Rant #1,182: Glad All Over Again

Did you have a chance to watch last night's PBS special on the Dave Clark Five?

If not, "The Dave Clark Five and Beyond--Glad All Over" on the station's "Great Performances" program will be rebroadcast this Friday.

Even though you pretty much only get "Bits and Pieces" of the entire Dave Clark Five story, it is well worth the two hours that is invested in Tottenham, England's gift to the world.

The Dave Clark Five--or the DC5, as they were nicknamed, comprised of Mike Smith, Lenny Davidson, Dennis Payton and Rick Huxley--came in on the coattails of the Beatles' fabulous success in 1964, but they made such a name for themselves that they allowed subsequent British acts, including the Rolling Stones and the Who, to be successful on these shores.

They were a hit singles band, and you can name the songs right off the top of your head--"Glad All Over," "Bits and Pieces," "Can't You See That She's Mine," "Catch Us If You Can," "Any Way You Want It," "You Got What It Takes," and each one of them was singable, approachable, and as much ear candy as "I Want To Hold Your Hand" was.

What made the DC5 stand out from the other groups--including the Beatles--was their look, their style, and the fact that they included keyboards and a sax in their music, which the other bands of the time generally did not.

And that was really the crux of the special. Interviewing everyone from the Sirs--Paul McCartney and Elton John--to Whoopi Goldberg, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Twiggy and Gene Simmons, that is what stood out for each of them. The sound, the style, and the success.

Sure, lots was glossed over with the special, including rumors that Clark used backup drummers even when performing live--most of the talking heads on the show marveled at their stage show, saying that they were a keen live band, better than any of their contemporaries--the rumor that Clark treated his bandmates as paid employees, and that he also stole royalties by putting his name on songs that he didn't write--but generally, the special spoke positively of the DC5's experience as a band.

Heck, with the special written, produced and directed by Dave Clark, did anyone think that he would waste time on all the warts?

Simmons said that in every live band's DNA, there is a piece of the Dave Clark Five, and he is probably right to a certain extent, because they seemed to have been a great live band.

One piece of the puzzle that has been out there for years is finally shown on the special . There is supposedly scant proof existing that the DC5 were a great live band, because supposedly few recordings exist of the band playing live, and what exists is nearly unlistenable.

Well, the special actually includes a couple of live performances, not shown in full, but you can see the power of the band. They also do a nice, quick turn on a song that wasn't theirs--"Georgia"--which shows just how good lead vocalist and songwriter Mike Smith actually was.

The special wasn't all good. Lenny Davidson is the one band member still alive, but he is never interviewed in the present day. Clark does allude to this, saying that Davidson was married, so he wasn't as close to him as he was other members of the band because the marrieds went their way with their wives, while the others went their way scouting out the chicks (nothing is said about Clark's supposed homosexuality, either, but to me, that is all fine and good).

The talking heads talk about the power of their singles, and we hear many of their singles throughout the show, but not a single picture sleeve is shown, only the 1990 singles that were released when Clark had a brief agreement with Hollywood Records to re-release all the DC5 music, which caved in very quickly (no mention is made of this situation).

The American albums are shown, by the way.

After an explanation is given for the band's end--they simply got sick of touring, and had decided that they would call it a day after a few years of being a studio band and targeting Europe with their music--the last half hour is really too Euro-centric, talking about Clark's later life as the owner of the "Ready, Steady, Go" franchise and as a stage show producer--his show was "Time," and it starred a cast of everyone from Sir Laurence Olivier to Dionne Warwick to Julian Lennon to Freddy Mercury--but to American tastes, this is just a big "so what." And nothing is said of Clark's later life to the present, or the lives of his bandmates.

A lot of emphasis is placed on their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame--and Tom Hanks' completely over the top speech about them--but that is OK. They deserved the honor, and Hanks is a true fan of the band, so why not include it?

There is a DVD out including the special and another disk with what wasn't shown on the telecast, so I look forward to that too.

Anyway, I would give the show an A for effort and a B+ for execution. Clark is a true businessman, as was pointed out in the special, and a true businessman does not reveal all of his tricks, and Clark certainly didn't here.

