Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is a podcast from WR Now the WR Saturday
Morning Show. Here's Larry Minty.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Good morning, and welcome to Saturday Morning. On today's show,
New Jersey Congressman Jeff Van dru exposes a big story
that the Chinese may have access to your personal information
from your easy pass account in New Jersey. We'll explain
in a couple of minutes. Republican candidate for governor Jack
Chinarelli wants to bring back plastic bags if he becomes governor.
(00:33):
I may move to New Jersey if that happens. There
were a couple of surprise intimate Paul McCartney concerts at
the Bowery Ballroom on Delancey Street, and Q one oh
four point three's Ken Dashaw was there. We'll talk with
him coming up. And there is an amazing new documentary
(00:53):
about the birth of Led Zeppelin in theaters. I'll talk
with the director, Bernard McMahon. But let's start with Congressman
Van Drew, who is thrilled that the offshore wind turbines
are going away, but not so thrilled about the Chinese
involvement with the New Jersey Turnpike. Thank you, sir for
(01:14):
spending some time with us and congratulations, your efforts finally
paid off.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Oh, thank you, Larrie, And it's great to be with
you again and good to be on your radio show.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
So yeah, this was a lot.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
It was a lot of years. And you know, it
started out, I was like everybody else sought, you know,
we should evaluate these things. It's what about some beautiful
windmills in the ocean. I really don't I try to
remember not to even call them windmills anywhere. Their wind turmines.
They're big industrial units. They're over a thousand feet high,
and they would really dominate the ocean in the landscape.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Yeah, and there was there were so many problems. That
was just part of it. I mean, the way they
were going to dominate the landscape was a big deal.
But it turns out almost everything we were told about
those wind turbines was untrue. They were going to be costly,
they hurt the environment, and go No, you can go
through the list better than I can. It was a
(02:11):
bad idea from.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
The beginning, very bad idea. So right from the very beginning,
once you really started to look into it, they would
we would have had the highest windmills anywhere in the world,
the highest number of them, it would have dominated the landscape.
But even more importantly than that, what it did to
the fishing industry. And of course they were very concerned,
(02:32):
they were involved, They worked shouldered or shoulder with me.
What it did to tourism, what it did to the whales,
what it did to the ocean and the environment, what
it did as far as concerns with national security, because
they really could potentially interfere with radar. And then worst
of all, I mean, it's all terrible, but what it
would do to the ratepayer. So understand that the ratepayer
(02:56):
advocate is somebody in the state of New Jersey who
really advocates for the people who have to pay the
utility rates. It's not a Republican, it's not a Van
Andrew person. It's somebody I put there by the administration.
The ratepayer advocate, who was part of the Board of
Public Utilities, said that our utility rates were going to
go up a lot. And I want everybody to understand
(03:18):
that would be in North Jersey, and in South Jersey
and along the East coast, it would be everywhere. These
things are extremely costly. Many of them have failed in Europe.
There was just no reason to do them. And when
I say race would go up our IM's talking about doubles, cripple,
maybe more. And they just kept going to shoving down
our throat. And we would have been beholding to foreign
(03:40):
countries because most of the companies involved in this process
were foreign, and we would have been beholding to them
for our energy. It was nuts, It was really bad,
so we bought the fight. It was the whales that
really got everybody focused, when the whales started dying when
they were doing the sonic testings. And then my friendship
with President Trump, and you know, he agreed to do something.
(04:04):
So the combination of all was a one two punch
against him. And I literally do think, honest to God,
not just for people in South Jersey, but for people
on the entire coast of the United States, and for
folks that just love the ocean, love the beach. This
was a major victory.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Something that I never heard about before until I saw
a press release from you, and so you've exposed this
and it is stunning, and I'm sure people in New
Jersey are gonna be upset when they hear this that
the New Jersey Turnpike has a contract with a company
that is run out of communist China. How did that
(04:44):
happen and what can be done about it?
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Well, this gets filed under you know, I guess partly
it only could happen in New Jersey and you just
couldn't make it up. I mean, you can't make this
stuff up. So, you know, there was the major company
that does the easy pass systems for the entire country
and of course for New Jersey as well, was sold.
(05:09):
That was mistake number one, and it was bought as
so many things are being and we have to pay
more attention to this and this case was bought by
a country known as Singapore. And on the board of
the company in Singapore that bought this American company our
Chinese communists, people with deep connections and ties to the CCP,
(05:31):
and you would have access to all of the information
that the easy pass system has. So our contract ran
out with the American company went out to bid again.
And the weird part is this company, the Singapore company,
but the Turnpike Authority awarded them the bid. Why am
(05:51):
I concerned? The New Jersey Turnpike the Garden State Parkway
are some of the most trafficked roads in the entire country.
Almost every at some point in their time, has been
on the turnpike. And you know, it's all our graphic patterns,
all the millions upon millions upon millions of people, their
personal information, their pictures, their driver's license, et cetera. All
(06:15):
this information that easy pass has, all that would be
easily accessible to and will be to the Chinese Communist Party.
Why in God's name would you ever do that? Number one?
Why don't we go by to the low bidder? I
don't know, though, you know, Larry, in this process, the
(06:35):
lower bidder, an American company is now has an appeal
on this because it's the very same That's how I
found out the very same concerns I have. They believe
that it's a national security issue. Not only does it
show our graphic patterns and people's personal information. You know,
folks don't realize sometimes military equipment, when it has to
(06:55):
get to one spot to another, also has to travel
along these roads. It's bad for national security. I've asked
the Termpike Authority in as strong a way as I
can to rethink this and to rebid this, or at
least to do something different in the process. This isn't
good for America.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Absolutely it's a big local story. Thank you so much
for exposing that and thanks for coming on. Would love
to have you on again, especially on this story. If
something happens, please let us know about it. Congressman Jeff
Van Drew, congressman down in South Jersey. What do you
represent Atlantic County?
Speaker 3 (07:32):
No, I represents the biggest district in the state and
represent geographically Atlantic County, Cape May County, Cumberland County, stalem County,
Ocean County, Gloucester County. So it's a big district. It's
probably about a third of the state and I'm proud
of it. And you know, have still ties up to
northern and central New Jersey where I grew up many
(07:55):
years ago. And New Jersey is a great state if
you would just give it a chance.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Congressman Jeff Van Drew coming up next, What was it
like to be among the just five hundred and seventy
five people who got to see Paul McCartney at a
surprise concert in Manhattan. Q one O four point three's
afternoon drive host Ken dash Al knows he was there.
We'll talk with him next.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
Back now to the wr Saturday Morning Show with Larry Minty.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Welcome back. As you probably know, Paul McCartney surprised everybody
with impromptu concerts at the Bowery Ballroom. But it's no
surprise that Ken dash Al Q one oh four point
three afternoon Drive host and host of Breakfast with the
Beatles on Sunday morning was there. Ken. I am so
(08:48):
jealous of you. I'm jealous for a whole lot of reasons,
by the way, but especially jealous that you got to
see this show. So tell us about.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
It, Larry.
