Join me as I speak with author, Madeline Bocaro, about her book "In Your Mind - the Infinite Universe of Yoko Ono." Madeline also write the Sparks Fan Club Newsletter!
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
You were listening to the Figure Eights podcast. I'm your host,
Nick Lead from the band High on Stress out of Minneapolis, Minnesota,
and today's guest is a Madeline Bacaro. You may know
her as the author of In Your Mind The Infinite
Universe of Yoko Ono, and it's the first extensive exploration
of Yoko's amazing light struggles, art, activism, films, music, and
(00:35):
more so really cool book. You should definitely check that out.
She's gotten a lot of praises from Mojo gold Mine
and it's actually in the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame Library, which is pretty damn cool. She also writes
the Sparks Fan Club newsletter for all of you Sparks
fans out there, so that's kind of a nice twist
(00:58):
on this as well. Before we get to that, I've
got a couple of housekeeping notes i want you to
be aware of just the other day, where got out
that John Munson from Semi Sonic. He has not been
a guest, but his bandmatee Jacob Schlichter has been on
the podcast. But John had a stroke and he seems
(01:21):
to be doing okay. Sounds like based on what's going
around here from first hand accounts is he's doing some
recovery stuff and he did even he posted on his
spacebook the other day, so that's that's a good sign.
But there is a little bit of a recovery period
going on with John. Actually played with him about a
month and a half ago at Morningside after Dark. So
(01:45):
there is a go fund me out there to help.
He's a musician, working musician, so you know, any bit help,
So look for that go fundme for John Monson from
Semi Sonic and what other notes here? I got to
High End Stress has some stuff going on here too.
I'm actually playing Sunday night in Outtawa, Illinois at the
(02:06):
Bluegill with Dan Hubbard and Iavis John. That's a solo show.
And then we've got a run of Midwest dates in May.
Thursday May first, hit the Lyft in Debuque, Iowa. Friday
May second at the International Pop Overthrow Festival at Montrose
Saloon in Chicago. What else we got Saturday May third
(02:29):
at the Law Office, Love that Place, Yorkville, Illinois with
our pal Matt Dirda and the High Watts as well
as the Drugs. And then we also have a show
in Wabasha Minnesota Friday, June twenty seventh and Heritage Park
where get some other things in the works as well.
So lots of high on stress activities, trying to get
that damn new record done, the follow up to Hold
(02:51):
Me In, which this theme song is the lead up
truck will Hold Me In. So if you haven't checked
that out, please do. But we're continuing to try to
get this record on and out to you. It's been
a minutes since Told Me In came out and we'll
keep you posted there, but without further ado, I bring
you Madeleine Baccaro. What have you been up to today?
(03:15):
Doing a lot of stuff for your book or just
hanging out or what's put on the agenda?
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Doing a lot of stuff doing setting up more interviews,
trying to We're getting ready for the Fester for Beatle
fans in March, going to be there for three days
selling the book and yeah it's going to be great.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Nice. Where's the fest app.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
It's in New Jersey at the Hyatt over there, the
Hotel over there is there every year, but last year
they had the TWA terminal where the Beatles landed sixty
years ago. That was a special treat that's fun.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
So what do they do. I've never been one of
those Beatles festivals. What kinds of events do they have?
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Well, they have it's all Beatles all three days. There's
some there you to be, you know, like a lot
more people who worked with the Beatles, but little by
little they're dying off. But they do have a lot
of cover bands and special guests. And you know they
have like Patty Boyd, you know, George's wife, she put
(04:15):
a book out last year. She was there signing her book.
And Ringo's art dealers there selling. Ringo's does some artwork.
And it's usually like just a lot of there's a
stage all day with bands playing in different events all day.
So that's good. And the authors have their own little corner.
There's usually about twenty authors with their books, all Beatles related.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Very cool. So did you grow up in New York?
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Okay, which part New York City or out Long Island.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
About thirty miles thirty minutes away from New York City
by train. So that was perfect. I had my nice, little,
comfy suburban home and I'd go into the city for
the wildness and then go back home.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Gotcha, gotcha? Were you a big music fan as a kid, Oh.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Very big, since I was very young, and in fact,
the Beatles were one of my first things I got
into and Yo Go as well, and David Bowie, Louie,
Iggy Pop, the New York Dolls, you know all that
and CBGB's. I was there every weekend with the Ramones
and the Cramps and Blondie like I saw it all.
(05:23):
It was the best.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Wow, that's a good time to be there.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
It is. It was. I wouldn't trade it for the world.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
That's cool. So who the Beatles were that was that
kind of your entry way into into music.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
I think it was everybody's, you know. I was six
when they were on the Ed Sullivan Show, So of
course I asked my mother to get me the records.
I had the Chipmunks sing the Beatles hits. She got
back from me, and then I was like, no, look,
get me the real stuff. So I got you know,
the Hate Jude and Revolution single, and she kept bringing
it back to the store telling me there's something wrong
(06:00):
with the B side Revolution because it was all fuzzy guitar.
I'm like, no, it's supposed to sound like that. No,
that doesn't sound right.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
That's not good. I like that every generation's parents, you know.
I had a moment last night where I was watching
that the La Fire Aid concert and there was like
a new artist on there, and my kid walked and
he's like, you're listening to so and so yeahs on
like it's awful, and he's like, of course you think it,
think it's awful. It's kind of that thing that happens
(06:30):
every every generation looks at the next one going this
isn't good. So it's funny. I love when you see
some of those old Beatles reviews from magazines and newspapers
where they're just talking about how terrible they are, and
you're like, yep, every every generation has that problem built
they oh, yeah, so awesome. So you were a music
(06:51):
kid growing up. Did you ever play any instruments or anything,
or you're.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Just a My mom made me take piano lessons, but
I didn't want to play anything classical. I wanted I
had a guitar and I could play by ear, but
I didn't ever join a band or anything. But I
was writing for a magazine CMJ, doing concert reviews and
interviews and got a lot of free records that way.
And you know, did that for about three or four
(07:16):
years till I had to get a real job with
it paid rent.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
And was that your first writing gig?
Speaker 2 (07:24):
CMJ was my first?
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Yeah, And how old were you when you started at CMJ?
Speaker 2 (07:29):
I was about eighteen?
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Cool? How did that come come along? That's a pretty
great gig.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
It was great.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
It was right at the ground floor there, but Bobby
Haver had just started it up as CMJS for College
Media Journal if people don't know, and college radio stations
would phone in and you know, their playlists and we'd
compile the lists and find what out was number one
in the country. So that was cool. And uh, I
(07:58):
think I found it. He was a name. He lived
not too far away, so I heard about the magazine
and I just went over there and started writing for them.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
That's really cool. Did you get free concert tickets or anything?
And yeah, so you were doing a lot of that. Yeah,
what were some of those shows that you got free
passes too?
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Oh? I know that. I interviewed Joe Jackson when his
first album came out and saw him the Psychedelic Furs.
I remember Ian Hunter iggy pop albums and you know
the Blondie, the Bowie all that stuff like nineteen seventy
seven that was coming out Low and Heroes and Lust
(08:39):
for Life and The Idiot, like all this great stuff
coming out every six months by these artists. It was amazing.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
And you were interviewing them as well, just writing about
the um.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Yas and the Ramones from the Cramps.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
What were some of the more memorable interviews you had.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Oh, I loved the one with Joe Jackson because he
was really fun and I went he was into like
the pinschipes and Polka Dots at the time, and Bloomingdale's
had a Polka Dots apartment. I had just been there
and he he said, oh my god, you got to
take me over there. So I took him shopping and
looming to.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
That's hilarious. And how long were you writing for them?
Speaker 2 (09:20):
About thirty four years?
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Three or four years? Okay? Were you into writing as
a kid or in high school or you just were
into music and you were like, hey, I want to
write or were you kind of doing that?
Speaker 2 (09:32):
So I was into music, actually, I think I started.
I started a newsletter from my block and I called
it The Ursula Drive Times, and I wrote about everything.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
People were nervous when I was going to write about
the families in the neighborhood. It was really like silly stuff,
and I had in the obituaries I'd have when in
the gurbil died or the dog or whatever.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
I just like, you know, started writing then. And then
I got into music and start writing about that, and
I started my block in two thousand and two. I
started putting all my past writings up and continuing with
new writings and doing like fiftieth anniversary retrospectives on my
favorite records and what they mean now. And so it became.
(10:13):
It's a huge thing now. It's mattelinex dot com if
you want to check it out.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Very cool, very cool. And did did you ever get
a chance to meet any of the Beatles?
Speaker 2 (10:23):
The Beatles? No, I went well, except for Yoko. She's
like the fifth Beatle, right, But I did see John
and Yoko's concert when I was fourteen, the one time
he played in America, a full.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
Concert Square Garden.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Madison Square Garden. There's a film about that now, a
documentary about that whole time. So yeah, that was a
great show.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Oh you were at that? Wow? Yeah, I've got to
copy of that show somewhere. I think that came out
as an album too, didn't.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
It an album and a VHS and I eventually I
think it's EVD But now they really cleaned it up.
