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And the Flashbacks
Ben's a featured character in "Almost Famous," written and directed by Cameron Crowe. (A true story written and directed by Crowe - his
first since writing and directing Tom Cruise in "Jerry Maguire.") ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ How's Your Chad Hanging?: With all this talk about the chad - hanging, dimpled, pregnant, or just friends - I'm wondering why they're ignoring Jeremy. That means nothing unless, like me, you were into Chad & Jeremy, who had a handful of hits in the Sixties, including "A Summer Place," "Willow Weep for Me," and "Yesterday's Gone." Which it certainly is. And Yet?? People certainly enjoy revisiting the past. I'll be doing a lot of that in my new part-time gig, with the Rock and Roll Museum and Hall of Fame. The Museum is set to break ground in Cleveland for a new library, and I'm helping go after pioneer musicians, songwriters and producers, to persuade them to fork over personal papers and documents for future library visitors. I just spoke with Michael Nesmith, who, besides being one of the Monkees, came up with the idea that became MTV. A visionary from 'way back, he's got a great site, at www.videoranch.com. L.A. Way: I spent a recent weekend visiting in-laws in Los Angeles, and, found myself strapped into the old Wayback Machine. Just before heading off from San Francisco, I heard from Jackie DeShannon, a dear friend who just put out her first CD in a long, long time, saying she was playing the Whisky a Go Go that weekend. Jackie's the composer of hit songs like "Put a Little Love in Your Heart," which she took to Number 4. Annie Lennox and Al Green also went Top Ten with their 1988 version. Jackie also wrote "Bette Davis Eyes," another two-timer (Kim Carnes had a Number One record with it, and it's back on the charts courtesy of Gwyneth Paltrow's version of it from the film Duets). Her songs have also been recorded by the Byrds, the Searchers, Marianne Faithfull, the Carpenters, and many others. Anyway, she was playing the legendary club on Sunset Strip, so Dianne, my wife, her sisters, Robin and Eileen, and their husbands, Chuck and Richard, decided to make a party of it. But wait. Before that could happen, I had to spend the afternoon at the Museum of TV& Radio in Beverly Hills. A special "L.A. Radio Day" was going on, and it was my chance to see not only my old buddy, Gary Owens, but also a bunch of broadcasters and entertainers I knew, but had never met. That is, I'd interviewed them by phone for my Top 40 book and other projects, but Saturday would be my first opportunity to say "what's up." They included Dr. Demento, the purveyor of all that is novel and wacky in pop music; the one and only Stan Freberg, who practically invented the novelty and parody record - not to mention satiric humor in advertising; and Southern California radio and TV figures like Bill Balance (Dr. Laura's ex-paramour), Jimmy O'Neill (host of Shindig) and "Sweet Dick" Whittington. Dr. Demento, celebrating his 30th anniversary of his syndicated radio show, lamented that one of the markets in which his program is not heard is?�Los Angeles. Criminal. After a hilarious presentation of favorit bits, he interviewed Freberg, who is not shy about quoting people who've praised him. He mentioned Orson Welles. He mentioned the equally late and great Fred Allen. He even mentioned me, noting that I'd interviewed him once for Gavin, the radio trade magazine, and called him "a pioneer alternative rocker." (Freberg, who hated rock and roll, had hits in the Fifties with savage parodies of Elvis, Johnnie Ray, and various R&B and doo-wop groups.) Freberg, now in the mid-seventies, still hosts a show that replays classic radio programs, called "When Radio Was." It's heard on several hundred stations, he said, but not in - you guessed it - Los Angeles. Hey, happy L.A. Radio Day! Gary Owens, best known for his role as the announcer on Laugh-In, sat on a raucous, ten-person panel recalling L.A. radio. He also pointed me out, as a radio fan he'd gotten to know when he was the morning DJ on KEWB in Oakland, Calif., and I was an Oakland High student. Unfortunately, I'd already left the Museum, to get on track for our evening at the Whisky. There, Jackie looked and sounded like she'd never left the stage or the recording studio to raise her son Noah, who's now tall and 20. (Her partner in parenthood is the composer Randy Edelman.) She offered a generous sampling of her new album, You Know Me (you can hear cuts on her site, www.jackiedeshannon.com). She did early hits like "Needles and Pins" and "When You Walk in the Room," and her biggest smashes, "Put a Little Love?? and "What the World Needs Now is Love." The audience, ranging from young rockers to rocking-chair-ready oldies like me, roared with approval. When you've got the stuff, you can always go home again. A few days after returning to San Francisco, Jackie was glowing - even over the phone, I could see it - from a rave review in the Los Angeles Times. I also called Gary Owens, to thank him for my unheard plug. By then, the news had come out about the death of Steve Allen - talk about your broadcast pioneers. "He could do anything," said Gary. "The man was totally Renaissance." I interviewed Mr. Allen only once, on Fog City Radio in 1995, but the occasion stands as a highlight of my life. As Gary noted, Steve Allen accounted for many careers - Louis Nye, Don Knotts, Tom Poston, and Bill Dana ("Jose Jimenez") among them - and many, many laughs. Thank you, Steverino. -------------------- Click to Ben Fong-Torres Articles
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