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David Spero
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David Spero
David Spero, a rock-radio pioneer in the 1970s is a high-profile music manager and owner of the Cleveland office of Alliance Artists Ltd.
At the age of 13, before beginning his career as a DJ at WXEN (now WHLK), WNCR (now WGAR-FM), WMMS, M105-FM (now WMJI), and WNCX, Spero worked as a cue card holder on The Upbeat Show which his father, Herman Spero, produced. At 15, Spero was helping to set the order of songs as a co-writer and assistant producer of the show. In describing the show, Spero explained that it was like Dick Clark's American Bandstand in that it featured the newest performers and their music, but unlike Clark's show, which had just one act and mostly dancing, Upbeat had eight or more live acts each week.
At the age of 16, Spero got his start in radio on WXEN's graveyard shift. Shortly after WXEN, Spero moved to WNCR and then WMMS at around 19 years of age. While still living with his parents, Spero got a break at WNCR when radio host Don Imus helped him get promoted to the morning spot on the station. As a DJ at WMMS in the 1970s, Spero interviewed most of the rock stars who went to Cleveland. In fact, Humble Pie credits Spero for breaking the band locally in the US. And, although his fellow DJ "Kid Leo" is widely credited with breaking Bruce Springsteen, it was Spero who "told fellow WMMR [sic] DJ 'Kid Leo' about Springsteen."
In the spring of 1974, Spero took a break from being a DJ and resigned as the afternoon drive host on WMMS to manage Michael Stanley's career. Spero managed the Michael Stanley Band during their early building process. According to Jim Girard of Citi-Music Magazine, Spero used his influence to get the band a deal with Epic Records, although Spero credits Bill Szymczyk and Irving Azoff – Joe Walsh's manager at the time, with getting Michael's new band signed. Michael Stanley's second solo album, Friends and Legends, was the first project Spero was involved with as his manager.
Spero was managing Stanley when his band opened for the Eagles on tour, thus Spero gained valuable experience in managing a band and developed a relationship with the Eagles, both of which proved helpful to Spero's career.
In 1978 Spero returned to radio at Cleveland's M105-FM (now WMJI) both to avoid the travel since he was newly married and because he missed working in radio.
Radio felt increasingly corporate and no longer held the same appeal for Spero, so he again looked for a change in career. Even as he kept a foot in the door with radio via a Saturday show on WNCX, Spero left M105-FM and spent over ten years with Columbia Pictures. In March 1984, Boxoffice magazine listed in its "On the Move" page that Spero was promoted to Manager of the Cleveland-Cincinnati branch office. He continued to work up through the ranks and was Columbia's Regional Managing Director in Independence, Ohio, when the film company relocated that office to Chicago.
Returning to talent management, Spero became Joe Walsh's manager just before Walsh released his ninth studio album Ordinary Average Guy. Spero and Walsh have maintained a friendship for over thirty years.
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David Spero
David Spero, a rock-radio pioneer in the 1970s is a high-profile music manager and owner of the Cleveland office of Alliance Artists Ltd.
At the age of 13, before beginning his career as a DJ at WXEN (now WHLK), WNCR (now WGAR-FM), WMMS, M105-FM (now WMJI), and WNCX, Spero worked as a cue card holder on The Upbeat Show which his father, Herman Spero, produced. At 15, Spero was helping to set the order of songs as a co-writer and assistant producer of the show. In describing the show, Spero explained that it was like Dick Clark's American Bandstand in that it featured the newest performers and their music, but unlike Clark's show, which had just one act and mostly dancing, Upbeat had eight or more live acts each week.
At the age of 16, Spero got his start in radio on WXEN's graveyard shift. Shortly after WXEN, Spero moved to WNCR and then WMMS at around 19 years of age. While still living with his parents, Spero got a break at WNCR when radio host Don Imus helped him get promoted to the morning spot on the station. As a DJ at WMMS in the 1970s, Spero interviewed most of the rock stars who went to Cleveland. In fact, Humble Pie credits Spero for breaking the band locally in the US. And, although his fellow DJ "Kid Leo" is widely credited with breaking Bruce Springsteen, it was Spero who "told fellow WMMR [sic] DJ 'Kid Leo' about Springsteen."
In the spring of 1974, Spero took a break from being a DJ and resigned as the afternoon drive host on WMMS to manage Michael Stanley's career. Spero managed the Michael Stanley Band during their early building process. According to Jim Girard of Citi-Music Magazine, Spero used his influence to get the band a deal with Epic Records, although Spero credits Bill Szymczyk and Irving Azoff – Joe Walsh's manager at the time, with getting Michael's new band signed. Michael Stanley's second solo album, Friends and Legends, was the first project Spero was involved with as his manager.
Spero was managing Stanley when his band opened for the Eagles on tour, thus Spero gained valuable experience in managing a band and developed a relationship with the Eagles, both of which proved helpful to Spero's career.
In 1978 Spero returned to radio at Cleveland's M105-FM (now WMJI) both to avoid the travel since he was newly married and because he missed working in radio.
Radio felt increasingly corporate and no longer held the same appeal for Spero, so he again looked for a change in career. Even as he kept a foot in the door with radio via a Saturday show on WNCX, Spero left M105-FM and spent over ten years with Columbia Pictures. In March 1984, Boxoffice magazine listed in its "On the Move" page that Spero was promoted to Manager of the Cleveland-Cincinnati branch office. He continued to work up through the ranks and was Columbia's Regional Managing Director in Independence, Ohio, when the film company relocated that office to Chicago.
Returning to talent management, Spero became Joe Walsh's manager just before Walsh released his ninth studio album Ordinary Average Guy. Spero and Walsh have maintained a friendship for over thirty years.
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