I've been on a journey the last few days, a nostalgic look into my past as a musician, writer, photographer & observer of the burgeoning music scene in San Francisco in the 70s & 80s. The wonderful part of delving into one's past i...s reconnecting with those you loved, worked with & related to back then. The challenging part is finding out that someone important in your life has passed on & you never even heard about it. I just learned this morning that I lost my dear friend Tom K. Mallon, talented musician & producer.

My friend Paul Hood wrote on the Facebook page of his band Toiling Midgets:

"Someone should thank Patty Rodriguez for asking me along to her vocal overdub in the Haight at a "fabulous little studio, where this Tom Mint Mallon guy gets a HUGE sound." Posted February 11, 2013 at 11:33pm

I first laid eyes on Tom Mallon in the late 70s. He had his big reel to reel & a few mics with him at the apartment of a friend not far from the Muni tracks near Market & DuBoce in San Francisco. I remember guitarist Norman Collins was there that day. More than 35 years have passed since then, so it's difficult to remember a lot of details or exactly what brought me there that day. I do know that Tom came to be an influence & catalyst in my life in the years to follow.

Somehow, I was fortunate enough to live in San Francisco during incredibly creative & productive times. I met, wrote about & photographed many of the most talented artists to ever live in our City. My life became intertwined in many small ways not only with Tom but with Translator, AlieNation, Vktms & through my friendship with Paul Hood, The Toiling Midgets among many others. I tried to track Tom down a few years back. I'd heard he was nearly impossible to reach but after several attempts, I received a brief email reply from him. I wanted so much to have an in-depth conversation with him again & hear about all his projects, his family & how our lives had changed but it was not to be. Being removed from my friends & the San Francisco music scene for several years, all I could do was read about how much people admired him & appreciated his many projects. It was certainly well deserved.

I recorded my first demos with Tom in his small, 1 bedroom home studio in the Haight. I remember having to insist he accept payment from me & to my knowledge, was the first person to ever compensate Tom for studio time & his invaluable guidance as a producer. We had some great talks & listened to a lot of music. It was 1980 & The Pretenders 1st album had just come out. We admired the vocal sound achieved by their producer Chris Thomas as well as the glossy production of several of Nick Chapman‘s projects. I had ideas of how I wanted to sound but despite Tom's patience & efforts, my talent fell short. I recall days that I was brought to tears of frustration because I just wasn't good enough.

Tom was much more than a producer to me. He was truly an encouraging & supportive friend. I was so impressed & grateful to work with someone like Tom, I suggested his services to all the artists I had come to know, several of whom recorded their first projects with him. Before I knew it, Tom was building & moving into his big studio. The rest, as they say, is musical history. Tom's work ethic, creativity & soft spoken patience more than earned him his reputation as a cornerstone of the San Francisco music scene.

Tom Mallon was an Independent Engineer & Producer for Grifter & Tom Mallon recording for over 37 years. Beginning in December 1976, Tom recorded, mixed, engineered and/or produced 300+ records and several thousand projects.

Tom Mallon died after a long battle with brain cancer on January 9, 2014; he was 57 years old.

RIP Tom & thanks for the memories.
I'll miss you forever.