June 16, 2022 • 29 mins
The engaging Billy Vera is joining Tori and Jennie to discuss and his character Duke and Brandon's gambling problem.
Plus, they get to relive memories of hearing AT THIS MOMENT for this first time on Family Ties.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
With Jenny Garth and Tori Spelling. Okay, so we have
him here today. It's Brandon's bookie. It's the infamous Billy Vera.
Oh my gosh, American singer, extraordinary. Oh my god, you're here, Hi, Billy.
We're so excited. Hold on, I just want to remember
(00:27):
this moment. I remember it all too well. I'm telling
you when I I can't Family Ties that was like
this moment, uh huh, at this moment that was everybody
remembers that song that made that scene on Family Ties
(00:49):
like oh yeah, and nobody's happier than I am. That
lived on with a lot of cover versions you have.
Today was Tom Jones birthday, and so on my Facebook,
I always put whoever's birthday it is in music, you know,
and I'll put a you know, a song of theirs
(01:10):
or whatever. So when when it's Tom Jones's birthday, I
get to put his version of At this Moment or
Michael Hoy whoever did it most you know on their birthday.
That must be feel like such an honor to have
people cover your iconic song. It's it's it's great. You know.
(01:31):
I've been a professional songwriter since I was about nineteen
years old, and uh, I used to be a staff
songwriter at publishing companies. You know, they luck you in
a room and a little half a piano and and
you both comes in and tells you, Hey, Tony Bennett's
recording next week, can you come up with something for him?
You know, whoever pressure you just knock him when you
(01:54):
knock him out, and you hope that they recorded, and
you hope it sells. You know, I got my best
was one of my favorites was Dolly parton what would
You Write for? Dolly? Song called I Really Got the
Feeling and I went to number one on the country charts.
I was happy, Well, she's the nicest person you ever
(02:16):
want to meet. In case you never have, I would
love to meet Dolly Dolly either. Everybody loves the Dolly.
Every loves this song too. Everybody loves you. You've been,
like you said, doing this since you were knee high
to a grasshopper or lower. Well, you know, my parents
were in show business. You know, was an announcer on
(02:39):
NBC for about thirty years, and my mom was a
singer on the Perry Como Show. One of the background said,
no letters, we get letters. You know, one of those curs. Yeah,
how did your parents influence your career? Then? Do you
think I think just a professional you know, making me
more professional? Uh, because there's really if you're not if
(03:01):
you don't come from a show biz family, who's to
teach you, right, Who's just you know a little little
silly things. Of course, when I first started, first had
a hit record, I got booked at the Apollo Theater,
you know, in New York, and it was the Apollo
was the pinnacle of black show business, you know, and
(03:21):
I was totally white guy. But a lot of the
old timers they would take it as their obligation to
to show you the ropes. You know, hey, kids, this
is how you make an entrance, this is how you
make an exit. You know, don't say this, do that,
And that's how you learn. I don't know, I don't
know how kids learned nowadays. Yeah, it's different now it's
(03:42):
not people aren't so supportive of one another. They're kind
of like you're on your own out there. Yeah, and
they make a record and the next thing, you know, oh,
now you got to go on stage. You know, you
gotta do an act. Whereas you know, in my day,
you you did a lot of time, you know, crummy clubs, performing, Yeah,
(04:03):
getting dressed in the bathroom, changing your clothing. Since your
career was mostly music in the beginning, what made you
want to start acting? That was not something I really
wanted to do. Uh. We were playing at the Troubadoor
every Monday night, you know, the first year I was
out here. And the fellow that was my songwriting mentor
(04:26):
was named Jim Taylor. He wrote wild Thing Agent. And
he had a brother who was an actor named John Foyd.
So one night John comes in with his acting coach,
David pro Vaal you might remember from the Sopranos and
Main Streets, and and he comes. They come backstage. John said,
(04:47):
you know, Billy, I've never seen a singer do what
you do up there. He said, you know, most of
these guys come out there and say, hey, hello, La,
I'm gonna make you feel happy, I'm gonna make you cry,
I'm gonna make you And you don't do that, he said.
He said, you you just get out there and lay
it out there and let them feel with nature tells
(05:08):
him to feel. He said, you know, he said, you
should be an actor. I said, oh, John, I don't
want to be an actor, man. You know, that's for
you guys. You know, because John was one of the
great actors of our time. In case you you've seen
him recently in the Ray Donovan, he kills anyway. So
he taught me to go into this class, David pro
(05:30):
Ball's class, and I just against my will. And there
were two guys up on stage that night, Chris Moulkey
and a guy named Rocky Esaveria who became Stephen Bower.
And I said, oh, these guys are doing something that's real,
you know, and maybe I'll see if I can learn
how to do this. And you know, it took me
(05:51):
a while to make the transition, but after a while
people started saying, Hey, you want to be on this show,
Hey you want to be in this movie, Hey you
want to be in this play. And I started doing it.
You know, Oh you are you are natural and he
knew it. I guess, you know. I think it coincided
with something I've been working on when I still lived
(06:14):
in New York. Um it was a concept I had
and I didn't know other people did this. So I'm
just saying, you know, I know how I've been doing
this for a while. I know how to make people
laugh and make them cry, and but there's got to
be more. You know, what what if what if I'm
doing a funny song on stage tonight, but my best
(06:37):
friend died this afternoon? You know? Do I have a
what's my obligation to be funny? Yeah? But it is.
