Ken Schaffer (born 1947) is an American inventor and former publicist.
44-616: The Schaffer–Vega diversity system (SVDS) was a wireless guitar system developed in 1975–76, engineered and prototyped by Ken Schaffer in New York City, and manufactured by the Vega Corporation, El Monte, California . A handheld microphone version was introduced in 1977. The system was the first cordless system to be adopted by major rock acts because it solved technical problems common to earlier wireless systems. The reliable sound and freedom of movement it provided paved
88-453: A better system. The Schaffer-Vega Diversity System (SVDS) combined several new technologies to present a wireless system that was largely immune to the frequent signal fades, interfering signals and limited dynamic range of previous wireless systems. Schaffer gave precedence to developing the first system for wireless guitar (1976) and then the wireless microphone (1977). After prototyping the wireless system, Schaffer arranged its manufacture by
132-477: A campaign song by Hillary Clinton , as a victory song by Newt Gingrich , and in four videos during the campaign of Donald Trump . In 1986, Derringer returned to working with Meat Loaf for Blind Before I Stop , co-writing the song "Masculine." Also in 1986, he played guitar on two songs from Cyndi Lauper 's album True Colors , "Calm Inside the Storm" and "The Faraway Nearby." From 1986 to 1992, he served as
176-447: A guitarist on her tours, comparing her live performances to those of Barbra Streisand by saying, " She's better live than Barbra . " He played with Lauper again on her third album, A Night to Remember , which was released in 1989. In 1987, Meat Loaf appeared on Way Off Broadway , a nationally distributed cable TV show with Derringer as the music director. The show was hosted by comedienne and interviewer Joy Behar . Other guests on
220-563: A low-noise/wide dynamic range wireless guitar system that was form-factored as a wireless microphone in 1976. Schaffer–Vega made approximately one thousand wireless systems that retailed for $ 4,400 each. Among the first bands to adopt the Schaffer–Vega Diversity System were the Rolling Stones , KISS , and AC/DC . Additionally, NASA used Schaffer's wireless microphones to improve astronaut voice communication. In
264-552: A metal staging element. Going wireless with all guitars and microphones eliminated this hazard. The Schaffer–Vega diversity system used a space diversity method consisting of two independent VHF receivers fed by antennas placed at least one wavelength apart. Use of two full independent receivers , rather than two parallel antennas , made the Schaffer-Vega the first "True Diversity" system. The diversity technique prevented signal degradation due to multi-path cancellation. In
308-428: A range of hitmakers are part of Voices, a company that finds private events many times a year. Some of the artists involved with Voices include Tone-Loc , Wally Palmar , Kim Carnes , Belinda Carlisle , Tommy Tutone , Mark McGrath , Fastball , Skip Martin , Jakob Dylan , Natasha Bedingfield , Coolio , John Rzeznik , Martha Davis , Silverchair , Steve Augeri , John Elefante , Alex Ligertwood , Jeff Lyons, and
352-534: A red 3 meter dish on the roof of Columbia University 's International Affair Institute in Manhattan , allowing Soviet Studies graduate students to watch live Russian television. Other systems were installed at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, The University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), The University of Pennsylvania, and various private owners. Schaffer then conceived and executed a project through which
396-529: A stand-alone effect by Filippo "SoloDallas" Olivieri and selected for inclusion in Guitar Player Magazine's 2015 Hall of Fame. Production ended in 1981, when Schaffer changed his focus to communications satellites. By the time Schaffer moved on, numerous competing systems had become staples in the market. Ken Schaffer In 1975 Schaffer invented the Schaffer–Vega diversity system ,
440-959: Is an American musician, producer, and songwriter. He gained success in the 1960s with his band, the McCoys . Their debut single, " Hang on Sloopy ", became a number-one hit in 1965 and is now regarded as a classic track from the garage rock era. The McCoys had seven songs chart in the top 100, including covers of " Fever " and "Come on Let's Go". In 1970, Derringer found further success with his song " Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo ". He also worked extensively with brothers Edgar and Johnny Winter , playing lead and backing guitar in their bands and producing all of their gold and platinum records, including Edgar Winter's hits " Frankenstein " and " Free Ride " (both in 1973). Derringer has also collaborated with Steely Dan , Cyndi Lauper , and "Weird Al" Yankovic , producing Yankovic's Grammy Award-winning songs " Eat It " (1984) and " Fat " (1988). Additionally, Derringer produced
484-697: Is credited with helping Donald Fagen secure a record deal in 1972. During this period, Derringer collaborated with his neighbor Todd Rundgren , playing on four of Rundgren's solo albums. He was also a regular in Andy Warhol 's circle and frequently visited Warhol's studio, The Factory . Derringer played guitar on "My Rival" from Steely Dan's Gaucho (1980) and also contributed to Donald Fagen's first solo album, The Nightfly (1982). In 1983, he played guitar on two hit power ballads written and produced by Jim Steinman : Air Supply 's " Making Love Out of Nothing at All " and Bonnie Tyler 's " Total Eclipse of
