By Bob Andelman

Interview: Nick Tosches, author of everything from 'Power on Earth' to 'Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n' Roll' (1985)

2010-04-15T19:29:00.001-04:00

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: I recently found this typewritten story in my files from July 25, 1985. Probably produced on my Apple IIc! I believe it was a freelance piece I wrote for the St. Petersburg Times when I was writing most of the paper's pop music articles and reviews. This version was not edited by the paper.)

The Vatican. The Mafia. Hundreds of millions of dollars, earned and laundered. International finance and intrigue. It sounds like a Mario Puzo novel, but it's actually the setting for Power on Earth, a journalistic work-in-progress by Nick Tosches.

For Tosches, the new book marks a change in stride after establishing himself as a writer of mostly music articles and short stories for Rolling Stone, Playboy, Penthouse (including the text for the much-publicized Madonna photos), Creem and the Village Voice. He has also written four books, including biographies of Jerry Lee Lewis (Hellfire) and Hall & Oates (Dangerous Dances).

He is a man who congratulated himself in the introduction to Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n' Roll by writing, "Thanks are due ... most of all to me, without whom this book might never have been written."

He is also a man who began a chapter of the same book by writing, "This is not a funny story, so try not to laugh," and a page later added, "I told you that this wasn't funny. I forgot to tell you that it wasn't interesting, either."

Tosches' levity and asides to the reader will be missing from the much more serious Power on Earth.

The story of international financier Michele Sindona (scheduled to be published in 1986 by Arbor House) is a major departure for the 35-year-old author.

"It's probably the biggest thing I ever tackled," he admitted recently while being interviewed in his compact, Greenwich Village apartment.

Michele Sindona was one of the world's most powerful financiers of the 1960s and '70s, owning banks and companies around the globe, and hotels throughout his native Italy and France. He held the land where the Montreal Stock Exchange sits, according to Tosches, and owned large shares of Paramount Studios and Gulf & Western. Tosches speculated that Sindona was worth about $500 million in the mid-'70s.

In 1974, Sindona's empire began to collapse. He first came to public attention as mastermind of the Franklin National Bank failure, the largest collapse in national history. Just four years into serving a 25-year sentence for those crimes, Sindona became a central character in the vatican Bank scandal. Last September, he was extradited to Milan, Italy in a unique legislative deal to face charges of bank fraud and instigating murder, both relative to the loss of millions to the vatican. Now 65, Sindona is in prison and still on trial.

"I came across him as the one person in the world that interested me," Tosches explained. "I thought, 'But how the hell do I get in touch with this guy?' My girlfriend, sometimes having the brains that I lack, said, 'Write a letter.' I wrote a letter. Two weeks later, I got a call from his lawyer saying go down and see him."

The two met in prison and Sindona quickly agreed to be the subject of a Tosches book. According to the author, "The book deals with how a poor boy from Sicily becomes the head of the Vatican Bank, acquires $500 million and becomes friends with presidents, sheiks, and Chiang Kai-shek, and then suddenly falls ...

"He's also going to reveal some things that have never been revealed, among which is something which no government actually knows, although they claim to, which is how large amounts of money are laundered. They just know how money is passed from one place to another; they do not know how you take $10 million and make it appear clean ... He said there were certain people (still) in the Vatican who knew exactly what happened ... He's going to reveal some things about who in certain governments has been selling missiles to Khadafy. He's also going to reveal how, with a thousand dollars, you can make a million.

"This is a book about power and wealth that actually centers on someone that actually had power and wealth and amazing knowledge. His first job was as a Latin teacher and he moved up from there."

Sindona's cooperation on the book has been "wonderful," Tosches allowed. For the former financier, there may be no good reason not to cooperate. Outside of courtrooms, he won't be going anywhere for a long time.

"I was with him on his 65th birthday in the womens' prison they have him in," Tosches said. "He looked terrific, smiling. I said, 'You're never gonna get out of here, how can you be in such good spirits?' He said, 'Nothing bothers me. What can you hope for? To die.'"

For Tosches, Power on Earth may reflect a change in subject, but not in the quantity of, and his devotion to, research. By his own description, Tosches is an indefatigable miner for buried facts and clues. His music books are as memorable for their writing as for their attention to detail and painstaking appendices, a standard the writer plans to maintain.

"I've always loved libraries and books," Tosches said, noting he never went to college. "Something's always intrigued me about the minutiae, the tiny aspects, particles of so-called knowledge or information. It's self-tormenting. Unsung Heroes - it's like a modest book, but there were months of hard research, faded microfilm, going blind using eyewash.

"With the Sindona book, God, it makes the Unsung Heroes research look like child's play," he continued. "Trying to run around Italian libraries with different catalogue systems and writing letters to cardinals in the Vatican, asking for interviews in Italian, dealing with the Italian prison system and the international department of the FBI ..."

So thorough is the author's search for important and trivial facts about his subjects that he has a tendency to completely exhaust his interest in them when he's done. Tosches rarely listens to the Jerry Lee Lewis records he once loved, and predicts that in a year he'll have no further interest in Italian politics or the Mafia.

"All of those books could have been published with one-tenth of the work. But then again, they'd sort of be indistinguishable. Someday, if I ever write a book about money, I'll really be in trouble - I won't have any interest in it anymore," he said.

• • •

Born in New York but raised across the river in Jersey City, Tosches' first dream as a child was to be a garbageman, then an archaeologist. "And I was the only kid in the history of Jersey City that wanted to be a farmer. Couldn't even find grass in Jersey City and I wanted to be a farmer.

"When I was 10, 11 years old, I wrote a novel, which I dictated to my cousin Dorothy, and she typed it out for me. I always wanted to be a writer; now, sometimes, I want to be a plumber ... Only fleetingly. I think there's very little psychic reward."

Twenty-two years after Tosches penned his childhood tome, he set out to write a definitive history of one of his personal musical heroes, Jerry Lee Lewis.