Do I also have an obligation maybe to include somehow
my friend's death or that guy that cut me off
on the way to the club tonight, you know? And
and how can I combine all those things and and
(07:01):
and make it bigger than just getting out there and
singing in the song? You know? And so I was
working on that and then as low and behold. That's
kind of what David's class was teaching, you know, how
to how to do that, how to bring all of
the of your life experiences into the portrayal of whatever
it is that you're doing. Yeah, you know, like it's
(07:23):
like having a pale a painter and you've got all
those colors and there they are, you can use them,
choose which ones you're going to use, and that becomes
so relatable. You become real to the fans as well. Yeah,
they feel the connection on a deeper level. I think
when you performed in that place. Well, you know, that's
one of the things the old timers up at the
Apollo Theater told him. They said, you know, don't be
(07:45):
afraid to talk to him on stage. You know if
they if you talk to him, they'll get to know you.
And if they get to know you, they'll like you.
They like you, they'll come and see you next time. Yeah,
that's how it works. I guess. Yeah, I'm gonna go
(08:13):
back to your TV appearances and You've done so many
amazing things. But of course I have to ask because
I'm a huge soap opera fan. You're on Days of
Our Lives? Wait, did you play yourself on Days of
Our Lives or did you play a character on Dave's
Uh No, we went on There's the Band. Yeah. We
did a couple of songs on Days and one of
my by myself with the band, and another one we
(08:34):
did a duet of an old hit I had some
years before, cool story with children that I sang it
with Gloria lor Oh wow, yeah, that's so cool to
be How about take us back though? How did you
get the role of Duke on Beverly Hills nine or
two on. Oh, I don't know. I guess I guess
(08:55):
I just auditioned maybe or maybe just somebody figured out
you know, um, I can't he plays Thug of the Week.
You know, I think you were a little bit more
than Thug of the Week. I feel like you did
not audition. I feel like they want to eat in
that role, you know. As it turns out, Chuck Rosen
was my neighbor, Well there you go. Yeah, And I
(09:18):
don't think that I adn'ty going to do with it.
And I knew Chuck peripherally, you know, because I had
done some things for a friend that one of his
best friends, guy named Bobby Roth, another director, uh I,
and also sometimes the band had appeared in a lot
of Bobby's We were kind of like a stock company,
(09:39):
you know, asked Jen. Do you think the character Duke
was named after Duke Fencent? My dad and my dad
had a right I'm sorry, So my dad had a
producing partner and it was his name was Duke, like
I called him Uncle Duke. At the time we were
doing the show, somebody said it was kind of a
(10:00):
you know, an inside joke, and I always like inside jokes.
Was it fun to play a character like that, like
this kind of bad guy. Yeah. I like to play
bad guys, you know. Uh. And then poor Jason I
had to scare and you know, you had to rough
him up a little. I didn't hit him or anything,
(10:21):
you know, I did, I did. I did a similar thing. Uh.
There was a movie called The Doors and I played
a promoter at the concert where Jim Morrison uh exposes
himself and the kid that played his manager, you know,
the Doors manager. I think he was Ally McGraw's son
(10:41):
or something like that. Anyway, so Oliver Stone said, look,
don't be don't be afraid to just beat him up.
So I made him cry a poor kids really and
and and Oliver Stone never never, you know, he kept
he wouldn't say cut. You know, he just kept going
a distant with this poor kid because I kept yelling
(11:03):
at him and calling them all kinds of vile names.
And you know, that was that was my part. That
was my job. You know. Oh my gosh, that makes
me really happy, because um, my parents were friends with
his parents and they were trying to set us up
and he didn't want to go out with me. So
his name is Josh. So thanks for thanks good, I
did it for you. Well, you know, you did a
(11:27):
great job as an actor, But you would have to
say that music was always your passion probably, right, Yeah,
that's my main thing, you know, singing songs and getting
up there on the stage and relating to the people. Yeah,
I mean, acting really was the sideline for the most part,
although there was a period there where the music wasn't
(11:48):
going so well, so I was actually making more of
a living acting than than singing it. Well, that's great
fallback then, right, Yeah, Well, you know I figured out
at one point that the age of specialization was over
m hm, you know, and and then that you that
I had to do as many things that I'm you know,
(12:11):
you're you're good at a number of things hopefully, so
if you do them all, you know, maybe this year
this one will do well, and next year that one
will do well and this one not so well, and
so combining them all you can make a decent living.
I like that. Diversify people. Yeah, it's a good message.
(12:32):
Modern rule of the show business. I need, we need
to diversify tour. We gotta work on that, like start
saving or dancing or I don't know, we can do
something fall back on. It didn't teach you to dance
in those days, they didn't. There was no training of
any kind like the studio system. They just threw out
(12:52):
there back in the thirties and the forties. They had
to do it. You had to do fencing and thing,
and yeah, he taught you actual skills. WHOA like remembering
the old remember like look at all of us. Let
me take that again. Remember when you had an actual
printed resume, but at the bottom you would always have
(13:14):
it would be like special special talents or special interests,
and people would have like special skills, and people would
have like fencing and like gymnastics. Yeah, did you have
like dancing on their gen And like, what were your
special skills, Billy? Besides fencing and singing. One time I
(13:35):
had a I had in this movie called BUCKERUBONSI and
I had had to ride a horse. And I hadn't
ridden a horse since I was riding ponies as a
little boy. So I knew this actress that that she
was a good rider, you know, and she she took
me out and gave you some stuff. And not only
(13:55):
did I have to ride the horse, I had to
stand on him. Yeah, not a stunt double. No, not me, man,
you know important enough to have a stunt double, so
you had to do it? Was the horse moving? No, no,
you know what I got there in the ring room,
(14:15):
I said, Man, you know, I'm a little scared to
get it right. Of course I have only had a
few lessons. He said, don't worry about it. That these
are movie star horses. They won't let you fall. They
can They're trained to sense when you're about to, you know,
do this, and and they move. They know how to
move so that you won't fall. You can't fall, So
(14:37):
I didn't, Thank god, Oh my god, oh my goodness.
