Mark Milovats, International Recording Artist, Television and Radio Host and Entertainer

From : https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-milovats-34b7b79

Mark Milovats is an international recording artist, television and radio host and entertainer. His live shows tout him as America's Premier Showman in the style o Buble, Sinatra, Manilow and Andy Williams His hits include.. Jingle Bells #2, My Way, Mack the Knife, Somethin's Goin On #5 and To Get to You.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
God knows it. This is annvideo and you are oh, bless your
heart. This is the Coda Podcast, call it Pittsburgh's music scene, and
welcome in. I'm Johnny heart Wellyour host. Today we talked a singer,

(00:23):
crooner, performer, Mark Melo backscheck all right. So you might
know him as mister Christmas. Iknow him as the guy who I snuck
in backstage to meet Don Rickles anduh backstage and don't you remember that,

(00:45):
don't you? I certainly remember it. Yes, what an experience. So
Mark, thank you for coming in. I appreciate you coming in chatting with
us. Johnny, It's great tobe here. Thanks. All right.
So basically we want to get Markmel this is your life? Wow?
Oh, I want you to goto the beginning. When did you come
from a musical family. Well,my father was a singer, was almost

(01:07):
professionally. No, he was alsoan elementary school principal. But so his
his claim to fame was probably atDuquine at the time they had the Dukene
University Tamperitzin. So yeah, hewas a soloist for them. Oh wow,
a long time ago and when theywere really really big in their day,
and so that's what it came from. But I guess, you know,
in the family there were some musicians, I believe. But it started

(01:30):
for me when I was eight,singing for my grandfather every Sunday I had
to learn a new song. Hewas bedridden, and he would pay me
a quarter. That was big.Wow. Not a lot of people started
right off professionally getting paid. Sothat was my first professional gig. But
you know, it always clown aroundtoo. You know, there's a lot
of musicians right now that would takea quarter a gig, right, you

(01:51):
know, right exactly? And doyou remember what music? But do you
remember the songs that you would singfor your grandfather? I do. They
were Eastern European folk songs. Believeit or not. Wow, So he
was from he was from Europe.He's from Eastern Europe. He had immigrated
here. And uh so that's reallywhat it was. And so I so
they weren't in English, they werenot in English. Do you remember do

(02:14):
you remember the lyrics? I do? I remember some of them. You
want me to quote some of them? I do, Oh my gosh.
So these are Serbo Croatian, whichis part of my ethic roots, as
well as the Czech Republic and someother things. So oh gosh, one

(02:35):
was Letty Letty ps Mamoya Mila lausdoidnext a don about Osvilla, so you
could make I wouldn't know. Isaw that look on your face, but
they really are you know, theirlyrics and uh, you know you understand
the language back I did not,but my father was bilingual, so he
would explain some of it to me, but he wouldn't you know, not

(02:58):
that he would was it phonetically?You have it fanatically? Yeah exactly,
that's exactly right, you know.And from a very young age, I
was remember the Junior Tampaitsen So theneventually I guess, you know, along
the way, I was a memberof the Duqne Tampaitson's too. But so
that was the beginning. But Iyou know, my big I loved Brian

(03:20):
Wilson and the Beach Boys. Okay, so that's something we shared. Yeah,
yeah exactly. So that was Doyou remember your first record that you
bought? Okay, so the firstrecord my sisters got me because they're a
bit older than I am, sowhen I was little, I remember the
first record they got me was EdgarWinner Free Ride. You remember that I
was gonna say, Frankenstein, Iknow all the words of that song.

(03:43):
Yeah, I'm sure it was theretoo. Yeah, but I remember the
album cover and giving them this strangelook because he was he was cross dressing
at the time. It was astrange album cover at the time, you
know, and at that time,you know, I'm I'm probably eight looking
at it, going what's this?And so but I dug the tunes,
so I really liked it. Doyou remember the first record that you physically

(04:06):
went into a store and bought.Wow, I don't I'm trying to think
it would probably was a beach Boyrecord. It might have been Endless Summer.
Oh yeah, which they're on theirEndless That was one of my first
albums that I got. Yeah,I think it was Endless Summer. I
remember it because that was kind ofa you know, a mishmash of you

(04:26):
know, some good Tuesdays at NationalRecord Mark h New the new singles came
out, the new stuff came out. Uh so, yeah, that was
probably the first one. So whenyou were in grade school, you know,
you were singing with your your grandfatheron Sundays. Did you have any
formal music training at the time.Outside of school. No, No,

(04:48):
it was just you know, Ialways my I call my formal music training.
All those artists that I listened to, you know, the Beach Boys
harmonies, trying to sing the differentones, the Doobie Brothers, Blackwater.
I remember Blackwater being kind of cooland trying to learn all those different parts.
So no, not really. Imean, I guess you know a

(05:10):
lot of people say, oh,you have to have vocal training. I
think, you know, sometimes youjust have a gift. It's a blessing
and you use it for good hopefully. How many like your Was your father
a baritone as well? He was? Yeah, he really was. He
had this booming, booming voice,you know, so much bigger than mine.
What what? Yeah? Actually?Yeah? So what was his name?

(05:34):
Am Aml? Yeah? So whichis I rarely say, but which
is my middle name? So?Uh? Which you know with a name
like that, I always say,I must be German somewhere along the way.
And what kind of music did didyour family listen to? What kind
of music was in the household growingup? That's a really good question.
It was really Serbo Croatian music.You know, I grew up in that

(05:56):
ethnic realm because Mike grandfather on bothsides. But my mom's dad owned a
bar and also a gun club wherehe had big picnics. It was like
twenty five acres in beautiful Trafford,Pennsylvania that had these big picnics that were
known far and wide. Believe itor not, I was on a flight

(06:18):
out of I was on a junketto New Jersey to the casino and where
you know you're coming back at likeI think it was midnight, two in
the morning, I can't remember,or we might have played there, and
we were coming back really late,and these guys next to me started talking.
They said, yeah, yeah,do you remember those picnics that Big
MIC's. Look at them listening.I'm thinking, wait, that's my grandfather's

(06:39):
picnics there, and they're like theysaid they were like none other, the
music, all the food, andthe beer. So I turned to them,
I said, are you talking aboutBig Mike's Areavica? Oh yeah,
you wouldn't know, you're too young. And that was your grandma was my
grandfather, And I said, well, actually I would That was my grandfather
that I would sing for. Thatis crazy. Yeah, it was bed

(07:00):
Riodan the time, and I wouldstart singing for you, So that was
rare. You know, it's veryinteresting. So I think it was pretty
well known in that realm of people, or more than I knew. So,
yeah, there were some musicians,I guess in the family. It
was mostly the bar business, though, to be you know, I grew
up around that, so and Iwhich is funny, I don't drink so,
but I grew up around it becauseI had it, you know,

