Shayne Zucker


Meet Shayne Zucker from Chicago, Illinois.

I live in Chicago with my wife, Renee and my two children, Rachel (6) and Mayer (4). We have been here a couple of years after moving around quite a bit. Both my wife and I grew up in Texas (Dallas, to be exact).

When I was 12 (1974), my brother and I went to the old Eckerd's Drug Store because he promised to buy me Elton John's Greatest Hits. While there, he saw the LP "Holiday" and since he liked the song "Tin Man", he decided to buy it. Although I listened to the radio a lot, I only had a vague recollection of a couple of America songs. He only needed to play it once. When I heard "Another Try", I was hooked. We must have listened to that LP 1000 times. We had planned to drive to Austin in the summer to see them at the "Summer Break" concert, but unfortunately, we couldn't. It seemed everytime they were near, there was a reason we couldn't go.

That summer, I took a trip by car with my folks and my other brother lent me the 8-track to the first album. To this day, it remains my favorite. maybe because of the memories of that trip, but more than likely because of the quality of the album. As much as I loved the band's music, after the summer, I started to drift into other bands. Then "Hearts" was released. No other band has come close since. I remember being first in line (there really wasn't a line, per se) at Sound Warehouse to buy all the subsequent LP's.

I went to California for high school (dormitory and all) and after 4 years, every roomate I had was hooked. Especially on "Alibi". I then went to New York for college and got involved with my college radio station. Needless to say, I played something off "View From The Ground" every week. It was there that I was finally able to see them in concert. My friend waited in line for over two hours to make sure she got us great seats to see the band at Radio City Music Hall. We sat in the sixth row and it was incredible. It was also the first time I had realized that there were others who were as devoted as fans as I was. There must have been a dozen people around us who knew the songs from the very first note. It became a contest. Afterwards, we decided to hang around outside the stage door (it was freezing) to see if we could see the band. I still have the autographed ticket stub. That was cool. My roomate got to hold Dewey's beer (could've been Perrier, my memory only works so well) while he signed my ticket. While we were waiting for them, a group of fans stood out in the freezing cold on 53rd St in New York singing America songs. That was something.

I was able to see America again in 1986 in Houston. They performed with Three Dog Night at a small arena. It was very cozy. As they left the stage I asked Dewey when the next LP would be out and he said (in passing) "maybe next year". Unfortunately, it took five more years. However, during that time I got married and in 1991, had a daughter (my wife wouldn't let me name her Daisy). To make the year even more complete, America performed at an air base (in Denver-I told you we've moved around a lot). They played a song I had never heard, so the next day, I went to the record store and lo and behold, there was "Encore". I bought the CD and the cassette (so I could hear it in the car on the way home).

Well, two cities and one child later, we were fortunate to see them again. This time in 1995 at Pine Knob outside Detroit. I was working as a Youth Coordinator and my chapter president borrowed my "America" CD and loved it. So, my wife and I took him to see the band (again with Three Dog Night). He even put a picture of the first album on his yearbook page (spanning the generations).

So, I have been a fan for 24 years now. My children are becoming fans. I sing them to sleep with "Sergeant Darkness", "All My Life", "1960" and others. Hopefully, we'll be able to see them again this year. I promised my son we would try. (Steve - he still thinks that you are the guy who sings the songs). Who knows, maybe we can get a picture for him?!

I have to add that being a fan for so long, it is very gratifying to see so many others who feel the way I do. When I first found out about these web sites (Steve's and Rick's), I was amazed. Y'all (my Texas roots) do terrific work and it really is greatly appreciated.


Update (November 24, 1998): I posted my bio a while back and I've had a couple of additions since then. Elisha and Daniel (twin boys) were born 10 weeks ago and the only word to describe them is "exhausting".

Feel free to send your comments or questions to Shayne.



Written: 23 February 1998
Last Revised: 3 September 1999