Ponti was an American musician, songwriter, record producer, manager, label executive, and consultant who started his career in the music business playing guitar in the rock band The Rest in his native New Jersey in the late '70s. The Rest featured a young
Jon Bon Jovi as vocalist, but despite promotion by other successful New Jersey musicians, such as
Southside Johnny and members of
Bruce Springsteen's
E Street Band, and a demo produced by
Billy Squier, did not obtain a recording contract and split up. He also produced and wrote albums for
hard rock and
glam metal bands
Babylon A.D.,
Baton Rouge,
Doro and for his own band Surgin', which he had created in 1985 at the insistence of his then managers. Surgin' disbanded after one record, though subsequent compilations have been released of early demos. Surgin' still has a strong following in the
AOR community. During the last period of popularity of glam metal, he was deeply involved with American glam metal bands
Skid Row and
Nelson. In 1991 he retired from the music business for a few years. During this time he built a gym, a martial arts school, and devoted his energies to martial arts and dogs, especially the rare breed
Fila Brasileiro. Merovingian Music had joint ventures with both
Capitol Records and
Jive Records and later merged with C.E Music, a label owned by
David Letterman's
Worldwide Pants production company. Ponti died on October 7, 2024, at the age of 66. ==Discography==