Fab Faux's Rich Pagano and his new CD

Rich Pagano is a musician's musician and one of the busiest in the business. Not only is he the co-founder and drummer of "Fab Faux", he is a much in demand session drummer, owner of New Calcutta recording Studio in Midtown NYC, devoted husband and father, and he has just released a new solo cd "Rich Pagano and The SugarCane Cups" to rave reviews!
“Among the best albums that you’ll hear in 2009”
- Rev. Keith A. Gordon, Blurt Magazine

"Laced in pop, straight arrangements and Pagano’s hearty vocals,
it is bolstered by some fine writing...which goes to prove that yes
indeed, great drummers can also produce rock solid solo albums"
- Kevin O'Hare, Masslive.com

“An original and creatively exciting work”
“Timeless, well-constructed rock”
- Kay Cordtz, Elmore Magazine

In betweeen his busy schedule, I had the pleasure to speak with Rich about his new cd and his upcoming gigs...

MICK: Your new cd "Rich Pagano and the SugarCane Cups" sounds fantastic. How long did it take you to record?
RICH: I closed my studio down for a year to finish, arranging and recording. It's my place so I'm able to get in whenever I want and makes it a bit easy to work long hours.
MICK: The SugarCane Cups are quite an ensemble of musicians. When you play out, who is in the band?
RICH: The ensemble comes mainly from people who passed through my studio if not everybody! I would just ask people and friends who were renting my place or people I was producing. If I felt they could lend something to a particular track, I'd ask them to stay and sing on a track or play on it. It always worked out, some got paid a little bit, some people I bartered by doing some drum tracks for them. It's a cool little studio. Of course I had to turn it back into a commercial venture when I was done but it was nice to lock it out for myself and get my thing done. For live shows, I'm going to have John Conte (Rosanne Cash) on bass, Andy York (John Mellencamp) on guitar, Rob Bailey (Gavin DeGraw) on guitar, Kevin Bents(Donald Fagen) on keyboards/acoustic guitar and myself on drums. Steve Conte (New York Dolls) may be doing a few shows with me this summer. Guitar is bit of a revolving chair for those who are not on tour.
MICK: I can definitely hear Beatles influences in your songs.
RICH: The cd is selling well. At Fab Faux gigs it's flying off the display! I also try to go out before the show and sign it for the fans who purchase it. It is a limited edition in cd form as most sales have been from I-Tunes. When they ask me what it sounds like I tell them the approach was solo Lennon, solo Townsend and Levon Helm sensibilities.
MICK: Did anyone else influence you on your songs?
RICH: When I started the sessions, I was going through a Led Zeppelin stage "Houses Of The Holy" period so I'd say "Nine Lives has a John Bonham/ Jimmy Page production value, sonically. As the recording process went along, I got the gig as Levon Helm's second drummer. I've always been a huge fan of Levon Helm's, a bit of a template for me being a great singing drummer. I did some work with him at his Ramble [Levon's live show's at his Woodstock NY barn] and some other festival shows. He would go up and play mandolin/sing and I would jump on drums. His influence is more predominant on some of my later sessions like, "Grand Central Station" and maybe, " Rear View St. Jude".. I'm also a big Nigel Olsson fan, and of course Ringo and that certainly shows up.. I was also listening to a lot of Lou Reed at that point as far as lyrics/minimalism through words. Solo Lennon was great for that too.
MICK: Is this your first solo cd?
RICH:Yes! I've been a co-writer with people for years. I built my studio almost ten years ago to record my own music but it somehow became a commercial venture. I started producing and writing with other artists and then my wife and I had a kid, the Fab Faux took off, I went on the road with Rosanne Cash and other artists for a while and never got back to my own stuff. Now that our son is in school full time, I promised myself that i would get this out there. At first, the way the music business is, I thought that it would be very tough to get rock and roll heard and then sell it. I had a lot of fans within the Fab Faux that kept asking me if I will put something out since I sing a lot of leads in that band. So I thought I'd do something that would cater to the Fab Faux fans, not particularly Beatle-ish, but along the classic rock lines. It eventually evolved into this and The Fab Faux fans are really digging it plus, there's a nice new audience out there too!
With my new cd, I've been doing an acoustic tour for the last four months on and off. Now we are doing an official electric show with the full band at The City Winery in New York City on April 30th at 7:30.
MICK: What's the future plans for more appearances with the SugarCane Cups?
RICH: We will be doing some East Coast dates to be announced; We are definitely doing Maplewoodstock which is a great music festival in Maplewood New Jersey on July 10th.
MICK: The Fab Faux have been together since 1998! That's a long time now! How did this all come about?
RICH:Will [Lee] and I were on tour in Germany and France with the late Hiram Bullock and Will noticed that during sound check, whenever I would test the drums there was sort of a Ringo/ Nigel Olsson swing coming out of me, so he would ask me questions about the Beatles. We talked backstage and we both geeked out on our collection of bootlegs and what we knew. He said "I'd love to start the greatest Beatles band ever!." He said that he always wanted to do that and felt comfortable with me. I thought that was great but I was making my living, and sort of still do, as a session drummer who is called on for Ringo/Keltner type sessions. I thought it would be a parody of myself if I joined a Beatles band. He was really persistent and would call me every month saying, "I got this guy interested, that guy...." After a while I said lets do it! Then he got Jimmy [Vivino] involved. I knew of him but did not know him. I was working with Joan Osborne at the time and so I got Jack [Petruzzelli] on board. I was also doing some acoustic duo gigs with Frank [Agnello] in Staten Island. Frank has tons of knowledge on some of the deeper chords and Will liked him and his soul. We got together and found that we sang so well together. We started with just the five of us. Then we added a cellist and one trumpeter. Now we have a full horn section and string section.
MICK: Has Paul McCartney or Ringo ever heard the Fab Faux play?
RICH: No but they've heard of the Fab Faux. Will had a conversation with Paul about the intricacies of "Tomorrow Never Knows". Will also offered Ringo a Fab Faux pin at one point when he was on the show {Letterman].
MICK: The benefit on April 10th for the West Babylon High is coming up. Are there still tickets available?
RICH: It is selling real well. There are still some tickets left. It's a small theater so every seat is good.
MICK: You are originally from West Babylon. I didn't know that.
RICH: I was born in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. We moved out to Long Island when I was three.
MICK: What was it like for you growing up on Long Island?
RICH: It was great for me because I had a real supportive family. We had a basement full of instruments. Friends would come over to the house and my parents were very cool and welcoming. West Babylon High School had an incredible music wing with rooms put aside for orchestra, piano classes, guitar classes and choir. Back then we were told it was a nationally award winning school for high school music - it had great teachers too. We also had a 'Teen Club' in the town church basement when I was in junior high school. Battle of the bands was an important event! My friends and I didn't get caught up in hanging out and drinking. We learned how to play instruments and traded records. In my case, I learned to play an instrument and also started drawing. I actually went to art school (School of Visual Arts in New York). It was a toss up between music school and art school. When my high school gave me a partial scholarship to art school, I decided to give that a shot. I was an illustrator for about five years while I was playing blues gigs in NYC. Eventually I went back to music full time.
MICK: So I guess art would be your other hobby besides music!
RICH: Now it is because I have a nine year old kid and all we do is draw mythological creatures and go to MOMA!
MICK: Who is someone that you would love to meet?
RICH: I don't know if that would be a musician. I'd like to sit and watch Jimmy Page produce guitar tracks. The way he set up guitar tracks made it seem like he was a painter with each guitar being a different color. That's how I'm feeling this week. Next week it could be someone totally different.
MICK: Which of today's artists do you like?
RICH: I like Joss Stone a lot. She has soul sensibilities. Alicia keys is great too! Better live than on record, IMO

