THE MEDICINE SHOW!

     I am in a hotel room in New York at the moment. As I type this, I have a tremendous view of Citi-Field. I don't believe the law allows for someone to come to NY and sit in their hotel room working but I am without a choice at the moment. Tomorrow morning, I will move into my next NY Headquarters across from Rockefeller Center for a series of important meetings. My brain is racing trying to anticipate every scenario and the proper response. It is an impossible task! It is best to be centered with the knowledge that I prepared well, am focused, and capable. I simply dislike going into meetings that I am uncertain of the topic!

     My parents and sisters lived in Brooklyn, until they moved down to Florida. I was conceived mere weeks after they had moved into their new house (the one I grew up in). I am sure they were in a celebatory mood to be so close to the beach! Having visited family and taken several business trips to New York and New Jersey, I often pondered what my life would have been like had I grown up here. I surely never would have had the freedom that I enjoyed in Daytona Beach, never learned to surf, play beach volleyball, soccer would have been doubtful, certainly no one would have hired me to fly stunt and hyper-kites on the beach right? Have I mentioned how much I enjoyed the thousands of Spring Break girls that were dropped off less then a block from my door every Saturday? Growing up in Florida certainly was the best fit for me but I am some how back in NY discussing opportunities.

     The best part of this week is on Tuesday evening I will be attending the Big Audio Dynamite concert at the Roseland Ballroom. The Roseland is a historic NY venue. It was at the Roseland decades ago that my Mother and Father first laid eyes on each other. My Dad requested my Mother to indulge him in a dance and that was the beginning of it all and me!

     I do not know the name of the first song that really caught my interest and made me more aware of music. I was very young, I can hear the song in my head and could probably name that tune if I were not so sleep deprived and sick. I then remember hearing and really liking The Sugar Hill Gang and Molly Hatchett. Not long after I heard, The Clash's version of "I Fought the Law" and that one hooked me. It stood out above the rest and took hold. However, I didn't know the name of the band and at that age probably not the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjQobv6ztF4&feature=fvwrel

      I may not have the order correct but I remember being at my Aunt's house in Brooklyn and my cousins blaring Billy Joel. It was so loud and seemed to have the feel New York to a young kid. "Train in Vain" also by the Clash was the next song to really took hold of me.  Joe Strummer sang "I Fought the Law" and Mick Jones sang "Train in Vain", I had no idea until years later that it was the same group.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIx7k2gYT1I&feature=related

     Every album was different! There were so many different styles of music on some of the albums it was amazing, if not overwhelming. This was a band that progressed and refused to be typecast. I learned from the Clash to avoid being categorized at all cost because it would limit what you could do and it was also a way for people to attempt to control and attack you. Strummer, Jones, Paul Simonon, and Topper Headon all took lead vocals on at least one song. If you follow the history of music you understand how vital the Clash was and still is to music. Bono and The Edge from U2, Tom Morrello from Rage Against the Machine, Damon Albarn, KT Tunstall, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Beastie Boys, Billy Bragg and many others freely admit that the Clash (and the members post-Clash projects) were and are huge influence on them. "There never would have been a U2 without the Clash", said Bono.

     I turned 10 in 1982. I'd been listening to bands like Quiet Riot and Men at Work but then Combat Rock came out and songs like "Should I Stay or Should I Go" and "Rock the Casbah" were all over the radio and blaring out of every one's boom box (no IPODS and earphones back then) and car stereos. These songs went deep into my bones and became part of me. We didn't have MTV at the time but there was a Kasey Kasem TV show on Saturday's and a really good show on the USA Network that was the best thing that network has ever done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ9r8LMU9bQ

     Now I knew the name of the band, what they looked like (brilliant) and the name of the album and it would be mine. Seeing the Clash performing in their videos and live clips left me stunned. They looked, sounded, and moved fantastically!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trolcS3V7dY

      The above video was filmed at Shea Stadium, it's replacement that sits on the same site fills up the large window of my hotel room as I type this. I had no intention of staying in Queens tonight but the connection is not lost on me.

