Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - GGACP Classic: Amazing Colossal Musical Moments (2014-2020)
Episode Date: November 16, 2023GGACP continues its salute to November's American Music Month by revisiting producer/engineer's John Murray's compilation of the podcast's best musical moments from 2014-2020. In this episode: live p...erformances by Neil Sedaka, Dennis DeYoung, Kenny Loggins, Tommy James, Mark Hudson and Tony Orlando (among others). Also: Anne Murray covers “Danny’s Song,” Uncle Junior interprets Yip Harburg, Rupert Holmes (almost) pays tribute to Humphrey Bogart, and Charles Fox composes the soundtrack of 1970s television. PLUS: John Davidson looks ahead! The Shondells go psychedelic! The legend of Morris Levy! Goldie Hawn falls for a Hudson Brother! And the Brill Building sound inspires the British Invasion! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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TV comics, movie stars, hit singles and some toys
Trivia and dirty jokes, an evening with the boys
Once is never good enough for something so fantastic
So here's another Gilbert and Franks.
Colossal classic.
Hi, this is Gilbert Gottfried, and this is Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast with my co-host, Frank Santopadre.
Over the course of 300 plus episodes, we've been lucky enough to have some legendary musicians, singers, and songwriters
join us in the studio, and occasionally out of the studio. So we decided to celebrate all those
artists by putting together a special best of episode featuring some of our greatest musical moments over the last seven
years with the help of our talented audio producer, John Murray. Frank and I will be introducing clips
as we go along. We'll do our best to remember specific moments and highlights as we bring you some of the most memorable stories behind the songs.
So sit back, crank up your podcast machine, and enjoy the best of the amazing Colossal Podcast Musical Moments and Memories.
That was such a beautiful intro.
Yeah.
One take.
They call them in the business, one take Gottfried.
So Gil, yes, we are doing something that we've wanted to do for a very long time.
We've had a million wonderful musicians over the years, over the seven years that we've wanted to do for a very long time. We've had a million wonderful musicians over the years,
over the seven years that we've been doing this.
This was actually audio producer John Murray's brainstorm.
John Murray doesn't have brainstorms.
It's more like a light drizzle.
Gee, thanks.
I don't see him smiling.
He's got chloroform in a black van, Gilbert.
Be very, very careful.
Whenever we do these clip shows,
or these sort of best of shows,
I feel like we should be wearing tuxes
like Johnny and Ed used to do when they...
Oh, yes.
...do the anniversary shows.
And Doc would wear some powder blue tuxedo.
Anyway, let's get started with these.
We think this is a fun idea for a show. and John came up with the idea, as we said, and he's the one that's going to be assembling this.
But we're going to start with somebody that John actually introduced us to and brought to this show, and that is our great friend Rupert Holmes.
Yes.
our favorite people, a Renaissance man.
And Rupert joined us in the old studio at Nutmeg,
and Gilbert was on his best behavior,
waiting until he could get to the Pina Colada song,
weren't you?
And he told us a story about the Pina Colada song with some information that some of you guys might not know,
or if you heard the episode, might not remember. There might even be a sing-along oh yes there's got to be a sing-along
or else i don't show up there might be a special guest singing on this one but but also uh one of
the things rupert talks about is what the song was almost about uh he's going to reveal what that was
and some of you who even heard the episode may not remember. So here is our wonderful pal, man of a thousand talents, Rupert Holmes.
The story of this song has been told many, many places.
It had to do with Martin and Lowe.
No, it didn't.
Rupert's going to tell us how it had something to do with bogey originally.
Oh, my God. Very good.
Okay.
What you have to understand is I had a track for which I had no lyric.
How that happened is an entire story that we would have to do another time.
We'll do it. Next time.
But it was the night before I had to record the vocal on a track with a preexisting melody, but I had no lyric.
And so I wrote a lyric at 1 a.m. and went to the studio to sing this lyric.
And the chorus went, if you like Humphrey Bogart and getting caught in the rain.
There you go, Gil.
Original lyric.
Wow.
And you think sometimes about how your life, for better or for worse, can hinge on something you did like that.
Yeah.
And we've all, I'm sure, had moments where we said,
if I had just gone there, I wouldn't have.
And I've got the lyric in front of me.
And I think, now this couple in the song, they're looking for an escape
because the title of the song was Escape.
There was no.
And I said, I've done so many movie references.
Maybe that's getting a little, you know, a little too monochromatic here.
So this couple, what they want is to get away from their normal lives
and sort of as if they were on a vacation in the islands.
And I thought, well, when you go on the islands and your first day of your vacation,
you would never order on the beach a Budweiser.
You would never say, I'll have a Budweiser.
You always want to have something that demarcates the fact that you are officially on vacation.
You're on the islands.
So I thought, what are the escape drinks?
And I thought, Mai Tai, Daiquiri, Pina Colada.
I'd never had a Pina Colada in my life.
And I said, let's see.
If you like Humphrey Bogart.
No.
If you like pina coladas
it's okay pina coladas and five seconds later we rolled tape and every time i looked at the lyric
and it said humphrey bogart i sang pina coladas and which caused me to then later add a kind of
tropical instrumental break in it to make you feel like you're in the islands which i would never
have added if it had been about humphrey bogart. So the song eventually, the label came to me and said, you know, you've written this song about, people are asking for this song about pina coladas, and you call the song Escape.
Can we put, make it Escape, parenthesis, the pina colada song?
And I said, compromise my artistic integrity.
And they said, yeah, well, it won't sell.
I said, okay, it's the pina coladas.
So just that one switch changed the fate of this show. Changed everything. Yeah, a lot of things. Yeah, yeah, well, it won't sell. I said, okay, it's a pina coladas. So just that one switch changed the fate of this show.
Changed everything.
Yeah, a lot of things.
Yeah, yeah.
But I want to hear this sterling rendition.
This is a karaoke version.
Yeah.
This isn't mine.
I'm sorry.
All right, here we go.
I apologize. Without shame. Yeah. This isn't mine. I'm sorry. All right, here we go. I apologize.
Without shame.
I was tired of my lady.
We'd been together too long.
Like a worn-out recording of a favorite song.
So while she lay there sleeping, I read the paper in bed
And in the personal columns
I'm laughing because I know what's coming up.
There was this letter I read.
Take it.
If you like being a galada
And getting caught in the rain
If you're not into yoga
If you have half a brain, if you like
making love at midnight, in the dunes of the Cape, then I'm the love that you look for.
Write to me and escape.
And in the category of song-ending career,
the nominees are...
Wow.
Career-ending songs.
Career-ending songs.
Oh, Lord.
Well, it's safe to say it's never been that way before.
Now you know how Jimmy felt
when he did Wichita Linemen.
He did Wichita Linemen, one of the most beautiful songs
ever written.
You know, you dream of these
things. You dream of these opportunities.
