WEBVTT - 9021One on One: Billy Vera 0:00:03.400 --> 0:00:11.320 With Jenny Garth and Tori Spelling. Okay, so we have 0:00:11.520 --> 0:00:16.760 him here today. It's Brandon's bookie. It's the infamous Billy Vera. 0:00:16.840 --> 0:00:22.720 Oh my gosh, American singer, extraordinary. Oh my god, you're here, Hi, Billy. 0:00:22.800 --> 0:00:27.040 We're so excited. Hold on, I just want to remember 0:00:27.080 --> 0:00:35.840 this moment. I remember it all too well. I'm telling 0:00:35.880 --> 0:00:41.440 you when I I can't Family Ties that was like 0:00:41.640 --> 0:00:45.239 this moment, uh huh, at this moment that was everybody 0:00:45.280 --> 0:00:49.640 remembers that song that made that scene on Family Ties 0:00:49.680 --> 0:00:54.600 like oh yeah, and nobody's happier than I am. That 0:00:55.920 --> 0:00:59.800 lived on with a lot of cover versions you have. 0:00:59.880 --> 0:01:04.400 Today was Tom Jones birthday, and so on my Facebook, 0:01:04.440 --> 0:01:07.520 I always put whoever's birthday it is in music, you know, 0:01:07.840 --> 0:01:10.319 and I'll put a you know, a song of theirs 0:01:10.400 --> 0:01:14.039 or whatever. So when when it's Tom Jones's birthday, I 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:18.640 get to put his version of At this Moment or 0:01:18.720 --> 0:01:22.959 Michael Hoy whoever did it most you know on their birthday. 0:01:23.680 --> 0:01:25.720 That must be feel like such an honor to have 0:01:25.840 --> 0:01:31.160 people cover your iconic song. It's it's it's great. You know. 0:01:31.200 --> 0:01:34.800 I've been a professional songwriter since I was about nineteen 0:01:34.880 --> 0:01:37.800 years old, and uh, I used to be a staff 0:01:37.880 --> 0:01:40.800 songwriter at publishing companies. You know, they luck you in 0:01:40.840 --> 0:01:44.360 a room and a little half a piano and and 0:01:44.440 --> 0:01:47.640 you both comes in and tells you, Hey, Tony Bennett's 0:01:47.640 --> 0:01:49.720 recording next week, can you come up with something for him? 0:01:49.800 --> 0:01:54.280 You know, whoever pressure you just knock him when you 0:01:54.360 --> 0:01:56.960 knock him out, and you hope that they recorded, and 0:01:57.000 --> 0:01:59.840 you hope it sells. You know, I got my best 0:02:00.640 --> 0:02:05.200 was one of my favorites was Dolly parton what would 0:02:05.240 --> 0:02:08.560 You Write for? Dolly? Song called I Really Got the 0:02:08.600 --> 0:02:12.840 Feeling and I went to number one on the country charts. 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:16.520 I was happy, Well, she's the nicest person you ever 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:19.520 want to meet. In case you never have, I would 0:02:19.560 --> 0:02:24.800 love to meet Dolly Dolly either. Everybody loves the Dolly. 0:02:24.960 --> 0:02:27.519 Every loves this song too. Everybody loves you. You've been, 0:02:27.880 --> 0:02:30.560 like you said, doing this since you were knee high 0:02:30.600 --> 0:02:35.800 to a grasshopper or lower. Well, you know, my parents 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:38.920 were in show business. You know, was an announcer on 0:02:39.080 --> 0:02:42.680 NBC for about thirty years, and my mom was a 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:45.839 singer on the Perry Como Show. One of the background said, 0:02:45.919 --> 0:02:49.040 no letters, we get letters. You know, one of those curs. Yeah, 0:02:49.040 --> 0:02:52.320 how did your parents influence your career? Then? Do you 0:02:52.320 --> 0:02:56.280 think I think just a professional you know, making me 0:02:56.320 --> 0:03:01.800 more professional? Uh, because there's really if you're not if 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:03.680 you don't come from a show biz family, who's to 0:03:03.760 --> 0:03:08.240 teach you, right, Who's just you know a little little 0:03:08.280 --> 0:03:11.880 silly things. Of course, when I first started, first had 0:03:11.880 --> 0:03:15.160 a hit record, I got booked at the Apollo Theater, 0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:19.240 you know, in New York, and it was the Apollo 0:03:19.360 --> 0:03:21.840 