WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:06.839 From Workhouse Connect and aj Benze fame. Uh, he'd liked 2 00:00:06.839 --> 00:00:09.119 to be walked on a leash and play really dirty, 3 00:00:09.279 --> 00:00:12.519 kinky sex games. He's uh the guy put the cock 4 00:00:12.800 --> 00:00:17.920 in the peacock network. Okay, bitch, Hey, everybody aj Benzi 5 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:20.760 here with fame is a bitch. This is your daily 6 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:25.879 Unfiltered podcast for August fifth, twenty twenty five. Oh eight 7 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:30.440 oh five two oh two five sounds good. I like 8 00:00:30.519 --> 00:00:35.799 the cadence of that. Oh eight oh five too. Oh 9 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:38.719 to five sounds cool. By the way, I didn't get 10 00:00:38.759 --> 00:00:42.280 a chance. I don't even know why I missed this opportunity. 11 00:00:42.280 --> 00:00:46.159 But when I said yesterday that it was Joey and 12 00:00:46.280 --> 00:00:51.679 Julia's seventh wedding anniversary, when we went all went to 13 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:54.039 Florida to be with them, which was a great trip. 14 00:00:54.079 --> 00:00:57.399 I just sent them a gift certificate certificate to eat 15 00:00:57.479 --> 00:01:01.719 at the really great restaurant we went to. Andrew and 16 00:01:01.799 --> 00:01:08.040 I went there. We loved it, so Endzo and Michael. 17 00:01:08.840 --> 00:01:11.200 It's in Laurel Grove, what a great restaurant. It's in 18 00:01:11.239 --> 00:01:17.120 a big house. And I didn't mention that Rosalie and 19 00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:21.760 Jack on the same day August fourth, were married fifty 20 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:28.879 seven years. Jesus Christ. That's something else. I know. Every 21 00:01:28.959 --> 00:01:31.959 year ain't great. I'm not trying to say fifty seven 22 00:01:32.040 --> 00:01:37.519 years are fantastic jubilation. No, it's not what marriage is. 23 00:01:38.200 --> 00:01:45.920 But still, in all, fifty seven fucking years unbelievable on 24 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:50.439 well believable, and I hope it goes on. You know, 25 00:01:50.480 --> 00:01:54.519 there's an Italian expression. It's a weird thing. It's what 26 00:01:54.560 --> 00:01:57.959 we say when we're leaving someone's house, or they're wishing 27 00:01:58.040 --> 00:02:01.799 us a safe drive home, whatever it is. You you, 28 00:02:01.799 --> 00:02:08.439 you say givitine gimbtye as you're leaving. It's an Italian expression. 29 00:02:08.439 --> 00:02:11.800 It basically means if God wants, but the way it's 30 00:02:11.879 --> 00:02:18.960 really pronounced is c divoli, citivoli or diovolndo. But because 31 00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:23.560 scilion is so crazy that sidivoli becomes givitem I don't 32 00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:26.919 even know why, and calibrace is even crazier. I don't 33 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:30.759 know what they would say, But so to that, I say, 34 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:34.879 more years for Roslie and Jack, more years for Joey 35 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:40.840 and Juliet, givety, even though doesn't make much sense. I'll 36 00:02:40.879 --> 00:02:43.240 tell you what really threw me the other night. You know, 37 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:45.719 I got an email I got so many emails and 38 00:02:45.800 --> 00:02:48.639 texts from you folks who care about me and you know, 39 00:02:48.840 --> 00:02:51.759 wish me well, and I love you all. I don't 40 00:02:51.759 --> 00:02:54.400 want to dwell, but you know I do because you're 41 00:02:54.439 --> 00:02:57.360 the best. But of course there's some emails that come 42 00:02:57.400 --> 00:02:59.919 in from people who just they don't know what to say, 43 00:03:00.439 --> 00:03:03.680 you know, and I just I'm not going to get mad, 44 00:03:03.919 --> 00:03:06.199 but I hear you know, there's some emails that come 45 00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:11.439 in and go bro, dude, dude in all capitalists, Dude, 46 00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:15.199 you got to stop talking about yourself. That's the problem. 47 00:03:15.840 --> 00:03:19.759 That's the problem with your show. Stop talking about yourself. 