I remember when
Bud Abbott said,
if you ever cared about any of our films,
just put a dollar in an envelope and mail it to me.
And you can reach me.
Is this that moment?
Yeah, this is that moment.
Oh, no.
It's come to that.
Gilbert, you know, I've always treasured your voice.
And to think that I just put words in your mouth
and that you were doing my...
It's all been building to this, really.
He sang with Paul.
He sang Rainbow Connection with Paul.
He sang Richard Tall Lineman with Jimmy.
Wow.
What else?
What did I miss?
Oh, Don...
Well, oh, what did I sing?
With Ron Dante, Sugar Sugar.
Oh, yes.
Sugar Sugar.
Oh, that would have been good.
And I crushed a version of the locomotion.
Yes.
Just crushed it.
I'm usually, I usually have something to say, but I have to tell you.
I never saw a guest blush this much either.
I mean, it's really, Gilbert's a hero of mine, and it's, you know, kind of like, I don't know,
Mickey Mantle saying, let me play basketball with you.
You know.
Maybe you might have been better off with your chiropractor.
In retrospect.
That was great, Gilbert.
Thank you for doing that.
Thank you.
Thank you, Rupert.
I believe ASCAP actually gets a—I have to give them money back now.
I think I owe them. tell us what's coming i
want to donate the royalties of this to a charity that he has just created by virtue of the damage
gill i think one of the nicest people in show business for my money and one of the nicest
people we've encountered and had on the show is Tony Orlando. Tony Orlando was terrific.
He like showed up in this little studio ready to do a show.
Yeah, he was.
He was.
Go ahead.
No, no.
I just thought he, you know, he doesn't care if it's like Madison Square Garden or the two of us.
He's putting on the best show possible.
That's true.
A consummate professional and a ball of energy.
Yes.
And we talked about Jerry Lewis,
and we talked about his old variety show,
and he had a million stories.
You found out his dad was buried in a Jewish cemetery.
That was the most important part of the interview.
He told us.
His dad was the only non-Jew buried in this Jewish cemetery.
It was fascinating.
And I think the Jews in the neighborhood called him, like, Ladle or something.
Oh, gosh.
Now I have to go back to the whole episode and listen to that.
Yeah, yeah.
It's all coming back to me.
God, I mean, we did that one, I think, five years ago, maybe six years ago.
But he was great.
Wonderful.
And he was trying to get you to sing on key.
It was futile.
But at one point, and you guys will hear this clip.
And this, by the way, not to disappoint Gilbert, but this is not an episode of Gilbert sing-alongs.
We're getting those out of the way up front.
But this is like the Pina Colada song that you just heard.
This is a great one.
And Dara and I even joined in on this one.
Yeah.
It was all hands on deck.
His songs are so much fun.
You can't help it.
So this is former Brill Building door to door song salesman Tony Orlando.
Well, you know, with Tidy Yellow Ribbon, you've you had some there were some complaints about that song.
And I think the chief complaint was that Gilbert Gottfried wasn't singing it in duet with you. Oh, you heard about that song, and I think the chief complaint was that Gilbert Gottfried wasn't singing it in duet with you.
Oh, you heard about that?
Yes.
That really got to you?
Yeah, yeah.
Was that in the Enquirer or something?
Wait, you hear that story?
I didn't think it would get to you at all.
Yeah, yeah.
They've tried to keep it hidden.
He says to me.
Why?
I got to share something with you, Tony.
He says, well, I don't know.
I hope Tony will sing with me.
He says, maybe you should print the lyrics out just in case he doesn't remember them.
I said, I have a feeling he remembers them.
Are you familiar with Tidy Yellow Ribbon?
I think so.
Okay.
Are we ready?
You want to sing it with me?
Yes. In a minute.
Take your time.
Okay, baby.
You're coming up any second now.
Go for it, Gilbert.
I'm coming home.
I've done my time.
Now I've got to know what is and isn't mine
If you receive my letter telling you I should be free
Then you'll know just what to do
If you still want me
If you still want me
Tie a yellow ribbon around the old oak tree.
It's been three long years.
Do you still want me?
Let me sing for a minute.
If I don't see a ribbon around the old oak tree,
I'll stay on the bus.
Forget about us.
Put the blame on me
I know why she knows you
She sings like you too
Go yellow and red
And round the old, old street
A hand for Gilbert
Yes, sir
This was a first
Show business
Oh, oh, that
Wow Show business. Oh! Oh! That!
Wow.
That's you, Gil.
That was Dara singing it.
Yeah.
It's not quite Tell Me, Joyce. You know, I haven't had more fun.
I'm going to tell you something, and I mean it.
This is the same thing I told Dick van dyke he sang after i sang
two duets with him put on a happy face and supercalifragilisticexpialidocious that must
have been something yes and i'm telling you the same thing i told dick van dyke i think i just came Boy, it's easy for him, huh?
She's jumping up and down.
She's literally jumping up and down.
I have a new nickname for him, if that's the case.
We're calling him Sir Speedy from now on.
I think that was the only time that I actually got to sing on the show.
Not that anybody could hear me over Gilbert's dulcet tones,
but God, that was a fun episode.
That one was pure joy to do.
Gilbert, what are your favorite people?
And one of our favorite guests, moving from nutmeg to earwolf was Neil Sedaka.
Yeah, I remember I was during the whole show.
I'm sitting across the table from him and thinking, I'm getting my own personal Neil Sedaka concert.
It was. It really was.
And I had seen him in concert the night before at Westbury Music Fair.
I had seen him in concert the night before at Westbury Music Fair. And when he got up and did a certain song at the concert, I turned to my wife and I said, Gilbert, Gilbert will go nuts.
And Frank was at the concert.
It was wonderful.
And he told me so.
And I hadn't said anything to Frank about this when when you heard the song.
And what did you what was your reaction?
You know, he's talked, what have we had?
260 guests on the show? He's brought
up My Yiddish Mama
probably 10 times with
10 different guests. Oh, was it Jessel
that used to sing it? Yeah.
My Yiddish Mama.
Have you heard his Jessel?
Yeah. And Sophie Tucker,
I did a Yiddish album
called Neil Sedaka
sings Brighton Beach Memories
and I did it,
my Yiddish mama.
It's getting better in the world.
A Yiddish mama.
Oh, howet when she fell
Wie schön und lichtig
Isn't heiß
Wenn die Mama's due
Wie treurig finster wird
Wenn Gott nimmt her off
Einem Habu
It's a gorgeous song.
Beautiful.
Oh, thank you. It's a gorgeous song. Beautiful. Oh, thank you.
It's a gorgeous song.
He's brought it up 20 times.
I wish I wrote it.
Now we got a live version.
Not a dry eye in the house, Gilbert, when he did My Yiddish Amala.
I was frozen when he was saying that.
I really was.
He should have cut it as a single.
We have a little bit more with the great Neil Sedaka here.