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#1732790242043528-666: The Edgar Winter Group . In 1973, Derringer released his first solo album, All American Boy , which featured his hit song " Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo ". By then, the song had already appeared on Johnny Winter And (1970) and the White Trash Roadwork (1972) albums. Derringer's version reached the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, becoming his highest-charting single. One critic described
572-698: The World Wrestling Federation 's album The Wrestling Album (1985) and its follow-up, Piledriver: The Wrestling Album II (1987). These albums featured the entrance song for Hulk Hogan , "Real American", and the theme for the Demolition tag team, "Demolition". Derringer also produced three songs from the soundtrack of the 1984 Tom Hanks film Bachelor Party . Derringer was born in Celina, Ohio , and grew up in Fort Recovery ,
616-405: The World Wrestling Federation , an album consisting mostly of wrestlers' theme songs. He wrote several songs for the album, including Hulk Hogan 's theme song "Real American," co-written with Bernard Kenny. This song was notably used by U.S. President Barack Obama at the 2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner , where he played the song while unveiling his birth certificate. It was also used as
660-546: The 1980s, Schaffer developed a satellite tracking system that made it possible for United States intelligence agencies to monitor the internal television of the then- Soviet Union . The system tapped into the Soviet Molniya non-geosynchronous satellite constellation, which carried Moscow television to the Far North. With software engineer Willie Nelson, he developed an Apple II-based automatic tracking system based on
704-419: The 1980s. Derringer went on to produce "Weird Al" Yankovic 's debut album, "Weird Al" Yankovic (1983). Between 1983 and 1989, Derringer produced six Yankovic albums, for which he received his only Grammy Award . Yankovic has expressed openness to working with Derringer again. In 1997, Derringer became an Evangelical Christian . Since then, he has consistently aligned himself with conservative causes in
748-845: The 1990 White Light tour. In 2013, he and Jenda created the Asia Project after she discovered that the two largest-selling songs in history are Chinese. As Ricky Wu and Jenda Tu, the Derringers recorded and released their versions of the songs: Wang Qiwen and Yang Chengang 's 2004 song "Mouse Loves Rice," and the actress Liu Shi Shi's "Season of Waiting." In 2014, Derringer performed on Peter Frampton 's Guitar Circus tour with other notable guitarists, including B.B. King , Roger McGuinn (ex- Byrds ), Don Felder (ex- Eagles ), Leslie West (ex- Mountain ), Cheap Trick 's Rick Nielsen , Toto 's Steve Lukather , Los Lobos ' David Hidalgo , and Pearl Jam 's Mike McCready . In 2017, Derringer
792-562: The Heart ". Derringer has stated that his guitar solo in "Making Love Out of Nothing at All" is his favorite of all the solos he has recorded. That same year, he recorded guitar parts for Meat Loaf 's poorly received album Midnight at the Lost and Found . Both "Making Love Out of Nothing at All" and "Total Eclipse of the Heart" were originally offered to Meat Loaf by Steinman for that album, but Meat Loaf's record company refused to pay Steinman for
836-605: The Pretenders ' Chrissie Hynde was the first music collaboration between a Russian and Westerners. The project was documented by director Michael Apted in "The Long Way Home", who filmed Schaffer and Grebenshchikov in St. Petersburg, Moscow, London, New York and Los Angeles. Schaffer was married to Belarusian actress Alla Kliouka , who played Svetlana Kirilenko on HBO's The Sopranos . Rick Derringer Rick Derringer (born Richard Dean Zehringer ; August 5, 1947)
880-686: The Rembrandts . Derringer went on three world tours with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band . Rehearsals began in June 2010, and they traveled across Europe, Russia, South America, Mexico, and the USA. The tour featured Wally Palmar , Edgar Winter , Gary Wright , Richard Page , and Gregg Bissonette . In the 1980s, he produced the Kodomo Band and toured in Asia, including with Edgar Winter , during
924-454: The Schaffer-Vega system, a comparator monitored the instantaneous RF signal strength delivered by each antenna to its dedicated receiver, that switched to the other receiver when the currently selected receiver's signal strength fell below a quieting threshold . The system achieved high interference rejection by using four helical resonator filters between the antenna and preamplifier stage of each receiver. This made it possible to use
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#1732790242043968-577: The Strangeloves recorded the guitar and instrumental parts, Derringer and the McCoys were brought into the studio to sing on the recording, which was then released under their name. The song reached number one on the charts while The Beatles ' " Yesterday " held the number two spot. "Hang On Sloopy" has since become synonymous with Derringer's home state of Ohio , as fans of the Ohio State Buckeyes often chant "O-H-I-O" during breaks in