(07:21):
at a very young age. Allright, So at a very young age
you sing for your father. Didyou sing in any choirs or anything like
that in high school? High school? I did, Yeah, high school
leads and musicals. Do you playany instruments? I do. I play
stringed instruments. So I played theguitar, and I play some other Eastern
European folk instruments as well. AsI learned how to play the bazuki,

(07:45):
the Greek bazuki I did once whenI was in the temperate hold on,
I gotta, I gotta look thatup, that the Greek bazuki. Yeah,
I couldn't spell it for you.Spelling it's not like there it is,
okay, oh, okay, it'sit's it looks like a guitar.
But it's kind of a tear dropexactly. Look, okay, yeah,

(08:05):
that's called a bazookie. Yeah,there we go. I learned something.
So have you ever I know you'reyou're the King of Christmas, and I
know all the crooning stuff that youdid. Have you ever like performed a
like uh, the Croatian music oranything similar to Tamba Ritson's professionally? Yes,

(08:30):
so we do it in our shows. So actually, so when we
do our non Christmas shows, we'lldo it sometimes, but also in Christmas
h we will I will include asmall ensemble to back me up and sing
a quick medley of them for aboutthree minutes. But so you've never done
like a complete Cuatian song book?No, you should? You should consider

(08:54):
that. Yeah, it's probably agood idea. You know. I've been
I don't want to say cajoled,but asked a few times and then and
I'm not steeped in the in thetradition at all, but I'd go see
that because yes, well that's interesting. Well, I mean, the interest
in other country's music is always enticingbecause you don't know what it is and

(09:20):
it's something new and different. Youshould consider doing that like that, that
would be fun. That would bea whole lot. I all right,
So all right, high school,you did the choir, you're learning musical
instruments. Uh did you start whatwhat you went from? Folk? Did?
And did? Did? Did itever? You know, go to
you know, you know, popmusic or anything. It was always pop

(09:43):
music for me, believe it ornot. You know, the folks stuff
I did because we got to travel, and you know, I got to
be girls. And is that whatwe all say? Uh? That was
it. But you know the travelwas big. We got to travel different
festivals every year. But my sister, my one sister, was dating and

(10:03):
then married the guitar player of avery popular band, the Delmonico's in Pittsburgh.
Uh, and uh, he startedgiving me guitar lessons. So that's
how I started taking guitar lessons,probably around the same age, around eight,
and so started started playing. Butyou know, I wouldn't say I
stuck to it like most you knowguitar players. I mean, I can

(10:24):
play, but not you know,I leave it to the experts today.
But so, yes, but itwas always that And then I don't know
how I heard it, but Iremember hearing a horn section. Might have
been Casey in the Sunshine Band,might have been I don't know. But
when I heard that horn section,you know, the Sinatra stuff and Bobby
Darren and Dean Martin, it's probablyfrom my mom who probably listened to it,

(10:46):
love that stuff. She really lovedJulio Iglesias. But anyway, that's
another story. We got got nothingto do at all day to tell them,
so all right, So I thinkwhen I heard those horn sections of
Sinatra's, you know, the bandsthat backed up Sinatra, I was blown
away and I thought I'd love thatstuff. So at some point in my

(11:11):
mind I started singing that style ofmusic, you know, pop standards,
which is what I do. AndI think in my mind I thought I'm
going to I know, I'm youngto do this, and it was at
a young age. And it wasat that time I realized too, I
did not want to stick out myscholarship with the Tampa it since in the
Tuquine it was a full ride atthe time, and gave it up and

(11:33):
said, I really want to doother stuff, you know, and radio
is one, you know, Iloved radio, left started my internship and
radio started some on air station Bninety four, I've heard of that.
Yeah, and then you know,I was the bee there, and then

(11:54):
then I got to be the bee, and then I got to do voices
on Sunday Joe Fox's Night show.He was one of the firstest jockeys I've
ever met. He was such anice guy, such a nice guy.
Look, you know, he'd letme just and then, oh gosh,
who is the guy that Oh hewas named Alfredy Newman, Alfredino, who
also was the program director at WISANight eight SA and Charleroi. So he

(12:18):
put me on the air there.So then I was doing a shift at
WSA while I was in college becauseI had left Caina gone to Pitt.
Oh you went to Pitt And whatwere you majoring in? Oh gosh,
not enough communications? Okay, yeah, later on I went back from my
graduate degree in education. But sothat's what I was majoring in. And

(12:41):
you know, and mayor Alfred Igot the gig and then uh, I
remember it was there was Scott Alexanderwas at the station in Nick Bazoo and
uh Ferrara, I guess the realname, and uh, you know,
I think that was a pivotal rolefor a moment when Nick called me in
when and he said, Hey,what do you really want to do,

(13:03):
And somewhere in my ridiculous mind,I said, I don't know. Those
salespeople look like they make a lotof money, not thinking that he was
giving you a chance to be onthe air. Yeah, Mark not.
And he kept saying are you sure? Yeah, I think so. You
know, I'm twenty nineteen whatever Iwas. I think it was nineteen.

(13:26):
He was giving you a chance tobreak it in the radio. Well,
yeah, because I was on WISOprobably for about six months at that point,
and WAMP had offered me a jobin West Virginia doing afternoon drive.
Noticed I've known you for twenty years. I didn't know any of this.
Yeah, it was oh gosh.John Klein had worked at WAMP and Bob

(13:50):
Dodenhoff I think, was a generalmanager there. I don't know why these
names are coming to me, butand he said, hey, would like
you to do afternoon drive, butyou're gonna have to leave college. And
I thought, oh, because youknow, you got to be here most
of the day. And I'm thinking, you know whatever, he kind of
do the you know, you knowthe gig and you know the drill and
I thought, well, I can'tdo that. You know, my dad

(14:11):
will kill me and uh, andthat's when I made the decision. Now
I couldn't take that job. Andyeah, and didn't realize what Nick was
offering. I didn't. I stillgo back to that and go, well,
I don't know, I don't know. I know you're doing okay,
you do it, okay. Yeah, But anyway, you know, because
I love radio. It's one ofmy first loves too. Besides, you

(14:33):
know, because it's that's where that'swhere you heard the music. Yeah,
that's where you heard all the greatmusic, right, and that's where you
heard all the great disc jockeys right, like yourself. And I'm not just
puffing you up. I mean it'strue. You know, you've been doing
this a while and you're really goodat it obviously, and you know that
that makes a difference and how yourelate to music and how you relate to
radio right. The disc jockey youknow, brings it to life and and

(14:56):
and they're your friend. Right.So for me, my sisters are so
much older than I was. Iwas basically an only child, so music
for me was my companion because Iwas basically both my parents worked I was
a lash key kid from the timeI was in first grade. I was
coming home with a key to thehouse. Right, it's true. I