We also talked about one of his hits, Calendar Girl.
When we are having Neil Sedaka, I'm in the studio thinking,
I'm going to be here with this musical legend.
And the door opens up and in walks in like every old Jewish relative.
and in walks in like every old Jewish relative.
He's like, oh, Gilbert, I'm so happy to be doing this show.
A lovely guy.
He's just one of those guys that was, you know, it was a thrill to meet him.
And as you say, there wasn't any pretense to him whatsoever.
No.
Just like a guy from the neighborhood.
Yes.
But both of us being from Brooklyn, guys we grew up around. No. Just like a guy from the neighborhood. Yes. But both of us being from Brooklyn,
guys we grew up around.
Yeah.
Anyway,
here's a little bit
of Calendar Girl
and a fun little tale
that goes with it.
I have to share
with our listeners,
Neil, too,
that I was saying before,
my wife and I saw you
Sunday night
at Westbury Music Fair.
You were wonderful.
Thank you.
But when you played
Calendar Girl
and you took a break,
you left the stage
for a minute,
you put up
that wonderful video,
which is possibly the first music video.
Yes.
Of you in all of those changing outfits.
You're like Cher, by the way.
You changed outfits about 12 times in that video.
Did your mom really compare you to Cary Grant?
Yes.
I love that.
And the story is true.
I was having lunch in Los Angeles.
And this gal walked up to me and said, I was Miss January
in your video. This is just a few months ago. And I said, oh, really? And she said, yes. I said,
I said to the audience, she was an old, she looked like an old, old woman, an old, old woman, an old old woman, but I look the same.
Can you play a little bit more of Calendar Girl for us?
Can we put you in a pose? I love, I love, I love my Calendar Girl
each and every day of the year.
January
is not the year of
five.
You're my little valentine.
I'm going to march you down the aisle
You're the Easter Bunny when you smile
Yeah, yeah, my heart's in a whirl
Love, love, love, my little calendar girl
Every day, and so on and so on and so on
Wow, wonderful.
Gil, if you remember from that night,
obviously we had a keyboard in front of Neil in the studio at Earwolf.
It was just a big butcher block table with a keyboard that we plopped down in front of him.
And he did My Ittishamama to make Gilbert happy.
The conversation eventually got around to how much the Beatles were influenced by Brill Building songwriters.
Neil, too. Neil among them.
by Brill Building songwriters, Neil too, Neil among them.
And I don't know how many people know that he wrote a song about and for John Lennon. And the story that was coming out was that there were American singers like Neil Sadaka
who were like kicked out when the English invasion was coming.
It was like, oh, we don't need them.
We've got the English invasion.
And yet the people of the English invasion, like the Beatles,
were thrilled to meet these American singers, songwriters.
That was the cruel twist of it,
is that they knocked a lot of these guys off the charts,
but they worshipped them. Yeah. And years later, you know, McCartney and Elton and a lot of other people
befriended Neil. And, you know, he was vindicated in a way because he found out they were all Sadaka
fans. Yeah. And it's so funny because they came over and this country said, oh, we've had enough of them. And yet to the English invasion, they were thrilled.
All of them influenced by Brill Building songwriters to some extent.
But here's a good story that Neil told us about writing this song,
inspired by John Lennon and what he was going through at the time.
A song called The Immigrant.
So you had dealings with the Beatles later on.
Later on, we had parties elton had
parties for us and paul mccartney was there john lennon and i wrote a song dedicated to john lennon
called the immigrant oh which which uh was a top of 20 hit and uh it's strange I wrote it with Phil Cody in 1976
and it's more relevant today
than it has ever been.
It really is.
Can I bother you for that?
Oh, it's beautiful.
Harbors open their arms
to the young searching foreigner
Come to live in the light of the beacon of liberty
The chorus is
There was a time when strangers were welcome here
Music would play, they'd tell me
The days were sweet, sweet and clear
It was a sweeter tune and there was so much room that people could come from everywhere.
It became really...
It's on this wonderful DVD.
Yes.
The show goes on.
John was flattered that you...
Yes, we were on WNEW.
We did an interview together.
He said, people always called me to ask for a favor.
And he said, Neil Sedaka, you called me and said you dedicated a song to me.
He was having trouble getting a green card because of the drugs.
I remember those days, too.
I remember when EJ the DJ, when Elton would DJ on local stations.
And he played the hell out of your records.
That's all good stuff.
Good stuff.
Yes. We will return to Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast after this.
Speaking of the Beatles, and you know I love to do segues, tidy segues.
We had early on in the run, and this is way back at Nutmeg,
we had the very funny Mark Hudson of the Hudson Brothers.
Yes. Mark Hudson was the Hudson Brothers. Yes.
Mark Hudson was one of those guests.
I was in another room, and he walks in.
Oh, we were in the kitchen.
Yeah, we were in the kitchen.
Mark Hudson walks in and, like,
does an hour of stuff before the mic is even on.
He didn't even
say hello. No.
Or introduce himself. He walked into the kitchen
and launched into a
Joey Heatherton story. Yes.
Amazing. Amazing.
Followed by Cher stories.
I mean, he was just
shot out of a cannon. Really
funny guy. And he does a
great Cher imitation. He does. He
dated Cher for a while, but he has a Beatles story too. He was in Ringo Starr's all-star band for a
while and recorded with Ringo too. And so the Hudson brothers had a hit called So You Are a Star,
which was based on the real life of his brother Bill Hudson, Bill Hudson falling in love with Goldie Hawn.
And there's a little Beatle influence here that he talks about as well.
So check out part of our interview with the very funny,
and we need to have him back, Mark Hudson.
And so when does, I'm just trying to move gradually through this,
and when does So You Are a Star was before the TV show?
It was.
And So You Are a Star was Casablanca,
which was Neil Bogart.
And in the early 70s,
the act signed Kiss, Donna Summer,
Parliament, the Hudson Brothers.
And we were like the first band on that thing.
And that was just like what you think.
Satin jackets, cocaine.
It was all of that kind of stuff.
And So You Are a Star,
when Bill
was having a crush on Goldie,
he was so over the moon
about it that I,
you know, me and my own
John Lennon-ness, I wrote
this, So You Are a Star.
We happen to have a guitar handy.
It's a pretend one. That's okay.
So you are a star. We happen to have a guitar handy. It's a pretend one. That's okay. So you are a star.
Okay.
Nobody knows you like I do.
You've got to love only me.
Very beatily.
You've got to feel only me
Nobody knows you
Nobody shows you the way that I do
Very beatily
Neil Bogart flipped for it and said
That's great, let's make it a single
And it was the demo
So it wasn't really like we went in like professionals
It was when I wrote the song
We went into the studio,
won light and put it down, and it became a top 20 record.
Now, the big joke is cut to 30 years later.
I'm producing Ringo, and we're mixing his album,
Dave Gilmore from Pink Floyd, on his houseboat.
