For The Record: Timmy T Sings His Songs And Charts A Dream

A few nights ago, as I was flipping through the channels after another Gulf War update, the obvious happiness of a singer named Timmy T made me stop.

Happy? On Rick Dees' show ``Into the Night,'' Timmy T was one big grin as he went through some choreographed stage moves. He was plainly having the time of his life singing his ballad.

Later, when I contacted him in Los Angeles, he told me why. This was his first network appearance.

The reason I called Timmy T - who, when he was growing up in Fresno, used to be Timmy Torres - was because of something he said that night.

What Timmy T said should give many of you hope. If you ever dreamed of being a star with a hit single, read on.

``One More Try,'' the tune Timmy T sang on national TV, is currently No. 3 and rising on Billboard's pop singles chart. The tune has gone ``gold,'' meaning sales of 500,000 copies. It cost $200 in recording studio time.

And a previous Timmy T recording, ``Time After Time,'' which reached No. 40 on the charts, cost $180.

So no wonder Timmy T looked overjoyed. He used to get around on a cheapie Honda motorcycle worth a few hundred bucks. Now he owns a Mercedes Benz.

Tim Torres, 23, is your basic middle-class kid. His dad is a painting contractor. After high school, Torres worked at various odd jobs, including driving a tram at a shopping mall and working at a McDonald's. He's been a movie usher and a locksmith, and he used to get $40 for doing puppet and magic shows at parties.

Even though he can't read music, Torres also had an interest in songwriting, and, quite obviously, he took it a step further than most hobbyists.

He wasn't stymied by his lack of money.

Torres had figured out the magic of today's electronics. Even a kid in Fresno can make a song that, to most listeners, sounds like those costing a million dollars.

At a yard sale, he bought an old Moog synthesizer for $80. He bought a used drum machine for $500. Along the way, he purchased a digital sampler keyboard for $1,600.

That was his total investment in musical equipment.

But this is what the computer electronics allowed him to do: Torres could program the drum machine to put out any beat he wanted. The synthesizer allowed him to play around with various sounds, without having to pay live musicians.

Most important, however, the digital sampler keyboard gave Torres access to the same technology used in expensive recordings. Piano? Flute? Strings? If you own one of these keyboards, you know how simple it is to reproduce such sounds.

The recording studio in Fresno charged $25 an hour. The $180 cost for the first hit not only included studio time, but the cost of tape.

You could almost say that was the easy part. The hard part was getting radio stations to play the songs.

Timmy T pestered program directors. When their secretaries wouldn't put through his phone calls, Timmy T called the station's request lines. He ended up owing his parents $600 in phone bills.

He took his tunes to roller rinks, to disco clubs. He would stand in front of the deejay until his song was played.

He loaded up his motorcycle with cassette tapes of his tunes (he paid a manufacturer $1 per tape, sold it to stores for $3, who in turn retailed it for $4.99).

When a few radio stations finally relented, Timmy T asked friends to call and keep requesting his tune.

``I had doors slammed in my face. My feelings were hurt a lot. It just made me keep coming back stronger and stronger,'' Timmy T said.

Finally, the songs started clicking. Now Timmy T is with Quality Records in L.A., his CD is all over the country, he's touring, he's an up-and-coming star.

He still plans to keep making tunes for $200. ``Why not? That's what's worked for me,'' he said.

As for you would-be stars, Timmy T wants to tell you: ``Dreams can come true. I'm proof of that.''

Erik Lacitis' column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Friday in the Scene section of The Times.