But otherwise, if you are interested in pop culture, this is an absolute must to watch when it comes on again.

"I Like It Like That" indeed.

Rant #1,181: The Job Hunt

My son is now fully involved in his job hunt, and things are not that easy.

I thought it was tough when I was looking for a job when I was a teenager, but it seems to be even more difficult in this environment that we live in.

If I remember correctly, teenage unemployment is between 15 percent and 17 percent. That, of course, is a hard figure to judge, because not every teenager is looking for a job, so I guess they calculate this by those teens who have had a job who are now out of work and are looking.

My son is graduating high school in June, and he won't be going to college, at least not right now, so he needs something he can hang his hat on, so to speak, of a full-time nature.

You might think that that would be a plus, but so far, it isn't.

Companies would prefer to hire part timers, simply because they don't have to pay out the benefits that they do to full timers.

That is a wall he is going to have to climb, and my wife and I are going to do everything we can to help him out.

Since he is considered to have a disability, there are programs that he can participate in that can help him, and we are pursuing those initiatives.

Another problem he has is that in New York State, he will graduate high school with a certificate of completion, and not a diploma.

Don't ask. You can blame whoever you want, but it isn't fair, and this is the first year that Special Ed kids will have to take a certificate home, not a diploma, for their years of study.

Some employers will question kids with this degree, and it is unfair to put these kids under that burden, but this is the way New York State handles these kids now, ghettoizing them into their own unique category.

So he also has that hurdle, and him and other Special Ed kids have been thoroughly prepped about answering questions about their certificate versus a diploma, and that they are equal, not on the GED level.

Anyway, the new world in which we live has thrown another curve into those looking for employment.

It seems that employment is now done almost entirely online.

You have to apply online, answer a variety of questions, send the thing out, and sit there with your hands folded waiting for a reply.

Possible employees don't even want a resume, they just want you to answer questions.

This is so unfair that I cannot believe that this is being done this way, but on the other hand, it is an inevitable byproduct of the high-tech world in which we live.

One on one contact is not preferred anymore, and to me, that is just plain wrong.

How can you get into the nuts and bolts of a potential employee and what he can bring to your company by simply reading answers off a screen?

I don't get it, but my son has to play this game like others do.

Over the weekend, we discovered that a new, small fast food chain will be opening its doors in a few weeks, and my son wanted to apply for a job with them.

But they are so new that really nothing has been set up yet for potential employees.

So I put on my detective cap and found out the parent company of the restaurant. I called them up, and asked them about hiring procedures.

They were nice enough to give me a head's up about when they were going to hire, and my son will pursue this company now that he has some inside information.

Anyway, if anyone out there is looking for a willing and able 18 year old to join your team, and if you are based on Long Island, I have the perfect person for you.

He is bright, responsible, wants to learn, and wants to work.

Please give him a chance. You will not regret it.

Rant #1,180: "The Grandest Stage of All"

First, let me acknowledge the life of Mickey Rooney.

He was a one of kind performer, could do anything on the stage and screen, and was our last link to an era where the Hollywood glitz was the real thing.

He was also in my favorite film of all time, "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World."

What a performer, what a winning streak of talent that is preserved in many, many movies forever, so future generations can see how talented this guy was.

That leads me into the perfect segueway for another terrific performer on a different type of stage.

Last night at Wrestlemania, "The Streak" ended.

Anybody who follows professional wrestling knows what I am talking about.

The Undertaker finally lost at Wrestlemania.

This is huge news in the pro wrestling world, because the Deadman never loses.

But he lost last night to burly Brock Lesnar, who will forever have his name etched in WWE history for doing this.

Anyway, my son and I watched Wrestlemania XXX from New Orleans last night, and the WWE, as usual, put on a great show.

It is the first time we watched it live, via the WWE Network, and aside from some early glitches--we found that if we put it on regular HD, rather than widescreen HD, the glitches faded away--the show went on pretty well.

There is a lot of phony pomp and pagentry with this show, but starting off by bringing out three of the four top WWE wrestlers of all time--Hulk Hogan, who was the host--Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Dwayne Johnson, better known as The Rock--was a good beginning to the program.