And I'm back there at the piano, and,
So you love a star?
And Ringo goes, Hey goes hey mom that's very
beautiful I went yeah I know that's what all the reviews said like Rolling Stones had the best
kinetic pop since the Beatles and this huge compliment and he goes let's do it for your mom
so I have a version now that's on my solo album of me doing so you are a star with Ringo Starr
that's great playing the drums when it was
Beatle-influenced. It goes to
show you how the circle goes.
You were trying to sound like John? No, you know what?
It's interesting because Ringo got mad at me once.
I was singing background on one of his records. He goes,
Mark, stop sounding like John, you bastard.
I said, I can't. I'm just sounding like me.
The fact that it is, I'm sorry.
So, I keep
singing because it's the only thing I know. Either I go, when I sing high, it's more McCartney. When I'm lower, it's, I'm sorry. So, I keep singing because it's the only thing I know.
Either I go, when I sing high, it's more
McCartney. When I'm lower, it's more Lennon.
It's just my influence and what I am.
By the way, I have to say that Mark Hudson does
one of my favorite Ringo Starr impressions.
Oh, yeah.
Right on. That was great.
Here's a guy influenced by the Beatles as
well. I'm doing these segues.
John is laughing.
Dennis DeYoung.
Now, Dennis DeYoung was a recent show.
We were not in the studio.
This is a COVID episode.
We had to record it during lockdown.
Dennis was in his den in Chicago. And he got to talking about two of the big hits, the mega hits that he wrote and performed for Styx.
Do you remember, Gilbert?
Oh, babe.
Oh, how does babe go again? Oh, man. Babe, I'm leaving. I'm out of my way. Oh, that's it. Okay. Okay. Now I remember.
Yeah, the one he wrote for his wife. What is really impressive about Dennis is what good
voice he's in for a man of 73 and how he hits those high notes.
A bunch of our singers amaze me that way.
I mean, there are some singers you see on TV younger than they are,
and their voice is gone.
And some of the singers we've had on, they're really in advanced years,
and their voices are terrific.
I wouldn't say that about you as a singer.
You haven't lost a step.
So check out this double feature, if you will.
Back-to-back songs from the great Dennis DeYoung.
Before I lose my voice. Lady, when you're with me I'm smiling Give me all your love
Your hands build me up when I'm sinking
Just touch me and my troubles will fade
Baby, from the moment I saw you
Standing all alone
You gave all the love that I needed
So shy, like the shining hand
Oh, baby
I'm a lonely
Love shines in your eyes
Sparkling, ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you.
Wonderful.
Delightful.
That was the first song I ever wrote and sang by myself on a record.
And I wrote it about my wife.
So I've had a lot of luck writing songs about my relationship with my wife.
And she's only taken 70% off the back end.
That's very generous of her.
Was that the first one you heard played on the radio?
Was there a moment?
We asked the musicians that have been on the show, Dennis, that that moment where there it is.
I heard one of our first songs on the first album and played a little bit on a radio station that didn't matter.
But you have to understand WLS was the most powerful radio station in America, located in the center of the country.
powerful radio station in America, located in the center of the country, 50,000 clear watt channel broadcasted, you know, from Denver all the way to Little Rock. So to get on that station,
it was a miracle. So when he told me that, I went home, we're in this little house that we lived in,
my wife and I, and eight o'clock, there was a little radio on top of the refrigerator. We thought this
can't possibly happen. And it came on and it was I just got the chills right now thinking about that
moment. And we danced in the kitchen right there, a little kitchen, not really an eat in kitchen.
And anytime something good happens, we have to run to a kitchen and dance.
It's just like a tradition that we, you know, because it was like, man. Now, another song we could thank your wife for is Babe.
Yes.
The story goes like this.
It was her birthday in 1979.
She supported me.
I thought, I'll write her a song.
But is your wife listening?
she's right next to us
I was just trying to get out of buying jewelry
so I sat down
I wrote this song and I called up the Panazzos
I said you guys do a demo with me
I want to give this to her
and play it at a birthday party
and nothing else.
It was not for sticks. So they said, yeah, we go, we do the demo. No guitar players are there, so we don't put any guitars on it. And I sing all the background harmony parts.
Nobody's going to hear it. It's not who gives a shit. Nobody's going to hear it. In fact,
I wrote it. I wrote it on the grand piano when we got in there the
grand piano was out of tune so there was a fender roads in the corner and and bobby whiteside i don't
know who that is but it was his they rolled it out i'd never played one and i went you know
i just started noodling and then rolling tape so i I did it. I gave it to my wife.
Everyone at the party went, oh, my God.
Oh, my God.
That doesn't suck as much as we thought it would.
So people started saying, we love this song.
We love it.
It was just for her, not for nobody.
And the demo became the song you've heard on the radio for 40 years.
All those harmonies are me singing by
myself. We were so afraid to change that record. All we did was Tommy Shaw came in and played a
guitar solo. That's the record. So that's why there's no guitars on it. Otherwise, if I'd
brought it to Styx, we'd have sat in the room and recorded it much differently. And so it was just
dumb, you know, the best kind of luck, dumb, stupid. And that's what that was. So it was just dumb you know the best kind of luck dumb stupid and that's what that was
so it was for for her and it went on uh to win the people's choice award for best song which
was pretty cool how how different would it have been if it had been a stick song would it have
been a power ballad yes it would have been more guitar driven and um you know i, it would cost more to have to be the guitar players.
No.
OK.
Are you ready? If I'm leaving, I must be on my way.
The time is drawing in.
is drawing in
A train is going I see it in your eyes
The love that needs
your tears
I'll be lonely
without you
I need your love
To see me through
Please believe me
My heart is in your hands
Cause I won't be missing you
Everybody!
You know it's you, babe
Yeah, but I get weary
And I've had enough
Feel like giving up
You know it's you, babe
Give me the courage
And the strength I need.
Please believe that it's true.
Babe, I love you.
Wonderful.
Now, Gil, back in the nutmeg days,
you know, one of the things we love to talk about on this show is the mob.
Yes. Yes.
And the mob's influence on show business.
Now, maybe you'll get ahead of me and see where I'm going.
I know who...
Oh, fuck. Fuck.
The something and something...
What was his name?
Fuck it.
See, this is why I should send you the outline before the show.
I know.
Tommy James and the Shondells.
He wrote a book about it.
Yeah, great book.
And his memories of the mob were amazing.
Yeah, Roulette Records, which Tommy was on, was owned by the infamous Morris Levy.
They ruled with an iron fist.
