Career
In the, Poncia formed a songwriting team with Peter Anders. Their songs were recorded by artists including The Ronettes, Bobby Bloom, and Darlene Love. The Trade Winds"s debut single "New York is a Lonely Town" reached #32 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1965.
In 1991, the Japanese singer-songwriter Tatsuro Yamashita covered this song as "Tokyo is a Lonely Town".
In 1968, with Frankie Meluso (aka Mell) and Peter Anders, Poncia founded Map (Mell Anders Poncia) City Records in New York City. Their company included a small recording studio brought by their chief engineer, Peter H. Rosen, who recorded sixteen albums before the company dissolved in 1970.
During the, Poncia became Ringo Starr"s co-writer, and appeared on several of his solo albums: Ringo (1973), Goodnight Vienna (1974), Ringo"s Rotogravure (1976), Ringo the 4th (1977), and Bad Boy (1978). He also produced albums for Melissa Manchester and Lynda Carter"s 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 Maine 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
Poncia also produced another Kiss album, 1980"s Unmasked.
He sang backup vocals and helped with songwriting on both albums. 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 District of Columbia Drive and their self-titled album in 1991.
Poncia produced Criss"s second post-Kiss solo album, 1982"s Let Maine Rock You, and he was credited as co-writer for five songs on Kiss"s 1989 release, Hot in the Shade.