The Fab Faux with The Hogshead Horns and The Creme Tangerine Strings will be performing a benefit concert for West Babylon's South Bay Elementary School on Long Island. Last month, the school was destroyed in a chemical fire and has to be rebuilt from the ground up. As of right now, the children have been relocated to the town church for studies until further notice. West Babylon is the hometown of Fab Faux drummer/singer Rich Pagano. For details, see the link:
URL: http://www.thefabfaux.com/guests/FabFauxNews/index_SB.html


You can catch Rich Pagano + The SugarCane Cups Electric Band record release performance with Natalie Mishell & special guests at The City Winery on April 30th.
http://www.citywinery.com/events/62702

More dates and special appearances will be announced soon.
See the first video from the CD rich pagano + the sugarCane cups ("Change Your Mind")
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giEJf49Y9Cg

Visit www.richpagano.com for the latest news.



Rich Pagano
richpagano.com

Change Your Mind video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giEJf49Y9Cg

rich pagano and the sugarCane cups debut CD
Get yours at richpagano.com

Celebrity"s New Year's Resolutions

Along with the toasts of champagne, watching the ball drop in Times Square and drinking yourself into the night, a new year's resolution is usually at the top of many people's agendas on New Year's Eve. It is said that 52% of participants are sure of succeeding but only 12% actually achieve their goals. I asked some celebrities what their New Year's resolutions are and got some great answers!
Donna Feducia, former anchor on Good Day New York and Good Day Sunday: "To become a sharpshooter! Actually to become very good with our .357 Magnum"
Bebe Buell, American fashion model and singer: "To play Berlin! I know resolutions are suppose to be about self improvement but my goal is my work in 2010."
Peppy Castro, guitarist with The Blues Magoos and Barnaby Bye: "To see my pop opera musical "X-star", that took me 5 years to write, up on it's feet! I finished it in 2000 so it's ten years later!"
Charles Oakley, New Yorks Knicks legend: "To stop eating potato chips, more support for President Barack Obama (we need universal healthcare and more jobs), that the US digs itself out of the financial slump we’re currently in, continued health for my family and that you really enjoy my upcoming cooking show!"
Carline Doctorow, Long Island's favorite folk singer: "My New Years resolution is...
"to always leave 'em wanting more"
Paul Peterson, child star from "the Donna Reed Show": "I am resolved to finally
get national legislation for kids in the media so that the laws will be the same everywhere."
Dennis Elsas, legendary DJ currently on WFUV FM: "In the early 70's (shortly after I started at WNEW-FM) when Carly Simon first released "Anticipation" (long before it was a ketchup commercial) I played it as my New Year's Resolution (72 or73?).
I still play it (in my head or on-the-air) and resolve to try and enjoy the moments
as they happen, instead of always worrying about what might be - "cause these are the good ole days."
For some memories you might enjoy checking out my audio/video archives at
www.denniselsas.com
Ian Lloyd, lead singer from "Stories" (Brother Louie #1 hit): "My New Years resolution is simple. I want IAN LLOYD's STORIES and SOCIALHERO to take our act on the road and rock the hell out of every town and city we play in! That and legalization of the "O-de-PO"
Liberty DeVitto, drummer extraordinaire (Billy Joel): "I already have what I want
and I will be feeding my dog and be taking up smoking this new year LOL"
Cheryl Bentyne, from the jazz group The Manhattan Transfer: "To be more generous, more loving and more forgiving....to others and to me..."
Candy Clark, American film and television actress best known from "American Graffiti: "I resolve to quit eating candies, cookies and cakes which is a bit hard,
because with my name being Candy, I am constantly reminded. I have to cut
back on my sugar intake and with a lot of will power and resolve, hopefully
I can keep this promise to myself."
Donald Fagan, from Steely Dan: "I would say my new year's resolution is to tackle all the works of Dostoevsky in the upcoming year"
Linda Purl, actress and singer: "To do a better job at recycling and learn tango!"
Larry Thomas, the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld: "Well, I'm not really into rules and resolutions. I just take life as it comes. Maybe to just keep on keeping on!"
Jimmy Fink, New York Radio personality: "Do I have a New Year's resolution??....Yeah... my New Year's resolution is to vote out incumbent democrats!"
Glenn Scarpelli, former child actor and singer: "In addition to sustaining a new gym workout (kind of typical) I am setting an intention this new years to live deeper in my own truth. To be in closer touch with what makes me tick and what makes me happy. Life is soooo short.... I am living it to the fullest.... as best as I know!!!! That is my New Year wish."