Bruno Sammartino was missing, but you can't have everything.

Even though the Hulkster stumbled with his introduction--he called the Superdome "the Silverdome" several times before he corrected himself--the meeting of three wrestlers who would be on a "Mount Rushmore" of wrestling if there was one was a good start to the show.

The matches were generally good, the 75,000 who were in attendance seemed to be having a great time, and the home audience was too, based on a small sample size of my son and myself.

Heck, I even took some pictures off the screen which you are seeing as you are reading this.

But the Undertaker lost, and that is all you are going to hear about this entry of Wrestlemania.

The Undertaker's streak is over.

Everything else is secondary.

This took just about everyone by surprise, but the streak had to end sometime, the Undertaker in real life is pretty much beat up after years of pounding, and the new WWE Network had to have something tangible to pin its hat on to gain even more subscribers.

It was "good for business," to catch a phrase.

They now have it.

Another streak ended yesterday.

The Yankees finally hit a home run, in their sixth game. It was about the third or fourth time in their storied history that they went five games at the start of a season without hitting a homer, but not only do they finally have one, but they beat the Blue Jays in doing so.

A minor streak, but a streak at that.

And who else could weave Mickey Rooney, Wrestlemania, and the Yankees together like this?

I guess I am one of the few people who would link them together, but that is what I am here for, isn't it?

Rant #1,179: To the Mat

Thank goodness it is Friday.

More to the point, I will "thank God" when this day is over and it is the weekend. Friday is not a good enough pull for me to "thank God" yet.

Whoever came up with that TGIF thing was always one day short, I thought.

Anyway, once this day is over, and we move into the weekend, it will probably be a regular weekend for most people.

Most people will go about their weekend chores, watch a ballgame (yes, the Yankees finally won their first game of the season last night!) and do what they have to do until they have to start the work week all over.

But millions of others will do the same thing, but on Sunday night, they will watch professional wrestling's own World Series, Super Bowl and Mardi Gras mixed up all together in Wrestlemania, the 30th edition of which comes to New Orleans this weekend.

Wrestlemania is wrestling's really big show--or "shew," if Ed Sullivan were still alive, and you know he would cover it on his show if he was--and it has really gone mainstream, with coverage by various legitimate media, legitimate press conferences, and legitimate big dollars associated with the event.

Wrestling and TV have always been welcome bedfellows since the dawn of the televised medium and the days of Gorgeous George and Bruno Sammartino, but today, it really is as mainstream as the major pro sports, baseball, football, basketball and hockey.

Well, almost as mainstream, let's say.

It is entertainment, mixed with athleticism. Yes, there are storylines, and yes, the outcomes are pre-picked.

But millions of millions of people in this country, and the world, watch this stuff, and will pay to watch this stuff.

And now, with the WWE Network, the multi-billion-dollar-a-year industry really has pushed itself into the forefront of media gazes, because as the first network of its kind, people are watching to see if an all-online network will make it or break it.

If it makes it, you can bet your bottom dollar that you will see other networks just like it popping up during the next few years, and a few are already being talked about in their early stages.

Anyway, this weekend, due to the network, millions will watch the Undertaker take on Brock Lesnar as the former tries to extend his Wrestlemania unbeaten streak against the latter, a brute who probably is a real pussycat inside.

It should be a fun watch, and my son and I will be watching, as we have the WWE Network, have the requisite dongle and HDTV so we can project the computer image on a bigger screen, and are paying $9.99 a month so that we can watch this and the other monthly pay-per-views offered on the network.

There has been some controversy, because some providers now refuse to carry the pay-per-views as a separate offering, at $50-$60 a pop.

They feel this former cash cow is diluted because so many people who would pay for this now have the network, and they aren't seeing a cent of that money, and they are right about that.

But for those who simply want to watch Wrestlemania, the option is there to spend all that money in one sitting.

Me, that is what my subscription costs during the next six months for the network, so I am actually saving money on this stuff in a funny way.

Whatever the case, my son and I look forward to the four-hour show, which regularly features twists and turns and mainstream and non-mainstream stuff. Even non-fans would be intrigued by this.