I mean, Sean worked on it, and you know, it's
it's probably to come out on another album.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Very cool, awesome. So your whole life basically has been
writing about music, it sounds.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Like well, aside from being having real jobs that I
hated nine to five, but luckily I was still going
to the concerts at night and writing for my own
self really, and then as I got older, people would
kind of had a lot of friends in the industry,
and they knew that I kind of was an expert
(11:31):
on certain bands, and whenever somebody was doing a big
feature on like Bowie or anyone that I loved, they
would contact me and I kind of helped them out
and they've used my research. So it's cool.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
That's cool. What kinds of jobs were you doing back.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
That, administrative assistance and all kinds of industries. I hated
it all, but I had to do it just to
survive and go to the concerts and farm records and
do it I wanted to do.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Yeah, and you've lived in New York pretty much the
whole time. Yeah, okay, very cool. So what I find
pretty fascinating. I was doing some research on you in
your background. But I find kind of fascinating and cool
is you know, there's so many books about the Beatles,
There's so many books about John Lennon, and in fact
they're all right there, but there are not a lot
(12:23):
of books about Yoko. She's in the books, but Yoko
centric books are not as common. So why Yoko? What
leg you to Yoko?
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Oh? There are books about her, but they're all about
her art, and they're really just pictures of her artwork
and intellectuals driveling on about it when it's really just simple,
meaningful work that you don't really need to go down
deep into. But I was drawn to her when I
was ten years old. I saw a picture of her
in Time magazine that my mother had, and she was
(12:56):
standing in front of a film frame of the the
movie she made about it was Bottoms. It was filling
the fake bottom cheeks, walking on a treadmill and close
up and I thought, Wow, this is an adult doing
something really wild. I love this, and I love the
(13:17):
picture of her. She looks a little bit mischievous and smiling.
I kept the picture, I kept the article, and I'm like,
I just how do I find out more about her?
You know? And I just put it aside. And then
the next thing I know is I get the Beatles
White album and I hear that she was singing on it,
you know, and that continuing story of Bungalow Bill with
(13:38):
this the chorus, and I think, is that that girl?
My god, that's her. So now she's with John Lennon
and I can find out more about her. So I
started like saving every interview I could find about them,
recording things off the radio and clippings and saving it all.
And I eventually had this archive, luckily in chronological order
(13:58):
because I saved it and folders by year. And then
I began writing about her, and you know, just for
my own whatever she said on TV, or writing about
an album when I got it, all my thoughts about
the album. And then I started writing to her and
she would write back. So I had this relationship like
(14:22):
where she realized that I really understood her work and
loved it and got it because most people back then
didn't pay her any attention. So then my friend convinced
me to go with her to the Dakota, and she
used to stand outside and see John and Yoko, and
I didn't really like stalk them like that. But after
(14:43):
John died, she said to me, you know, I think
Yoko really needs to meet you. I'm like, well, I
never thought of it that way, and she said, well,
let's go. We'll go on her birthday so she knows
we're not, you know, there for Beatles or John. So
he did that, and I brought her a present and
when she saw my name on the package and she
realized who I was, she let out a little scream.
She like, go, oh my god, you have to come
(15:04):
to my art exhibition next week. And then from then
on she started getting me invited to all these you know,
exhibits and her concerts backstage, and it was just great
to spend time with her and ask her a lot
of questions. And it was nothing formal. I never really
interviewed her, but I had a lot of insight. And
during COVID, my boyfriend gave me software that I could organize.
(15:28):
He said, dump all your word documents in here and
you could organize them. And I realized I had a
five hundred page book. And it took me like two
more years to flesh it out and make it flow
and add to it, and it became this the Yoko Bible,
people are calling it.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
So what year did you finally meet her?
Speaker 2 (15:47):
I met her in nineteen eighty four.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Nineteen eighty four, eighty four, Okay, gotcha. That's interesting that
she was so open to meeting people at that point
because everything was still probably pretty fresh. So wow, that's
that's incredible. What years were you writing to her?
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Was that from like seventy four to seventy seventy four
to eighty four, like on and off, And yeah, it
was fantastic. She was always responsive and really sweet, and
she said she always had an affinity also for John's
fans because they went through the same loss that she did,
and she's always tried to put out something at the
(16:29):
beginning every year of his that was maybe unfinished or
you know, she wanted to give to the fans something
so they wouldn't miss him so much, and she was
really really caring about that.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
I bet that first time that she responded to your message.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
I literally screamed and fell on the floor. I'm feeling
it was amazed. But yeah, yeah, when I that's where
I would write, That's how I knew where she of.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
A sudden you gotta let her back. Wow, And you
still have all of those.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Of course I have bad letters and albums that she
sent me signed, and a lot of beautiful things. But
she wrote to everyone, you know. She tried to answer
all the mail, even if it was just signing a
postcard whatever. Christmas cards. She sent a lot of Christmas
cards to many, many, many people.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
That's cool, and it's amazing because I think a lot
of this time. I think time has been kind to Yoko,
because for years she was vilified wrongly in most cases,
and I feel like people have come around on her.
(17:45):
They start to realize that she's extremely talented, she has
a cool worldview. Obviously John loved her for a reason,
and it's been kind of fun to watch it. But
she just turned about ninety two the other day, like
I think, was it last week? That's crazy.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
I mean, there are still some people, especially these Beatles fans,
they believe all the lies they've heard, and they refuse
to research it themselves and find the truth, and they're
always just gonna hate. But the younger generations who weren't
raised with all that nonsense, they see her for who
(18:22):
she is. They're loving her. Her work is traveling all
over the world, huge exhibitions. Young people love it, children
love it. It's getting amazing reviews. So you know, her
time has come. She was always way way ahead of
her time.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Well that was the problem, Yeah, for sure. I assume
you watched the Get Back documentary as well that they did,
which was so fun, so great. I thought. One of
the things that was very interesting about that is, you know,
for years they wrote about how she was interfering, and
she was there and she was getting in the way
of the process and all this stuff. You watch this
(19:00):
thing and you're like, and so were George's friends, and
there's Paul's. All of this stuff is washed away. It's
like she was not the only one that was at
the recording session.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
It was just reading and knitting, knitting whatever, you know,
doing her all. She's thinking of her next artwork, making notes.
Anybody else would be like not blinking and staring at
the Beatles, but she was just John wanted her there
and so she sat with him. But that's all it was.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
And I think the time, you know, I know, Paul,
years years after the fact, made a statement that she
really had. No, she didn't break up the Beatles.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Oh yeah, I don't know why you wait, it's all
long to say it.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
I mean really, but you know maybe at the time
maybe he thought she did. But you know, I think
as you get older, you start to realize that things
do run their course too. And you know, they were
together all throughout their twenties. Ever get to this age
where you know, they were growing up and they had
(20:03):
families and different things, and of course, when you have
that much success, egos get a little control as well.
So you know, the time had come and I think
she just ended up being kind of the brunt of
the whole thing. And I think people are starting to
I'm sure there's plenty of people out there, like you
said that we'll never stop.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
I'll never let it go.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
I'll never let it go. But I'm like, she's you know,
I think she's got a raw deal over a lot
of years. So you know, so you were you were
even into her music back then, because you know that's
where people get like, oh, I like her ideas or
art and all of that. Her music is pretty out there,
So you were always into her music as.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Well, Yes, yes, And you know she might not have
ever gotten into music if it wasn't for John. I mean,
she did the javant guard stuff with John Cage and yeah,
those things, but as far as making her own records,
that never entered her mind. But she had some songs
and she showed them to John and you know, and
it's funny because the most beautiful, delicate ones were like
(21:06):
her first ones, and they were like listen the snow
is falling and remember love, which is just so beautiful
and quiet and sweet. But when John was recording his
first album in nineteen seventy, his solo album, he set
up a session for Yoga with the same musicians was
Ringo and Klaus Worman and John on guitar, and she
(21:30):
just kind of went wild and said some crazy improvising
and tape loops and editing and it was just really
it came out really cool, like a lot of avant garde.
But basically after that, he gave her a beat and
she gave him the freedom to go wild, so they
(21:51):
kind of like switch positions in a way. It was
really cool, And a lot of people don't know that
she has such a diverse spectrum of genres that she
cover well, not to cover like her songs are just
there's reggae, there's a forty style, there's fifties rock style,
there's ballads, and some of them are really beautiful that
(22:13):
if like Barbara Streisan sang one of these, it could
it would have been number one. So they just refused
to open up and listen. So, but there are a
lot of Yoko fans, music fans. I mean, her concerts
are sold out whenever I would go.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
So, do you have a favorite Yogo song?
Speaker 2 (22:32):
I love the one that I mentioned remember Love and
listen to Snow is frawling, and there's another one called
Winter Song that's beautiful. But the wild ones are cool too.
I love mind Train that goes on and on.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
And yeah, that's a cool one.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Yeah, and uh Catman like some of our really cool rockers,
some heavy music. And then her Season of Glass album
that came out after John was killed. A lot of
those songs sound just like a widow was writing them,
just like she had looked, but she had written them
in the seventies. A lot of prescians in these songs
(23:10):
that even throughout her life. There's a lot of issues
where I have a whole chapter called Premonitions and it's
about things that were said and warnings they'd had received
about the way their life was going to go. And
it's very chilling and interesting.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
I didn't realize that a lot of those songs were
older songs on that record. That's interesting. Wow, Yeah, that's incredible.
