Paul Mangone: Singer, Songwriter, Poet, Musician, Thrill Seeker, Dare Devil, and Hopeless Romantic.

Born on July 16, 1961, Paul grew up in a close knit neighborhood, in a town just 7 miles north of Boston. It was in this neighborhood that he began his love affair with music. Each Saturday morning he would race to the television to watch his beloved Beatles cartoons. Using an old tennis racquet, he would mimic Paul McCartney playing bass. His pals would all get together and pretend they were the Beatles and of course, Paul always had to be Paul.

“That's how I ended up playing the bass”, says Mangone. “I actually learned how to play the drums first, then the piano. When I decided it was time to form a band, I ended up buying a guitar because we didn't have a guitarist. But I always knew I'd play the bass because Paul played bass.”

Paul's other influences were Black Sabbath, Aerosmith and Boston. “I'll never forget the day I heard “More Than a Feeling” on the radio. To me it sounded like nothing I'd ever heard before. It was on that day that I decided I was going to grow up to be a musician.”

Mangone's first crack at the drums came when his best friend, Kenny White, got a drum kit for Christmas. “We took turns banging on those things for hours”, Mangone reminisced. “His brother was legally blind but he was a classically trained pianist and they had this gorgeous piano that I would sit at it and teach myself how to play…what else,” He chuckles, “Beatles songs.”

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At the age of 12, he put together his first band. It was a duo, his pal Kenny on drums and Paul with his shiny, new Les Paul knock-off. His very first live performance was an outdoor fund-raiser for Ted Kennedy, hosted by a very prominent family friend, Paul remembers, he plugged in his Fender amp and Kenny set up his drums and they played Beatles songs. “We thought we were great.”

The smile audible in his voice, Mangone added, “I don't remember if the amp blew or the host unplugged it, but we never did finish our set.”

It was obvious to all who knew him that he'd been bitten by the desire to perform but no matter how involved Paul became with his band, his first love was never too far from his heart…airplanes.

From the time he can remember, Paul yearned to fly. His dad was a licensed pilot and would often take him on recreational flights. Paul revealed as a child he often dreamt of flying planes; even writing his very first song about it called, “The Dream”. Coincidentally, after a succession of short stints in local garage bands, Paul landed the coveted position of bass player for the very popular, original rock band, The Dream.

Paul - The Dream 1983 (click image to enlarge)

The Dream was a combination of two lesser known cover bands, The Direction, and Adrenaline. They had a large following and performed their own material. At this time, Paul was playing bass for a group called “Montage” and was performing mostly covers. He was itching to perform his own songs and had begun staking out the original scene. When the call went out that The Dream was looking for a bass player, Paul knew what he had to do.

“What I remember most about auditioning, Mangone says, “was that I was like the 20 th guy in line and I had to wait all day just to play 10 minutes.” Apparently, that was all he needed. He was now officially part of the band.

Mangone moved swiftly to establish himself as a part of the writing team. The band was preparing to release an independent demo album; called The Dream E.P. and Paul's, “Say Goodbye” was quickly added to the vinyl. The E.P. sold over 3,000 units in just the first few weeks and The Dream was clearly becoming one of Boston's favorite bands.

In 1984, the band went through another change. This time it was their name. A CBS television show, calling itself “Dreams”, planned on releasing a self-titled album to promote its series. Immediately, the band's management slapped a legal injunction on the Production Company, for trademark infringement, halting the TV series.The show's producers paid an undisclosed amount of money to buy the rights of the name “Dream” from the band.

Extreme filming "Mutha" 1984
(click image to enlarge)

Before the ink was dry, the band had changed it's name, to the more appropriate “Extreme” (ex-Dream), and spent the cash on new equipment and their MTV music video called, “Mutha”, which introduced the group to a national audience.

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Over the next year, Extreme recorded, enjoyed good reviews and rode the success of “Mutha”. By 1985, they were performing every weekend to standing room only but something was missing. The band was suffering from a lack of communication. Paul was writing an amazing amount of material but felt it wasn't right for the band. Some of the members were feeling impatient with the business and a change was in the air.

Nuno Bettencourt, an accomplished guitarist and fan of Extreme, caught the eye and ear of Gary Cherone. After just a few short meetings, it was official. Guitarists Peter Hunt and Hal Lebeaux were out and Nuno was in.

It was then that Paul really exploded as a writer. “After Nuno joined the band I started pulling out some of my harder stuff and something just clicked” says Mangone. “We recorded one of my songs, “Americocaine” and Nuno did this amazing solo on it and it sounded unbelievable. We were really enjoying the direction that we were taking. I was writing the harder stuff, Gary was into the funky stuff and Nuno was diggin' all of it.”

But the record companies weren't too supportive of their eclectic style and pushed for a more mainstream sounding Extreme. Paul felt like the suits were trying to mold them into something they weren't. “All the hair and Glam bands were big then and that's what they wanted us to be.”