Hellfire begins with perhaps the most infamous of all episodes in Lewis's stormy life story, the November, 1977 night the pianist drove to the gates of Graceland, waving a .38 derringer. The Killer wanted to dethrone the King, Elvis.

"I didn't put it in the book, but I always felt like (Lewis is) so convinced that he's going to Hell that even if there is no Hell, he'll invent one of his own and go there.

"(Lewis's) cousin, Jimmy Swaggert, the evangelist, said he had never actually believed in possession by the devil until he took a long look at his cousin," Tosches said. "That convinced him."

The biographer said he interviewed Lewis directly a few times for his unauthorized book, but "with Jerry Lee, you don't want his help .. He was the worst authority on his own past. He didn't remember it, or he remembered it wrong. He didn't even know where he was certain years."

Hellfire is the kind of story which lent itself to film. "My agent said he'd never seen so many movie offers in one week," Tosches claimed. The problem came in dealing with a living person. "We had one deal worked out with Columbia Pictures for $100,000. So we went to Jerry Lee and said we'll split it, 50/50. He said no. Like I mentioned, he's crazy. Jerry Lee had a better idea, he's going to make a movie with a guy from France. He's going to get 100 percent and he's going to be the creative consultant. I think Jerry Lee had his cousin, Myra, who he was married to, writing the screenplay, and that fell apart. Who knows?

"But it would make a great movie. It wouldn't make a great movie if it was just Jerry Lee going to church and being a victim of circumstances. I mean, have you seen some of these TV movies? The Tammy Wynette Story with Tammy as the Virgin Mary?"

When he wrote his first book, Country, Tosches tackled a musical tradition that he felt had become a shell of its former self, a cliche. In reviewing the book, Roy Blunt, Jr. wrote, "I wish somebody were making country music that revived the essential hairiness of the tradition as well as this book does."

Beyond tracing the roots of country back to 1607 and a man named John Laydon, who fiddled "as a man wilde by Fever," on through a "blowzy" girl singer he interviewed in a Cheyenne motel about Jim Reeves, Tosches used Country to put a blowtorch to many southern music fables.

"Since I was a teenager, I was interested in country music. At that time, country music was a disrespected thing. People back then were always talking about how meaningful rock 'n' roll was but nobody said it about country.

"Most country music stuff I had read," he continued, "it was cliches, myths. People would peg Jimmy Rogers as a hillbilly singer. That's the farthest thing he was. The guy was probabnly one of the coolest guys of the times. He always dressed the best, drank the best. He was sharp, smart. He was no hillbilly."

Two of the best-known country stars to be dressed-down in Country were Roy Acuff and Johnny Cash.

"I think Roy Acuff is probably one of the best examples of a guy who is a sleazy politician, who put on an act as a down-home boy, which he never was. He just wanted to take the state of Tennessee for a ride. He thought they were stupid so he played down and (when he ran for governor in 1948) they didn't vote him into office.

"I have a very low opinion of Johnny Cash. (He) is one of these guys who makes terrible music and just calls on God for an excuse. I think someday, God's going to kick him in the ass," Tosches suggested.

Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n' Roll picks up the first traces of rock music from the 1920s to the 1950s and the advent of Elvis. It is heavily researched yet lightly written, including a final chapter about one "Esau Smith," who purports to be Presley's twin brother.

"Most of the people in there, I just really loved listening to. As a matter of fact, Big Joe Turner ("Steak for Breakfast, Gal Meat on a Rainy Day") is on the turntable now. I really love that stuff. I just really wanted to give those guys credit.

"I was watching television, 'The Roots of Rock 'n' Roll,' and it started with the Beatles. Sometimes I actually think kids are getting stupider, they don't read, go to school, they take pills. I mean, historical perspective has its value, right? You can't say that anything started with the Beatles or even Elvis. Nothing has a starting point."

Many of the men and women Tosches has labeled "heroes" in this book were unsung and long gone when the writer went in search of them.

"I talked to Amos Milburn ("The Chicken Shack Factor") just months before he passed away, Roy Hall ("See, We Was All Drunk") in Nashville a year before he passed away. The Treniers ("Their God Wore Shades") are still doing great, selling out Atlantic City. They still sound like they're 20 years old. That was cheerful," he said.

Tracking the old artists, Tosches found, "they were even amazed that anyone, for example, connected that the Amos Milburn who lived in a rundown project in Houston was once the Amos Milburn at the top of the Harlem hit parade, wore silk suits, had hit records." Finding Milburn was "freak luck," Tosches said. "I had read in a Billboard or something from 1960 that he retired and lived in Houston. I called up Houston information and got the number." This was about 1982, 22 years after the magazine article appeared.

• • •

Dangerous Dances, the music book Tosches wrote "for two guys that live in the neighborhood, Hall and Oates" is the one he gets the most mail about.

"This is like, frightening," he said with mock horror.

"I've gotten more letters and fan mail about that book than anything I've ever done. Fan mail is always flattering, but it's so depressing."

Tosches admitted, "I had never heard one of their albums," when he start the 1984 Hall & Oates pop bio. Obviously, he wasn't writing this one for love of music.

"Let's put it like this - now), keep in mind that I really like Daryl and John as persons, they're real nice, and to a certain extent I enjoy their music, they were real good to work with, nothing like their public image - the manuscript of that book was 80 pages typewritten, for which I was paid $20,000. So that'll explain it. At the time, l owed a great deal to the government for taxes and this was a very convenient way to pay. You really can't beat a deal like that and I was in no position to exercise any sort of moral objections or artistic indulgences because every month I was getting a bill from the government that was bigger than the month before. There are very few deals like that. Some people say, 'You did it just for the money. '" Well, yeah, who else is going to pay my bills?"

Tosches, who said he would like to tackle Dean Martin's life story one day but has so far been turned down by the singer, said the trouble with current artists of "superstars" is they really have no lives.

