WEBVTT - Tommy James 0:00:08.600 --> 0:00:13.399 Welcome, Welcome, Welcome back Bob Left stepod podcast. My guest 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:17.320 this week is the one and only Tommy James. Tommy, 0:00:17.320 --> 0:00:19.960 good to have you on the podcast. Thank you so much. 0:00:20.000 --> 0:00:22.680 Great to be with you. So you're going on the 0:00:22.760 --> 0:00:26.160 road during the era of COVID. What is that like? Well, 0:00:26.200 --> 0:00:29.560 you know something, we were down for a year and 0:00:29.640 --> 0:00:34.080 a half. We didn't we didn't perform our you know, 0:00:34.120 --> 0:00:40.320 it was from February of two, just recently and uh so, 0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:45.320 you know, it's like being an athlete who stops. Who 0:00:45.360 --> 0:00:47.520 stops being an athlete for a year and a half 0:00:47.560 --> 0:00:51.000 and your your your muscles get all saggy and you 0:00:51.000 --> 0:00:53.159 you know, when you go back out, you're not You're 0:00:53.200 --> 0:00:55.200 not sure what's going to happen. And so that's what 0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:59.560 I felt like. We have just completed our seventh concert 0:01:00.160 --> 0:01:05.039 after COVID, and uh, you know, I get stronger and 0:01:05.080 --> 0:01:07.720 stronger at each show. So I feel pretty good now. 0:01:08.040 --> 0:01:11.040 The first couple of shows were crazy. I was forgetting 0:01:11.040 --> 0:01:13.319 the words to Hanky Panky and that's hard to do. 0:01:14.480 --> 0:01:21.240 That's very There's only six of them, so so at 0:01:21.240 --> 0:01:24.280 any rate, uh, uh, you know, I'm feeling pretty good now. 0:01:24.319 --> 0:01:27.640 We're we're we're in St. Louis this week and uh 0:01:28.200 --> 0:01:31.040 so you know it's uh getting back out in the 0:01:31.120 --> 0:01:33.640 road and mixing it up with the fans feels really good. 0:01:34.120 --> 0:01:36.000 What about COVID and the fan do you have any 0:01:36.000 --> 0:01:38.800 problem people anxious about attending since you know a lot 0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:41.920 of older demo people want to come to your show. Well, 0:01:41.959 --> 0:01:45.440 you know, we weren't sure what was going to happen, uh, 0:01:45.440 --> 0:01:48.080 if people are gonna come back to but these these 0:01:48.080 --> 0:01:53.280 folks are ready to party, and it's it's very I'm 0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:57.800 very pleasantly surprised. Um, there's only been a couple of 0:01:57.840 --> 0:02:02.120 places where uh, masks were required. I don't know how 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:05.280 you go to a rock concert with a mask on, um, 0:02:05.320 --> 0:02:08.280 you know, singing along and whooping and hollering. It's pretty tough. 0:02:08.800 --> 0:02:11.640 But um, uh, you know it's funny. As soon as 0:02:11.680 --> 0:02:13.840 we get there, people seem to just rip the masks 0:02:13.919 --> 0:02:17.919 off and uh so everybody is is ready to go, 0:02:18.280 --> 0:02:21.880 and uh, you know, I'm not I'm not really concerned. 0:02:21.919 --> 0:02:27.000 I had COVID uh last December. In fact, Christmas Eve 0:02:27.320 --> 0:02:29.880 they told me I had COVID. They said, Merry Christmas, 0:02:29.880 --> 0:02:33.680 you got COVID, And I was very very blessed and 0:02:33.800 --> 0:02:36.320 fortunate to not have a serious case at all. I 0:02:36.320 --> 0:02:38.840 wouldn't have even known I had it if they hadn't 0:02:39.000 --> 0:02:42.560 told me. Our housekeeper basically told my wife and I that, 0:02:43.760 --> 0:02:49.960 uh she had tested positive in December of and so 0:02:50.000 --> 0:02:52.000 we had a lab. The lab came out and we 0:02:52.360 --> 0:02:57.160 we both tested and I she she was negative. I 0:02:57.240 --> 0:03:02.080 was positive. So all I can say is I was. 0:03:02.440 --> 0:03:05.359 I wouldn't have known I had it if I hadn't 0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:09.720 have been told. So thank God. And uh so, I 0:03:11.520 --> 0:03:15.280 you know, I have whatever natural immunity