JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR ASCENDS!
July 31, 2006
L-R ALLAN RINDE, ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER, DON WILLIAMS, TIM RICE, AND ARTIE WAYNE
Thirty years ago, I was general professional manager of Warner Bros. Music, living in Hollywood, when my friend Don Williams, who held a similar position at MCA msic, played me an acetate of “JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR”. I freaked out!!! My instinct told me …this was going to be a phenomenon!!! I asked Don to play it for Allan Rinde, the beloved head of Columbia records A+R dept….he was as excited as we were and proceeded to hold listening parties…that included all of the underground tastemakers of the time.
MCA RECORDS credits us with breaking the album. I hope Tim and Andy have forgiven me for trying to talk them out of writing “Evita”…..Who would go to see a show about an ex-dictators wife anyway?
YOU CAN BUY MY BOOK, “I DID IT FOR A SONG” (AVAILABLE ONLINE ONLY) FOR $9.99 BY CHECK OR MONEY ORDER TO ARTIE WAYNE P.O. BOX 1105 , DESERT HOT SPRINGS CALIFORNIA, 92240 OR THROUGH PAYPAL TO MY EMAIL ADDRESS artiewayne@gmail.com
Copyright 2014 by Artie Wayne
MARLON BRANDO And His Influence On Pop Music
July 31, 2006
MARLON BRANDO 4/3/24 – 7/1/o4
Although Marlon Brando’s musical abilities were limited to playing
“Bongos” at “Beatnik” parties during the fifties, his influence on
pop music for decades was undeniable. When we think about “Black
Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots” by the Cheers, in the 50s’, “He’s
A Rebel”by the Crystals, or “Leader of the Pack” by the Shangri-las
in the 60s’……..Who comes to mind? Yeah…….Marlon Brando, “the
Wild One”in his black leather jacket and dungarees…..the kind they
wouldn’t let us wear in high school!
I heard that Elvis wouldn’t smile in his early photos because Marlon
never did. When he became “the Godfather” in the seventies it became
difficult to listen to the beautiful theme without visualizing Marlon
and his “puffy” cheeks. Even when James Brown was justifiably called
the “Godfather of Soul”, we all gave a nod to Marlon.
I remember when I went to Tahiti and Bora-Bora, in the 80’s
the question I was most asked by the natives was, “Did I know Marlon
Brando?”.
I wish I did………..respectfully, Artie Wayne http://artiewayne.com
Copyright 2009 by Artie Wayne https://artiewayne.wordpress.com/about-artie-wayne/
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Glowing Memories Of Genghis Cohen
July 29, 2006
Back in P.S.55, when I wasn’t running from the guys with switch-blades and zip guns I would sit and draw. I learned how to make 3-D comics, you know the kind where you needed red and blue glasses. This peculiar talent got me in to New York’s High School of Music and Art. Although I never became the Picasso of 3-D, I developed the love of images that challenge the eye and the imagination.
In 1983, my friend and sometime business partner Allan Rinde decided to exit the music business and open a Chinese Restaurant in a Jewish neighborhood in Hollywood. I came up with a name for him, Genghis Cohen! The place was an immediate hit. Soon after, Allan asked me to take some of the burden off his shoulders and become night host. It was about this time that I had begun working with fabric paint and decided to create a unique look for myself by creating my own outfits. The first night I wore one of shirts to work, I sold it off of my back for $125.00…and I knew that I had something
Soon I had all sorts of people buying my clothes including, Robert Downey, Jr., J.D. Nicholas of the Commodores, Pam Tillis, Patti Dahlstrom, Sammy Davis, Jr. James Caan, Val Garay, Steve Cropper and Luther VanDross.
When I did a couple of jackets for ERTE….the father of Art Deco….I didn’t know who he was….when I found out I doubled my prices and landed a one man show at Bobbi Leonard’s gallery in Santa Monica. It wasn’t long before I was selling my clothing out of Fred Segals, Robinsons & Leather Force on Melrose and in Beverly Hills.
Once Sarah Jessica Parker was trying on one of my creations in the wine room at Genghis Cohen…..She dresses and flicks off the light switch….but it’s NOT the switch for the closet it’s the switch for the ENTIRE restaurant …. *#!!%……Allan throws open the door….turns the darkened restaurant lights back on and GLARES at me….Sarah confesses….and Allan smiles…after all, who can get mad at Sarah Jessica Parker?