We would be remiss if we did not talk about
your song at this moment. And it's how it became
such an iconic symbol after it was featured on Family Ties.
I don't think that we really talked about that enough
because it really had a huge impact on the world
and your career. Like what you what happened? How did
(15:01):
that go down? Well? Um, I had written this song
back when I still lived in New York, Uh, living
at my mother's as like a loser musician at age
and uh, when Dolly cut my song, I'm got an
offer to move out here and write songs for Warner Brothers.
(15:24):
And I had already written at this moment it had
come about. I had just I was I guess I
was thirty three at the time, and I had this
little twenty year old college girlfriend and she was telling
me about her previous boyfriend and how crushed he was
when he when she left him, and how destroyed he
(15:45):
wasn't just all this and I kind of started writing
it from what I perceived as his point of view. Wow,
you know, and well, you know, it's like acting. You know,
sometimes you gotta write a song for a girl singer,
so you gotta you gotta be a girl for the
twenty minutes it takes you right there song, you know.
So anyway, Uh, I got about two thirds of the
(16:09):
way through the song. I couldn't figure out how to
end it. And then when she dumped me a year later,
I knew how it ended that last first. So I
came out here and that was my publisher heard it.
This guy had been music business forever, and uh he
(16:29):
had me play a couple of songs for his staff
and that was one of them. And I don't really
didn't think it was a commercial song. You know, it
didn't have a great title, you know, a memorable title.
I turned anyway, I turned around, and there he is.
He's got tears coming down his face. This is this hard,
hardened businessman. I said, Wow, maybe this song really has something.
(16:54):
So anyway, we started doing it in the clubs and
we got a record you and that was one of
the songs he recorded. Well, the record company went out
of business, and then I was five years between record deals,
(17:14):
and then the golden phone call comes. Guy says, my
name is Michael Whitehorn. I produced and write for a
showk Family Times, and we heard you do a song
at the club the other night. We came to see you,
and we think it might be good for an episode
we have coming up. And I said, what's the name
(17:35):
of it? He said, I don't know whatever the title
it was, So I knew that's what the song was.
When he couldn't think of the title, that's it was it. Well,
I said, we'll call my publisher called Warner Brothers, and
licensed the song for the show. So he did, and
I get a bank full of mail. You know, I
had had songs on TV shows before it. Usually you
(17:58):
make a few bucks and that's nice. That's the end
of it. But ma'am so I said, well, you know,
maybe this song has something, maybe somebody will let me
re record it. And everybody I called said no. And
one day I was having lunch with a friend of
mine who owned Rhino Records, and that's a company that
(18:20):
puts out all these goodies, and we have these mock arguments.
You know, whose version of Mustang salarly is the best?
You know. We had these lunches and I told him
about family ties. I said, I said, how many records
do you need to sell to break even at your company? Said, oh,
we have a small staff here, not made a couple
of thousands, and so I'll guarantee you two thousand if
(18:42):
you put it out. Put it out. He said sure.
And he only did it because he likes me. He'll
tell you to this day. He just figured to do
your favor and nothing would come of it. And as
as Lady luck would have it, they used to the
following season and the girl breaks up with Michael J. Fox.
(19:03):
Then the story of the song and the story of
the episode Boy Loses Girl were the same, and the
public responded. NBC said they had more phone calls than
any time in the history of the network for a song,
and people started calling radio stations, they started calling record stores.
(19:25):
There was no promotion because Ranno didn't know how to promote,
and it was an organic, uh you know, grassroots kind
of record that just boom took off. The next thing,
you know, it's the number one record. I'm forty two
years old, got the number one record. Yeah, I went
on Dick Clark. You know, one of my dreams was
(19:47):
to be on American band Stand. Did Johnny Carson nine times,
you know, so it was cool. It turned out to
change my life for the better. Great story. I was
(20:13):
twelve years old and literally I still to the same
forty nine. Can remember that scene and that song like
it's and it was, I mean I loved Alex and
Ellen like, but it was that song that made made it.
It made everything. And it was probably my first like
thing into like loving romance and watching that in movies
(20:35):
and TV and um, you know, heartbreak and wanting it
to work out. It's like a song concealed the deal
on that you were twelve years old, Yeah, a little baby.
That funny thing about that song, I mean vividly remember
I mean, there were kids that made it their junior
(20:57):
high school record hop song. There were sixty five year
old couples was their song. It crossed every demographic group.
It was being on the pop chart. Yeah, like when
that played in high school dances, Oh my gosh, she
just looked around and you were praying like a boy
would ask me a slow dance to. It was just
that one of those rare, universal kind of songs that
(21:21):
fit every format. Yeah. It just goes to show you
the power of music, especially when they use it mix
it with the medium of storytelling through film and television,
like they're there partners, Like when they worked together like
that so beautifully to create something so memorable. That's what
(21:41):
that's like lightning in a bottle. I mean, people to
this day, you know, come up to me. I remember
where I was when Michael J. Fox was crying over
the girl. You know, well he never lost her in
real life because they want to get married and have kids.
They're still but the other I know, like I think
(22:02):
in Hollywood things don't work out. They have this great relationship.
