Franke Previte formed Franke and the Knockouts in 1980, who had three Top 40 singles and two Top 50 albums. Franke co-wrote music for the hit soundtrack Dirty Dancing featuring the Academy Award winning “The Time of my Life.” He also co-wrote “Hungry Eyes,” which was a #1 U.S. Adult Contemporary hit sung by Eric Carmen. Franke and the Knockouts most recent album was titled The Complete Collection. We interviewed Franke in June of 2011. In our Showcase Segment, we feature Gerry Beckley (interviewed in Episode 71) of America, who has released 10 solo albums including his 2022 release Aurora. In 2024, he’s dropped several singles including “Crazy” and we expect a new album from him soon. We close out this episode with the legendary Billy Joel who released his first new single since 2007 titled “Turn The Lights Back On.” Kick back and chill as you listen to this episode from the CAT!
Ray's passion for music and the musicians, started as a youth listening to transistor radios under the covers at bedtime. The bands and performers he liked, he followed throughout their career. In 2005 he was fed up with the evolution of a majority of the music the radio stations were playing and began investigating the bands he grew up listening to in the 1960's, 70's and 80's. Radio wasn't playing any of those band's "new" songs, just the "classic" hits. Researching the industry for a year, Ray launched Classic Artists Today syndicated radio show - featuring "new" songs by "classic" artists and included interviews and classic tracks too. The show was carried by several dozen radio stations in the U.S., Canada, Europe and the Caribbean. Featuring Rock/Pop musicians and bands, Ray and the show won several awards from New Music Weekly magazine. With the success of these shows, he launched Coool CAT syndicated radio show, 5 years later, featuring Soul/R&B/Smooth Jazz/Blues performers and bands. In 2017, Ray starting producing his show in a 30-minute podcast format. Today, you can hear his work at Sittin' In With The CAT and Sittin' In With The Coool CAT. The legacy continues!