"Even Daryl told me that. Once they became famous millionaires, it was just work. There was no more adventure left, nothing happens. They're on the roiad eight months a year, in the studio three. In the press, they've always been painted as snotty. You're that famous, you have literally a million people trying to get to you everyday and there's no time. If you don't see them all, then you're snotty. The only thing that was interesting was the figures, the sheer amount of money.

"It was interesting to see them working in the studio," Tosches added. "They know how to make hit records. They go in with no songs and come out with million-selling records. But that's that. If I had more than $2,000 to my name as I always do, I wouldn't have done it."

While Tosches completes the research and writing for Peace on Earth, his agent is shopping around his first novel, Cut Numbers, about the numbers rackets in New York and New Jersey. "This is a real labor of love," the first-time novelist said. "It's totally terrifying and funny. It's real good."

In the meantime, the writer will finish the Sindona book, which is due at Arbor House in December. "The publisher wants the book in a hurry, Sindona wants the book in a hurry," Tosches said. "It's immense work, reading economic tracts in Italian, federal court transcripts, 3,000 pages in both Italian and English."

The hardest part of staying on schedule, Tosches joked, will be staying sober.

"My Italian's not that good so if I go out and get drunk it takes me three days before I can write in Italian. And you write a letter to a cardinal - it's got to be perfect."

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Kristen Stewart Is an Actor, Not a Movie Star, Oscar Nominee Melissa Leo Says of ‘Twilight’ Lead (BlogTalkRadio Blog)

2010-03-20T10:31:00.000-04:00

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Kristen: No know-it-all.

It takes one to know one— which may bode well for Kristen Stewart’s career.

Interviewed on Mr. Media, Melissa Leo, who was up for an Oscar for her role in 2008’s Frozen River, talks in no uncertain terms about the Twilight lead’s potential.

“Kristen Stewart will grow as an actress as she works… She doesn’t think she ‘knows it all’ by any regard,” Melissa, who co-stars with Kristen and James Gandolfini in the upcoming indy flick Welcome to the Rileys, tells host Bob Andelman.
“She is not going to be caught in the persona she played in those Twilight films,” Melissa continues.

“She is going to make a choice to step out of those parameters. This is an actor, not a movie star.”

If you have any doubts about Melissa’s own acting chops, just listen to her desribe mustering the emotions necessary to play Ray Eddy in the heart-wrenching Frozen River, which tells the story of a working-class mom who smuggles illegal immigrants from Canada to the U.S. to make ends meet—and whose husband absconds with the family savings.

"She's interested in learning and expanding," Melissa (above, in "Frozen River"), tells us of Kristen.

“I have always had a very vivid imagination. When a writer has given me a really clear idea in their script, to who and what the scene is about, I can simply believe those circumstances,” she says.
“So what am I thinking about [when I break down in Frozen River]? I’m thinking about that son of a - - - -, that muther - - - - - - who has not just screwed me for the first time.

“And I am thinking about my son inside trying to reach manhood—without his goddamned father now, who is not coming back in the house. And about my little baby son who I thought I’d protected from this god-awful reality.”

Up next for Melissa? A recurring role in the HBO drama Treme, which is set in post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans, and debuts April 11.

To hear Melissa’s full interview, click here.

To read more about Treme, click here.

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INTERVIEW: Governor Jesse Ventura, author, "American Conspiracies"

2010-03-16T23:31:00.000-04:00

By BOB ANDELMAN

Jesse Ventura came to national prominence as a wrestler nicknamed “The Body,” took a turn on the silver screen in Predator with Ah-nuld, and even went by “Governor” for a term.

Now he’s bidding for you and me to start thinking of him as “The Brain.”

Don’t get me wrong; Ventura hasn’t asked anyone to call him that—yet. But reading his new book, American Conspiracies, it’s clear he’s given considerable thought to the real story behind some of this country’s most nagging unsolved mysteries.

Whether you believe what he believes or think he’s nuts, a reader of American Conspiracies can’t deny Ventura has thought out his positions on everything from the Kennedy assassinations and 9/11 to the world financial collapse we’re just starting to come out from under.

I should mention this is ground also covered in his new TV show, TruTV’s “Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura,” every Wednesday at 10 p.m.

Not that Ventura is all drama and no fun these days. Anyone who’s caught him on the radio with Howard Stern knows he’s just as comfortable talking smack about Hulk Hogan and telling wild stories about his days as a Navy SEAL as he is discussing conspiracies.

GOV. JESSE VENTURA AUDIO EXCERPT: "I took the side of the conspiracy. We brought out the facts; ultimately, it's up to the reader to decide. It's called 'learning the truth.' And if the truth causes panic, we're in big trouble."

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Interview: MARK FIELDS, Ford Motor Company President of the Americas

2010-01-06T15:02:00.010-05:00

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By Bob Andelman

My first car—and I suspect yours, too—was a Ford.

I loved that car like no other since. It was 1977 and my father saw it sitting, day after day, in front of a neighbor’s house. One day, he knocked on the day and asked if the owner was interesting in selling it. The answer was yes and the price was right: $50. No kidding.

And that’s how I became the proud owner of a black, 1963 Ford Falcon sedan. It was one of only two cars I’ve ever owned that I could actually change the oil and accomplish a few other minor maintenance tasks by myself. (The second was a ’62 Falcon!) I gave that car all the best accoutrement: green shag carpets on the floor, an 8-track player… You get the idea. I was poor, but I had wheels!

That first car has been on mind lately as many of my friends’ kids are suddenly old enough to start driving and my 13-year-old daughter is starting to think about what her first car. Maybe a Ford: the Fit is cute, she says, as is the Focus.

But enough about me. Joining me in a moment is Mark Fields, executive vice president of the Ford Motor Company and president of Ford operations in the Americas. We’re going to talk about the “Summer of Taurus” promotion, the impact of the federal “Cash for Clunkers” program and what Ford plans next to sustain its sales momentum. And yes, I’m going to ask what Ford products he recommends for the next generation’s first car.

