Keep Your Eyes on Him: 44 Years Later, Herb Alpert's Still Going Places
Eric Johnson
March 23, 2006
Back in the day, you couldn?t turn on the TV or the radio without hearing Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. A Clark?s Teaberry Chewing Gum campaign brought ?The Mexican Shuffle? to the masses, ?The Dating Game? brought ?The Spanish Flea? to TV as its theme song, and a string of successful albums had America snapping its fingers for years.
But unlike most pop phenomenons, the story doesn?t end there. 44 years later, Alpert?s still going strong.
The latest renaissance began last year, when Shout! Factory began re-releasing more classic Brass albums than you could fit in the trunk of a Tijuana taxi. This year, the same label?s come out with ?Rewhipped,? a hip cover of the iconic Tijuana Brass album, ?Whipped Cream and Other Delights.?
Oh, and then there?s the induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That?s right, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In 1962, Alpert and his buddy Jerry Moss pooled together a couple hundred dollars and started a little thing called A&M records. 28 years later, they sold it for around a half a billion dollars. No investors. Just them.
Though detractors are quick to dismiss Alpert?s popularity as shameless pandering to the nation?s middlebrow millions, you can?t argue with the numbers: five albums simultaneously in the Top 20, five #1 singles, fifteen Gold albums.
Add to that his theatrical, artistic and philanthropic contributions (he co-produced Tony Kushner?s ?Angels in America,? he?s a highly regarded painter and sculptor and his Herb Alpert Foundation gives five $50,000 fellowships each year to promote the Arts) and you?ve got an American success story by anyone?s standards.
But unlike most pop phenomenons, the story doesn?t end there. 44 years later, Alpert?s still going strong.
The latest renaissance began last year, when Shout! Factory began re-releasing more classic Brass albums than you could fit in the trunk of a Tijuana taxi. This year, the same label?s come out with ?Rewhipped,? a hip cover of the iconic Tijuana Brass album, ?Whipped Cream and Other Delights.?
Oh, and then there?s the induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That?s right, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In 1962, Alpert and his buddy Jerry Moss pooled together a couple hundred dollars and started a little thing called A&M records. 28 years later, they sold it for around a half a billion dollars. No investors. Just them.
Though detractors are quick to dismiss Alpert?s popularity as shameless pandering to the nation?s middlebrow millions, you can?t argue with the numbers: five albums simultaneously in the Top 20, five #1 singles, fifteen Gold albums.
Add to that his theatrical, artistic and philanthropic contributions (he co-produced Tony Kushner?s ?Angels in America,? he?s a highly regarded painter and sculptor and his Herb Alpert Foundation gives five $50,000 fellowships each year to promote the Arts) and you?ve got an American success story by anyone?s standards.
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