And he said Morris Levy, around his office, would have baseball bats ready to bash someone's skull in at any point yeah capone-esque uh if you guys uh
if you guys like mob history or even if you want to read a great book about rock and roll
pick up tommy's book and and he tells a story it's wild in the book about they caught some guy who was like um putting out copies his own copies of the
their songs and he came over with a baseball bat smashed all his machines and he's and the guy's
crying he goes i'm just doing this because my son's in a hospital he needs an operation and morris levy a killer and a gangster
says okay we're going over there now he better be in the hospital or you're in trouble they found
out he was in the hospital and morris levy says to the, how much is this operation going to cost?
And he tells him and Levy takes out a checkbook and writes out the full amount for the operation.
A ruthless killer, a sadistic killer with a heart of gold.
Yeah, that part of the book I loved.
the book I loved.
That was... That if you
saw that in a movie, you'd say,
oh, they made this up for the movie.
Tommy's book
is a great read, and it's filled with stories
like that. And the
story of Roulette Records needs to be a
movie. But you did a
sing-along with Tommy. To your
disappointment, we're not going to play that one.
We're not going to play I Think We're Alone Now,
but Tommy did a solo song.
He had the audacity to do
a song without Gilbert, and
that was Tommy's hit, Crystal
Blue Persuasion. And he's got
a fun little story about how that one
came about, too. So...
So you won't complain.
I think we're alone now.
It doesn't seem to be anyone around.
Here is Thomas Gregory Jackson, also known as Tommy James.
What else did you guys prepare to play?
And I'll keep Gilbert out of this one for the good of music.
A medley of my cowboy hits wasn't it no
look over yonder
what do you see
What do you see?
The sun is rising Most definitely
And a new day is coming
People are changing.
Ain't it beautiful?
Crystal blue persuasion.
And you better get ready
Gonna see the light
Love, love is the answer
Maybe that's alright
So don't you give up now
It's so easy to find
Just look to your soul
And open your mind
Crystal blue persuasion
It's a new vibration
Crystal blue persuasion
Crystal blue persuasion
Better get ready
He looks down
On every green field
In every town
Gonna see all of his children
In every nation
There'll be peace and good
Brotherhood
And crystal blue persuasion
Wow.
That sounded great.
Yeah.
Thank you.
It was missing me, but still.
Considering.
I told you, you get a tambourine, you got it good.
How did that song come together, Tom?
Well.
Because it was a big departure.
Yeah, it was one of those songs that just kind of happened by accident. There was
a we were playing at college in Atlanta and a kid came up to me with a poem called Crystal
Persuasion. And I went, whoa. And we were always on the make for neat titles or neat hooks,
something. And I looked at I thought that was such a great combination of words. It had nothing to do with the song, the end of the song.
So we went back to the room, and Mike and Eddie and I wrote the song.
In about 20 minutes, Eddie came up with the...
Just a little line like that.
And it was really taken lyrically from the Book of Revelation in the Bible.
it was really taken lyrically from Book of Revelation in the Bible.
And then we went in the studio and produced it,
and we just totally overproduced it.
It was, I never have ruined a record like I ruined Crystal Blue Cliff.
And I went and we had guitars and we had a full set of drums.
And I just remember looking at the engineer, I says, this is not the song.
And so we spent the next two weeks unproducing it, pulling everything out.
And when it ended up finished,
it was nothing but a conga drum,
a flamenco guitar,
a little rhythm guitar with the tremolo on it,
and an organ, no drums, nothing.
And so we had to empty it out and let it breathe to be crystal blue.
Great. One of my favorites.
Thank you.
You know, it's great, too.
You always feel guilty when it's just the two of us, Gilbert,
when somebody brings a guitar and pours their heart out and sings the song,
and then you and I become the sound of two people clapping.
Yes.
And it always sounds, on the podcast, it always become the sound of two people clapping? Yes. And it always sounds
on the podcast, it always sounds ridiculous to hear two people clapping. It's like, kind of like,
I think they did that at the end of Laugh-In. Yeah, right. There would be like one clap.
That's all we can generate as two people, but we are genuinely thrilled when these people play for us and when they bring an instrument with them.
They're amazing moments.
Yeah.
Here's an amazing moment, I think, with a borrowed guitar.
I think if memory serves, and this is an actor slash singer, something a little bit different.
And as memory serves, I don't think he showed up with his own guitar
Frankie Verderosa had a guitar
sitting around in Nutmeg
and I think he picked up
were you there that night John?
no I wasn't there that night
I remember the episode well
I think he picked up the guitar
it was an electric guitar
he was playing a Gibson SG
real nice wood
beautiful guitar
yeah and he played and we weren't expecting this at all He was playing a Gibson SG, real nice wood, beautiful guitar.
Yeah, and he played, and we weren't expecting this at all.
This was a pleasant surprise.
And Gilbert, I can see by the puzzled look on your face,
I'm referring to Uncle Junior from The Sopranos, Dominic Chianese.
Oh my God, he was terrific.
Remember?
And I asked him if he could sing Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
And he did an amazing version of that.
And we just happened to have it with us.
Yes. This is one of my favorite moments in the history of this podcast.
Dominic, Uncle Junior.
Yes.
Interpreting Yip Harburg.
Can I put you on the spot
and ask you to sing a little bit
of Brother Can You Spare a Dime? Sure.
Yeah. Should I use the guitar? Yeah, why not?
Now, this is a wonderful song.
You know who wrote the words to this?
It was Yip Harburg.
Oh, Yip Harburg. Yeah.
Over the Rainbow. Yeah. Yeah.
Once I built a railroad, I made it run.
I made it race against time.
Once I built a railroad Now it's done
Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once I built a tower
To the sun
Brick and rivet and lime
Once I built a tower brick and rivet and lime.
Once I built a tower,
now it's done.
Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once in khaki suits, gee, we look swell. Full of that Yankee doodle dum
Half a million boots
Went slogging through hell
I was a kid with a drum
Say, don't you remember
They called me Al
It was Al all the time
Say don't you remember
I'm your pal
Brother can you spare a dime?
Fantastic.
That was a treat.
Yeah, Paul Berg wrote those lyrics.
Thank you, Tommy.
That was one of the great songs to come out of the Depression.
Exactly.
Wonderful.
Yeah. And I remember the Depression. Exactly. Wonderful. Yeah.
And I remember the Depression, you know, back in the 30s.
My sister and I would put little nickels and pennies in the paper and throw it down the fire escape
because there'd always be somebody down in the buildings in the Bronx, you know.
There were trumpeters and guys with accordions trying to earn a living, you know.
They didn't beg.
They just sang.
They tried to make that.
Nickel bought him,
got him a cup of coffee at least,
probably a sandwich in those days.
So I remember the Depression.
You know, I hear that song, Gilbert,
and it's a heartbreaking song.
It really is.
I mean, it's from the Depression.
And the way he sings it was just great.
Yeah, he really felt it.
That's a great episode.
I mean, again, that was fairly early in the run for us.
I think one of the first shows with Verderosa when we got into Nutmeg.
But I thought that was a fantastic episode in so many ways.
Yes.
And he sang an Italian song, too.