Speaker 5 (08:56):
It's not to rub it in, it's to share with
all of our heart in New York listeners. It was
the greatest concert experience of my entire life of fifty
five years of concert going, nothing can touch this. I'm
ten fifteen feet away from the greatest singer, songwriter, performer
of the twentieth century and now went to the twenty first.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
It was surreal. Do you think he's gonna do another one?
Speaker 5 (09:22):
There are rumors, There are rumors abounding, and you know,
I love you guys, whether it's war or Q one
o four to three. If I knew, I would actually
break the omerta and tell you I know so, I
but I don't.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
So.
Speaker 5 (09:36):
There is rumors of a third show tonight, maybe tomorrow night.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
There's a rumor.
Speaker 5 (09:41):
All I can say is, if you could and you
got to the Bowery Ballroom at seven thirty eight in
the morning, is it worth it because there's a chances
of show tonight tomorrow? Yeah, it's that worth it because
this is never gonna happen again. Gershwin is playing the
piano for you in like his living room. Oh sorry,
is paying to you in his living room.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
That is a great, great analogy. When you were saying this,
I thought the same exact thing you said. People are
probably running there to line up right now. Well, they
did yesterday when people thought he might have done it
again last night, which he did. People were there at
five thirty in the morning. Oh I imagine they're there
right now. Oh I'm sure they're camped down.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
Oh of course, especially you know there's it wasn't all
people of our first generation. There were second generation Beatle
Paul fans. There were third generation. There are people in
their twenties. He comes out and last night he opened
with Can't Buy Me Love, and the sound in this
little room was exactly like Shay Stadium. I'm not going
(10:44):
to try to scream now becaus I'll blow my voice out.
But it was that high pitched squeal from everyone, adults, grandparents, children,
because of the energy of what this music is.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
So this was a different set, less than the first night.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Can you leave it? He changed?
Speaker 5 (11:02):
You know, there are bands that do this is our set.
We've been doing it for our whole lives. This is
it will change the song the last time he played around,
when he played Medlife Stadium, he played New Jersey, played
Barkley cent he played ubs. In the six shows he
did in their area, he changed thirty songs. And when
you think about it, when you know somebody left the
(11:23):
show and they said, oh, he didn't do Good Day Sunshine.
And I said, if we were there, if he had
to play everything we wanted to hear, we still be
there this morning.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Now. I read somewhere that he did a tribute to
John Lennon. Is that correct?
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Yes? And we were all crying our eyes out.
Speaker 5 (11:40):
He did that last song, the song that won the
Grammy for Best Performance of the Year for Now and
then the tape that John Lennon left him, and there
wasn't a dry eye. People are crying. I look up
in the balcony little Steve and is crying. I'm crying,
Elvis Costello is crying, everybody, and he said, this is
(12:01):
for John. He said, John loved this city and the
city loved him, and I love this city.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
And he was holding back the little shake in his voice.
He said, and I know you love me.
Speaker 5 (12:13):
I went into this song and I was gone before
you even started singing it.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
That's unbelievable. What a moment, What a moment to be
a part of. Again, I'm extremely jealous of you, and
I love I love how you just casually named drop.
Elvis Costello was crying too. Who else was there? Why
we drop all the names of people that may have
been there?
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Well, the one thing that was one of the most
surreal moments of the night, Larry.
Speaker 5 (12:37):
He's playing Hey Jude, you know this legendary singalong song
that he wrote to John Lennon's first son, to Julian Lennon.
You know for about he's so broken up that his
father divorced his mom and is with Yoko, and he writes,
you know, the minute you let her into your heart,
then you can start to make it better.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
And we're all singing no, no, no, you know, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
And I look up and Sean Yoko Ono Lenin is
up there singing along with Hey Jude. I'm like, this
is surreal. This is like being in a Fellini movie.
What where am I? This is actually happening. It's incredible.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Oh I would love to see that. That would that
would really make my life. To tell you the truth,
it's really strange that we have not seen anything on
social media. Did you have to hand in your camera or.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
You Yeah, it's very simple. There's a pouch.
Speaker 5 (13:26):
This is happening more and more at shows that Bob
Dylan did it, Paul did it. They put your phone
in a pouch and they hand the pouch back to you,
so the pouch is locked and you have your phones.
And at the end of the evening he said how
much fun was that? And Hey, no phones? And we
all cheered because instead of standing there with a phone
filming a whole concert that you're never going to see again,
(13:47):
you get to experience the moment live. You get to
see this man who has eighty two years old, plays
every single note, plays bass, guitar, lead, guitar, rhythm, guitar, piano,
sings lead on every song, doesn't take a break and
is the greatest experience you'll ever see, which.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Leads one to believe that maybe this is a Netflix special.
Did you see professional cameras anywhere?
Speaker 6 (14:09):
You know?
Speaker 1 (14:10):
It wasn't.
Speaker 5 (14:10):
I was thinking Netflix special or something like that. There
were some cameras or people shooting footage, but it wasn't
like you or I know what a TV. You know,
if a recording looked like it didn't look like a
recorded concert. But god, I hope this comes out somewhere
somehow where I don't know how they're gonna use it,
but it was magic.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Well, if you saw some people with cameras, there's always
a chance that we'll get to see it too. Let's
just hope that's true. Why wouldn't they they could? How
much would that sell for? I mean, I would think
Netflix would pay millions to have that. So I hope,
I hope it happens. But Ken, I'm so happy for you. You
deserve to be there. Ken Dashel long time afternoon drive
(14:49):
host to Classic Rock Q one oh four point three
and Sunday Mornings with Breakfast with the Beatles of course
from eight to ten.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Thanks a lot, Thank you, Larry. It's a pleasure to
be on with you.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Bags coming back to our favorite stores in New Jersey.
If Jack Chittarelli becomes governor, they are we'll talk with
the Republican candidate and becoming led Zeppelin is in theaters now.
If you're a fan, it's a must see. We'll talk
with a director.
Speaker 4 (15:19):
Here again is Larry Minty with the wr Saturday Morning Show.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Welcome back. I hate hate going to the store and
not getting a plastic bag. Governor Murphy banned them in
New Jersey, but Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Chittarelli says, if
he becomes the next governor, he'll bring him back. I
want to move to New Jersey just to vote for
(15:44):
you because I love this idea. You want to bring
back plastic bags.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
Hey, Larry, since we're number one in out migration in
the country, you moving back to New Jersey's music to
my ears, That's the whole point of this race.