So yeah, I'm sure the life they were living, there
were probably you know, John made comments about gids and.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
Show yeah, yeah like that, but also things that psychics
had said. And she was very into psychics and tao
and directionalists and all this mysticism, and you know, she
really really believed in it. In a way, I think
it kind of crippled her, although she thought it was
(24:03):
connecting her to some higher power and helping her through life,
but she was so reliant upon it. But it is
eerie that a lot of the mote she was receiving
came true. And you know the fact that she Everybody says, well,
if you knew all this, you know, psychic awareness, why
(24:24):
did John get killed? And she said, well, why do
you think I kept sending him away from New York.
She sends him to m Bermuda, she sends him to
Hong Kong, she sends he went around the world, and
I couldn't keep sending him away. So that's.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
That's fascinating. Yeah. No, I read something Sean wrote recently
where he was talking about growing up in that environment
where she was.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
I know, poor kid. But you know, John is very
supportive of the book. He loves it some thrilled, and
her daughter, Kyoko loves it. A lot of her colleagues,
a lot of people that worked on her films. I'm
getting really good, good response from everyone, so I can't
be happy with that.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
So Kyoko's around these days, Kyogo.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
I saw last week she was in New York. There
was this symposium on Yoko and her wist trees were
on display at the Park Avenue Armory. So she came
out for that, and yeah, it's good to see her.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
And you don't hear a lot about her. So I
was wondering, what, you know, if she doesn't.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Want the spotlight, she's it's an artist actually herself.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
What kind of stuff have you seen?
Speaker 2 (25:38):
It a little bit of a grel like sculpture and
strange stuff. But it's cool, that's.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
Very cool, okay. And how did you meet her just
at some of these events?
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Well, she has a book and friends on you know
social media and met up with her at the event.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Nice Sean as well, same sort of thing. Excuse me,
Sean as well, you've met at these events.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
I met Showan at some of his concerts, and yeah,
he has the book. Her grandchildren have it, so it's good.
I want them to really know.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
Who she was, gotcha. Yeah, and she listened to a
lot of public events at this point. Right now, I
think I think I heard she moved moved out of
the Dakota event and is kind.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Of Yeah, she's upstate and she's her health isn't so great,
so she's really retired. Yeah, good for her. She doesn't
need to be miss what's going on now.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Yeah, of all the people, I'm sure she's not very pleased.
It's pretty awful. So when was the last time you
saw Yoko?
Speaker 2 (26:50):
When her exhibition she had a she had a imaginary
exhibition in nineteen seventy one at the Museum of Modern Art,
ated this thing in her head where she released flies
in the Garden at MoMA, and she had a catalog
printed up with a little map where you're supposed to
(27:11):
find these flies, and then she had a cameraman and
an interviewer with a microphone outside the entrance, and she
they were asking what did you think of the yogo
Ono exhibition and some people said, oh, it's great, like
they don't know and so on said what, I didn't
see it or it was just and then she gets
a phone call from the director of MoMA. What's going on?
(27:34):
They're saying, you have an exhibition here, and she says, oh, yeah,
but don't worry, it's in my head. Right. So then
it was called Yoko on a One Woman Show. So
in twenty fifteen, what happens three floors of MoMA, Yoko
on a One Woman's Show came true. So that's when
I saw her last, and it was in her glory
(27:54):
and going through the exhibit, and it's just fantastic to
see her in that way and just giving her a
hug and saying you did it, he did it.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Oh that's so cool. Yeah. No, I I missed her
on social media for as much as social media has
kind of become a hellscape. Yeah, she was always such
a good follow and I was fun of fascinating because
she would follow everybody back to which usually people of
(28:26):
that level of fame don't do that sort of thing, right,
So it's just fast.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
Yeah. I think she said Twitter was a great meeting
for her. John would have loved it too, He would
have been done every day. I mean just a lot
of the quotes in my book are from her lengthy
quotes as well, but a lot of little things from Twitter.
And they're really like as if Confucius wrote for the
fortune cookies and gave you really good words of wisdom
(28:55):
every day, just a beautiful thing to contemplate and think
about and help you in life. And that's what her
whole m o is about, healing and you know, going
towards world peace and just you know, communicating. She wanted
us all to communicate and see our own inner power
and work together.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
Gotcha? So what else did You're doing a lot of
Beatles events? What other events are you doing with the book?
And when did the book come out? Was it? You
said it took a couple of years.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Well it was twenty twenty two. This is the hardcover
just came nice And this cover is by an Australian artists.
I didn't know what to put on the cover and
I just love this.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
And asked her it's so good, a good cover.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
So that's her in a Nutshell, and yeah, I did
the hardcovers out now and might be working on an ebook.
I've done some library discussions. I did a reading at
the Park Avenue Armory last weekend. Just wherever I can
do or reading that I wasn't involved getting in a
plane and costing a lot of money, you know, because
(30:03):
it doesn't really pay off. So I do these local
things New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, whatever I can do.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
Yeah, I've I'm in Minneapolis and I've been to well,
I've been to a couple of the John Art shows
that have come through, which are really fascinating. But they
had a Yoko one at the Walker Art Center and
I was like, I need to go to that. That'd
be really fun. And I showed up like ten minutes.
I didn't realize they're about to close. It was like
ten minutes before closing, and I was like, oh, shooting.
(30:33):
They'd like go ahead, so I'm like, oh, So I
got in freed, was able to go. They had the
ladder with the magnifying glass then all this stuff. It
was really kind of a neat thing to see. So
I'm glad I got that opportunity. But I've always been
a I've always been a big John fan, so I've
you know, with that, I've learned a lot about her
as well. I got to read your book because that'd
(30:54):
be fascinating to learn.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
Oh definitely.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
Yeah. So what what else you were? Can I gonna
write some more books? What's what's the plan for the future?
Speaker 2 (31:03):
Well, my popular demands. I'm trying to compile a lot
of things on my blog into a cohesive, you know
form somewhat. It's probably gonna have to be an ebook
because it's massive, So we'll see it's it's it's album reviews,
concert reviews. But I'm talking like from the seventies, eighties,
you know, like really yeah, and just an analysis of albums, interviews,
(31:29):
a lot of great stuff, gotcha.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
So who are you listening to these days? Anybody pop up?
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Everybody I loved since my childhood and growing up. Nothing
really that new, I can't say, you know, I guess
it's like that with every generation. But I can't get
into this new stuff.
Speaker 1 (31:50):
Yeah, I hear you. So what are those you mentioned
some of them early on Bowie and the Beatles and
all of that, But what are some those favorites? What
are in regular rotation at your house.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
Well, I didn't mention Sparks. They're a big one, oh Sparks.
And I've been writing their newsletter, their official newsletter for
about twenty years.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
So they I saw that. How did that come along?
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Well? I loved them since I was a kid too,
and I saw.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
You love artie stuff.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
Yeah, And I mean, I just love them and I
always wanted them to be my big brothers. And you know,
I did see them in the seventies a few times,
and then they didn't really play much because they were
working on this musical that never came to be for
they didn't tour for about ten years. And then when
(32:43):
I got a computer, I started searching, like, what are
Sparks up to? It was nineteen ninety six and they
just put out an album and they went on tour,
and so I couldn't go to that because my mom
passed away that year. But then they toured again, and
I started this little cereal on the internet about all
my adventures and meeting them when I was a kid
(33:05):
and getting backstage and all this, and Russell the singer,
read my messages and he said, oh my god, we
love your writing. Would you like to start writing our newsletter,
and in this newsletter I've been getting in the mail
since I was fourteen, every year, it was like this
holy grail to me, and I'm like, wow, yeah, I'll
(33:26):
do it. So I would write this ten page thing
twice a year about them, and I started going on
the tours with them and the greatest guys. So now
they are my big brothers.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
Oh that's so cool.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
They have a new album coming out in May, a.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
New album called Today, what's it called Mad?
Speaker 2 (33:49):
Exclamation Point and mab gotcha.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
You know if they're going to tour?
Speaker 2 (33:54):
Yes, the tour days came out everywhere Japan, Europe, England
and eventually North America. They did the Hollywood Bowl last year,
they did the Royal Albert Hall, two nights sold out,
and they did a big tour list was see last
year or two years ago? Already gave over the list.
Twenty three two, egger Wright did the documentary The Sparks Brothers,
(34:17):
which is fantastic. It's about their whole career and ever
since then they've gotten a lot more younger fans, newer fans,
and it's incredible.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
So when you went on tour with.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
Them, well, yeah, we go. We went the first time
they played in Japan in two thousand and one, we
went to Tokyo and Osaka, so that was really cool.
Every time they played in England, we got about five
or six shows in England and then the ones in America.
(34:51):
Where else. I mean, that's where we pretty much stick to.
