March 31, 1978 :

A date that I will always remember, because of
the charisma and kindness of a 25 year old
man named Gino Vannelli.

It was a glorious springtime afternoon, one which a second year Pittsburgh college student could think of countless other things to do besides go to class. While paging through the newspaper, an advertisement hit me square in the eye...
"Gino Vannelli at Oasis Records & Tapes, Tonight." Although a bolt of excitement went through my mind upon seeing this ad and pondering how crowded it would be at the record store, my wheels were immediately turning. I thought to myself,
"That store will be so jammed with people that I'll never get to talk with him." Now, keep in mind, this was the 70's, an era when security was not a crisis issue like today. Since the ad stated "Tonight" I reasoned that he HAD to be in town now!

My feet took me to The Pittsburgh Hyatt House,
a fancy place, a place that he would probably be at.
After being one, little, pain in the neck to a
lot of people, I finally ascertained that he
was staying at the Hyatt. Being the super
snoop that I was, I narrowed down the floor and
room that he was staying at. All I had to do now
was to hang out at the elevators on his floor.
Surprisingly, I did not have to wait long before I heard a muffled door closing along the plush, dark carpeting.
Three figures slowly walked towards me at the elevators...Joe Vannelli, the manager, and HIM! This tall, dark, handsome, Italian Adonis was dressed in a thick, black, woven sweater to match his very long, luxuriant hair. He had on faded blue jeans, and medium brown, cowboy boots. He also had what seemed to be a tiny film case draped on his shoulder. As the trio got closer to me, I instinctively reached out my right hand, smiled, and announced, "Gino Vannelli...Gary Toney,"
to which Gino replied, "Would you like an interview?" I thought to myself..."WHAT A GREAT IDEA!!!"
This was going to be my "reason" for hanging out with the most amazing singer in the world!!!

The manager said to me,
"We're heading downstairs now."
As the elevator doors opened on cue,
I followed the men in, and we began chatting
in the elevator as the doors closed.
I was spewing forth sentence after sentence
of praise towards Gino about how his last album,
"A Pauper In Paradise" was a true stroke of genius,
and so forth, (well it was!) when I asked him, "When is your next album ready? Gino remarked that, "I have 40 songs written." I couldn't remember the rest of what he was saying because I was in such awe of him.

The elevator stopped at a lower floor, and a middle aged woman stepped in with her hands full of clothes on coat hangers. Immediately, Gino took the hangers from her and held them for her to which the woman exclaimed, "Well, aren't you the gentleman?" Gino just smiled and nodded. Finally, the elevator doors opened up to the lobby level, and we all walked out, as Gino gave the clothes back to the woman.

Joe, the manager, and Gino walked to the center
of the carpeted lobby, near the long,
comfortable couches to look for the interviewer.
Gino had some time to talk, so he asked me,
"What questions do you have?"
I must have said something like,
"Oh, I'll just wait."
As we all stood there, I thought to myself,
"Where are all the camera people?...
Where are the fans?...
Where are all the screaming girl groupies?" It was surprisingly quiet. Chuck Brinkman a DJ from WTAE was there with his camera man, discussing with the manager what the plan was.
I could see Gino looking out of the corner of his eye at me, probably thinking, "What does this guy want?" I was just taking everything in, mesmerized. Finally, the group of them decided to go upstairs to the hotel suite for the interview. I just tagged along, blending in with the walls, doors, and fire extinguishers. When we got to the well decorated penthouse suite, everyone took their places, and Chuck Brinkman began the interview.

Unfortunately, one of Chuck's questions
to Gino was, "How long does it take you
to blow dry your hair?" Gino responded
slowly by quietly saying,
"Let's not talk about my hair."
While Chuck and his camera man had to do a "cut"
and regroup, Joe Vannelli was standing next to me and asked, "Do you have any questions?" I replied, "Oh, I'm just going to watch." By now, the Vannelli brothers were probably thinking to themselves, "We invited a groupie to our hotel suite!" Chuck Brinkman's interview continued with Gino responding with answers like, "I size a guy up to see if I can take him." and "I like women." During one of the breaks in video taping, Gino stood up to do a bit of improvisational chanting/singing with Joe. It was a humorous moment. Their manager took the Vannelli's early dinner orders. Gino said, "Soup, salad, shrimp, yogurt," in that distinctly Canadian "YO-gurt" style. After over an hour of questions, answers, funny stories and breaks, it was time to call it a wrap.

While we were all walking down the hallway,
I said aloud, "Boy, you guys must do this out
of the goodness of your hearts." I did not hear
a response, probably because they were thinking
to themselves, "One Chuck Brinkman is enough."

I then had the nerve to ask for something to
remember this by, to which Gino graciously suggested to his manager "a photo." His manager quickly produced for me a keepsake black & white glossy photo of Gino, dressed in a silky, white, sashed shirt with his manly chest showing as he bellowed out a long held note and pointed into the darkness.

The elevator reached the lobby, once again, the doors opened, and waiting for Gino was his girlfriend, whom he kissed and held hands with. Gino shook hands with me and offered a farewell by saying, "Well, Gary, it was nice meeting you." I was filled with compassion and gratitude as I shook hands with the amazing, ahead of his time,
Gino Vannelli. I said, "Oh, it was great Gino!...
and if you ever want a Syrian or Polish dinner,
just give me a call."
I handed him a piece of paper with my phone
number on it. He smiled and walked hand in
hand with his girlfriend, Joe, and his manager
as they made their way into Hugo's Restaurant
in the lobby.

Needless to say, my head was spinning
and pulsating with exhilarating joy!!!
I'm 19 years old, and I just hung out with
the coolest guy in the world,

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We speak about the 70's overhere on this web page....
Did you know there are real Gino Vannelli stickers ???
One is a white Gino Vannelli sticker.
And the otherone is completely silver.
the silver sticker is impossible to scan but here are the results :

GINO VANNELLI STICKERS FROM THE 70'S !!!

This advertisement was packed
with the Gino Vannelli stickers !!!