Bill Puka

From Columbia Records' INSIGHT Magazine: Bill Puka (rhymes with “hook-ah”) is spending most of his time these days at Harvard University, where he is writing his Ph.D. thesis and teaching in the philosophy department. Hardly what you’d call a run-of-the-mill academician either; he seems more at home on the streets of Brooklyn where he grew up than in the halls of higher learning. Up until a year ago, when Bill walked into April & Blackwood hoping to sell a couple of songs, he had never thought of himself as a performer, but since then he has been attracting the attention of an ever-widening circle of “old pros” with his many talents. He has been approached to write Broadway shows and major TV commercials; the Fifth Dimension are recording one of his songs, and cover versions of many others are in the works. All indications are that Bill Puka is one of the major discoveries of the decade. His first album on Columbia, entitled simply “Bill Puka,’” was four months in the making and is one of the most sophisticated albums in pop music today. It’s appeal, however, is universal; “Sunshine Days” and “Nothing at All” are potential Top 40 hits, “Barbara Knows” and “She's Just That Way” are due for strong MOR airplay, and “Dry Spell,” “City Nights” and “Selling Yourself Out’ are destined to become underground classics. ‘Beautiful Bird” is a perfect one-minute gem in anybody’s bag. Be prepared for a great awakening. Bill Puka is one of the real ground-breaking new talents of the seventies. —Ed Freeman