I'd rather see like five in one area than go
the universe all over.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
Yeah. Yeah, how is the reception in Japan?
Speaker 2 (35:07):
Fantastic? Now? Japanese audience are very different. They're very quiet,
you can hear a pin drop, but then you know,
after the song is over, they go wild. So they
come up to them afterwards with the albums the sign
and they're crying and shaking. It's really cool.
Speaker 1 (35:24):
That's cool. Yeah, it's funny. I think we've just become
desensitized in America. We stand around like this like other
countries appreciate I think art music probably a little bit
more than we do these days. Unfortunately, So what other records?
That's that's a really cool story about Sparks.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
Oh what of the records? Well, I still love my
Alice Cooper, I still love my Ian Hunter and Mick
Ronson and the old Boie and oh cool, and then
you know, all glam Susie Quatro this I always. I
love the Sweet I stick them on all the time,
Iggy the Stooges, Oh my God, live on the Students.
(36:07):
I love Nico, the Vellat Underground, you know, lou Reed
of course, the sex Pistols, the Remote like you know,
just there's plenty of bit I'd rather have everything that
these bands did than get into fifty new bands, you know,
I just love them.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
So you're in the right place.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
The right time.
Speaker 1 (36:30):
Yeah, a lot of New York.
Speaker 2 (36:33):
Yeah, definitely, that's very cool. For the early stuff. And
I got to see Sly in the Family Stall and
I saw Stevie Wonder you know, seventy two, seventy three.
I mean, it's a great, great shows the Stalls back then.
In seventy five I saw and I saw Mick Jaggers
do were solo concert at what was Webster Hall, and
(36:58):
that was amazing being right up front for Mick Jagger's show.
Speaker 1 (37:02):
What year was that?
Speaker 2 (37:04):
That was the Wandering Spirit album.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
It was probably in the nineties, the nineties record.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
And the great Yeah, it was so good.
Speaker 1 (37:11):
Who did playing with him? Do you remember?
Speaker 2 (37:13):
I could get it to you later because it was
up on YouTube for a while with all the listing
of who played fantastic. Oh my god to hear Mick
with a kick ass band behind him and not just
the Stone, Like the Stones are the Stone, They're great,
but this is, oh my good god, really heavy, really great.
Speaker 1 (37:32):
Yeah, it's you know those guys. It's like, I'm gonna
put together a backing band. It's pretty much like you
get to pick whatever you want. Yeah, I'll play with
Mick Jagger's Yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:47):
Well, you remember when he was on Saturday Night Live
with I think Dave Grohl on drums and I think
they did Painted Black or something. It was like, oh
my god, this is a punk song. This is amazing.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
Yeah, it's crazy. It was just it's a totally different vibe.
But you know, mix that has been kind of adventurous
in what he's liked. You know, even you listen to
some of the different changes that the Stones did over
the years. You know, they even got a little disco
at time. Oh yeah, so you know, I always been he
had prints opening for them early on. When Prince was.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
I saw Prince a lot of times in the eighties.
I was sick.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
Uh yeah, I'm a big Prince.
Speaker 2 (38:28):
Oh well, that's nice.
Speaker 1 (38:30):
Yeah, so you saw prints in the eighties, that's pretty
pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
Yeah. I go and I go by myself because none
of my friends liked him or whatever. And he would
play like he did the Garden with Sign of the
Times Madison Square Garden and then and he did the Palladium.
But but I would sneak down from like I always do,
and I talked to all the kids down there, and
(38:55):
they would bring me to the after shows like he
would stop it, you know, eleven thirty at night at
the at the Garden, and then at like one he'd
gone at this little club and played like three hours.
That was even better.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
Yeah, well it's funny. I guse I'm in Minneapolis, so
I'd gone to Paisley Park where you would have parties
that you would have those I speaking of slide in
the family Stone. There was one time I was out there.
I was five feet like, have you ever been to
Paisley Park, all Minneapolis. Okay, It's it's got like a
giant sound stage in there, and then there's like a
(39:31):
smaller room and it was in the smaller room and
I was five feet in front of Larry Graham from
slanting the Family Stone and five feet from Prince and
they were doing Sli in the Family Stone songs wow,
and it was insane. And then they did also strange
ballot at Dorothy Parker from Son of the Times as well.
They did that night too, So yeah, he was just
(39:52):
that guy was a wizard.
Speaker 2 (39:54):
It's just incredible.
Speaker 1 (39:56):
Do you have you seen the new slang in the
Family Stone documentary? Yes, they did great.
Speaker 2 (40:01):
Yeah, it's always great seeing Sly. I mean I could
just watch him and I just get a kick out
of him, you know, it's so funny. I saw him
again and two thousand and seven because I always vowed
if he ever me and my friend Nicole would always
go in through the eighties and nineties like we got
a fine slide. We just got to find him and
(40:23):
just help him, like whatever. He's just got to get
back on a stage. He's like, nah, he's probably just
happy eating his froot loops in the morning, like whatever.
But so he started to speak in two thousand and
seven and he does a few shows. He did two
nights at bb King in New York City. So I
got tickets for the first night, the first show on
(40:45):
the first and maybe it was two shows in one night,
I went to the first show, and it was that
thing where he would come on for five minutes and
go off for ten minutes, and come on for ten
minutes and go off for twenty minutes. I got he
was not but when he was great, he was great. Right,
So I don't know why to get tickets for both shows.
(41:06):
I mean, I think I know why because I was
my boyfriend. I don't want to torture him, and it
was nice enough that he went with me to the one.
So I left and I saw my friend Laurie going
into the second show, and I go, good luck, Laurie.
She's like whatever. So the next day she tells me
he was fantastic. He did the whole show, on the
stage the whole time.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
I'm like, so you picked the wrong show. Yeah. His
story is incredible because just so immensely talented, and it
comes through in that documentary when you're watching it, how
just insanely talented that band.
Speaker 2 (41:42):
And that's where Prince gets it all from me.
Speaker 1 (41:48):
But they had that quote in there about one of
its bandmates was like all he wanted to do twenty
four to seven was play music, And you're like, mm,
Prince even took that from him.
Speaker 2 (42:00):
Yeah, I read his book. Did you read his book
that came out last two years?
Speaker 1 (42:06):
I haven't read it.
Speaker 2 (42:07):
No, I've did a review of it. You can read
that and get the whole picture. It's really great.
Speaker 1 (42:12):
Is it? Is he all there these days?
Speaker 4 (42:15):
Like?
Speaker 1 (42:15):
Is he pretty? Did he have a ghostwriter with him
or did he.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
Helped writing it? But but you could tell it's a
lot of him talking.
Speaker 1 (42:24):
Yeah, it sounded like him.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
It's him.
Speaker 1 (42:27):
That's good. Yeah, he's I can't imagine that. I told
the drugs took on him because he was at it
for years and years. There's that clip of him in
the dock talking in front of the r V and
I'm like, oh, yeah.
Speaker 2 (42:42):
There's another documentary on him that a fan made and
it's called Looking for a Sly or Searching for Sly.
It's fantastic. I don't know if you could find it.
I'll see if I can find a link to it.
Speaker 3 (42:54):
So good.
Speaker 1 (42:56):
Where's he living in California.
Speaker 2 (43:00):
He's got a little house now. His daughters take good
care of him, and yeah, he's all right.
Speaker 1 (43:06):
That's good. Yeah, It's just I think sometimes when you're
there are very few you don't want to use the
term very often because it gets overused, but there are
very few geniuses in the world, and I think that
genius can take a toll on your mental health, as
could be seen by Prince It's flying the family stone
and a sly and all of these spolks like that.
(43:28):
So it's it's good that he's out there still trucking
and hopefully he's staying clean. And you know, yeah, I
was just kind of wonder what those folks do. Is
he out like just making music on his own and
not releasing it, or you know, what does he do
these days?
Speaker 2 (43:43):
You know, I would like to know. They did a
piece on him on like CBS this morning when his
book came out, and it showed him at home with
his family and his son, and I'm sure he's just chilling.
Speaker 1 (44:07):
That was Madelyne Baccaro, author and music of Ficcinado. Really
fun conversation with her and really good insight on Yoko
and Sparks. Haven't had a lot of Sparks mentions on
the podcast and many friends that are very big fan
of Sparks, so I think that was a nice surprise
(44:30):
as well. So thank you for listening this week. You
can get her book online at conceptualbooks dot com, and
she will be signing books at the twenty twenty five
Beatles Fest March twenty eighth, twenty ninth, and thirtieth at
the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Jersey. So that's coming
(44:51):
up here in just a couple of weeks, and go
visit her, get a book, get it signed, say hello,
tell her Figure Eights podcast, and thank you for listening.
As I mentioned earlier, make sure you're supporting John Monson
from Semi Sonic. There's a go fundme due to his
(45:12):
recent stroke. He's done a lot for local music as
well as music around the world. Come On, Closing Time
was probably the most played song of the year the
year that thing came out. So support John and thank
you for listening. From Minneapolis Studio twenty four, this has
been the Figure Eights podcast.
Speaker 5 (45:32):
God that Suys Brezal agreed, Salon when you go, sus see.