(15:18):
know today, I'm sure there'd beabuse and they'd be locked up. But
so the only thing I had wasthe phone and music. So because I
didn't want to do my homework,because I did not like school. It
just wasn't my thing. When youwere singing at eight years old, did
you have that voice? The voiceyou have now? Well no, so
the voice I had it was startingto change, so it would crack a

(15:41):
lot. So that's what cracked up. Did you have that rich baritee?
I started to have it? Yeah, And you think Nick Vazoo was giving
you an opportunity with that kind ofvoice. Go on, you can be
doing voiceover work, right yeah?No? Which, yeah? All right?
So then you said, all right, umm, you you kind of
you were given an ultimatum either workin radio or stay in school. I

(16:06):
stayed in school and you graduated.And what ye did you pursue anything with
music after that? No, believeit or not. What happened? Well,
yeah, it's a really good question. It's a hard business. You
might know. It's not an easybusiness. Uh, and you know I
didn't even though I had done thisand done that, and leaving the Tamba

(16:29):
Ritzons at that time was so sociallyunacceptable in the world I had been brought
up in. I was kind ofostracized from the world, like, oh
my gosh, what it's like heresyat that time, were you're supposed to
retire? And well to me inmy mind, after I did it for
and we did one hundred and twentytwo shows a year. We toured all
over the country at that time.So I did a year and I thought,

(16:52):
I'm not going to be a professionalTamba Ritzen so what. I love
pop music because that's all I wastaken in, you know, Toto and
everything else on the when we toured. You know, I had my headphones
on him listening to all this music, thinking God, I was, oh,
here's what I could do. Soto answer your question, No,
I went into radio sales. Ohyou did, I got I got a
gig at y one o eight radiosales. And I was just talking to

(17:15):
Bill Barry, uh, who sayshe loves you at band advertising. We
were just having it, having anice tea with him, and I met
Bill Barry there Paul Crest hired me. Actually, I didn't know what I
was going to do because I walkedout of you know, I knew I
needed work after I graduated, SoI started just walking around to radio stations

(17:37):
and it was why one eight Iwalked into with the resume and it was
Paul that called me back in hisoffice said, what do you want to
do? Here we go again.I said, well, I was hoping
for a sales gig. And wetalked must have been an hour. Okay,
did you know anything about country music? Nothing? And I didn't know
how hard it was to sell atthat time, Extremely difficult and it was

(18:02):
a it was probably huge back thenbecause that was a very successful radio station.
It was, but it was stillhard to sell it. There was
this stigma there was of the kindof people that listened to country music was,
which was totally off base. Itwas it was, I mean,
because it was actually a very upscalepopulation still is it still is that listens

(18:23):
as well as uh, you know, other stations. So yeah, that
was interesting. So I started sobeing creative and want to create things.
I've created Sunday Night Country at thatat the time, the holiday and Cervico
Holiday inns. So that's how itstarted. I approached the general manager.
I said, you have nothing goingon on Sunday nights, you should do

(18:47):
Sunday night country in your in yourlounges and you know when they had those,
and he said, all right,we'll give it a try. So
went really well. Every other onestarted adopting it, and I remember I
got to do some DJing too,because I would come out with the DJ
and I got to do some ofthat too, which I love doing,
you know, like like I justlove it. And uh, because I

(19:10):
like to talk, but you alsolike to sing. So what when did
you? When when did Mark becomea professional singer? So not long after
that, I did some stints inmarketing, you know, I was.
I was hired away by Nutri Systemand I would buy all the market the

(19:30):
radio and television around the country.It was a great gig. It was
a lot of money at the time, and two of the owners were from
Pittsburgh. But and my dad wasso thrilled because it was like, oh,
my son has a job. It'ssolid, you know, you know
what that is, and uh,maybe maybe not. But then I was

(19:52):
somewhere in Orange County, California,and uh, talking to a new guy
who had just been hired as myboss, and I thought, oh,
what am I doing? Like thisisn't my passion. I love advertising,
I like Mark. I like thesponsors to come with me and sponsor me.
I love them. And I lefthelping him out and doing stuff.
But so all of a sudden,that's when it just I thought I can't.

(20:14):
I can't do this. But itwasn't that easy. So I left
this job. I said, I'mplaying basketball. And I remember in Orange
County. I remember it like itwas yesterday. I was thinking, Oh,
I'm leaving my job. How amI sending my So I sent my
resignation letter. And I had anassistant she and I because it was a
pretty intense job, and I thinkTracy was her name, and she called

(20:38):
me r any boy. She goes, is this letter a joke? Is
this noted joke? I said no, I said, just you know,
submit it. I'm done. AndI get this call and he flies down
and he goes my boss flies downand he goes, what can we do?
I said nothing. I think I'mdone. And what what what was
the last straw? What was whatwas it about? That that was like,

(21:03):
no, I need to do somethingthat is so I'm going to tell
the truth on this, whether it'sgood or not. Don't know. I
was. One of the jobs wehad was coaching DJs, coaching disc jockey's
Okay, how the talk system dida lot of you know, we did
DJ testimonial radio. That's how wemade money. Yep, A great company.
Still is good stuff. But Iremember and one of the other things

(21:26):
is we had to go into thecenters, and at that time, we
had centers where you'd go into orthey did and you'd observe, and you
know, we did cost per lead, cost per sale, all kind of
stuff. We really analyzed it.Anyway, I was in a center one
day and there was a woman emptyingher bank account with her last dime to
do this, and she thought,you know, my husband's going to leave

(21:49):
me if I don't do this.And I'm sitting there thinking, oh,
no, I can't be a partof this because she's going to gain half
of it back and she's it's goingto work for a while, but if
she doesn't stick, you know whatI mean. I knew, I knew
what it was about, and Iknew the possibility, you know, the

(22:10):
odds, and I thought that wasthe last straw that I couldn't do anymore.
I think, Johnny, I careway too much. I think I
do have this very strong caring aboutpeople. That's how became a teacher.
Later too, I wonder. ActuallyI was flying for Nutral System, and
that's what happened. I was readingthis USA Today article and it said teachers

(22:30):
are awful, They're the problem.I thought, no, they're not.
My dad's a principal. I knowhis teacher is the most wonderful at Franklin
Regional Murrysville. That's where he was, Pennsylvania. And so that was the
beginning of getting back to music,believe it or not, coming back,
getting a graduate degree in teaching,starting to teach first at fall Could Pitt
and then in public school, andthat was the beginning. So I think

(22:53):
it's the kids and their excitement thatgot me in touch with really doing music
again. And and really, youknow, because it had stopped for a
while and I left the tamperit sincebecause that being ostracized, and I just
i'd stopped playing all instruments. Iplayed five or six and I just stopped
so fast forward to while I wasalso a PID, I was doing stuff

(23:18):
with a guy named Don Brockett whowas on the Mister Rogers Show. He
was the chef yep and Brockett yepyquiet my kitchen, that was him.
So I learned from him too,and I learned how to do corporate shows
at that time too, so Iwas I was still doing it then,
so I didn't leave that and thencame back to Pittsburgh started doing this,

(23:41):
and while in graduate school, awoman named Winnie Flynn cast me in her
reviews out at the Holiday and inthe North Hills. So I started doing
these dinner theater reviews right and knowingthat this, you know, was my
fine destination, but I just wantedto do it again a little bit more.

