HUH? WHAT?? ME? ON TV??

Behind the Scenes of My First TV Appearance

By Steve Ludwig

As I mentioned a couple blogs ago, the publisher of my book, SEE YOU IN CCU: A LIGHTHEARTED TALE OF MY OPEN-HEART SURGERY, convinced me to engage in some publicity to promote the book.

This past Friday, I checked my email for the first time that day, at 5:00 PM. Evan Ginzburg (whom I had met a couple months earlier and am now proud to call a buddy) shot me an email. Evan is the associate producer of the movie The Wrestler, starring Mickey Rourke. Evan let me know that a producer/director friend of his, Solomon Chertok (whom I've also had the pleasure of meeting), wanted to know if I could be in Staten Island at 2:00PM the next day to appear on his friend's cable TV show, Home Invaders Variety Show, to promote my book. Me? Wow! Evan and Solomon are two very busy guys, and for them to take the time to even contact me about this is a testament as to how nice these two are.

I was to call Hector Bosa, the show's host, as soon as possible to make arrangements for the following day. 

"Hello?" Hector almost yelled through the phone when he answered. It sounded like he was outside, on a busy street.

"Hi, Hector, my name is Steve Ludwig. Through Solomon Chertok, Evan Ginzburg suggested I call you to see if I could possibly appear on your show tomorrow."

"What?!" Hector hadn't been able to make out a single word I'd said.

I tried again: "Evan Ginzburg told me to..."

"Oh, Evan told you to call? Hold on..."

I held, as Hector apparently retreated into a store where it was quieter.

We talked; Hector was very receptive. He asked me to be at the studio at around 2:30PM. They shoot till 6:00PM. 
Now at my first public reading on April 27 at Gizzi's in NYC, I needed my "Linus security blanket," Lloyd Gold, to be onstage with me. Lloyd played his ukulele and generally kept things light and fun. So for my first TV appearance ever, I wanted Lloyd with me. I owed him big time for appearing at Gizzi's, and maybe Lloyd would be able to sing a few songs. Should I dare even ask Hector, who was nice enough to allow me on his show in the first place?
"I have a buddy of mine, and we kind of work together. He plays the ukulele really well and backs me up while I read."
"Sure, man, bring him along!"
Hector was very cool, I could tell already. I immediately contacted Lloyd. Little did I know that he was, at that moment, receiving his Masters' Degree diploma at Montclair State University (Congratulations, Lloyd!!).
Lloyd said he was in.
To familiarize myself a bit with the show, I checked out the website (www.rarobertsonproductions.com/HI/HomeInvaders/index.html) and found that Hector calls himself the "Hardest, Baddest, Sexiest Man on Basic Access Cable." His show was delightfully offbeat. It was neat. I couldn't wait to be on it.