48 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:25.400 Take two weeks off, like the normies do, go play golf. Dude. 49 00:03:26.840 --> 00:03:32.319 I'm like, I'm not a fucking normy and golf's for fags, don't. 50 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:34.439 You don't know what I go through every day. I 51 00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:37.360 don't mean golf for fags. I'm just saying it's not 52 00:03:37.400 --> 00:03:40.080 my sport. I still want to play contact sports, but 53 00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:43.120 I enjoy the fact that there's golf out there. And 54 00:03:44.280 --> 00:03:46.360 if you're with your best friends and you're hitting balls 55 00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:50.759 across a beautiful green course, yeah it's fun three hours, 56 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:53.759 four hours, I get it. But I want to play 57 00:03:53.800 --> 00:03:57.080 pick up basketball. I want to play tackle football, even 58 00:03:57.120 --> 00:03:58.960 at my age. I don't give a shit. Let's get 59 00:03:58.960 --> 00:04:05.319 it on, Honeyham, Where was I? Hey? So I get 60 00:04:05.319 --> 00:04:07.840 these emails and I appreciate all of them. You guys 61 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:11.800 have you know, you've made me cry many times, so 62 00:04:11.919 --> 00:04:14.120 I don't want to keep talking about it. But you 63 00:04:14.120 --> 00:04:15.919 know who you are. You know what you said and 64 00:04:16.040 --> 00:04:22.000 sent and offered, and it's absolutely amazing. I mean, for 65 00:04:22.120 --> 00:04:28.800 a Boston Red Sox fan living in Massachusetts to invite 66 00:04:28.839 --> 00:04:32.079 me to stay at his home and take me to 67 00:04:32.199 --> 00:04:36.439 a Yankee Red Sox game in September and agreed to 68 00:04:36.519 --> 00:04:42.160 cheer for the Yankees. Do I have any idea how 69 00:04:42.279 --> 00:04:48.439 over the top that is? That's Paul went Ahead. Never 70 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:50.959 knew I'd meet people like that in my life, never 71 00:04:51.160 --> 00:04:57.040 never knew. But let me take you into a little 72 00:04:57.040 --> 00:05:00.439 bit of a ghosty situation which to me made me 73 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:02.879 feel great, made their hair stand up on my arms, 74 00:05:02.920 --> 00:05:07.519 and you know, made me more of a believer than 75 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:13.240 I've always been. Saturday night, or as my mother would say, 76 00:05:13.399 --> 00:05:18.079 Saturday night, Saturday night taking Roco to his buddy's house. 77 00:05:18.839 --> 00:05:23.480 It's like seven point fifteen Pacific Coast time, and on 78 00:05:23.519 --> 00:05:27.839 the radio, Bohemian Rhapsody comes on from Queen loved the song. 79 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:32.120 I remember when it first came out, all the kids 80 00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:36.279 from the neighborhood screaming, when is it gonna come on again? 81 00:05:36.279 --> 00:05:40.040 We would wait by the radio for hours to hear that. 82 00:05:40.639 --> 00:05:44.600 I see you, little little I mean, you know, it 83 00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:48.000 was like it was like nothing ever we've heard before. 84 00:05:49.720 --> 00:05:52.279 So Bohemian Rhapsody comes on, and I say to rock 85 00:05:52.360 --> 00:05:56.199 Or you know, this is Chico's song. Yeah, yeah, I said. 86 00:05:56.240 --> 00:05:58.800 He would sing it at the top of his lungs. 87 00:05:59.399 --> 00:06:02.360 And Chico had a great voice, and he would sing 88 00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:05.600 from the diaphragm the right way, not the top or 89 00:06:05.639 --> 00:06:07.759 the back of his throat like most of us do. 90 00:06:08.120 --> 00:06:12.319 He sang down low, and he could belt out Elvis 91 00:06:12.600 --> 00:06:17.399 Skinny or Fat Elvis. He could belt out Humperdink, Tom Jones. 92 00:06:17.879 --> 00:06:21.399 And we used to sing in his basement for the acoustics. 