you get, and 0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:17.960 uh so, I feel pretty good. I feel I feel 0:03:18.040 --> 0:03:21.400 very confident out in the road. Now. Okay, Tommy, we 0:03:21.520 --> 0:03:24.440 heard recently that your wife wasn't doing so well. What's 0:03:24.520 --> 0:03:29.839 up with that? Well, Linda has MS and she's had 0:03:29.880 --> 0:03:35.840 it since uh oh nine. She was diagnosed with it, 0:03:36.320 --> 0:03:40.560 and it's progressive and it's part of our life now. 0:03:41.560 --> 0:03:46.240 MS is a really spooky disease because everybody gets it 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:56.680 different and essentially, the the the lining around the nerves 0:03:57.400 --> 0:04:02.320 um it's called milon and uh it gets inflamed and 0:04:02.360 --> 0:04:06.920 when it does, it leaves scars. And when it leaves scars, 0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:13.600 the electrical impulses can't get in and out, so it's 0:04:13.680 --> 0:04:19.240 essentially paralyzing. And so it's progressive and it's just the 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:21.800 way it is and we gotta live with it. So 0:04:22.279 --> 0:04:25.800 your wife Linda is a practical matter. Now, what's her 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:30.480 life look like? How mobile is she? Well, she's she's 0:04:30.520 --> 0:04:33.599 not mobile at all. She's pretty much better ridden now 0:04:34.320 --> 0:04:37.560 and that's just the way it's going to be. Occasionally 0:04:37.560 --> 0:04:42.040 we can use a wheelchair, but pretty much she's ah, 0:04:43.080 --> 0:04:46.680 she's an invalid, and so we have a team of 0:04:46.839 --> 0:04:53.320 nurses and I'm a caregiver in between doing Tommy James stuff. 0:04:54.400 --> 0:04:57.880 So that's just the way it is. Thank you for asking. 0:04:58.640 --> 0:05:02.120 So when you do a show t me, the audience 0:05:02.160 --> 0:05:04.240 expects the hit. Do you ever not play one of 0:05:04.279 --> 0:05:07.440 the hits? And what's the reaction? Yeah? Well, you know, 0:05:07.600 --> 0:05:09.919 we we get requests for so many more than we 0:05:09.960 --> 0:05:12.359 can do during you know, an hour and a half. 0:05:12.440 --> 0:05:17.120 We we probably could play for three hours if we, uh, 0:05:17.160 --> 0:05:19.440 if we were to do more of the more of 0:05:19.440 --> 0:05:22.599 the hits and more of the big album cuts and stuff. 0:05:22.960 --> 0:05:29.359 But I'm very honored and flattered. During that time, we 0:05:29.400 --> 0:05:32.440 get requests for all kinds of stuff and h every 0:05:32.480 --> 0:05:34.599 now and then we throw new stuff into the show, 0:05:35.680 --> 0:05:38.360 but we've only got so much time, so we try 0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:41.200 to cram as many of the big songs and two 0:05:41.800 --> 0:05:44.440 into that much time as we can. I wanted to 0:05:44.480 --> 0:05:47.320 tell you I read your stuff all the time, and 0:05:47.440 --> 0:05:50.560 I am really knocked out. I love, I'm very honored 0:05:50.640 --> 0:05:56.599 to do this with you. And uh, uh you're extremely articulate, 0:05:56.680 --> 0:06:00.520 and you are saying the things that all of us 0:06:00.640 --> 0:06:03.719 need to know. You know, um who are in the business, 0:06:04.440 --> 0:06:08.560 and uh, you have a very keen eye. And and 0:06:08.600 --> 0:06:11.480 I must say I'm very impressed with your writing and 0:06:11.520 --> 0:06:16.520 your insights and things, and I mean that sincerely. Well, 0:06:16.560 --> 0:06:19.440 you know this is an audio podcast, so people can't 0:06:19.440 --> 0:06:22.720 see me smiling. Thanks so much. But since we're on 0:06:22.880 --> 0:06:28.800 the laudatory path, you wrote one of the best rock 0:06:29.360 --> 0:06:33.279 biographies ever, the first and for first and for most. 0:06:33.320 --> 0:06:37.400 It hits the number one criterion of writing. It's extremely 0:06:37.440 --> 0:06:40.760 readable because I certainly read about it, read it and 0:06:40.800 --> 0:06:43.479 wrote about it when it came out. But I was 0:06:43.560 --> 0:06:46.200 