So, while most people will be preparing for another dreaded workweek on Sunday night, my son and I will push that aside and watch Wrestlemania for the first time that we have ever seen the event live.

All I can say is that hopefully, the network won't crash, as millions more just like us will be tuning in.

It better not crash, because if it does, the WWE will have to answer a lot of questions having nothing to do with the action in New Orleans on Sunday night.

The only crash I want to see on Sunday night is when one wrestler slams the other into the mat.

Rant #1,178: Poked

After work today, I am going to do something that I have been doing for nearly the past 42 years.

I am going to get my allergy shots.

Over the years, these shots of allergy serum have helped me considerably.

As a kid growing up in a dusty, windy section of South Jamaica, Queens, New York, I was often under the weather, couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, and I was very uncomfortable.

The study of non-food allergies was really just beginning, so I just basically had to grin and bear it during these years.

When we moved out to Long Island, it was determined that I should take an allergy test, as these tests were finally at the point where taking one might be able to at least point us in the right direction about what was ailing me.

In those days, you were tested for allergies with what I call the old "staple gun" approach.

The doctor who did the test used what was sort of an injector. You had to lay both arms flat, and you would be injected with various possible allergens in rows of two, in each arm. You had to keep each arm still as what was injected into you got into your arm.

If any one of the new marks that you had on your arms puffed up, you were allergic to whatever was put into that mark.

Not only did this method leave marks on your arms that took weeks to heal, but if you had some things that you were allergic too, like I had, the puffing had to recede too.

And yes, I had several things that I was allergic to: the usual pollen, the season of autumn, horse hair, and something called the Jerome bush.

My arms were so bad that I had to wear long sleeves for about a month, in the summer, but at least we finally knew what was bothering me.

(Today, they do a simple blood test--what a difference!)

It was determined that I need monthly allergy shots, so at the age of 15, I had my first shots.

We used a local doctor to administer my shots, and after a while, I got very used to them, getting two shots, one in each arm, once a month.

This doctor administered the shots for years, until he retired. He sold his practice, and a new doctor started to do the same thing. For both of these doctors, I was their one and only patient who got the shots from them.

And the shots certainly helped me in many ways. I didn't feel ill as much, my allergies were much more stable, I could taste my food and breathe, etc. It really was a miracle.

I never had a bad reaction from them, as some people do.

Some experts say that you should not take shots continually, because your body builds up an immunity to them, but for me, I have never stopped.

Over the years, some odd things have happened related to my shots. My second doctor giving me the shots was arrested for giving drugs--oxycodone--to high school kids, so I had to find another doctor to give me the shots.

I now get them at an allergy testing site, and that is fine and good.

The only problem is that our environment has changed, and my rate of allergy attacks has increased.

This is supposed to be one of the worst seasons for allergies of all time, and yes, I am feeling it. The rotten winter we had is the main cause of the season being predicted to be a bad one.

Just when you think the allergies aren't there any more, they come back to haunt you, with a runny nose, dripping eyes, and just an overall feeling that you feel a little off.

And now, by the way, I get four shots at each sitting, not two. 

But again, I have learned to grin and bear it, but when I get my shots, at least I know I am doing everything I can do to combat this dreaded curse that I have, that, by the way, no one else in my family has.

And yes, it is a curse, it really is.

My arms have been a pin cushion, but overall, I would never want to go back to how I felt as a kid.

So as I enter my 42nd year of getting these shots, at least I can say that they have helped me fight this thing as best as I could.

How many shots have I had over the years? Well, multiply 42 by 12, and you get 504. Multiply 504 by two, and you get 1,008. But again, for the past five years or so I have gotten four shots every sitting, so right now, I am probably nearing 1,200 shots just related to allergies.

That does not count any other shots I have had, or blood tests I have had to take, since I was 15 years old.

Yes, I am a pin cushion, but yes, I am happier now, even with the runny nose and watery eyes.

It's my life, what more can I say?

Rant #1,177: "Abergavenny"

My allergies are bothering me once again, and I need to feel better about something today.

How about spinning one of my vast collection of 45 RPM records to make me feel better?

This particular one I am going to talk about today wasn't a big hit at all, hitting #47 on the Hot 100 in the summer of 1969.