93 00:06:21.480 --> 00:06:25.000 His basement had great acoustics, and him and I did 94 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:30.680 a great rendition of you don't bring Me Flowers. I 95 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:36.920 know sounds gay. We're sixteen years old, seventeen, whatever the hell, 96 00:06:37.800 --> 00:06:42.519 and going down to his basement to sing you don't 97 00:06:42.600 --> 00:06:47.519 bring me Flowers, and he would graciously take the streisand 98 00:06:47.560 --> 00:06:50.279 part because Chico had a higher octave than I did. 99 00:06:51.199 --> 00:06:53.800 And I took Neil Diamond because I could imitate him 100 00:06:54.399 --> 00:06:57.040 and we'd sing and he would go up with high. 101 00:06:57.600 --> 00:07:03.079 You don't me flower, you don't send me love songs, 102 00:07:03.639 --> 00:07:06.879 and I come in hardy only talk to me anymore 103 00:07:08.480 --> 00:07:11.879 when it comes to the end of the day. I'm 104 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:16.399 not doing Neil Diamond justice right now. But yeah, we 105 00:07:16.680 --> 00:07:22.639 killed it in that basement. So let's go back to 106 00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:26.879 the last phone call, the last talk. The last time 107 00:07:26.920 --> 00:07:32.240 I heard Chico's voice he was telling me is twenty eleven. 108 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:35.279 He was telling me he was looking at twenty five 109 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:38.160 years of federal prison time for crimes he committed with 110 00:07:38.199 --> 00:07:42.480 some young mafiosa kids in Florida. He was involved with 111 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:47.360 these kids, well not kids, they were young men. They 112 00:07:47.399 --> 00:07:51.160 were all sons of fathers and uncles who served time. 113 00:07:52.199 --> 00:07:55.199 So for them, going to prison for five, six, seven 114 00:07:55.279 --> 00:07:58.160 years was a right of passage. They could stand on 115 00:07:58.240 --> 00:08:00.439 their head and do that time. In fact, one of 116 00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:04.000 Chico's friends told me that at his funeral, he says, 117 00:08:04.040 --> 00:08:06.519 you know, our guys like us. His name was Frankie, 118 00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:10.240 No frank He says, you know, Chico wasn't cut out 119 00:08:10.360 --> 00:08:13.240 for prison. You know, guys like us, our dads, our 120 00:08:13.319 --> 00:08:16.279 uncles did it. It doesn't mean nothing to us. We 121 00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:18.720 go away five years to come back bigger than ever. 122 00:08:21.639 --> 00:08:23.560 But guys like us, we grew up on Long Island, 123 00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:28.000 you know, we didn't think that way. So Chico's on 124 00:08:28.040 --> 00:08:30.519 the phone telling me I'm at Rosley's house on Long 125 00:08:30.560 --> 00:08:34.440 Island and he's calling me from Florida. He says, you know, Pope, 126 00:08:34.919 --> 00:08:37.320 they're throwing it. They're throwing twenty five years at me 127 00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:40.919 like it's candy. They want me to talk. They woman 128 00:08:40.960 --> 00:08:43.759 to name names to reduce my time, or maybe even skate. 129 00:08:44.919 --> 00:08:48.200 I can't do it, Pope. I'm not a rat. And 130 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:52.759 I knew he wasn't, you know, because when we lived 131 00:08:52.759 --> 00:08:55.440 in New York City together on Madison Avenue, the FEDS 132 00:08:56.399 --> 00:09:00.480 would show up at our building right and come home 133 00:09:00.519 --> 00:09:03.000 from work, and I'd see Chico on the couch with 134 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:05.600 two or three Feds with the windbreakers on and the 135 00:09:06.039 --> 00:09:09.799 fucking Joe Biden sunglasses. And before I even got upstairs, 136 00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:12.919 I'd see their car parked out front the Crown Victoria 137 00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:16.879 with no white walls. I mean, we all know the signs. 138 00:09:17.480 --> 00:09:20.200 And I'd walk in and I'd hear them say the 139 00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:23.240 cheek hey you know, hey, Tim, will you joined Team 140 00:09:23.279 --> 00:09:25.720 America and beat the bad guys. Let's let's beat the 141 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:28.519 bad guys. Tim, what do you say, joined Team America? 