Lloyd and I met the next day at 12:30. I drove us to the NJ Turnpike, over the Goethals Bridge, and before we knew it we were turning down the street to the TV studio in Staten Island. It was only about 1:15 by this time, we had some time before having to report, and we were both hungry. So once we found the studio, we backtracked a couple blocks and found ourselves at the order pickup window of Checkers...That's Checkers as in FRIED FOOD Checkers. The irony of a guy who was about to go on a TV show to talk about surviving quintuple open-heart bypass surgery, eating at Checkers, wasn't lost on Lloyd and me. We laughed as we sat at our outdoor table, overlooking Forest Avenue in Staten Island, amidst the fumes of the passing traffic and our very fried French fries and our very fried fried food. (Please don't tell my cardiologist, Dr. Welish...) With this lunch, gee, could I have been subconsciously preparing to write a sequel to my first book? Nope, I was just hungry...
After surviving lunch, Lloyd and I drove back to the studio, had our names checked on the security guard's list as we entered the parking lot...and proceeded to go to the wrong door. We stood like numbskulls, looking in the locked glass doors, ringing a bell that went unanswered. When it finally got through our heads that, hey, ya think this might be the wrong door?, we walked around the back and found the studio door.
In we went. I felt like some cool guy, doin' a TV gig, Daddy-O. 
We were early. It was about 1:50. We had no clue where to go, but we made a left and walked straight down a hall into a studio with cameras, lights, and a TV set with chairs.
"This must be the studio," I intelligently surmised.
Lloyd gave me a look like, "Ya think?? Durrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr."
There was nobody there. I snapped a quick picture or two before we both decided we better not be in here.
We found one of the technicians, and he told us no one from the show was here yet, but make ourselves comfortable in the small cafeteria a few doors away.
We put our stuff on the lone table in the room; Lloyd started tuning and strumming his ukulele while I took one of my books out of my bag and placed it on the table. As Lloyd started loosening up his vocal cords, I looked dumbly down at the cover of my book. Well, I guess I'm all ready, I figured. Nothin' else to do but go to the bathroom. Lloyd stayed behind and practiced.
Shortly after I returned, a woman, younger than Lloyd and I, came into the room. We all nodded at each other, and she sat down and placed a book on the table. 
"Are you here for the show?" I asked her. 
"Yes, you guys also?"
A thought went through my head: Shoot, she's an author, too, and her book is a HARD COVER. Nobody's gonna like my book, I whined secretly.
But Kirsi Paalanen (her name) was not an author; she was a health specialist who had appeared on The Dr. Oz Show. But she offered this Oz information in a very humble manner: "My five minutes of fame," she said almost apologetically. 
Lloyd and I could tell right away she was a good person. The three of us were in this together, and we almost immediately started leaning on each other until the taping.
Let me take this opportunity to tell you about Kirsi's website. It's www.myorangevilla.com. 
As a certified passion test facilitator, Ms. Paalanen will help you find that focus you may have lost and help you recharge your passion for life and work. As you'll see when I share the show with you in a couple weeks, Kirsi knows her stuff. Please also visit her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/myorangevilla.
Soon a few people joined us in the room. One of them, Ro, asked if we could kindly move our things off the table so she could display the food. Food? Lunch for the crew, I figured.
Before long, a very laid-back man with slightly unkempt hair sauntered into the food room. It was Hector Bosa, the show's host.
Not yet quite in "uniform" for the show, he was definitely a cool guy. He sat down with us as a couple cameramen drifted in.
We each asked Hector a question or two about our upcoming taping.
"Hey, man, whatever you wanna do is fine. We just have a good time here."
And he sat down with us and talked and made us feel like part of the crew. We talked about Saturday Night Live, about Joe Franklin, about our pets, about scars on our bodies...Hector really put us at ease.
"C'mon, eat...Eat!" Hector insisted we help ourselves to the food.
He brought us into the control room and introduced us to the crew in there. One of them, Mitch, asked me for a copy of my book so he could scan the cover and show it onscreen during my interview.
There wasn't a single member of the whole outfit who wasn't pleasant to us. I mean, everybody welcomed us into their "world" with open arms, as if we had always been a part.
I asked Hector, "May I take pictures for my Facebook page and my blog?"
"Yeah, man, take pictures of whatever you want."
I almost felt like just hanging out with everybody and not even going on the show!
He eventually brought us into the studio and told us what to expect. He said that the show was taped as if it were live. There would be "roll-ins" between segments. Thankfully, Kirsi asked what a roll-in was, because I certainly had no clue. A roll-in was when Hector would come to the end of an interview segment and say something like, "And now let's check out this video," and they'd cut to a humorous video while the cameras were off us. During these roll-ins, we were free to talk to each other about the past segment or the segment coming up.
The atmosphere was consistently laid-back, but as the taping time approached, everyone on the crew went about their business professionally.
We were asked to sit in the chair we'd be in during the show (Hector had already told us where we'd be sitting) and to speak into our microphone so the sound levels could be checked. 
When I spoke into mine, "Hello, I'm Steve Ludwig, I'm happy to be on the show," one of the control room guys said, "OK, Steve's fine." He didn't say "He's fine," but he said, "Steve's fine." Just another example how everybody made us feel like part of the family.

Another crew member led us into the "green" room (it wasn't really green) to sign our "Talent Release" forms. 

Here's the green room above. In the mirror you can see Kirsi on the left kicking back before the taping, and a woman knitting. (Hmmm, this scene isn't unlike a David Lynch movie.)

As we signed our "Talent Release" forms, I couldn't help but feel like I should've crossed the word "Talent" off of mine. But I didn't; I followed suit with Lloyd and Kirsi.

As Lloyd and Kirsi sign their Talent Releases (above), Lloyd's uke checks for spelling.

At 4:30PM, it was finally time for taping. Kirsi was to have the first segment alone with Hector. As you'll see when you watch the show in a week or two, she is an expert in her field. Be sure to check out both her website and Facebook pages when you get a few minutes.

After Kirsi, Lloyd and I would join her on the panel for the rest of the show.

I'll let you all watch the show itself when I get a copy. All I'll say is that Hector is hilarious, and we all managed to get a little goofy as the show went on.

Here's what we saw from our seats:

And here's where Lloyd and I put our junk while on camera:

And finally, here we are, after the taping, having lived to blog the story...

Lloyd, Kirsi, Hector, and yours truly

So there ya go! Hopefully when I post the show in a bit, you'll be able to find some time to check it out!

-Steve

Do you love pop culture as much as I do? You might get a kick out of my radio show, STEVE LUDWIG'S CLASSIC POP CULTURE at www.PlanetLudwig.com. Thanks!

                          

IF YOU ENJOYED READING THIS BLOG, WOULD YOU BE SO KIND AS TO CONSIDER BUYING MY BOOK, SEE YOU IN CCU: A LIGHTHEARTED TALE OF MY OPEN-HEART SURGERY ? JUST VISIT WWW.CCUBOOK.COM.

