Bio

greatlyThe years 1959 through 1962 have brought national attention to Lou Guarino and Lenny Martins' Calico and Robbee Records. They are responsible for producing and marketing many of the groups from the Pittsburgh area. Their labels are touted by many of the worlds leading collectors; Harry Young of the Chicago based National Collectors among them. The Robbee label was one of the few American independent labels distributed nationally by a major record company (Liberty Records of Los Angeles). Guarino and Martins’ legendary Calico and Robbee Records are considered to be the early pioneers of Pittsburgh/East Coast Rock in its purest form. Combined, their two labels brought The LaTeers, honorable Fats Wilson, The LaRells, Jimmy Interval, Lou (Lugee and The Lions) Christie, Marcy Jo and The Skyliners to the ears of America with such hits as “Since I Don’t Have You”, “This I Swear”, “Pennies From Heaven”, “The Jury”, “Daddy’s Little Girl”, “Little Did I Know”, “Ronnie”, “Since Gary Went To The Navy”, “Everybody Knew”, “Please Be Fair”. Our introduction of violins to R&B and Rock music is witnessed by Guarino and Martins’ legendary “Skyliners” recording session which yielded a triple play, that is, coming away with three hit singles from a debut album is a rarity in our industry. Too bad the group’s manager didn’t understand the magic of Calico Records and the Skyliners. On and on the labels continued to record Pittsburgh talent.

greatlyIn late 1962 Lou Guarino formed World Artist Records, anticipating the British invasion, he conducted a talent search trip which yielded and launched the careers of “Chad & Jeremy” and “Christine Quate” among others. Their hits included “A Summer Song”, “Willow Weep For Me”, “Yesterdays Gone”, “Tell Me Mama” and “In The Middle Of The Floor” on the World Artist label. Unfortunately the brilliant career of Christine Quate was cut short due to an automobile accident. Although intended for Chad & Jeremy, Lou Guarino withheld the release of “A Very Good Year” due to production interference by the duo and he offered it to Frank Sinatra, which he accepted graciously. World Artist continued its success with “Joe Sherman, his Orchestra & Chorus”, “Reparata & The Delrons”, “Phillis Hyman”, “Shavells” and a host of artists from around the world. Reparata's charted hits included “Tommy”, “Whenever a Teenager Cries”, “Captain Of My Ship” and “Shoes”. The Joe Sherman Orchestra & Chorus releases included motion picture theme songs, such as: “Mad Mad World”, “The Seventh Dawn” and the American Canadian hit “Toys In The Attic” from the Dean Martin motion picture of the same name. Among many of the hits on Lou Guarino's three nationally acclaimed labels “A Mumbling Word” by The Stereos became a highly sought international collector item.

greatly Lou formed CEMI (Creative Electronics Musical Industry) in 1969 and designed it to penetrate the world of television advertising. Among CEMI's clients were Madison Avenue’s more prestigious advertising firms. CEMI was responsible for bringing television audiences throughout United States and Canada such commercials as “Things Go Better With Coca-Cola” (America’s first musical Coca-Cola commercial), the US Army's recruiting spots “Be All That You Can Be” and a host of others, of which many are still heard today.

greatlyIn July of 1972 Lou Guarino organized North American Music Industries for the purpose of acquiring the EMI/Capitol Records East Coast manufacturing operations. The sprawling five acre custom facility, one of North America’s largest pressing plants manufactured the finest quality pressings in the industry. NAMI became the main source of record manufacturing for Time Life, Readers Digest and Longine Symphonette. NAMI's clients also included RCA, Warner Bros., Reprise, Atlantic Records, Arista, the WEA Group, A&M, CBS, Capitol Records and its classical lines; Angel, Seraphin and the London labels which are the labels that produce the major operas and symphonies of the world.

greatlyLou Guarino has completed the development of a remarkable new learning process incorporating the use of popular music. This new technology is greatly designed to assist teaching Limited English Proficient children and adults the art of speaking conversational English quickly and efficiently as well as interacting learning languages which include French, German, Italian and Spanish. Middle Eastern, Asian and Indian versions are also being developed. By offering a singing incentive, we can effectively administer programmed knowledge to the student with a remarkably high rate of retention while captivating and holding the attention span with the hit songs of the world.

Click here to view "Sing-a-Language" home page.

greatlyLou Guarino has broadened the horizons of WAE Records by incorporating a full service network of interactive divisions which include global marketing, advertising and promotion, and soft goods manufacturing. Lou’s creative divisions include recording studios and mastering facilities. Our facilities are responsible for creating WAE Records projects that cover virtually every category of music (Click on Artists on our home page). We are developing a Rock Opera that can be paralleled to “Jesus Christ Superstar”. “Seven” the Rock Opera is based on the seven deadly sins and will be performed in English, Spanish and Italian. Madrid and Rome are targeted for the European debut performances.