He was on he was on a talk show, you know,
and he said, he said, you know, I'm getting to
tell you the truth. I'm getting a little sick of
the song, he said. He said, every time we walk
into a place, the band starts playing it in real life.
Oh my gosh, that's hilarious. I wonder if they played
it at their wedding. Boy, you know it's it's really
(22:23):
not a wedding. I guess not. People say, what are
you seeing at this moment? I said, you crazy? Are
you sure you want me to do that? I don't
want to you can I ask you one last question
about nine two and so you were You were in
four episodes as Duke, but Duke later comes back in
the show, but it wasn't you. It was a different actor. Yeah.
(22:46):
I don't remember why that happened or how that happened.
You're probably busy and on tour and stuff that we
had to get something else. I must have had another
gig that week or something. I guess. I don't know.
I would have done in a minute, you know, just
one that was curious. That was my role. He wasn't
as good as now. Well, you're still busy to this day.
(23:10):
What are you tell us what you're up to? I'm
going to do something really fun the end of the month,
I'm going to go back and play at my high school. WHOA,
oh my god, in White Plains, New York. Yeah, I'm
gonna I'm gonna do a show there, and uh it's
a it's a really nice theater at the school. In fact,
(23:31):
Alan older was it was the was alumni. John Boyd
was an alumni. So yeah, And the last time I
was on that stage, I was. I was in tenth grade.
We we we wanted to be in the talent show,
you know, and uh, you know, how good could you
(23:55):
be a sixteen years old? So I knew a little
bit of guitar. I put my best friend and I
taught him how to play two songs on guitar stone deaf.
He couldn't even the guitar, poor kids, but he had
an amp. I couldn't afford an amp. And then uh,
I taught this other kid out to play the same
(24:15):
two songs on drums. And we went up there and
we had friends up in the spotlight booth. So we
want these cheap white jackets. We said, put purple and pink,
you know, lights on us. And we got two hundred
ninety six out of two d boats and it was
it was really shameful because the kid that should have won.
(24:37):
His name was Germano Romano. I'll never forget Romano, that's
his real name. It was a classical pianist. His hands
were insured for a hundred thousand dollars. He should have won,
you know. I mean we sucked, but he looked good. Well,
we played the Rocket Roll. I think that was the key.
(24:58):
I can't lose with Rocket Roll. Now, you when you can't.
So when you play, is it just gonna be you
or it'll be your entire group, which obviously everyone knows
is Billy veron the Beaters. I wish it was. Uh,
they're coming with you. It's going to be a house band.
It's a it's a multi artist show. So yeah, it's
(25:18):
like bringing Billy back, you know, back home, and all
the homies will be there. Fun. If you need some backups,
we'll dance for you in the back. Yeah. Yeah, I
try to lips, you know, Uh, to do a gig
in New York, you know, usually in the city, but
(25:40):
this is the suburbs. So because it's one kid must
have done well because you bought three rows in the theater,
so I guess so exciting anybody that's listening that gets
to go to the show. You are very lucky. Yeah,
we'd like the things. And we play out here in
(26:01):
a place called Vito. Yeah. Yes, we just played there
a couple of weeks ago to celebrate my birthday. So,
oh my gosh, we can see him. We could go
see him at Votels. I know, next time you're there,
let's go the guy who's the same Does the same
guy own that place? Still? Bad is his name? He's
(26:25):
on it? Not the old easier that used to own
right that? Because that Votelo has had some history, some
stuff go down. Oh let me tell you. Yeah, that's
some stories. I was called the Robert Blake Memorial Room.
I still get nervous to go there. Yeah, Vincent, Wait,
do you know the next time you're gonna be a Vatelos.
(26:45):
I don't know the date. You can always go on
billy vera dot com or you know, I can give
you my number, you know, whatever you want. Billy Fair
is going to give us his number one what I mean, Facebook,
all that stuff. You know, it's okay, Billy, we'll just
slide into your d M s. Yeah, oh my gosh,
(27:08):
that's very exciting. Okay, Well, when you see us there,
remember us, it's Jenny and Tory. We'll be like wean Yeah,
I'll announce you, man, every once while we get some
famous people in there, you know, to come to see us.
My boy Joe Pesci always comes when he's in town.
He's a great singer, you know. Yes, oh great, not good,
(27:29):
He's great. Really, I love him. He been singing since
he was ten years old. Well, don't ask us this thing.
Just trust me on that. Okay, maybe Tory actually, but
I can't help her. Um, we're finding out so much info.
Then I feel like this is like cool and so
(27:52):
much fun time. This has been the greatest interview. Thank
you for taking the time to talk to us and
catch up and fill us in. I be to do it.
I'm happy to do it. You're bringing back some good
memories of being on that one though. Man, I mean
this confirms that you are the real deal. Like, you're
not just an unbelievable iconic performer. You are charming as hell.
(28:14):
Like oh mg, like and want to hang out. I
want to hear are so charming and adorable. Come on over.
We'll play old old blues records in my house. Love it,
love it, thanky so much. Billy, Well, thanks for having me. Girls,
good look at your show. Thanks, thanks, not really, you
(28:39):
gotta come back then. We gotta see if you tell
us any time. I'm here for you, all right, love you,
Billy your Oh my gosh, take care. Oh my gosh.
Billy is so amazing a heartthrob. I know, he's so charming,
so charming and sexy and like he knows how. It's
(28:59):
like eggs started to come out a little more and
more and more as he got more comfortable. Yeah, oh
my gosh, wait, we have to actually go. We have
to we have to do that. We should definitely do that.