Speaker 6 (15:59):
Any people do not want to lead.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
But listen Phil Murphy's plastic bag policies, Like every one
of his other policies, whether it's the environment, energy, physical housing,
it's been an abysmal failure and so it's time let's
bring back the plastic bags.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
It's so stupid. You know how many times, Jack, this
is a big issue to me, A real huge issue
to me. You know how many times I've had to
bore and beat up a poor clerk to death pointing
out all the things I'm now putting in a paper
bag or a cloth bag that are plastic. I keep
this my plastic. You know, the yogurt I buy plastic,
(16:34):
the cleaning products I buy, that's plastic. I was pointing out,
this is plastic, that's plastic. This is plastic, that's plastic.
So now why can't I put it in the plastic
bag again? How am I hurting the environment?
Speaker 6 (16:45):
Don't you feel the same way too?
Speaker 3 (16:47):
I do.
Speaker 6 (16:48):
And here's the You know, the data is pretty clear.
Speaker 4 (16:50):
Those plastic bags that they're making us buy when we
forget to bring in our bags, the ones they sell
us right there at the clerk, they're using more energy
to produce than the old plastic bags.
Speaker 6 (17:01):
So how does this make any sense?
Speaker 4 (17:03):
And by the way, when you're in the produce section,
what do you put your fruit and the vegetables into
a plastic bag? That's right, it's my newspapers this morning.
What were they in a plastic bag. So can we
get back to some common sense policy instead of inconvencing people.
Speaker 6 (17:16):
Here in New Jersey every step of the way.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
It's just virtue signaling. It's saying we did something to stop.
I don't even know what they're trying to stop, but
for some reason, it's supposed to make everybody feel better.
But this is a huge issue a bit. I think
you already know this. This is a big, big issue.
I'm sure you're gonna get votes just for this proposal
because people are sick of it. They go, they go
(17:40):
into the living room. They have all these cloth bags.
How many cloth bags have you accumulated over the years
because of this ridiculous rule, and you always forget them,
and that means you got to buy more cloth bags,
and so it costs you more. Prices are already high.
Now you have to pay more like two ninety nine
or a dollar ninety nine or ninety nine cents just
for a bag to bring it home in. You know,
(18:03):
I could go on and on and on, and but
I won't because there's a lot of virtue signaling going
on and a lot of stupid policies. So let's move
on to sanctuary cities and a sanctuary state. New Jersey
is a sanctuary state. All of the major cities are
sanctuary cities. I know Donald Trump's all over this, but
what are you going to do about them? When, when,
(18:26):
and if you become governor.
Speaker 4 (18:28):
My position has been clear, Larry, on day one of
my administration, Executive Order number one, no town in this
state will be allowed to be a sanctuary city, and
we will not be a sanctuary state. We are not
going to encourage your legal immigration with that kind of policy,
and we're never going to tell any mayor that is
local PD can't work with federal authorities to keep the
community safe.
Speaker 6 (18:48):
Donald Trump campaigned on.
Speaker 4 (18:50):
This issue, he was overwhelmingly elected, and every governor has
a responsibility to work in partnership with the president to
keep America safe. And so when our governor sits there
on a stage and says that he and his wife
are harboring and illegal in the apartment above their garage,
he's actually in violation of federal law.
Speaker 6 (19:08):
And that's why I call for impeatument proceedings.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Well, that's great that you're saying that. That was the
stupidest thing I've ever heard a governor say ever. And
I think you've heard Tom Homan. At first he was
smiling about it. He's gotten madder and matter and matter
and matter because he's saying when the governor says that,
he's giving others permission to do the same, and that
(19:31):
becomes dangerous.
Speaker 6 (19:32):
Rush absolutely.
Speaker 4 (19:34):
And the reason he made it all the more dangerous
is he taunted Ice. He said, of the defense, think
they're going to come on the property to handle this matter,
I dare them. That's what he basically said. He's under
twenty four hour state police protection. If people are coming
on the property at two or three o'clock in the
morning doing four federal law. He invited and instigated a
confrontation as dangerous for our state police and those federal agents.
Speaker 6 (19:58):
It was the height of your responsibility.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
It was irresponsible. You won't be running against him. As
you look at the field of Democrats who may run
against you, does anybody scare you?
Speaker 4 (20:10):
Nobody scares me, Larry. That's why I'm in it, and
we are in it to win it. I really wanted
to beat Murphy four years ago. This landscape is a
bit different, and I'm very confident in winning this time around.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
When you say, let me get back to sanctuary cities
for one second, if they are if they were declared
illegal on the on the federal level, which it sounds
like that's where this is going, would it still be
an issue when and if you're sworn in.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
Listen, we're gonna bring the point home by doing the
same thing here in New Jersey that Donald Trump wants
to do across the nation, and by state constitution, our
governorship is the most powerful in nation. If there are
democratic mayors out there that want to think they're gonna
play hardball and go along the lines of Phil Murphy,
but we'll see.
Speaker 6 (20:50):
How that goes.
Speaker 4 (20:51):
But we're gonna do everything possible keep our state safe,
and that includes me putting in place an attorney general
that supports me on banning sanctuary cities and getting rid
of cashless bail, which has created professional criminals.
Speaker 6 (21:04):
This is a big concern in the community. We got
to get back the law and.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Order cashless bail. It might be a bigger deal at
that time. And you're right that never has made any sense.
These policies never ever made any sense, and so you'd
just be bringing back some common sense if you get
into office. What about congestion pricing. What's your stance on that?
Speaker 6 (21:24):
Well, listen, promises, made promises, kep.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
Donald Trump has put a halt on the windmills off
the Jersey shore when he started.
Speaker 6 (21:30):
Out finished we're not getting them.
Speaker 4 (21:32):
And up north he's going after New York Democrats on
that congestion pricing plan, and if for whatever reason he
can't succeed in stopping it, We're going to war and
I'll have retaliatory tactic. Anybody coming through a tunnel over
to bridge in the morning when a New York played
to the New Jersey, We're gonna hit him with a
congestion pricing fee.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
And that is until it goes away? Or is this
a way to raise money to improve New Jersey transit.
Speaker 4 (21:55):
Until it goes away? We should be working in partnership
in two states. And by the way, here's my message
to New York and New Jersey commuters. If you want
people to use mass transit, make it reliable, make it convenient,
and make it safe. New Jersey Transit right now is
struggling to be those three things, as is the MTA.
But we're not asking New York to pay for our
heart problems. Why are they asking New Jersey to pay
(22:17):
for theirs.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Always a pleasure to talk to you, Jack. Yeah, I
was thinking about this. We've we've done interviews for five
years now, maybe a little over five years. Was I
the first person to interview you when you when you
invited me to your house when you run for governor
because I want.
Speaker 6 (22:30):
You to move back to New Jersey? Larry, the answers.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Yes, Why don't I think the answer is not? Yes?
Thanks so much, Larry.