was the pinnacle of black show business, you know, and 0:03:21.960 --> 0:03:25.480 I was totally white guy. But a lot of the 0:03:25.480 --> 0:03:30.360 old timers they would take it as their obligation to 0:03:30.360 --> 0:03:32.760 to show you the ropes. You know, hey, kids, this 0:03:32.800 --> 0:03:34.480 is how you make an entrance, this is how you 0:03:34.560 --> 0:03:37.119 make an exit. You know, don't say this, do that, 0:03:37.760 --> 0:03:39.680 And that's how you learn. I don't know, I don't 0:03:39.680 --> 0:03:42.880 know how kids learned nowadays. Yeah, it's different now it's 0:03:42.920 --> 0:03:45.920 not people aren't so supportive of one another. They're kind 0:03:45.920 --> 0:03:49.520 of like you're on your own out there. Yeah, and 0:03:49.560 --> 0:03:51.680 they make a record and the next thing, you know, oh, 0:03:51.760 --> 0:03:53.280 now you got to go on stage. You know, you 0:03:53.320 --> 0:03:56.440 gotta do an act. Whereas you know, in my day, 0:03:57.040 --> 0:04:02.920 you you did a lot of time, you know, crummy clubs, performing, Yeah, 0:04:03.000 --> 0:04:07.160 getting dressed in the bathroom, changing your clothing. Since your 0:04:07.200 --> 0:04:10.960 career was mostly music in the beginning, what made you 0:04:11.000 --> 0:04:15.520 want to start acting? That was not something I really 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:20.320 wanted to do. Uh. We were playing at the Troubadoor 0:04:20.320 --> 0:04:22.279 every Monday night, you know, the first year I was 0:04:22.320 --> 0:04:25.880 out here. And the fellow that was my songwriting mentor 0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:31.160 was named Jim Taylor. He wrote wild Thing Agent. And 0:04:31.200 --> 0:04:33.839 he had a brother who was an actor named John Foyd. 0:04:34.800 --> 0:04:38.200 So one night John comes in with his acting coach, 0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:42.240 David pro Vaal you might remember from the Sopranos and 0:04:42.600 --> 0:04:47.200 Main Streets, and and he comes. They come backstage. John said, 0:04:47.800 --> 0:04:51.240 you know, Billy, I've never seen a singer do what 0:04:51.279 --> 0:04:53.520 you do up there. He said, you know, most of 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:55.920 these guys come out there and say, hey, hello, La, 0:04:56.040 --> 0:04:58.840 I'm gonna make you feel happy, I'm gonna make you cry, 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:01.920 I'm gonna make you And you don't do that, he said. 0:05:01.960 --> 0:05:04.279 He said, you you just get out there and lay 0:05:04.279 --> 0:05:08.559 it out there and let them feel with nature tells 0:05:08.600 --> 0:05:11.200 him to feel. He said, you know, he said, you 0:05:11.200 --> 0:05:13.120 should be an actor. I said, oh, John, I don't 0:05:13.120 --> 0:05:15.560 want to be an actor, man. You know, that's for 0:05:15.640 --> 0:05:17.560 you guys. You know, because John was one of the 0:05:17.600 --> 0:05:21.520 great actors of our time. In case you you've seen 0:05:21.560 --> 0:05:27.599 him recently in the Ray Donovan, he kills anyway. So 0:05:27.640 --> 0:05:30.479 he taught me to go into this class, David pro 0:05:30.640 --> 0:05:35.000 Ball's class, and I just against my will. And there 0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:38.120 were two guys up on stage that night, Chris Moulkey 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:42.719 and a guy named Rocky Esaveria who became Stephen Bower. 0:05:43.480 --> 0:05:45.720 And I said, oh, these guys are doing something that's real, 0:05:46.000 --> 0:05:48.680 you know, and maybe I'll see if I can learn 0:05:48.720 --> 0:05:51.000 how to do this. And you know, it took me 0:05:51.040 --> 0:05:54.360 a while to make the transition, but after a while 0:05:54.440 --> 0:05:56.480 people started saying, Hey, you want to be on this show, 0:05:56.520 --> 0:05:58.040 Hey you want to be in this movie, Hey you 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:00.800 want to be in this play. And I started doing it. 0:06:00.920 --> 0:06:03.800 You know, Oh you are you are natural and he 