VINTAGE NEON: LA 1979

In 1979, singer and long time New Yorker Billy Vera relocated to Los Angeles to write songs for Warner Bros Music. After a decade off the charts, his song, "I Really Got The Feeling" had reached number one in a recording by Dolly Parton. "It felt like an omen, like I was back in show business," says Vera today.

Hooking up with his former bass player, Chuck Fiore, who'd been in town for three years, the two hit upon the idea of forming a band, "to meet girls." Thus, Billy Vera & the Beaters were born.

While in St. Croix in the Virgin...