142 00:09:29.679 --> 00:09:33.039 He'd looked at me and laugh. He wouldn't do that. 143 00:09:35.960 --> 00:09:38.440 But they they, they came. They came by a lot 144 00:09:38.480 --> 00:09:43.039 because he eventually decided to leave because they kept coming 145 00:09:43.080 --> 00:09:45.320 to our apartment and he knew I had a big 146 00:09:45.399 --> 00:09:47.600 job at the Daily News. I was a big columnist 147 00:09:47.600 --> 00:09:51.000 and I didn't need that heat. He had an organized 148 00:09:51.039 --> 00:09:53.720 crime file. They were compiling one on myself because I 149 00:09:53.759 --> 00:09:56.679 was with them constantly, so we both had OHC file. 150 00:09:56.759 --> 00:10:00.200 So that's not good. So he says, Pope, I gotta go. 151 00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:02.279 I'll go to Florida. I'll get out of you. I'll 152 00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:05.480 got out of your hair. Hugged and kissed and cried 153 00:10:05.480 --> 00:10:09.440 and he split. But that day on the phone in 154 00:10:09.480 --> 00:10:13.200 Long Island was so weird, and I flat out and 155 00:10:13.279 --> 00:10:17.080 asked him, what are you telling me you're gonna split? 156 00:10:17.679 --> 00:10:22.720 Is this curtains? What do you He says, I don't know, 157 00:10:22.879 --> 00:10:25.320 I don't know. I don't want the twenty five years, 158 00:10:25.360 --> 00:10:28.399 you know. And I'm not gonna rap, he says. It's 159 00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:30.840 different from me. You know, I got nobody. You got 160 00:10:30.840 --> 00:10:33.320 a family, you got beautiful kids and a wife. I 161 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:35.960 don't know. There's nothing tying me down. I can leave 162 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:39.120 whatever I want. That was August twenty third, twenty eleven. 163 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:45.639 That was when around the time Hurricane Irene hit and 164 00:10:45.679 --> 00:10:50.200 there was a five point eight magnitude earthquake that hit 165 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:54.600 Virginia and was felt in a lot of states around, 166 00:10:54.720 --> 00:10:59.320 including New York and even on Long Island. It's actually 167 00:10:59.360 --> 00:11:01.879 still the large tremor to hit the East Coast in 168 00:11:01.960 --> 00:11:05.519 the last one hundred years. And I'm on the phone 169 00:11:05.559 --> 00:11:08.320 with him, and he's telling me this about I don't know, 170 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:10.320 I said, he is it Curtains. I don't know, Pope, 171 00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:12.720 but you know, And I look at the ceiling fan 172 00:11:13.159 --> 00:11:16.120 in the bedroom I'm sleeping in with my son, and 173 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:19.399 it's shaken, it's moving. And I said, cheek, I think 174 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:22.440 we're having a fucking earthquake. He says what I said, Yeah, 175 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:27.159 the fans are moving. I'll call you back. Never called 176 00:11:27.200 --> 00:11:30.480 him back. It was an earthquake. Never called him back. 177 00:11:31.360 --> 00:11:34.679 We hung up. The next day I get the phone 178 00:11:34.679 --> 00:11:38.840 call from his brother that he killed himself. So how 179 00:11:38.840 --> 00:11:43.399 about this? That night, I took Rocko to his buddy's house. 180 00:11:43.440 --> 00:11:49.200 I came home to hear that a small earthquake had 181 00:11:49.279 --> 00:11:52.200 just rocked parts of New Jersey and New York. This 182 00:11:52.320 --> 00:11:55.519 is Saturday night when I took him to his buddy's house. 183 00:11:55.879 --> 00:11:59.000 It was a three point zero quake. It was six 184 00:11:59.120 --> 00:12:05.399 miles beneath the earth in New Jersey ten eighteen pm, 185 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:09.679 thirteen miles from midtown Manhattan, and tremors were felt everywhere 186 00:12:09.759 --> 00:12:12.320 from the Bronx to Staten Island to Long Island, you 187 00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:20.320 name it. And you know these things, Matt, I mean 188 00:12:20.360 --> 00:12:23.480 these things. These are signs to me. It just signs 189 00:12:23.480 --> 00:12:27.000 to me. The last time we talked as an earthquake. 190 00:12:27.600 --> 00:12:29.399 Then I hear his song on the radio, and I 191 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:31.000 say to rock Oll, I gotta hear this song. It's 192 00:12:31.080 --> 00:12:34.080 Chico's song. And then they come back to the apartment 193 00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:40.279 and there's another fucking earthquake. And don't forget this. Some 194 00:12:40.360 --> 00:12:45.320 of you are new you don't know this. The night 195 00:12:45.440 --> 00:12:48.559 he died, after I cried a good cry for a 196 00:12:48.679 --> 00:12:51.000 minute because I didn't want my kids to see me, 197 00:12:51.279 --> 00:12:54.759 and I ran downstairs to Roseley's launger room and I 198 00:12:54.799 --> 00:12:58.360 