0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:09.880 knew it. I guess, you know. I think it coincided 0:06:10.960 --> 0:06:14.120 with something I've been working on when I still lived 0:06:14.120 --> 0:06:18.160 in New York. Um it was a concept I had 0:06:18.920 --> 0:06:21.880 and I didn't know other people did this. So I'm 0:06:21.920 --> 0:06:24.080 just saying, you know, I know how I've been doing 0:06:24.080 --> 0:06:25.880 this for a while. I know how to make people 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:29.240 laugh and make them cry, and but there's got to 0:06:29.279 --> 0:06:32.839 be more. You know, what what if what if I'm 0:06:32.839 --> 0:06:37.560 doing a funny song on stage tonight, but my best 0:06:37.600 --> 0:06:40.560 friend died this afternoon? You know? Do I have a 0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:45.200 what's my obligation to be funny? Yeah? But it is. 0:06:45.279 --> 0:06:49.240 Do I also have an obligation maybe to include somehow 0:06:51.720 --> 0:06:54.360 my friend's death or that guy that cut me off 0:06:54.360 --> 0:06:57.160 on the way to the club tonight, you know? And 0:06:57.360 --> 0:07:01.440 and how can I combine all those things and and 0:07:01.440 --> 0:07:04.240 and make it bigger than just getting out there and 0:07:04.279 --> 0:07:07.560 singing in the song? You know? And so I was 0:07:07.600 --> 0:07:11.440 working on that and then as low and behold. That's 0:07:11.480 --> 0:07:14.720 kind of what David's class was teaching, you know, how 0:07:14.720 --> 0:07:16.760 to how to do that, how to bring all of 0:07:16.880 --> 0:07:21.200 the of your life experiences into the portrayal of whatever 0:07:21.240 --> 0:07:23.560 it is that you're doing. Yeah, you know, like it's 0:07:23.600 --> 0:07:26.000 like having a pale a painter and you've got all 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:28.760 those colors and there they are, you can use them, 0:07:29.280 --> 0:07:31.760 choose which ones you're going to use, and that becomes 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:35.560 so relatable. You become real to the fans as well. Yeah, 0:07:35.600 --> 0:07:38.640 they feel the connection on a deeper level. I think 0:07:38.640 --> 0:07:41.320 when you performed in that place. Well, you know, that's 0:07:41.360 --> 0:07:43.240 one of the things the old timers up at the 0:07:43.280 --> 0:07:45.400 Apollo Theater told him. They said, you know, don't be 0:07:45.400 --> 0:07:48.480 afraid to talk to him on stage. You know if 0:07:48.520 --> 0:07:50.920 they if you talk to him, they'll get to know you. 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:52.880 And if they get to know you, they'll like you. 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:59.000 They like you, they'll come and see you next time. Yeah, 0:07:59.240 --> 0:08:13.560 that's how it works. I guess. Yeah, I'm gonna go 0:08:13.600 --> 0:08:16.000 back to your TV appearances and You've done so many 0:08:16.040 --> 0:08:18.160 amazing things. But of course I have to ask because 0:08:18.160 --> 0:08:20.120 I'm a huge soap opera fan. You're on Days of 0:08:20.120 --> 0:08:22.200 Our Lives? Wait, did you play yourself on Days of 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:24.480 Our Lives or did you play a character on Dave's 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:28.680 Uh No, we went on There's the Band. Yeah. We 0:08:28.800 --> 0:08:32.079 did a couple of songs on Days and one of 0:08:32.160 --> 0:08:34.680 my by myself with the band, and another one we 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:37.200 did a duet of an old hit I had some 0:08:37.400 --> 0:08:40.840 years before, cool story with children that I sang it 0:08:40.840 --> 0:08:44.920 with Gloria lor Oh wow, yeah, that's so cool to 0:08:45.080 --> 0:08:48.640 be How about take us back though? How did you 0:08:48.720 --> 0:08:51.959 get the role of Duke on Beverly Hills nine or 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:54.839 two on. Oh, I don't know. I guess I guess 0:08:55.200 --> 0:08:58.160 I just auditioned maybe or maybe just somebody figured out 0:08:58.280 --> 0:09:01.480 you know, um, I can't he plays Thug of the Week. 0:09:01.559 --> 0:09:05.199 You know, I think you were a little bit more 0:09:05.200 --> 0:09:07.520 than Thug of the Week. I feel like you did 0:09:07.600 --> 0:09:09.800 not audition. I feel like they want to eat in 0:09:09.880 --> 0:09:14.320 that role, you know. As it turns out, Chuck Rosen 0:09:15.040 --> 0:09:18.480 was my neighbor, Well there you go. Yeah, And I 0:09:18.520 --> 0:09:20.280 don't think that I adn'ty going to do with it. 