(24:03):
Gosh, I was only twenty fourmaybe five at the time, and
what kind of music, what kindof oh, it's Broadway stuff. It
was all Broadway stuff, which everybodythought I should have done anyway, you
know, my whole life, youshould do Broadway, like I don't know
if I could do like the samething every night meanwhile, anyway, so
that started it, and then Irealized so I started getting standing ovations when

(24:27):
I perform, especially when I domy way. I mean there was one
night, I humbly say this,it must have been a four to five
minute standing up. I mean itjust didn't stop. That's intoxicating. It's
intoxicating. It's it's also some otherthings too. You also don't want to

(24:48):
show up people you're performing with orwho hired you. So there's other things
that go along, you know,the dynamics of this. And again,
I'm gonna be really honest, youknow. So it's really wonderful. I
spent probably year and a half doingthat, maybe two, and then realized,
after the Brocket stuff and after thisstuff, I thought, you know,
I can do this on my own. Why don't I just create my

(25:08):
own show. You know. It'snot like I'm gonna go do Broadway and
other stuff. I just don't wantto do it. So at that time,
uh, there was there was awar in Croatia. There was you
know, and I said, andI'm teaching, right, I said,
We've got we've got to do somethingfor the kids over there. So I

(25:30):
did a benefit for the kids ofwar torn Croatia that sold out at El
Munso's Palace in in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, was a big ballroom. I think
we had I don't know, athousand people, you know, and doing
the you know, doing the doingthe big band stuff, the crooner stuff,
the whatever you want to call itthese days, Boublez, Sinatra,

(25:52):
every other artist that there is thatdid really well. Then after that I
was born. Hey, nobody's doingChristmas and I love Christmas. So you
know, we did back up todo We did the first album after that.
So after that show I did soit really did it. Johnny probably

(26:15):
that first album it was called IGotta Be Me the Sammy Davis Junior Tune
and did, and then on therewas you know, fly Me to the
Moon, Mack the Knife, MyWay. Well, before we get to
Christmas, let's let's dig a littledeeper into what you know. So the
crooners. Yeah, it's it's timelessmusic. I mean, it's just it
and it's it can be enjoyed byso many. It's not you know,

(26:37):
it's not just old people. It'sit's you know, in fact, I
think if anything, there's a wholenew generation of young people who appreciate that
art form. Yep, there is, you know, it's funny you say
that did you appreciate that back then? I mean at that time did you?

(26:59):
Did you? Did you embrace it? No? Okay, no,
that's what I wanted to know.No, I didn't, because you know
now that you have Harry Connock Juniorand the Michael Bublaze who really made it
mass appeal. You know when youwere doing it that you were a little
ahead of that curve. And Iwas wondering, when did you embrace that?
Now? You obviously had the voicefor it, so was it the

(27:22):
voice and the talent and then theappreciation came? It was the horn section.
Honest to goodness, it was thehorn section I heard, you know,
I heard some of that stuff andcome fly with me and other things.
Then just went, holy cabooses,I want that. You know,
to me, that was almost asgood as bleep anyway, but it was,
as you know, as good assomething else. So yeah, I

(27:45):
didn't embrace it. I didn't.I certainly pushed against it. However,
I think what I said before Ididn't is that I realized at some point
I could grow into this music.Then I'm going to age into it at
some point, and maybe not atthat time, and at that time.
You know, that was the earlynineties. You know, Connick had just

(28:06):
not come out yet. So Istarted doing it and we started having some
success to in corporate things and everything, because you know, there was some
big bands around, but there weren'tdoing what I was doing the same thing.
So nope, I didn't embrace ituntil I realized the rush and how
good the music was, right becauseI'm a child of the eighties and nineties
and you know, I'm digging I'mdigging Toad the Wetsprocket and I'm tgking you

(28:30):
know, lover boy. I mean, come on, and really the ultimate
alternative music is music from the thirtiesand forties, you know, with Frank
Sinatra, the young Frank Sinatra is. You know, people there may not
people who appreciate Frank Sinatra. Theymay know who he is, or you
know, maybe the the later FrankSinatra. But you know, when you

(28:53):
when you talk about Elvis and MichaelJackson and Nirvana and Taylor Swift, before
all of that, it was FrankSinatra. And I don't think, like
I keep waiting for a Frank Sinatrabiopic, but I don't think there's I
don't think there's a movie. Idon't think there's a movie big enough to

(29:14):
tell the whole story of Frank Sinatra, because he was successful for fifty years,
but at one point he was thebiggest human being on the biggest entertainer
on the planet. And then itdisappeared, and then he came back and
he was bigger than he ever was, and people don't know that story and
the love and the you know,we kind of know some of the I

(29:37):
don't think we'll ever know about theyou know, the underworld influences that Frank
had, and you know, that'spart of the story. And I'm fascinated
with the Frank Sinatra, the wholeera, the whole era, and and
the people that he hung out withand then Palm Springs and so many,
so many stories about Frank that thatthat people don't know. And he's a

(29:59):
fascinating I think he's I think he'sjust amazing. I'm with you one hundred
percent. Yeah, I think heis. And that's why the mistike.
I think there's the mystique and there'sclass. There was this mystike of class
about it. Yeah, and wetalk about that even most recently. Now,
Yeah, that whole thing you knowthat era of the rat pack and
whatever it was was fun. Likepeople want to be that, right,

(30:22):
you want to you wanna? Ithink that's what's the most interesting. Right,
here's this guy, you know,singing, smoking, boozing and still
alive. Well. I was introducedto Frank Sinatra, not through his music,
but through the television shows like DeanMartin's Row. Yes, and so
I almost knew him as a TVpersonality more than I knew his music.