Speaker 3 (45:50):
Miss A down pastimes
Speaker 2 (48:11):
Rum the
You were listening to the Figure Eights podcast. I'm your host,
Nick Lead from the band High on Stress out of Minneapolis, Minnesota,
and today's guest is a Madeline Bacaro. You may know
her as the author of In Your Mind The Infinite
Universe of Yoko Ono, and it's the first extensive exploration
of Yoko's amazing light struggles, art, activism, films, music, and
(00:35):
more so really cool book. You should definitely check that out.
She's gotten a lot of praises from Mojo gold Mine
and it's actually in the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame Library, which is pretty damn cool. She also writes
the Sparks Fan Club newsletter for all of you Sparks
fans out there, so that's kind of a nice twist
(00:58):
on this as well. Before we get to that, I've
got a couple of housekeeping notes i want you to
be aware of just the other day, where got out
that John Munson from Semi Sonic. He has not been
a guest, but his bandmatee Jacob Schlichter has been on
the podcast. But John had a stroke and he seems
(01:21):
to be doing okay. Sounds like based on what's going
around here from first hand accounts is he's doing some
recovery stuff and he did even he posted on his
spacebook the other day, so that's that's a good sign.
But there is a little bit of a recovery period
going on with John. Actually played with him about a
month and a half ago at Morningside after Dark. So
(01:45):
there is a go fund me out there to help.
He's a musician, working musician, so you know, any bit help,
So look for that go fundme for John Monson from
Semi Sonic and what other notes here? I got to
High End Stress has some stuff going on here too.
I'm actually playing Sunday night in Outtawa, Illinois at the
(02:06):
Bluegill with Dan Hubbard and Iavis John. That's a solo show.
And then we've got a run of Midwest dates in May.
Thursday May first, hit the Lyft in Debuque, Iowa. Friday
May second at the International Pop Overthrow Festival at Montrose
Saloon in Chicago. What else we got Saturday May third
(02:29):
at the Law Office, Love that Place, Yorkville, Illinois with
our pal Matt Dirda and the High Watts as well
as the Drugs. And then we also have a show
in Wabasha Minnesota Friday, June twenty seventh and Heritage Park
where get some other things in the works as well.
So lots of high on stress activities, trying to get
that damn new record done, the follow up to Hold
(02:51):
Me In, which this theme song is the lead up
truck will Hold Me In. So if you haven't checked
that out, please do. But we're continuing to try to
get this record on and out to you. It's been
a minutes since Told Me In came out and we'll
keep you posted there, but without further ado, I bring
you Madeleine Baccaro. What have you been up to today?
(03:15):
Doing a lot of stuff for your book or just
hanging out or what's put on the agenda?
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Doing a lot of stuff doing setting up more interviews,
trying to We're getting ready for the Fester for Beatle
fans in March, going to be there for three days
selling the book and yeah it's going to be great.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Nice. Where's the fest app.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
It's in New Jersey at the Hyatt over there, the
Hotel over there is there every year, but last year
they had the TWA terminal where the Beatles landed sixty
years ago. That was a special treat that's fun.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
So what do they do. I've never been one of
those Beatles festivals. What kinds of events do they have?
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Well, they have it's all Beatles all three days. There's
some there you to be, you know, like a lot
more people who worked with the Beatles, but little by
little they're dying off. But they do have a lot
of cover bands and special guests. And you know they
have like Patty Boyd, you know, George's wife, she put
(04:15):
a book out last year. She was there signing her book.
And Ringo's art dealers there selling. Ringo's does some artwork.
And it's usually like just a lot of there's a
stage all day with bands playing in different events all day.
So that's good. And the authors have their own little corner.
There's usually about twenty authors with their books, all Beatles related.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Very cool. So did you grow up in New York?
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Okay, which part New York City or out Long Island.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
About thirty miles thirty minutes away from New York City
by train. So that was perfect. I had my nice, little,
comfy suburban home and I'd go into the city for
the wildness and then go back home.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Gotcha, gotcha? Were you a big music fan as a kid, Oh.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Very big, since I was very young, and in fact,
the Beatles were one of my first things I got
into and Yo Go as well, and David Bowie, Louie,
Iggy Pop, the New York Dolls, you know all that
and CBGB's. I was there every weekend with the Ramones
and the Cramps and Blondie like I saw it all.
(05:23):
It was the best.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Wow, that's a good time to be there.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
It is. It was. I wouldn't trade it for the world.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
That's cool. So who the Beatles were that was that
kind of your entry way into into music.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
I think it was everybody's, you know. I was six
when they were on the Ed Sullivan Show, So of
course I asked my mother to get me the records.
I had the Chipmunks sing the Beatles hits. She got
back from me, and then I was like, no, look,
get me the real stuff. So I got you know,
the Hate Jude and Revolution single, and she kept bringing
it back to the store telling me there's something wrong
(06:00):
with the B side Revolution because it was all fuzzy guitar.
I'm like, no, it's supposed to sound like that. No,
that doesn't sound right.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
That's not good. I like that every generation's parents, you know.
I had a moment last night where I was watching
that the La Fire Aid concert and there was like
a new artist on there, and my kid walked and
he's like, you're listening to so and so yeahs on
like it's awful, and he's like, of course you think it,
think it's awful. It's kind of that thing that happens
(06:30):
every every generation looks at the next one going this
isn't good. So it's funny. I love when you see
some of those old Beatles reviews from magazines and newspapers
where they're just talking about how terrible they are, and
you're like, yep, every every generation has that problem built
they oh, yeah, so awesome. So you were a music
(06:51):
kid growing up. Did you ever play any instruments or anything,
or you're.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Just a My mom made me take piano lessons, but
I didn't want to play anything classical. I wanted I
had a guitar and I could play by ear, but
I didn't ever join a band or anything. But I
was writing for a magazine CMJ, doing concert reviews and
interviews and got a lot of free records that way.
And you know, did that for about three or four
(07:16):
years till I had to get a real job with
it paid rent.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
And was that your first writing gig?
Speaker 2 (07:24):
CMJ was my first?
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Yeah, And how old were you when you started at CMJ?
Speaker 2 (07:29):
I was about eighteen?
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Cool? How did that come come along? That's a pretty
great gig.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
It was great.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
It was right at the ground floor there, but Bobby
Haver had just started it up as CMJS for College
Media Journal if people don't know, and college radio stations
would phone in and you know, their playlists and we'd
compile the lists and find what out was number one
in the country. So that was cool. And uh, I
(07:58):
think I found it. He was a name. He lived
not too far away, so I heard about the magazine
and I just went over there and started writing for them.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
That's really cool. Did you get free concert tickets or anything?
And yeah, so you were doing a lot of that. Yeah,
what were some of those shows that you got free
passes too?
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Oh? I know that. I interviewed Joe Jackson when his
first album came out and saw him the Psychedelic Furs.
I remember Ian Hunter iggy pop albums and you know
the Blondie, the Bowie all that stuff like nineteen seventy
seven that was coming out Low and Heroes and Lust
(08:39):
for Life and The Idiot, like all this great stuff
coming out every six months by these artists. It was amazing.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
And you were interviewing them as well, just writing about
the um.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Yas and the Ramones from the Cramps.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
What were some of the more memorable interviews you had.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Oh, I loved the one with Joe Jackson because he
was really fun and I went he was into like
the pinschipes and Polka Dots at the time, and Bloomingdale's
had a Polka Dots apartment. I had just been there
and he he said, oh my god, you got to
take me over there. So I took him shopping and
looming to.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
That's hilarious. And how long were you writing for them?
Speaker 2 (09:20):
About thirty four years?
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Three or four years? Okay? Were you into writing as
a kid or in high school or you just were
into music and you were like, hey, I want to
write or were you kind of doing that?
Speaker 2 (09:32):
So I was into music, actually, I think I started.
I started a newsletter from my block and I called
it The Ursula Drive Times, and I wrote about everything.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
People were nervous when I was going to write about
the families in the neighborhood. It was really like silly stuff,
and I had in the obituaries I'd have when in
the gurbil died or the dog or whatever.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
I just like, you know, started writing then. And then
I got into music and start writing about that, and
I started my block in two thousand and two. I
started putting all my past writings up and continuing with
new writings and doing like fiftieth anniversary retrospectives on my
favorite records and what they mean now. And so it became.
(10:13):
It's a huge thing now. It's mattelinex dot com if
you want to check it out.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Very cool, very cool. And did did you ever get
a chance to meet any of the Beatles?
Speaker 2 (10:23):
The Beatles? No, I went well, except for Yoko. She's
like the fifth Beatle, right, But I did see John
and Yoko's concert when I was fourteen, the one time
he played in America, a full.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
Concert Square Garden.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Madison Square Garden. There's a film about that now, a
documentary about that whole time. So yeah, that was a
great show.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Oh you were at that? Wow? Yeah, I've got to
copy of that show somewhere. I think that came out
as an album too, didn't.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
It an album and a VHS and I eventually I
think it's EVD But now they really cleaned it up.