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:23.839 And I knew Chuck peripherally, you know, because I had 0:09:23.880 --> 0:09:26.040 done some things for a friend that one of his 0:09:26.080 --> 0:09:32.800 best friends, guy named Bobby Roth, another director, uh I, 0:09:33.320 --> 0:09:36.040 and also sometimes the band had appeared in a lot 0:09:36.080 --> 0:09:38.959 of Bobby's We were kind of like a stock company, 0:09:39.040 --> 0:09:42.920 you know, asked Jen. Do you think the character Duke 0:09:43.160 --> 0:09:48.360 was named after Duke Fencent? My dad and my dad 0:09:48.400 --> 0:09:50.280 had a right I'm sorry, So my dad had a 0:09:50.280 --> 0:09:53.800 producing partner and it was his name was Duke, like 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:57.840 I called him Uncle Duke. At the time we were 0:09:57.880 --> 0:09:59.920 doing the show, somebody said it was kind of a 0:10:00.360 --> 0:10:04.360 you know, an inside joke, and I always like inside jokes. 0:10:05.120 --> 0:10:07.560 Was it fun to play a character like that, like 0:10:07.600 --> 0:10:11.839 this kind of bad guy. Yeah. I like to play 0:10:11.840 --> 0:10:15.560 bad guys, you know. Uh. And then poor Jason I 0:10:15.559 --> 0:10:18.520 had to scare and you know, you had to rough 0:10:18.559 --> 0:10:21.160 him up a little. I didn't hit him or anything, 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:24.600 you know, I did, I did. I did a similar thing. Uh. 0:10:24.640 --> 0:10:28.319 There was a movie called The Doors and I played 0:10:29.000 --> 0:10:33.600 a promoter at the concert where Jim Morrison uh exposes 0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:37.840 himself and the kid that played his manager, you know, 0:10:37.880 --> 0:10:41.280 the Doors manager. I think he was Ally McGraw's son 0:10:41.360 --> 0:10:45.880 or something like that. Anyway, so Oliver Stone said, look, 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:48.720 don't be don't be afraid to just beat him up. 0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:53.600 So I made him cry a poor kids really and 0:10:53.600 --> 0:10:56.800 and and Oliver Stone never never, you know, he kept 0:10:56.800 --> 0:10:59.240 he wouldn't say cut. You know, he just kept going 0:11:00.000 --> 0:11:03.080 a distant with this poor kid because I kept yelling 0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:06.320 at him and calling them all kinds of vile names. 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:09.720 And you know, that was that was my part. That 0:11:09.800 --> 0:11:11.880 was my job. You know. Oh my gosh, that makes 0:11:11.920 --> 0:11:15.320 me really happy, because um, my parents were friends with 0:11:15.360 --> 0:11:17.240 his parents and they were trying to set us up 0:11:17.240 --> 0:11:18.520 and he didn't want to go out with me. So 0:11:18.800 --> 0:11:22.079 his name is Josh. So thanks for thanks good, I 0:11:22.120 --> 0:11:27.040 did it for you. Well, you know, you did a 0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:29.480 great job as an actor, But you would have to 0:11:29.520 --> 0:11:33.800 say that music was always your passion probably, right, Yeah, 0:11:33.880 --> 0:11:37.360 that's my main thing, you know, singing songs and getting 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:41.559 up there on the stage and relating to the people. Yeah, 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:44.520 I mean, acting really was the sideline for the most part, 0:11:45.679 --> 0:11:48.840 although there was a period there where the music wasn't 0:11:48.880 --> 0:11:52.079 going so well, so I was actually making more of 0:11:52.120 --> 