Good luck to all of our celebrities who shared their wishes for 2010! My wish is that we all find peace and love in our lives, to make this world a better place to live in, to build rather than break, to smile rather than cry, and to believe that God will triumph over any evil that exists in this world.




















"Do I have a New Year's resolution??....Yeah... my New Year's resolution is to vote out incumbent democrats!"

ZuZu from "It's A Wonderful Life"

It is, without a doubt, one of the most beloved Christmas movies of all time. "It's A Wonderful Life" was released in 1946 and it still continues to garner new fans year after year. I had the greatest pleasure to speak with Karolyn Grimes, who played ZuZu in the film, a few years back. She's as warm and friendly today as she was as a child in the classic film!

MICK: Where were you born?
KAROLYN: I was born in Hollywood on July 4th!

MICK: What did your parents do for a living?
KAROLYN: My mother was a housewife and my father was the manager of a Safeway Store.

MICK: I see that you only make 16 movies but you worked with some of the biggest names in Hollywood!
KAROLYN: Yes, it was incredible! Cary Grant was my favorite. Bing Crosby was great. He had a really good sense of humor and he liked to play practical jokes. Him and Jerry Colonna on our set, they were buddies, lots of fun together. He never forgot who I was, even years later down the road, he recognized me. John Wayne had a big heart, a man's man! He did it all right. He knew how to treat women but he liked to drink and smoke and play cards. He loved kids.

MICK: Had did you get the part of Zuzu in "It's a Wonderful Life"?
KAROLYN: A lot of people ask me if I believe in God and I say "if you were a little girl and you tried out for the part of Zuzu with probably 100 other kids and were told you got the part, you would certainly believe God had a part in this!"

MICK: How do you remember director Frank Capra?
KAROLYN: He was a unique person in a sense that he was very meticulous about details. he encouraged us as kids to bring out what he wanted to see. Getting on his knees and talking to us at eye level rather than talking down to us. It was a great thing and he got what he wanted. He was able to communicate with people really well. Another practical joker, a family man, a fair man. Very fun to work with.

MICK: What was Jimmy Stewart like?
KAROLYN: For one thing, he was extremely tall to me! He was 6'4" tall, very thin. Even when I became an adult, I was still amazed at how tall he was! He seemed immense! Throughout the film, I was with him, one on one, everywhere. I'd be on his back, in his arms. He was very tender and had a lot of patience if I would fluff a line. In later years, when I got to know him as an adult, I was very impressed with his integrity and his sense of values. The fact that he was a mega-legend, it never went to his head. He was just normal, ordinary George Bailey.

MICK: Did you keep in touch with him?
KAROLYN: Actually not. I got in touch with him in 1990. People had started looking for Zuzu and we spent a day together in New York. It was quite nice. We got to get to know each other and from then on, he referred people to me when they were looking for Zuzu.

MICK: After your film career ended, what did you do?
KAROLYN: I was orphaned at the age of 15. I was more or less shipped out of Hollywood to the mid west. I ended up in a very bad home situation. Because of that, I learned a lot. I had gone to Los Angeles High School and there were 900 kids in my school. Now I was in a town with very few people. I thought I died! After a year, the whole town knew I ended up with a family that was horrible. My teachers, the merchants, everybody rallied around me. I really learned about people outside of the Hollywood scene so I never wanted to go back. In order to get out of the situation that I was in, I needed an education. I went to college and became a medical technologist. Ended up getting married and raised 7 kids. In 1980, the media found me. Each year, "It's A Wonderful Life" was getting more exposure and I did too! In 1993, when my kids were grown, I went on a tour with the Target Company. That's when it all started. My husband died of cancer in 1994. From then on, I've been doing It's a Wonderful Life stuff forever! I love being able to touch people's lives. God gave me the ability to reach people. I celebrate Christmas with all kinds of people who feel they know me. They write me stories about how their lives have been affected by the movie. They write to me about angels. I believe there's something out there that people need at Christmas time. The movie has become a tradition in many people's homes. It goes from generation to generation. It's a real privilege to have been a part of this movie. Margaret O'Brien was a huge star back then and she doesn't have any movies on DVD and I have four! She doesn't really have a signature film and this is a signature film for me. God granted me a real blessing allowing me to be in "A Bishop's Wife", "Rio Grande", "Hans Christian Anderson"...how many classics can you be in! A little bit of divine guidance there for sure!

MICK: How long were you married?
KAROLYN: The first time was six years and my husband was killed deer hunting. The second time was 25 years.

MICK: You've also written a few books?
KAROLYN: I've actually only written a cook book "ZuZu Bailey's It's A Wonderful Life Cook Book" but there have been several books written about me. I've had a very unusual and interesting life with a lot of things that weren't wonderful.