Speaker 6 (22:40):
I vividly remember that interview. We did it in front
of the fireplace, that's right, my family room, and.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
It was a lot of fun, that's right. And I
remember you thank me for asking you some questions because
it prepares you for the campaign. I don't know if
you remember that. I thought that was very gracious. Thank
you so much, Jack Chittarelli, Republican candidate for governor in
New Jersey. Coming up next an amazing documentary in theaters
this weekend, Becoming Led Zeppelin. I talk with a director,
(23:09):
Bernard McMahon.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
Next, here again is Larry MENTI with the WOR Saturday
Morning show.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Welcome Back. There's an amazing documentary out this weekend that
I got a chance to see. It's called becoming led Zeppelin.
It's all about the birth of the legendary rock group
led Zeppelin. Bernard McMahon is the director. Bernard. Wonderful, wonderful job, excellent, congratulations.
Speaker 7 (23:38):
Thank you very much, Larry. I'm deeply touched that you
responded to the film in that way. Yeah, it's definitely
made as a theatrical experience. This is a film that
was made from day one to go down with as
many of your friends as you can into the biggest
screen you can find, and you literally get transported into
(24:00):
those led Zeppelin shows in sixty nine.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
It takes you there.
Speaker 7 (24:04):
This is not a movie for watching on your sofa
in your living room at home.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Yeah. I am going to go see it in the
theaters after watching it on my computer, so only because
I had that exact same thought the performance video you
have and that you accumulated. It's spectacular. It's the early
led Zeppelin, some of it before they became the superstars
they are right now. So yes, yeah, and how did
(24:33):
you get I mean, these are some people that don't
always like to talk to the media or talk to filmmakers.
How did you get all the surviving members to speak?
Speaker 7 (24:41):
We've made a series of films on a called American
Epic on the first Blues and Country records it made
in the twenties and thirties, which is like everyone said
to us, it couldn't be done. It where they were
narrated and produced by Robert Redford, who supported us on it.
And so that when we did start wanting to do
led Zeppelin, and we put and we were putting together
(25:05):
my producing partner and writer Alison mcgaudey. We wrote this
whole film in advance. We tracked down archive on led Zeppelin,
We prepared in everywhere we could, and look, a couple
of people we chartedy said, you're absolutely insane, They're never
going to agree to do this, but we just s went,
we don't care. We're going to carry on and do it.
(25:25):
And then when we finished writing this whole thing, all
this work, we reached out then and amazingly when we
met John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. Jimmy
and Robert were already big fans of American Epic.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
And when we sent the DVD.
Speaker 7 (25:41):
Of American Epic the John Paul Jones, he had made
a pilgrimage to the very first place in the in
the very first scene in the film where the Carter
family are from. So it was like they knew what
we were doing and what we were about. And then
when they when we when we met with him, it
was like, you know, these long meetings. I said, five
hours of John Paul Jones maybe something similar with Robert
(26:04):
Plant and seven hours of Jimmy Page. And he would
ask these little trick questions like Psycho, I'm talking to
the storyboard and this is the point where you meet
Robert Plant for the first time and you go, what
was the name of the band he was in. I'll
be like obs tweedle and he'd be like, very good.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
Carry on.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
So the entire time to yeah, exactly, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 7 (26:25):
He wanted to make sure you know that that this
dude coming through him actually knew the facts, you know,
and I did. I'd memorized it all and so so
you know, and then and then but you know, this
is an amazing thing. Then when they agreed to.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
Do it, they let us have complete artistic.
Speaker 7 (26:41):
Control, you know, and so this film on there is
exactly the film that we wanted to make that you
see on the big screen. That's what we wanted to
make and I just wanted to There's a message in
the film that's for now. And the message is in
the film, and this is for kids out there and
older people too, is that you can do anything you
(27:02):
want in this world. As long as you just you
stick to it, you follow your dreams, and you work hard,
and you just keep on at this thing, you will
get what it is you're looking to do. Because we
managed to do this with this film, you know, and
I said, there's nothing special about us. You know, my producer,
(27:22):
Allison is a lot more special. But I'm just a
guy that likes the film and likes making films. But
you know, I'm not the son of Steven Spielbog. I'm
not like some anointed thing, you know.
Speaker 6 (27:34):
But I do.
Speaker 7 (27:35):
But I do work hard. And that's the Zeppelin way.
When I've got an idea that I want to do,
I really work hard at it, and I don't listen
to people that are going, oh, you can't do that.
I stick to my guns. And that's what anyone out
there listening can do with anything they want to do.
And this is the message of this film, is that
(27:56):
at these times where it's so difficult and you feel
that everyone feels under such pressure. Led Zeppelin fans across
all boundaries, all religious, political, whatever boundaries, there's led Zeppelin
fans you know that are drawn.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
In by this music.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
Yeah, and the.
Speaker 7 (28:14):
Message is positivity to them is like you can you
work with your your group of small group of friends
and you pull your your efforts to be more than
some of the parts. And that's what the message of
the film is. And it's it's it's a musical, you know,
and you can watch it like over and over again
and go on that trip, but that message is at
(28:35):
the core of it all.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
No, absolutely, and I got that. I want to touch
on the fact of how you handle John Bonham, which
I thought was absolutely brilliant and some of some of
the most powerful moments in the documentary explain.
Speaker 7 (28:52):
I wanted all of them to have a voice, you know,
because led Zeppelin is this is a film about collaboration,
and that's what the messages to the audience and to
myself as well. We're gonna read a little bit John
Bonham basically is. But John bon and Bassis. We just
(29:13):
searched the planet by the Mariana Trench to find tapes
of John Bonham and we ended up finding three and
then his father, Jack Bonham, had kept given to his
John's sister all these eight milimeter footage of John Bonham,
and so between them we're able to have John for
the first time ever speaking in the movie. And when
(29:35):
we premiered it in California, this handsome young man walked
up and shook my hand and went, I want to
thank you. That's the first time I've ever heard my
grandfather speak. And it was Jacob Bonham and son who
had died or after John was who was born after
John had died.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
That is amazing. Some of my favorite moments is when
you were showing the way you played this. You showed
the other members listening to it, and that alone was
powerful because you could see the emotion in their face.
And with that, we do have to go. It was
a pleasure talking to you. Bernard McMahon, director of the
new documentary Becoming led Zeppelin. If you are a music fan,
(30:15):
you have to go see this. It's in theaters tomorrow.
I loved it. I'm going to see you a second time. Bernard.
Thanks for spending time with us.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 7 (30:24):
The theater is the only place to see this.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
Thank you yep, I agree with you. I can't wait.
Bernard McMahon, director of Becoming led Zeppelin. That wraps up
Saturday morning for this week. Thank you so much for listening,
and special thanks to Peter Airelano, the producer. I'll be
back six o'clock Monday morning for mente in the morning.