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Interview: JOHN VIERA, Ford Motor Company, director of sustainable business strategies

2010-01-05T14:31:00.002-05:00

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By Bob Andelman

Ford Motor Company has a vision of providing sustainable transportation that is affordable in every sense of the word: socially, environmentally and economically.

Joining me in a moment is Ford executive John Viera. Viera is all about sustainability. As director of sustainable business strategies for the American automaker, he lives and breathes sustainability and is extremely passionate about achieving it.

What you’ll also find intriguing about Viera is that he came to sustainability from his last position, in which he was a chief engineer for Ford. That means he knows as well as anyone what is and isn’t possible and where the pressure points may lie for progress.

Ford believes that its sustainability strategy will be a key component of its business going forward. By remaining economically viable, it expects to make positive contributions to society and reduce the environmental impact of its products.

Responsibility for maintaining the Ford Motor Company’s high commitment to sustainability falls in my part to my guest, John Viera.

(Bob Andelman was paid a fee by BlogTalkRadio to host this commercial program.)

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Quick Jabs: Jabil Corp. (Gulf Coast Business Review)

2010-01-04T16:23:00.003-05:00

By: Bob Andelman | Contributing Writer

August 27, 2009

A $12.8 billion Gulf Coast technology firm is attacking the recession, on both domestic and foreign soil, through a nimble yet risk-laden approach. One gamble: It’s going full throttle into the cell phone industry.

No doubt about it: in the grandly profitable, 37-year history of Jabil Circuit Inc., 2009 will not go down as a great year for financials.

It may, however, be the kind of year that the St. Petersburg-based technology company remembers fondly in the not so distant future.

It was not a great year by Jabil standards; it was a solid year by global recession standards.

“I think our strategy has been relatively consistent,” says Timothy Main, Jabil’s president and chief executive officer. “We’re refining a little to focus on markets we have a competitive advantage in. We’ve been focused on global electronics manufacturing and have diversified a big part of our strategy.”

Jabil (NYSE: JBL) has sought to stay ahead of bad news over which it has no control with cost cutting and what executives call “aggressive action.” Among these moves: shutting down a manufacturing facility in Massachusetts.

“At the same time,” Main says, “we’ve kept our core value properties with our customers in good shape. The core values of the company have been preserved and our financial position is in good shape. Customers see stability and Jabil stacks up” vis-à-vis its competition."

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A Million Bites (Gulf Coast Business Review)

2009-12-30T16:18:00.000-05:00

By: Bob Andelman | Contributing Writer

September 03, 2009

Brown & Brown has grown into a major player in the insurance brokerage business through 300 small acquisitions. The key: Create a competitive and lucrative sales culture and cut all fat.

As growth strategies go, building by acquisition isn’t for everybody.

But everybody isn’t Brown & Brown, Inc., the Daytona Beach- and Tampa-based insurance brokerage firm that ranks seventh in revenues in the United States—and ninth in the world. For them, years of careful acquisitions—300 in the last 16 years—and one key 1993 merger with Poe Insurance of Tampa, has built a company of great financial strength and influence.

Brown & Brown (NYSE: BRO) carefully investigates each target acquisition, makes sure it will be a good fit with the company’s intensive sales culture, then assimilates it from the first day.

“They’re very picky,” says Sally Roberts, senior editor at Business Insurance magazine. “Powell and Hyatt Brown would tell you there have been mistakes along the way, but they know the type of people they’re looking for. The courtship is long and involved. Hyatt and his wife will host some of these firms; the principals stay at their house, they have meals together. They take a lot of time. They know the mold they want the company to fit.”

Brown & Brown, which has 5,400 employees, does so many acquisitions that it has in-house legal, financial and quality control staff dedicated to nothing else.

“Cultural fit is of paramount importance,” says Brown & Brown president and CEO J. Powell Brown. “That is the biggest thing we look for. Its not geography. Cultural fit is one of the first and most important things we look at. We’re interested in the quality of the people. So whether they’re in Detroit, Denver, or Sarasota, the bottom line is it’s all about good people. We intend for those sellers to be with us in the future and stay with us. That might lead to additional acquisitions in that area or in whatever their specialty might be.”

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Jeff Kreisler, GET RICH CHEATING, author, comedian: Mr. Media Radio Interview

2009-10-30T15:57:00.002-04:00

BY BOB ANDELMAN

I’m not a big advocate of cheating to get ahead in life.

But let’s face it, these are not normal times. So I’m willing to consider options that were previously anathema to a good two-shoes like myself.

Enter Jeff Kreisler, an old friend of the Mr. Media Radio show and the author of the new book, Get Rich Cheating: The Crooked Path to Easy Street. In this manual to the easy life, Jeff kicks ethics to the curb and puts readers on the fast track to mastering scams, frauds, steroids and public relations.

AUDIO EXCERPT: "The easy way to know that A-Rod is cheating is that he's wearing a Yankees uniform. That, right there, is the sign of the Devil."

This is Jeff’s second appearance here; the rising humorist also came on to talk about My Wall Street Journal, on which he was an editor.

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Angela Dove, NO ROOM FOR DOUBT true crime writer: Mr. Media Radio Interview

2009-10-28T15:25:00.000-04:00

By BOB ANDELMAN

How well do you know your own father?

If your stepmother died under suspicious circumstances and everyone around you harbored the belief that your father murdered her, could you stand by him no matter what?

I hope, for your sake, that it’s a situation in which you never find yourself. But it happened to Angela Dove http://www.angeladove.com/ on March 25, 1988, when she was a high school student in California. Her life was never the same.

AUDIO EXCERPT: "This was just a man who had a lot of difficulty in interpersonal relationships. He got in his own way. I think a lot of people do that, but it's not until you're under the lens of a homicide investigation that it starts to look suspicious."