                                            

As always, thanks so much for everything,

Steve Ludwig

ALICE COOPER: SHARING THE NIGHTMARE,
BY STEVE LUDWIG

College graduations. Pretty soon, inhabitants of high schools and elementary schools will be singing the song that's been sung since 1972: "SCHOOL'S OUT" !!!
It's almost certainly Alice Cooper's best-known song, and I've been a die-hard fan of his ever since the SCHOOL'S OUT album came out during my senior year at North Bergen High School, in New Jersey.
I've followed "The Coop" fervently ever since. He had released a few albums before that (which I've since gotten into), but for me, Alice Cooper started with SCHOOL'S OUT.
I would guess that the non-fan who's heard of Cooper, but isn't familiar with much more than "School's Out" and perhaps "(I'm) Eighteen," thinks of Alice as merely a novelty act, whose stage show consists of a pet boa constrictor, a lot of blood (some of it even fake---muahahaha!!!!!!!), and either a guillotine or a noose, depending on which method of death the "bad Alice" succumbs to in that particular show.
But Alice offers so much more to those who can find the time to listen.
His lyrics are among the most clever in all of music. Bob Dylan referred to Alice as "...an underrated songwriter." You can say that again, Bob-O.
Aside from a couple stints in rehab for alcohol abuse, Cooper hasn't stopped making music. In September of last year, he released a follow-up (albeit over 35 years later) to his 1975 masterpiece WELCOME TO MY NIGHTMARE (featuring special guest, Vincent Price) with WELCOME 2 MY NIGHTMARE.
I'd like to share with you some of my favorite Coop lyrics...
Never heavy-handed about his born-again Christianity, Alice nonetheless allows this part of his life to seep into a few of his songs. Feeling that it may be time for the Big G's son to return to save us from the continuing brutality of our planet, Cooper sings:

                                   Here's where we keep the armies
                                   Here's where we write their names
                                   Here's where the money god is
                                   Here's our famous hall of shame
                                   Here's where we starve the hungry
                                   Here's where we cheat the poor
                                   Here's where we beat the children
                                   Here is where we pay the whore

                                   Why don't you come down to...
                                    It's such a brutal planet!
                                    It's such an ugly world
                                   Why don't you come down to...
                                                                                    ["Brutal Planet"]

After his first trip to rehab for his overindulgence in alcohol (some reports place him, at his worst, drinking 2 cases of beer and a bottle of whiskey each day),
Alice recorded the FROM THE INSIDE album, a semi-autobiographical tale of his experiences in rehab. One of more beautiful ballads (and you may be surprised at all the ballads that Alice has sung throughout his career) comes from the album. Cooper's character, just before being released from rehab, writes a letter to his loved one, who waits at home. Will she still love him? Will he be able to deal with her in his new sobriety?

                                       Dear darlin', surprised to hear from me?
                                       Bet you're sittin' drinkin' coffee, 
                                       Yawning sleepily
                                       Just to let you know 
                                       I'm gonna be home soon
                                       I'm kinda awkward and afraid
                                       Time has changed your point of view

                                       How you gonna see me now?
                                       Please don't see me ugly, babe
                                       'Cause I know I've let you down
                                       In, oh, so many ways
                                       How you gonna see me now
                                       Since we've been on our own?
                                       Are you gonna love the man
                                       When the man gets home?
                                                                               ["How You Gonna See Me Now?"]


One of Alice's biggest strengths, for me, is his humor. He uses it to make clever observations about our sometimes wacky society. Does he feel that some of today's youth may occasionally take it too easy, and expect too much for nothing? See what you think, as he sings the voice of a teenager:

                                      I can't get a girl 'cause I ain't got a car
                                      I can't get a car 'cause I ain't got a job
                                      I can't get a job 'cause I ain't got a car
                                      So I'm looking for a girl with a job and a car

                                      Don't you know where you are?
                                      You're lost in America
                                                                               ["Lost in America"]


Ever wonder if Elvis made it to heaven? Well, Alice did. He sings this song as the late, great Presley might have:

                                      I had a lot of girls
                                      I had a lot of guns
                                     When they found me dead
                                     The whole world was stunned
                                     Went to the pearly gates
                                     Said, "I'm the hippest thing."
                                     And Peter said, "Well, son,
                                     We already got ourselves a King."
                                                                                          ["Disgraceland"]

After twenty-five studio albums (as well as seven live albums), Alice has written some truly imaginative lyrics; I hardly scraped the surface with the four songs I excerpted here.
A couple of years ago, I had the extreme pleasure of meeting Alice Cooper at a convention. It was a thrill; it really was.
As I waited on the long line to have my picture taken with him, I noticed how Alice would "play up" his image with those fans that expected him to be "Alice Cooper," providing an occasional choke hold on his victims. To others like me who approached him calmly, he was simply "Alice." He read his fans well.
"Hi, Alice, I'm Steve."
"Hi, Steve."
We shook hands. I had planned to tell Alice how I had visited his sports bar, "CoopersTown" (cool name, huh?), while in Arizona a few years ago, and how I especially got a kick out of how all the waiters and waitresses wore the famous Alice Cooper eye makeup.
But seeing I was pressed for time, with no end in sight to that long line of people behind me, we posed for the picture; I wanted to be sure to mention one thing to him. I mentioned to Alice that I haven't had a drop of alcohol since 1985, and that his FROM THE INSIDE album held a special musical place in my heart.
"Since '82 for me, " Alice said of his sobriety.
"Yup, I know," I told him. "Well, good health to you, Alice."
"You, too," he said, and then finished with, "We've never felt so good, right?"
"Yup."
And with that, the next person in line was making her way up to Alice.
I left with a good feeling; one of my favorite musical artists was a regular guy, and a pretty darn nice one at that.