Hope you have a great rest of your weekend.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
This has been a podcast from wor
This is a podcast from WR Now the WR Saturday
Morning Show. Here's Larry Minty.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Good morning, and welcome to Saturday Morning. On today's show,
New Jersey Congressman Jeff Van dru exposes a big story
that the Chinese may have access to your personal information
from your easy pass account in New Jersey. We'll explain
in a couple of minutes. Republican candidate for governor Jack
Chinarelli wants to bring back plastic bags if he becomes governor.
(00:33):
I may move to New Jersey if that happens. There
were a couple of surprise intimate Paul McCartney concerts at
the Bowery Ballroom on Delancey Street, and Q one oh
four point three's Ken Dashaw was there. We'll talk with
him coming up. And there is an amazing new documentary
(00:53):
about the birth of Led Zeppelin in theaters. I'll talk
with the director, Bernard McMahon. But let's start with Congressman
Van Drew, who is thrilled that the offshore wind turbines
are going away, but not so thrilled about the Chinese
involvement with the New Jersey Turnpike. Thank you, sir for
(01:14):
spending some time with us and congratulations, your efforts finally
paid off.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Oh, thank you, Larrie, And it's great to be with
you again and good to be on your radio show.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
So yeah, this was a lot.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
It was a lot of years. And you know, it
started out, I was like everybody else sought, you know,
we should evaluate these things. It's what about some beautiful
windmills in the ocean. I really don't I try to
remember not to even call them windmills anywhere. Their wind turmines.
They're big industrial units. They're over a thousand feet high,
and they would really dominate the ocean in the landscape.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Yeah, and there was there were so many problems. That
was just part of it. I mean, the way they
were going to dominate the landscape was a big deal.
But it turns out almost everything we were told about
those wind turbines was untrue. They were going to be costly,
they hurt the environment, and go No, you can go
through the list better than I can. It was a
(02:11):
bad idea from.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
The beginning, very bad idea. So right from the very beginning,
once you really started to look into it, they would
we would have had the highest windmills anywhere in the world,
the highest number of them, it would have dominated the landscape.
But even more importantly than that, what it did to
the fishing industry. And of course they were very concerned,
(02:32):
they were involved, They worked shouldered or shoulder with me.
What it did to tourism, what it did to the whales,
what it did to the ocean and the environment, what
it did as far as concerns with national security, because
they really could potentially interfere with radar. And then worst
of all, I mean, it's all terrible, but what it
would do to the ratepayer. So understand that the ratepayer
(02:56):
advocate is somebody in the state of New Jersey who
really advocates for the people who have to pay the
utility rates. It's not a Republican, it's not a Van
Andrew person. It's somebody I put there by the administration.
The ratepayer advocate, who was part of the Board of
Public Utilities, said that our utility rates were going to
go up a lot. And I want everybody to understand
(03:18):
that would be in North Jersey, and in South Jersey
and along the East coast, it would be everywhere. These
things are extremely costly. Many of them have failed in Europe.
There was just no reason to do them. And when
I say race would go up our IM's talking about doubles, cripple,
maybe more. And they just kept going to shoving down
our throat. And we would have been beholding to foreign
(03:40):
countries because most of the companies involved in this process
were foreign, and we would have been beholding to them
for our energy. It was nuts, It was really bad,
so we bought the fight. It was the whales that
really got everybody focused, when the whales started dying when
they were doing the sonic testings. And then my friendship
with President Trump, and you know, he agreed to do something.
(04:04):
So the combination of all was a one two punch
against him. And I literally do think, honest to God,
not just for people in South Jersey, but for people
on the entire coast of the United States, and for
folks that just love the ocean, love the beach. This
was a major victory.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Something that I never heard about before until I saw
a press release from you, and so you've exposed this
and it is stunning, and I'm sure people in New
Jersey are gonna be upset when they hear this that
the New Jersey Turnpike has a contract with a company
that is run out of communist China. How did that
(04:44):
happen and what can be done about it?
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Well, this gets filed under you know, I guess partly
it only could happen in New Jersey and you just
couldn't make it up. I mean, you can't make this
stuff up. So, you know, there was the major company
that does the easy pass systems for the entire country
and of course for New Jersey as well, was sold.
(05:09):
That was mistake number one, and it was bought as
so many things are being and we have to pay
more attention to this and this case was bought by
a country known as Singapore. And on the board of
the company in Singapore that bought this American company our
Chinese communists, people with deep connections and ties to the CCP,
(05:31):
and you would have access to all of the information
that the easy pass system has. So our contract ran
out with the American company went out to bid again.
And the weird part is this company, the Singapore company,
but the Turnpike Authority awarded them the bid. Why am
(05:51):
I concerned? The New Jersey Turnpike the Garden State Parkway
are some of the most trafficked roads in the entire country.
Almost every at some point in their time, has been
on the turnpike. And you know, it's all our graphic patterns,
all the millions upon millions upon millions of people, their
personal information, their pictures, their driver's license, et cetera. All
(06:15):
this information that easy pass has, all that would be
easily accessible to and will be to the Chinese Communist Party.
Why in God's name would you ever do that? Number one?
Why don't we go by to the low bidder? I
don't know, though, you know, Larry, in this process, the
(06:35):
lower bidder, an American company is now has an appeal
on this because it's the very same That's how I
found out the very same concerns I have. They believe
that it's a national security issue. Not only does it
show our graphic patterns and people's personal information. You know,
folks don't realize sometimes military equipment, when it has to
(06:55):
get to one spot to another, also has to travel
along these roads. It's bad for national security. I've asked
the Termpike Authority in as strong a way as I
can to rethink this and to rebid this, or at
least to do something different in the process. This isn't
good for America.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Absolutely it's a big local story. Thank you so much
for exposing that and thanks for coming on. Would love
to have you on again, especially on this story. If
something happens, please let us know about it. Congressman Jeff
Van Drew, congressman down in South Jersey. What do you
represent Atlantic County?
Speaker 3 (07:32):
No, I represents the biggest district in the state and
represent geographically Atlantic County, Cape May County, Cumberland County, stalem County,
Ocean County, Gloucester County. So it's a big district. It's
probably about a third of the state and I'm proud
of it. And you know, have still ties up to
northern and central New Jersey where I grew up many
(07:55):
years ago. And New Jersey is a great state if
you would just give it a chance.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Congressman Jeff Van Drew coming up next, What was it
like to be among the just five hundred and seventy
five people who got to see Paul McCartney at a
surprise concert in Manhattan. Q one O four point three's
afternoon drive host Ken dash Al knows he was there.
We'll talk with him next.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
Back now to the wr Saturday Morning Show with Larry Minty.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Welcome back. As you probably know, Paul McCartney surprised everybody
with impromptu concerts at the Bowery Ballroom. But it's no
surprise that Ken dash Al Q one oh four point
three afternoon Drive host and host of Breakfast with the
Beatles on Sunday morning was there. Ken. I am so
(08:48):
jealous of you. I'm jealous for a whole lot of reasons,
by the way, but especially jealous that you got to
see this show. So tell us about.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
It, Larry.