I mean, Sean worked on it, and you know, it's
it's probably to come out on another album.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Very cool, awesome. So your whole life basically has been
writing about music, it sounds.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Like well, aside from being having real jobs that I
hated nine to five, but luckily I was still going
to the concerts at night and writing for my own
self really, and then as I got older, people would
kind of had a lot of friends in the industry,
and they knew that I kind of was an expert
(11:31):
on certain bands, and whenever somebody was doing a big
feature on like Bowie or anyone that I loved, they
would contact me and I kind of helped them out
and they've used my research. So it's cool.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
That's cool. What kinds of jobs were you doing back.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
That, administrative assistance and all kinds of industries. I hated
it all, but I had to do it just to
survive and go to the concerts and farm records and
do it I wanted to do.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Yeah, and you've lived in New York pretty much the
whole time. Yeah, okay, very cool. So what I find
pretty fascinating. I was doing some research on you in
your background. But I find kind of fascinating and cool
is you know, there's so many books about the Beatles,
There's so many books about John Lennon, and in fact
they're all right there, but there are not a lot
(12:23):
of books about Yoko. She's in the books, but Yoko
centric books are not as common. So why Yoko? What
leg you to Yoko?
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Oh? There are books about her, but they're all about
her art, and they're really just pictures of her artwork
and intellectuals driveling on about it when it's really just simple,
meaningful work that you don't really need to go down
deep into. But I was drawn to her when I
was ten years old. I saw a picture of her
in Time magazine that my mother had, and she was
(12:56):
standing in front of a film frame of the the
movie she made about it was Bottoms. It was filling
the fake bottom cheeks, walking on a treadmill and close
up and I thought, Wow, this is an adult doing
something really wild. I love this, and I love the
(13:17):
picture of her. She looks a little bit mischievous and smiling.
I kept the picture, I kept the article, and I'm like,
I just how do I find out more about her?
You know? And I just put it aside. And then
the next thing I know is I get the Beatles
White album and I hear that she was singing on it,
you know, and that continuing story of Bungalow Bill with
(13:38):
this the chorus, and I think, is that that girl?
My god, that's her. So now she's with John Lennon
and I can find out more about her. So I
started like saving every interview I could find about them,
recording things off the radio and clippings and saving it all.
And I eventually had this archive, luckily in chronological order
(13:58):
because I saved it and folders by year. And then
I began writing about her, and you know, just for
my own whatever she said on TV, or writing about
an album when I got it, all my thoughts about
the album. And then I started writing to her and
she would write back. So I had this relationship like
(14:22):
where she realized that I really understood her work and
loved it and got it because most people back then
didn't pay her any attention. So then my friend convinced
me to go with her to the Dakota, and she
used to stand outside and see John and Yoko, and
I didn't really like stalk them like that. But after
(14:43):
John died, she said to me, you know, I think
Yoko really needs to meet you. I'm like, well, I
never thought of it that way, and she said, well,
let's go. We'll go on her birthday so she knows
we're not, you know, there for Beatles or John. So
he did that, and I brought her a present and
when she saw my name on the package and she
realized who I was, she let out a little scream.
She like, go, oh my god, you have to come
(15:04):
to my art exhibition next week. And then from then
on she started getting me invited to all these you know,
exhibits and her concerts backstage, and it was just great
to spend time with her and ask her a lot
of questions. And it was nothing formal. I never really
interviewed her, but I had a lot of insight. And
during COVID, my boyfriend gave me software that I could organize.
(15:28):
He said, dump all your word documents in here and
you could organize them. And I realized I had a
five hundred page book. And it took me like two
more years to flesh it out and make it flow
and add to it, and it became this the Yoko Bible,
people are calling it.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
So what year did you finally meet her?
Speaker 2 (15:47):
I met her in nineteen eighty four.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Nineteen eighty four, eighty four, Okay, gotcha. That's interesting that
she was so open to meeting people at that point
because everything was still probably pretty fresh. So wow, that's
that's incredible. What years were you writing to her?
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Was that from like seventy four to seventy seventy four
to eighty four, like on and off, And yeah, it
was fantastic. She was always responsive and really sweet, and
she said she always had an affinity also for John's
fans because they went through the same loss that she did,
and she's always tried to put out something at the
(16:29):
beginning every year of his that was maybe unfinished or
you know, she wanted to give to the fans something
so they wouldn't miss him so much, and she was
really really caring about that.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
I bet that first time that she responded to your message.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
I literally screamed and fell on the floor. I'm feeling
it was amazed. But yeah, yeah, when I that's where
I would write, That's how I knew where she of.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
A sudden you gotta let her back. Wow, And you
still have all of those.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Of course I have bad letters and albums that she
sent me signed, and a lot of beautiful things. But
she wrote to everyone, you know. She tried to answer
all the mail, even if it was just signing a
postcard whatever. Christmas cards. She sent a lot of Christmas
cards to many, many, many people.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
That's cool, and it's amazing because I think a lot
of this time. I think time has been kind to Yoko,
because for years she was vilified wrongly in most cases,
and I feel like people have come around on her.
(17:45):
They start to realize that she's extremely talented, she has
a cool worldview. Obviously John loved her for a reason,
and it's been kind of fun to watch it. But
she just turned about ninety two the other day, like
I think, was it last week? That's crazy.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
I mean, there are still some people, especially these Beatles fans,
they believe all the lies they've heard, and they refuse
to research it themselves and find the truth, and they're
always just gonna hate. But the younger generations who weren't
raised with all that nonsense, they see her for who
(18:22):
she is. They're loving her. Her work is traveling all
over the world, huge exhibitions. Young people love it, children
love it. It's getting amazing reviews. So you know, her
time has come. She was always way way ahead of
her time.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Well that was the problem, Yeah, for sure. I assume
you watched the Get Back documentary as well that they did,
which was so fun, so great. I thought. One of
the things that was very interesting about that is, you know,
for years they wrote about how she was interfering, and
she was there and she was getting in the way
of the process and all this stuff. You watch this
(19:00):
thing and you're like, and so were George's friends, and
there's Paul's. All of this stuff is washed away. It's
like she was not the only one that was at
the recording session.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
It was just reading and knitting, knitting whatever, you know,
doing her all. She's thinking of her next artwork, making notes.
Anybody else would be like not blinking and staring at
the Beatles, but she was just John wanted her there
and so she sat with him. But that's all it was.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
And I think the time, you know, I know, Paul,
years years after the fact, made a statement that she
really had. No, she didn't break up the Beatles.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Oh yeah, I don't know why you wait, it's all
long to say it.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
I mean really, but you know maybe at the time
maybe he thought she did. But you know, I think
as you get older, you start to realize that things
do run their course too. And you know, they were
together all throughout their twenties. Ever get to this age
where you know, they were growing up and they had
(20:03):
families and different things, and of course, when you have
that much success, egos get a little control as well.
So you know, the time had come and I think
she just ended up being kind of the brunt of
the whole thing. And I think people are starting to
I'm sure there's plenty of people out there, like you
said that we'll never stop.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
I'll never let it go.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
I'll never let it go. But I'm like, she's you know,
I think she's got a raw deal over a lot
of years. So you know, so you were you were
even into her music back then, because you know that's
where people get like, oh, I like her ideas or
art and all of that. Her music is pretty out there,
So you were always into her music as.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Well, Yes, yes, And you know she might not have
ever gotten into music if it wasn't for John. I mean,
she did the javant guard stuff with John Cage and yeah,
those things, but as far as making her own records,
that never entered her mind. But she had some songs
and she showed them to John and you know, and
it's funny because the most beautiful, delicate ones were like
(21:06):
her first ones, and they were like listen the snow
is falling and remember love, which is just so beautiful
and quiet and sweet. But when John was recording his
first album in nineteen seventy, his solo album, he set
up a session for Yoga with the same musicians was
Ringo and Klaus Worman and John on guitar, and she
(21:30):
just kind of went wild and said some crazy improvising
and tape loops and editing and it was just really
it came out really cool, like a lot of avant garde.
But basically after that, he gave her a beat and
she gave him the freedom to go wild, so they
(21:51):
kind of like switch positions in a way. It was
really cool, And a lot of people don't know that
she has such a diverse spectrum of genres that she
cover well, not to cover like her songs are just
there's reggae, there's a forty style, there's fifties rock style,
there's ballads, and some of them are really beautiful that
(22:13):
if like Barbara Streisan sang one of these, it could
it would have been number one. So they just refused
to open up and listen. So, but there are a
lot of Yoko fans, music fans. I mean, her concerts
are sold out whenever I would go.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
So, do you have a favorite Yogo song?
Speaker 2 (22:32):
I love the one that I mentioned remember Love and
listen to Snow is frawling, and there's another one called
Winter Song that's beautiful. But the wild ones are cool too.
I love mind Train that goes on and on.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
And yeah, that's a cool one.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Yeah, and uh Catman like some of our really cool rockers,
some heavy music. And then her Season of Glass album
that came out after John was killed. A lot of
those songs sound just like a widow was writing them,
just like she had looked, but she had written them
in the seventies. A lot of prescians in these songs
(23:10):
that even throughout her life. There's a lot of issues
where I have a whole chapter called Premonitions and it's
about things that were said and warnings they'd had received
about the way their life was going to go. And
it's very chilling and interesting.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
I didn't realize that a lot of those songs were
older songs on that record. That's interesting. Wow, Yeah, that's incredible.