No nightmares for me!

Did you know I have a radio show? It's called STEVE LUDWIG'S CLASSIC POP CULTURE at www.PlanetLudwig.com. Thanks!

                                         

SO, HEY, IF YOU ENJOYED READING MY BLOG, WOULD YOU KINDLY CONSIDER BUYING MY BOOK? IT'S CALLED SEE YOU IN CCU: A LIGHTHEARTED TALE OF MY OPEN-HEART SURGERY.

YOU CAN READ ABOUT IT, CHECK OUT SOME OF THE REVIEWS, AND PURCHASE IT IF YOU'D LIKE, AT CCUBOOK.COM. 

                                                                    

As always, thanks so much for reading!

Steve

                                        

                                      
         





                                    

DIZZY AT GIZZI'S

MY FIRST PUBLIC READING OF

SEE YOU IN CCU

By Steve Ludwig

Don't you feel we all have a book in us, just waiting to get out?

Well, while I was on a sabbatical from teaching last year, I wrote mine!

In 2006, I had quintuple open-heart bypass surgery. When I got home from the hospital, I decided to keep a journal of the oh-so-many fun things that happened to me while I was in the hospital, as well as recording the hilarity of my recovery at home.

While sitting at the kitchen table, trying to turn these notes into some sort of semblance of a book, I remember telling myself, I don't care if I sell a single copy of my book. I just want to be able to say I got a book published, and that I am in the Library of Congress [2011918490 is my Library of Congress Control Number. Yeah, that's right, I have an LCCN. So does J.K. Rowlings. There is something seriously wrong with this picture...].

Please believe me when I tell you, I was quite content to return to teaching and simply stare like a dumbbell at the author's copy of my book that was sitting on my bookshelf next to my favorite Beatles books, and do nothing else with the book.

Soon, however, I was receiving phone calls and emails from my publisher: Why not enjoy the whole experience of having a book published? Have you considered advertising? Why not start a Facebook page devoted to your book? Try that Twitter thing. And blog! How about doing a book signing? Better yet, how about doing a book READING?

Hey, Mr. Publisher, how about just letting me continue to stare at my bookshelf?

Then I began to see my book for sale on the Barnes & Noble and Amazon websites. It began to spring up in select bookstores. I saw positive reviews for my little story.

I found myself googling my name; googling my book's title. I was falling under the spell.

Through Facebook, a fantastic parent (her name is Mare Russell) of an equally fantastic former student (his name is Rye Joseph, now a successful director of documentaries) told me that she had a really nice friend named Evan Ginsburg. Evan is, among other things, the Associate Producer of the movie, The Wrestler, starring Mickey Rourke. Evan is also the host of an internet radio show, Legends Radio (www.legendsradio.net), that reaches a world-wide audience. Through the goodness of his heart, Evan invited me to be interviewed on his show a couple weeks ago. (If you go to the show's website, click on the April 18 show on the homepage, then download the episode. My interview can be heard at the 1 hour, 37 minute mark if you'd like to fast forward. If you have the time to listen, Evan's whole show is wonderful.)

Mr. Ginsburg also books the talent for Gizzi's Cafe (16 West 8th St., NYC), a super club smack in the heart of Greenwich Village; which is just where I found myself last Friday night, on stage, reading from my book to an audience of friends and family, as well as diners who must have been wondering, Who the hell is this guy who's talking about having a catheter stuck up his penis??

Although my book itself is a lighthearted account of my open-heart surgery, I wasn't convinced that my words could hold an audience's interest for my 45- to 60-minute set on stage.

Now, I knew that I would be showing some of the tremendous illustrations that my brother Tom did for the book, such as this one:

I also knew that I'd be telling the backstory of how we chose this author's picture, taken by my professional photographer nephew, Billy:

And I knew I'd be waiting until people were eating their dinner before sharing this photo of me in all my SCARRY SPLENDOR, taken by my friend, Carol Toomey, of me in the hospital:

Yet I still wasn't confident enough that I could pull off the "holding their interest" part of the deal.

I love music (who among us doesn't?); I toyed with the idea of playing pre-recorded music in the background as I read selections from my book.