buried my face and towels and I cried for a 199 00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:01.919 good minute or two, and then I cleaned myself up 200 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:07.120 and got back to being daddy. But after that I 201 00:13:07.159 --> 00:13:10.799 went to the supermarket to get some stuff. What have you? 202 00:13:12.360 --> 00:13:18.240 Bohemian Rhapsody comes on the goddamn radio. Okay, so I 203 00:13:18.360 --> 00:13:23.679 know there's something going on. And in addition to that, 204 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:28.720 I'm not making this up. I'm not that creative, and 205 00:13:28.759 --> 00:13:32.320 I've said this story before. In addition to that, I 206 00:13:32.360 --> 00:13:38.519 get to the front windows of the supermarket and there's 207 00:13:38.559 --> 00:13:42.200 a poster or a piece of paper on the window, 208 00:13:42.600 --> 00:13:48.720 a missing pet poster. It's a parakeet or a parrot 209 00:13:49.799 --> 00:13:54.600 named Chico. I wish I rely on, but I'm not 210 00:13:57.840 --> 00:14:00.600 tried to do what you can to get in touch 211 00:14:00.799 --> 00:14:03.559 with that part of life. If you can do it, 212 00:14:04.200 --> 00:14:06.399 I'm not sure how to explain to you how to 213 00:14:06.399 --> 00:14:08.440 do it. But if you can do it, if he 214 00:14:08.519 --> 00:14:12.159 sits still and let the music and the memories of 215 00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:16.759 the people you love wash over you, you might find 216 00:14:16.799 --> 00:14:20.360 yourself in situations where you just can't believe this is 217 00:14:20.440 --> 00:14:31.039 really happening. Unbelievable I finally sat down to watch Netflix 218 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:35.879 has a documentary on the great Sam Cook and his music. 219 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:40.480 Sam Cook was great man, beautiful voice. We did an 220 00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:45.639 episode on Mysteries and Scandals all about him, obviously, but 221 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:51.399 guy was shot and killed at a three dollars fucking 222 00:14:51.480 --> 00:14:55.879 motel down and comped it the same area I used 223 00:14:55.919 --> 00:14:58.320 to go to to hit the after hours clubs and 224 00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:02.480 mingle with the gangs and the pimps and the hookers 225 00:15:02.519 --> 00:15:06.759 and the people will come out at night. I did 226 00:15:06.840 --> 00:15:10.799 that for several years. I liked it. I enjoyed it. 227 00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:14.000 I like seeing the undersided life. I wanted to come 228 00:15:14.039 --> 00:15:18.519 back and report those stories. I believe that's what a 229 00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:22.320 good journalist is. And you just got to stay nosy. 230 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:26.519 I mean I overdid it. I had a pension for 231 00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:32.799 drugs and alcohol, and it was there. Whatever you wanted, alcohol, guns, 232 00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:37.960 you name it, black superstars, gangsters, they were all there. 233 00:15:39.799 --> 00:15:45.240 But when you look at the Sam Cook documentary, and 234 00:15:45.279 --> 00:15:48.279 you should watch it, it's something else. It's a lot 235 00:15:48.279 --> 00:15:53.399 of talking heads who give their opinion. Smokey Robinson, a 236 00:15:53.440 --> 00:15:56.600 lot of guys like that Quincy Jones that you go wow, 237 00:15:56.799 --> 00:15:59.440 I mean, these guys know what it was. There's a 238 00:15:59.480 --> 00:16:04.039 part in a documentary where Quincy Jones says, can you 239 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:08.960 believe this? And Quincy john is there is there a 240 00:16:09.000 --> 00:16:13.840 better composer, a better producer in our lives than Quincy Jones, 241 00:16:14.200 --> 00:16:17.080 from Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson, get the fuck out 242 00:16:17.080 --> 00:16:20.039 of here. But he says there were times where they 243 00:16:20.200 --> 00:16:23.799 performed down South with the Jim Crow Laws, and you know, 244 00:16:24.519 --> 00:16:28.120 they couldn't stay at hotels. In fact, they slept sometimes 245 00:16:28.159 --> 00:16:32.559 in more cheerees. And Quincy Jones said, with me and 246 00:16:32.600 --> 00:16:34.600 a few guys from the band would be sleeping up 247 00:16:34.639 --> 00:16:37.759 in a room with six or seven caskets of dead 248 00:16:37.799 --> 00:16:47.840 people upstairs in a mortuary that was our motel. Unbelievable. 