One of the founders of Nuggets Records in Boston was the late Joel Bernstein who used to sell discs out of his house before opening the store where Lenny Kaye wrote “It’s a nugget if you dug it.” At Joel’s second floor apartment I was about to purchase Helen Reddy’s “Ain’t No Way to Treat a Lady” — Joel suggested that I buy the discs from the songwriter, Harriet Shock. I instantly fell in love with side 1 of Hollywood Town, and then the entire album, and Harriet’s two other discs on 20th Century. Writing a review for my Varulven publication and playing Hollywood Town repeatedly, I simply had to meet this woman who has such insight and the ability to create pop songs that are both complex and simple, songs which improve your life.
Some convention in Los Angeles had listed Harriet Schock as a speaker and in May of 1991, on my weekend birthday, a band with guitarist Andy Brickley flew me out to L.A. for work, and the work was the convention. We were at the Hyatt Regency and I was in the elevator with Richard Penniman – my friend Bobby Hebb’s friend Little Richard….Hollywood and L.A. always magical. I phone my friend Jaime up, legendary songwriter P.F. Sloane’s girlfriend, and we were invited to Harriet’s home! It was amazing, and Harriet gave Jaimie and I a concert in her living room, a memory that has stayed with me over the past 45 years later.
The Movie
Hollywood Town the film is like having an extended-play DVD that the record labels these days add to the boxed sets. To hear Harriet tell her story and give her life experience is a beautiful bookend to my Harriet Schock vinyl and CD collection, it is the other dimension where we learn about the author, and hear the journey.
Talk about the “demo that got the deal,” the Colgems publisher, Roger Gordon, who saw Harriet perform at The Bitter End West restaurant in Hollywood signed her and produced the first album, begins the saga which leads to the great Russ Regan and others who worked with Schock on the Hollywood path.
Director Tom Solari approaches this bio-pic giving the audience a birds-eye view of the highly respected songwriter with the story front and center.
Bill Pfordresher – who helped launch Ambrosia (“How Much I Feel) – a fellow we lost in January of this year, 2026, provides insight into Harriet’s persona as an artist, invaluable film Solari captures with straightforward professionalism that gives a snapshot of the 1970s music industry in California, and how these signings developed.
A.I. notes: Both Pfordresher and Schock built their careers in the tight-knit Southern California music industry ecosystem of the 1970s and 1980s, collaborating heavily with legendary music executive Russ Regan. Regan famously signed Schock to 20th Century Records and worked hand-in-hand with Pfordresher to break top-charting radio hits
Harriet in concert is an elegant setting – performing “Hollywood Town” first, the band spot on with Harriet’s commentary key to the story.
Manfred Mann took the two minute fifty-two second title track and expanded it to five minutes and eight seconds, with that glossy-rock sound Mann’s band is/are famous for. It’s impressive hearing the rock group famous for “Mighty Quinn” and “Blinded by the Light” putting their spin on such an essential copyright.
The story of Harriet and Misha Segal co-writing “First Time on the Ferris Wheel” for Berry Gordon’s Last Dragon is told by both Harriet and Mr. Segal, a key moment in their career and working with the legendary Berry Gordy. The love song to the film has spawned many, many covers and is as key a composition as “Ain’t No Way to Treat a Lady.”
Schock’s artistry is most special, she discusses creative expression and the effect art has on life about eighty minutes into the film. The six piece band is stunning taking the songs into a different space, the re-interpretation. “Ain’t No Way to Treat a Lady” 50 years on is a revelation. Equal to the compositions and the performances, having Harriet Schock on your TV screen telling her life story and introducing those who are around her in life is a unique and rich experience.
Book author, stage performer, composer, teacher…Harriet Schock enters your home in this intimate talk about her career. It is superb and deserves the widest audience possible.
To read more of Joe Viglione’s movie and music reviews, as well as his journalism, visit his Substack here.