Then I had my "Eureka!" moment...or should I say, I had my "Ukulele!" moment. My friend, Lloyd Gold, fellow teacher and leader for over ten years of his own band, Lloyd United, could join me onstage as my musical accompanist! Would he be interested? Lloyd came through! He would, indeed, bring his ukulele and tiptoe through the Gizzi's with me. As Evan Ginsburg said on his radio show, after I mentioned that I would be bringing a ukulele master with me to Gizzi's: "Nothing says a good time better than quintuple bypass surgery and ukuleles." Well said, my good man!

And, boy, did Lloyd deliver...From serenading my wife, Sue, to a chorus of Susie Q, to singing a beautiful rendition of In My Life during my "thank you" section, Gold the Magnificent added even more than I could ever have hoped for. That's not to mention Lloyd's unprovoked tissue-drying of my sweating slightly-receding hair-lined head. 

Here's a picture of us taken by my friend, Anna Pantoliano:

And in this picture above, also taken by Anna, I was explaining to the audience why Lloyd had to make so many "pit stops" during the evening. I wonder if it had anything to do with that beer he was drinkin'?

That was pretty much the tone of our set; pretty light, hopefully a lot of fun. 

There's no way I can ever thank all the friends and family members that came to Gizzi's to give me their support.

In a few days, I'll be posting video of our, um, "performance." I wouldn't have been able to post any video had it not been for going-on-five-month-old Joseph Cabrera's dad, Jeff, acting as my videographer. I must also thank Jeff's two lovely and talented assistant videographers, Professor Jenn Strobel and the equally professorial Jessica Schaaf.

I wouldn't have had the courage to get up on that stage without the presence of these beautiful people: Gary & Nancy, Jay & Paulette, Marie, Jill, Larry, Stephanie & Bob, Bonnie, Billy, Matthew, Frank, Rachel, Emily & Sharon and their husbands, Tom & Liz, Jeff, Jenn, Jessica, Anna, Deb, Lynn, Julie & Matt, Carol, Cathy & Dan, Mare and her pals, Evan, and my honey-pie wife, Sue.

As I said at the end of my reading at Gizzi's, Thank you all from the bottom of my healthy heart!

If you like pop culture, you may very well enjoy my radio show, STEVE LUDWIG'S CLASSIC POP CULTURE at www.PlanetLudwig.com. Thanks!

                                      

IF YOU ENJOYED READING THIS BLOG, WOULD YOU BE SO KIND AS TO CONSIDER BUYING A COPY OF MY BOOK, SEE YOU IN CCU: A LIGHTHEARTED TALE OF MY OPEN-HEART SURGERY  ? You can find all the info at www.ccubook.com.

                                 

Thanks for everything! Steve

HOW I BEFRIENDED ONE OF JOHN LENNON'S

PERSONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS

Part Two

By Steve Ludwig

Before I begin this second of two installments, may I mention a couple things? First, Paul Goresh never considered himself a "personal photographer" of John Lennon. That's how I  would think of him. Paul always considered himself simply a Beatles fan who was lucky enough to have taken pictures of John Lennon. Also, I want to thank Paul for allowing this Beatles fan to live vicariously through him.

Paul has many, many photos and memories of his times with John Lennon, and he's always been kind enough to share some of those with me. I'm forever grateful to him for that. Paul once told me he may eventually publish a book about those times. So out of respect for Paul and any future plans he may have in the literary field, I certainly don't want to tell any stories that he could surely tell better than I ever could.

Instead, I'll share with you a couple answers that Paul gave to me of questions I asked him. Then I'd like to relay an experience that still brings chills to my spine when I think of it.

So I ask you -- If you had the opportunity, what might you ask Paul Goresh about John?

One of the first questions I ever asked Paul was, How could a Beatles fan act normal around John Lennon?

Paul told me he never quite mastered it. In fact, early on, John used to catch him staring at him as he and Paul would walk the streets of New York near the Dakota Building. 

"You have to stop thinking of me as a Beatle," John told him. "I'm just a guy."

Uh, sure, John, just a guy who was one-half of the greatest songwriting team of the 20th Century! Just a guy who was in the Beatles!!!

Lennon went on to explain to Paul that he, John, found himself in awe of some of his musical idols, and that he understood. 

"But I'm not a Beatle anymore," Lennon would always insist.

While Paul never got the hang of thinking of John as "just a guy," he did learn to control it.

I asked Paul, almost reluctantly, what kind of a guy John was. I didn't want to hear that one of my heroes was a creep.

I'll never forget Paul's answer: "Even if John weren't a Beatle, I'd want him for a friend."

He said John was one of the nicest, kindest, most down-to-earth people he'd ever met. Whew, what a relief that was to hear, and so great to hear it!

He also told me that not once while John was in Paul's company, did John ever display any type of ego. He would never walk with a bodyguard, nor would he ever turn down a request from a fan on the street for an autograph. (Unfortunately, we know where that got poorJohn...)

Of course, I'd ask my share of dumb questions, the kind only Beatlemaniacs would want to know the answer to. One of them was, "What kind of handshake did John have?"

Paul described it as a "guy's handshake," firm, friendly.

