| During the post-Piper era, Richie continued to work with Billy Squier, recording demos of Billy's new songs, while also working on a project with another x-Piper band mate, Tommy Gunn. While doing that, he received a call from Paul Stanley of KISS, as the four members of KISS were getting ready to record their individual solo albums. Richie plays drums on the first four songs on Paul Stanley's album, with Paul and members of Meat Loaf's band. This album, of course, was a million seller, going platinum as all other KISS albums usually do. |
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Skatt Bros.
In 1979, Richie Fontana helped form The Skatt Bros. He was the drummer (sometimes guitarist) of this L.A. based dance/rock band founded by Sean Delaney. Signed to Casablanca Records by Neil Bogart, Richie co-wrote a song with fellow band member David Andez called "Walk The Night", which became a dance hit in clubs all over the world.
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| At one point, The Skatt Bros. had 3 songs at #6 on Billboard's Top 100 Dance Chart, plus a gold record in Australia called "Life At The Outpost". |
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Before disbanding in 1981, they recorded two albums:
"Strange Spirits" (Casablanca), and
"Rico And The Ravens" (Polygram-Mercury/Australia). They also recorded what Billboard Magazine called, "a sledgehammer version of Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel", recorded at The Record Plant in Los Angeles. This was issued as a single only.
Skatt Bros. toured Australia (including Tasmania) in 1981, with the group Men At Work as their opening act. |
| They also appeared on many of the TV shows of the day, i.e. Dinah Shore, Merv Griffin, Dance Fever; and in Australia, "Hey Hey It's Saturday", "Countdown", and others. Although their music was generally categorized in the dance genre, in reality, Skatt Bros. was a powerful rock 'n roll band.
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