and eventually became convinced after that. We wrote a couple more songs that he like that ended up on the record. But the funny thing
is, the singles "Nobody's Fool" and "Shake Me" were on the developmental deal and he said those weren't hits. Those will never be on
the record.
Scotty J: That's too funny.
Tom Keifer: Well ya know, he's doing his job. He probably thought they were hits. He was trying to motivate us.
Scotty J: Now were you guys touring at the time, or were you doing all that work here in Philadelphia?
Tom Keifer: No we still hadn't left home yet. We played 2 or 3 clubs in the area and we had day gigs. Ya know, we're recording demos,
and that’s what we were doing at the time.
Scotty J: Philly is kind of my stomping grounds, I'm out there doing a lot of my work. And venues are always changing names, shutting
down. It's almost a rotating door so to speak. Did you have a particular venue that you like playing in that area?
Tom Keifer: We really only had 2 that we played, because when Cinderella was formed, the focus was original music. We were 100%
original, and the whole south Jersey and Philadelphia scene were dominated by cover clubs. So there really was nowhere for an all original
band to play. Most of the bands had to go in and do 3 sets of covers, and maybe in the third set throw in a couple of their own. I didn't
really think that was a way to develop your own sound, so where Cinderella was formed I pulled out of the club scene and got a day gig.
You know, the dirty work day gig, and I just focused on writing music. We just rehearsed every night after we got off work, and we'd get
together in the attic of an American Legion building, work out the arrangements and stuff, and do some demos and send them out. And
that was the idea. You know, we'd get a record deal by having music and then you gotta get it in the right hands. So, we had the right idea
and we were taking all the steps. And eventually, it led somewhere. But the only clubs we played…there was a club in south Jersey in
Somerdale called THE GALAXY…and the owner would let all original bands play there--and that's when we started cutting our teeth live.
And then the club EMPIRE in the north east. I don't think either of these clubs are there any more. They had all ages Sunday, where they
would let all original bands play. And we'd play there maybe once a month on the Sunday night gigs when they let original bands play.
We started becoming a regular at the Galaxy in New Jersey. We played there like every Friday night or every Saturday night.
Scotty J: Obviously record sales are what drove the success of artists in the 1980's and arguably the 1990's. But if you were to come out
today? Like, let's just say you were to come out in 2010, maybe 25 years later then you actually did--do you ever think about how much
harder it might have been getting started? Do you ever think about the kind of challenges that you maybe even face now as an artist versus
what you had to deal with 25 to 30 years ago?
Tom Keifer: Well, I am facing the same, in a way, the same kind of challenges as a new artist, when I released my new record. The biggest
challenge for anyone right now is, you know, record sales are just out the window. You know, because there's so much streaming and online piracy--if you want to call it that--and people just don't really pay for records anymore. So, I mean, honestly, the amount of airplay
we've had on "Solid Ground", the first single from "The Way Life Goes"…if it was 1989, I'd probably have a double platinum album right
now. It's a very different world that we're in. So in a way, I am subject to those challenges. The advantage I do have is, from an almost 30
year history that I have with a fan base that still loves to come out and watch us play live. And in the show I play all of the Cinderella hits
and favorites, as well as stuff from the new record. So that's an attraction to be able to go out and play live and have great crowds and
all. The big difference and the challenge that I'm faced with that every artist is today, new, old, whatever, is record sales are down the
tubes. So it's challenging to make money off the music itself.
Scotty J: So you really need to tour like you're doing now?
Tom Keifer: Yeah. But even touring, still in this world, I have the advantage of a large fan base that keeps us out there on the road playing
pretty big shows to pretty big crowds. But that still doesn't necessarily move the needle in the record department.