Dove hopes to have brought herself and her family some closure with the publication of her first book, No Room for Doubt: A True Story of the Reverberations of Murder. It is the story of Debi Whitlock’s brutal and mysterious death in her own home—while her three-year-old daughter slept nearby—and the impact the long unsolved crime had on Dove’s father. It is also the tale of Debi’s mother’s long struggle for justice.

Even if you read a good deal of true crime stories, you probably haven’t read one like this. Its point of view is unique and I heartily recommend it to you.

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Tim Pilcher, EROTIC COMICS: A GRAPHIC HISTORY historian, publisher: Mr. Media Radio Interview

2009-10-26T14:52:00.001-04:00

BY BOB ANDELMAN

Tim Pilcher has a dirty mind!

That’s what some people think, no doubt. He did just publish the second edition Erotic Comics: A Graphic History and it is filled with cartoon images of men, women, aliens and even a cat dancer engaged in all manner of physical intimacies.

Volume 2 picks up where Volume 1 left off and examines how the form has become an international publishing phenomenon by showcasing artwork that has inflamed desires, incensed censors, and caused controversy.

AUDIO EXCERPT: "The history of censorship of comics runs hand-in-hand with the history of erotic comics. The two are so intimately tied, for so many reasons... Governments have really tried to suppress or stop certain materials from being sold or marketed to the general public."

Fully illustrated with rare art by Howard Cruse, Gengoroh Tagame, Melinda Gebbie, Hunt Emerson, Howard Chaykin, Giovanna Casotto (whose work graces the cover), Tom of Finland, Milo Manara, Junko Mizuno, this book covers everything: the erotic comics explosion in America in the mid-’80s; the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender comics scene; UK and European erotic comic creators since the ’70s; and the Japanese hentai phenomenon.

(If you have sensitive ears or are under the age of 18, please stop here. You might be offended by some of the content of this interview.)

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Mark Schultz, AL WILLIAMSON'S FLASH GORDON author: Mr. Media Radio Interview

2009-10-24T14:40:00.001-04:00

Flash Gordon. Has there ever been a cooler name or a cooler action hero anywhere?

I can’t remember exactly when during the 1960s I first saw the old Universal serials repeated on television featuring Buster Crabbe as Flash, but I was hooked for life. As I grew older, I was a sucker for any medium selling “Flash Gordon” stories, whether it was comic books or that really horrible 1980 Flash Gordon movie starring Sam J. Jones, who later added another red mark on his resume by playing "The Spirit" in an ABC-TV series pilot.

If you’ve never caught Flash Gordon, you owe it to yourself to track down a collection of the old movie serials or a copy of the new book, Al Williamson’s Flash Gordon: A Lifelong Vision of the Heroic.

Williamson drew many of the iterations of Flash published during the last 60 years. And while Alex Raymond created the character and gave him life, it was really Williamson who brought the space-faring adventurer to life for generations of fans.

AUDIO EXCERPT: "He's just a superior draftsman. Al has a very discerning eye for doing, especially, the human figure in proportions that are very pleasing, flowing, very heroic if you will. He does very heroic looking men and gorgeous women. And vice-versa sometimes."

This beautiful new coffee table book lets Williamson’s work breathe in a large size that will dazzle and amaze you.

Joining me to talk about Al Williamson’s Flash Gordon is the man who wrote the text, Mark Schultz. An artist himself, Schultz is the creator of Xenozoic Tales, a comic featuring the crazy interaction of Cadillacs and dinosaurs. In fact, it was adapted as a Saturday morning cartoon several years ago called—you guessed it—“Cadillacs and Dinosaurs.”

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Copyright 2009 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

John Hawkes, DEADWOOD, EASTBOUND AND DOWN, LOST actor: Mr. Media Radio Interview

2009-10-23T14:08:00.001-04:00

John Hawkes is best known for his role as Sol Star, the co-owner of the hardware store and best friend of the sheriff on the beloved, cocksucker HBO series “Deadwood.”

Hey—I don’t write these intros, folks, they just sort of write themselves.

But like most everybody who had a star turn on that amazing but short-lived drama, Hawkes has been busy ever since, including roles in the movies American Gangster and Miami Vice. He’s currently starring on a new HBO comedy series, “Eastbound and Down.”

AUDIO EXCERPT: "As a poker player I would say you've got pretty bad odds on (a 'Deadwood' movie)... I know that David Milch, the show's creator, had wanted to set the films in the future aways. So who knows? Maybe in 7, 8 years they'll round us up again and we'll do something. I always thought in would make a great feature film."

Hawkes also keeps busy writing and performing music with his band, King Straggler, which has played at the Sundance Film Festival and SXSW. I’ll spin one of the band’s tracks, “Good Man,” a little later in the show.

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Howard Cruse, FROM HEADRACK TO CLAUDE, STUCK RUBBER BABY cartoonist: Mr. Media Radio Interview

2009-10-20T13:52:00.000-04:00

BY BOB ANDELMAN

I met cartoonist Howard Cruse in March 2004 at the Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. He was one of the featured guests at the college’s “Comics Summit on Diversity,” an event that included Mary GrandPre, illustrator of the Harry Potter novels and American master Will Eisner, whose biography I was just finishing at the time.

Howard and I had corresponded a few times via email at that point as part of my research. To be honest, I only knew him as a cartoonist; I don’t recall connecting that he was attending this event as a gay cartoonist. I just knew that Eisner held him in high esteem—as did the teaching staff at the school—and that was good enough for me.

Since then, I’ve learned more about what an important role Howard played over the years as both a cartoonist with a strong social voice and as a gay advocate. He illustrated his own coming out over the years in his comics and no doubt gave other young men strength in their own decisions to take pride in their identities as well.

AUDIO EXCERPT: "Everyone in my personal life knew (I was gay), but I was worried about sacrificing my cartooning career. And yet I recognized the need for getting rid of the secrecy of this."