I'm scared of hotels, but it we'll go. Yeah, it's
so convenient though. It's right there. Okay, we're doing it.
With Jenny Garth and Tori Spelling. Okay, so we have
him here today. It's Brandon's bookie. It's the infamous Billy Vera.
Oh my gosh, American singer, extraordinary. Oh my god, you're here, Hi, Billy.
We're so excited. Hold on, I just want to remember
(00:27):
this moment. I remember it all too well. I'm telling
you when I I can't Family Ties that was like
this moment, uh huh, at this moment that was everybody
remembers that song that made that scene on Family Ties
(00:49):
like oh yeah, and nobody's happier than I am. That
lived on with a lot of cover versions you have.
Today was Tom Jones birthday, and so on my Facebook,
I always put whoever's birthday it is in music, you know,
and I'll put a you know, a song of theirs
(01:10):
or whatever. So when when it's Tom Jones's birthday, I
get to put his version of At this Moment or
Michael Hoy whoever did it most you know on their birthday.
That must be feel like such an honor to have
people cover your iconic song. It's it's it's great. You know.
(01:31):
I've been a professional songwriter since I was about nineteen
years old, and uh, I used to be a staff
songwriter at publishing companies. You know, they luck you in
a room and a little half a piano and and
you both comes in and tells you, Hey, Tony Bennett's
recording next week, can you come up with something for him?
You know, whoever pressure you just knock him when you
(01:54):
knock him out, and you hope that they recorded, and
you hope it sells. You know, I got my best
was one of my favorites was Dolly parton what would
You Write for? Dolly? Song called I Really Got the
Feeling and I went to number one on the country charts.
I was happy, Well, she's the nicest person you ever
(02:16):
want to meet. In case you never have, I would
love to meet Dolly Dolly either. Everybody loves the Dolly.
Every loves this song too. Everybody loves you. You've been,
like you said, doing this since you were knee high
to a grasshopper or lower. Well, you know, my parents
were in show business. You know, was an announcer on
(02:39):
NBC for about thirty years, and my mom was a
singer on the Perry Como Show. One of the background said,
no letters, we get letters. You know, one of those curs. Yeah,
how did your parents influence your career? Then? Do you
think I think just a professional you know, making me
more professional? Uh, because there's really if you're not if
(03:01):
you don't come from a show biz family, who's to
teach you, right, Who's just you know a little little
silly things. Of course, when I first started, first had
a hit record, I got booked at the Apollo Theater,
you know, in New York, and it was the Apollo
was the pinnacle of black show business, you know, and
(03:21):
I was totally white guy. But a lot of the
old timers they would take it as their obligation to
to show you the ropes. You know, hey, kids, this
is how you make an entrance, this is how you
make an exit. You know, don't say this, do that,
And that's how you learn. I don't know, I don't
know how kids learned nowadays. Yeah, it's different now it's
(03:42):
not people aren't so supportive of one another. They're kind
of like you're on your own out there. Yeah, and
they make a record and the next thing, you know, oh,
now you got to go on stage. You know, you
gotta do an act. Whereas you know, in my day,
you you did a lot of time, you know, crummy clubs, performing, Yeah,
(04:03):
getting dressed in the bathroom, changing your clothing. Since your
career was mostly music in the beginning, what made you
want to start acting? That was not something I really
wanted to do. Uh. We were playing at the Troubadoor
every Monday night, you know, the first year I was
out here. And the fellow that was my songwriting mentor
(04:26):
was named Jim Taylor. He wrote wild Thing Agent. And
he had a brother who was an actor named John Foyd.
So one night John comes in with his acting coach,
David pro Vaal you might remember from the Sopranos and
Main Streets, and and he comes. They come backstage. John said,
(04:47):
you know, Billy, I've never seen a singer do what
you do up there. He said, you know, most of
these guys come out there and say, hey, hello, La,
I'm gonna make you feel happy, I'm gonna make you cry,
I'm gonna make you And you don't do that, he said.
He said, you you just get out there and lay
it out there and let them feel with nature tells
(05:08):
him to feel. He said, you know, he said, you
should be an actor. I said, oh, John, I don't
want to be an actor, man. You know, that's for
you guys. You know, because John was one of the
great actors of our time. In case you you've seen
him recently in the Ray Donovan, he kills anyway. So
he taught me to go into this class, David pro
(05:30):
Ball's class, and I just against my will. And there
were two guys up on stage that night, Chris Moulkey
and a guy named Rocky Esaveria who became Stephen Bower.
And I said, oh, these guys are doing something that's real,
you know, and maybe I'll see if I can learn
how to do this. And you know, it took me
(05:51):
a while to make the transition, but after a while
people started saying, Hey, you want to be on this show,
Hey you want to be in this movie, Hey you
want to be in this play. And I started doing it.
You know, Oh you are you are natural and he
knew it. I guess, you know. I think it coincided
with something I've been working on when I still lived
(06:14):
in New York. Um it was a concept I had
and I didn't know other people did this. So I'm
just saying, you know, I know how I've been doing
this for a while. I know how to make people
laugh and make them cry, and but there's got to
be more. You know, what what if what if I'm
doing a funny song on stage tonight, but my best
(06:37):
friend died this afternoon? You know? Do I have a
what's my obligation to be funny? Yeah? But it is.