reviewing it last night, my girlfriends, well, what's going on? 0:06:46.240 --> 0:06:48.120 Blah blah blah blah blah, And I said none. I said, 0:06:48.279 --> 0:06:50.840 this is the type of book. You start reading it, 0:06:51.080 --> 0:06:54.520 you can't stop. It's just done so well. I've read 0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:56.839 a million of these things, and that's why I said 0:06:57.480 --> 0:07:00.359 great things about it when I did read it. But 0:07:01.200 --> 0:07:04.080 I really have to put that fourth now. The other 0:07:04.200 --> 0:07:06.760 thing that's amazing in your career. You really made it 0:07:06.800 --> 0:07:11.080 as a teenager. Yeah, when he when Hanky Panky. When 0:07:11.080 --> 0:07:14.800 Hanky Panky was a hit, how old were you? Uh, Well, 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:17.560 when I recorded it, I was sixteen when it hit. 0:07:18.640 --> 0:07:21.000 It was two and a half years later, so I 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:26.000 was I had just I was just turning nineteen. Uh. 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:28.560 I had been in a band though since I was twelve. 0:07:28.920 --> 0:07:32.360 If you can believe that, I started my first rock 0:07:32.440 --> 0:07:35.680 band back in my hometown of Niles, Michigan, when I 0:07:35.760 --> 0:07:40.600 was twelve, uh and played the seventh grade variety show 0:07:41.440 --> 0:07:44.280 and we ended up keeping the band together. We got 0:07:44.280 --> 0:07:47.320 such a great response, we kept the band together, and 0:07:47.520 --> 0:07:52.080 uh I started uh performing you know, at the y 0:07:52.240 --> 0:07:56.000 m c A. And dances all over town and wherever 0:07:56.080 --> 0:08:01.280 they'd have us. And when I was fourteen years oh, 0:08:01.320 --> 0:08:04.640 I made my first record, and that was I got 0:08:04.640 --> 0:08:07.760 a job in a local record shop and one of 0:08:07.800 --> 0:08:12.040 the distributors from an outfit called singer one stop in Chicago, 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:15.760 you know, would would service all the mom and pop 0:08:15.800 --> 0:08:20.200 record stores, and Niles Michigan was one of them. And 0:08:20.240 --> 0:08:23.240 he came in and we got to talk, and I 0:08:23.320 --> 0:08:27.560 was fourteen years old, and I told him I had 0:08:27.560 --> 0:08:32.200 a band, and he had a little studio up in Hastings, Michigan. 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:34.400 I said, uh. He said, why don't you come up 0:08:34.400 --> 0:08:39.440 and record something? So I said, well, yeah, so I 0:08:39.520 --> 0:08:42.480 did and that was our first record. It was a 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:46.719 cover of the Fireballs record Long Ponytail. And so that 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:50.800 was my first recording experience on a little label called 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:55.520 north Way Sound. And then two years later, um, a 0:08:55.520 --> 0:08:58.080 local disc jockey was starting to record. Well wait, Lech, 0:08:58.120 --> 0:09:02.720 let's let's stop for a second. So you were born 0:09:03.000 --> 0:09:06.800 and your first you in what town? I was born 0:09:06.880 --> 0:09:13.040 in Dayton, Ohio. And spent about ten minutes and what okay? 0:09:13.080 --> 0:09:16.439 And what did your parents do in Dayton? My folks 0:09:17.080 --> 0:09:21.599 managed a hotel. My father actually managed a hotel and 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:26.520 he was in the hotel business in Dayton, and uh. 0:09:27.160 --> 0:09:30.600 We soon left after that and moved to South Bend, Indiana, 0:09:31.040 --> 0:09:35.240 where he managed another hotel. And you know, it's kind 0:09:35.240 --> 0:09:40.839 of like being a military kid and go ahead. No, 0:09:41.080 --> 0:09:44.000 So he was managing a hotel. South Bend is a 0:09:44.000 --> 0:09:49.800 home of Notre Dame. How big hotel was it? Well, 0:09:49.880 --> 0:09:53.079 I suppose a medium sized hotel. Wasn't huge. It was 0:09:53.160 --> 0:10:00.320 called