The Start Of Rap & House Music With Derek Berman

Recently, I was very fortunate to interview Derek Berman for my new show, Sitting At The Feet Of Giants. While Derek Berman is not a household name (he had a stage name while performing), he is a giant among us. When acts like the Beetles have opened for you AND you were present and helped the start of what is known as RAP music today, I am very humbled to help spread Derek's message to the world.

In this clip from Sitting At The Feet Of Giants, Derek Berman talks about starting rap and house music in Chicago.

Derek Berman wrote The Book of Life and it is available on Amazon.com

==============================================================

About Derek Berman: 

Derek Berman grew up in London, England. At the age of twenty he joined The Echoes, a rock’n roll band, playing backup for many popular stars of the 60’s including Jerry Lee Lewis, Conway Twitty, The Four Seasons, Dusty Springfield, Freddy Cannon, Rodger Wittaker, Lulu, The Monkees, Roy Orbison, Cat Stevens, Kiki Dee, and many others. The Echoes played at The Cavern Club in Liverpool, with The Beatles as their warm-up band one week prior to the release of “I Wanna Hold Your Hand.”

Since leaving The Echoes, Derek has worked as a recording engineer in the UK and US. He has run theatrical booking/management agencies and booked big name celebrities such as Tom Jones, Englebert Humperdinck, Anne Murray, etc. He partnered with Bob Tarantino, head of promotions at A&M Records, who was responsible for the promotion of Sting, The Go Go’s, The Carpenters, and many others. They were instrumental at the beginning of House & Rap in Chicago, managing Fast Eddie, “Hollywood” Rodriguez and many other top House and Rap DJ’s with hits too numerous to mention.

Derek has played at The London Palladium, The Olympia Paris, The Royal Festival Hall in London, Teatro Volturno in Rome and many other top venues the world over.

Although our beliefs shape our lives, they are only personal beliefs and do not necessarily hold true for others. They have been passed on to us from our parents, teachers, and authority figures and we believe them.

The Book of Life offers practical ideas and useful exercises on creating a better life, which are presented in a down to earth, easy to read manner. The understanding you may gain will enable you to break free of the beliefs that are holding you back. This book can literally change your life.

I feel very fortunate. When I look back on my life, it seems so magical! And, I want to pay forward the joy by sharing the knowledge that has come my way. The knowledge of not only how to be successful, but how to be happy!

Some of the artists that I have been involved with:

Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons Ertha Kitt

Freddy Cannon The Echoes

Conway Twitty The Baker Gurvitz Army

Cliff Richard & The Shadows The Tornadoes

Dusty Springfield Olivia Newton-John

The Kinks Tom-T-Hall

The Gun Richie Valance

Roy Orbison Jerry Lee Lewis

Gene Vincent Tony Meehan & Jet Harris

The Animals Jerry & The Pacemakers

The Beatles Kinki Dee

Johnny Preston The Swinging Blue Jeans

Rodger Whittaker The Londoners

Dell Shannon Bert Weedon

The John Barry 7 Wee-Willie-Harris

The Tornadoes Hermans Hermits

Acker Bilk Tony Crombie

A few of the producers, promoters & managers I have worked with:

Mike Collier - Producer (Sam Cooke)

Don Arden - Music Manager, father of Sharon Osbourne (Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), The Small Faces, The Move, Black Sabbath)

Micky Most - Producer (The Animals, Lulu, Herman’s Hermits, Donovan, Gene Vincent)

Peter Grant - Manager (Led Zeppelin, The Yardbirds, Bad Company)

Sam Curtis - Manager (The Kinks, Tony Meehan & Jet Harris)

Peter Grant - Tour Manager (Bo Diddley, The Everly Brothers, Little Richard, Brian Hyland, Chuck Berry, Gene Vincent, The Animals)

Mike Smith - Producer for Decca Records (Turned down the Beatles) (Produced Brian Poole, Georgie Fame, Marmalade, The Tremeloes)

Laurie Jay - Producer (Shirley Bassey, Billy Ocean)

Big Jim Sullivan - Musical Director (Tom Jones)

Peter Oakman - Musical Director (Lonnie Donegan)

John Barry - Orchestra Leader (The John Barry 7) James Bond Movie Soundtrack

This book was written to help people be happy with whatever they have so that they can go on to be successful in life with whatever they do. This is not a book to create wealth, lose weight, find the right partner, etc. it’s a book to create joy in your life. To create satisfaction with whatever is in your life, to banish fear from your life and from that point hopefully, your life will be magical.

==============================================================

Tina Brinkley Potts is the host of Sitting At The Feet Of Giants, a video show that interviews Giants - those that have accomplished something spectacular.

Tina Brinkley Potts is a Top Gun Consultant award winning author, business strategist and online marketing trainer. Her trainings, coaching sessions and services have helped professionals, entrepreneurs and small business owners in 25 countries worldwide to grow their businesses and careers to expert status.