October 16, 1992, found Goresh and me at Madison Square Garden attending the Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Concert. In celebration of Super Bob's 30 years in music were some of the all-time greats of the music business: Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder, Neil Young, Tom Petty, The Band, Roger McGuinn, even Dylan himself...the list went on and on. But as great as all of them were, Paul and I were there for one performer -- George Harrison! Making a rare appearance in concert was the Quiet Beatle himself.

Before the show began, Paul was lining up shots and angles with his camera. Suddenly he grinned at me.

"You know what camera this is?"

I knew.

You'll recall from my last blog the picture of John Lennon on the front page of the NY Daily News, December 10, 1980. Well, this was the camera that took that picture!

Its historical significance, at least in Beatledom, is incalculable.

"Wow!" I took a few seconds before I asked, "Can I hold it?"

Paul smiled again, took the strap from around his neck, and handed me the camera.

I recall thinking, I shouldn't be holding this. This should be in some museum case somewhere. But George was coming onstage later, so Paul wanted to use his "Beatle camera." The very one I now held in my hands.

I carefully handed it back to Paul, convinced I was not worthy of holding it for more than just a few seconds.

I hope that Paul Goresh does get around to writing that book. If he does, take my word for it, you'll read some incredible stories and see some fantastic photos.

I have a radio show! It's fun and relaxed, and it's called STEVE LUDWIG'S CLASSIC POP CULTURE at www.PlanetLudwig.com. Thanks, everybody!

                                  

On next week's blog, I'll tell the story of how my book-reading went this coming Friday, April 27, at Gizzi's Cafe, 16 W. 8th St., NYC. WHAT BOOK, you might ask? If you enjoyed reading this blog, would you be so kind as to consider buying my first book, SEE YOU IN CCU: A LIGHTHEARTED TALE OF MY OPEN-HEART SURGERY ?

You can find all the ordering info at CCUBOOK.COM.

                                        

Until next time, thanks for everything,

Steve Ludwig

HOW I BEFRIENDED

ONE OF JOHN LENNON'S

PERSONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS

Steve Ludwig

On December 10, 1980, two days after John Lennon's shocking murder, the New York Daily News ran this photo on its front page:

It was a picture of John signing a Double Fantasy album cover, at around 5:00 PM on December 8, for the murderous piece of garbage who would shoot him dead five hours later.

As I looked at the picture that morning of December 10, 1980, I noticed the name of the guy who took this picture: Paul Goresh. I remember thinking, "Wow! What a picture!" A disturbing picture, for sure, but nonetheless, incredible.

Skip ahead to 1983. I was a teacher by day, but at that time I also worked nights at Video Shack in Paramus, NJ. In addition to renting and selling videotapes, Video Shack also sold two-foot-high statues of movie stars, as well as some singing stars. One of the biggest sellers was the Beatles set of four statues; we were forever reordering Beatles statues. 

One night while working the late shift, I took a call from a man who wanted to buy a set of the Beatles statues. We had one set left, so I told him I'd put that set aside for him. I asked him his name, and he said "Paul Goresh."

My mind immediately went back to that Daily News picture.

Knowing the answer, I still asked the question: "Aren't you the Lennon photographer?"

Goresh sounded genuinely surprised. "Yeah, how did you know?"

I told him that I always thought the picture was unbelievable, and that I was a Beatles fan since their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964. He said he was a Beatlemaniac, too, and that he'd be at the store in about an hour to pick up his statues.

Needless to say, we hit it off right away. It was tough to spend too much time talking to him that night, as the store was quite busy for a weeknight. So we made plans to meet for lunch soon.

We became fast friends; the Beatles, of course, were our common ground. I had a million questions for him about John Lennon, and he answered every one.

Of course, one of the first questions I asked him was about the night of the photograph. Paul said that since 1979, he had hung around the Dakota building, on West 72 St., NYC, where John and Yoko lived (and where Yoko still lives to this day), in the hope of seeing John come out of the building. He did, quite often, and slowly but surely, Paul began taking pictures of John.

One day, Lennon stopped and asked Paul if he could see some of his pictures. Paul made up a bunch, gave them to John as he left the Dakota one day, and from then on, they became friendly.

As Paul often told me, "We weren't what you would call close friends...", but John and Paul would take short walks together.

Goresh told me that a fellow photographer friend of his once told him, "Just snap away and take pictures of anything, even if it seems inconsequential." 

That's just how Paul happened to take the picture of John signing the album cover. He simply took, what he thought, was just another picture.

Only until later that night, when Goresh heard the terrible news of John's assassination, and the news reports ran descriptions of his killer, did Paul realize he may have taken a picture of the murderer. He quickly had the picture developed. When he was sure that it was indeed Lennon's killer in the picture with John, Paul contacted the local police. They said they weren't interested; Paul then contacted the Daily News, and they were interested.

Over the years, Paul has been extremely kind enough to give me copies of some of his personal Lennon photos. 