Do I also have an obligation maybe to include somehow
my friend's death or that guy that cut me off
on the way to the club tonight, you know? And
and how can I combine all those things and and
(07:01):
and make it bigger than just getting out there and
singing in the song? You know? And so I was
working on that and then as low and behold. That's
kind of what David's class was teaching, you know, how
to how to do that, how to bring all of
the of your life experiences into the portrayal of whatever
it is that you're doing. Yeah, you know, like it's
(07:23):
like having a pale a painter and you've got all
those colors and there they are, you can use them,
choose which ones you're going to use, and that becomes
so relatable. You become real to the fans as well. Yeah,
they feel the connection on a deeper level. I think
when you performed in that place. Well, you know, that's
one of the things the old timers up at the
Apollo Theater told him. They said, you know, don't be
(07:45):
afraid to talk to him on stage. You know if
they if you talk to him, they'll get to know you.
And if they get to know you, they'll like you.
They like you, they'll come and see you next time. Yeah,
that's how it works. I guess. Yeah, I'm gonna go
(08:13):
back to your TV appearances and You've done so many
amazing things. But of course I have to ask because
I'm a huge soap opera fan. You're on Days of
Our Lives? Wait, did you play yourself on Days of
Our Lives or did you play a character on Dave's
Uh No, we went on There's the Band. Yeah. We
did a couple of songs on Days and one of
my by myself with the band, and another one we
(08:34):
did a duet of an old hit I had some
years before, cool story with children that I sang it
with Gloria lor Oh wow, yeah, that's so cool to
be How about take us back though? How did you
get the role of Duke on Beverly Hills nine or
two on. Oh, I don't know. I guess I guess
(08:55):
I just auditioned maybe or maybe just somebody figured out
you know, um, I can't he plays Thug of the Week.
You know, I think you were a little bit more
than Thug of the Week. I feel like you did
not audition. I feel like they want to eat in
that role, you know. As it turns out, Chuck Rosen
was my neighbor, Well there you go. Yeah, And I
(09:18):
don't think that I adn'ty going to do with it.
And I knew Chuck peripherally, you know, because I had
done some things for a friend that one of his
best friends, guy named Bobby Roth, another director, uh I,
and also sometimes the band had appeared in a lot
of Bobby's We were kind of like a stock company,
(09:39):
you know, asked Jen. Do you think the character Duke
was named after Duke Fencent? My dad and my dad
had a right I'm sorry, So my dad had a
producing partner and it was his name was Duke, like
I called him Uncle Duke. At the time we were
doing the show, somebody said it was kind of a
(10:00):
you know, an inside joke, and I always like inside jokes.
Was it fun to play a character like that, like
this kind of bad guy. Yeah. I like to play
bad guys, you know. Uh. And then poor Jason I
had to scare and you know, you had to rough
him up a little. I didn't hit him or anything,
(10:21):
you know, I did, I did. I did a similar thing. Uh.
There was a movie called The Doors and I played
a promoter at the concert where Jim Morrison uh exposes
himself and the kid that played his manager, you know,
the Doors manager. I think he was Ally McGraw's son
(10:41):
or something like that. Anyway, so Oliver Stone said, look,
don't be don't be afraid to just beat him up.
So I made him cry a poor kids really and
and and Oliver Stone never never, you know, he kept
he wouldn't say cut. You know, he just kept going
a distant with this poor kid because I kept yelling
(11:03):
at him and calling them all kinds of vile names.
And you know, that was that was my part. That
was my job. You know. Oh my gosh, that makes
me really happy, because um, my parents were friends with
his parents and they were trying to set us up
and he didn't want to go out with me. So
his name is Josh. So thanks for thanks good, I
did it for you. Well, you know, you did a
(11:27):
great job as an actor, But you would have to
say that music was always your passion probably, right, Yeah,
that's my main thing, you know, singing songs and getting
up there on the stage and relating to the people. Yeah,
I mean, acting really was the sideline for the most part,
although there was a period there where the music wasn't
(11:48):
going so well, so I was actually making more of
a living acting than than singing it. Well, that's great
fallback then, right, Yeah, Well, you know I figured out
at one point that the age of specialization was over
m hm, you know, and and then that you that
I had to do as many things that I'm you know,
(12:11):
you're you're good at a number of things hopefully, so
if you do them all, you know, maybe this year
this one will do well, and next year that one
will do well and this one not so well, and
so combining them all you can make a decent living.
I like that. Diversify people. Yeah, it's a good message.
(12:32):
Modern rule of the show business. I need, we need
to diversify tour. We gotta work on that, like start
saving or dancing or I don't know, we can do
something fall back on. It didn't teach you to dance
in those days, they didn't. There was no training of
any kind like the studio system. They just threw out
(12:52):
there back in the thirties and the forties. They had
to do it. You had to do fencing and thing,
and yeah, he taught you actual skills. WHOA like remembering
the old remember like look at all of us. Let
me take that again. Remember when you had an actual
printed resume, but at the bottom you would always have
(13:14):
it would be like special special talents or special interests,
and people would have like special skills, and people would
have like fencing and like gymnastics. Yeah, did you have
like dancing on their gen And like, what were your
special skills, Billy? Besides fencing and singing. One time I
(13:35):
had a I had in this movie called BUCKERUBONSI and
I had had to ride a horse. And I hadn't
ridden a horse since I was riding ponies as a
little boy. So I knew this actress that that she
was a good rider, you know, and she she took
me out and gave you some stuff. And not only
(13:55):
did I have to ride the horse, I had to
stand on him. Yeah, not a stunt double. No, not me, man,
you know important enough to have a stunt double, so
you had to do it? Was the horse moving? No, no,
you know what I got there in the ring room,
(14:15):
I said, Man, you know, I'm a little scared to
get it right. Of course I have only had a
few lessons. He said, don't worry about it. That these
are movie star horses. They won't let you fall. They
can They're trained to sense when you're about to, you know,
do this, and and they move. They know how to
move so that you won't fall. You can't fall, So
(14:37):
I didn't, Thank god, Oh my god, oh my goodness.