But that version of Brother, Can You Spare a Dime tore my heart out.
Yeah, chilling.
Here's a complete change of direction.
And I know this was one of your favorite guests at Earwolf because he sang a couple of medleys for us.
And that was our friend Charlie Fox.
Oh, my God.
Charles Fox. Oh, my God. Charles Fox. Charlie Fox.
There's a basically a tits and ass teen comedy with Scott Baio called.
Oh, you don't say what's it called?
Zach.
Oh, yes.
I remember now.
And I love the music.
I always loved the music.
Yeah.
In that movie.
And then I found out we're having the guy who composed.
That was like having Beethoven.
So the fact that he wrote beautiful melodies like Killing Me Softly with his song means nothing to you.
You just want to hear the songs from Zapped.
Yeah.
to you. You're just into, you just want to hear the songs from Zapped. Yeah. We're the king and queen of hearts. Hold me when the music starts. With the lights down low, never let you go.
What do you think, John? Like I said, he has, his voice hasn't changed a bit. I'm a fan.
How many singers have come on this show and said Gilbert sings in perfect pitch?
Take me to your heart.
Oh, take me to your heart.
Show me where to start.
Let me be the star of your first love.
Yeah.
And then he did a medley of all the TV tunes.
Hmm.
We just might have it.
Yeah.
That was amazing.
Now, do people need to see Zapped or can they just get the album?
Well, you got to have the full, you got to have the artificial, artificial tits of Heather Thomas.
I see.
She already had a great pair of man-made boobs.
And yet in the movie, they have the most obvious stand in this headless body that appears.
Uh-huh i so so if i'm a scott a cinema of scott bayo completist i have to see that right yeah okay yeah you have to and uh oh and and the song
that i remembered and he didn't right uh was the closing song of Zapped.
And I said it to him, and he said, I don't remember doing that.
And then he said he went home and asked his son, and his son said, yes, you did write that song.
I love it. I love it.
He was very amused by you and how much you remembered songs that he was trying to forget.
Yes.
remembered songs that he was trying to forget.
Yes.
And he said that me, one
of those songs, I think,
Gotta Believe in Magic,
that me and the people
of the Philippines
Oh yeah, he's huge in the Philippines.
Yeah, love that song.
Yeah.
He's gigantic in Manila.
Yeah. And I remember when you first asked him, will you come on the show and sing some song?
And he said, I'll only do it if Gilbert doesn't sing.
Well, he was a holdout for a while. Yeah. Yeah. He and it was great. He was like, he would like play the, you know, the keyboard for me
and nod his head when it was time for me to jump in.
Well, we got two medleys.
John came up with, because John went through the whole archive,
and thank you, John, again, and cherry-picked these wonderful pieces.
And Charlie did two medleys for us.
He did a commercial medley, or at least he played one of his jingles,
or perhaps I think it was a jingle he arranged,
but we loved it.
And then he treated us to his primetime medley.
So we're going to play both of those clips back to back.
And a versatile artist, a great composer,
and he also wrote, we can't forget that he also wrote Ready to Take a Chance Again, which Gilbert loves.
Yes, and he let me sing that one, and that was great.
Yes.
Great.
We'll do, down the road, we'll do another montage episode of just all Gilbert sing-alongs.
If people can take it.
And this is a couple of quick medleys with the wonderful, versatile Charles Fox.
I love your career at that point, too, because you're bouncing around and you're doing so many interesting things.
You did commercials.
You did those Parker Brothers commercials.
I did a lot of commercials, yeah.
Yeah, and the White Owl cigars.
When the values go up, up, up.
And the prices go down, down, down.
Robin Hall in season.
We'll show you the reason. Low overhead.
Low overhead.
Yay!
Yay!
Oh, man!
Hilarious, Charles.
I'm going to regret this hour.
Our listeners are going to eat this up.
Are there any other famous ones like that?
Do you remember the White Owl cigars?
You know what? I have to confess.
Honestly, I didn't write that song. I only arranged it.
You arranged it. I arranged it a hundred different ways.
We had the Christmas
thing. I don't know. I did
all the commercials. See, I promise
I won't sing these
songs. It's too late for that promise.
We're way beyond that now.
If we could hear a snippet of some of these great, like, Love American style.
Love, love, love, love, love, red and blue. Love American style.
That's me and you.
And then Sunday, Monday, happy days.
Tuesday, Wednesday, happy days.
Thursday, Friday, happy days.
Saturday, what a day.
Rocking all week with you.
Give us any chance, we'll take it. Read us any rule, we'll take it Read us any rule, we'll break it
We're gonna make our dreams come true
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
The love of
Anyway.
Oh, my God. I love the way they just go right, flow right into each Anyway. Oh, my God.
I love the way they just go right, flow right into each other.
Well, I just did that.
It doesn't usually, you know.
Oh, my.
I didn't sing the love, I just said the word, but anyway.
Fantastic.
That was great.
Now, Gilbert.
Oh, Don.
Is Don on the phone?
Were you doing Benny or Frank Nelson?
Our friend John Fodiatis, who's probably listening to this because he never misses one, is obsessed with Frank Nelson.
So give him a little Frank Nelson.
It's you again.
Beautiful.
Frank Nelson interlude
back to the task at hand
I was talking about musicians who were kind
enough to come in with their own
instruments John I believe you were there
on this particular night
you're talking about Kenny I'm talking about
Kenny Loggins
I befriended Michael Jensen
and Ryan Romanesco
who work with Kenny.
And they said, hey, how about Kenny Loggins for the show?
And I said, the first thing that popped into my mind was Gilbert singing Footloose.
Yes, yes.
And it happened.
No way that wasn't going to happen.
It happened.
I think you also, did you also do the theme from Caddyshack with him?
Or he might have done that one.
He might have done that one by himself.
Yeah, but I definitely did Footiddler's Shoe. You definitely did. He did, I think, four or five numbers for us. He showed up with a friend of his,
a gentleman named Rick Cowling, who we also have to thank. It's nice when everything just kind of
gels, when musicians walk into the room, and you can see they're into it, and they're into the show,
and they're happy to be playing these songs. You you know we always feel like we're imposing on them we always say things like
can we impose upon you to play this song or could we trouble you yeah it's it's always like okay
you're probably tired of hearing this but uh yeah you don't want to go to a party and have somebody
say gilbert could you do the Ben Gazzara bit? Yeah.
Which I get all the time.
Of course you do.
Could you entertain us?
But, you know, we needn't worry with some of these people.
Neil was thrilled to play.
Charles Fox was thrilled to play. And Kenny Loggins put so much effort into it.
Kenny Loggins put so much effort into it.
I mean, I think they flew Rick in just for the podcast, which I couldn't believe.
Yes. So our hats are off to Ryan Romanesco and Michael Jensen for making this happen.
And Kenny's been a favorite of mine my whole life, going back to the Loggins and Messina albums.