Here's one he took of John and Yoko leaving the Dakota to go to a recording session:

You can imagine how honored Paul felt (that's the word he used to me to describe his feelings) when, less than four months after John's death, Yoko asked Paul is if she could use the photo for the single record release of "Watching the Wheels." It was the first posthumous John record:

On a segment about Paul and his relationship with John on the TV show, The Story Behind the Story, Paul said how proud he was to have his name on the back of the single sleeve:

.

Well, as I mentioned earlier in this blog, I had a million questions for Paul Goresh about John; questions that die-hard Beatles fans would want to know the answers to. Next week, in Part 2, I'll share more than a few of those questions and answers with you. Plus: I get to hold THE camera.

ON APRIL 18, DURING THE 8:40-9:00pm (EST) SLOT, I'LL BE INTERVIEWED ON EVAN GINZBURG'S INTERNET RADIO SHOW LEGENDS RADIO, AT legendsradio.net, ABOUT MY BOOK, SEE YOU IN CCU: A LIGHTHEARTED TALE OF MY OPEN-HEART SURGERY. EVAN'S GREAT SHOW IS ARCHIVED, SO YOU CAN LISTEN ANYTIME AFTER APRIL 18, ALSO.

MY BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT CCUBOOK.COM, AS WELL AS barnesandnoble.com, amazon.com, etc., AND SELECTED REAL LIVE BOOK STORES.

And don't forget to check out my brother Bill's music blog at 360sounds.wordpress.com. 

Thanks for everything!

Steve Ludwig 

MAKING EYE CONTACT WITH PAUL McCARTNEY

Ok, so in the last couple of blogs I told you how I patted Ringo on the back and got shushed by George. 
This week, it's making eye contact with Paulie! Macca! Big Mac!
July 9, 1990 - Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ. It seems like only yesterday (OK, no more cheap Beatle song references). SECOND ROW from the stage, dead center. Yup, you read right...Second row. I couldn't believe it either. But my friend, Paul Goresh (who has a few friends in the music industry) was able to get these fabulous four seats - yeah, fab four seats. It was Paul & his girlfriend at the time, and my wife Sue, and I. There were six seats in the front of us, first row, that were empty when the show began. We figured maybe they would be taken by friends of the band, who may have been backstage during the pre-show. Paul's kids maybe? His brother Mike? Goresh and I knew what these people looked like; we were bonafide Beatle fans, after all. Yes, I understand how sad it is that I know what Mike McCartney looks like, but such is the life of a Beatlemaniac. Well, as it turned out, none of the above sat in the empty seats. As a matter of fact, the seats remained empty throughout the entire concert. That meant the first fans in Macca's line of sight were...US! OK, that put a lot of pressure on us as fans; we needed to make Paul feel wanted, loved. it was up to us. We'd have to carry the wei-- oops, almost let another cheap Beatle song title slip in. Unfortunately, I pretty much sat in a Beatle fan trance once the show started, what with being right in front of John Lennon's writing partner, so I wasn't much help in making Paul feel wanted and loved.
Fast forward to mid-concert -- Paul's singing the great Beatles tune, "Things we Said Today." 

I was happily, goofly singing along when Paul McCartney of the Beatles, ex-bandmate of George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and John Lennon, looked right at me!! RIGHT AT ME!! I sang along as I had while listening to my Something New album as a ten-year-old back in 1964. You know how music takes you back? I was in the fifth grade again. Only this time, Paulie was looking at me sing.
After the song, I asked Sue, "Did you see him look at me?"
"He was looking at me," Sue insisted.
"He was not."
"Why would he look at you?" Sue asked. "He'd look at a girl, and that girl was me."
I told my smarty-pantsed wife why he'd look at me. "He's married. He doesn't have to look at girls anymore." I swear I was being logical, but as the years have gone on, I'm convinced I'm an idiot.
Paul Goresh waited for the next song, "Eleanor Rigby," to finish before he chimed in. "He wasn't looking at either of you, he was looking at me."
I started laughing, but Goresh was serious. "I ain't kidding."
Paul's girlfriend would have to be the tie-breaker. I asked her: "Who was Paul looking at?"
She said, "I don't know. I wasn't watching McCartney, I was looking at that guy." She pointed to Robbie MacIntosh, one of the guitarists. (No wonder my friend Paul eventually broke up with her...)
So I am here to tell you now, my dear readers, and to set the record straight.
If you ever ask Sue about it--- SHE'S WRONG!!!!
If you ever ask Goresh about it--- HE'S WRONG!!!!
If you ever ask Goresh's girlfriend about it, well, she was wrong anyway for not looking at McCartney.
I'M right! ME!!! Paul McCartney, one of the four lads from Liverpool, made eye contact with ME!!!!  
 ---Steve Ludwig

Next week's blog: "How I Befriended One of John Lennon's Personal Photographers."
(By the way, the blog I had originally scheduled for this week, "Steve Ludwig's Free How-To Guide to Laugh About Getting Older While Secretly Making Fun of People Younger Than You" will be postponed until I get older.)

