David Spero, a Rock Radio pioneer in the 1970s
Radio DJ
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,
Michael Stanley
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)
Columbia Pictures
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.
Joe Walsh
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.
Spero produced 'The Joe Walsh/Glenn Frey Tour' – the precursor to '' – after facilitating the reconciliation between Walsh and Frey which eventually brought the entire band back together.
In the late 1990s, in addition to Joe Walsh, Spero was managing other musicians including the classic pop act Raspberries
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
In 2000, Spero accepted a position as Senior Director of Programming for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame where he set up many shows and creative events including
MTV Live At The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
,
Linkin Park,
Avril Lavigne and
Godsmack are among the artists Spero brought to the Rock Hall.
Spero served as a member of their Board of Trustees into 2008.
Among the many events he brought to the Rock Hall, in October 2005, Spero recreated
Upbeat in a benefit helping inner city teenagers.
In addition to his involvement with Cleveland's Hall of Fame, on October 7, 2007, Spero himself was inducted as one of the Radio/Television Broadcasters Hall of Fame of Ohio's Class of 2007.
Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens)
In 2003, managing Billy Bob Thornton, Spero helped his
Edge of the World album get off the ground with a summer tour.
A few years later, in 2007, Spero was
Yusuf Islam's manager, co-managing him with his brother David Gordon, for the Deluxe reissues of
Tea for the Tillerman and
Teaser and the Firecat.
David then did the A&R work for the former Cat Stevens'
Roadsinger CD
and put together his tour in Europe and the US in 2009
which was Islam's first full tour since 1976.
Spero was instrumental in bringing together Paul McCartney and Islam into the recording studio for one of the tracks.
With his son Adam working alongside him,
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