And so it was a pinch-yourself kind of night.
John Murray was there. I think we dedicated a song to your sister. and Messina albums. And so it was a pinch yourself kind of night. John Murray
was there. I think we dedicated a song to your sister. Yes, you did. And I got to hang out with
the guys afterwards. We were talking guitars backstage and I got to share some of my favorite
guitars with them. That was a real treat. That was a great night for me. Yeah. Yeah. He was a
great guest. I'm so glad. It was a magical night. It really was. He did a couple of songs.
I think he did four or five.
We're going to narrow it down to two.
One of Kenny's big hits, Danny's song, which Gilbert requested.
Here's a version of that, followed by a song from later in Kenny's career called Conviction of the Heart,
which is a song with an environmental message.
And he talks about both songs.
So, again, one of my favorite moments.
I know I keep saying that, but the great Kenny Loggins.
And before we get too late out of it, I have to ask you to do something to any song.
Oh, okay.
As long as you're on the subject.
Well, does anybody have a guitar?
Here, you can use mine.
You know, we've got to get one.
All right.
can use them on.
You know, we... All right, got it.
All right, how about that?
I'm not sure that these guitars...
Let me see.
If I do this and sing down a little,
it might work.
That should work.
All right.
Is it?
It is?
Oh, good.
They got it.
Got it.
People smile and tell me I'm the lucky one.
And we've just begun.
Think I'm gonna have a son.
You'll be like she and me, as free as a dove.
Conceived in love.
Sun is gonna shine above even though we ain't got money
I'm so in love
honey and everything
will bring a change
love
in the morning when I rise
Bring a tear of joy to my eyes
And tell me everything's gonna be alright
Love the girl who holds the world in a paper cup
Come on, drink and do
Lover and she'll bring you love
If you find she helps you mind
Brother, take her on
Boy, don't you live alone
Try to run with lovers on
Even though we ain't got money
I'm so in love
Honey, everything will bring a change
Love
Every morning when I rise
Bring a tear of joy to my eyes and tell me everything's gonna be all right. And here's the verse I wrote for my granddaughter
I see a smile, a baby child in my grown boy's eyes.
And now I realize there couldn't be a better life.
Now I know what I've been told is really true, my friend.
Yeah, the circle never ends.
Gonna catch it coming round and round again Even though we ain't got money
I'm so in love with you honey
And everything will bring a change
Love
In the morning when I rise
Bring a tear of joy to my eyes
And tell me everything's gonna be alright Beautiful.
What a treat.
Thank you, thank you.
Fantastic.
The lyrics are...
That note gets higher.
What's that?
Every year.
It gets a little higher?
Something, I don't know, they're changing pitch on me the the the there was
a letter that you that you sent to your brother and no letter i got from my brother and the lyrics
were lifted right out of the lyrics were beautiful right out of the letter beautiful was this the
same brother whose guitar you you you snatched down from the way so you more than made it up to
him yeah i think so how did this song get to Anne Murray?
She took it off the first Loggins and Messina record.
She did a lovely version of it.
Yeah, she did a great version of it. And then I wrote a song called Love Song.
Right.
And so I took it right to her then at that point.
I met her and, you know, showed her some stuff.
that point i met her and you know showed her some stuff and then when um when the i was vindicated with love song because because jimmy uh jimmy didn't like it and he didn't want love song
yeah really he didn't want it on the second album and uh so um then when she loved it and
she turned it into a hit and i said i think we should put it on the record. Oh, well, yeah.
You were vindicated.
Yeah.
Wonderful piece of music.
This is a song that has been called Environmental Anthem.
I got asked to rewrite the lyrics to this to make it more on point as an environmental anthem.
And I said, no's it's done it's not neat it doesn't need to be rewritten because the environmental movement is not a thing it should not be a
finger-pointing movement about you do this and you do that except that for me the the issue is a spiritual one. It's each individual's awareness of his connection to each other and to the planet.
And so Conviction of the Heart becomes a song about someone who wakes up from his sense of aloneness
and gets that we're all in this together. Here we go. We're off dreams that we once had
This is the time to bring them back
What were the promises
Caught on the tips of our tongues Do we forget or forget
There's a whole other life
Waiting to be lived
One day we're brave enough
To talk with conviction of the heart
And down your roads I'd walked alone
As if my feet were not my own
Such is the path I chose
Doors I have opened and closed
I'm tired of living this life
Fooling myself Bel believing we're right
When I'd never given love
With any conviction of the heart
One with the earth, with the sky, one with everything in life.
I believe we'll survive if we only try.
Only time How long must we
All wait to change
The world bound in
Chains that we live in
To know what it is
To forgive
And be forgiven Too many years of taking now
Isn't it time to stop somehow
If that's too angry to breathe
Water our children can't drink Thank you. Do you care in love
What's your conviction
DeJuan
Thank you, Gilbert. I appreciate it.
Here we go. I believe it will start with conviction of the heart. One earth, one sky, one world, only one chance for one life When will we live?
Conviction
Only one earth
Only one sky
Only one child
We've only got one chance to live in one life
I believe it's only gonna start when we begin with some conviction of the heart.
Oh, beautiful.
Beautiful.
Applause in that room.
Look at that.
You got a standing ovation in the control room.
Thank you. You ran out of chairs.
It looks beautiful.
We will return to Gilbert Gottfried's amazing, colossal podcast.
But first, a word from our sponsor.
I heard you say some good songs come to you in dreams.
Was that one?
That was, well, the song, Guy Thomas and I wrote that song.
And the verses and the whole,
Down your streets I walked alone, all that stuff we wrote
in the afternoon. Called it a night,
had dinner, I
went to bed and I dreamed
the chorus, the one with the
earth, with the sky. I woke up with
that melody in my head. Amazing to me.
And I said, I went to him
and I said, I don't know why
but this belongs in
that song. So it took me a few years to
actually understand what the connection of that refrain was to that song. So sometimes you'll
dream pieces and then the pieces won't fit into the puzzle until well down the line.
Well, at least as far as understanding, but I know the music of it, the music of it belongs,
belong together.
How do you retain it?
Who, who,
who can,
who can remember this stuff when they wake up?
I've taught myself to do that.
I remember I have usually a melody every morning and I,
and then I can assess whether it's worth recording or not.
Wow.
Do you have a little handheld?
Well,
I have my,
I had cassettes back in the day,
but now I have my iphone just
use the memos will you wake up in the middle of the night and just put it right into this good
yeah i'll lay there and i will actually think is this good enough to to put down because i know i
have to i have to set the pitch i have to say you know i'll sing the triad so i know what key it's
in i tell myself what beat the song starts on because when you
listen a few days later you don't know if i'm if you're singing the downbeat or what it is yeah
it's hard to get back into that i lay the i lay the groove down and i'm playing the groove while
i'm singing it i know what key it's in and then if i hear harmonic things to it chord changes i
have to lay those in to outline what the harmonic changes
would be.