0:11:56.600 a living acting than than singing it. Well, that's great 0:11:56.600 --> 0:12:00.200 fallback then, right, Yeah, Well, you know I figured out 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:03.679 at one point that the age of specialization was over 0:12:04.520 --> 0:12:07.719 m hm, you know, and and then that you that 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:11.240 I had to do as many things that I'm you know, 0:12:11.559 --> 0:12:14.320 you're you're good at a number of things hopefully, so 0:12:14.360 --> 0:12:17.760 if you do them all, you know, maybe this year 0:12:18.000 --> 0:12:20.360 this one will do well, and next year that one 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:22.760 will do well and this one not so well, and 0:12:23.120 --> 0:12:25.959 so combining them all you can make a decent living. 0:12:26.080 --> 0:12:31.240 I like that. Diversify people. Yeah, it's a good message. 0:12:32.160 --> 0:12:34.840 Modern rule of the show business. I need, we need 0:12:34.840 --> 0:12:37.720 to diversify tour. We gotta work on that, like start 0:12:37.760 --> 0:12:40.520 saving or dancing or I don't know, we can do 0:12:40.760 --> 0:12:44.240 something fall back on. It didn't teach you to dance 0:12:44.280 --> 0:12:48.240 in those days, they didn't. There was no training of 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:52.680 any kind like the studio system. They just threw out 0:12:52.720 --> 0:12:55.560 there back in the thirties and the forties. They had 0:12:55.600 --> 0:12:58.959 to do it. You had to do fencing and thing, 0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:03.800 and yeah, he taught you actual skills. WHOA like remembering 0:13:03.800 --> 0:13:08.839 the old remember like look at all of us. Let 0:13:08.880 --> 0:13:12.240 me take that again. Remember when you had an actual 0:13:12.320 --> 0:13:14.760 printed resume, but at the bottom you would always have 0:13:14.840 --> 0:13:19.000 it would be like special special talents or special interests, 0:13:19.040 --> 0:13:22.080 and people would have like special skills, and people would 0:13:22.120 --> 0:13:26.800 have like fencing and like gymnastics. Yeah, did you have 0:13:26.880 --> 0:13:29.800 like dancing on their gen And like, what were your 0:13:30.000 --> 0:13:35.200 special skills, Billy? Besides fencing and singing. One time I 0:13:35.240 --> 0:13:39.320 had a I had in this movie called BUCKERUBONSI and 0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:43.160 I had had to ride a horse. And I hadn't 0:13:43.280 --> 0:13:45.840 ridden a horse since I was riding ponies as a 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:50.320 little boy. So I knew this actress that that she 0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:52.920 was a good rider, you know, and she she took 0:13:52.960 --> 0:13:55.560 me out and gave you some stuff. And not only 0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:58.160 did I have to ride the horse, I had to 0:13:58.280 --> 0:14:05.360 stand on him. Yeah, not a stunt double. No, not me, man, 0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:08.800 you know important enough to have a stunt double, so 0:14:08.880 --> 0:14:13.280 you had to do it? Was the horse moving? No, no, 0:14:13.400 --> 0:14:15.200 you know what I got there in the ring room, 0:14:15.800 --> 0:14:17.920 I said, Man, you know, I'm a little scared to 0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:19.520 get it right. Of course I have only had a 0:14:19.520 --> 0:14:22.000 few lessons. He said, don't worry about it. That these 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:25.400 are movie star horses. They won't let you fall. They 0:14:25.400 --> 0:14:28.640 can They're trained to sense when you're about to, you know, 0:14:28.760 --> 0:14:32.760 do this, and and they move. They know how to 0:14:32.760 --> 0:14:37.240 move so that you won't fall. You can't fall, So 0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:42.840 I didn't, Thank god, Oh my god, oh my goodness. 