Vini Poncia

Vincent "Vini" Poncia Jr. (born April 29, 1942) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer.

Life and career Early life Poncia was born in Providence, Rhode Island. He is of Italian ancestry.

The 1960s In the 1960s, Poncia formed a songwriting team with Peter Anders (né Peter Andreoli). An album of songs co-written by these childhood friends, The Anders & Poncia Album, was produced by Richard Perry and released in 1969. Their songs were recorded by artists including the Ronettes, Bobby Bloom, and Darlene Love. Anders and Poncia were also members of the Trade Winds (later called The Innocence). He also produced albums for Melissa Manchester and Lynda Carter's 1978 album Portrait. As a songwriter, he wrote songs for Jackie DeShannon, Martha Reeves, and Tommy James. Poncia is also listed as co-writer on "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" with Leo Sayer. He was also the producer for The Faragher Brothers albums, Open Your Eyes (1978) and The Faraghers (1979).

In 1978, he produced Peter Criss' 1978 solo album. At Criss's prompting, Poncia was brought in to produce Kiss's 1979 album Dynasty and co-wrote their hit song "I Was Made for Lovin' You" from that album.

The 1980s Poncia also produced another Kiss album, 1980's Unmasked. He sang backup vocals and helped with songwriting on both albums, having eight co-writing credits on Unmasked.

In 1981, he produced the album Turn Out The Lights for the band Tycoon.

Poncia also produced the Detroit rock band Adrenalin and their song "Road of the Gypsy", from the film Iron Eagle in 1985. He also produced DC Drive and their self-titled album in 1991. Poncia produced Criss's second post-Kiss solo album, 1982's Let Me Rock You, and he was credited as co-writer for five songs on Kiss's 1989 release, Hot in the Shade.