MICK: Do you keep in touch with anyone from your films?
KAROLYN: Oh yes! The Bailey kids are pretty tight! We haven't got our wings yet! I talk to Jimmy Hawkins every week. I was very fortunate to be reconnected with Jimmy Stewart as well as Catherine Craig and Loretta Young. Around 1990, I was able to correspond and be with these people before it got too late.

MICK: Do you still get fan mail?
KAROLYN: I sure do! I get fan mail year round, I have a website. It's incredible! I got my first fan letter in 1980 and I nearly fell out of the chair! I had not even thought about those past days. My kids would sometimes take my picture to show and tell at school. I had put those days behind me. The media caught up with me so I did a few interviews. It's just taken off since then!

MICK: Tell me something about yourself that people would be amazed to know!
KAROLYN: I'm a pretty open person and I'm not shy so there's not much that people don't know about me. Maybe one thing is that I do believe in angels. I believe we all have a great angel with us. That's not quite amazing because, after all, I am Zuzu!

Today, Karolyn serves as the unofficial ambassador for 'It's A Wonderful Life", traveling the world and speaking at screenings, benefits, conventions and other venues. You can learn more about her on her website:
http://www.zuzu.net/

A Chat with CAROLINE DOCTOROW

With a soft and mesmerizing voice, Long Island's own Caroline Doctorow has established herself as leading force on the folk scene that continues to gain mementum with each new album. Her latest, "Another Country", covers the songs of 1960's folk icons Richard and Mimi Farina. This is her sixth album and a highly personal project as the Farina's were personal friends of Caroline's parents. Her father is famed writer E.L. Doctorow. I had the great pleasure to speak with Caroline about her new album and her life as singer/songwriter...

MICK: Your new release "Another Country" sounds fantastic! What made you decide to cover the songs of Richard and Mimi Farina?
CAROLINE: They were a big influence of mine, one of the first people I listened to while in high school along with a lot of other folk musicians. I also listened to the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Grateful Dead but I've always been a folkie at heart!
Richard Frarina died in 1969 when he was 29 years old and Mimi died just several years back in 2001. After reading about her death, I revisited how they influenced me. It hit me like a ton of bricks how her music had affected me because I went on to become a folk singer also. It occurred to me they nobody had done a full album of their material even though a lot of people seem to love it. Richard Farina wrote "Pack Up Your Sorrows" which has been covered by a bunch of people including Johnny Cash and Judy Collins. He kind of fell through the cracks in a way so it became a passion for me to put this record out and hopefully reintroduce people who were also fans and get some new fans because his music was so good.

MICK: Did you know Mimi Farina?
CAROLINE: I met her when I was a kid at a party very briefly. I saw her perform several times after that after Richard had died.
I would not call that actually knowing her. I was introduced to her through my parents. My father [E.L. Doctorow] was a friend of Joan Baez and edited her first book. As a family, we were introduced to a lot of people in their circle and Mimi was one of them!

MICK: What was it like growing up in a household where famous writers, poets and folk singers often visited?
CAROLINE: It was fun! It was never dull, that's for sure! When I look back on that I wonder how my parents did it because I'm a parent now. There was always things happening and people coming through. A lot of emphasis on cultural things and the arts. I grew up in New Rochelle and it was close to Manhattan so we really got to take advantage of that. I must say that the community I grew up in was very arts orientated and intellectual to a huge degree. A lot of that was the Jewish community and their devotion to that by placing importance on education, language, words and spelling. It seemed that the parents were very encouraging to us. My friends were also musicians that I palled around with. It was a simpler time and a different time and maybe is was easier to be that way then.

MICK: Are you close with your dad?
CAROLINE: Yes I am! He's really a great person. Both of my parents are!

MICK: I see that John Sebastian and Eric Weissberg are among the guest musicians on "Another Country". How long have you known them?
CAROLINE: Eric Weissberg played on my very first album. I honestly can't remember how I met him but I've known him for years. I didn't actually know John Sebastian until he agreed to be involved in my project. Pete Kennedy, who produced the album, sort of set that up. We went up to Woodstock for the two tracks that Eric and John are on. Those two tracks were done a little differently 'Mainline Prosperity Blues" and "Hard-Lovin' Loser". They both live in Woodstock. There's a great music community there.

MICK: As a songwriter, what comes first..the words or the music?
CAROLINE: For me, it's thinking of a phrase that interests me or hearing a sentence that interests me and developing a concept of what the song is going to say. I think everybody has a different answer for this. I have to dig around and decide what the song is going to be about. then I work on the melody after I have some sort of form.

MICK: I read that Joan Baez actually taught you chords as a child. Do you still keep in touch with her?
CAROLINE: No. I'm not in touch with her. That was during the same time that her book was being worked on. She came out to Eastern Long Island one summer where I live now. I had already started learning guitar but she taught me some chords that i didn't know. That was the end for me! I said to myself "Okay, that's it! This is what I will be doing!". She was a superstar at that time!

MICK: Who do you like listening to?
CAROLINE: I constantly revisit the songwriters of the 1960's. Right now, I'm listening to Ian and Sylvia. There's also some friends of mine who are songwriters. One is a guy named James O'Malley who also lives on Long Island. I enjoy listening to him. I have friends that put out records and I like listening to them. I also host a folk radio show on WPKN FM called "Song Trails". It's broadcast the first Saturday of each month at 7:00PM. the station is located in Bridgeport, CT and it also has a sister station WPKM FM. In researching music for the show, it kind of stirs things up when you have to find things that interest you. There's also a band that some friends of mine are in called "The Harlem Parlor Music Club". It's sort of a music co-operative of a whole bunch of musicians who have different projects going on. They come together loosely to do this folk jam which is pretty cool.