Howard’s work has been everywhere from Playboy and Starlog magazine to The Advocate. He was the founding editor of Gay Comix, started by our mutual friend, Denis Kitchen. His groundbreaking graphic novel, Stuck Rubber Baby, won numerous awards including an Eisner and a Harvey.

The occasion of our conversation today is the publication of his latest book, From Headrack to Claude: Collected Gay Comix by Howard Cruse.

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Copyright 2009 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

A history of U2 in Tampa, Part I: The Unforgettable Fire Tour (1985)

2009-10-16T20:37:00.000-04:00

(Note from Bob: Back in the mid-1980s, I was a stringer for the St. Petersburg Times, covering pop music and interviewing musicians. A few days ago, the paper dug up my story on a very special night at the University of South Florida Sun Dome. I remember it like it was yesterday for several reasons: 1) It was probably the first time that editors trusted me to take a portable computer (too big to be a "laptop!) to a concert; 2) The strange looks said device attracted; and 3) The company of my friend Tim's wife, Bridget. I was also very proud of the enterprise reporting that went into tracking down the kid described in the story. Hope you enjoy it, almost 25 years later!)

(In celebration of U2's concert Friday at Raymond James Stadium, we're revisiting some of the band's most memorable Tampa performances over the past 30 years. Today, we present Bob Andelman's St. Pete Times review of U2's concert at the USF Sun Dome on May 2, 1985 -- the Unforgettable Fire Tour.)

For Matt Simmons, the sold-out U2 concert was one he won't soon forget.

After all, how many 15-year-old kids can brag that they played guitar with the hottest band in the world, and in front of 11,200 screaming, envious fans?

It began when U2 came out for the first of two encores during its Thursday night show at the USF Sun Dome. Lead singer Bono had been talking about learning to play guitar, and how anybody could do it. With that, the band launched into a cover of Bob Dylan's Knockin' On Heaven's Door. (Click here to listen.)

Midway into the song, Bono asked if there weren't some guitar players in the audience. Suddenly everyone knew how to play.

"Everyone we were with knew (Matt) could play and pointed at him," explained his sister, Rosemary, 17. Bono was paying attention and soon the Lakewood High School sophomore -- dressed in Bermuda shorts and wearing a sleeveless, untucked shirt -- was accepting the singer's own guitar and slipping it over his shoulder.

"I thought I was going to freeze up," Simmons said later. "I guess I did okay."

Much to the band's surprise -- and everyone else's -- Simmons accepted the guitar without missing a beat. As he got into the song, first Bono, then lead guitarist The Edge and bassist Adam Clayton left the stage. For several minutes, Simmons -- who has played for two years and has portrayed Bono in lip sync contests -- was living out the ultimate rock fantasy.

"I was totally freakin' when they left me by myself," he said, wondering to himself, "Are they coming back, or what?"

Click HERE to Keep Reading!

Copyright 2008 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!
Some stories may appear in unedited versions that are different from their print counterparts.

Michael McGrady, SOUTHLAND star: Mr. Media Radio Interview

2009-10-15T20:36:00.000-04:00

(NOTE FROM Mr. MEDIA: This interview was recorded before NBC canceled "Southland" last week without airing a single episode of its second season. But in the hopes it will turn up somewhere more appropriate--fX, Showtime?--I'm offering it up anyway.)

By BOB ANDELMAN

Like a bad rash, Mr. Media is making his way through the entire squad room of the new NBC TV drama, “Southland.”

Regular listeners will recall that last spring, at the end of the show’s first season, Regina King, Michael Cudlitz and Shawn Hatosy all scratch their media itch right here. And now I’m delighted to welcome Michael McGrady, who plays Detective Daniel “Sal” Salinger.

Before joining “Southland,” one of the breakthrough dramatic hits of last season, McGrady appeared opposite Taye Diggs in “Day Break” and had recurring parts in “Dirty Sexy Money,” “24” and “CSI.”

His film credits include "Deep End of the Ocean," "The Thin Red Line," "Hocus Pocus," and several others.

AUDIO EXCERPT: "If there were any bugs or kinks that needed to be worked out, they did so over the hiatus. You've got real masterminds behind this, including John Wells and Chris Chulack. As a cast, we feel very confident that any issues we had were worked out over the summer."

He also has a life outside of acting. McGrady, along with his wife, Ilka, are co-founders of the Balanced Life Company, an international organization dedicated to helping people develop and maintain a more balanced and sustainable lifestyle. McGrady is also an accomplished fine artist who owns and operates McGrady Fine Art with his wife.

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More Mr. Media interviews with the cast of "Southland":
• Regina King
• Shawn Hatosy
• Michael Cudlitz

Copyright 2009 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

Yvette Nicole Brown, COMMUNITY, DRAKE & JOSH TV star: Mr. Media Radio Interview

2009-10-09T21:41:00.000-04:00

By BOB ANDELMAN

Yvette Nicole Brown has been on TV shows opposite Hugh Laurie, William Shatner and Larry David, and in movies opposite Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Hudson, Eddie Murphy, Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., and Gerald Butler.

Heck, she started her career by signing a contract as a Motown recording artist.

But when my daughter saw her in the cast of Community alongside Chevy Chase—who she loved in Christmas Vacation—all that mattered was—she was on Drake & Josh!

AUDIO EXCERPT: "I knew that Joel McHale was very, very smart and very funny. And I read the script. When your body has an involuntary reaction to something on a written page--it was like a no-brainer. Then you find out Chevy Chase is involved, the Russo Brothers directed it--okay, I'm in. It was an easy decision to make."

So Yvette Nicole Brown—star of Drake & Josh AND the new NBC Thursday night sitcom Community, airing Thursday nights at 8 p.m.—welcome to Mr. Media.

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Ray Schlogel, FOR LOVE & STACIE writer, director and star: Mr. Media Radio Interview

2009-10-08T20:04:00.001-04:00

By BOB ANDELMAN

All the air escaped my lungs at the end of Ray Schlogel’s independent film, For Love & Stacie. I was angry, petulant… and then the credits rolled and I was reminded that it was a drama, not a documentary.

