Anyway, he was involved in lots of sports activities that he
thought would attract chicks. This did not work as well as he hoped,
so he begged his parents for a drum set. His parents were amazingly
resistant to his endless whining so he settled for a saxophone.This
began the "band dork" phase of his career.
For those unfamiliar with the term "band dork", it simply means a
person who for some unknown reason will devote a tremendous amount of
time and energy to doing marching exercises with a sadistic
individual called a "band director" while wearing a torture device
known as a "band uniform". These kids work very hard only to be
referred to as "band dorks" by their fellow students.
The next instrument was a Baldwin console piano. While his
parents bought a large supply of earplugs Danny worked very hard to
play songs that chicks would dig. Around this time, Mr. Blitz
managed to convince his parents to buy him an acoustic guitar. He
lied convincingly that he would only play John Denver and Willie
Nelson songs on it. Also around this time, Danny lied about his age
to begin working at a local restaurant and starting saving his
pennies. Soon he had the HOLY GRAIL in his hands! A plywood Electric
Guitar and a 10 watt transistor amp!! DISTORTION!! FEEDBACK!! OUT OF
TUNE SOLOS!!
The piano was soon forgotten...
Now that little Danny had an
instrument that would produce the proper testosterone pleasing roar
he had to figure out what to do with it. To discover the forces that
twisted his musical direction we must backtrack a bit. There were a
handful of records from his earliest childhood that had shaped his
tastes.
They were: (in no particular order)
-David Bowie “Changes” compilation
-Hank Williams (Sr.) Greatest Hits
-Buddy Holly's Greatest Hits
-The Everly Brothers' Greatest Hits
-Walt Disney's "The Jungle Book" soundtrack
-Bluegrass music blasted out by his West
Virginia-born Mother
Danny thought it was perfectly logical to play these style of
tunes with a "Van Halen" type of guitar sound. His sound was born
kicking and screaming.
This also made it impossible to find musicians to form a band
with. All of the budding musicians he knew were listening to
progressive rock or metal or some other such stuff. He resigned
himself to never being a "real musician".
Eventually Danny found some players that were so weird
that nobody else would put up with them, and "The Blitz" was born.
This was a REALLY STRANGE BAND. For example, at one
show Danny insisted on having a bugle solo between EACH
SONG. This despite the fact that NO ONE in the band
could actually play the bugle.
This was before Danny was the singer in the group. The singer
called himself "Mark Ten" and he and Mr. Blitz wrote songs about
pirates, girls with questionable sexuality, and the evening news.
This version of "The Blitz" consumed a
GREAT DEAL of beer and destroyed a fairly respectable amount of
equipment. Alas, as all weird things must end, this version of the
Blitz finally imploded.
A very, very important event
occurred at one of the last shows of the first version of "The
Blitz". Danny won a small 4 track recorder. Now armed with his
guitar, a borrowed bass, a Radio Shack microphone, and a cheesy "Dr.
Rhythm" drum machine, he could realize his pure musical vision!
Songs about Elvis and girls who would wouldn't go out with him
flowed forth like a discounted 12 pack of Shaefer beer! Another
important piece of the puzzle is that Danny had a real talent for
staying unemployed.
After a few months of writing lots of wacky tunes
about cutting his hair with a chainsaw, Mr. Blitz decided it was
time form another band...
Enter "The Blitz" - the sequel.
Now Danny was the singer,
songwriter, and lead guitarist of the band. Another important event
occurred at this time. Danny finally heard The Ramones. He realized
that he was playing PUNK ROCK!! This may be hard for someone to
believe, as the Ramones had been around a LONG TIME. But it is
absolutely true.
Now he realized there were A LOT of twisted people out there. And
now HE HAD TO SING ABOUT IT!
"The Blitz" performed all over Houston playing mostly Danny's
songs and a few covers such as "God Save The Queen" and "Your
Cheating Heart". Danny met The Ramones at this time. Anyway, "The
Blitz" finally split up and Danny decided to move on…
Touring around the country and brief stays in Nashville and
Washington DC finally led Danny to Los Angeles… Hollywood to
be exact. YEAH BABY!
Hollywood has been an interesting experience for
Danny. Here are some highlights:
Danny signed a contract with
MTV and the Osbournes show to use
his song “If Ozzy Was My
Dad
” on Season 2 and the “Osbournes
Phenomenon Special”.
SONY Television paid bucks for using Danny's tune "Too Be
Alone" on Dawson's Creek.
At the same time, Danny won an LA Music Award
for "Outstanding Acheivement In
Songwriting"
Also during this period, Danny won " Best Solo
Artist" Iin the Rock City News Awards.
ROCK!!!!
The band won the LA Rock
War 2000 and attained the title of “Best Live Band
In Southern California
”
Yeeeehaaw!
Danny was nominated for “Songwriter of the Year” in the Los
Angeles Music Awards.
Lots of cool press.
Danny has just appeared in his first movie! He plays a high
school athlete/greaser in a 50’s romantic comedy. The film entitled
“The Trouble With Lou” was a winner at the Slamdance Film Festival
and will be released later in 2002.
He has been hanging out with Leif Garrett. He is a nice guy.
Danny has brain cancer but is back in the saddle!
Danny was
born in Houston, Texas when he was very young. This did not amaze
the doctors.