WEBVTT - Shep Gordon on Being a `Supermensch'  (Audio)

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<v Speaker 1>It has been a long journey for our next guest,

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<v Speaker 1>Chef Gordon, journey from Jackson Heights, Queens, New York, to

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<v Speaker 1>the upper echelon of Hollywood, filmmaking and the food industry.

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<v Speaker 1>Chef Gordon is a talent manager. He's also the head

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<v Speaker 1>of his own company called A Live Enterprises, and the

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<v Speaker 1>author of a new book entitled They Call Me supermanch

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<v Speaker 1>a backstage Pass to the amazing world of film, food,

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<v Speaker 1>and rock and roll. It will be released tomorrow. Chef Gordon,

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<v Speaker 1>thank you for coming in. Thank you for having me

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<v Speaker 1>tell people, just at the very beginning, a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>of your history so that they understand how you ended

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<v Speaker 1>up pulling into a hotel in Los Angeles that really

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<v Speaker 1>changed your life. I was I was raised in Long Island,

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<v Speaker 1>got a Region Scholarship UM, and wanted to get as

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<v Speaker 1>far away from my family as I possibly could, which

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<v Speaker 1>was Buffalo, New York, and still use the New York

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<v Speaker 1>State Scholarship Um and the school ended up being nomadic

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<v Speaker 1>Jews from New York. Basically was the first year as

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<v Speaker 1>an institution. I took sociology. I went to the New

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<v Speaker 1>School for Social Research. I didn't like it. I was

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<v Speaker 1>a long hair, um taking part of the part of

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<v Speaker 1>the fabric of that time, burning rozy buildings, taking psychedelics

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<v Speaker 1>and um. They came and recruited for probation offices in

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<v Speaker 1>California when Reagan was a governor, and I said, I'm

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<v Speaker 1>going to go on my white horse and save kids

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<v Speaker 1>in California. And I ended up working one day as

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<v Speaker 1>a probation officer. UM. I sort of became the baseball

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<v Speaker 1>in a softball game. I left, checked into a motel

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<v Speaker 1>late at night, heard um, heard a girl screaming, thought

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<v Speaker 1>she was maybe getting rape. Heard a guy went down,

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<v Speaker 1>broke him up. They were making love, and she happened

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<v Speaker 1>to be Janis Chaplin, which led to them discovering I

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<v Speaker 1>was Jewish. Jewish guys should be managers. They introduced me

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<v Speaker 1>to Alice Cooper, and forty five years later, I'm on

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<v Speaker 1>the same highway. Well, there are a lot of stops

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<v Speaker 1>along on on that highway. Tell us what what was

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<v Speaker 1>it like to to meet people like let's say, Jimi

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<v Speaker 1>Hendrix or Alice Cooper, because that they didn't know who

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<v Speaker 1>you were, right, but they you know, it was a

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<v Speaker 1>different time. First of all, they weren't Mountain Rushmore characters,

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<v Speaker 1>and it wasn't the celebrity buzz that we have today.

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<v Speaker 1>They were nice guys trying to make a living. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>Alice wasn't making a living. Um. And you know, I

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<v Speaker 1>think your journey through life. You only know your journey. UM.

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<v Speaker 1>So that was just what was happening. I never thought

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<v Speaker 1>of it as anything bigger than life, you know. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>Now I look back at it and I realized, oh

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<v Speaker 1>my god, how lucky I was. But that's all I knew. Um. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>you seem to also know how to put people together

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<v Speaker 1>with projects. And I'm wanting and what is it that

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<v Speaker 1>that sort of excites you? What is it that connects you?

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe give us an example of a project and connecting

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<v Speaker 1>the right person. What I love to do is is

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<v Speaker 1>um the termine, what the brand of an artist essences?

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<v Speaker 1>What is it about the artist that really attracts his

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<v Speaker 1>audience and trying to put a picture frame on it

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<v Speaker 1>that doesn't compromise what they do, but makes it easy

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<v Speaker 1>for people to look in. So, for example, Teddy Pendergrass

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<v Speaker 1>a soul singer, A lot of soul singers. Al Green

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<v Speaker 1>was around in those days, Marvin Gaye was, There's a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of soul singers. What was Teddy's magic? Teddy's magic

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<v Speaker 1>was sexual. He aroused women. It was a remarkable talent

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<v Speaker 1>besides being a great voice, and he had all the acrements.

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<v Speaker 1>He looked beautiful. How do I how do I tell

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<v Speaker 1>that to the public? How do I take his artistry?

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<v Speaker 1>Put it in a simple picture frame that makes it

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<v Speaker 1>completely understandable without being arrogant? Um? And what I did was,

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<v Speaker 1>I said, let's do concerts for women only. Let's do ads,

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<v Speaker 1>that's say for women only. Let's only let women into

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<v Speaker 1>the shows. Let's give that chocolate Teddy barrel lollypops so

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<v Speaker 1>they can lick it at the shows. And we we

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<v Speaker 1>defined who he was in what I think was a

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<v Speaker 1>very effective way. After that, they started calling him the

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<v Speaker 1>black Elvis. I'm also managed Luther Vandross, another soul singer.

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<v Speaker 1>How do I separate him from Teddy? Luther was about romance?

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<v Speaker 1>Teddy was about sex. So with Luther, I did in

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<v Speaker 1>twenty cities around the country on the top radio stations

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<v Speaker 1>b LS. Here in New York, um get married by Luther.

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<v Speaker 1>We ran a contest. You came on the air, live

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<v Speaker 1>Luther marriage, you live, defining romance? Um? And that's what

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<v Speaker 1>I enjoyed doing, you know, with Alice, who was rebellion

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<v Speaker 1>of kids against their parents. How do we define that,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, killing chickens, doing disgusting things, doing anything to

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<v Speaker 1>adhere at tator parents. And that's the part that I enjoy.

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<v Speaker 1>I love when it works, looking in the mirror, high

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<v Speaker 1>fiving myself and putting on Bloomberg News. I just I'm

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<v Speaker 1>gonna give you unfortunately only about forty seconds here. I

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<v Speaker 1>just tell us a little about how your your food

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<v Speaker 1>interests also blossomed. And then one word about the book. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>In the book, I talked about how my life changed.

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<v Speaker 1>I was. I was ready to hit a wall. I

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<v Speaker 1>was too young, too successful, too rich, too many drugs,

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<v Speaker 1>too many women. And a chef walked into a room

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<v Speaker 1>and con and I said, this is the man I

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<v Speaker 1>want to follow. He looked happy. And that led my

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<v Speaker 1>journey into managing most of the great chefs of the world,

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<v Speaker 1>Nobu and Wolfgang and I'm probably costly. And it's all

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<v Speaker 1>in the book. It is all in the book that

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<v Speaker 1>that I can published by Anthony Boydane by the way,

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<v Speaker 1>Yes and Anthony boyde book a friend of yours and

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<v Speaker 1>also a noted Chef, I want to thank you very

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<v Speaker 1>much for spending time with us. You'll have to come.

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<v Speaker 1>Thank you for having me. Chef Gordon, talent Manager Alive Enterprises,

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<v Speaker 1>most recently the author of They Call Me Superman Shape,

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<v Speaker 1>Backstage Path as to the amazing world of film, food,

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<v Speaker 1>and rock and roll. This is Bloomberg