When I started using glow-in-the-dark paint on my creations, I would dim the lights then go into the kitchen and get a blast of flourescent light. I’d walk back into the restaurant, hand out fortune cookies and sell the glowing jacket right off my back!
copyright 2012 by Artie Wayne
Ray Charles- Revisited
July 28, 2006
Ray Charles has been here for so long it’s hard to remember when he wasn’t around.I’ve always thought of him as an “Uncommon Denomonater”in popular music. For 50 years, he exposed the World to the Blues……was the “Soul” of Rock and Roll…..and brought an African-American voice to country music.
My own life was soothed, rocked,and sometimes explained by Ray Charles.Isn’t it funny how we don’t appreciate someone fully until they’re gone? Fortunately, Ray knew how much he was loved while he was with us.
I only met him once, on a plane back to L.A.from the Tokyo music festival. I felt more like a fan, than an exec at Warner Bros.Music, and became a little flustered. I introduced myself,and told him that I gave his producer a song he’d recorded,”Go On Home” (HughMcCracken)…Ray smiled and sang a few bars back to me.
I thanked him for his time….for remembering…. and went back to my seat. Now I wish I had been a little less overwhelmed….and spent a little more time talking to him.
I spent the last ten years recovering from a spinal operation and I’m still am unable to use my hands to play the piano or guitar. When Ray passed away, however, I was moved to finish up a song that I’d been working on for years, “I’m At My Best When I’m Down.”
Although I couldn’t play it, I asked my friend Allan Rinde to record me singing the song accapella (without music]. I sent it to my friend Alan O’Day (“Undercover Angel”, “Angie Baby”), for an opinion. He surprised me and put some chords behind it. You can hear it it you click over to http://artiewayne.com/best.html
Neil Diamond- Shine On
July 27, 2006
Back in 1966, having been traumatized by my run in with the
Rolling Stones in the U.K., I returned to the United States.
My friend, Ed Silvers, who produced me as an artist for
Liberty records, was now a vice-president of April-Blackwood
music [Columbia Records publishing arm], and gave me my
first job as a songplugger. Of all the staff writers, Van
McCoy, who was starting to make a name for himself and a new
writer, a young Neil Diamond, impressed me the most.
Neil was not only prolific, all of his lyrics were
consistantly deep and his music, always commercial. I looked
forward to him coming in to sing and play live, and
familiarize me with the songs he had in the catalog. I had
dozens of ideas of who should record this and who should
record that…and I couldn’t wait to get started! Then two
weeks after I joined the company, Ed Silvers left in a
political hailstorm, leaving me to fend for myself!
Top Of The Pops- Closes Down Shop
July 23, 2006
On July 30, 2006 Top of the Pops, which has been on the air in the U.K. for 42 years, will broadcast its final show. I only saw the show once…when I went to London for the first time 40 years ago…
In 1964, when I became disillusioned with the music business
in the U.S., my friend Paul Simon [then known as Jerry
Landis], convinced me that I should go to London, where I
just had a top ten hit with Helen Shapiro, “Queen for
Tonight” [Raleigh/ Wayne]. At the time I was trying to get
some club work in New York’s Greenwich Village, Paul
introduced me to the folk scene and backed me up on guitar
at the Bitter End and Gerdes Folk City. He was tired of
plugging other people’s songs at E.B. Marks Music, and was
hoping his debut accoustic album with Artie Garfunkle,
“Wednesday Morning 3Am”, would put him on the map. His
producer at Columbia, Tom Wilson, disappointed with the
public and label’s response to the album, went in and
overdubbed the same electric group he used to record Bob
Dylan, which caused a controversy among folk purists!. I
remember, Paul shaking his head and telling me how much they
respected his music in the U.K. and how he longed to go back.
It didn’t take much to convince me that I too, needed a
change. My Liberty single “Where Does a Rock and Roll Singer
Go” [Wayne], had bombed out, money was slow coming in from
my songs, and Amy records, for whom I produced “Midnight
Mary” [Raleigh/ Wayne], was trying to take the Artist, Joey
Powers away from me, because I didn’t have any subsequent
hits.
As I was about to leave for London, I came down with the
chicken pox and had to postpone my trip. It was during the
next few weeks that I met Bess Coleman, one of the Beatles
Press officers, and started writing some songs with her.