the LaSalle Hotel. And uh he stayed there for 0:10:00.640 --> 0:10:04.640 many years. And uh, I my mother and my dad 0:10:04.679 --> 0:10:06.720 and I there was I was an only child, lived 0:10:06.760 --> 0:10:10.240 in South Bend and until I was seven years old, 0:10:10.280 --> 0:10:13.240 and then we moved to Niles, Michigan, which was just 0:10:13.360 --> 0:10:16.760 over the state line in Michigan. Okay, but do you 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:20.800 still work in the same hotel? Yes, Okay. So you 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:23.920 know there's the Helloise books or the Eloise books. Hellowise 0:10:24.000 --> 0:10:27.360 was the cleaning person Eloise books about living at the plaza. 0:10:27.760 --> 0:10:30.120 What's it like when your father runs a hotel? Do 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:34.040 you hang out at the hotel? Well, sometime we would 0:10:34.040 --> 0:10:36.480 go down and we'd have lunch there down down in 0:10:36.520 --> 0:10:39.680 the coffee shop. Sometimes my mom and I get my 0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:43.640 hair cut in the hotel barbershop. You know, they had hotels, 0:10:44.000 --> 0:10:46.480 especially ones that are on a corner, you know, have 0:10:46.640 --> 0:10:49.640 all kinds of other little businesses. I if I hadn't 0:10:49.640 --> 0:10:51.680 have done the music business, I would have probably gotten 0:10:51.720 --> 0:10:56.320 to the hotel business. I loved hotels. I love sitting 0:10:56.360 --> 0:11:01.199 in the lobby looking at the beautiful furnishings and the ceilings, 0:11:01.240 --> 0:11:05.320 and I loved it ever since I was a little kid. So, um, 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:08.320 it's probably a good thing I played guitar though, just 0:11:08.760 --> 0:11:13.000 as as I looked back. So anyway, we moved to Niles, Michigan, 0:11:13.480 --> 0:11:15.800 and when I was seven years old, and I grew 0:11:15.880 --> 0:11:17.880 up there. I went to school in high school there 0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:22.880 and at the same time, Uh God, bless that little 0:11:22.920 --> 0:11:27.480 record shop, because I got a job there. And before 0:11:27.520 --> 0:11:30.000 before you get there, you're growing up. What kind of 0:11:30.120 --> 0:11:33.160 kids are you? Are you smart? Are you good in school? 0:11:33.240 --> 0:11:35.960 You're bad in school? You're a loner? You remember the group? 0:11:36.320 --> 0:11:39.680 What was your identity growing up? Oh? I was pretty 0:11:39.720 --> 0:11:44.959 average in school. Uh. I certainly wasn't an honor student. 0:11:46.080 --> 0:11:49.560 I was had a lot of other activities going on, 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:51.960 mostly of them having to do with music, you know, 0:11:52.040 --> 0:11:55.679 with the group. And uh, because I you know, by 0:11:55.679 --> 0:11:59.600 the time I was twelve, I had started the group. 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:03.840 So I was a very average kid. I'm trying to 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:08.120 think of anything. I played a little basketball, but not much. 0:12:08.600 --> 0:12:14.320 I Um, I had a lot of friends, Uh, some 0:12:14.520 --> 0:12:17.160 that I still go back to Niles to this very 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:22.480 day and and power with you know have I've stayed 0:12:22.480 --> 0:12:25.560 in touch with many of them. We didn't have a 0:12:25.559 --> 0:12:31.600 big family, but I developed a whole lot of buddies. Okay, 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:34.320 So how did you get a job at a record store? 