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John Centinaro

John Centinaro is a long time Tampa area song writer and manager who's roots in music go back to the late sixties when he managed several groups. In the early 60's John was the manager of a local record store in Tampa called Ron's Record Shop, located at the Britton Plaza Mall. After a chance meeting with local youth Buddy Good, Centinaro began managing and producing Good's band, The Scopes. John was instrumental in getting there single "She's Got Bad Breath" & "Tears In Your Eyes", issued in the summer of 1967 on the USA label out of Chicago.The song features John and company doing a mersey-ish spoof on the topside, with a decent mid tempo song on the flip side. With his next band, 60's garage Band The Surprize, John managed and produced the band on his own Cent Record label out of Tampa, Florida. The band released there only single Too Bad / I Will Make History, before breaking up and three of the members joining Centinaro's next project Mercy. Mercy were an American pop group from Brandon,Florida. They released a hit single hit on Warner Brothers Records titled "Love (Can Make You Happy)" which soared to #2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, and also peaked at #2 on the Adult Contemporary chart. Mercy had one other Billboard Hot 100 hit, the song "Forever", which reached #79 in June 1969. After Mercy, John hooked up with James Marvell & Buddy Good for there next venture as The Country Cavaleers. The Country Cavaleers were an oddity at the time, being Country & Western and yet both members sported long hair. “You’ve got to remember it was right after the movie Easy Rider,” explains Marvell. John was instrumental again in securing a record deal with MGM Records for the duo. John then went to work for Tone Record Distributors, a major record distributor out of Miami. He also worked as a booking agent for Buddy Lee Attractions in Nashville representing the likes of Hank Williams Jr, Willie Nelson, and Frank Sinatra Jr to name but a few. John's many years of experience has given him an in depth knowledge and understanding of the music business.

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