      My Dad took me to purchase the album one Saturday. I couldn't wait to play it! Finally, I could hear the songs as much as I wanted and whenever I wanted. The first song on Combat Rock is "Know Your Rights" and after the first few bars my Dad ejected the tape! I immediately pushed it back in and realized I was onto something special! My Dad would eventually learn to enjoy them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrtC8wP_bFI

      The next few months were spent trying to obtain all of the Clash's albums. Especially going backwards, in order of release, and expecting to hear "Rock the Casbah" on each album I would get surprised and enlightened with each. I was speaking with an older girl at my Dojo and speaking of my love of the Clash. I thought I had all the albums but she informed me I was missing the first and gave it to me at the next class. My Father braced himself for the ride home when he saw what I was holding in my hands. The guitar fire power of Clash City Rockers did not disappoint.

    I cried when the Clash broke up or fired Mick Jones and hired 2 new guitar players. Still even at my young age I could see the benefits of now having Mick Jones make an album and the Clash making another. Blown away was when I first heard Medicine Show, it threw me for a loss, so did most of the songs on there because I nor anyone else had ever heard music like this because no one had ever done it. I could easily pick out some of the movie dialogue in their songs. Big Audio Dynamite was the first group to ever sample on their songs. Mick Jones was just continuing to progress in all forms of music and advancing it however he deemed fit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXn32AztHBs&feature=related

     It is certainly not hard to imagine songs like "The Bottom Line", "E=MC2", and "Sony" were songs Mick Jones was developing for the next Clash album until he was fired. The band would tour the world many times over and released four albums. Eventually Mick would split from the other four original members of Big Audio Dynamite. He soon replaced them with three new guys, Nick Hawkins, Gary Stonedge, and Chris Kavanagh and released "The Globe" album which featured hits like "Rush", "The Globe", and "Innocent Child". "Rush" would become the Top Modern Rock track by Billboard Magazine. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKMKgL9jwWQ

     I had started attending shows not long before this and when I learned Big Audio Dynamite was headlining The MTV 120 Minutes Tour and performing in Orlando, FL I knew I would be there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhkXQ96ZLR0

     I couldn't stand Blind Melon who was the first act! Live was fantastic. Public Image Limited was good but highly turned off when John Lydon decided to moon the audience with his extremely pale British bum. Then Big Audio Dynamite took the stage and tour the roof off the place!

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKMKgL9jwWQ&feature=related

     I'd never seen a show that was continous by this time they'd added DJ Schapps. He'd come out and start the show and from that time on until the show was over there was never a second without music. Mixed in between all the BAD songs were DJ sets where he'd spin parts of a record and then the band would play along to it or change it up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM4wCQvp558&feature=related
 
     I would go on to see Big Audio Dynamite three more times in concert and be front row every time! Later Big Audio Dynamite would come to an end because when their contract was up with Sony they signed with their managers new record label called Radioactive records. I'd like to believe Mick Jones would not have made that mistake because there was a huge conflict of interest with Gary Kurfirst representing both band and label. I had the same feeling when the Clash split, when Havana 3am split, the first Big Audio Dynamite as I did then. If I could only speak with them I could put them all back together again. I have always envisioned myself running their careers because I have a talent for it and a love and devotion to them and their music that I share for no other band.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPrPNpzLHIk&feature=related

     I have come close, I managed Big Audio Dynamite guitarist Nick Hawkins and I managed Clash collaborator Mikey Dread. I had gone from being at the record store the minute it opened on the day the album came out to working up song ideas, booking shows, strategic planning, and having song ideas emailed or played for me as a work in progress and being asked for my input! It still gives me a laugh when I take a moment to reflect on it today. This shows you how powerful a tool for good or evil your will power and imagination can be. Blessed to have met Joe Strummer and struck up relationships with some of his band members, I know members of Havana 3am, Clash manager Tricia Ronane, and original and current Big Audio Dynamite drummer Greg Roberts. It made my heart warm watching Mick Jones and Paul Simonon tour together last year with the Gorillaz.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIZW4SGVbhA
 
     Tuesday night to see this band, where my Mom and Dad met, is going to beyond epic!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD2kWCfTcaU

What a bunch of hacks!

I always had a natural talent for writing and often fantasized about what it would be like to have one of the screen plays, books, songs, or TV show ideas I write in my spare time be produced. I spend most of my time managing the affairs of others and helping to bring their projects and dreams to fruition.

This past week, I began to establish goals, deadlines, and research the resources I will need to begin having my projects completed. I decided to move my projects as near the top of the list as possible. I do enjoy helping others reach new levels but those great attributes and talents I have can become a detriment to me if I do not use them to fulfill my life long dreams.