While on tour in Portugal, Paul was about to embark on some changes of his own. Landing in the Azores, he recalled how the pilot made this bizarre pass along the waters edge. “It was such a weird maneuver that I had to go speak to the pilot.” He smiles, then continues, “I ended up going into the cockpit and having this wonderful conversation with him.”

To his band mates it appeared Paul was more excited about the flight than he was about the tour. The Azores was Nuno's home turf and the band was wildly popular, playing to sold-out stadiums but the whole time he was there Paul just kept thinking about flying.

After he got back to the states, Paul found himself at a crossroads. His thoughts were increasingly less on music and more on the other things he wanted to do with his life: starting a family, having a career in law enforcement, attaining his pilots license, and finding the time to sky dive.

“The truth is”, confessed Mangone, “I wasn't pleased with our management and I didn't trust the business. I was feeling very disillusioned and it seemed liked all the record companies cared about was how we looked.” After several-failed contract negotiations Paul had had it.

Surprisingly, when he made the decision to leave Extreme, it was Paul who contacted Pat Badger to suggest he consider the gig. “I knew Pat and felt he was not only a great musician but a great guy. I thought if anyone was cut out for this band he was.”

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Paul's final Extreme performance was at the end of 1986, at Boston's premiere rock club Narcissus. “I remember the place was packed that night and the guys let me just go nuts”, recalls Mangone. “During the show, I played this unbelievable solo and the crowd went bezerk!”

For Paul, the evening seemed surreal. Performing some of his best licks; he'd just experienced one of the greatest live-musical moments of his career but for his unwitting fans? They had just tasted his last.

In 1987, Badger stepped into Extreme and at 13,000 feet, with a parachute strapped to his back; Mangone stepped out of a moving plane, marking his first sky dive. His list of things-to-do was getting shorter.

He became a licensed pilot in 1988 and after passing his pilot's test he and his father actually bought back the plane his father once owned and Paul had grown up with. “There it was, parked at the end of the airfield.” Paul laughs as he remembers how much it cost. “We paid a ridiculous amount of money for it.”

It now appeared his life was coming full circle and the incredible sense of freedom he felt as he soared through the sky only served to inspire more material. “It's true”, Paul admits, “Every time I landed my plane I started writing something.”

It's been several years since Paul has performed regularly in concert but he has never put down his guitar or his pen. “Since the day I retired from Extreme, I have continued to write and arrange my music. I have so much material I'm having difficulty deciding which songs to release first.”

“Fly By Wire” is his first solo release and he hopes to attract singers and performers who are looking for good material to record. “I am really interested in publishing my material with the purpose of attracting good artists.”

He attributes his big leap back into the music business to one little phone call. “I got a call back in 1995”, Mangone reports, “and it was Nuno. He asked me if I was interested in playing in his new band, Mourning Widows. “I hooked up with him for an afternoon and it was great.”

Although, Paul declined to join the group, the encounter ignited an old and powerful flame. “That's basically how this whole thing got started”, contemplates Mangone, “The website, the CD, everything, was initiated because of that phone call and it's been such an awesome experience; especially being able to record with some great musicians and old friends.”

Matt McKay, Paul's former guitarist from Montage (and former Adrenaline guitarist) sat in for the acoustic solo on "Wish You Had Someone Now", and with the exception of the harmonica and drums, remarkably Paul plays all his own instruments. He co-produced “Fly by Wire” with Mike Pietrini and performed all of the vocals, as well, wisely inviting Gary Cherone to join him on harmonies with "Fly Like A Bird”.

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Paul Mangone 2004 (click image to enlarge)

The songs that make up “Fly By Wire” represent what was happening in his life, at the time he wrote them. Paul explains, “I've included different songs that mean different things to me. My grandparents were a very important part of my life and “The Rain” was written after the loss of my grandmother.”

Paul wrote, "Fly Like a Bird" on July 16, 1999, in memory of John F. Kennedy, Jr. That's the day JFK, Jr. died which, ironically, is also Paul's birthday. “I always felt like he was my kindred spirit. I mean, we were very close in age, liked a lot of the same things and had an immense respect for our own fathers…and he loved to fly. I really felt terrible when I heard his plane went down and writing this song was one of the ways I coped with the grief.”

It seems for now Paul has reconciled his feelings towards the recording business, explaining, “Releasing an independent CD has allowed me the artistic freedom and individual control I felt was lacking when I was with Extreme.”

For Paul, releasing “Fly By Wire” is not only a personal achievement, it shows he's finally consummated the two major forces that drive him: his music and the wild blue yonder.

"Fly By Wire” is on sale now.

Paul is already at work on his next CD, which includes several celebrity duets with guest musicians and will showcase a collection of his favorite John Lennon and Beatles songs.