Speaker 5 (08:56):
It's not to rub it in, it's to share with
all of our heart in New York listeners. It was
the greatest concert experience of my entire life of fifty
five years of concert going, nothing can touch this. I'm
ten fifteen feet away from the greatest singer, songwriter, performer
of the twentieth century and now went to the twenty first.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
It was surreal. Do you think he's gonna do another one?
Speaker 5 (09:22):
There are rumors, There are rumors abounding, and you know,
I love you guys, whether it's war or Q one
o four to three. If I knew, I would actually
break the omerta and tell you I know so, I
but I don't.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
So.
Speaker 5 (09:36):
There is rumors of a third show tonight, maybe tomorrow night.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
There's a rumor.
Speaker 5 (09:41):
All I can say is, if you could and you
got to the Bowery Ballroom at seven thirty eight in
the morning, is it worth it because there's a chances
of show tonight tomorrow? Yeah, it's that worth it because
this is never gonna happen again. Gershwin is playing the
piano for you in like his living room. Oh sorry,
is paying to you in his living room.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
That is a great, great analogy. When you were saying this,
I thought the same exact thing you said. People are
probably running there to line up right now. Well, they
did yesterday when people thought he might have done it
again last night, which he did. People were there at
five thirty in the morning. Oh I imagine they're there
right now. Oh I'm sure they're camped down.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
Oh of course, especially you know there's it wasn't all
people of our first generation. There were second generation Beatle
Paul fans. There were third generation. There are people in
their twenties. He comes out and last night he opened
with Can't Buy Me Love, and the sound in this
little room was exactly like Shay Stadium. I'm not going
(10:44):
to try to scream now becaus I'll blow my voice out.
But it was that high pitched squeal from everyone, adults, grandparents, children,
because of the energy of what this music is.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
So this was a different set, less than the first night.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Can you leave it? He changed?
Speaker 5 (11:02):
You know, there are bands that do this is our set.
We've been doing it for our whole lives. This is
it will change the song the last time he played around,
when he played Medlife Stadium, he played New Jersey, played
Barkley cent he played ubs. In the six shows he
did in their area, he changed thirty songs. And when
you think about it, when you know somebody left the
(11:23):
show and they said, oh, he didn't do Good Day Sunshine.
And I said, if we were there, if he had
to play everything we wanted to hear, we still be
there this morning.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Now. I read somewhere that he did a tribute to
John Lennon. Is that correct?
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Yes? And we were all crying our eyes out.
Speaker 5 (11:40):
He did that last song, the song that won the
Grammy for Best Performance of the Year for Now and
then the tape that John Lennon left him, and there
wasn't a dry eye. People are crying. I look up
in the balcony little Steve and is crying. I'm crying,
Elvis Costello is crying, everybody, and he said, this is
(12:01):
for John. He said, John loved this city and the
city loved him, and I love this city.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
And he was holding back the little shake in his voice.
He said, and I know you love me.
Speaker 5 (12:13):
I went into this song and I was gone before
you even started singing it.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
That's unbelievable. What a moment, What a moment to be
a part of. Again, I'm extremely jealous of you, and
I love I love how you just casually named drop.
Elvis Costello was crying too. Who else was there? Why
we drop all the names of people that may have
been there?
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Well, the one thing that was one of the most
surreal moments of the night, Larry.
Speaker 5 (12:37):
He's playing Hey Jude, you know this legendary singalong song
that he wrote to John Lennon's first son, to Julian Lennon.
You know for about he's so broken up that his
father divorced his mom and is with Yoko, and he writes,
you know, the minute you let her into your heart,
then you can start to make it better.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
And we're all singing no, no, no, you know, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
And I look up and Sean Yoko Ono Lenin is
up there singing along with Hey Jude. I'm like, this
is surreal. This is like being in a Fellini movie.
What where am I? This is actually happening. It's incredible.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Oh I would love to see that. That would that
would really make my life. To tell you the truth,
it's really strange that we have not seen anything on
social media. Did you have to hand in your camera or.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
You Yeah, it's very simple. There's a pouch.
Speaker 5 (13:26):
This is happening more and more at shows that Bob
Dylan did it, Paul did it. They put your phone
in a pouch and they hand the pouch back to you,
so the pouch is locked and you have your phones.
And at the end of the evening he said how
much fun was that? And Hey, no phones? And we
all cheered because instead of standing there with a phone
filming a whole concert that you're never going to see again,
(13:47):
you get to experience the moment live. You get to
see this man who has eighty two years old, plays
every single note, plays bass, guitar, lead, guitar, rhythm, guitar, piano,
sings lead on every song, doesn't take a break and
is the greatest experience you'll ever see, which.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Leads one to believe that maybe this is a Netflix special.
Did you see professional cameras anywhere?
Speaker 6 (14:09):
You know?
Speaker 1 (14:10):
It wasn't.
Speaker 5 (14:10):
I was thinking Netflix special or something like that. There
were some cameras or people shooting footage, but it wasn't
like you or I know what a TV. You know,
if a recording looked like it didn't look like a
recorded concert. But god, I hope this comes out somewhere
somehow where I don't know how they're gonna use it,
but it was magic.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Well, if you saw some people with cameras, there's always
a chance that we'll get to see it too. Let's
just hope that's true. Why wouldn't they they could? How
much would that sell for? I mean, I would think
Netflix would pay millions to have that. So I hope,
I hope it happens. But Ken, I'm so happy for you. You
deserve to be there. Ken Dashel long time afternoon drive
(14:49):
host to Classic Rock Q one oh four point three
and Sunday Mornings with Breakfast with the Beatles of course
from eight to ten.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Thanks a lot, Thank you, Larry. It's a pleasure to
be on with you.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Bags coming back to our favorite stores in New Jersey.
If Jack Chittarelli becomes governor, they are we'll talk with
the Republican candidate and becoming led Zeppelin is in theaters now.
If you're a fan, it's a must see. We'll talk
with a director.
Speaker 4 (15:19):
Here again is Larry Minty with the wr Saturday Morning Show.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Welcome back. I hate hate going to the store and
not getting a plastic bag. Governor Murphy banned them in
New Jersey, but Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Chittarelli says, if
he becomes the next governor, he'll bring him back. I
want to move to New Jersey just to vote for
(15:44):
you because I love this idea. You want to bring
back plastic bags.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
Hey, Larry, since we're number one in out migration in
the country, you moving back to New Jersey's music to
my ears, That's the whole point of this race.