249 00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:54.399 And Sam Cook was a good looking kid, and he 250 00:16:54.600 --> 00:16:57.039 was brought up in the church, you know, brought up 251 00:16:57.080 --> 00:17:00.720 down south. Grandmother was a slave. His daddy figured out 252 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:04.799 how to get them from Mississippi up to Chicago, and 253 00:17:04.839 --> 00:17:07.119 he was a preacher. He got at church, and of 254 00:17:07.160 --> 00:17:10.640 course he put his kids up front to sing. And 255 00:17:10.680 --> 00:17:15.480 it's an amazing thing when you think about religion. And 256 00:17:16.039 --> 00:17:18.440 you know now that I'm getting into it, or at 257 00:17:18.519 --> 00:17:22.759 least really trying to understand it, and reading parts of 258 00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:28.039 the Bible and parables, et cetera. You know that when 259 00:17:28.079 --> 00:17:30.119 things are really bad, you turn to God like this, 260 00:17:30.759 --> 00:17:33.160 You just I don't care who you are. I don't 261 00:17:33.160 --> 00:17:36.799 care how agnostic or atheist you are. When you're getting 262 00:17:36.839 --> 00:17:39.759 wheeled down that cold hallway in the hospital and you 263 00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:42.759 see those overhead fluorescent lights and you're almost in the 264 00:17:43.160 --> 00:17:47.079 operating room, you will begin to talk to somebody that 265 00:17:48.920 --> 00:17:53.559 is God. That's just the way it is. You'll see. 266 00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:57.880 If you haven't done it yet, you'll see. And if 267 00:17:57.920 --> 00:17:59.839 you've done it and you talk to him and you 268 00:17:59.839 --> 00:18:06.359 still here, maybe you ought to thank him. But Sam 269 00:18:06.480 --> 00:18:11.039 Cook is young and hot and cute, and the girls 270 00:18:11.240 --> 00:18:14.519 like him. And you know, he wanted to sing God's music, 271 00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:16.799 which he's been singing all his life as a kid. 272 00:18:17.799 --> 00:18:22.680 But that devil music got him dancing. He saw people 273 00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:25.559 dancing to devil music. By that I mean rock and roll, 274 00:18:25.640 --> 00:18:30.480 rhythm and blues, and that devil music got him wanting 275 00:18:30.519 --> 00:18:34.240 a woman, got him wanted to taste of some liquor, 276 00:18:35.599 --> 00:18:38.599 got him wanting to let loose. And you know what, 277 00:18:39.920 --> 00:18:47.359 we all deserve to let loose. And you know, back then, 278 00:18:47.480 --> 00:18:51.519 if you switched over and you know, you were singing 279 00:18:51.599 --> 00:18:53.519 rhythm and blues and didn't work out. You wanted to 280 00:18:53.559 --> 00:18:55.240 go back to go to church or go back to 281 00:18:55.279 --> 00:18:58.359 your band. It was a big risk. They wouldn't the 282 00:18:58.440 --> 00:19:03.240 public wouldn't accept it. So it's a big risk. Guys 283 00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:06.359 like Chuck Berry, little Richard, you know, playing the piano, 284 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:08.680 his leg up on top of the baby Grant. That 285 00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:13.480 was a devilish kind of look. You know, Sam was singing, 286 00:19:13.839 --> 00:19:20.079 I know you send me very pretty, little Richard Cook, Golly, 287 00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:25.839 miss Bolly. I mean, come on, completely different songs, Johnny 288 00:19:25.880 --> 00:19:29.480 be Good. I mean, that's devil music. Back then, Sam 289 00:19:29.559 --> 00:19:33.319 Cook knew like I could. I got that in me, man, 290 00:19:33.799 --> 00:19:35.799 I want to see the women dance. I'm want a 291 00:19:35.799 --> 00:19:43.720 little liquor in my tongue. That happens, man, that happens. 292 00:19:43.759 --> 00:19:45.920 And his voice was so amazing, and he knew he 293 00:19:45.960 --> 00:19:50.000 made the girls go crazy. But I'm gonna tell you 294 00:19:50.039 --> 00:19:51.960 something that maybe a lot of people won't tell you. 295 00:19:53.839 --> 00:19:56.720 I understand what happens when you hear that kind of 296 00:19:56.839 --> 00:20:04.200 music and you have those kind of desires. It tends 297 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:09.200 to hit a certain base tone in your body somewhere 298 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:17.400 very low. Let's call it your balls right, and it 299 00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:25.640 just makes you want to get yourself carnally satisfied. That's it. 300 00:20:26.519 --> 00:20:28.559 You can feel it from the bottom of your feet, 301 00:20:29.119 --> 00:20:32.200 from to the top of your heart. You just need 302 00:20:32.359 --> 00:20:35.920 to get with someone, get a girl, find a chick. 