If your wondering how a new band like West Heart , formed only about 1 and 1/2 years ago, rates star treatment, take a look at the groups bass guitarist.
To friends and neighbors, Simon may appear to be simply a former insurance executive. But his credits read like a list of who's who in American music and show business. For 14 years, starting at the tender age of 14, he played bass guitar for a group last known as Dyna-Might, which provided back-up music for performers like the Righteous Brothers, Sonny and Cher, Three Dog Night's lead singer Chuck Negron and Darlene Love.
Simon was born into show business. His mother and aunt were well known in the Spanish community in the 1940's as the Hermanas Fraga -- Fraga Sisters -- and were under contract to Columbia Records. His father, whom his mother met at a recording, was a classical guitarist and bass player and had a Mariacih band.
"I was raised in a home that every Thursday night, " said Simon. But, he said, he was not forced into a musical career, rather he was encouraged by access to instruments and instruction and the example and support of his family.
Simon's first claim to fame came when he was cast in the classic movie musical, West Side Story. He was 12 or 13 at the time. "I worked as a dancer in the gym. I was in the background cheering on "my" gang the Sharks. What stared as a lark -- they answered an ad for the Childrens' Screen Actors Guild -- turned out to hard work. "(Making movies) looks so easy and so much fun and it's hard work. I didn't really enjoy it." He decided to focus instead on a musical career.
Shortly after that he joined Dyna-Might, which he would play with for 14 years, not a common occurrence in the entertainment industry. However, Simon said, they all came from families that were professional entertainers, and were themselves disciplined performers.
"They say, the show must go on, no matter what, and it's really true," he said, "but it goes deeper than that.' Simon said he kept commitments immediately after attending first his mother's funeral and later his father's funeral. His parents would have expected him to do that.