MICK: It's been said that you are one of the foremost interpreters of Bob Dylan songs. Have you ever met him and do you plan on more interpretations of his music?
CAROLINE: I have never met him and yes, I can't imagine not doing more interpretations because he's like the marker at which you sort of see how you're doing! He continues to interest me especially in the way his songs don't age. He somehow puts them in a cultural setting that is hip and cool but doesn't become dated. Richard Farina is like that to me also. The language doesn't age or become corny or irrelevant. Richard Farina and Bob Dylan were friends. It's safe to say that Dylan was influenced by Richard Farina. Farina took this literary valid English/ Irish kind of language and he made it his own with some hip terminology. The songs are beautifully well crafted, highly intelligent pieces evoking a lot of imagery.

MICK: If you weren't a musician, what do you think you would be doing now?
CAROLINE: I like teaching so maybe I'd be a teacher!

MICK: What are your plans for 2010?
CAROLINE: I have another record that we will be releasing. It's a collection of songwriters from the 1960's, also some original songs to be included.

MICK: Do you have any other hobbies besides music?
CAROLINE: I have two daughters, one bull dog, one cat, two birds, two frogs and a husband so not much time for any other hobbies!

For more info on Caroline and her recording career:
http://www.carolinedoctorow.com/

You can see Caroline perform:

Saturday November 21st
Patchogue Folk Festival, 3pm
Patchogue Theater for the Performing Arts,
Patchogue, NY
http://www.patchoguetheater.com/112109.htm

Saturday December 19th
Hard Luck Cafe
30 Washington Drive
Centerport NY
http://fmshny.org/hardluck.htm

The Colorful World of STANKO!

Have you ever looked at a painting and get filled with so much joy that you can't help but smile? Artist Mike Stanko creates works of art that do just that to you! His unique paintings quickly remind you of visual pop artist Andy Warhol and the warm Americana artwork of Norman Rockwell. Vibrant colors jump off the canvas but not shockingly as the simplicity of Stanko's subjects are familiar to us all. I spoke to Mike recently about his artwork, his lovely wife Karin and they're deep love for the Beatles!

MICK: Where did you grow up?
MIKE: I grew up and Valley Stream and that's where we still live. I'm the youngest of three and Karin [Mike's wife] is the youngest of four. Our parents still lived here and for some reason we never moved. My sisters moved to other towns in Suffolk County and Karin's sisters and brothers moved all over the area. We stayed here long enough and figured "why move now"! People say "how long have you lived there?" and I say 50 years! Valley Stream is great! Everything is 20 minutes away. We went to high school with Steve Buscemi.

MICK: Do you keep in contact with him?
MIKE: No, I keep in contact with his brothers Michael and Kenneth. Steven moved into the city many years ago. I was actually in his video, even though he cut me out of it, for his movie "Trees Lounge" which is about a local bar, an old man's bar. Not a great movie. Karin's cousin actually owned the bar and Steven used to hang out there. When he was filming the video for the film, I went over and he asked me if I wanted to be in the video. I had a walk on part. Then he cut me out! But he's cool.
His brothers come to my art shows occasionally. Michael is trying to be an actor. Kenneth comes when he's in town. Jim Breuer from "Saturday Night Live" is from Valley Stream too. So is Fred Armisen from "Saturday Night Live" now!

MICK: Do you work full time as an artist?
MIKE: No. When I got out of college, I wanted to find a wonderful job in this type of field or writing. I went to college for creative writing. I used to be in a band and I would write songs and poetry. My father had a Boar's Head route and he said
"You need money so until you find your job, why don't you work with me". So thirty years later, here I am! I paint a lot but not full time.

MICK: It's been written that your artwork is a cross between Andy Warhol and Norman Rockwell. How do you feel about this comparison and how did you develop your style?
MIKE: I developed my style by chance. When I first started painting seriously, I did this abstract painting and for some reason, it didn't pop for whatever reason. This was like twenty years ago. I got black ink and I outlined all of the separate colors to the best of my ability. Then everything just popped! From that point on, I outlined everything I do. Every single painting! Some people say "Do you think you'll never not outline?" and I say "I'm not sure". This is my style now! Every once in a while, I say to myself 'should I not outline". And the I quickly say " No!" I just do it and I like it! People come up to me and say "Please don't take this as an insult, I really love your work, but is your work a little bit like a coloring book or a paint by numbers?" I tell them yes, it really is!! Sometimes I'll just draw the image on the canvas and just paint that. As I'm painting, I add more detail which eventually will all get outlined. I could really make a coloring book of my paintings and somebody who paints could fill in the colors! But it wouldn't be a Stanko because it wouldn't be the colors I choose. My paintings are bright. I always liked bright paintings. I like being vibrant. I like alive! I'm not putting down any other artists dark works because there's a time and place for me in that area too. In my house, every wall is a different color but it all works! When we first painted the rooms, we told our families and they said "Oh my God!". But when they came over, they said "Wow, it really works!". It's done very tastefully! I have rock and roll memorabilia all over the place, a lot of art work. We have our Presidential room because Karin is very much into the Presidents.

MICK: How much time does it take for you to do a typical painting?
MIKE: It varies but it usually takes about a week or two. In the winter time I paint a lot more. I paint almost everyday whether it's half an hour or more. I really like the winter and I like the fall obviously for the colors. You just walk outside and you see yellow trees! We all grew up in a Yellow Submarine and walked through Pepperland! We are all influenced by everything that touched our life whether we are aware of it or not. Things that influence me are just things that I like. Whether consciously or subconsciously it comes out in my artwork..the colors,the happiness. I'm a happy type guy, very positive.