303 00:20:36.119 --> 00:20:39.119 I need to love someone up, even for a night, 304 00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:44.440 even for a few hours, because that's what humans do, 305 00:20:44.519 --> 00:20:51.880 because we're animals, and sometimes, you know, we just act 306 00:20:51.960 --> 00:20:56.240 on how we feel. And he goes on and he 307 00:20:56.319 --> 00:20:58.119 sings you send me, and this is one of the 308 00:20:58.119 --> 00:21:02.200 most beautiful songs. Or you know that people hurt. Never 309 00:21:02.240 --> 00:21:04.119 says I love you in the song, but we all 310 00:21:04.119 --> 00:21:07.319 know what it means, and every girl swooned over it. 311 00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:11.359 He did it on that Sullivan, by the way, put 312 00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:15.119 a pin in that. Tom DeNardo, one of my patrons, 313 00:21:15.480 --> 00:21:20.079 O God, after I mentioned the Ed Sullivan doc last 314 00:21:20.119 --> 00:21:24.160 week Sunday Best, he put up a post on the 315 00:21:24.200 --> 00:21:27.279 instant on the Facebook page saying that he knew someone 316 00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:31.000 who knew someone that Ed Sullivan liked to be shit 317 00:21:31.079 --> 00:21:36.720 on and actually eat shit sandwiches. I don't know if 318 00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:40.039 that's true. The same can be said about Danny Thomas. 319 00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:42.160 I don't know if it's true, but I love the 320 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:50.920 thought of it. Just anyhow, Sam Cook makes his way 321 00:21:50.920 --> 00:21:54.279 to Hollywood, and you know, you could even hear some 322 00:21:54.319 --> 00:21:56.599 of the hosts on these different TV shows and the 323 00:21:56.640 --> 00:21:59.640 way they spoke about it, it was almost like, you know, 324 00:22:00.839 --> 00:22:03.039 it was such a weird time. It was almost like, 325 00:22:03.240 --> 00:22:06.960 please excuse this negro on the stage, but you might 326 00:22:07.039 --> 00:22:09.799 like to hear what he has to sing. It's embarrassing 327 00:22:09.920 --> 00:22:12.960 to watch these old white people introduce this young black guy. 328 00:22:13.720 --> 00:22:16.599 And he would just kill it every single time he sang. 329 00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:22.480 And he was right underneath Elvis Presley in sales. That's 330 00:22:22.519 --> 00:22:25.680 some heady stuff. And then one day Elvis came to 331 00:22:25.720 --> 00:22:28.319 the studio where Sam was singing, and he was singing, 332 00:22:28.359 --> 00:22:34.000 we have it a party, dance into the music, and 333 00:22:34.039 --> 00:22:36.880 he was a great songwriter, by the way, and Elvis 334 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:40.519 joined in and they had a great old time. But 335 00:22:40.680 --> 00:22:45.720 once Sam Cook got too close to James Brown, Malcolm X, 336 00:22:46.119 --> 00:22:50.160 and Muhammad Ali, well then his life got more difficult. 337 00:22:50.920 --> 00:22:56.240 He began to be looked upon as a militant, dangerous 338 00:22:57.079 --> 00:22:59.880 and back then those fucks in the FBI and what 339 00:23:00.119 --> 00:23:03.559 have you, they had their eyes on black performers like 340 00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:11.599 nobody's business. And it's really sad what they did, but 341 00:23:12.279 --> 00:23:15.559 his life got more difficult. I understand because I would 342 00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:19.759 have been the same guy if I were black during 343 00:23:19.799 --> 00:23:24.079 that era. You know, if I were dark skinned, wide nosed, 344 00:23:24.119 --> 00:23:27.200 big lips, I'd be the same motherfucker. Trust me, I 345 00:23:27.200 --> 00:23:30.079 wouldn't have listened to anybody, and I'd be up for 346 00:23:30.119 --> 00:23:39.079 a fight every goddamn day. You know, I just I 347 00:23:39.480 --> 00:23:45.359 have an anger in me. For instance, I didn't finish 348 00:23:45.480 --> 00:23:47.640 the story the other day. Remember the girl across, the 349 