Brian Phelps - The Legendary Toads Place

Brian Phelps was born in New Haven, Connecticut. His music background was nothing more than listening to AM radio or watching an Elvis Presley flick. He had no idea where his path in life was about to lead. Brian met Mike Spoerndle, owner of the new Toads Place in 1975. One year later Big Mike invited Brian to start working at the club, following college. Several years later, Mike made Brian an offer to become business partners. In January 1995 Brian took control of the company and bought the rest of the business in 1998. Brian later met with longtime associate Randall Beach and decided to write a memoir. He took a road less traveled, but one we think you will enjoy reading about.

Randall Beach was the rock music critic for the New Haven Register from 1978 to 1984, covering many shows at Toads Place. He later wrote about rock music for the New Haven Advocate, the Hartford Courant, and Billboard magazine. He was also a reporter and columnist for the New Haven Register from 1997 to 2020. In addition, he writes the Beachcombing column for Connecticut magazine. He lives in New Haven.

My adult life was built in several areas. One main piece was choosing Toads Place to be my career. Even though I stayed active in the martial arts over those many decades, as well as maintaining a more subdued interest in chess and finding the time to earn a pilots license over many years and raise a family, Toads encompassed a large part of my time.

There were many folks along the way who were important supports to the structure that eventually developed. It was a long, long road to somewhere I could never have imagined. During that journey I was knocked down over and over again. For some unknown reason, I kept getting up. Now, at sixty-seven years old, Im still trying to move forward. Maybe this is why all of us, as a species, are destined to keep going, no matter how hard the path.

In no particular order, I should start by mentioning the audio team of Horizon Sound, overseen by Fred Santore. Many of his inner staff eventually moved on to bigger stages, but they included Keith Dupke, Matt Diamond, Chad Emerson, Dave Barata, Bob Elliot, Jake Rosenfeld, O.T., and others. They were extremely important to what people came to Toads for: primarily the sounds of music.

I had two key guys on the lighting crew: Marty Weiand and Jim Day. They were the second part of the technical team that gave people the experience they were looking for.

We had other people who lent a great hand in holding all the parts together over the years. Those were Katherine Blossom, whose sixteen years at the helm are beyond words, and her predecessor Lucy Sabini; Heather Orser (McDonald); Jeff Petrin; Jim Torello; Paul Liberti; Kevin Meehan; Pat Healy; Jack Reich; WZMX Program Director DJ Buck; the KC101 Saturday Dance Party team, DJ Thomas Action Jackson and former security guy/jazz aficionado Rohn Lawrence, as well as the dearly departed security guy and later WPLR point man Sam T., as well as our security men Anthony Tank Dunbar and Bill Whiskey Walkauskas. These people all played an important role here at Toads and deserve to be highly commended. Of course Hollis Martin and Ed Dingus have been the anchors of my staff for the past couple of decades. They devoted a huge part of their lives to this company and this will not be forgotten.

Behind the scenes, my dear friend and advisor on countless issues, Lou Buccino, as well as former bookkeeper Barbara Galba have spent a part of their lives dealing with the happenings at Toads. Another important advisor for me was C. Mike Cunningham, who helped direct me through the many pitfalls that befall a nightclub guy. He was also part of my martial arts experience that helped keep me sane through the years. The key professionals who guided me these many years from the very start were attorney Jim Segaloff and my accountant Henry Barron.

Randall Beach did a fabulous job putting the text together for this story. His effort and focus are to be highly commended. Very few people could have looked as deeply and transparently as he did in accurately describing what happened here inside during those forty-six years.

Jim Koplik has to be at the very top of my list. Without him as the guiding light through this crazy world of rock n roll, the legendary part of Toads would not have existed.

Jim has been the godfather of rock n roll music in Connecticut almost from its beginning. This is a reality not just for myself, but for the entire state. He deserves a proclamation and a statue in his honor. There is no other person who comes close to his contributions here in the Nutmeg State. There is no one I respect more than this man.

My family whom I raised while in the middle of this crazy era of rock in Connecticut deserves an award for having to mature through the decades as I spent so many hours of my life away from them and here at Toads. My wife, Maria, and my three children Jessica, Kaylie, and Brian Jr. all did their part without complaint. It was not an easy task for any of us as we juggled our family time with my countless hours at the club. They deserve a tremendous amount of credit for holding up their end of things.

Finally, there is that unknown guy who smashed the glass door to my karate school around the corner from Toads. Whoever he is, without him doing that insane stunt I would not have connected with Mike Spoerndle and ended up where I did. My life would have taken another direction. Lifes decisions can be so strange and you may not realize it until a long time thereafter. What you first think is a bad thing can turn out to be a good thing.

There were many people who helped me tell the story of Toads Place. At the beginning of this process, Stephen Spignesi, John White, and Jim Motavalli gave me expert advice on how to find a publisher. Once I began doing interviews, four people in particular were especially generous with their time and insights: Joan Mary Spoerndle, Pat Spoerndle, Pat Healy, and Jimmy Koplik. I also learned a lot about Toads Place security from Anthony Tank Dunbar and Bill Whiskey Walkauskas.

Thom Duffy, my rock n roll companion for many years, provided leads and a great sidebar on his many nights at Toads. He lined me up with his colleague at Billboard, Dave Brooks, and with Audrey Fix Schaefer of the National Independent Venue Association, and they, too, were helpful. Rick Allison, another longtime friend of mine, let loose with a string of memorable quotes about nights at Toads and set me up with his former colleagues at WPLR. (On August 12, 1989, Rick also gave me the best tip I ever received in my years as a reporter: Theres a real good chance that the Stones are playing at Toads tonight!) The WPLR chapter was enhanced through information provided to me by Dick Kalt, Manuel Rodriguez, Kevin Garrity, John Griffin, and Mike Lapitino.

Some of the musicians who have been on stage at Toads gave me fine reminiscences: Christine Ohlman, Budd Tunick, Frank Simms, Al Anderson, Nick Fradiani, Opus (Christian Francis Lawrence), Cynthia Lyon, Rob Jockel, Guy Tino and Andy A.J. Gundell. A special thanks to Ted Canning and James Polisky, former members of the Sons of Bob, for recalling what it was like to suddenly be the opening act for the Rolling Stones. And thanks to Dean Falcone and Troy Church for helping me find those two Sons.