(30:44):
Yeah, and uh, you knowwith he's you know, with you know
him and Jerry Lewis and things likethat, and you saw him, but
I didn't know. And you wouldsee him sing, but I didn't know
the story of Frank Sinatch until later. But all right, so all right,
So now, whether you liked itor not, you're you're, you've

(31:06):
you've reluctantly put on the Krooner suit. No, I don't know if I
did it reluctantly. I liked it, No, I liked it by then,
I liked it, but I didn't. I guess I had some I
don't know if we'll call it hutzpahor arrogance or at the time, a
lot a lot more confidence that Hey, I can do this, and I
can do it well. I thinkI do it pretty well. I thought,

(31:30):
so that was it and we weyou know, I created this show
because I love Barry Manilo too,and Barry Manilo is a showman. So
to me, it was more thanjust singing the songs. How do you
bring it to life? How doyou entertain people? And I think it
just came to me, honest togoodness, naturally, at some point when
I was little, I was alwaysyou know, people to this day say,
oh, you do comedy when theymeet me, and I say,

(31:52):
no, really, I'm not acomedian. I'm a singer. But there's
comedy in the show. So whenyou first was it was Martin that's the
you know showman? Or was itwas it some sort of show review?
Or was it gradually? How didhow did you enter that work? I
entered that with one of Barry Maniloe'ssongs I took and I called the show
Big Fun. We did it besidesAlic's Place. Then we came out to

(32:15):
the holiday and in Green Tree,which used to be in green Tree,
Pennsylvania, did Big Fun there andthey kept selling out, And so I
started that way, and you almostyou found an audience almost instantaneously. Was
it? I don't know how Iyou know, I'm trying to think how
that happened. I think it wasthrough marketing. I think if you play

(32:35):
good music like it is right andit's I think you will the audience will
find you almost now as I talkto people who want to get you know,
there's so many great musicians and artistsand obviously and you know, Taylor
is bigger than life, right,and those shows are bigger than life.
I think, who is this Tayloryou speak well for depending on how far

(33:00):
this goes back and Taylor Swift,okay, but you know those are bigger
than life. But it's different,you know, it's a different kind of
stuff. So when you go backto this raw you know, I'm not
we don't use tuners, uh,you know, I'm live. I'm not
tracking anything, and we use alive sixteen to twenty two piece orchestra,

(33:23):
you know, non Christmas and Ithink people really, like you said,
young people today when they see it, younger people have never experienced it before,
so it's something new. Depending onthe demographic you're in, whatever age
that is, you either remember itor you have a great memory. That's

(33:44):
what music is, right, Youhave a memory of something, either someone
you dated, someone you didn't date, someone you wanted to date, someone
you're so glad you didn't end upwith. But I think that's what that's
what this mystique now is today.Right, you go to somebody else and
you know, when I go seeSticks, I want to I want to

(34:04):
remember. When I go see defLeppard, I want to remember. But
they have new stuff too, whichis good. So this is the package
of live music, a live personsinging the songs. Not I'm not a
I'm not a tribute artist. I'mnot you know, trying to replicate anything
in that sense, but you know, trying to bring these songs new life.

(34:25):
And uh as we all do.I'm sure and and and in a
showman style, entertained people at thesame time. So that's what That's what
I think Frank and Dean and andSammy were all about, right, They
entertained people. It was fun.You wanted to go to the Sands to
see that midnight show because you wereyou were in on the joke. You

(34:46):
were in on the joke and youfelt like you were part of it.
So when you come to my show. I hope you feel like you're in
on the joke and you're a partof it. Oh, that's awesome,
that's awesome. I want you tobe a part of it. I want
you to be in on the joke. And I come out in the audience
and start talking to people, andI'll tell him about the band members,
and I'll try, you know,and i'll auction off the guitar player if
I can, you know, say, hey, he's not busy, Yeah,

(35:07):
he's got right. And you knowwe're not selling as much merch,
so I'm going to sell this guytonight, sor right. So when did
you start recording and how successful wasthat? In nineteen ninety four? I
think we started a late ninety threeThat was the I Gotta Be Me album,
That was all the standards. Isaid, where did you record that?

(35:29):
In Al Snyder's studio in Green Tree, Pennsylvania. That was the Corbyn
Hander. He was part of theCorbyn Hanner band. So I had met
Al, and Al then started playingpiano with me for a long time after
that. But it was because youknow, because I'll tell you how I
met him. I was doing amusical I Man Keysport, Little theater.

(35:49):
I got my lead, Oh,how to succeed business without really trying?
I was finch. That's right.There was some you know, all kind
of there's all as you know,there's peaks and valley and everything you do.
And I don't know if that wasa peak or a valley, so
but it led to something. Itled to al and it led to recording
the album there and that then becamethe impetus when you asked me what really

(36:12):
pushed me? My father died thatyear, and it was I was just
finishing the record. I so muchwanted him to hear it, and so
I brought finished product to the hospitalroom. I mean he was really you
know, days away, minutes andmy way. He was listening to my
son playing the cassette at the time, and he passed away well, listening

(36:37):
to my version of my Way.And so that's why I sing it in
every show, whether it's Christmas ornon Christmas. And is that moment pop
in your head every time? Everytime? You know, obviously brings a
tear to my eyes like now.But it was something he said to me
before he died. You know,he knew he was going to die.

(36:59):
He had cancer and by the timethey found it, he'd been telling him
about it for two years and theysaid, oh, you're just getting older.
It wasn't that old. And bythe time they found it, he
only had a couple months to live. So I remember he sat me down
and talked to me in a waythat I never had talked to my dad,

(37:20):
and that kind of pushed me,like he really did. He just
you know, he said, ifI were you son and I had your
voice, never talked to me likethat. He'd only told me I was
average all the time. You gotto work at it, you know,
I all went along, singing,all along musicals, whatever it was.
He goes, eh, your averagework on it until that day, and

(37:42):
then he told me. Then Iwent hm hm. So to this day,
I think that's one of the reasonsI do it. You know,
I thought, coming in here thismorning, I thought, huh, what
am I gonna talk about? Whydid I do this? So that was
it. That was the emphasis,And then the album did well. We
started when so I started doing thosethat kind of show, you know,
I'm playing with a trio doing it. But it was always a show in

(38:07):
the sense of I know, we'dget hired in some clubs and stuff like
the Rhythm House and other places.But it was a show. I wasn't
a I wasn't a jazz act inthe bar. And I think that's a
hard thing to do, especially anywherein any city, because they're used to
hiring jazz bands. You're gonna playfor three hours and they're gonn you're gonna
people are gonna kind of listen toyou, but background music but not not

(38:30):
with not with you. Not,Well, that's gonna be hard to be
a little background with Mark Mellve itwas. I found that it was so
non intrusive but booming. At thispoint, it's a show. It's not
a I'm not gonna sing, uh, you know, smoke, it's in
your eyes. I'm gonna you know, I'm doing I'm doing full on Lucky

(38:52):
a Lady and everything else, soand and in a big style. So
if I may say that humbly,so that's how it won. So we
started doing shows, corporate shows.You know. I remember doing Pennsylvania boroughs.
I remember doing all kinds of shings. You branched out of Pittsburgh fairly
quickly, though, I guess ina couple of years. Yeah, I

(39:12):
remember playing I remember playing Hershey.It was probably the year before the album
came out. My dad was stillalive. Yeah, we were doing big
shows, and I guess it wasafter the ninety one show at al Manzo's
place. That's when it really startedbooming. Because you know, I'm dating
myself. But in ninety three,nineteen ninety three, we were playing a
big show at the Hershey Conventions andthe Blizzard of ninety three and we got

(39:35):
snowed in, oh yeah, forthree days. And you know, and
that was an utter nightmare for mebecause the morning of the show they found
me collapsed in the hotel room.They had to rush me to the hospital
and they put three bags of sayyou know whatever they put in you and
to kind of bring me back tolife. What happened, They don't know.

