Top40 New Releases

Michele Bettencourt and the Vampire Time band broke wide open at radio with the debut single “Everybody Loves A Circus” (Licorice Pizza) that is still rocking the radio charts. Now they take it to an even higher level with the release of “Vampire Time” just in time for Halloween. Michele Bettencourt is a singer/songwriter who found her own voice in 2018. She grew up as an only child in a lower middle-class household in northern California. Michele’s love of music was fostered by her mother who kept their home filled with sounds of Janis Joplin, Neil Young, Crosby Stills and Nash, Carol King and others whose music echoed with resonant the defiance against the Vietnam War and racial atrocities that shook America in the 1960’s and early 1970’s, As a child, she knew she was different and very much felt like an outsider, unwelcome and uncomfortable in her own skin. It was gender confusion, which she had always considered a shameful secret, that simmered deep within. Her mother’s own on-going mental health problems only complicated matters, making the fear of Michele’s own struggles only worse, pushing the her secret deeper. She was a he on the outside. The persistent feeling of “being less than,” however, became the fuel of her ambition. She taught herself how to play drums at the age of 13, but never felt skilled enough. She attended university and had dreams of being a writer, but became a college drop out at the age 21, setting her sights instead on a career in the Silicon Valley. Married at 21 and then a father at 27 of triplet daughters, she was divorced by the age of 31. Hers own personal failures multiplied- gender confusion, dropping out of college, divorcing with three young daughters. However, her career success seemed unstoppable. She was a Vice President of a public company at the age 35, president by 40 and opened the NASDAQ as CEO by 43. Her love of music was a constant. She helped form a band as the drummer, and took them into The Plant recording studio and recorded her first album. It became a calling card and they became a regional opening band for Journey, Def Leppard, Foreigner, UFO. In 2025, the Vampire Time project features guest performances by Carmine Rojas, Conrad Korsch, Steve Ferrone, Shawn Pelton, Russ McKinnon, Andrew Synowiec and many notable others, produced by Kerry Brown. Today with the release of the second single “Vampire Time” (Licorice Pizza) Michele Bettencourt and the Vampire Time band are set for an even higher level for music fans and on US radio.