Poor, dumb ol’ Mr. Media was so sucked into this tale of heartbreak and obsession that I completely lost sight of what I was watching. And that’s when I realized what a fine job the independent Austin-based filmmaker—who wrote, starred, directed and produced Stacie—had done.

AUDIO EXCERPT: "(Chris Brogan) took up the cause. I can't thank him enough. He's got 90,000 followers. For him to take a risk outside the box of what he usually does and mention this little indie film was more than flattering. I have had a lot of people tweeting about it, posting about it, who have heard about it directly from Chris."

Schlogel came to my attention in an unusual way: I read about him in one of uber-networker Chris Brogan’s voluminous posts. Brogan wondered why Schlogel’s movie hadn’t received more attention and asked his readers to help the man out. I read Brogan daily and get a lot of value and insight from his blog so I decided to pay it forward by inviting Schlogel on Mr. Media.

You can watch For Love & Stacie for free at Schlogel’s website, ForLoveandStacey.com. He accepts donations there and you can also order a DVD copy of the film.

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Copyright 2009 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

Chef Blythe Beck, THE NAUGHTY KITCHEN Oxygen TV reality star: Mr. Media Radio Interview

2009-10-06T08:45:00.000-04:00

By BOB ANDELMAN

When I hear the words “naughty” and “kitchen” used in the same sentence, I’m reminded of a scene in the Bill Murray movie Stripes where he lifts P.J. Soles up on a kitchen counter and flirts with her using an oversize but common kitchen utensil.

Somehow, I’m guessing that’s not exactly what’s in store when “The Naughty Kitchen with Chef Blythe Beck” debuts on Oxygen tonight, Tuesday, September 22 @ 10 p.m.

AUDIO EXCERPT: "Nothing's been cast; it's all real. Nothing's fake. The show is real; the people are real. Some of them might lose their jobs, but that's because they suck."

Chef Beck runs a popular Dallas restaurant, Central 214, where the staff is frisky—think Hooters—but the food is much more ambitious—think Rocco DeSpirito. The Chef is at the center of the action; it’s more of a documentary series than a contest such as “Hell’s Kitchen” or “Top Chef.”

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Copyright 2009 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

Dario Scardapane, TRAUMA NBC TV show creator: Mr. Media Radio Interview

2009-10-05T21:25:00.000-04:00

Cliff Curtis and Aimee Garcia star in NBC's "Trauma," Mondays at 9 p.m.

By BOB ANDELMAN

From what I’ve read, the opening 10 minutes of the NBC drama “Trauma”—and say that five times fast—is the greatest introduction to a TV show ever. It cures cancer, tames global warming and reveals the secrets behind “Lost.”

Okay, maybe it doesn’t do the last thing, but still!

Seriously, NBC has had great success with emergency medicine shows going back to “Emergency!”—the one with the exclamation point—and, of course, the long-running “ER.”

AUDIO EXCERPT: "I keep hearing, 'Okay, that's a pretty amazing way to start things. How are you going to keep up with it week after week?' Television isn't the realm of the timid. Setting the bar really, really high for yourself... I embrace it."

Dario Scardapane is the creator and executive producer of “Trauma,” which, all; kidding aside, is one of the most talked about dramas of the new TV season. And Scardapane brings an unusual background to this show. Instead of being a Hollywood set rat, he’s a former journalist who has worked at Vogue, Los Angeles Times, Details and US Magazine.

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Nicole Sabrina Stuart, CAPTAIN scriptwriter, actor; BRIDE WARS co-star: Mr. Media Radio Interview

2009-10-04T08:34:00.000-04:00

By BOB ANDELMAN

I make my living as a writer—books, magazine articles and, of course, introductions to Mr. Media Radio interviews.

But I can’t say I have any experience with writer’s block. Why not? A wife, a daughter, two dogs—and every morning I wake up and find them hungry. Gotta work, gotta write, gotta earn money to keep everybody fed, right? So I write.

Steve is not like me. He’s a would-be writer—and former law student—who has been taken on as a student by Carl, an award-winning crime novelist. Unfortunately, Steve is blocked and Carl—in cahoots with his wife, Trish—comes up with a devious scheme to shake Steve out of his funk.

That’s the story behind a new short film, Captain, making its way through the world of indie film festivals this fall.

AUDIO EXCERPT: "The Starbucks I go to everyday donated pastries and coffee for us every morning!"

Captain was written by my guest, Nicole Sabrina Stuart, who also stars as “Trish,” and Jack Sundmacher, who plays “Steve” in the short. You might recognize the vivacious Nicole from her most recent appearance on screen as Kate Hudson’s beleaguered secretary in the feature film, Bride Wars—which I just watched on DVD with my daughter a few weeks ago. She’s also been in the Arthur Miller film After the Fall and episodes of “Criminal Minds,” “V.I.P.” with Pamela Anderson, and “The George Lopez Show.”

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Copyright 2009 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

Deborah Calla, A BEAUTIFUL LIFE co-screenwriter and producer: Mr. Media Radio Interview

2009-10-03T10:18:00.000-04:00

By BOB ANDELMAN

I haven’t spoken with her yet, but my sense is that Deborah Calla, who produced and co-wrote the new indie film A Beautiful Life, feels a strong connection to the lead character of Maggie.

It’s just a sense, but the character of Maggie, a teenage girl running away from the sexual abuse of her father, doesn’t seem like an emotional story you would want to participate in telling unless it really spoke to your soul.

Of course, I could be completely mistaken.

Calla, a Brazilian native, first discovered Wendy Hammond’s play, Jersey City, back in 1996. It took a long time to translate Jersey City into A Beautiful Life, but I’m sure there is an audience out there for this alternately harsh and yet tender slice of modern life.

AUDIO EXCERPT: "I think this is the best work Bai has ever done. This is a woman who looks amazing with makeup on, amazing without any makeup on. She just has so many different colors and goes through such a journey. I hope this movie will show other producers and directors what she can really do."