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:37.440 I was at the right place at the right time. 0:12:37.520 --> 0:12:42.040 Has happened so often in my life. Um, I was, 0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:46.000 you know, had a collection of records that was, you know, 0:12:46.120 --> 0:12:48.839 just stacks of records. I was buying records since I 0:12:48.880 --> 0:12:51.280 was a little kid. By the way, I left something 0:12:51.320 --> 0:12:53.760 out there. My mother used to have brought me a 0:12:53.840 --> 0:12:59.480 record player and um and records. Uh when I was 0:13:00.120 --> 0:13:03.760 you know, three years old and four years old, So 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:08.839 I had a stack of records. Um. My grandfather bought 0:13:08.880 --> 0:13:11.720 me a ukulele and Arthur God for ukulele when I 0:13:11.800 --> 0:13:15.200 was four, and I started playing everything I could on 0:13:15.280 --> 0:13:17.720 that uku ale and started singing along with the radio 0:13:17.800 --> 0:13:21.760 and stuff. And so when I was nine years old, 0:13:21.840 --> 0:13:24.400 I saw Elvis on TV for the first time on 0:13:24.440 --> 0:13:28.440 the Ed Sullivan Show, and the ukulele went out the window, 0:13:29.080 --> 0:13:33.000 and I begged my mom for a guitar, uh, which 0:13:33.080 --> 0:13:37.880 she got me and started playing the acoustic guitar. The 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:39.880 next year, when I was ten, I got my first 0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:46.439 electric guitar, and uh, you know, started playing as much 0:13:46.480 --> 0:13:49.199 electric guitar as I could hear in the radio. Okay, 0:13:49.240 --> 0:13:51.560 so how did you learn how to play the guitar? 0:13:51.880 --> 0:13:56.600 You owned it? But well, my mom tried to get 0:13:56.640 --> 0:14:00.160 me lessons and I didn't want to do that. I 0:14:00.160 --> 0:14:04.280 I taught myself how to play. I had taught myself 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:07.160 to ukulele, and I figured I could teach myself the guitar, 0:14:08.000 --> 0:14:10.800 and uh, and I did so this very day. I 0:14:10.880 --> 0:14:14.720 still don't play the guitar properly. I pre tuned the 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:20.080 guitar to an open e chord and uh, play rhythm. 0:14:20.120 --> 0:14:24.640 I can't play lead worth a damn because, uh, that 0:14:24.680 --> 0:14:27.760 requires a better knowledge of the guitar than I have. 0:14:28.680 --> 0:14:31.760 So I play and sing. That's my job, was to 0:14:31.840 --> 0:14:36.440 sing and accompany myself. Okay. And what was your first 0:14:36.480 --> 0:14:41.800 electric guitar? It was made by Slingerland Drums. It was 0:14:41.840 --> 0:14:49.040 a Slingerland guitar. It was I didn't either, but it was. 0:14:49.200 --> 0:14:53.240 It was Slingerland. And it was a jazz guitar. Uh, 0:14:53.400 --> 0:14:57.200 that had been and it was was owned by my 0:14:57.360 --> 0:15:04.040 barber and my barber who cut my d a off. Um, 0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:06.960 you know every other week. Uh, you know, it just 0:15:07.000 --> 0:15:11.840 seems something really immoral about that. Told me my sold 0:15:11.880 --> 0:15:16.400 me my first guitar and amp, and uh that was 0:15:16.480 --> 0:15:19.560 the thrill of my life, getting my first electric guitar. Okay, 0:15:19.560 --> 0:15:22.240 so you got the amp simultaneously. And what was the 0:15:22.280 --> 0:15:26.240 brand of the amp? It was an Airline amp by 0:15:26.320 --> 0:15:33.440 Montgomery Wards. I couldn't yet afford a silver tone from Sears, 0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:38.360 but that came later, Okay, that you know, really God 0:15:38.640 --> 0:15:41.520 bringing it back the catalog. Okay. A lot of people 0:15:42.080 --> 0:15:45.840 they started playing music when the Beatles broke, or even 0:15:45.880 --> 0:15:48.560 a little bit before, they played acoustic guitars in the 0:15:48.560 --> 0:15:52.880 folk era. You're now talking about the fifties. What is 0:15:52.920 --> 0:15:57.240 the music scene in the fifties and what is motivating 0:15:57.280 --> 0:16:02.200 you to play and want to have a band? Well, 0:16:03.520 --> 0:16:05.880 all I wanted to be was one of those rock 0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:11.720 and roll guys that I saw on Bandstein, And of 0:16:11.760 --> 0:16:15.800 course when I saw Elvis, I knew that was a 0:16:15.880 --> 0:16:23.480 job possibility. And so honestly, seeing Elvis had a great 0:16:23.480 --> 0:16:27.040 impact on me when I was nine years old, and 0:16:28.680 --> 0:16:33.320 I all I can say is that I the I 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:35.800 learned everything on the radio and everything I could buy 0:16:35.800 --> 0:16:42.440 on record. And uh, I think the first guitar line 0:16:42.520 --> 0:16:48.560 that I ever learned was Sanford Clark playing the fool. Uh. 