MICK: Do you work on more than one painting at a time?
MIKE: No I don't. A lot of times I will take a color and paint it where it has to go on the painting. I can't continue until the paint dries because I don't want to smear it or getting it all over my hands. So I will stop, check my email, etc.. I paint in acrylics only so it dries in minutes. I paint in a small room also but it works. If I had a bigger studio, I could have a couple paintings going at the same time. I don't know if that would work because I like to be totally focused. Most of my paintings are things I have a passion for. Something as simple in life as a grilled cheese sandwich! When I'm painting my grilled cheese sandwich, I'm really into the sandwich! Then I will paint a fantasy like an Autumn scene with a blue house type of thing. Even though it came out of my head, it's a place I might want to be! I couldn't paint something that I really didn't feel for. I really like Rockwell stuff. I love the down home feeling. Edward Hopper has that every day American life in his paintings. I love that stuff. A picture can say a thousand words. Wayne Thiebaud is another influence of mine. Very simple paintings of things like a cake sitting in a bakery or a gumball machine. It's beautiful! The colors he uses and the simplicity is fantastic. I'm also a fan of Tiffany glass. When you look at my work you can see the Tiffany stained glass influence. I'm not a religious person but I love going into churches to look at the glass. The colors and jewel tones are just beautiful!

MICK: I've also read that you actually met three of the four Beatles!
MIKE: Yes! In 1974, we were walking through Central Park with a bunch of friends. It was right around the time that John Lennon was being deported out of the United States. I'm a major, major Beatles fan as I said before. As we were walking, it was like "Oh my God, is that John Lennon walking towards us?" It was John and Harry Nilsson! Being a huge Beatles fan, I was in shock! I think it was March 12, 1974. John was going to speak at the March of Dimes Walkathon with Harry Nilsson. We stopped to talk to him. He was very personable. He wasn't get out of here, get away from me. I told him I couldn't believe they wanted to throw you out of the country! I asked him what could we do to help? He said get in touch with my lawyer Leon Wiles and discuss it with him. So I organized a committee to save John Lennon! It was a grass roots fan based committee to keep John in the country. I never knew it was this whole political thing whether is was Richard Nixon, john Mitchell or J. Edgar Hoover trying to get him out of the country. You can't throw John out of the country! It was all politically motivated. John was anti war and he was very vocal with the young people so they wanted him out. So I started this committee and through that I met John four other times. One day I got a phone call from his secretary saying John would like to give you some tee shirts to hand out to you and your helpers. We got a petition up, we put out bumper stickers with my own money. We were asking for donations through Rolling Stone Magazine and we got around 60,000 signatures! We were telling people to mail the White House on June 12, 1975. Flood the White House with support for John Lennon. They actually admitted to getting 30,000 letters that day! So John's secretary said "it's a really big box, can you come to the Dakota to pick it up?". So I go there figuring they'd be out on the curb and I go up to the little office there. The person there said "They're expecting you". Every step was another 'what?" I couldn't believe it! So we went into this elevator up to his apartment. The doors open up and you're right inside John's apartment. The first room you walk into is a huge living room or parlor. They had about 15 mannequins of Yoko Ono standing in a party atmosphere! It was so bizarre! Meanwhile, I'm like 19 years old and I'm trying to act very professional. It was unbelievable. Later on, John thanked me over at WNEW radio station when they won the court case.
Being a big Beatles fan, when Paul McCartney would be in New York City, we were like the local Apple Scruffs. We knew where he was staying and we'd wait outside for him.
I've lived a very pop life. I've always carried a camera so in my house, there's pictures of Karin and I on the Howard Stern Show, Bill Clinton, John John Kennedy, Muhammad Ali , Joe Namath. I think I attribute that growing up a Beatles fan. We grew up just waiting for the next Beatles record to come out! And that didn't suck!!
We met Ringo when he was playing at the Concord. That's a very strange place. When we went up there, it was Jewish singles weekend so there was a couple dozen of us Beatles fans and the rest Jewish singles trying to hook up! It was general admission so I was able to get us a front table! Ringo came over to our table and I shook his hand. Karin actually jumped up on the stage and handed him flowers! It was great!
George Harrison, who was one of my favorite Beatles, passed away before I could meet him. We always gave George his privacy. When he'd slip into town, it was hard to find him.

MICK: On your website, while browsing your photographs, that you visit the graves of many famous people.
MIKE: Yes. As I told you, Karin is a big Presidential person so we've been to like 17 Presidential birth places. Obviously, we have a lot to catch up on! LBJ had one of the nicest ones. He's buried under this big tree in Texas on his property. What really turned me on to this, and it's just like Wayne's World, we went to Mount Vernon which is George Washington's home. Him and Martha Washington are buried in crypts outside. It is gated and there's bars around the crypts but you can actually stick your hand in and touch the actual cement coffin. So I was standing outside of this thing and it just hit me..."Oh my God, George Washington is right in that box!" Not like its my grandfather or grandmother, it's freakin George Washington! I was like dumbfounded and Karin was getting such a kick out of this! So that probably started the whole thing. Then we went to London and they have this really famous, old cemetery which is very ornate and overgrown. If I was a rock band I would love to shoot my album cover there! Then we went to the one in Paris where Oscar Wilde is buried, Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf..many many famous people. So I just get this fascination that "wow, they're right here!". People I've read about, loved and respected whether they're an author, a singer, whatever. I love it!!

To see more on Stanko: http://www.stankoart.com/

Stanko's next show: November 7th, 2009
7-10PM Running Through December 1st, 2009

Ripe Art Gallery
67 Broadway
Greenlawn, New York
631.239.1805

Pure Jazz Radio

George Bernard Shaw once said “You see things; and you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say, 'Why not?'”
Veteran Long Island disc jockey Rich Keith had a dream about establishing a successful internet jazz radio station, the first of it's kind, and his dream has become a reality! After spending over 30 years on various stations throughout Long Island, Rich spends his time these days as the general manager and founder of "PureJazzRadio.com". His show "New York Tonight" is broadcast 8-11PM EST Monday through Friday bringing listeners worldwide the best jazz sounds ever recorded! Recently, I was privileged to sit in the studio with Rich and talk about his new adventure!

