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Brown County Fairgrounds will be
rockin' with band's music tonight
from: www.aberdeennews.com
by Jeff Bahr, American News Writer
Ken Laguna, who is JOAN JETT's longtime musical partner, has been around long enough that he assisted Robert Kennedy's presidential campaign in 1968.
He later helped in the presidential campaign of Ted Kennedy, though he didn't really have a position. "With Bobby Kennedy, I was a hot young songwriter," he says. "I was writing his campaign song when he got assassinated."
Laguna has been in the music business since he was 12 years old. He has been a songwriter, producer and musician dating back to the mid-1960s.
Laguna worked with Tony Orlando, Bill Medley and Darlene Love. He played with Tommy James & the Shondells. He and his wife lived with Sissy Spacek before she was an actress, when she was still trying to make it as a singer. He also recorded with The Who and the Beach Boys.
Joined up in 1979
Laguna has played an important role in JOAN JETT's career since the pair met in 1979. He performs in the band and is Jett's producer and songwriting partner. He has produced and sung on every Jett record.
Jett obviously places a lot of faith in Laguna's abilities. In a list of frequently asked questions distributed by her publicist, Jett says, "It is only me and Ken Laguna who have the last word on what we do."
Since Laguna knows her so well, what kind of person is JOAN JETT?
"She's a very good person," he said in a phone interview. "She really walks it like she talks it. She's got great values. She's humble."
Jett, he noted, has been a star since she was 15 years old. "And she never, ever, thinks of herself as better than anybody else."
But she is very, very down to earth. At one time, he noted, "She had the biggest record on the earth. There were periods of time when she was in a position to maybe get a swelled head and she just never, ever changes." She's "always the same person."
Jett and Laguna both live in New York. They each have places on Long Island and in the western part of Greenwich Village.
It's obvious from his speech that Laguna is a New Yorker. He also speaks like a veteran music figure.
He talks about 1972, "when bubblegum was virtually over." Later, disco and heavy metal "were what was happening."
While he was interviewed, Laguna was talking from his car as he negotiated through New York City. "New York traffic is unbelievable," he said, right after the sound of blaring horns was heard.
Will be in Aberdeen
In addition to producing and songwriting, Laguna sings background on Jett's records. At Jett's Brown County Fair performance tonight, Laguna will play keyboards.
For more than 20 years, Jett has performed for American troops around the world, including many war zones. She was the first American act of any kind to perform behind the Iron Curtain.
She has performed in Kosovo, Iraq and Bosnia, and played two tours in Afghanistan. The first one was two months after Sept. 11, 2001.
Not looking for ink
Laguna and Jett "try to help where we can," he said. "She always wants no publicity even though she's been in hot spots for 20 years." Seeing "Crimson and Clover" become a hit for the second time was another big highlight. Tommy James had a hit with the song in 1968, and it also succeeded for Jett in 1982.
Promoted Dean
As he was in the 1960s, Laguna has again become politically involved. He and Jett campaigned for former Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean. "We went into Iowa and New Hampshire and we were very active," he said.
They also attended the Democratic National Convention in Boston.
Jett has become involved in politics for the first time because she and Laguna feel it's important to change "the whole fabric" of America's leadership.
"We're very disappointed in the direction of this country right now. So we feel like we really can't sit by. Normally, we wouldn't say anything because we're entertainers. But this is a critical time."
One of Jett's strengths, Laguna said, is that "she's respectful of everyone's opinions." Jett is respectful even of "the opinions she has contempt for," he said.
Maybe not as big here
Laguna volunteered for the Ted Kennedy presidential campaign in 1980. He did whatever he could "because I thought Ted Kennedy would have been a good president.
"You're in South Dakota?" he asked. "I don't know if they appreciate Ted Kennedy out there, but he's a hell of a hard-working congressman. He's amazing."
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