0:14:43.320 --> 0:14:45.480 We would be remiss if we did not talk about 0:14:45.560 --> 0:14:48.840 your song at this moment. And it's how it became 0:14:48.920 --> 0:14:51.800 such an iconic symbol after it was featured on Family Ties. 0:14:51.840 --> 0:14:53.840 I don't think that we really talked about that enough 0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:57.360 because it really had a huge impact on the world 0:14:57.480 --> 0:15:01.240 and your career. Like what you what happened? How did 0:15:01.320 --> 0:15:06.640 that go down? Well? Um, I had written this song 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:11.040 back when I still lived in New York, Uh, living 0:15:11.080 --> 0:15:14.680 at my mother's as like a loser musician at age 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:20.240 and uh, when Dolly cut my song, I'm got an 0:15:20.240 --> 0:15:23.640 offer to move out here and write songs for Warner Brothers. 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:27.960 And I had already written at this moment it had 0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:31.400 come about. I had just I was I guess I 0:15:31.480 --> 0:15:34.040 was thirty three at the time, and I had this 0:15:34.120 --> 0:15:37.880 little twenty year old college girlfriend and she was telling 0:15:37.920 --> 0:15:42.480 me about her previous boyfriend and how crushed he was 0:15:42.520 --> 0:15:45.520 when he when she left him, and how destroyed he 0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:48.920 wasn't just all this and I kind of started writing 0:15:48.920 --> 0:15:53.080 it from what I perceived as his point of view. Wow, 0:15:53.800 --> 0:15:57.280 you know, and well, you know, it's like acting. You know, 0:15:57.360 --> 0:15:59.880 sometimes you gotta write a song for a girl singer, 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:02.640 so you gotta you gotta be a girl for the 0:16:02.680 --> 0:16:04.760 twenty minutes it takes you right there song, you know. 0:16:05.480 --> 0:16:09.320 So anyway, Uh, I got about two thirds of the 0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:11.360 way through the song. I couldn't figure out how to 0:16:11.680 --> 0:16:14.560 end it. And then when she dumped me a year later, 0:16:14.760 --> 0:16:20.840 I knew how it ended that last first. So I 0:16:20.920 --> 0:16:24.600 came out here and that was my publisher heard it. 0:16:25.320 --> 0:16:29.640 This guy had been music business forever, and uh he 0:16:29.680 --> 0:16:32.360 had me play a couple of songs for his staff 0:16:33.480 --> 0:16:36.200 and that was one of them. And I don't really 0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:38.680 didn't think it was a commercial song. You know, it 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:43.360 didn't have a great title, you know, a memorable title. 0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:45.760 I turned anyway, I turned around, and there he is. 0:16:45.800 --> 0:16:48.760 He's got tears coming down his face. This is this hard, 0:16:48.960 --> 0:16:53.840 hardened businessman. I said, Wow, maybe this song really has something. 0:16:54.320 --> 0:16:58.520 So anyway, we started doing it in the clubs and 0:16:59.000 --> 0:17:04.080 we got a record you and that was one of 0:17:04.080 --> 0:17:07.760 the songs he recorded. Well, the record company went out 0:17:07.800 --> 0:17:13.000 of business, and then I was five years between record deals, 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:20.000 and then the golden phone call comes. Guy says, my 0:17:20.080 --> 0:17:22.800 name is Michael Whitehorn. I produced and write for a 0:17:22.840 --> 0:17:26.560 showk Family Times, and we heard you do a song 0:17:26.600 --> 0:17:29.800 at the club the other night. We came to see you, 0:17:30.320 --> 0:17:32.440 and we think it might be good for an episode 0:17:32.440 --> 0:17:35.199 we have coming up. And I said, what's the name 0:17:35.240 --> 0:17:38.480 of it? He said, I don't know whatever the title 0:17:38.520 --> 0:17:42.520 it was, So I knew that's what the song was. 0:17:42.560 --> 0:17:45.920 When he couldn't think of the title, that's it was it. Well, 0:17:45.960 --> 0:17:48.199 I said, we'll call my publisher called Warner