Want to check out my radio show? It's called STEVE LUDWIG'S CLASSIC POP CULTURE at www.PlanetLudwig.com. Enjoy! Thanks...

                                             

So I wrote a book about my open-heart surgery...And ya know what? I thought the whole experience was pretty funny! Please check it out at www.ccubook.com. Thanks!

                              

This is not my ticket stub, but it's a stub from the  same show I was at.

Blog # 3 - BEING SHUSHED BY GEORGE HARRISON

My first Beatle LIVE! 

I was in seventh grade when the Beatles ceased touring as a group in 1966, so I never got to see the Fab Four together in person. 

But now it was 1974, four years after Fabs' demise, and George Harrison was embarking on a North American tour...and his December 20th show at Madison Square Garden in NYC was hopelessly sold out. 

I was 20 years old at the time and working in the warehouse at Medical Economics in Westwood, NJ; I went to college at night and worked during the day to try to help my parents pay MY tuition to Montclair State (at the time) College.

Because of the quick sellout, George had decided to perform an additional show at 4PM on his December 20th date at MSG. 

One of the ladies who worked in the offices at Medical Economics came into the warehouse to look for me. She knew I was a Beatle nut, and she said her son had one extra ticket, two rows from the stage, for the 4PM show; would I be interested?

Maybe money can't buy me love, but it can get me a ticket to that 4 o'clock show of Harrisongs! 

Yeah, yeah, yeah I told her. Her son would meet me at the concert at our seats.

December 20th seemed to take forever to get here. I finally found myself walking through the corridors of Madison Square Garden, looking for a concession stand. At this time in my life, I was not adverse to imbibing in a beer or two every now and then. Before I even got to my seat, I had downed two Beatle Beers. Here Come the Suds! I was ready for Georgie!!

"George Harrison" I kept repeating to myself as I walked to my seat. There it was --- two rows from the stage all right...behind the stage! I sat down next to my coworker's son (who himself was downing some Harrison Hops and Barley). He looked at me: "Good seats, huh?"

Still not sure how to answer, I just nodded my head and said, "George!"

As soon as George bounded onto the stage, I was convinced I had the best seats in the house. Georgie would often turn around and wave to our section behind him. To try to explain the thrill of seeing my first Beatle live is for another blog on another day. For this blog, it's about getting shushed by George! 

After about five songs, the great Harrison introduced his friend, Ravi Shankar, who along with other fine Indian musicians, would perform some songs for the audience. (It was Ravi who had taught George how to play the sitar. George, in turn, pretty much single-handedly introduced the sitar to popular Western music in the Sixties.) Admittedly, I wasn't anywhere near as appreciative of the intricacies and wonder of Indian music then as I am now, but as George left the stage to Ravi, I, along with the rest of the sold-out Garden crowd settled back to enjoy Shankar's set of Indian music.

OK, ya ready? Here comes the shush...

After about a couple of minutes, as Shankar was speaking to the audience, someone in our section yelled out, "It's George!" 

Sure enough, walking right past our section behind the stage, on his way to the dressing room, was George, along with Billy Preston and a couple of the other musicians from George's band .

The great George Harrison couldn't have been more than twenty feet away as he passed my seat. In no time, our whole section of about forty people were calling for George. "Hey, George! George! Hi! George! George!"

He realized what was happening...we were calling his name over Ravi's "hello" to the crowd.

George quickly put his finger to his lips and made a "shush" motion and pointed with both thumbs over his shoulders to the stage, as if to tell us, "Shhhh, you're interrupting Ravi!" While he did this, though, he had a big, appreciative smile on his face; both acknowledging our hellos, yet at the same time being mindful of the respect we should be giving the man on stage.

As George disappeared, a girl a few rows back joyfully announced, "Hey, George told us to be quiet!" I looked around and so many people in the section were either smiling or laughing. "Hey, yeah," a guy added, "we got shushed by a Beatle!"

We were like a bunch of schoolkids trying to stifle laughter so the teacher wouldn't yell. George had asked us to be quiet, but, hey, George had asked us to be quiet! Nobody else at this concert could say that.

We finally calmed down long enough to smell the incense sticks that Ravi had lighted and to listen to the genius sounds of Mr. Shankar.

As George returned to the stage after the Indian music section, I, and I'm sure everyone else in my section, felt an extra special bond with him for the rest of the show. And whenever he'd turn around and wave to us from there on in, it wasn't to shush us, but it was to thank us for loving him.

I swear we cheered the loudest of any section in the Garden.

Long Live George!

--Steve Ludwig


I host my own radio show called STEVE LUDWIG'S CLASSIC POP CULTURE at www.PlanetLudwig.com. Check out the archives anytime at all! Thanks...
                                  

If you enjoyed reading my blog, you may enjoy reading my first book, SEE YOU IN CCU: A LIGHTHEARTED TALE OF MY OPEN-HEART SURGERY. It's more goofiness like you just read. It's available at my website: www.ccubook.com.

And if you DIDN'T enjoy my blog, you can still buy the book...