Often people make a goal harder to achieve in their own mind then it is in reality. The Great Joe Strummer often said "What one man can do another can do!", and he was 100% correct! Most people never try because they simply think, I don't have the right connections, I don't have the time to write (mostly because they are watching too much TV), I'll do it later etc.

@Pennie Smith

When I think about the amount of hacks & loons that have published a book, a song, written a movie, or a TV show it gives me a sense of, I can do it to! Most of these people are not as creative as I am but they did focus on the task at hand and I focused on other people's projects and at times surviving and rebuilding.

I began watching Modern Family this year. It is in it's second season on ABC and was created by Christopher Lloyd & Stevan Levitan. It is an enjoyable, wholesome, funny and award winning show. It has won numerous awards, several for Lloyd and Levitan. The show is shot Mockumentary style, which means using a single camera and pretending a documentary crew is filming it. Hardly an original idea as shows like The Office, Parks & Recreation, and others have already used it successfully. What has helped create so much enthusiasm for the show and so many accolades for the creators is the characters. This 'Modern Family' to most is not like any family we have seen on TV before. The praised heaped on the writers for creating these characters could make aspiring writers think they may not be able to do it. "It is such an original concept"the media exclaims! Hollywood is not known for it's original ideas that is why when a show or movie comes along that is fans, media and entertainment insiders all take notice. The series Lost, Married with Children (for comedy, how they pushed the envelope, topics, etc), and the original Battlestar Galactica (Hollywood ran out of ideas so had to recreate it) are perfect examples.

I enjoy the show and watch it every week. The acting, camera work, lighting and overall production of the show is excellent! There has always been something so familiar about show, like an old friend or the sights and smell of home. Then one day while playing fetch with my Golden Retrievers, with my mind clear, it became obvious that Modern Family is not the creation of creative geniuses but the continuation of my favorite show of all time Married with Children!

@ShareTV

Apparently Lloyd and Levitan are as big of fans of Married with Children as I am. They cast Married with Children star Ed O'Neil in the lead role of Jay Pritchett. Ed's performance as Al Bundy was brilliant and will be remembered as one of TV's all-time best characters.

@ShareTV

Al Bundy was a man who in high school lived the high-life. He was a football star (he once scored 4 touchdowns in a single game), was in great shape, tough and a winner! Then he met the "red headed monster" named Peggy Wanker. She would entice Al into marrying her and they'd soon have their two children Kelly, who was a beautiful blond and Bud (who was a troll). Al had to give up his dreams and work at the shoe store. He thought it only temporary but he worked at the shoe store for decades. He tried many schemes, scams, and honest efforts to improve his and his families lives but his efforts were always foiled (usually by his family and friends).

It is clear that Al managed to change his luck and strike it rich! Al often would speak his dreams out loud during the numerous seasons of the show. He would move "to the land of huge man made hooters (California)". Modern Family is set in California. Check!

@Getty Images

He would marry a tall, young, beautiful, large breasted woman who couldn't speak any English. Have you seen Sofia Vergara? She plays Gloria Pritchett the wife of Jay Pritchett. Check!

He had various scenarios of what would become of Peggy Bundy but apparently he sold her to a biker gang. How did I come to this conclusion? Katey Segal who played Peggy Bundy is the ole' lady of the leader of a biker gang on the show Sons of Anarchy. That show is also set in California so apparently he dropped her off on the way to Los Angeles.

Jay Pritchett apparently owns a business but in all the episodes I have seen I have only seen him at work once. Al & Jay both are classic manly men and share a love for classic music like Frankie Valley & The Four Seasons.

@ShareTV

@DailyCeleb.com

What became of Al & Peggy's children? He still has a beautiful blond daughter, her name was changed from Kelly to Claire Pritchett-Dunphy. She married a duffus, like Al always feared, named Phil Dunphy(he is seriously funny).

@ShareTV

 What about Bud Bundy? On Married with Children, Bud was always trying to prove he wasn't gay but apparently he finally admitted he was. Jay Pritchett has a gay son named Mitchell (Mitch) Pritchett. Bud did well academically in school and apparently became a lawyer and changed his name to Mitch. The actors who play Bud (David Faustino) and Mitch (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) are both small in stature.

@Getty Images

 I guess Lloyd and Levitan wondered what ever became of the characters on Married with Children and thanks to them we all know, they are living well in California and still have adventures filled with fun and laughter. Well, not Peggy but she had it coming!
 

screenshots@silvestris