And Calla found some strong women to fill the lead and featured roles, starting with Angela Sarafyan as Maggie, the lead character, and continuing with Bai Ling as Maggie’s protector, Dana Delaney as her mother and Debi Mazar as a librarian who takes an interest in Maggie.

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LISTEN TO THIS, TOO! Mr. Media Radio interview with BAI LING, star of A Beautiful Life

Copyright 2009 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

Bai Ling, A BEAUTIFUL LIFE actress: Mr. Media Radio Interview

2009-10-02T04:13:00.001-04:00

By BOB ANDELMAN

Bai Ling stands out among American actresses for so many reasons: she’s Chinese, for one thing, but it’s not just that. She reads lines differently than her counterparts, a little softer here, a little louder there. And you don’t get the sense that she hesitates to say or do much of anything on camera, making her an exotic form of clay for most directors.

Of course, there is her beauty. The eyes are a little farther apart than Western audiences are accustomed to seeing onscreen. Her figure—which she shows without embarrassment or hesitation, is hers. Don’t go looking for scalpel marks.

And then there is the hair. Thick, black and cut with a sharp edge across the front—she just doesn’t look like anyone you’ve ever seen before.

And judging from her international success, it’s not just Americans who can’t get enough of Bai Ling.

AUDIO EXCERPT: “I got cast for Love Ranch, for which they originally wanted someone with big boobs, blonde hair, 20 years old—and totally a white girl. But I got it. And I’m pretty happy to play a white woman’s part. That gives me much more range as an actress.”

Her latest film, A Beautiful Life, casts Bai in the role of den mother to a young Latino man who is in the U.S. illegally and a teenage girl, played by Angela Sarafyan, who has run away from a physically abusive father. But this is still Bai Ling, so the producers found a way for her character, Esther, to frequently wear little or nothing: she’s a stripper.

A Beautiful Life opens around the United States on October 2. In addition to Bai Ling, it also stars Dana Delaney of “Desperate Housewives,” Debi Mazar of “Entourage,” and Guillermo Diaz of “Weeds.”

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Copyright 2009 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

Doug Savant, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES star: Mr. Media Radio Interview

2009-09-26T20:04:00.000-04:00

By BOB ANDELMAN

Doug Savant’s real wife, Laura Leighton, is floating lifeless in the pool over at Fox’s new “Melrose Place.”

Meanwhile, his TV wife, Felicity Huffman on ABC's “Desperate Housewives,” is expecting twins—again—and his character, Doug Scavo, a man whose sperm definitely swim, is in the doghouse—again—for that and so many other reasons.

AUDIO EXCERPT: "There's a picture in Entertainment Weekly, the fall television preview, where (my wife, Laura Leighton, star of 'Melrose Place") is kissing Thomas Calabro playfully on the cheek. And I gotta tell you, I don't like it! Nope! I want her kissing me, not somebody else. I love her enough to be a little possessive!"

Is it any wonder the man is choosing to hide out here, on Mr. Media Radio, for the next 15 minutes, to talk about the importance of Listerine, good dental hygiene, fresh breath, and a book of laughs?

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Copyright 2009 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

Matthew Krentz, Craig Thomas, STREETBALLERS actors, producers: Mr. Media Radio Interview

2009-09-24T02:37:00.001-04:00

By BOB ANDELMAN

If I were running a major American movie studio, I’d want to make Matthew Krentz’s apprenticeship as an indie filmmaker short. In other words, I’d want to be in business with this handsome, talented young auteur.

That was my second thought after watching Streetballers, the new film written, directed, produced and starring Krentz as John Hogan, a white, Irish, junior college basketball player looking for opportunity, survival and someone with whom he can take long, thoughtful walks.

AUDIO EXCERPT: "I didn't go to film school... I didn't purchase (film) books because I didn't have any money. I used local bookstores as a library... I moved to Utah. Later I was invited to work at the filmmaker labs at the Robert Redford Resort. They wouldn't let me on set because I had no background. So I applied as a driver. From a driver, I became an intern. Five years later they offered me the art director of the Institute. I literally was a fly on the wall at every opportunity. I spent a lot of time listening to a lot of talented filmmakers... It's an underdog story from beginning to end."

My first thought after finishing Streetballers was “Wow. I want everybody to see this movie.”

Joining me today is Matthew Krentz and his co-producer Craig Thomas.

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Copyright 2009 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

Eddie McClintock, WAREHOUSE 13 star: Mr. Media Radio Interview

2009-09-22T21:00:00.001-04:00

By BOB ANDELMAN

I’m a believer in the wonders of SyFy’s new series, “Warehouse 13.”

Oh, I won’t lie to you: there were a few moments in the early episodes where my wife, my daughter and I weren’t sure how much longer we’d stick with it. The show took a little time to get its bearings, convincing itself and the rest of us what kind of treasures awaited the patient.

But over the course of its last four or five weeks, “Warehouse 13"—the place where America’s greatest secrets are housed, its mysteries answered, its riddles questioned—has captured our loyalty and respect.

AUDIO EXCERPT: "Any show needs to find out what it is. Until the actors can get to know who their characters are and who they are to one another, it takes a little while. Take any good show—go back and watch Frazier, Friends, Cheers, Seinfeld—it takes a little while."

One of the big reasons for this—according to the women in my house—is the appeal of Eddie McClintock as Pete Latimer, one half of the Warehouse 13 investigative team. McClintock’s character is part Mulder from “The X-Files,” a dash of Captain Jonathan Archer from “Star Trek Enterprise,” and a measure of the lighter, boyish side of George Clooney in the Oceans movie series.

If you haven’t stepped into the Warehouse yet, take advantage of Hulu.com and catch up. The first season finale airs tonight, Thursday, September 22 at 9 p.m., and I know it will be a blast.

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Copyright 2009 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

By Bob Andelman

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