Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    

If you can get the DVD to me, Ed, I can burn copies.
  

    
That would be great.  I read about that thing ages ago, and would love
to see it.  I only know 2 or 3 other people NOTW who even know who
Morris was, but one of them would probably drive down from Rhode Island
to see that.
  

    
Ben Scotti personally threatened me, back in the day, as did the
notorious Joe Isgro.

The Philly record business was the stuff of legend!
  

    
Yeah, I've got an old Pennsylvania report on organized crime from the
early 80s around somewhere.  Lotsa colorful stuff, including a pixture
of Jerry Blavat with a fairly major mob figure.
  

    
Certainly the Cameo-Parkway folks would have foisted Lindsey Lohan and
even lesser lights (if that's possible) on us. They did give us, after
all, the embarrassment called Chubby Checker, who has been utterly
shameless in his self-promotion. The night of the Oklahoma City bombing
he appeared on a talk show on the Nashville Network and introduced a
song he had written the day to honor the victims of the bombing; said
all the proceeds from the sale of the single would go to a fund to aid
the victims' families. Only problem was he wasn't even signed to a
label. His introduction was unbelievable--how the tragedy had inspired
him to re-focus his energies and go back to his "country roots" (I kid
you not). Naomi Judd, who I know, was also on that night and I couldn't
help but notice her looking on in abject horror as Chubby capitalized
on this horrible tragedy. I asked her later about it and she said she
didn't even know what to say to the guy, he was so pathetic.


But I digress. Dennis, you have my sympathies for having encountered
not only Ben Scotti but the repugant Joe Isgro as well. What were you
doing that made you worth threatening? Must have had something to do
with money that might not get into their pockets if you didn't get
religion.
  

    
I was the music director of the big Metromedia FM rock station (WMMR)
and refused to play either or both "Soul Makossa" by Manu Dibango (this
was Joe's record) and/or "Spiders and Snakes" (this was Ben's record)
by somebody I can't remember -- neither one fit our format.  Ben and
Joe didn't care.

It took some calls from our Program Director Jerry Stevens (a former
big local Top 40 DJ and Tom Donahue/Scott Muni wannnabe) to various
people in New York and LaLa to get these guys off my back.
  

    
I will have a digitized copy of "Sliced Steak" in 4-6 weeks, sez TV
Tom. Coincidentally, I will also be in the U.S. at that time. Stay
tuned, and send e-mail if you want a copy. 
  

    
Thank you, ed!

Last night at a gig one of mybandmates sang a song about Bo Diddley's money,
which ncluded a mention of being dinged for the cost of a car.  Did this
happen to a lot of guys?
  

    
DG--This does seem to be a common arrangement back in the day. I had
lunch one day last week with John Broven, the Ace Records A&R
consultant whose book "Record Men" documents the antics of some of the
pioneering independent pioneers. I think what it boils down to is if
any of the musicians from the early days boasted of having a Cadillac,
you can pretty well bet they got it via some kind of arrangement with
their label, whether they knew it or not. Except Elvis, but then he had
Col. Parker sucking him dry in other ways.
  

    

Man, what a bizniz.
  

    
Oh, you're just jealous because you gotta tour in renters. 
  

    
Heh.  I had to rent an SUV for the just-completed tour because I was with two
other guys.  Filling that fucker up was EXPENSIVE.