JAN BERRY’S SECOND WAVE
A Conversation with Associate Producer Rob Kuropatwa
By Mark A. Moore
Author of The Jan & Dean Record
After the limited release of Jan & Dean’s Port to Paradise album in 1986, Jan Berry forged ahead with new solo material. By 1988 he had begun writing “She’s Dancing, Dancing” with Sandy St. John (wife of Dick & Dee Dee’s Dick St. John), and “Love Her Tonight” with Jeff Solomon.
Jan’s subsequent connection with a young singer-songwriter named Rob Kuropatwa forged a creative partnership that would eventually lead to Jan’s solo album Second Wave, released on One Way Records in 1997. People magazine covered the album’s debut in August of ‘97. Jan passed away on March 26, 2004, and a Memorial Edition of Second Wave was issued to coincide with Jan’s Celebration of Life, a rousing party held at the Roxy Theatre in Hollywood, California. Everyone who attended—including many of Jan’s friends, family, and professional colleagues—received a copy of the Memorial Edition, which included new packaging and a 16-page booklet printed by Rainbo Records in Santa Monica. With the release of the 20th Anniversary Edition by Wounded Bird Records on May 4, 2018—the album’s third incarnation, featuring two new bonus tracks—I asked Rob to share some insight on the project, and on working with Jan in the studio.