Woodstock was taking off back then, but you wouldn't know it by this tune.

A singer named Shannon sung the song, and it is a tune I have always liked.

It is hard to describe. It is a song that a marching band would probably love, but honestly, I have no idea what the song means.

I look at the picture sleeve, and is it about a dog?

I have no idea. The only thing I do know is that Shannon was a singer of a lot of renown in Europe, not much over here, but he begat a singer who had quite a bit of success on these shores.

Marty Wilde was your quintessential British wannabe singer in the late 1950s and early 1960s, quite popular abroad but too much like your Avalons, Vees, and Rydells to really hit American audiences too hard.

He actually had one single hit the Hot 100, "Bad Boy," which hit #45 in 1960, but that was it for him until he used a different name and scored to a certain degree with "Abergavenny."

There really isn't much more to say about his career in the U.S., because it was pretty much those two songs. He came around in between Elvis' height and the Beatles' dominance, and then he had kind of a fluke hit with "Abergavenny."

But he had an influence on the American charts in the 1980s, to a certain degree.

If you listened to radio during that time, and watched videos on MTV, one of the early hotties in those mediums was a comely British lass who had hits with songs like "Kids in America" and "You Keep Me Hangin' On," the latter of which hit the top spot on the charts.

Her name was Kim Wilde, and yes, she is the daughter of Shannon, or more to the point, Marty Wilde.

It's almost as if the dad couldn't make much of a dent here, he sent his daughter over, and she did what he could not do.

She had a video-ready face and figure that really came at the right time, because MTV was starting to dominate not only what we watched but what we listened to, and she fit right in.

So you can say "Abergavenny" spawned "Kids in America," another song that I liked during its time period, but at the time, I never saw the connection.

As my nose drips, my eyes water, and my whole disposition suffers today, I can listen to "Abergavenny" and be happy, and I guess that is what music is all about.

"A-choo!" You have a good day, and maybe I will too.

Rant #1,176: April Fools!

Today is April 1, so it is April Fools' Day.

I don't even know how to celebrate this holiday in the proper way.

I remember as a kid, I thought it was funny on this day to say that it was the prior year than it really was, rather than the current year.

I think we used to say our name backwards on this day, too.

Ha ha ... I guess you had to be there, and I was.

Anyway, in this part of the country, we got our April Fools a day early.

On March 31, Mother Nature played a very cruel trick on us that she must have thought was really hilarious.

We had one of the most Jekyll/Hyde, schizophrenic days that I could ever remember.

It was raining in the morning as I left for work, which was no big deal, because it rained virtually the entire weekend.

I took my son to school, and as I left him, the rain was still there, but nothing really strange was happening.

About 15 minutes into my drive, at about 6:45 a.m., as I was on the highway, I saw that the raindrops had seemingly become larger, and I saw ice on my window.

I remember saying to myself, "You have got to be kidding me!"

Yes, it was snowing, and it was coming down in buckets, huge snowflakes that were caressing the cars and the ground as if they were creating a white glove on the world.

I got into work, parked my car, went into the office, and the snow was coming down even harder.

This must have lasted through mid-morning. I checked my car, and we must have gotten at least two inches--some places nearby got up to four inches. My car was covered in snow, and I figured that as I left work hours later, I was going to have to clean off my car.

But then the rain came, and washed my car off, and by the afternoon, with temperatures in the mid 50s or even low 60s, it looked like nothing happened in the morning.

If this was not an April Fools' Day joke played by Mother Nature, I don't know what was.

What made it even more interesting was that the Major League Baseball season opened in New York yesterday with the Mets playing the Washington Nationals yesterday at CitiField.

The Mets never lose on opening day, but in another cruel April Fools' Day joke for their fans, they ended up losing their home opener.

Today, the Yankees open up their season on the road against the Houston Astros. I hope no jokes are played on this day in Texas.

Baseball means warmer weather is coming, with the summer just around the corner.

But in this crazy weather year we have been in, there doesn't seem to be any guarantee that that will happen.

Snow in April and May? It has happened before in New York, and I wouldn't bet against it happening this year too.

And that would be the ultimate April Fools joke, wouldn't it?