A Touch of Fire is a group of musicians I put together in the early 80’s when I was living in Los Angeles. Although I really enjoyed this band, unlike A Different Bag, I didn’t get too emotionally attached. It was primarily operated like a contract group: one job at a time. After each engagement we returned to Los Angeles, and unless someone prove themselves to be a problem, each member generally had the opportunity to go out on the next engagement. With A Touch of Fire there was no pressure on me to seek out a record contract or anything of that nature. It was strictly a work group and nothing more. One of our booking agents (Archie Sullivan), did however convince me to record an album on the group, but since none of the songs on the album were written by any of us, we were less than enthusiastic about the project. Archie was more than just an agent to me, he was a friend, and his intentions were in the right place, but had he not insisted on us doing the album, it never would have happened. For those who are interested, three songs from that album are posted on my YouTube channel under Scorio Stingo. (“Love Zone”, “Hopelessly Missing You” and “Your Touch of Fire”).
Most of A Touch Of Fire’s engagements were in Asia. The little work we did in the United States was aimed towards getting the band ready for another trip overseas. We were specifically put together for the Asian audience. Creating a party atmosphere and allowing people to just let themselves go and simply have a good time. That’s what A Touch of Fire was all about. We were known for that, it was a formula that kept us working for the better part of the 1980’s.
The Twenty-Grand Nightclub in Los Angeles was one of my favorite places to prepare the band for overseas work. It was a well established nightspot that was very popular in the 70’s & 80’s. It had a somewhat difficult crowd to please which I really appreciated. If something in our performance needed correcting, it would quickly reveal itself on their stage. Today’s music scene is a different story. No disrespect to the entertainers of today, but back then you really had to know what you were doing. There was no skating by, you really had to know what you were doing. If you didn’t, you would not have gotten very far in the business. Obviously a certain amount of talent was necessary, but back then talent alone was not enough if it didn’t in some way stand out from the rest. Your talent had to be exceptional. In addition to being exceptionally talented you needed to have a great deal of faith: faith in yourself and in those around you. Even with all that, the best groups didn’t always succeed. That’s just the way it was. Being a solo act was not much easier.
Please leave a comment if you or some one you know are aware of the Twenty-Grand nightclub or any other nightclubs in the Los Angeles area during that time. I would be very interested in hearing from you.