Brothers, and 0:17:48.280 --> 0:17:51.600 licensed the song for the show. So he did, and 0:17:51.640 --> 0:17:54.720 I get a bank full of mail. You know, I 0:17:54.840 --> 0:17:58.879 had had songs on TV shows before it. Usually you 0:17:58.920 --> 0:18:01.560 make a few bucks and that's nice. That's the end 0:18:01.560 --> 0:18:05.919 of it. But ma'am so I said, well, you know, 0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:09.199 maybe this song has something, maybe somebody will let me 0:18:09.200 --> 0:18:15.239 re record it. And everybody I called said no. And 0:18:15.280 --> 0:18:17.080 one day I was having lunch with a friend of 0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:20.159 mine who owned Rhino Records, and that's a company that 0:18:20.200 --> 0:18:24.040 puts out all these goodies, and we have these mock arguments. 0:18:24.080 --> 0:18:26.359 You know, whose version of Mustang salarly is the best? 0:18:26.400 --> 0:18:29.320 You know. We had these lunches and I told him 0:18:29.359 --> 0:18:33.120 about family ties. I said, I said, how many records 0:18:33.119 --> 0:18:36.800 do you need to sell to break even at your company? Said, oh, 0:18:37.000 --> 0:18:40.160 we have a small staff here, not made a couple 0:18:40.160 --> 0:18:42.919 of thousands, and so I'll guarantee you two thousand if 0:18:42.920 --> 0:18:45.040 you put it out. Put it out. He said sure. 0:18:45.280 --> 0:18:46.960 And he only did it because he likes me. He'll 0:18:46.960 --> 0:18:50.159 tell you to this day. He just figured to do 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:55.360 your favor and nothing would come of it. And as 0:18:55.560 --> 0:18:58.760 as Lady luck would have it, they used to the 0:18:58.800 --> 0:19:02.200 following season and the girl breaks up with Michael J. Fox. 0:19:03.920 --> 0:19:07.280 Then the story of the song and the story of 0:19:07.320 --> 0:19:09.919 the episode Boy Loses Girl were the same, and the 0:19:09.960 --> 0:19:15.399 public responded. NBC said they had more phone calls than 0:19:15.440 --> 0:19:17.560 any time in the history of the network for a song, 0:19:18.680 --> 0:19:24.320 and people started calling radio stations, they started calling record stores. 0:19:25.600 --> 0:19:29.400 There was no promotion because Ranno didn't know how to promote, 0:19:30.240 --> 0:19:34.360 and it was an organic, uh you know, grassroots kind 0:19:34.359 --> 0:19:36.840 of record that just boom took off. The next thing, 0:19:36.880 --> 0:19:39.040 you know, it's the number one record. I'm forty two 0:19:39.080 --> 0:19:44.520 years old, got the number one record. Yeah, I went 0:19:44.560 --> 0:19:47.359 on Dick Clark. You know, one of my dreams was 0:19:47.400 --> 0:19:52.080 to be on American band Stand. Did Johnny Carson nine times, 0:19:53.200 --> 0:19:56.679 you know, so it was cool. It turned out to 0:19:56.880 --> 0:20:13.919 change my life for the better. Great story. I was 0:20:13.960 --> 0:20:17.320 twelve years old and literally I still to the same 0:20:17.440 --> 0:20:20.359 forty nine. Can remember that scene and that song like 0:20:20.480 --> 0:20:23.560 it's and it was, I mean I loved Alex and 0:20:23.560 --> 0:20:27.560 Ellen like, but it was that song that made made it. 0:20:27.720 --> 0:20:31.119 It made everything. And it was probably my first like 0:20:31.280 --> 0:20:35.240 thing into like loving romance and watching that in movies 0:20:35.280 --> 0:20:40.080 and TV and um, you know, heartbreak and wanting it 0:20:40.160 --> 0:20:43.000 to work out. It's like a song concealed the deal 0:20:43.040 --> 0:20:47.720 on that you were twelve years old, Yeah, a little baby. 0:20:48.680 --> 0:20:53.600 That funny thing about that song, I mean vividly remember 0:20:54.640 --> 0:20:57.240 I mean, there were kids that made it their junior 0:20:57.320 --> 0:21:01.080 high school record hop song. There were sixty five year 0:21:01.119 --> 0:21:05.080 old couples was their song. It crossed every demographic group. 