of fun and always had a lot of energy. I was the artist and she was the business person. We opened a couple of pet supply stores in 1980 to supplement our income since disco had stopped selling.
AM: What are some of the differences between when you worked in the music business and now?
TM: I was there when music was really big, but today it's all about the i-Pods, i-Pads or cellular phones that brought everything small. Today young people are texting everyone rather then buying music. There will never be big sales again.
AM: What is your advice for new recording artists?
TM: I try to keep positive when I am introduced to an aspiring new recording artist. I refrain from saying too much. It's unlikely that anyone will ever match sales of yesteryear.
AM: Do you think today’s music is good?
TM: Good music? Yes maybe, but how will it sell today? There will always be music someplace. The record labels are still in business, only the format is not as easy to sell like the CD’s. The Major labels were greedy then.
AM: Why do you think they got so greedy?
TM: There was such an abundance of revenue to promote.
AM: Will there be room for net profits for a recording artist today?
TM: Music will always survive but I imagine younger performers will get the attention of their work through the internet. Radio play has never been easy.
AM: Why do you think music stopped selling like it used to?
TM: Gone are the record chains that sold millions of units. On a particular special release, a new product could ship out gold or platinum in my time. I worked for all the best selling artists from all the major record labels during my career.
AM: Did you start off in the music business or did you want to do something else first?
TM: It's odd that I'd made plans for a career in animation but even then, the computers took over the old fashion hand drawing style of animation. Still I studied at Cal Arts institute and worked for Hanna Barbara productions for a few seasons. Later I was invited to bring my portfolio to Motown Records who moved from Detroit to Hollywood to take part in the movie business.
AM: When did you start working with Motown?
TM: I worked at Motown in 1978 under Barney Ales then Jay Lasker took over as president. I was friends with his son Steve Ales. A year prior I was at the Sunset and Vine office to strangely and quickly I find myself working with the art department after an evaluation was made over my work by Johnny Lee who moved to A&M records.
AM: You must have countless good memories of working at Motwon.
TM: I remember meeting Berry Gordy and seeing the new artwork for Diana Ross's disco album ‘Love Hangover.’ Motown was already very much involved with the movie business having produced ‘Lady Sings the Blues’ and ‘Mahogany.’ Back at that time a motion picture soundtrack could be big business to a record label. Some motion picture soundtracks grossed more money then the films.
AM: What are some of your favorite projects that you worked on from that time?
TM: Among my early favorite projects was Diana Ross's ‘Upside Down’ LP in September of 1980. I put a billboard on Sunset. It was a painting taken from the photograph by Francisco Scavullo. Diana Ross was big. She then went to RCA and after a run of hits and misses Diana Ross returned to Motown 1988 as part ownership of Motown Records. I continued working with her record album art but through the new label. I was there when she came back.
AM: Working with Diana Ross would be so exciting! I know you also worked with a lot of movie soundtracks too didn’t you?
TM: Yes, in the early years my first assignments were ‘Saturday Night Fever’, ‘Grease’, ‘Dirty Dancing’, ‘Footloose’, ‘Pretty Woman’, ‘The Big Chill’ and ‘The Woman In Red’. Many of these soundtracks contained what we called catalog music that meant bringing older titles into current films bringing familiarity to the younger generation and bringing new profits. I started working independently in my home garage in Sherman Oaks with small six by six paintings I would place in record stores until I was kicked out by zoning for having too much volume from finding work from other labels such as RSO, Casablanca, Atlantic. A&M Records. The sizes of our art boards became larger.
AM: That is so amazing. You really have seen a lot of changes.
TM: In the music business everything was always changing. Motown always had their product released independently. Motown was my beginning. Arista Records was independently owned. Boardwalk records was a record label founded by Neil Bogart in 1980, after Polygram acquired his Casablanca Records. Label presidents were switched to find the right one to bring music sales back. That's how I switched to various companies. The Disco sound relied heavily on a formula that would mean strong sales. The day arrived when one day that sound stop selling. We called it “the record slump.”
AM: How did you handle the record slump?
TM: Earl Page of Billboard Magazine wrote an article about how some of us stayed in the industry over the highs and low times in sales. I opened my first pet supply store. I had capital from my music label release to open another store.
AM: But after disco died there was new wave music that sold good didn’t it?
TM: Capital Records started to sell a new sound by a band called ‘The Knack’. Over at Columbia there was a band selling a lot of product called ‘Men At Work’. The Record companies in 1982 started to distribute their product from vinyl to Compact Disk form.
AM: Didn’t CD’s re-ignite the sales again?
TM: CD’s were cost effective and much better sound, however the price of a CD was higher even though less expensive to print. Everyone was back in business. Motown still had some of their artists, Stevie Wonder & Smokey Robinson still had contracts while trying to break in new talent like El De Barge, Rick James & Teena Marie, The Commodores & Lionel Richie. Motown was celebrating their 25th anniversary. A September television special was being papered.
AM: What did this mean for your work?
TM: That meant a lot of work for me to prepare for Motown so I sold my retail business to devote full time building display pieces, billboards and sculpture and lighting effects.
