The Quintessential HIT MAN

He's been slapped by Frank Sinatra, punched by John Lennon and ridiculed by the head of Ringo Starr's record company. L. Russell Brown as a broken child, seriously beaten by an abusive father, living in housing project as a kid, Jewish, who had to steal food for himself, and family. Yet, his "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Tree" became a symbol for families of hostages, soldiers, and loved ones who were heart fully missed. Instead, he took the narrow path, on a difficult road, and has lived a life of struggle and fame, by following his passion of writing songs that have been recorded by many of the world's greatest superstars. They have made millions of dollars, and at the same time, have touched our hearts, minds, and souls. "Yellow Ribbons" led to the pink ribbons used for cancer awareness, and to other meaningful ways of expressing our shared human grief and sorrows. As Brown says, "He had more turn downs than a cheap motel bed" when it comes to pitching his songs to music publishers. Yet, his is a story of courage, and a life shared with the most famous people in the music and entertainment world.

Iconic songwriter Sandy Linzer worked with the famous Bob Crewe in the early years of rock & roll writing songs for recording artists The Four Seasons, Hits included "Dawn", "A Lover's Concerto", "Working My Way Back to You", and "Let's Hang On". His songs and recordings have touched millions of fans over the last 50 years as he continues to write songs for, and sometimes produce, superstars including Kool & the Gang, The Backstreet Boys, Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band, The Toys, the late Whitney Houston, N'Sync, Barry Manilow, T.S. Monk, Odyssey, The Spinners, Al Hirt, and many others. In addition, Linzer has written soundtracks for movies and network TV shows including Jersey Boys, Ten Things I Hate About You, Donnie Brasco, The Preacher's Wife, Cheech & Chong's Next Movie and (you guessed it), many more.

Dr. Larry Wacholtz is a full professor at the Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business at Belmont University in Nashville Tennessee. As a consultant to industry professionals, his research company EMR provided psychographic image research for MCA and Word records. He is the former Director of Music Business Entrepreneurship Center at Belmont University, which provided many seminars and workshops for industry wannabes to meet and discuss their business ideas with highly successful industry artists and executives. Larry has several books about how the business operates and has published in journals, and presented esearch papers at many entrepreneurial and entertainment business national conferences.