Speaker 6 (15:59):
Any people do not want to lead.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
But listen Phil Murphy's plastic bag policies, Like every one
of his other policies, whether it's the environment, energy, physical housing,
it's been an abysmal failure and so it's time let's
bring back the plastic bags.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
It's so stupid. You know how many times, Jack, this
is a big issue to me, A real huge issue
to me. You know how many times I've had to
bore and beat up a poor clerk to death pointing
out all the things I'm now putting in a paper
bag or a cloth bag that are plastic. I keep
this my plastic. You know, the yogurt I buy plastic,
(16:34):
the cleaning products I buy, that's plastic. I was pointing out,
this is plastic, that's plastic. This is plastic, that's plastic.
So now why can't I put it in the plastic
bag again? How am I hurting the environment?
Speaker 6 (16:45):
Don't you feel the same way too?
Speaker 3 (16:47):
I do.
Speaker 6 (16:48):
And here's the You know, the data is pretty clear.
Speaker 4 (16:50):
Those plastic bags that they're making us buy when we
forget to bring in our bags, the ones they sell
us right there at the clerk, they're using more energy
to produce than the old plastic bags.
Speaker 6 (17:01):
So how does this make any sense?
Speaker 4 (17:03):
And by the way, when you're in the produce section,
what do you put your fruit and the vegetables into
a plastic bag? That's right, it's my newspapers this morning.
What were they in a plastic bag. So can we
get back to some common sense policy instead of inconvencing people.
Speaker 6 (17:16):
Here in New Jersey every step of the way.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
It's just virtue signaling. It's saying we did something to stop.
I don't even know what they're trying to stop, but
for some reason, it's supposed to make everybody feel better.
But this is a huge issue a bit. I think
you already know this. This is a big, big issue.
I'm sure you're gonna get votes just for this proposal
because people are sick of it. They go, they go
(17:40):
into the living room. They have all these cloth bags.
How many cloth bags have you accumulated over the years
because of this ridiculous rule, and you always forget them,
and that means you got to buy more cloth bags,
and so it costs you more. Prices are already high.
Now you have to pay more like two ninety nine
or a dollar ninety nine or ninety nine cents just
for a bag to bring it home in. You know,
(18:03):
I could go on and on and on, and but
I won't because there's a lot of virtue signaling going
on and a lot of stupid policies. So let's move
on to sanctuary cities and a sanctuary state. New Jersey
is a sanctuary state. All of the major cities are
sanctuary cities. I know Donald Trump's all over this, but
what are you going to do about them? When, when,
(18:26):
and if you become governor.
Speaker 4 (18:28):
My position has been clear, Larry, on day one of
my administration, Executive Order number one, no town in this
state will be allowed to be a sanctuary city, and
we will not be a sanctuary state. We are not
going to encourage your legal immigration with that kind of policy,
and we're never going to tell any mayor that is
local PD can't work with federal authorities to keep the
community safe.
Speaker 6 (18:48):
Donald Trump campaigned on.
Speaker 4 (18:50):
This issue, he was overwhelmingly elected, and every governor has
a responsibility to work in partnership with the president to
keep America safe. And so when our governor sits there
on a stage and says that he and his wife
are harboring and illegal in the apartment above their garage,
he's actually in violation of federal law.
Speaker 6 (19:08):
And that's why I call for impeatument proceedings.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Well, that's great that you're saying that. That was the
stupidest thing I've ever heard a governor say ever. And
I think you've heard Tom Homan. At first he was
smiling about it. He's gotten madder and matter and matter
and matter because he's saying when the governor says that,
he's giving others permission to do the same, and that
(19:31):
becomes dangerous.
Speaker 6 (19:32):
Rush absolutely.
Speaker 4 (19:34):
And the reason he made it all the more dangerous
is he taunted Ice. He said, of the defense, think
they're going to come on the property to handle this matter,
I dare them. That's what he basically said. He's under
twenty four hour state police protection. If people are coming
on the property at two or three o'clock in the
morning doing four federal law. He invited and instigated a
confrontation as dangerous for our state police and those federal agents.
Speaker 6 (19:58):
It was the height of your responsibility.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
It was irresponsible. You won't be running against him. As
you look at the field of Democrats who may run
against you, does anybody scare you?
Speaker 4 (20:10):
Nobody scares me, Larry. That's why I'm in it, and
we are in it to win it. I really wanted
to beat Murphy four years ago. This landscape is a
bit different, and I'm very confident in winning this time around.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
When you say, let me get back to sanctuary cities
for one second, if they are if they were declared
illegal on the on the federal level, which it sounds
like that's where this is going, would it still be
an issue when and if you're sworn in.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
Listen, we're gonna bring the point home by doing the
same thing here in New Jersey that Donald Trump wants
to do across the nation, and by state constitution, our
governorship is the most powerful in nation. If there are
democratic mayors out there that want to think they're gonna
play hardball and go along the lines of Phil Murphy,
but we'll see.
Speaker 6 (20:50):
How that goes.
Speaker 4 (20:51):
But we're gonna do everything possible keep our state safe,
and that includes me putting in place an attorney general
that supports me on banning sanctuary cities and getting rid
of cashless bail, which has created professional criminals.
Speaker 6 (21:04):
This is a big concern in the community. We got
to get back the law and.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Order cashless bail. It might be a bigger deal at
that time. And you're right that never has made any sense.
These policies never ever made any sense, and so you'd
just be bringing back some common sense if you get
into office. What about congestion pricing. What's your stance on that?
Speaker 6 (21:24):
Well, listen, promises, made promises, kep.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
Donald Trump has put a halt on the windmills off
the Jersey shore when he started.
Speaker 6 (21:30):
Out finished we're not getting them.
Speaker 4 (21:32):
And up north he's going after New York Democrats on
that congestion pricing plan, and if for whatever reason he
can't succeed in stopping it, We're going to war and
I'll have retaliatory tactic. Anybody coming through a tunnel over
to bridge in the morning when a New York played
to the New Jersey, We're gonna hit him with a
congestion pricing fee.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
And that is until it goes away? Or is this
a way to raise money to improve New Jersey transit.
Speaker 4 (21:55):
Until it goes away? We should be working in partnership
in two states. And by the way, here's my message
to New York and New Jersey commuters. If you want
people to use mass transit, make it reliable, make it convenient,
and make it safe. New Jersey Transit right now is
struggling to be those three things, as is the MTA.
But we're not asking New York to pay for our
heart problems. Why are they asking New Jersey to pay
(22:17):
for theirs.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Always a pleasure to talk to you, Jack. Yeah, I
was thinking about this. We've we've done interviews for five
years now, maybe a little over five years. Was I
the first person to interview you when you when you
invited me to your house when you run for governor
because I want.
Speaker 6 (22:30):
You to move back to New Jersey? Larry, the answers.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Yes, Why don't I think the answer is not? Yes?
Thanks so much, Larry.