When she said that she was friendly with the road manager
of the Rolling Stones, and Mick Jagger was going to be
staying at his apartment, I jumped at the chance to write
for the group.
We wrote a few songs…made a few demos…and Bess gave her
friend two songs to pass along to Mick. One of them, “It
Ain’t Me”, is the song I eventually sued over.
I knew the Stones were slated to record in Chicago, at the
legendary Chess studios, before they went to Hollywood,
where they filmed the “TAMI” show…so we crossed our
fingers and hoped we had made the session. We didn’t hear
back from anybody…so we uncrossed our fingers and went on
with our lives.
My co-writer, Bess Coleman, started preparing for the
Beatles to come to New York and introduced me to Jackie
DeShannon, who was the opening act for the Fab Four. As we
all hung out, it was Jackie, who re-ignited my desire to go
to London. She said she was going there on a promotion tour
in a few weeks, and it would be a perfect time me me to go.
I figured that I could still meet up with Paul Simon, and
play whatever clubs were left on his tour. When I arrived
at Paul’s publisher’s office, however, I found a note from
him saying that he had to go back to the States to promote
the reworked single of “Sounds of Silence”.
I wasn’t too upset, since It gave me the opportunity to go
to recording sessions and TV shows with Jackie and her new
co-writer, Jimmy Page. I had time to hang out and jam with
the Animals and the Moody Blues, play guitar with “Howlin’
Wolf” and “Sonny Boy” Williamson, participate in a
“kidnapping” of Cilla Black, from the Palladium, by her
pals, Mike Millward and Billy Hatton, of The Fourmost, and
go on the “Beatles for Sale” promotional tour.
It was at “Ready, Steady, Go”, while chatting up one of the
dancers, I heard a few familiar lines being sung by the
Rolling Stones. It sounded like the song Bess and I had
given their road manager to pass along to Mick. They were
celebrating the success of “Little Red Rooster”, which was
their first number one record, and this was the b-side,
“Off the Hook”. After the performance, I went over to Mick
and told him how much I enjoyed the way he did my song…he
just looked at me somewhat astonished and just walked away,
without saying a word!
The next day, when I bought a copy of the record, “Off the
Hook” and I saw that it credited Nanker Pheldge [Jagger and
Richards] as the writers! I hired David Jacobs, one of the
Beatles’ lawyers, to put a temporary injunction against the
single. This came as a shock to everyone, bringing a volley
of threats against me.
I decided it would be safer for me to keep a very low
profile for the remainder of my trip to London…and I hid
out with a couple of “Birds” who lived on the floor below
Charlie Watts in Ivor Court.
I heard that a lot of unsavory characters were out looking
for me, but I managed to escape the U.K. and get back to
New York unscathed. For the next five years I spent
thousands and thousands of dollars seeking justice in the
U.S. courts, but ultimately lost the case. It seems that
the defendants claimed they wrote their song a week before
I wrote mine and sang it to an engineer friend, which in
the U.K. constutes a common law copyright! Although my case
prompted a change of the U.S. copyright law, I was
devestated, traumatized and lost my will to write. This is
when I started working for an array of publishers, showing
other people’s songs.
It was years before I was able to write again…but now,
forty years later I can talk about it… and hardly feel
any pain.
Regards, Artie Wayne http://artiewayne.com
Tell a Friend that you love them
Tell a lover that you’re their friend
Show that you are thinking of them
You may never, ever have the chance again.
I had a friend who took me in when I was down
I saw the crazy things he did and wondered how he lived
but I shut my mouth when I should’ve spoken out.
Tell a Friend that you love them
Tell a lover that you’re their friend
Show that you are thinking of them
You may never have the chance again.
I had a love who woke me up and changed my life
I told everyone I met, I told everyone except
the one who wrote…the goodbye note…that just said quote,
Tell a Friend that you love them
Tell a lover that you’re their friend
Show that you are thinking of them
You may never have the chance again.
Copyright 2006 by Artie Wayne and Wayne Art music
I
The “Shit” heard ‘Round the World!
July 18, 2006
Everybody’s talking about the word, President Bush, uttered yesterday, to Prime Minister Tony Blair, in an unguarded moment before an open mike. He was asked by a reporter, later in the day, if his off the cuff remark deserved such attention? Bush smiled and said, “What the Fuck?”
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