We would be remiss if we did not talk about
your song at this moment. And it's how it became
such an iconic symbol after it was featured on Family Ties.
I don't think that we really talked about that enough
because it really had a huge impact on the world
and your career. Like what you what happened? How did
(15:01):
that go down? Well? Um, I had written this song
back when I still lived in New York, Uh, living
at my mother's as like a loser musician at age
and uh, when Dolly cut my song, I'm got an
offer to move out here and write songs for Warner Brothers.
(15:24):
And I had already written at this moment it had
come about. I had just I was I guess I
was thirty three at the time, and I had this
little twenty year old college girlfriend and she was telling
me about her previous boyfriend and how crushed he was
when he when she left him, and how destroyed he
(15:45):
wasn't just all this and I kind of started writing
it from what I perceived as his point of view. Wow,
you know, and well, you know, it's like acting. You know,
sometimes you gotta write a song for a girl singer,
so you gotta you gotta be a girl for the
twenty minutes it takes you right there song, you know.
So anyway, Uh, I got about two thirds of the
(16:09):
way through the song. I couldn't figure out how to
end it. And then when she dumped me a year later,
I knew how it ended that last first. So I
came out here and that was my publisher heard it.
This guy had been music business forever, and uh he
(16:29):
had me play a couple of songs for his staff
and that was one of them. And I don't really
didn't think it was a commercial song. You know, it
didn't have a great title, you know, a memorable title.
I turned anyway, I turned around, and there he is.
He's got tears coming down his face. This is this hard,
hardened businessman. I said, Wow, maybe this song really has something.
(16:54):
So anyway, we started doing it in the clubs and
we got a record you and that was one of
the songs he recorded. Well, the record company went out
of business, and then I was five years between record deals,
(17:14):
and then the golden phone call comes. Guy says, my
name is Michael Whitehorn. I produced and write for a
showk Family Times, and we heard you do a song
at the club the other night. We came to see you,
and we think it might be good for an episode
we have coming up. And I said, what's the name
(17:35):
of it? He said, I don't know whatever the title
it was, So I knew that's what the song was.
When he couldn't think of the title, that's it was it. Well,
I said, we'll call my publisher called Warner Brothers, and
licensed the song for the show. So he did, and
I get a bank full of mail. You know, I
had had songs on TV shows before it. Usually you
(17:58):
make a few bucks and that's nice. That's the end
of it. But ma'am so I said, well, you know,
maybe this song has something, maybe somebody will let me
re record it. And everybody I called said no. And
one day I was having lunch with a friend of
mine who owned Rhino Records, and that's a company that
(18:20):
puts out all these goodies, and we have these mock arguments.
You know, whose version of Mustang salarly is the best?
You know. We had these lunches and I told him
about family ties. I said, I said, how many records
do you need to sell to break even at your company? Said, oh,
we have a small staff here, not made a couple
of thousands, and so I'll guarantee you two thousand if
(18:42):
you put it out. Put it out. He said sure.
And he only did it because he likes me. He'll
tell you to this day. He just figured to do
your favor and nothing would come of it. And as
as Lady luck would have it, they used to the
following season and the girl breaks up with Michael J. Fox.
(19:03):
Then the story of the song and the story of
the episode Boy Loses Girl were the same, and the
public responded. NBC said they had more phone calls than
any time in the history of the network for a song,
and people started calling radio stations, they started calling record stores.
(19:25):
There was no promotion because Ranno didn't know how to promote,
and it was an organic, uh you know, grassroots kind
of record that just boom took off. The next thing,
you know, it's the number one record. I'm forty two
years old, got the number one record. Yeah, I went
on Dick Clark. You know, one of my dreams was
(19:47):
to be on American band Stand. Did Johnny Carson nine times,
you know, so it was cool. It turned out to
change my life for the better. Great story. I was
(20:13):
twelve years old and literally I still to the same
forty nine. Can remember that scene and that song like
it's and it was, I mean I loved Alex and
Ellen like, but it was that song that made made it.
It made everything. And it was probably my first like
thing into like loving romance and watching that in movies
(20:35):
and TV and um, you know, heartbreak and wanting it
to work out. It's like a song concealed the deal
on that you were twelve years old, Yeah, a little baby.
That funny thing about that song, I mean vividly remember
I mean, there were kids that made it their junior
(20:57):
high school record hop song. There were sixty five year
old couples was their song. It crossed every demographic group.
It was being on the pop chart. Yeah, like when
that played in high school dances, Oh my gosh, she
just looked around and you were praying like a boy
would ask me a slow dance to. It was just
that one of those rare, universal kind of songs that
(21:21):
fit every format. Yeah. It just goes to show you
the power of music, especially when they use it mix
it with the medium of storytelling through film and television,
like they're there partners, Like when they worked together like
that so beautifully to create something so memorable. That's what
(21:41):
that's like lightning in a bottle. I mean, people to
this day, you know, come up to me. I remember
where I was when Michael J. Fox was crying over
the girl. You know, well he never lost her in
real life because they want to get married and have kids.
They're still but the other I know, like I think
(22:02):
in Hollywood things don't work out. They have this great relationship.
He was on he was on a talk show, you know,
and he said, he said, you know, I'm getting to
tell you the truth. I'm getting a little sick of
the song, he said. He said, every time we walk
into a place, the band starts playing it in real life.