Speaker 6 (22:40):
I vividly remember that interview. We did it in front
of the fireplace, that's right, my family room, and.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
It was a lot of fun, that's right. And I
remember you thank me for asking you some questions because
it prepares you for the campaign. I don't know if
you remember that. I thought that was very gracious. Thank
you so much, Jack Chittarelli, Republican candidate for governor in
New Jersey. Coming up next an amazing documentary in theaters
this weekend, Becoming Led Zeppelin. I talk with a director,
(23:09):
Bernard McMahon.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
Next, here again is Larry MENTI with the WOR Saturday
Morning show.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Welcome Back. There's an amazing documentary out this weekend that
I got a chance to see. It's called becoming led Zeppelin.
It's all about the birth of the legendary rock group
led Zeppelin. Bernard McMahon is the director. Bernard. Wonderful, wonderful job, excellent, congratulations.
Speaker 7 (23:38):
Thank you very much, Larry. I'm deeply touched that you
responded to the film in that way. Yeah, it's definitely
made as a theatrical experience. This is a film that
was made from day one to go down with as
many of your friends as you can into the biggest
screen you can find, and you literally get transported into
(24:00):
those led Zeppelin shows in sixty nine.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
It takes you there.
Speaker 7 (24:04):
This is not a movie for watching on your sofa
in your living room at home.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Yeah. I am going to go see it in the
theaters after watching it on my computer, so only because
I had that exact same thought the performance video you
have and that you accumulated. It's spectacular. It's the early
led Zeppelin, some of it before they became the superstars
they are right now. So yes, yeah, and how did
(24:33):
you get I mean, these are some people that don't
always like to talk to the media or talk to filmmakers.
How did you get all the surviving members to speak?
Speaker 7 (24:41):
We've made a series of films on a called American
Epic on the first Blues and Country records it made
in the twenties and thirties, which is like everyone said
to us, it couldn't be done. It where they were
narrated and produced by Robert Redford, who supported us on it.
And so that when we did start wanting to do
led Zeppelin, and we put and we were putting together
(25:05):
my producing partner and writer Alison mcgaudey. We wrote this
whole film in advance. We tracked down archive on led Zeppelin,
We prepared in everywhere we could, and look, a couple
of people we chartedy said, you're absolutely insane, They're never
going to agree to do this, but we just s went,
we don't care. We're going to carry on and do it.
(25:25):
And then when we finished writing this whole thing, all
this work, we reached out then and amazingly when we
met John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. Jimmy
and Robert were already big fans of American Epic.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
And when we sent the DVD.
Speaker 7 (25:41):
Of American Epic the John Paul Jones, he had made
a pilgrimage to the very first place in the in
the very first scene in the film where the Carter
family are from. So it was like they knew what
we were doing and what we were about. And then
when they when we when we met with him, it
was like, you know, these long meetings. I said, five
hours of John Paul Jones maybe something similar with Robert
(26:04):
Plant and seven hours of Jimmy Page. And he would
ask these little trick questions like Psycho, I'm talking to
the storyboard and this is the point where you meet
Robert Plant for the first time and you go, what
was the name of the band he was in. I'll
be like obs tweedle and he'd be like, very good.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
Carry on.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
So the entire time to yeah, exactly, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 7 (26:25):
He wanted to make sure you know that that this
dude coming through him actually knew the facts, you know,
and I did. I'd memorized it all and so so
you know, and then and then but you know, this
is an amazing thing. Then when they agreed to.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
Do it, they let us have complete artistic.
Speaker 7 (26:41):
Control, you know, and so this film on there is
exactly the film that we wanted to make that you
see on the big screen. That's what we wanted to
make and I just wanted to There's a message in
the film that's for now. And the message is in
the film, and this is for kids out there and
older people too, is that you can do anything you
(27:02):
want in this world. As long as you just you
stick to it, you follow your dreams, and you work hard,
and you just keep on at this thing, you will
get what it is you're looking to do. Because we
managed to do this with this film, you know, and
I said, there's nothing special about us. You know, my producer,
(27:22):
Allison is a lot more special. But I'm just a
guy that likes the film and likes making films. But
you know, I'm not the son of Steven Spielbog. I'm
not like some anointed thing, you know.
Speaker 6 (27:34):
But I do.
Speaker 7 (27:35):
But I do work hard. And that's the Zeppelin way.
When I've got an idea that I want to do,
I really work hard at it, and I don't listen
to people that are going, oh, you can't do that.
I stick to my guns. And that's what anyone out
there listening can do with anything they want to do.
And this is the message of this film, is that
(27:56):
at these times where it's so difficult and you feel
that everyone feels under such pressure. Led Zeppelin fans across
all boundaries, all religious, political, whatever boundaries, there's led Zeppelin
fans you know that are drawn.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
In by this music.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
Yeah, and the.
Speaker 7 (28:14):
Message is positivity to them is like you can you
work with your your group of small group of friends
and you pull your your efforts to be more than
some of the parts. And that's what the message of
the film is. And it's it's it's a musical, you know,
and you can watch it like over and over again
and go on that trip, but that message is at
(28:35):
the core of it all.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
No, absolutely, and I got that. I want to touch
on the fact of how you handle John Bonham, which
I thought was absolutely brilliant and some of some of
the most powerful moments in the documentary explain.
Speaker 7 (28:52):
I wanted all of them to have a voice, you know,
because led Zeppelin is this is a film about collaboration,
and that's what the messages to the audience and to
myself as well. We're gonna read a little bit John
Bonham basically is. But John bon and Bassis. We just
(29:13):
searched the planet by the Mariana Trench to find tapes
of John Bonham and we ended up finding three and
then his father, Jack Bonham, had kept given to his
John's sister all these eight milimeter footage of John Bonham,
and so between them we're able to have John for
the first time ever speaking in the movie. And when
(29:35):
we premiered it in California, this handsome young man walked
up and shook my hand and went, I want to
thank you. That's the first time I've ever heard my
grandfather speak. And it was Jacob Bonham and son who
had died or after John was who was born after
John had died.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
That is amazing. Some of my favorite moments is when
you were showing the way you played this. You showed
the other members listening to it, and that alone was
powerful because you could see the emotion in their face.
And with that, we do have to go. It was
a pleasure talking to you. Bernard McMahon, director of the
new documentary Becoming led Zeppelin. If you are a music fan,
(30:15):
you have to go see this. It's in theaters tomorrow.
I loved it. I'm going to see you a second time. Bernard.
Thanks for spending time with us.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 7 (30:24):
The theater is the only place to see this.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
Thank you yep, I agree with you. I can't wait.
Bernard McMahon, director of Becoming led Zeppelin. That wraps up
Saturday morning for this week. Thank you so much for listening,
and special thanks to Peter Airelano, the producer. I'll be
back six o'clock Monday morning for mente in the morning.
Hope you have a great rest of your weekend.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
This has been a podcast from wor
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