1012-568: The United States . Derringer describes himself as a " Jesus freak ". In 2001, Derringer, Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice released the album Derringer, Bogert & Appice (DBA): Doin' Business as... on the German record label Steamhammer Records . Derringer had previously worked with Appice on an album, Party Tested by DNA (Derringer'n'Appice), and it was re-released in 2011. In 2001, Derringer, his wife, and their children released
1056-462: The Vega Corporation, based in El Monte, California. The first bands to use Schaffer-Vega Diversity System were Kiss and Electric Light Orchestra . Though wireless systems afford great mobility on stage, Kiss switched to a wireless system for safety reasons: lead guitarist Ace Frehley had been knocked unconscious by a near-fatal shock traced to a ground fault between his wired guitar connection and
1100-619: The album as a "sadly neglected album of great merit". Derringer's later albums, both solo and with his band Derringer, included 1977's Sweet Evil , co-written with Cynthia Weil and Rolling Thunder Revue author Larry Sloman . He also released the critically acclaimed album Guitars and Women (1979), which was re-released with liner notes by Razor & Tie in 1998. Around this time, Derringer played guitar on two Steely Dan tracks: "Show Biz Kids" on Countdown to Ecstasy (1973) and "Chain Lightning" on Katy Lied (1975). Derringer
1144-615: The compositions. In 1983, Derringer also wrote "Shake Me" for his Good Dirty Fun solo album, accompanied by a video produced by Jake Hooker , the husband of Lorna Luft. Singer Lourett Russell Grant appeared in the video alongside Derringer. In 1984, Derringer played guitar on Barbra Streisand 's cover of Steinman's " Left in the Dark ," released as the lead single from her album Emotion . In 1985, Derringer's friendship with Cyndi Lauper led him and Steinman to collaborate again, with Derringer producing The Wrestling Album (1985) for
1188-468: The first two of four Christian music albums, all through Panda Studio Productions: Aiming 4 Heaven (2001), Derringer X 2 (2001), the holiday album, Winter Wonderland (2004), and We Live (2008). In 2002, Derringer was featured in a book written by Dan Muise, titled Gallagher, Marriott, Derringer & Trower – Their Lives and Music . He released Free Ride Smooth Jazz (2002), which featured vocals by his wife Jenda ( née Brenda Jean), who sang
1232-543: The fledgling Discovery Channel devoted a week to carrying Russian TV, for which he shared the National Cable Television Association 's Golden Ace award. In 2003, Schaffer invented a device called TV2Me , which enables customers to access their cable TV channels from anywhere in the world via a broadband Internet connection. The concept TV2Me introduced became known as 'placeshifting', as opposed to ' timeshifting '. The first TV2Me unit
1276-604: The guitar John Lennon used on his last album, Double Fantasy and promoted Lennon's favorite movie, Alejandro Jodorowsky's El Topo , which ignited the cult of the Midnight Movie . In 1987, Schaffer conceived of a project which brought Russian singer/songwriter Boris Grebenshchikov , often described as the " Bob Dylan of Russia" to the West. Grebenshchikov recorded an album for Columbia Records produced by Dave Stewart that featured Eurythmics 's Annie Lennox and
1320-899: The guitar solo for an anti-bullying campaign version of "Hang on Sloopy" by the Love Love Kids, released in October 2019. " Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo " is featured in the 1993 film Dazed and Confused , as well as in the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II in 2007 and Rock Band 4 in 2015. The song was also made available as downloadable content for the guitar learning software/game Rocksmith 2014 in January 2015. Studio albums Live albums Compilation albums – Formed in 1965 by Richard Zehringer on guitar and vocals, Dennis Kelly on bass (who would be replaced by Randy Jo Hobbs ) and Randy Zehringer on drums. – Although this album
1364-514: The instrument. He was eight years old at the time, and his parents gave him his first electric guitar for his ninth birthday. Soon after, he and his brother Randy began playing music together. After eighth grade, the family moved to Union City, Indiana, where Derringer formed a band he initially called the McCoys . He later renamed it the Rick Z Combo and then Rick and the Raiders before reverting to
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1408-404: The original name. In the summer of 1965, before Derringer turned 18, the McCoys were hired to back up a New York-based band called the Strangeloves in concert. The Strangeloves, who were also record producers from New York City, were looking for a band to record the song "My Girl Sloopy" and chose the McCoys. Derringer later persuaded the producers to change the title to " Hang On Sloopy ". After