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:53.840 A very famous guitar player name Al Casey played that lick. 0:16:54.560 --> 0:16:58.880 Are you a musician? By the way, we were all musicians, okay, 0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:02.560 we all started off. But but I am not a musician. 0:17:03.200 --> 0:17:06.639 I had guitars, etcetera, but I had no natural talent. 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:08.760 All right, Well, you seem to know a lot about it, 0:17:08.800 --> 0:17:10.640 and that's I just kind of well, you know, when 0:17:10.680 --> 0:17:13.119 the Beatles hit, etcetera. And I grew up about fifty 0:17:13.119 --> 0:17:15.000 miles from New York City, one of the things you 0:17:15.000 --> 0:17:18.680 would do is go into Manny's and the other place street, 0:17:19.560 --> 0:17:22.320 uh and look at all the instruments, know all the brands, 0:17:22.359 --> 0:17:25.080 you go to see the acts. It's just that. And 0:17:25.200 --> 0:17:28.679 I was in bands, but not having the natural talent, 0:17:29.040 --> 0:17:31.080 you know, nothing, even when I never played a live 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:33.120 gig or anything like that, although I had a lot 0:17:33.119 --> 0:17:36.800 of friends. But since you were there before and after, 0:17:37.560 --> 0:17:41.640 what was the change from your perspective when the Beatles 0:17:41.760 --> 0:17:44.320 hit as opposed to what had come before? You got 0:17:44.359 --> 0:17:47.360 motivated by Elvis all of a sudden the Beatles hit. 0:17:47.800 --> 0:17:53.080 Why to what degree is that different? Well, my perspective 0:17:53.160 --> 0:17:57.480 probably is different because I was working in the record shop. 0:17:59.080 --> 0:18:06.000 This is really the end of nine. And UM, whenever 0:18:06.119 --> 0:18:10.960 I think of the Beatles making it, I think of 0:18:11.640 --> 0:18:17.000 two things. Uh what Capitol Records did in the record shops, 0:18:17.040 --> 0:18:21.520 the mom and pop record shops. Uh, they had a 0:18:21.600 --> 0:18:27.080 U the Beatles are coming little poster, little little tripods 0:18:27.160 --> 0:18:30.760 sign shaped like a guitar, and the front of the 0:18:30.880 --> 0:18:35.800 album of the Beatles first album, UM was on the 0:18:35.880 --> 0:18:39.960 body of the guitar in the picture, and the Beatles 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:42.680 are coming. The Beatles are coming, and their faces were 0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:47.200 turned backwards. And every week the distributor would come in 0:18:47.400 --> 0:18:50.320 and their faces would be turned slightly to the right, 0:18:51.240 --> 0:18:54.080 and and when their record came out they were facing 0:18:54.119 --> 0:18:58.399 exactly forward. Every week they would change this sign. And 0:18:58.480 --> 0:19:02.160 so I watched this happen. Uh as and of course 0:19:02.640 --> 0:19:06.040 that the Beatles exploded. But the second thing that happened 0:19:06.520 --> 0:19:13.280 was the Kennedy assassination. And I always associate, uh, the 0:19:13.400 --> 0:19:17.359 killing of John Kennedy with the Beatles making it, because 0:19:17.400 --> 0:19:23.240 they happened at exactly the same time. And UM, I've 0:19:23.240 --> 0:19:27.600 often said that I think the only thing that made 0:19:28.560 --> 0:19:35.160 bearable was the Beatles, because um, everything happened at once 0:19:35.240 --> 0:19:37.800 and anyway. In my head, I always think of those 0:19:37.840 --> 0:19:42.560 two things as being simultaneous because they were for me, 0:19:43.520 --> 0:19:46.240 and so when the b I remember hearing the Beatles 