Quoted from MattElder:I've had many conversations with Jerry over the years as part of my Alvin G & Co. employee interviews and just general chit chat about various things. I can fill in some of the blanks and add additional info when I have more time to write. Stay tuned.
Okay, so I finally have a little bit of time to answer some of the OPs questions about Jerry, and add some misc. info about what he did before and after his time with Alvin G. & Co.
Jerry said he started out in gaming at Taito in ‘81. In ‘85 he had a short stint at Bally, where he was trained by future Alvin G & Co. designer Wally Welch. He then moved on to design at Williams, also in ‘85. In ‘89 he went to Data East where he would later meet Michael Gottlieb. In ‘90 he was approached by Alvin Gottlieb to work with him at what was originally A. Gottlieb & Co. Early on the plan was just to be a design firm, with games being built by Gottlieb. Gottlieb being too busy with their own games, declined, and soon Jerry was helping set up a factory in part of the Gottlieb Memorial Hospital complex in Melrose Park.
He was hired by Alvin in March of ‘90 and signed a 3 year contract as designer and General Manager. For the first year and a half it was basically just him and Alvin. As the company eventually grew to around 150 employees, Jerry was in charge of hiring among many other duties.
His games that went into production at Alvin G were A.G. Soccer-Ball (and the export version A.G. Football), Al’s Garage Band Goes On A World Tour, and USA Football (the Head-to-head version). He also designed 2 unreleased prototypes that I own; Dual Pool and Slapshot.
In March of ‘93 his contract with Alvin G & Co. was up, and he left the coin-op industry. In Jerry’s words, he then held “Odd jobs throughout the 90’s”. Soon though he would enter his new line of business where he still is today….a singer and impressionist for hire.
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