00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:53.000 woman across the alleyway and the apartment complex who was 350 00:23:53.039 --> 00:23:56.799 fucking with my pots and took a cat pole off 351 00:23:56.839 --> 00:24:02.039 my stoop. Well met her outside. Uh, and I just 352 00:24:02.359 --> 00:24:04.319 and this is before I took my break. This is 353 00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:07.799 what I knew. A j Calm the fuck down. You're 354 00:24:07.920 --> 00:24:10.400 chasing people who give you the finger in your car, 355 00:24:10.720 --> 00:24:14.359 you're cursing out your naghbor. Stop it. But she comes 356 00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:18.960 out and I said to her, excuse me, are you 357 00:24:19.079 --> 00:24:22.119 moving this cat bowl off my stoop? Well, me and 358 00:24:22.200 --> 00:24:25.240 my husband feet my boyfriend feed the cats and we'd 359 00:24:25.319 --> 00:24:28.279 like to keep the balls on the floor. Okay, this 360 00:24:28.400 --> 00:24:33.160 is on my stoop. Okay, what's the worry? Well, the 361 00:24:33.240 --> 00:24:36.440 cat could fall the cat's gonna fall twelve inches and 362 00:24:36.440 --> 00:24:38.680 not land on his feet. I could throw a fucking 363 00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:41.440 cat over three story building. It'll land on his feet 364 00:24:41.559 --> 00:24:44.680 and it will not be injured. What is the don't 365 00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:50.640 touch my shit on my stoop? She couldn't believe her. 366 00:24:50.839 --> 00:24:54.119 What excuse me? Don't touch my shit? You even move 367 00:24:54.200 --> 00:24:58.119 my potted plants around you don't like the way they look? No, 368 00:24:58.240 --> 00:25:03.039 I just thought that, maybe stop talking, don't touch my property. 369 00:25:03.519 --> 00:25:06.039 I'm from New York. I was born in Brooklyn. I'm 370 00:25:06.079 --> 00:25:09.400 from there. You don't touch people's shit. Well this you 371 00:25:09.400 --> 00:25:11.680 know you're not in New York anymore. I said, fuck you. 372 00:25:11.759 --> 00:25:14.440 New York's in my heart. Brooklyn's in my heart that 373 00:25:14.519 --> 00:25:17.200 never goes away. Don't touch my shit. I'll tell your 374 00:25:17.240 --> 00:25:20.839 boyfriend to come see me. Came in the house. I 375 00:25:20.839 --> 00:25:23.960 felt like shit. And by the way, she had two 376 00:25:24.920 --> 00:25:28.119 uh gorge you know the gorge you buy for Thanksgiving 377 00:25:28.200 --> 00:25:30.880 during that time, right? She has them want to step 378 00:25:31.119 --> 00:25:32.759 and they're on top of each other. I said, what 379 00:25:32.799 --> 00:25:34.319 if I took one of your gorgs and I moved 380 00:25:34.319 --> 00:25:36.599 it on the other side of us? Doew? Could that 381 00:25:36.680 --> 00:25:39.319 be okay with you? I said, why do I just 382 00:25:39.400 --> 00:25:44.960 move your gorge. It was ridiculous. Anyhow, I stopped feeding 383 00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:46.680 the cats. I don't want to hear when I see her, 384 00:25:46.680 --> 00:25:50.200 I apologize profusely. But what I'm saying is we all 385 00:25:50.240 --> 00:25:53.839 got this anger in us. At least many of us do. 386 00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:56.839 Maybe some of you don't. God bless you if you don't. 387 00:25:56.920 --> 00:26:06.960 But you know, I just I understand to a degree 388 00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:12.039 what it must have felt like to have been black 389 00:26:12.880 --> 00:26:16.480 in that era and not be allowed to do anything, 390 00:26:16.720 --> 00:26:19.799 drink from the faested water felt, swim in the pool, 391 00:26:19.920 --> 00:26:22.400 sleep in the room, perform at a club. I can't 392 00:26:22.400 --> 00:26:26.240 even imagine how you could walk around and maintain your 393 00:26:26.279 --> 00:26:38.160 composure without killing a motherfucker. I would have so bad. Anyhow, Obviously, 394 00:26:38.279 --> 00:26:43.160 Sam Cook made white women very happy with his music, 395 00:26:43.200 --> 00:26:46.160 and that was a no no. And then we got 396 00:26:46.160 --> 00:26:49.839 to fast forward to nowadays when we contrack these white 397 00:26:50.039 --> 00:26:54.599 women's interest on Instagram, on Facebook and tiktop, and you know, 398 00:26:55.799 --> 00:26:58.519 all these white girls now you see want to have 399 00:26:58.559 --> 00:27:04.160 a black boyfriend. Unbelievable. Travis Barker, the drummer who's got 400 00:27:04.200 --> 00:27:08.599 a daughter, you know, Alabama Barker, who's white as the 401 00:27:08.720 --> 00:27:13.079