0:19:46.280 --> 0:19:49.639 though on jukeboxes I want to hold your hand, and 0:19:49.680 --> 0:19:51.919 I saw our standing there the first time, and I 0:19:51.960 --> 0:19:56.240 thought it was not very sophisticated. I thought it was, 0:19:56.760 --> 0:20:00.160 you know, kind of uh too, and then I went 0:20:00.240 --> 0:20:03.200 to try to play it. I don't know if you've 0:20:03.200 --> 0:20:08.679 ever tried playing the Beatles chord progressions, but uh, you 0:20:08.720 --> 0:20:11.880 could make your fingers bleed because they were they were 0:20:12.119 --> 0:20:15.760 very sophisticated. And I mean I remember going into the 0:20:15.840 --> 0:20:19.359 bridge of I want to hold your hand, you know, 0:20:19.480 --> 0:20:22.720 and when I think you know, the change is key 0:20:22.800 --> 0:20:26.760 completely and it's so subtle that you don't even realize 0:20:27.080 --> 0:20:30.240 hard Day's night. She loves you. Have you ever tried 0:20:30.280 --> 0:20:33.680 playing she Loves You? I mean, the chords that she 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:38.040 Loves You are insane and and they certainly were for me. 0:20:38.200 --> 0:20:40.439 I was playing three chords, you know, I was playing 0:20:41.880 --> 0:20:46.240 you know cf G, you know E A b uh. Well, 0:20:46.440 --> 0:20:50.159 the Beatles changed everything and all of a sudden, I 0:20:50.280 --> 0:20:53.920 realized how good these guys were. And then my band 0:20:54.000 --> 0:20:57.680 we tried to do the harmonies, and uh, they were 0:20:57.800 --> 0:21:00.560 really something we had to rehearse. Day used to do 0:21:01.119 --> 0:21:04.520 and on our gigs that we would usually play three 0:21:04.520 --> 0:21:07.119 hours gigs, you know, nine to twelve or eight to 0:21:07.200 --> 0:21:11.000 eleven for teen dances. And on the third set we 0:21:11.040 --> 0:21:14.720 bought Beatle up fits. We actually bought them the boots, 0:21:14.960 --> 0:21:18.920 the Beatle wigs. Uh, And as soon as we went 0:21:18.960 --> 0:21:23.000 out on our third set, the girls started to scream. 0:21:23.080 --> 0:21:25.199 You know if we were you know, that was the 0:21:25.280 --> 0:21:27.560 only time, you know, if when we wore the Beetle outfits, 0:21:27.600 --> 0:21:31.800 when we took them off, they go, So, I mean 0:21:31.960 --> 0:21:36.400 I was into the Beatles. Okay, let's go back. You're 0:21:36.480 --> 0:21:40.320 twelve years old, you form a band. Certainly once the 0:21:40.359 --> 0:21:43.280 Beatles hit, everybody is playing and everybody wants to join 0:21:43.320 --> 0:21:47.080 a band. Was it hard to assemble a band? And 0:21:47.160 --> 0:21:49.840 what were the steps to working and to what degree 0:21:49.880 --> 0:21:52.680 did you have gigs from when you were twelve leading 0:21:52.720 --> 0:21:56.120 up to the Beatles. Sure, well, it's funny you say 0:21:56.160 --> 0:21:58.920 that because on the last week's radio show that I did, 0:21:59.200 --> 0:22:02.639 I talked about this is exactly what I talked about. 0:22:04.160 --> 0:22:07.919 You have a serious XM show every Sunday, right correct 0:22:08.240 --> 0:22:11.440 correct For those who might not know, it's called Getting 0:22:11.480 --> 0:22:16.240 Together and we're on at five o'clock. So anyway, Um, 0:22:16.359 --> 0:22:22.920 the bottom line is that when I started my band, uh, 0:22:22.960 --> 0:22:25.200 you know, it was just the very beginning. This is 0:22:25.320 --> 0:22:30.280 nine I'm talking about. My first gig was sixty. I 0:22:30.359 --> 0:22:37.240 was thirteen, and suddenly everyone was starting a band. Um, 0:22:37.280 --> 0:22:40.400 the kid down the street. As long as you as 0:22:40.440 --> 0:22:44.840 long as you own some kind of guitar, electric guitar 0:22:45.080 --> 0:22:48.400 and knew a drummer, you could start a group. You'd 0:22:48.400 --> 0:22:53.840 probably get a sacks player from the school band and 0:22:54.119 --> 0:22:56.880 a kid down the street who played piano, who took 0:22:56.880 --> 0:23:00.600 piano lessons, and you had a group. So the was 0:23:01.480 --> 0:23:03.640 what were you going to do then? And the real challenge, 0:23:03.640 --> 