John Diliberto has a lot of chops. He went to Penn on a football scholarship, and spends a lot of time blowing scuba bubbles from as deep as 180 feet…but mostly he’s about music…and radio. I re- connected with him for the first time since the sixties at a diner last night. John now hosts a highly successful late night Public Radio show called “Echoes.” He looked me up on the Internet, because he remembered listening to my “Subway” show on ‘BZ when he was a kid, and he has a friend who is doing a documentary on early Rock radio.For those of you who may need enlightenment, because you are not members of the “Louie-Louie Generation”…Hendrix, The Doors, Cream, The Mothers of Invention (Frank Zappa)…that music… was called “Underground,” and that’s why we called the show, the “Subway.”It turns out that John lives only about a half hour from me, so my Lady Wonder Wench and I slurped some soup and traded some music and radio stories with him for a while last night. (John and I slurped, W. Wench ate daintily…and added…immeasurably…as she always does… to the conversation.) It was an absolutely wonderful hour or so, and we expect to do it again soon.Pretty neat, how a blog that’s called “The Connection” can actually connect. Also pretty neat to see what has became of a kid who used to listen to my show all those years ago. (I was also outrageously young at the time.) And it’s fascinating to me that although John is absolutely involved with music, the first thing he remembered about the “Subway” show was not the specific music. He remembered a “campaign” I was running to support Boston musicians. I called it the “Boston Sound.” Some pretty popular groups were involved… The Beacon Street Union, Ultimate Spinach, and Orpheus, to mention just a few. I asked people to unfold a paper clip so it looks like the letter “S” (for “sound”) and wear it on their shirts. John did. (So did I.) His top-of-the-mind memory says a lot about why guys/girls get into radio.
John uses radio to be involved with music. I used music to be involved with radio. John is a music purist. I’m seldom pure about anything. John is like a hip version of a guy by the name of Mitch Miller, who “Louie-Louie Generation” guys and girls may faintly remember was a popular tv performer who pretty much taught people about music. I came from the Clint Eastwood school of disc-jockeying. As in “Play Misty For Me”…in which Jessica Walker was the young lovely on the phone, purring “Dave, please play Misty for me.”
Every time the request line lights up, members of the Clint Eastwood school of disc-jockeying all get a quick vision of a scantily clad young lovely slowly flexing her long, tapered legs and licking her pouting, heavily lipsticked lips, just waiting to breathe her request into his horny old ear. The request isn’t always about a song either. And the amazing thing is, often that quick vision is reasonably accurate. Not always, but often.
One night while I was on the air at WPIX in New York doing a “Lovin Touch” segment, the phone lit up, and the estrogen soaked voice on the other end purred, “Hi, is this Dick Summer ?” I said yes. She said, “Mr. Goldstein would like to talk with you.” I said, “Who?” She turned the phone over to him, and it turned out that “Mr. Goldstein” was Al Goldstein, the publisher of a weekly magazine called “Screw.” It was not a carpenter trade magazine. Al also produced a nightly cable porno show called “Midnight Blue,” from which he used segments for several very successful movies. Mr. Goldstein though it might be interesting to have a locally known disc jockey by the name of Dick star in his next “Midnight Movie.”
I think I said something intelligent like, “Gezornenplatz.” Al said, “Gesundheit.” Then he said something about a blonde, a brunette and a red head and me…all at once. I won’t lie. I was tempted. But as soon as I replaced my eyeballs in their respective sockets, returned my tongue to its usual spot between my teeth, and regained control of my eyebrows and fingers, a picture of my Lady Wonder Wench popped up in my head. And she was not pleased.
I think I said something like, “Thank you thank you thank you thank you…but no…but thank you…thank you…etc.” So much for my quick case of Peter North envy. For the innocent among you, Peter is today’s top male porno performer. His neighbors know him as the guy who goes to work every day singing, “There’s No Business Like Show Business.”
I’m not sure of the kind of calls John gets on “Echoes.” But I’ll ask him next time we get together…and I’ll let you know.
Dick’s Details Quiz – All the answers are in the current PodCast at www.DickSummer.comÂ
1- Most people called Louis Armstrong “Satchmo.” But what was the nickname most musicians gave him ?
2- Why are chameleons called the animal kingdom’s greatest kissers?
3- What do “Louie-Louie Generation” guys and girls do most at night?
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Scoring:
3 right – Clint Eastwood.
2 right – Pierce Brosnan.
1 right – Will Smith.
0 right – Woody Allen.
CONNECTION REQUEST – A friend of mine who is an excellent radio/tv news guy, with major experience, just lost his job in an economy move by the Save Some Bucks TV Company. If you run a radio/tv station, or know anyone who does, please send me an Email, and I’ll put you in touch with him. (He’s a catch for any legit broadcaster.) My Email address is: Dick@DickSummer.com
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