So yeah, I'm sure the life they were living, there
were probably you know, John made comments about gids and.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
Show yeah, yeah like that, but also things that psychics
had said. And she was very into psychics and tao
and directionalists and all this mysticism, and you know, she
really really believed in it. In a way, I think
it kind of crippled her, although she thought it was
(24:03):
connecting her to some higher power and helping her through life,
but she was so reliant upon it. But it is
eerie that a lot of the mote she was receiving
came true. And you know the fact that she Everybody says, well,
if you knew all this, you know, psychic awareness, why
(24:24):
did John get killed? And she said, well, why do
you think I kept sending him away from New York.
She sends him to m Bermuda, she sends him to
Hong Kong, she sends he went around the world, and
I couldn't keep sending him away. So that's.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
That's fascinating. Yeah. No, I read something Sean wrote recently
where he was talking about growing up in that environment
where she was.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
I know, poor kid. But you know, John is very
supportive of the book. He loves it some thrilled, and
her daughter, Kyoko loves it. A lot of her colleagues,
a lot of people that worked on her films. I'm
getting really good, good response from everyone, so I can't
be happy with that.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
So Kyoko's around these days, Kyogo.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
I saw last week she was in New York. There
was this symposium on Yoko and her wist trees were
on display at the Park Avenue Armory. So she came
out for that, and yeah, it's good to see her.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
And you don't hear a lot about her. So I
was wondering, what, you know, if she doesn't.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Want the spotlight, she's it's an artist actually herself.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
What kind of stuff have you seen?
Speaker 2 (25:38):
It a little bit of a grel like sculpture and
strange stuff. But it's cool, that's.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
Very cool, okay. And how did you meet her just
at some of these events?
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Well, she has a book and friends on you know
social media and met up with her at the event.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Nice Sean as well, same sort of thing. Excuse me,
Sean as well, you've met at these events.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
I met Showan at some of his concerts, and yeah,
he has the book. Her grandchildren have it, so it's good.
I want them to really know.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
Who she was, gotcha. Yeah, and she listened to a
lot of public events at this point. Right now, I
think I think I heard she moved moved out of
the Dakota event and is kind.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Of Yeah, she's upstate and she's her health isn't so great,
so she's really retired. Yeah, good for her. She doesn't
need to be miss what's going on now.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Yeah, of all the people, I'm sure she's not very pleased.
It's pretty awful. So when was the last time you
saw Yoko?
Speaker 2 (26:50):
When her exhibition she had a she had a imaginary
exhibition in nineteen seventy one at the Museum of Modern Art,
ated this thing in her head where she released flies
in the Garden at MoMA, and she had a catalog
printed up with a little map where you're supposed to
(27:11):
find these flies, and then she had a cameraman and
an interviewer with a microphone outside the entrance, and she
they were asking what did you think of the yogo
Ono exhibition and some people said, oh, it's great, like
they don't know and so on said what, I didn't
see it or it was just and then she gets
a phone call from the director of MoMA. What's going on?
(27:34):
They're saying, you have an exhibition here, and she says, oh, yeah,
but don't worry, it's in my head. Right. So then
it was called Yoko on a One Woman Show. So
in twenty fifteen, what happens three floors of MoMA, Yoko
on a One Woman's Show came true. So that's when
I saw her last, and it was in her glory
(27:54):
and going through the exhibit, and it's just fantastic to
see her in that way and just giving her a
hug and saying you did it, he did it.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Oh that's so cool. Yeah. No, I I missed her
on social media for as much as social media has
kind of become a hellscape. Yeah, she was always such
a good follow and I was fun of fascinating because
she would follow everybody back to which usually people of
(28:26):
that level of fame don't do that sort of thing, right,
So it's just fast.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
Yeah. I think she said Twitter was a great meeting
for her. John would have loved it too, He would
have been done every day. I mean just a lot
of the quotes in my book are from her lengthy
quotes as well, but a lot of little things from Twitter.
And they're really like as if Confucius wrote for the
fortune cookies and gave you really good words of wisdom
(28:55):
every day, just a beautiful thing to contemplate and think
about and help you in life. And that's what her
whole m o is about, healing and you know, going
towards world peace and just you know, communicating. She wanted
us all to communicate and see our own inner power
and work together.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
Gotcha? So what else did You're doing a lot of
Beatles events? What other events are you doing with the book?
And when did the book come out? Was it? You
said it took a couple of years.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Well it was twenty twenty two. This is the hardcover
just came nice And this cover is by an Australian artists.
I didn't know what to put on the cover and
I just love this.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
And asked her it's so good, a good cover.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
So that's her in a Nutshell, and yeah, I did
the hardcovers out now and might be working on an ebook.
I've done some library discussions. I did a reading at
the Park Avenue Armory last weekend. Just wherever I can
do or reading that I wasn't involved getting in a
plane and costing a lot of money, you know, because
(30:03):
it doesn't really pay off. So I do these local
things New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, whatever I can do.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
Yeah, I've I'm in Minneapolis and I've been to well,
I've been to a couple of the John Art shows
that have come through, which are really fascinating. But they
had a Yoko one at the Walker Art Center and
I was like, I need to go to that. That'd
be really fun. And I showed up like ten minutes.
I didn't realize they're about to close. It was like
ten minutes before closing, and I was like, oh, shooting.
(30:33):
They'd like go ahead, so I'm like, oh, So I
got in freed, was able to go. They had the
ladder with the magnifying glass then all this stuff. It
was really kind of a neat thing to see. So
I'm glad I got that opportunity. But I've always been
a I've always been a big John fan, so I've
you know, with that, I've learned a lot about her
as well. I got to read your book because that'd
(30:54):
be fascinating to learn.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
Oh definitely.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
Yeah. So what what else you were? Can I gonna
write some more books? What's what's the plan for the future?
Speaker 2 (31:03):
Well, my popular demands. I'm trying to compile a lot
of things on my blog into a cohesive, you know
form somewhat. It's probably gonna have to be an ebook
because it's massive, So we'll see it's it's it's album reviews,
concert reviews. But I'm talking like from the seventies, eighties,
you know, like really yeah, and just an analysis of albums, interviews,
(31:29):
a lot of great stuff, gotcha.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
So who are you listening to these days? Anybody pop up?
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Everybody I loved since my childhood and growing up. Nothing
really that new, I can't say, you know, I guess
it's like that with every generation. But I can't get
into this new stuff.
Speaker 1 (31:50):
Yeah, I hear you. So what are those you mentioned
some of them early on Bowie and the Beatles and
all of that, But what are some those favorites? What
are in regular rotation at your house.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
Well, I didn't mention Sparks. They're a big one, oh Sparks.
And I've been writing their newsletter, their official newsletter for
about twenty years.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
So they I saw that. How did that come along?
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Well? I loved them since I was a kid too,
and I saw.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
You love artie stuff.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
Yeah, And I mean, I just love them and I
always wanted them to be my big brothers. And you know,
I did see them in the seventies a few times,
and then they didn't really play much because they were
working on this musical that never came to be for
they didn't tour for about ten years. And then when
(32:43):
I got a computer, I started searching, like, what are
Sparks up to? It was nineteen ninety six and they
just put out an album and they went on tour,
and so I couldn't go to that because my mom
passed away that year. But then they toured again, and
I started this little cereal on the internet about all
my adventures and meeting them when I was a kid
(33:05):
and getting backstage and all this, and Russell the singer,
read my messages and he said, oh my god, we
love your writing. Would you like to start writing our newsletter,
and in this newsletter I've been getting in the mail
since I was fourteen, every year, it was like this
holy grail to me, and I'm like, wow, yeah, I'll
(33:26):
do it. So I would write this ten page thing
twice a year about them, and I started going on
the tours with them and the greatest guys. So now
they are my big brothers.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
Oh that's so cool.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
They have a new album coming out in May, a.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
New album called Today, what's it called Mad?
Speaker 2 (33:49):
Exclamation Point and mab gotcha.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
You know if they're going to tour?
Speaker 2 (33:54):
Yes, the tour days came out everywhere Japan, Europe, England
and eventually North America. They did the Hollywood Bowl last year,
they did the Royal Albert Hall, two nights sold out,
and they did a big tour list was see last
year or two years ago? Already gave over the list.
Twenty three two, egger Wright did the documentary The Sparks Brothers,
(34:17):
which is fantastic. It's about their whole career and ever
since then they've gotten a lot more younger fans, newer fans,
and it's incredible.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
So when you went on tour with.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
Them, well, yeah, we go. We went the first time
they played in Japan in two thousand and one, we
went to Tokyo and Osaka, so that was really cool.
Every time they played in England, we got about five
or six shows in England and then the ones in America.
(34:51):
Where else. I mean, that's where we pretty much stick to.
I'd rather see like five in one area than go
the universe all over.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
Yeah. Yeah, how is the reception in Japan?
