Born and raised in Paterson, NJ, Scott Lea founded The Persuaders along with George Louvis of Stardust Studios back in 1983. Scott fronted the band as lead singer, songwriter and guitarist. Shortly after signing his first record deal with Stardust Records in 1984, The Persuaders released their debut single - “Someday” / “When You Run” (Written by S.Lea). That single was produced by Grey Russell, known for his work with Jack Douglas and Jon Landau. Grey was also working on albums by Aerosmith, Tom Petty, Cyndi Lauper, John Wait, Joan Jett, Blondie and Kiss during that time.

The Persuaders had an extended fan base in the Northeast. Their debut single made its way to airwaves and jukeboxes across America due to their relentless live performances. The heaviest airplay rotation was in Pittsburgh, PA on the famed 97.5 FM. The success in Pittsburgh led to in store signings and a live performance at the historical “Decade”, where they shared the bill with - The Police, The Romantics and Bruce Springsteen. “It was crazy to see your name up there on the marquee with all of those legendary performers”. –S. Lea

The same year, Scott became a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) in 1984 and attended the Grammy Awards in New York City, where his band The Persuaders was entered for nomination as Best New Artist. Scott then attended the awards ceremonies in 1985 and 1986 in Los Angeles, where he had the chance to hang out with and share ideas with Bruce Springsteen, David Lee Roth, The Revolution, Ratt, Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston and Huey Lewis at multiple private record company parties.

While writing and performing his original music for several road weary years, Scott developed a talent for producing due to the time he spent working on projects at NYC’s Record Plant, Stardust and All Star Sound…In December 1985, he cut a tasteful dance remake of Tommy James' hit, “I Think We're Alone Now” which was signed by Steve Kaplan of Performance/Jem Records. In March of 86’ Performance Records released “The East Coast 60's Rock and Roll Experiment” compilation, which included Scott Lea, The Smithereens and other popular NJ artists. “Scott Lea rivals the original for instant likeability” – Matt Pinfield MTV/VH1

In late 1986 Scott was asked to play guitar on the Blaze record “If You Should Need a Friend” which was an instant international house hit. Another instant regional hit blasted the airwaves in 1987 when Lea wrote and produced “I'll Never Drink Again” which was in heavy rotation on New York City's Z-100 spun multiple times daily for over a year straight. The record also charted in the Top 10 on top college radio stations across the United States. It then became one of the most requested songs on Z-100 and a signature addition to the Z-Morning Zoo with Scott Shannon and Ross Britain.

Scott Lea had enough knowledge and experience under his belt to start his own production company (Scott Lea Productions) and publishing company (Scott Lea Publishing/BMI). He personally developed the band The Fiendz and produced the “We’re The Fiendz” album. The same year Scott began writing and producing three songs for Linda Gail Lewis (Jerry Lee Lewis' sister). They were, “Love in Motion, “I Want You Back” and “I’ll Take the Memories” which went on to the Tanya Tucker catalogue of hits. Another notable was his own Neon Records project called “What Exit” (a compilation of New Jersey artists). Scott immediately recognized the talent of the group Anything Box who had submitted their material to him. Anything Box was then signed to CBS/Sony.

Other projects of the decade included Telstar’s Deep Heat 89’ - Certified Platinum, work with Bob Allecca and Julian Hernandez known for their work with (Johnny O, Cynthia, Judy Torres and Lil Suzie). and Double XXposure PR specialist Angelo Ellerbee (Laura Branigan / DMX / Dionne Warwick / Gang Starr / Senior VP of Publicity for Island Def Jam Records / Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, and Mary J. Blige). Success continued with the EMI/Capitol album by The Nu Romance Crew “Tonight” with James Mtume (Juicy Fruit / Stephanie Mills, Roberta Flack, Lou Rawls) as Executive Producer and Scott assisting. During the recording of that record Scott was also working with Sly Stone (Sly and The Family Stone). Scott played studio guitar with Sly on a remake of Family Affair and for rapper Stevie D. “To the Maximum” and Sly played keys and co-wrote the track.

During the 1990’s Mr. Lea worked extensively as writer and producer on Angelo Ellerbee’s artist Craig Hill of IN-2-U – Arista Records “I Miss You”, produced and remixed Jinny's “Wanna Be With You,” which charted at #30 on Billboard’s UK Top 40 rivaling Tina Turner, Whitney Houston, Queen and Bon Jovi. During that time the progressive illness of his mother Rosalie whom he was the sole caretaker for 12 years jolted Scott out of the music scene, but he is now coming back at twice the speed with several new projects featuring sexy, young artists like Tygrah, Gzel, Alexsey and Naiomi Cruz, as well as representing actors like Jose Hernandez Jr. (HBO's Oz), Ali Ponce and on air radio personality Abel Sanchez of Pulse 87.

Scott Lea is represented exclusively by Mr. Toby Shorter who serves as counsel to DeSimone, Aviles, Shorter & Oxamendi, LLP. Mr. Shorter has extensive experience in the area of entertainment law. He has represented highly successful companies, musicians, producers, TV/video producers and apparel designers.
Mr. Shorter has more than a decade of experience protecting the interests of clients in the entertainment industry. He be-gan his career in the entertainment industry with a boutique New York City entertainment law firm, where he drafted and negotiated agreements for record labels, recording artists, producers, managers and writers. He represented multi-Platinum songwriter, producer and recording artists Timbaland and Missy Elliott, helping the latter in establishing her label and negotiated joint recording agreements with such artists as Lil’ Kim, Busta Rhymes and Ginuwine.

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