Oh my gosh, that's hilarious. I wonder if they played
it at their wedding. Boy, you know it's it's really
(22:23):
not a wedding. I guess not. People say, what are
you seeing at this moment? I said, you crazy? Are
you sure you want me to do that? I don't
want to you can I ask you one last question
about nine two and so you were You were in
four episodes as Duke, but Duke later comes back in
the show, but it wasn't you. It was a different actor. Yeah.
(22:46):
I don't remember why that happened or how that happened.
You're probably busy and on tour and stuff that we
had to get something else. I must have had another
gig that week or something. I guess. I don't know.
I would have done in a minute, you know, just
one that was curious. That was my role. He wasn't
as good as now. Well, you're still busy to this day.
(23:10):
What are you tell us what you're up to? I'm
going to do something really fun the end of the month,
I'm going to go back and play at my high school. WHOA,
oh my god, in White Plains, New York. Yeah, I'm
gonna I'm gonna do a show there, and uh it's
a it's a really nice theater at the school. In fact,
(23:31):
Alan older was it was the was alumni. John Boyd
was an alumni. So yeah, And the last time I
was on that stage, I was. I was in tenth grade.
We we we wanted to be in the talent show,
you know, and uh, you know, how good could you
(23:55):
be a sixteen years old? So I knew a little
bit of guitar. I put my best friend and I
taught him how to play two songs on guitar stone deaf.
He couldn't even the guitar, poor kids, but he had
an amp. I couldn't afford an amp. And then uh,
I taught this other kid out to play the same
(24:15):
two songs on drums. And we went up there and
we had friends up in the spotlight booth. So we
want these cheap white jackets. We said, put purple and pink,
you know, lights on us. And we got two hundred
ninety six out of two d boats and it was
it was really shameful because the kid that should have won.
(24:37):
His name was Germano Romano. I'll never forget Romano, that's
his real name. It was a classical pianist. His hands
were insured for a hundred thousand dollars. He should have won,
you know. I mean we sucked, but he looked good. Well,
we played the Rocket Roll. I think that was the key.
(24:58):
I can't lose with Rocket Roll. Now, you when you can't.
So when you play, is it just gonna be you
or it'll be your entire group, which obviously everyone knows
is Billy veron the Beaters. I wish it was. Uh,
they're coming with you. It's going to be a house band.
It's a it's a multi artist show. So yeah, it's
(25:18):
like bringing Billy back, you know, back home, and all
the homies will be there. Fun. If you need some backups,
we'll dance for you in the back. Yeah. Yeah, I
try to lips, you know, Uh, to do a gig
in New York, you know, usually in the city, but
(25:40):
this is the suburbs. So because it's one kid must
have done well because you bought three rows in the theater,
so I guess so exciting anybody that's listening that gets
to go to the show. You are very lucky. Yeah,
we'd like the things. And we play out here in
(26:01):
a place called Vito. Yeah. Yes, we just played there
a couple of weeks ago to celebrate my birthday. So,
oh my gosh, we can see him. We could go
see him at Votels. I know, next time you're there,
let's go the guy who's the same Does the same
guy own that place? Still? Bad is his name? He's
(26:25):
on it? Not the old easier that used to own
right that? Because that Votelo has had some history, some
stuff go down. Oh let me tell you. Yeah, that's
some stories. I was called the Robert Blake Memorial Room.
I still get nervous to go there. Yeah, Vincent, Wait,
do you know the next time you're gonna be a Vatelos.
(26:45):
I don't know the date. You can always go on
billy vera dot com or you know, I can give
you my number, you know, whatever you want. Billy Fair
is going to give us his number one what I mean, Facebook,
all that stuff. You know, it's okay, Billy, we'll just
slide into your d M s. Yeah, oh my gosh,
(27:08):
that's very exciting. Okay, Well, when you see us there,
remember us, it's Jenny and Tory. We'll be like wean Yeah,
I'll announce you, man, every once while we get some
famous people in there, you know, to come to see us.
My boy Joe Pesci always comes when he's in town.
He's a great singer, you know. Yes, oh great, not good,
(27:29):
He's great. Really, I love him. He been singing since
he was ten years old. Well, don't ask us this thing.
Just trust me on that. Okay, maybe Tory actually, but
I can't help her. Um, we're finding out so much info.
Then I feel like this is like cool and so
(27:52):
much fun time. This has been the greatest interview. Thank
you for taking the time to talk to us and
catch up and fill us in. I be to do it.
I'm happy to do it. You're bringing back some good
memories of being on that one though. Man, I mean
this confirms that you are the real deal. Like, you're
not just an unbelievable iconic performer. You are charming as hell.
(28:14):
Like oh mg, like and want to hang out. I
want to hear are so charming and adorable. Come on over.
We'll play old old blues records in my house. Love it,
love it, thanky so much. Billy, Well, thanks for having me. Girls,
good look at your show. Thanks, thanks, not really, you
(28:39):
gotta come back then. We gotta see if you tell
us any time. I'm here for you, all right, love you,
Billy your Oh my gosh, take care. Oh my gosh.
Billy is so amazing a heartthrob. I know, he's so charming,
so charming and sexy and like he knows how. It's
(28:59):
like eggs started to come out a little more and
more and more as he got more comfortable. Yeah, oh
my gosh, wait, we have to actually go. We have
to we have to do that. We should definitely do that.
I'm scared of hotels, but it we'll go. Yeah, it's
so convenient though. It's right there. Okay, we're doing it.
Hosts And Creators
Tori Spelling
Jennie Garth
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