MICK: How did you get started in radio?
RICH: Years and years ago, I majored in radio and television at Suffolk Community College. I was the only guy who wanted to be in radio. Everybody else wanted to be in TV. I went the entire two years and forgot everything I learned about TV and decided to stay in radio. I was fortunate enough to actually get a job in radio while I was in college, a station out on the East end WRIV 1390AM. It's still around! Eventually, I moved on to some other stations in the area like WALK, another station in Patchogue WLIM 1580 AM. I was morning man there for a long time. Never really made a good living in radio so I managed to make money elsewhere. I always had my hand either part time or full time in radio. Most recently, I was at WSHR 91.9FM, Sachem High School radio station. Big FM station the school got back in the 60's. It covers most of long Island, the south coast of Connecticut, parts of NYC. I programed the jazz and standards there for a few years. I did a Friday night show and programed a Sunday Sinatra show. When the station's tower was hit by lightning and knocked off the air, we came up with the idea for an online radio station. I got some real good engineering help from a friend of mine at CBS and we were able to make it happen.

MICK: Very cool! A great idea for sure!
RICH: Yes! It's nice because we are not limited by listening area. Basically, the listening area is the entire world! I've worked at radio stations where if you had a real good throwing arm, you could probably throw a baseball from one side of the listening area to the other. It was always a big deal if someone from 15-20 miles away was calling. Here at Pure Jazz Radio, we get emails from all over the world!! Australia, Europe, all over! Last week we got an email from a guy in Hong Kong and they are 12 hours ahead of us. I'm here at 10PM in New York talking into a microphone in the studio here and there's some guy in Hong Kong listening at 10AM in the morning! It's absolutely amazing!

MICK: Is your programing worldwide as well?
RICH: Yes, we were able to make contacts from all over the world too! Programing comes in from all over the United States and elsewhere in the world. The Jazz Scene, which we do every day to announce jazz happenings, comes from contacts in England, Scotland, Australia. If we get the information well in advance, we post it on the website. It's worked out really well!

MICK: How many listeners do you think you have now?
RICH: Right now, we're reaching between 7000 to 8000 people. It's a nice start! We've only been around since January 2009 so ,it's not even a year yet. It took around 6 months before we worked out all of the technical problems. I have a dedicated fiber optic line for the station. The software package we use is excellent and makes this all possible. I don't have to be here 24/7 to make it happen. So that's basically where we are at right now. I do the live show between 8PM and 11PM Monday through Friday. We broadcast that a couple of times to different time zones. I rebroadcast it midnight till 3AM EST so the listeners on the west coast can hear it 9PM till midnight. We also rebroadcast the show the following day 3 till 6 because we're picking up our listeners in Europe. That's a neat thing covering the different time zones with a live show. We are getting shows programed from all over! Regular disc jockey shows from people who work at NPR stations in North Carolina, Santa Fe New Mexico, Orlando Florida, even a couple of programs coming in from England. We try to run them at times that are good for the people over there. It's really starting to take off for us as far as listener ship is concerned. We've just been approved to be a New York State non-profit corporation. Mainly because we want to keep the programing true to what we do. We are filing this month for the federal 501-c. At that point. all donations will be tax deductible.

MICK: How is funding coming along?
RICH: It's coming along slowly. We've had some listeners who have been very generous. We're about breaking even right now. We run it for "next to nothing" now but, with the plans we have in the future for enhanced studio space, a performance studio, promotion of live music and education, substantial funding will be required.

MICK: Do you pay royalties?
RICH: Yes we do. We take care of that. They are performers and they deserve to get paid! I know there are a lot of operations out there flying below the radar but our intention is to do everything the right way. You really don't want somebody coming at you somewhere down the line. The next step is once we get the 501-c we can go the corporate route and see whats out there. I'm going to need some help as that's not my strength. My strength is programing the radio station, doing live programs and attracting new programing. We'd like to expand into jazz education and funding for jazz festivals. It's important to me to keep the musicians working.

MICK: Will you be broadcasting any live performances?
RICH: Yes. Right now we have a moderate collection of music. Our intent down the line is to actually move into a bigger studio where we can have some live performances with live musicians in the studio. Right now, everything is on cd, tape, MP3. But it's our intention in the future to move into a larger operation with office space, performance space, a few studios. That's the direction we'd like to go depending on the amount of money we get to come in. That will determine how much time I'm able to spend doing this. I'd like to be able to dedicate myself full time to this. Right now, everybody is working basically gratis. I'd like to be able to help them out because some of them are spending money on production costs out of there own pockets.

MICK: You seem to be servicing a market that has disappeared from the radio!
RICH: Our thing here is to cater to an audience that is completely under served by commercial radio and more under served by public radio. Maybe a station like this would have a hard time surviving in one local market. Most of the radio stations these days are owned by big corporations. Everything now is corporately controlled. The stock holders are the boss, not the listeners. This station that I am programing is not for everybody. It's designed for a specific audience. Not a hard core jazz audience. I don't want to limit the appeal to that narrow of an audience where we play 13 minutes of Thelonious Monk cuts or "Love Supreme" by Coltrane. We are trying to broaden the scope a bit where we are playing jazz but we are also playing standards by Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, Michael Franks. Not to much smooth jazz. And very limited hard core jazz stuff. We'll play Nat Cole, then we'll play Miles Davis. We'll play Thelonious Monk, and then we'll throw in a Tony Bennett or a Sinatra. Basically keep it appealing to as large of an audience as we can but a very specific audience! The worldwide reach is what makes it work. A bunch of people here, a bunch of people there. There might not be a viable audience in London or a viable audience in New York but when you put them all together, we build up a nice listener audience. As a non-profit, hopefully we can get many more contributors so we can provide a service nobody else can offer.