0:23:08.719 of course, was too what are you gonna play? You know? 0:23:08.920 --> 0:23:10.960 And you had to play at the same time, you know, 0:23:11.280 --> 0:23:13.159 somebody had to count one to three, four and you 0:23:13.200 --> 0:23:15.240 had to start and then you had to end at 0:23:15.240 --> 0:23:18.280 the same time. That was a challenge. So what I'm 0:23:18.320 --> 0:23:23.680 saying is that, um, uh, it was uh, every kid 0:23:23.800 --> 0:23:26.280 started a band because you could see him on TV. 0:23:26.480 --> 0:23:29.480 All the time. When the Beatles came out, it just 0:23:29.640 --> 0:23:38.680 got worse. The Beatles really uh changed everything, as you know, Um, 0:23:38.720 --> 0:23:42.240 I think the hair was was was interesting because kids 0:23:42.280 --> 0:23:45.200 were growing there air long in school. It kind of 0:23:45.320 --> 0:23:47.159 they kind of felt they had the right to do 0:23:47.240 --> 0:23:52.159 it after no matter what the teacher said as because 0:23:52.160 --> 0:23:56.840 of the Beatles. I mean, the Beatles really changed everything immediately. 0:23:57.920 --> 0:24:10.040 So I loved So how do you get the gig 0:24:10.080 --> 0:24:15.160 at the record store and what's the experience working there? Well? 0:24:15.240 --> 0:24:18.240 I would buy my records at this particular record store. 0:24:18.240 --> 0:24:23.040 It was called the Spinnett Record Shop in Niles, Michigan, 0:24:23.200 --> 0:24:27.359 on Main Street. And I walked in one day and 0:24:28.520 --> 0:24:32.600 she was letting a kid go and he had come 0:24:32.600 --> 0:24:37.400 in late and to work, and it was about four 0:24:37.440 --> 0:24:43.040 o'clock in the afternoon after school, and she just came 0:24:43.119 --> 0:24:46.040 over to me. And she had known me because I 0:24:46.080 --> 0:24:48.000 bought records there and she knew that I was in 0:24:48.040 --> 0:24:51.800 a band and so forth. And she says, Tom, you 0:24:51.840 --> 0:24:54.960 want a job, and I looked her I said, yes 0:24:55.119 --> 0:24:59.800 I do. She said, all right, come in tomorrow after 0:25:00.000 --> 0:25:03.119 school and I'll show you what to do. And I 0:25:03.240 --> 0:25:08.200 worked there until I graduated from high school. Uh four 0:25:08.280 --> 0:25:12.400 years later, and thank god I did, because so many 0:25:12.440 --> 0:25:16.080 things happened to me. I it was like going to school, 0:25:16.320 --> 0:25:21.199 it was like going to college. I learned the business 0:25:21.280 --> 0:25:24.840 from a retail angle. I learned the trade papers, I 0:25:25.000 --> 0:25:29.720 learned the labels, I learned the publishers, I learned the songwriters, 0:25:29.760 --> 0:25:34.119 the artists and um, I just got a hell of 0:25:34.119 --> 0:25:38.360 an education there that I used to this very day. 0:25:38.960 --> 0:25:43.760 And that was I loved working there. I thought it was. 0:25:43.800 --> 0:25:47.000 It was the coolest job in town. I don't think 0:25:47.040 --> 0:25:49.560 you could have had a cooler job than working than 0:25:49.600 --> 0:25:51.800 selling records in the record store if you were at 0:25:51.800 --> 0:25:55.440 all music. Oh believe me. You know, people don't understand. 0:25:56.080 --> 0:25:58.199 You know, you couldn't even get a job at a 0:25:58.280 --> 0:26:00.800 record store. That was like the rate his job you 0:26:00.800 --> 0:26:03.400 could get. So since you were, since you were amongst 0:26:03.400 --> 0:26:06.199 the records, you know what, did you play all the 0:26:06.280 --> 0:26:09.640 records and just take advantage of being in the shop. Well? 0:26:09.680 --> 0:26:12.439 I did, But the problem was I also had to 0:26:12.520 --> 0:26:15.800 clean up, and I didn't want anybody seeing me mopping 0:26:15.800 --> 0:26:20.280 the floor, especially to girls, especially somebody else in a band. 0:26:21.320 --> 0:26:25.120 So I had to go down there immediately, Uh do 0:26:25.200 --> 0:26:27.160 the you know, and scrub the floors with the mop 0:26:27.200 --> 0:26:29.359 and get that out of the way before I could 0:26:29.359 --> 0:26:33.280 go behind the counter and be cool. So while the 0:26:33.320 --> 0:26:36.840