The Ledge - Shopping in Atlanta 1990

[While looking at old stuff, I thought I'd throw this Mac mention up here]

Daily News (Los Angeles, CA), April 2, 1989

Section: L.A. LIFE

EDDIE TUDURI'S ROCK 'N' AID FOR UNICEF

BRUCE BRITT Daily News Music Writer

In this era of the big benefit, pop-music charity events aren't so much fund-raisers as multimedia spectacles. Judging from extravaganzas like Live Aid, Farm Aid and Human Rights Now! fans might assume fund raising requires top-draw talent like Bruce Springsteen and Sting, as well as worldwide broadcast rights.

But in 1983 - well before the trend-setting Live Aid benefit - a Los Angeles session drummer named Eddie Tuduri contemplated a more modest approach. Tuduri, who has played on records by the Beach Boys, Marianne Faithfull and others, decided to stage his own scaled-down fund-raiser for the United Nations' UNICEF relief organization with friends like Chicago singer Bill Champlin, late blues legend Paul Butterfield and REO Speedwagon singer Kevin Cronin sitting in.

Tuduri's dream was realized in 1986 at the first ''Musicians for UNICEF'' benefit at the now-defunct Josephina's on Ventura Boulevard. That show, which raised $2,000, was such a rousing success that Tuduri began staging benefits biannually.

''Musicians for UNICEF'' is now an eagerly anticipated event - subsequent shows have grossed as much as $7,000. Respected music products companies such as Sabian cymbals, Drum Workshop, Rimshot drumsticks, the Walt Tucker Group, as well as financial companies such as Guardian Bank, have donated to the event.

This year's show, tonight at the Pelican's Retreat restaurant in Calabasas, features Fleetwood Mac's Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Rick Vito and Billy Burnette, former Men at Work vocalist Colin Hay, ex-Eagles bassist Randy Meisner, Supertramp-Pink Floyd saxophonist Scotty Page, British jazz legend Brian Auger, Doobie Bros.' drummer Chet McCracken and others. These include Tuduri, who will remove his fund-raiser hat and put on his musician's hat.

Tuduri and his friends, in fact, have become so skilled at throwing charity bashes that they are creating a video instructing aspiring Bob Geldofs how to stage their own benefits.

''Eddie's the best,'' effused REO Speedwagon singer Kevin Cronin. ''He's got such a laid-back attitude about this, yet everyone knows he really cares about the UNICEF kids and the musicians involved. It shows at the concert. It's really a big party, but at the same time, it's so much more.''

''It's a lot of fun,'' echoed Fleetwood Mac guitarist Rick Vito. ''I've done benefits before with Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and other people. There's a nice sense of camaraderie (at the UNICEF benefit). And Eddie's got a lot of heart. As an organizer, he's really shown talent. My hat's tipped off to him.''

Despite such glowing accolades, Tuduri is modest about his achievements. He insists the ''Musicians for UNICEF'' project is a collaborative effort. Ever mindful of this, the drummer constantly refers to the effort as ''we,'' though most involved in the show agree he is the chief organizer.

This is not Tuduri's first show of charity. The drummer, in fact, was inspired to create the ''Musicians for UNICEF'' benefit through his sponsorship of a Korean child.

Soft spot for children

''I have always had a soft spot in my heart for kids,'' the drummer said. ''I used to watch Sally Struthers on TV talking about sponsoring kids, and she was my inspiration. Through her commercials, I started sponsoring a kid. Nights sitting up late there, sitting over a scotch, and I'd think, 'For the price of some whiskey, I could feed a kid.' I felt guilty, and rightfully so.''

In 1981 Tuduri moved to Canada from Los Angeles and became actively involved in SaveCan - Save the Children Canada. There he staged his first benefit. Upon returning to Los Angeles in 1985, he investigated ways of producing a similar benefit.

After considering several relief organizations, the drummer settled on UNICEF because ''they seemed to have their stuff a lot more together than the other organizations.''

''UNICEF is not a fad organization,'' Tuduri explained. ''It has operations in 150 countries, and they don't enter countries unless they are asked. That meant a lot to me, because if you're going to put as much time and energy into this as I am, you want to be with people who are knowledgeable.

''(UNICEF's) programs also seemed the most creative. In the Sudan, there are several villages that you cannot reach through airplane, boat or conventional means. So (UNICEF) has a fleet of camels that transports solar-operated refrigerators loaded with vaccination serums. What they do in health care, food and education is just incredible.''

Reach grass-roots groups

Having produced six such benefits, Tuduri is - by rock 'n' roll standards, anyway - a professional fund-raiser. He and his associates will share their expertise on a forthcoming instructional video. The drummer hopes the video reaches grass-roots organizers worldwide that want to make a difference.

''This is for the guy who wants to put on a show at Joe's Bar and Grill in Sandusky,'' Tuduri explained. ''We want him to walk into Joe's and make (the club owner) understand he can put his favorite local players in one band and have fun with it. You charge $10 at the door, do a little promotion and have a great time.

''If I give them about $14,000 or $15,000 from my benefit, that's not a great deal in the scheme of things. But if someone in Dallas or Miami or Kansas City is also donating $1,000 or $2,000, then this positive snowball could turn into a lot of money.

''And it doesn't have to be just in America, either. They could do it in Moscow, or they could do it in Africa. I don't mean to be facetious, but there could be 'Plumbers for UNICEF' or 'Brain Surgeons for UNICEF.' There's no limit to this.''

The Facts

Who: Musicians for UNICEF, featuring Mick Fleetwood, Colin Hay, Randy Meisner, Eddie Tuduri and others.

Where: Pelican's Retreat restaurant, 24454 Calabasas Road, Calabasas.

When: 7 tonight.

Tickets: $20. The show is sold out. For more information, call (818) 710-1550.