(39:57):
I just dehydrated and and there's threefeet of snow. So it was
the National Guard that took me tothe hospital and brought me back. And
the doctor was saying, you know, you're going to stay here for a
few days for observation. I said, I can't. I have a show
tonight, and he said, well, we can't get you back. You
know, the Blizzard's too bad.I said, well then I'll take my
chances. And I still couldn't getup yet. It wasn't until in sound

(40:22):
check. I was sitting in achair and I was pumping and all kind
of gatoraded me or whatever it was. And by showtime I got up and
did did anybody show up in themiddle of a blizzard? They were all
snowed in? Oh? Yeah,it was a convention? Had it was
a captain audience? Yes, Isaid, that's brilliant. Where else are
you gonna go? Well? Theywere there for the convention. It was

(40:43):
actually a teacher's convention, Pennsylvania teachersand the thousand of them, they were
snowed in and they had no idea. I was joking. I not joking.
I said, hey, folks,well you were snowed in. I
got a tour of the hospital emergencyroom today in Orshy Medical Center. So
uh, they didn't believe me,but it was true. Oh well all
right, So then when did youstart? What was the next step?

(41:05):
Was it Christmas yet? Yeah?So somehow I had this idea that I
wanted to do Christmas and it startedwith an album. It started with Just
in Time for Christmas, which isat this point, you know, the
gift that keeps on giving for yearsand years. And at that time there
was a guy who ran the EastEnd Kids by the name of Larry Survey.

(41:27):
I knew him because I was doingI guess theater and stuff, and
I said, I'm putting this together, and somehow he said, oh,
you should go see my friends inNew York. They write Broadway shows and
now, oh, they have thisChristmas song it'd be good for you,
okay, so, which ended upbeing the title cud of the album Just
in Time for Christmas. David Zippand David Friedman wrote it, and I

(41:49):
went to New York, you know, went to their apartment, very nice
guys, and they said, youknow, I really like my I do
this song and they said, well, I said it was anybody else do
it? And well, I won'tmention the person, but they said,
yeah, one other person, butthey're not going to sell anything, so
yeah, you can. You canhave the song. I said, I'm

(42:10):
gonna use this title cut. It'sreally great. It's a ballad, it's
great. So that's it. Andthen Just in Time for Christmas sold out
multiple times at National Record Mark.I remember approaching National record Mark, Camelot,
Sam Goody at the time, andthey all took it reluctantly. You

(42:35):
know, I guess I was,Thank goodness, I'm a salesperson too,
and aren't y'all it? I rememberthe buyer. So my sister at the
time was helpful because she was aa candy buyer for Horns back in the
day, and she was handling allthe merchandising of it. They're calling and
I said to him, I said, I think it's going to do really
well. I'd take more than twentycopies of store and they said, oh

(42:59):
gosh, no, that's going tobe plenty. Well, we started getting
airplay and when we started it startedit flew. I don't know how,
but it sold out and it soldout multiple times, and they're calling for
product and we're trying to get dCDs pressed and it did really well.
And so it continued to do reallywell at shows. It continued to sell

(43:21):
and sell and sell, and that'skind of it. That's how Christmas became,
you know, my mainstay. Andone of the things I started thinking,
I said, Hey, what ifI only had to work like eight
ten weeks a year, this wouldbe brilliant This would be cool because I
love the beach and uh, Ican never get anybody to go to beach
with me. So I want togo to beach, you know, that

(43:44):
would be it. And you onlyhave to work the eight weeks that's the
coldest weeks of the year. Basically, right there you go. And so
that's kind of how it happened.And so did you want to know more?
Want to know everything? So that'sjust the start of you, mister
Chris. So that's just the startof Christmas. That was the start of
Christmas and the way it starts.So the album started the next year.

(44:07):
How it started was No, Idon't tell anybody, but I really care
about kids doing really well and youknow, learning to read. That's my
passion kids learn and read. That'swhy I taught school for a while a
while and third grade actually oh my, anyway, I just say oh my,
because of the stories they tell you. Anyway, uh is, So

(44:30):
I thought we're walking through it allstarted. I walked. I was walking
through an ice unit. So goingback to eight years old, that was,
if I can, that was apivotal year in my life. I
had third degree burns that year.My left leg was burned to a crisp.
They grafted me back together. Ittook most of the year just soaking

(44:51):
in water to heal, and Iremember my parents taking me the ocean to
help it heal because the doctor said, well, salt water will help them.
What happened I was playing with gasolinamatches. I saw my older cousin
who was six years older, startfires that way, and I snuck it
out of the garage and then wenttwo doors up to my uncle. Said
hey, my aunt Carol needs matches. She smoked, and so I pieced

(45:15):
it all together. So I wasputting shows together from way back. So
that's what happened. And stop droppingroll doesn't work, by the way,
Gene Simmons exactly. I just didn'tknow it. So what happened was,
you know, we had built acabin, my cousin and I was older,
half underground half above ground. Itwas pretty cool. He became an

(45:37):
engineer later. But so I wentto start a fire and I thought I
was plenty of distance away from it. Through the match. Well, the
gas had dripped on the ground rightup the polleyester pants and rolling didn't help.
Mmm, not with gasoline. Stopdrop and roll does not help.

(45:57):
So anyway, so I'm gonna Imean, I see you in a unit
for kids Children's hospital and they're sufferingaround Christmas, and I said, there's
got to be something. You know, the parents, the pained look on
their faces. I said, let'sdo something. And I said, well,
let's start a Christmas show and televiseit so they know they're not forgotten.
It'll be specifically for them and we'llsay, hey, it's for you.