Fascinating.
It's a lot of work.
And I always heard...
So I really, I have to be motivated.
I have to believe it's a really good song or I'm not going to wake myself up.
And I always heard that like musicians have what they call the dummy lyrics.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Most of my songs keep those.
You know, the famous
story of McCartney's
Yesterday was scrambled eggs.
Yeah.
But Celebrate Me Home, I thought, was
my dummy lyric, because
I didn't think it
made any sense.
And then when I showed it to Phil Ramone in New York,
he goes, yeah, that's what the brothers would say.
Celebrate me home.
Celebrate me home.
Okay.
Hey, Gil, I can see by the look on your face,
you're thinking, okay, but did they include my pal John Davidson
in this musical montage?
John Davidson, my wife asked him,
like she would see there was a club
that he would play at in the Berkshires.
And she went up to him like about 50 times.
Each time he said no.
Yeah.
I think Davidson thought we're going to have him on
and rip him to shreds.
And a lot of our guests don't realize we want to honor all of our guests.
Well, I wonder if one of us has that reputation because it isn't me.
Yeah.
And.
Why would they be afraid, Braytel?
And he enjoyed it so much. He sent us messages
saying that that was one of the most fun times he's ever had. And he invited us to a show that
he did. He was he was great. He was he was wonderful for so many reasons. But it brings
up an interesting point,
which is that when we started this show,
Gilbert's history on shows like The Stern Show preceded him a little bit.
And some guests were tentative,
not realizing that the show was going to be an all-out tribute.
I think you radically changed your image with this show, Gilbert.
People learned that you were a super fan of show business
and great performers.
Yeah, and it's like, you know,
we both want to honor these
people that were
such great influences.
That's been the intention of this
show from day one. But for whatever reason,
John kept turning down Dara
and it became a running joke. I'd say, how are things
with John Davidson? He said he'd rather listen to the show than be on it. Wasn't that it down Dara and it became a running joke, I'd say, how are things with John Davidson?
He said he'd rather listen to the show
than be on it. Wasn't that it, Dara?
Something sick.
Was something like, we got
50 or 60 very polite
different versions of
turndowns. So our pal,
audio producer John Murray,
picked some songs out of the
John Davidson episode, and John
talks a little bit about different things.
He was doing a live show in Manhattan at the
time, and these were
some of the selections.
People forget you put out 15
albums.
Yeah. Recorded a lot
of music. Yeah, and
still am. I still do shows with my guitar
and tell jokes, and I just put out a new album.
So what can people expect when they come to Birdland on the 27th?
Well, I open with this.
No, I open with this.
If my song can raise your spirits,
if my song can make you dance,
Can't raise your spirits if my song can make you dance.
If my song can make you dare enough to chant some new romance.
If my song can make you reminisce of some sweet day gone by.
Then let me be your songbirdbird And soon your soul will fly
I'm standing on the corner
Of nothing and nowhere
And basically it's a busker singing on the corner
Just realizing that at this point in my
life, I'm nowhere.
And it's the confusion of trying to figure
out life. What do you do with your life?
And I'm developing a
pilot for a TV show. Tell us about
that. Yeah. Gil is
one of my celebrity guests.
It's Gil and Penn
Gillette, my two guests.
Can't wait.
And the whole idea is, what's next?
The show's called What's Next?
What do you do with yourself in your 60s?
Now, I know what Gil does.
He's doing what he does best and still doing it.
But for a lot of people, the challenge of,
I've just been let go of my job,
or I'm tired of doing what I'm doing, how do I reinvent myself for the 60s, 70s, 80s?
Whatever.
That's what it's all about.
And I wrote the theme song.
What's next?
Over the hill and round the bend.
These golden years will make us great, my friend.
I'm not going to take that final bow.
The show ain't over, no way, no how.
We've all been shakers, fakers, money makers, dadgers, stay-at-home moms.
We've been finders, keepers, losers, weepers, creatures of dot com.
Each time I start to whine about the wrinkled state I'm in,
I step it up, suck in my gut, and grab a second wind.
What's next?
So, it's a song about what do I
do with my life?
And so I'm interviewing people.
I'm going to go to, after we do your show,
I'm going to go out to Times Square
and find people in their 60s and do
Man on the Street. I'm going to walk up to them. Really?
Good for you.
Just like you were in 63, smiling at
strangers.
I'm going to say, what are you doing
with your life?
That John Davidson episode,
we keep talking about it, but it's
worth talking about. It was
worth the wait, Gil. Yeah, he
was putting up the biggest fight
and when he finally
agreed to do it, he
totally agreed. He was brave,
he was open, he was funny. He was sarcastic.
Everything you really want a guest to bring to the show.
And we should have John back.
Yes.
I bet he wouldn't put us off for seven years now.
Maybe six.
So we hope you guys enjoyed this.
This was a thrill for us to do
and we have to thank John Murray
who came up with this idea
and said to me what about a musical montage
episode what about a greatest hits
collection of musical moments
and you forget you know we've done so many of these
Gil almost 350 now
we forget how many musicians we forget
all the people who've passed through those doors
yes it's there
are people who we've had those doors. Yes. There are people
who we've had, who I swear
we've never had on the show.
I know, like Dick Van Dyke.
Yes, yes. Who's getting an
honor. He's going to get an honor from the Kennedy Center.
Yes. We should
mention, long overdue. So let's
thank some people in addition to the great Murray
who made this episode
possible. I want to thank
uh also frank verdarosa who engineered uh who recorded and engineered and uh edited these
original episodes um we want to thank too the people who brought us these great talents helped
us book them barry doherty norman steinberg robert cotto our friend jackie martling who brought us
mark hudson and tommy james oh and jackie's been a godsend helping us book this show uh the person Robert Cotto, our friend Jackie Martling, who brought us Mark Hudson and Tommy James.
And Jackie's been a godsend helping us book this show.
The person Gilbert loves to give credit to, Gino Salamone, who booked Dennis DeYoung.
I already mentioned Ryan Romanesco and Michael Jensen.
And like I always say, it takes a village to make this show.
Great musical memories.
We had fun doing every one of them.
What can I say?
More to come.
Okay.
And I'm Gilbert Gottfried,
and this has been Gilbert Gottfried's
amazing, colossal podcast,
Musical Moments,
with my co-host,
Frank Santopadre.
And this is Musical Moments. Do you-host, Frank Santopadre. And this is Musical Moments.
Gilberts, do you sing? Do you sing?
It doesn't stop me.
You are my sunshine.
My only sunshine.
You make me happy.
You make me happy when skies are gray.
Good, I chose the right key.
That's right, and your key.
Yeah, it's not a key.
You'll never know, dear, how much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away.
Are we still on?
It's a parking lot now, right?
We stopped recording 25 minutes ago.
Oh, okay.