0:21:05.760 --> 0:21:08.560 It was being on the pop chart. Yeah, like when 0:21:08.560 --> 0:21:10.920 that played in high school dances, Oh my gosh, she 0:21:11.040 --> 0:21:13.400 just looked around and you were praying like a boy 0:21:13.400 --> 0:21:15.679 would ask me a slow dance to. It was just 0:21:15.720 --> 0:21:19.359 that one of those rare, universal kind of songs that 0:21:21.119 --> 0:21:25.639 fit every format. Yeah. It just goes to show you 0:21:25.680 --> 0:21:28.840 the power of music, especially when they use it mix 0:21:28.920 --> 0:21:32.480 it with the medium of storytelling through film and television, 0:21:32.560 --> 0:21:37.119 like they're there partners, Like when they worked together like 0:21:37.240 --> 0:21:41.199 that so beautifully to create something so memorable. That's what 0:21:41.400 --> 0:21:45.280 that's like lightning in a bottle. I mean, people to 0:21:45.359 --> 0:21:47.840 this day, you know, come up to me. I remember 0:21:47.840 --> 0:21:51.080 where I was when Michael J. Fox was crying over 0:21:51.480 --> 0:21:56.159 the girl. You know, well he never lost her in 0:21:56.200 --> 0:21:58.120 real life because they want to get married and have kids. 0:21:58.560 --> 0:22:02.160 They're still but the other I know, like I think 0:22:02.160 --> 0:22:05.040 in Hollywood things don't work out. They have this great relationship. 0:22:05.200 --> 0:22:07.119 He was on he was on a talk show, you know, 0:22:07.200 --> 0:22:09.440 and he said, he said, you know, I'm getting to 0:22:09.480 --> 0:22:11.000 tell you the truth. I'm getting a little sick of 0:22:11.040 --> 0:22:13.240 the song, he said. He said, every time we walk 0:22:13.320 --> 0:22:17.000 into a place, the band starts playing it in real life. 0:22:17.000 --> 0:22:20.120 Oh my gosh, that's hilarious. I wonder if they played 0:22:20.160 --> 0:22:23.639 it at their wedding. Boy, you know it's it's really 0:22:23.640 --> 0:22:28.159 not a wedding. I guess not. People say, what are 0:22:28.200 --> 0:22:30.600 you seeing at this moment? I said, you crazy? Are 0:22:30.640 --> 0:22:32.680 you sure you want me to do that? I don't 0:22:32.680 --> 0:22:37.480 want to you can I ask you one last question 0:22:37.520 --> 0:22:39.919 about nine two and so you were You were in 0:22:39.960 --> 0:22:43.200 four episodes as Duke, but Duke later comes back in 0:22:43.280 --> 0:22:46.680 the show, but it wasn't you. It was a different actor. Yeah. 0:22:46.680 --> 0:22:49.720 I don't remember why that happened or how that happened. 0:22:50.040 --> 0:22:52.000 You're probably busy and on tour and stuff that we 0:22:52.000 --> 0:22:54.560 had to get something else. I must have had another 0:22:54.560 --> 0:22:57.240 gig that week or something. I guess. I don't know. 0:22:57.280 --> 0:22:59.199 I would have done in a minute, you know, just 0:22:59.240 --> 0:23:05.680 one that was curious. That was my role. He wasn't 0:23:05.680 --> 0:23:10.600 as good as now. Well, you're still busy to this day. 0:23:10.640 --> 0:23:13.600 What are you tell us what you're up to? I'm 0:23:13.640 --> 0:23:15.960 going to do something really fun the end of the month, 0:23:16.119 --> 0:23:19.200 I'm going to go back and play at my high school. WHOA, 0:23:19.400 --> 0:23:23.360 oh my god, in White Plains, New York. Yeah, I'm 0:23:23.359 --> 0:23:26.760 gonna I'm gonna do a show there, and uh it's 0:23:26.800 --> 0:23:31.800 a it's a really nice theater at the school. In fact, 0:23:31.920 --> 0:23:35.960 Alan older was it was the was alumni. John Boyd 0:23:36.119 --> 0:23:41.359 was an alumni. So yeah, And the last time I 0:23:41.440 --> 0:23:44.439 was on that stage, I was. I was in tenth grade. 0:23:45.480 --> 0:23:50.160 We we we wanted to be in the talent show, 0:23:50.359 --> 0:23:55.080 you know, and uh, you know, how good could you 0:23:55.119 --> 0:23:58.440 be a sixteen years old? So I knew a little 0:23:58.480 --> 0:24:01.840 bit of guitar. I put my best friend and I 0:24:01.840 --> 0:24:05.000 taught him how to play two songs on guitar stone deaf. 0:24:06.080 --> 0:24:09.560 He couldn't even the guitar, poor kids, but he had 0:24:09.560 --> 0:24:12.960 an amp. I couldn't afford an amp. And then uh, 0:24:13.040 --> 0:24:15.160 I taught this other kid out to play the same 0:24:15.200 --> 0:24:17.959 two songs on drums. And we went up there and 0:24:18.000 --> 0:24:20.280