AM: Where were these pieces used?
TM: My company would make the back drops for rock bands that were pretty large. My work was used throughout the western region of the US and later on the East coast. My work went as far a Seattle, San Diego, Las Vegas, San Francisco and the Sunset Strip.
AM: I had no idea you had so much work out there.
TM: At one time I owned eleven billboards on the strip alone. Money was abundant for record
promotion. So it seemed that I'd finally arrived. There were still the smaller boards. I never knew how many there were. There was a lot.AM: You must have traveled some didn’t you?
TM: Universal Pictures sent me to work in Japan twice to art direct projects. I believe I was the model for the creature of Sonny Malone for the motion picture ‘Xanadu’ about an artist who paints album jackets for the record companies.
AM: How exciting! By this time you had learned a lot no doubt.
TM: I learned a valuable lesson to always give back. Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson wrote a song for the children of Africa called ‘USA For Africa’ in 1985. There was room for sharing and no money available for a non-profit record so I donated all of my prime spots for the single.
AM: I bet that was a good feeling.
TM: What a good move I had made. Now I was working on all of the important acts such as Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Bob Dylan and Barbra Streisand. I worked with Brian Wilson, John Mellencamp, Van Halen, Guns and Roses and Motley Crew. I would talk directly to everyone on top. I moved into 8,000 square foot studio to accommodate my daily business. I was invited to the Grammy awards and even danced with an exuberant Olivia Newton John one night.
AM: Didn’t you work with Elton John too?
TM: I worked on many Elton John projects. His friends address him as Reggie. Once I attended a Tupperware party and Reggie was there serving party snacks. He liked living life like everyday normal people and he had friends who were fun. We didn't talk about music. If you're friends with a successful recording artist it's a much better friendship if you don't talk about the business. I'd say to Steve Perry, please let's not talk about work. It's like still being at work.
AM: Is there anyone you really wanted to meet?
TM: One artist I did ask to meet was Paul McCartney. I had my invitation the next day. He was very kind and delightful at a private record release party at the House of Blues in West Hollywood.
AM: If you ever had any spare time, what did you do?
TM: In my spare time I took delight in teaching art.
AM: Teaching art and working with superstars!
TM: I've worked with Elton John, Janet Jackson, Madonna for her album ‘True Blue’ and the soundtrack to ‘Evita.’ We built another rooftop display for Tower Record Sunset Strip in
Hollywood, CA for all of their important releases. I've seen the rise and fall of Paula Abdul, The New Edition, Mariah Carey and Cher. 
AM: How close did you work with Cher?
TM: On November 24, 1998 Cher was signed to Warner Brothers Music with her new album ‘Believe.’ Of course I was invited to the record release parties and all major concerts. Cher called me once to say how much she enjoyed my design. The song ‘Believe’ had a dance flavor to it and somehow it gave me personal satisfaction to have Cher back on top. Everyone in the music business loved the song. It was a very good record. It reminded me of the older disco dancing music that was a lot fun.
AM: When did you realize the business was changing?
TM: With the continuing popularity of downloading for free and the CD dropping sales, it was apparent that the CD format was over. Tower Records closed their flagship store on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood in 2006. Tower Records went bankrupt and so did all the rest.
AM: Well you certainly had a good run!
TM: During this 26 year time frame there wasn't an artist who was important that didn't work with my company Tony Joni Inc. Some of the artists knew about me before I'd ever meet them.
AM: So life changed again for you in what ways?
TM: My life took a drastic turn back to a normal level, back to reality. I can’t plan anything new until I am done with my work caring for Joni, who perhaps may not even make it to the end of the year before she is moved into a full time care facility.
AM: Are you working anywhere now?
TM: I've returned to a pet retail store for my current business for the time being. I must keep my life simple. I am grateful that I still have my health, my true wealth, and an ability to earn a living. When I think of the presidents or CEOs, executives and artists and what life is for them now right now I am grateful for what I have today.
AM: Do you have any current creative projects you are working on?
TM: Currently I am finishing a book that's been on hold too long. I've been approached to have it published by several publishers. What a life with so many adventures. I've kept a lot of memorabilia, photos, awards and invoices to keep the story straight. There is just too much to mention.
AM: What do you want to do with the rest of your life?
TM: Creativity in other endeavors like promoting & marketing is wide open option for me, so is art and writing. I've enjoyed fundraising. That's how I met Joni in 1977. I am at a new season of my life. I don't have be a part of the entertainment industry today. I don't have unrealistic expectations for my future. I keep strictly focused on my responsibility. I need to know that I am giving a full effort in caring for someone who really needs me. It doesn’t matter if I never work on another promotion again. I feel completed by my work today. I am grateful for the contribution of my work.
AM: What is important to you today Tommy?
TM: What I care about today is to be an example, I enjoy being a kind and loving person. I try to suggest good, all by my own experiences, even if that is debatable. I was brought up on respect, kindness and love. It is a primary goal for me to keep clean with my family and friends. I like a
clean image because that's exactly who I am.