MICK: You have the station set up really nice!
RICH: Yes, this automated system is phenomenal. I've probably loaded in about 5000 cuts so far and we get new stuff all the time. We have about 2500 Cd's and we're starting to transcribe some of the vinyl stuff that's not available on CD. The automated system that we use makes it possible for us to be on 24/7. I don't have to be hands on here all the time. It allows me to be on here 3 hours a night, 5 nights a week. Play 3 cuts, then talk. Play 3 more, then talk.

MICK: Do you record the shows?
RICH: Yes, I record every show. At the end of each night, I transfer it from the production computer onto the main computer. I have a backlog so far of about 150-200 shows so far of the "New York Tonight Show". If I need to take any time off, I can actually program it to play a prerecorded show at a specific time.

MICK: How do people from other parts of the world submit their programs to you?
RICH: They email them from all over! It's amazing! They email me the shows and I download them onto the production computer. We then program it to whenever it needs to be played. The new technology is amazing! It's like we lived in an analog world for a number of years and then something flicked a switch! It happened fast. It was analog and then bam..digital with combined tape machine! Even Scotch doesn't make tape anymore! For a guy like me to be able to edit on a computer screen is incredible as I had to once deal with razor blades. When you had to edit a three hour show and you'd be neck deep in little snippets of audio tape! And if you weren't good with the razor you'd be bleeding all over the place!
Today with the digital technology, you're not losing any quality at all. You can cut 200 Cd's from a program and still have the same quality throughout the process. No static at all!

MICK: I'm very impressed with this whole "Pure Jazz Radio" setup!
RICH: I am, too, everyday! There's something that surprises me and impresses me every day! We're going to give it our best shot. It really comes down to the music. It's unfortunate that if the music doesn't have somebody to promote it on a media basis, it will die. There's nobody on the radio doing it. I've made some very interesting proposals to radio stations that have either been rebuffed or ignored completely. There are radio stations out on Eastern Long Island and a couple in Central Long Island that are doing absolutely nothing. You may as well turn them off for the listener ship they have.

MICK: I feel something like this on an FM station would be dynamite.
RICH: Definitely! The NPR station out in South Hampton, everybody's crying that they're going off the air. It's my way of thinking that they were mismanaged. They were running a million dollar deficit and I think they were way over staffed. They had a pretty decent listener ship because they played jazz. It's kind of silly that somebody won't pick up the slack. There's a ready made audience! I'm running "Pure Jazz Radio" for practically nothing right now! I'm doing everything I can to get us known out there! I'd be more than happy to pick up those NPR listeners! It doesn't matter if they're in Montauk or Manitoba!

MICK: What type of advertising do you do?
RICH: We haven't done any yet! Actually, we have to work out, as a non-profit corporation, the actual format that we take. It's probably close to what they do on NPR or PBS. I ask listeners if they'd like to donate, we would really appreciate it. We are also getting people to show online through our website. A lot of people shop online anyway so they might as well do it through us!
They can get the same price or better. We get a couple of cents off the top. It kills two bids with one stone! As far as other fund raising goes, I'd much rather do it on a governmental or corporate level.

MICK: Will you sponsor any jazz concerts to raise money?
RICH: Absolutely! We can possibly partner up with some artists and have some sort of festival to benefit the station. Our main thing is to not just hang out here and play Cd's at the station. Jazz education is important to me. Getting some instruments into kids hands and teach them how to make the right sounds with them. We want to do all we can to keep musicians employed. Today it's terrible that every event you go to it's a DJ. You can go out and get five great musicians for the price of one DJ! That's important to me to make sure these people work. That's where we get new material from! I love the old stuff but I also love to play some of today's contemporary artists that play our stuff. So we are trying to tie it all together!

Join Rich Keith each night at www.purejazzradio.org
"New York Tonight" 8pm to 11pm EST M-F
(Rebroadcast 12m to 3am est 7 nights a week)

Goodbye Soupy

On Thursday, October 22nd, we lost a true legend of the entertainment business. Soupy Sales, the slapstick- pie throwing comic, was 83 years young when he passed away at a hospice in the Bronx. He had been in failing health for many years though he continued to make appearances at local memorabilia shows until earlier this year. His comedic genius brought him broad appeal to children and adults alike throughout the land. It is estimated that he tossed well over 20,000 pies during his long career. And his on air capers in front of his children's audience would sometimes get him in hot water, which in turn would only boost his popularity.
One event in particular is probably his most famous blunder. It was New Years Day in 1965. Soupy was almost done with his show at 7pm when the producer told him he had a minute to kill. Soupy walked up to the camera and said "Listen children, your mom and dad are probably tired from last night and they're laying down in their bedroom. Go in the room quietly and look in your mom's pocketbook and your dad"s wallet. Look for any green paper that has pictures of men with beards on them. Take those funny green papers, put them in an envelope and mail them to me at the TV station. Once I get your envelope, I will send you a postcard from Puerto Rico!" Soupy was suspended for two weeks!
I had the pleasure to meet Soupy a few years ago at my buddy Gary Lyons' "Gotham Super Collector's Show" in NYC. He was very happy to be meeting his fans and signing autographs throughout the day despite showing the effects from a stroke he suffered a few months earlier. The photograph above is myself with Soupy at the show. A trooper to the end.
Goodbye Soupy. I wonder of St.Peter gave you a pie in the face as you went through those pearly gates!