| Paul Venier started in a well known band, 'Stark Naked' in 1970 and had an album on RCA that climbed to number 6. Pretty impressive for a boy of 16 from Long Island, New York. They were one of the very first show groups to come along, using fire and extensive lighting, way before anyone else did. Stark Naked was the forerunner of groups like Kiss and Alice Cooper. They toured the country to sold out shows wherever they performed. Surprisingly enough, due to their sound most disc jockeys and fans alike thought they were from England. Well, being young and naive to the music business, while they were touring their then manager was stealing all the money they were sending back home and by the time they had returned the manager and all of the money was gone. A rude awakening for the young lads from Levittown, New York. Disheartened with the business, Paul quit the business for one year. This would be a major turning point for Paul. To hear him tell it, leaving show business for that period was the best thing that he had ever done. He had been performing since he was little and had always taken it for granted that that was what he did. Interestingly, the album has recently been re-released and can be found at Overstock.com. Just go into their search and put in Stark Naked. The cover is a picture of a face sculpture. Very Strange indeed! My favorite song on the CD is 'Wasted Time', a great ballad. I think you can listen to the songs before buying it also just to see if you like it or not. Nice Feature! |
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| After being away from it for a year, he then realized how much he really loved and needed to perform and swore that he would never quit again no matter how difficult it became because that was what was in his heart to do and nothing would ever change that. The band that was slated to follow in the steps of Stark Naked and that was managed by the same management company, Salty Dog, was just breaking up and three of the members of Stark Naked and two of the members of Salty Dog decided to combine their talents and continue as one force. They kept the name Salty Dog and toured for a year straight, from Florida and the south to Detroit and Canada and everywhere in between before landing on the New Jersey Shore in the summer of 1975. That would be where their new home would be. |
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| In June of 1980, Paul began performing at a well known restaurant in Lavallette, NJ, Ye Olde School Inn. It was there that yet another turning point was occurring. Paul played there every weekend for three years and what started out as a nice quiet restaurant with friends and family to come and watch Paul perform songs and ad-lib with them, quickly turned into one of the hottest nightspots on the Jersey Shore. Paul would perform a 3 hour show starting at 10:00 every Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday without a break and would play a baby grand piano that was surrounded by a horseshoe bar. People would start getting there at 8:00 just to be assured a seat and wait until the craziness would begin. That is where the comedy started to become a staple of Paul's show and his interaction with his audience would soon become so prominent in his performances. Everyone would sing along and laugh and just have a fantastic time when they would go and the crowds began to grow so rapidly that people would start to be turned away and lines would form outside to get in. (see store merchandise page if you care to purchase a video tape of Paul's last performance at this historic landmark) |
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Paul is an act that you'll never forget if you have seen live and one that you'll absolutely love for years to come. He is currently working on getting more into acting again and recently finished a CD of his own serious music. The CD, which is titled 'Better Late Than Never' is now available on the Merchandise Page.(see store merchandise page to listen and/or purchase this CD of 12 original songs of all styles).
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