1452-502: The show included Larry Carlton , Robbie Dupree , and Edgar Winter . Also in 1987, Derringer returned to the World Wrestling Federation to produce its second music album, Piledriver: The Wrestling Album II . He co-wrote the theme song for Demolition and also recorded a new version of "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo" as a duet with Gene Okerlund . He worked for several New York City -based jingle houses in
1496-541: The son of John Otto and Janice Lavine (Thornburg) Zehringer, a section foreman on the Nickel Plate Railroad . According to Derringer, aside from his parents' extensive record collection, his first major influence was his uncle, Jim Thornburg, a popular guitarist and singer in Ohio. Derringer recalled first hearing him play guitar in the kitchen of his parents' home and knowing immediately that he wanted to learn
1540-449: The song's chorus, and it is frequently played at home football games at Ohio Stadium . The song is also played during Cleveland Guardians home games at Progressive Field . Derringer married Liz Agriss in 1969. Derringer, along with his band, the McCoys, joined Johnny Winter in a group they called "Johnny Winter And," with the "And" referring to the McCoys. Derringer later became part of Edgar Winter's White Trash and subsequently
1584-658: The systems on unused VHF television broadcast frequencies and protected the receivers from even strong spurious local signals (such as nearby police calls, taxi dispatch, etc.). Limited by the US FCC to 50 mW output, the Schaffer-Vega Diversity System maintained reliable transmission for up to 100 meters in a line of sight from transmitter to receiver. In the United States, the FCC and corresponding agencies in most ITU countries, regulations that limit
1628-535: The title song "Free Ride" and co-wrote the song "Hot & Cool" with Derringer. Also included is his smooth jazz radio hit remake, "Jazzy Koo". In May 2009, he self-released the album Knighted by the Blues and its popular song, "Sometimes," which was once again co-written with Jenda. Derringer followed up with the release of The Three Kings of the Blues ( Freddie King , B.B. King , Albert King ) on Mike Varney 's Blues Bureau International Records. Derringer and
1672-462: The transmitter's FM frequency deviation also limited the theoretical signal-to-noise ratios and dynamic ranges of wireless systems to approximately 70 dB. The Schaffer-Vega Diversity System also used companding . By compressing signal amplitude 2:1 in the transmitter and then expanding it in the receiver, it was possible for the system to deliver a signal-to-noise ratio and dynamic range of 100 dB. Although Schaffer's design objective
1716-572: The way for bands to tour with large multi-level stages in arenas. Schaffer-Vegas were used in the late 1970s and early 1980s by many rock bands such as Pink Floyd (namely guitarist David Gilmour ), the Rolling Stones , AC/DC and Kiss . Traveling with the Rolling Stones on the Tour of The Americas '75 , New York-based engineer and radio aficionado Ken Schaffer witnessed the limitations of then-existing wireless systems and sought to develop
1760-537: Was charged with carrying a loaded gun on a Delta Air Lines flight from Cancún in Mexico to Atlanta , Georgia. According to his manager, Derringer believed he was permitted to carry the gun due to his possession of a valid Florida concealed weapon permit. Derringer later pleaded guilty, agreeing to pay a $ 1,000 fine, and stated that it would not happen again, "not even a water pistol". A re-recording of 1985's The Wrestling Album' s "Real American" with updated lyrics
1804-477: Was interviewed by political consultant Roger Stone about Derringer's support for Donald Trump . In 2017, Derringer collaborated with baseball players Tom Seaver and Gary Redus to release a version of " Take Me Out to the Ballgame ," honoring his lifelong love of baseball. In 2018, Derringer embarked on a tour with Vanilla Fudge , Mitch Ryder , and Badfinger under the name "HippieFest." He performed
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1848-575: Was purchased by musician Sting , who used it especially to follow his team, Newcastle United as he toured. In the late 1960s and 1970s, Schaffer was publicist for Jimi Hendrix , Steven Tyler of Aerosmith , Todd Rundgren , Alice Cooper and for the Comet Kohoutek (on behalf of the American Museum of Natural History 's Hayden Planetarium ), among others, and in the 1980s Boris Grebenshchikov . Schaffer designed and custom built
1892-565: Was released on May 28, 2017, debuting on Alex Jones 's radio show. The lyric "I gotta be a man, I can't let it slide" was changed to "I gotta lend a hand, I can't let it slide," and "fight for the right of every man" became "fight for the rights of everyone." Additionally, "Best not mess with my US" was added before the second verse, along with a new line stating, "Ours is a cause that's right and just, we're built on truth, in God we trust." That same year, Derringer appeared on Alex Jones's show, where he
1936-476: Was to create a wireless system that sounded transparent—as close as possible to the wired version—artists, such as Rick Derringer , Eddie Van Halen and Angus Young of AC/DC , chose to use their wireless units in the recording studio. The slight coloration added by the Schaffer-Vega was considered part of the desired guitar tone. In 2015, the audio section of the SVDS was put into production and brought to market as
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