Synopsis
It began as a simple idea. The retelling of the four of us from Indiana’s musical adventures in the wild and chaotic West Coast of the mid-1960s for friends and family. It turned into a memoir of our story as seen and experienced through my eyes, and–in the end, it became what it had always been-–A LOVE STORY.
ENCHANTED, BOOK 2 OF THINGS WE LOST IN THE NIGHT CONCLUDES A FAST-MOVING, ROMANCE-FILLED MEMOIR of a young singer and his friends search for success in the 1960s music business of California and Las Vegas - if you liked memoirs from Carly Simon, Keith Richards, Patti Smith, Tommy James, and "The Wrecking Crew," you're sure to enjoy Night People.
In the final three years of Things We Lost in the Night, the band’s trajectory continues to rise as their latest record is expected to debut high on Billboard Magazine's Hot 100. In Hawaii, Larry encounters a life-threatening moment and an indelible romantic fantasy, experiences on this beautiful and exotic island during the Vietnam War change his life in many ways. The following homecoming trip to perform in Indianapolis is far less satisfying than he’d expected, and a national tragedy affects the hit record everyone expected.But the band’s appearance successes continue to soar as they headline in a Las Vegas nightclub with famous bands like Sly and the Family Stone and discover that their band has become the model for the latest supergroup, Three Dog Night.
Though the recording success they’d hoped for hasn’t materialized yet, the Flamingo Hotel has booked them on a long-term contract to play in a dance/showroom designed and built especially for them, the Sky Room. Here they perform for the biggest stars in the world, including Tom Jones and Elvis Presley, and play with internationally famous musicians who come to sit in with them. Larry feels he’s living a romantic fairy tale with his new wife and baby son and has been given a second chance to redeem the failure of his first marriage.
When the Flamingo’s owner completes construction on the new International Hotel, the world’s largest resort casino, Elvis Presley is booked in the main showroom to begin his legendary climb to superstardom in the city that never sleeps. Stark Naked and the Car Thieves are expected to open the Crown Room simultaneously in a venue similar to the Sky Room at the top of the new hotel. After another record release fizzles, the band is frustrated with their progress as recording artists.
Though they have been chosen by Capitol Records to record the theme song for a new major movie, Larry realizes their options are limited by the band’s inability to create their own original music, their own sound. But the disappointment continues when the movie fails to be completed, and forces are at work to implode the band. Larry is determined to find new ways to develop the band’s creativity. During a scheduling mixup that results in another trip home to Indiana, a crisis arises. His new wife and son are missing and he faces severe threats to his life and sanity as he attempts to salvage his family and keep the band together.
PRAISE FOR BOOK 1 NIGHT PEOPLE
"Whether or not you remember the swift intoxicating music of that era or the seismic shift of mores that burst from the free-love movement, [NIGHT PEOPLE] captures the beat of that misty time when the country suffered "a growing thirst for individual freedom, a desire to escape from an ever-darkening shadow of war, and a national hangover following the public murder of a young and popular president." -- C.D. Quyn, Steph Rodriguez, Manhattan Book Review
"Larry Dunlap lived it. His memoir 'NIGHT PEOPLE' is a frank, funny, frenzied chronicle of the 60's West Coast music scene." -- Susan Shapiro, New York Times bestselling memoirist, FIVE MEN WHO BROKE MY HEART, GOOD AS YOUR WORD, OVEREXPOSED
About the Author
Larry J. Dunlap is the author of Night People, Book 1 and Enchanted, Book 2, the two volumes of THINGS WE LOST IN THE NIGHT, A Memoir of Love and Music in the 60s with Stark Naked and the Car Thieves.
Larry's writing career began as a pencil-for-hire, technical and training writer for Fortune 50 companies in the 90s. In the 70s, the years following his memoir, Larry worked most of the decade in Hollywood as a personal manager, publisher, and Sunset Boulevard recording studio owner/operator. In the 80s Larry co-founded the first all-digital broadcasting network, followed by several years in video and film production and post-production.
His favorite project has been imagining a galactic empire with a trilogy backstory and detailed history as a backdrop for an online game system. He designed an innovative gameplay and delivery system and worked with his team to develop a breakthrough graphical multiplayer online strategy game, IMPERIAL WARS.
He is a published short story author, music magazine columnist, and authored and drew a published music-based cartoon strip named Frets. Currently, Larry writes fiction and creative non-fiction from his home near the ocean in southern California where he counts his blessings and shares his life with his wife Laurie and their Chilidog.
Find out more at larryjdunlap.com
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