(46:22):
Well gosh, it took twenty someyears to get it televised. It
was an overnight sensation. But Iapproached the Palmers, Arnold Palmer, the
late Arnold Palmer and Winnie Palmer becauseyou know, I thought, well,
people don't know who I am,they don't care. I need some name
recognition to help push this. SoI approached them. I said, here's

(46:43):
my idea, here's what I liketo do to benefit Latrobe and also Children's
Hospital. They graciously said yes.It was really funny. It was a
half an hour meeting with missus Palmer. She was a stickler man and she
really was. She was gonna meetwith well it was thirty minutes and no
more than thirty minutes, and shewould tell you that, Oh yeah,
I'll meet with you for thirty minutes. Okay. Now meanwhile, their dog,

(47:05):
Prince Palmer at the time, isknocking over trophies in the place every
and I'm like, oh my god, becoming these PGA, you know,
the US Open whatever it was.And she'd say, oh, Prince stop
that. Okay. Anyway, couldn'thave been nicer at the time, arn't
He picked up the phone. Ithink was Thomas O'Brien was the head of
PNC, got me my first PNCsponsorship. We kept that for a long

(47:30):
time, and you know that wedid as Palace Diner in Greensburg was the
first place sold that out, thenmoved to the Buyo the next year.
Third year we did. Heinzhall didthat and I would have a celebrity choir
in the show, so I,you know, I thought, how else

(47:50):
do we market this? So Idid a celebrity choir, all the local
DJs, TV personalities, Rob Cockerand all the you know the car people,
and of course they sounded great asI put people in there that could
sing. And I remember Howard Goldsteinwas directed from the Jewish Community Center.
He was the director, which wasfunny because you know he's Jewish and said

(48:12):
that, hey, hey, allyour Christmas songs are all written right Jewish
people. Yeah, that's correct,that's correct, just like all of them,
that's right, I mean all ofthem. That's why it's so funny.
It's all about merchandising. Such adeal, solid, such a deal
the show. All right, Soso how many years have you been doing

(48:37):
the Christmas Show? This year willbe number twenty seven? Wow? What
is in twenty six years? Becausethis will be twenty seven in twenty six
years. Did you ever have oneof those spinal tap moments where something just
went completely batshit crazy during the show, pleading up to oh gosh, yeah,

(49:05):
oh my gosh. I had achoreographer walk out three days before the
show, took her dancers with her. I had no musicians walk out.
I had not for any, notfor any, not like I'm a mean
persons, not for they just youknow, people have egos and if you
try to suggest things, as youknow, all of a sudden, you're

(49:27):
like, huh, I was justa suggestion. Where are you going?
Yeah? It's been really really characterbuilding, I should say, it's been
very character building to do this tothis day. You know, it's still
every year. I wonder how we'regonna pull it off in a lot of
ways, you know, even whenwe you know, when we travel,

(49:50):
you know, it just got called. You know, we're like, it's
you know, we're doing this nowand this month, and we're months and
months away from Christmas. But youknow, I'm getting calls to do their
shows and they're booking them, andI'm thinking, how are we pulling that
off? There? So yes,So how many venues? How many different
states? And how many And Iknow it's televised in Pittsburgh. I know

(50:14):
that my girlfriend watched you on Loopin Youngstown and then when that went off,
the air was in Pittsburgh and soyou were just like you were mister
Christmas in our house. Oh wow, So keep her. She's a good
girlfriend. So what how many?How many different how many different television venues?

(50:38):
Now? And I know it's it'sone hundred and fifty markets in the
US, it's seventy countries because it'son Armed Forces television, American Forces television.
So for all the troops and bigsupport of the troops as well,
for all the troops and in allthe embassies on all the ships on all

(50:58):
the everywhere. It's what kind offeedback do you get from around around the
world. You know, it's funny. We get some very nice feedback.
I got one woman, I thinkshe was on a ship, said while
I was feeling so alone and awayfrom my family, this was really heartwarming.
And she was from Pennsylvania and shesaid, I found out you're from

(51:20):
Pennsylvania, and it may really mademe feel like I was at home again.
That's what the show is meant todo. It's meant to you know,
whether I do nostalgia or not,that's what it's meant to do.
That's meant to bring you great feelings, great memories, new memories, and
to have a feeling of like Isaid, like Sinatra and those guys,

(51:40):
did I want you in on it? You know, I want you in
when you come to my show.I think from what I've heard, you
feel like you're part of the family. You know, it's a show that
used to be so this past yearI had I think I can say this.
Bruce Johnston in the show, andhe wrote, I write the songs

(52:02):
for Barry Manlow. He's a GrammyAward winner, and he actually asked me
if he could be in the show. I didn't ask him. When I
was backstage with the Beach Boys andsaw him and he said, hey,
do you have any special guests everin your show? I said, I
do. You know, it justdepends, and because the Pittsburgh show is

(52:22):
a charity show, so we tryto do it, you know, as
minimally as possible in the sense ofcost. And so he came and you
know, he's saying, I writethe songs. He's never done that before.
You know, we talked about itbefore, and then we did White
Christmas together and which may appear onthe new television special coming up in twenty

(52:45):
twenty four. But it's so funny, you know. I put him at
the piano center of the pit andI said, you're gonna be in the
orchestra pit and the sent where everybodysee me. He said, I said
absolutely. I said, but it'sgoing to be like you're in their living
room and want it to be thatway. And then we're going to sit
at the piano. So he's sayingit. Then he and I sang why
Christmas? Laughing. He messed upthe words, which was funny. He

(53:07):
said. One of the words,I said, I have no idea.
I say you're on your own,but that you're in on the joke.
Yeah, you know, you're inon it, And I mean you know
it was a moment in time you'llnever see again. And that's why it's
important to come to the live shows, not just because I'm selling you know,
butts and seats in that sense,but I try to make something special

(53:27):
all the time. Every year.That's different going back twenty six years ago.
Yeah, did you think you'd stillbe doing it in twenty twenty four?
No, no, I didn't know. I didn't know what I'd be
doing. But no, I hadno idea. What's your favorite Christmas song?
Oh? Holy night? And thenthe most wonderful time of the year.

(53:50):
You know, is there a Christmassong? You won't say, Yeah,
you know, Johnny it's funny.He's waiting so he can stumpy this
next can't give him too much ammunition. Is there ah Christmas song? I
won't say. Oh, I knowpeople love that Dominic the Donkey song,
but probably not that one. Okay, yeah, probably not that one.