Speaker 2 (35:07):
Fantastic? Now? Japanese audience are very different. They're very quiet,
you can hear a pin drop, but then you know,
after the song is over, they go wild. So they
come up to them afterwards with the albums the sign
and they're crying and shaking. It's really cool.
Speaker 1 (35:24):
That's cool. Yeah, it's funny. I think we've just become
desensitized in America. We stand around like this like other
countries appreciate I think art music probably a little bit
more than we do these days. Unfortunately, So what other records?
That's that's a really cool story about Sparks.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
Oh what of the records? Well, I still love my
Alice Cooper, I still love my Ian Hunter and Mick
Ronson and the old Boie and oh cool, and then
you know, all glam Susie Quatro this I always. I
love the Sweet I stick them on all the time,
Iggy the Stooges, Oh my God, live on the Students.
(36:07):
I love Nico, the Vellat Underground, you know, lou Reed
of course, the sex Pistols, the Remote like you know,
just there's plenty of bit I'd rather have everything that
these bands did than get into fifty new bands, you know,
I just love them.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
So you're in the right place.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
The right time.
Speaker 1 (36:30):
Yeah, a lot of New York.
Speaker 2 (36:33):
Yeah, definitely, that's very cool. For the early stuff. And
I got to see Sly in the Family Stall and
I saw Stevie Wonder you know, seventy two, seventy three.
I mean, it's a great, great shows the Stalls back then.
In seventy five I saw and I saw Mick Jaggers
do were solo concert at what was Webster Hall, and
(36:58):
that was amazing being right up front for Mick Jagger's show.
Speaker 1 (37:02):
What year was that?
Speaker 2 (37:04):
That was the Wandering Spirit album.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
It was probably in the nineties, the nineties record.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
And the great Yeah, it was so good.
Speaker 1 (37:11):
Who did playing with him? Do you remember?
Speaker 2 (37:13):
I could get it to you later because it was
up on YouTube for a while with all the listing
of who played fantastic. Oh my god to hear Mick
with a kick ass band behind him and not just
the Stone, Like the Stones are the Stone, They're great,
but this is, oh my good god, really heavy, really great.
Speaker 1 (37:32):
Yeah, it's you know those guys. It's like, I'm gonna
put together a backing band. It's pretty much like you
get to pick whatever you want. Yeah, I'll play with
Mick Jagger's Yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:47):
Well, you remember when he was on Saturday Night Live
with I think Dave Grohl on drums and I think
they did Painted Black or something. It was like, oh
my god, this is a punk song. This is amazing.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
Yeah, it's crazy. It was just it's a totally different vibe.
But you know, mix that has been kind of adventurous
in what he's liked. You know, even you listen to
some of the different changes that the Stones did over
the years. You know, they even got a little disco
at time. Oh yeah, so you know, I always been he
had prints opening for them early on. When Prince was.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
I saw Prince a lot of times in the eighties.
I was sick.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
Uh yeah, I'm a big Prince.
Speaker 2 (38:28):
Oh well, that's nice.
Speaker 1 (38:30):
Yeah, so you saw prints in the eighties, that's pretty
pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
Yeah. I go and I go by myself because none
of my friends liked him or whatever. And he would
play like he did the Garden with Sign of the
Times Madison Square Garden and then and he did the Palladium.
But but I would sneak down from like I always do,
and I talked to all the kids down there, and
(38:55):
they would bring me to the after shows like he
would stop it, you know, eleven thirty at night at
the at the Garden, and then at like one he'd
gone at this little club and played like three hours.
That was even better.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
Yeah, well it's funny. I guse I'm in Minneapolis, so
I'd gone to Paisley Park where you would have parties
that you would have those I speaking of slide in
the family Stone. There was one time I was out there.
I was five feet like, have you ever been to
Paisley Park, all Minneapolis. Okay, It's it's got like a
giant sound stage in there, and then there's like a
(39:31):
smaller room and it was in the smaller room and
I was five feet in front of Larry Graham from
slanting the Family Stone and five feet from Prince and
they were doing Sli in the Family Stone songs wow,
and it was insane. And then they did also strange
ballot at Dorothy Parker from Son of the Times as well.
They did that night too, So yeah, he was just
(39:52):
that guy was a wizard.
Speaker 2 (39:54):
It's just incredible.
Speaker 1 (39:56):
Do you have you seen the new slang in the
Family Stone documentary? Yes, they did great.
Speaker 2 (40:01):
Yeah, it's always great seeing Sly. I mean I could
just watch him and I just get a kick out
of him, you know, it's so funny. I saw him
again and two thousand and seven because I always vowed
if he ever me and my friend Nicole would always
go in through the eighties and nineties like we got
a fine slide. We just got to find him and
(40:23):
just help him, like whatever. He's just got to get
back on a stage. He's like, nah, he's probably just
happy eating his froot loops in the morning, like whatever.
But so he started to speak in two thousand and
seven and he does a few shows. He did two
nights at bb King in New York City. So I
got tickets for the first night, the first show on
(40:45):
the first and maybe it was two shows in one night,
I went to the first show, and it was that
thing where he would come on for five minutes and
go off for ten minutes, and come on for ten
minutes and go off for twenty minutes. I got he
was not but when he was great, he was great. Right,
So I don't know why to get tickets for both shows.
(41:06):
I mean, I think I know why because I was
my boyfriend. I don't want to torture him, and it
was nice enough that he went with me to the one.
So I left and I saw my friend Laurie going
into the second show, and I go, good luck, Laurie.
She's like whatever. So the next day she tells me
he was fantastic. He did the whole show, on the
stage the whole time.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
I'm like, so you picked the wrong show. Yeah. His
story is incredible because just so immensely talented, and it
comes through in that documentary when you're watching it, how
just insanely talented that band.
Speaker 2 (41:42):
And that's where Prince gets it all from me.
Speaker 1 (41:48):
But they had that quote in there about one of
its bandmates was like all he wanted to do twenty
four to seven was play music, And you're like, mm,
Prince even took that from him.
Speaker 2 (42:00):
Yeah, I read his book. Did you read his book
that came out last two years?
Speaker 1 (42:06):
I haven't read it.
Speaker 2 (42:07):
No, I've did a review of it. You can read
that and get the whole picture. It's really great.
Speaker 1 (42:12):
Is it? Is he all there these days?
Speaker 4 (42:15):
Like?
Speaker 1 (42:15):
Is he pretty? Did he have a ghostwriter with him
or did he.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
Helped writing it? But but you could tell it's a
lot of him talking.
Speaker 1 (42:24):
Yeah, it sounded like him.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
It's him.
Speaker 1 (42:27):
That's good. Yeah, he's I can't imagine that. I told
the drugs took on him because he was at it
for years and years. There's that clip of him in
the dock talking in front of the r V and
I'm like, oh, yeah.
Speaker 2 (42:42):
There's another documentary on him that a fan made and
it's called Looking for a Sly or Searching for Sly.
It's fantastic. I don't know if you could find it.
I'll see if I can find a link to it.
Speaker 3 (42:54):
So good.
Speaker 1 (42:56):
Where's he living in California.
Speaker 2 (43:00):
He's got a little house now. His daughters take good
care of him, and yeah, he's all right.
Speaker 1 (43:06):
That's good. Yeah, It's just I think sometimes when you're
there are very few you don't want to use the
term very often because it gets overused, but there are
very few geniuses in the world, and I think that
genius can take a toll on your mental health, as
could be seen by Prince It's flying the family stone
and a sly and all of these spolks like that.
(43:28):
So it's it's good that he's out there still trucking
and hopefully he's staying clean. And you know, yeah, I
was just kind of wonder what those folks do. Is
he out like just making music on his own and
not releasing it, or you know, what does he do
these days?
Speaker 2 (43:43):
You know, I would like to know. They did a
piece on him on like CBS this morning when his
book came out, and it showed him at home with
his family and his son, and I'm sure he's just chilling.
Speaker 1 (44:07):
That was Madelyne Baccaro, author and music of Ficcinado. Really
fun conversation with her and really good insight on Yoko
and Sparks. Haven't had a lot of Sparks mentions on
the podcast and many friends that are very big fan
of Sparks, so I think that was a nice surprise
(44:30):
as well. So thank you for listening this week. You
can get her book online at conceptualbooks dot com, and
she will be signing books at the twenty twenty five
Beatles Fest March twenty eighth, twenty ninth, and thirtieth at
the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Jersey. So that's coming
(44:51):
up here in just a couple of weeks, and go
visit her, get a book, get it signed, say hello,
tell her Figure Eights podcast, and thank you for listening.
As I mentioned earlier, make sure you're supporting John Monson
from Semi Sonic. There's a go fundme due to his
(45:12):
recent stroke. He's done a lot for local music as
well as music around the world. Come On, Closing Time
was probably the most played song of the year the
year that thing came out. So support John and thank
you for listening. From Minneapolis Studio twenty four, this has
been the Figure Eights podcast.
Speaker 5 (45:32):
God that Suys Brezal agreed, Salon when you go, sus see.
Speaker 3 (45:50):
Miss A down pastimes
Speaker 2 (48:11):
Rum the
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