(54:16):
Now you are mister Christmas, butyou also do other things. You other
you've done, You've done a lotof work in in in Nashville and things.
So who else have you worked withother than a beach boy? Well,
this is going way back. BootsRandolph who did yackety Sacks the Benny
Hill theme. He wrote that anddid that and he was yeah, yeah,

(54:42):
oh my gosh. I don't know. Over the years, Rascal Flats,
I'm trying to think who you know, Loretta Lynn's granddaughter, h Taylor
Lynn who's now out doing Twitty andLynn the grand he's a grand child and
she is too, you know,a bunch over the years, So I
don't know. You know, it'sfunny. It's funny to me. I

(55:07):
remember the people that are really kind. So the two kindest people I remember
meeting, not necessarily working with ameeting. I was a Livy Newton John
and Huey lewis not that everybody elseisn't And they are, you know,
I was blessed. I sang fora Sinatra on his last tour at his

(55:29):
dinner, in private dinner, Iwas asked to sing for and he sent
me a note. Up. Now, I never met him, he wasn't
that far away from me. Hesent a note to me. But that
was really cool. Yeah, youknow, that was really really cool,
and he sent me a note thatsaid, ain't nobody gonna want to see

(55:52):
that old man across the street afterseeing you? And that was wow.
I'm like, okay, die no, but it was really cool. Uh
that those kinds of things. Iremember being in the studio with so the

(56:14):
McBride's Martina and her husband John Is. You know, he's a great studio
in Nashville called, oh Gosh,after the Beatles. He's a big Beatles
fan. Black uh Blackbird, Yeah, thanks Blackbird Studios. And that's the
coolest thing. I haven't been downthere and doing some recording there, and
you know, just the epic peoplethat have been there and the people you

(56:36):
interact with while you're there. Andso for me, what I meant to
say is my brain is leaving me. I guess is you know, I
just see people like you and asyou and me. I don't you know.
The only starstruck I would get OliviaI start, Oh god, I
love to hear grease, so youknow you're meeting her going. She seemed
like a sweetheart, Oh my gosh, a sweetheart, and she was more

(56:58):
in tune than the piano when shesang so she was an extreme sweetheart.
But those you know, so Idon't I'm I shouldn't say I don't get
starstruck. I guess I do.But just you know, if Elvis came
back, yeah, you know,if probably if strays saying showed up,
no matter what, I'd be starstruck, you know, those kind of people.
But other than that, you know, I just like talking to people

(57:22):
like you and I are well,you know one thing, because I know
you enjoy putting that show together.You're a showman, you like. But
it's not just on stage. It'sit's the backstage. It's putting everything together.
It's that that puzzle that you're puttingall those pieces in and creating something

(57:43):
that is going to be special?Am I wrong that that is something that
that really sparks you? You areabsolutely right? You are you're a shaman
at this point? Yes, yeah, absolutely. I love putting those pieces
together. I like seeing how thisis gonna work. And I don't really
have a concept in the sense ofhow it's all going to fit together when

(58:06):
when I conceive it. But likethis last year, I decided to do
Zorba, the Greek the dance,you know, because I hope It wasn't
of the moment, no, butI had to, you know, get
everybody together former Tambauritzen's and then realized, you know, because it's a pretty
intense dance. So I'm dancing andI'm the center of this whole thing.

(58:31):
And the two guys next to meare like eighteen, I remember in rehearsal,
and they're panting and don't mean toyell, but they're panting. Look
at them, You're out of shape. I'm like, do you really know
how much older I am than youguys? And you're panting. I mean,
meanwhile, I was stroking out inthe back, you know, when
I had a drink but of water. But that was fun. I mean
that was fun. You know,I forgot how fun dance is and that

(58:53):
was fun. So all of asudden, how do I fit this into
Christmas? How do I fit thissong Ristmas? Because we don't just do
Christmas songs, you know, I'lldo some of the swing stuff as well
stuff, you know, like Isaid up my ways always in there,
will probably do fly Me to theMoon, and we did day in,
Day Out this year from my firstalbum. Because it's just the horn section.

(59:14):
The horn section I have this pastyear, Johnny, and it's coming
this year again. Oh my gosh, was this the A team? These
guys were phenomenal. Phenomenal again,back to those horns. Just I was
listening to him, I'm singing listeningto myself. So do you ever foresee
a day where you don't want todo it anymore? Yes? I don't

(59:38):
know if that's true? You know? Okay, So how many times did
not tra quit? It must havebeen one hundred. And I heard this
the other day from another artist,because you go through these ups and downs,
right, And just like Sinatra beforehe did the main event in a
boxing ring, he was pretty down, like the career was pretty over.

(59:58):
It was Jerry Wintraub thought of thatidea, the promoter who was in all
those Oceans movies, and you know, uh, you know, so there
are days where I say I thinkI'm done, and I've said more and
more now, not them old oranything like that. I just I've said
more and more now that you know, how many more years am I'm gonna

(01:00:21):
do Christmas? You know, it'sa lot, it's a lot of work.
It's a lot because you know,things have changed in society and the
sense of people wanting to do thingsright and the cost of things. So
I don't know. Maybe you justdo enjoy it though I love it.
Yeah, I love it. SoI don't see. I don't foresee it
soon, but I think you know, no, probably though I have to

(01:00:45):
drag me. That's the honest,God's truth. They'll probably have to drag
me off. Johnny, who helpsyou put all this together? See,
maybe that's it. You you liketo put all the pieces together. Are
you pretty much a control freak?You have to, you have it,
You're in control of the puzzle.I'm not saying that's bad. I don't
take it as a I don't takeany offense in any way. Yeah,

(01:01:07):
I like to oversee it, butI like to give people. No,
I'd like to give people the abilityto do what they do. Sure,
I agree, but when you trustthem, Okay, hesitantly, he's trust,
but verify. Yes, you know, you know what I You know,
when I heard a great phrase recently, Tom Cruise was saying on one

(01:01:28):
of his outtakes or something, theywere showing how he does those amazing stunts,
and they said, they said tohim, be careful, and he
turned around. He said no,not careful, be competent. And I
thought, that's a that's that's it. So I hope that everybody untrusting this
is competent, you know, becauseI have a children's choir director. You
know, hopefully she's competent with kids, because I only bop in and do

(01:01:51):
a little bit with them and thenleave. The choreographers of two of those,
I hope they're really competent and theypick the right people. I mean,
I have a hand in picking them. You know. If I see
something that I don't, you know, obviously I oversee the whole thing.
Yeah, and I did pick thewhole I did fire my band last year
and got a whole new except fora few guys, So I did.

(01:02:12):
I did clean house in the sensethat I think people were too complacent,
comfortable, too comfortable, too comfortable. Yeah, and it wasn't you know.
You need that energy from people,right, You bring energy to radio
shows, the podcast You need thatenergy and I need it because if you're
not energetic, I am dragging youalong. So that's what I don't like

(01:02:35):
doing. I don't like dragging peoplealong. That's hard. But who helps
me? I do a lot ofit. Let's see. My wife helps
me, you know. And Terry, my assistant, she does a lot
now, she's been doing about fouryears now, so you know, I
have I have a lot of help. You know, a lot of people

(01:02:58):
are kicking what's your legacy? Whatdo you or what would you like what
would you like your legacy to be. He was really good at what he
did and he left people smiles.M