HOUSE CALLS

Most of the interviews I’m involved in these days either take place over the phone or in the case of movie junkets, at various conference rooms at L.A. hotels like the Four Seasons and the Regent Beverly Wilshire. But over the years, there have been times where I’ve traveled to meet the stars at their homes or work.

I’ve mostly been to the homes of music stars, including Dionne Warwick, Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon, Jon Anderson of Yes and most interestingly, the hilltop mansion of Johnny Mathis, whose front door opens up to an indoor swimming pool. My interview with Johnny took place in his office in the next room, where strangely the singer didn’t look me in the eye once. Either he’s very shy or I must have appeared totally horrendous that day… I’m hoping for the former!

Some of the times I’ve talked to artists when they’re working include Joss Stone backstage at her dressing room at the American Music Awards and Debbie Gibson in a backstage stairwell before a TV appearance. I even took a trip to Austin, Texas to interview the group Los Lonely Boys while they were making a video at a replica of the Alamo.

There was also one interview where I barely had to leave my apartment. I was living at the Oakwood Garden Apartments in Burbank at the time, and I had been trying to get an interview with singer Anita Baker for a while. Finally Anita’s publicist said Anita had some time if I was willing to meet her at the Oakwood Garden Apartments in Burbank! It turned out that Anita’s main residence was in her hometown of Detroit, but she kept an apartment at Oakwood as her L.A. base of operations. So I drove down to the swimming pool and did the interview with her by the water.

Now these stories don’t mean the interviews I do using my phone at home can’t be unusual. After all, I spoke to the late Rick James while he was doing a stint in prison and talked to Sean “Puffy” Combs while he was giving his son a bath. I had Britney Spears call me from a parking garage right before she went shopping (no surprise there) and was once awakened by a call from a Spice Girl ( I think it was Mel C, but I’m still not sure as I was a bit hazy when she said hello). I also waited hours for Mariah Carey, who was supposed to call from backstage before a concert in Anaheim, but waited until after the show. By the time she was driven back to L.A., stopped at Mr. Chow’s for a late night snack and finally got back to her hotel room, it was after midnight! Of course, I wouldn’t want you to get the idea that I was complaining about Mariah, who has been nice enough to do a new interview with me for each of the last three editions of “The Billboard Book of Number One Hits”! And with Mariah within striking distance of the alltime record for number one songs in the rock era (she only needs three more to tie the Beatles, who have twenty), I look forward to picking up my phone and talking to her again very soon…

GETTING PERSONAL

I’m not one to ask questions that I personally want to know the answers to during interviews. When I’m talking to musicians, I’m trying to find out the secrets behind the songs for “The Billboard Book of Number One Hits,” and when I’m interviewing movie stars, I’m focusing on getting interesting stories that my employers will be able to play on the air for years to come.

But every so often, there will be something I’ve always wanted to know about a star’s work, so I end up asking a question to fulfill my own personal curiosity. For instance, I’ve always wondered about the lyrics to the matchbox twenty song, “If You’re Gone.” The song goes, “If you’re gone, maybe it’s time to come home.” I always thought the lyrics would have made more sense if it said, “Now that you’re gone, maybe it’s time to come home.” That “If” always bothered me, and when I got a chance to talk to Rob Thomas about his hits “Bent” and “Smooth,” I asked him about it. He explained that the person the narrator is singing about hasn’t left yet, but that the singer is so worried and scared that his girl will leave him, he’s thinking about what life would be like if she was gone.

My questions have been as foolish as asking Peter Cetera if it strained his voice at all to sing so high (no, that’s his natural tone) to asking the late Dan Fogelberg why he didn’t sing “Same Old Lang Syne” the night I saw him perform in Philadelphia just a few weeks before New Year’s (it turned out Dan sang the song every night no matter the season, but it was a hard song to sing and he would skip it if his voice wasn’t up to the task). I’ve also asked famous antique collector Meat Loaf if he ever visited the antique mall in Pennsylvania my mother has a stand at (he hadn’t) and Bret Michaels of Harrisburg, PA’s Poison about his band’s early rivalry with a band from my hometown of Lancaster, PA, the Sharks. Bret admitted that after the Sharks won an MTV contest for undiscovered talent, he and his fellow members of Poison decided to move to L. A. because they knew the Sharks would always overshadow them in Pennsylvania. A good decision as it turned out!

I once even gave a star advice, not that they needed it. One of my friends was a fan of country singer Clint Black. When he started out, Clint was always photographed wearing a cowboy hat, but recently was mostly seen without one. My friend wanted to make sure I told him he looked better in a hat and I did. Clint laughed and told me that his wife often was blamed for him dropping the hat, but it wasn’t her fault. He said his record company did a contest where if you found one of Clint’s hats which were hidden at the local mall when he came to town for a concert, you got free tickets to the show and a chance to meet Clint. He explained that’s what started the rumor that he would be going hatless, but that he was already back to wearing hats.

Sometimes I’ve said things I’ve just always wanted to say to stars. I once did a phone interview with Billy Joel to talk about his number one hit, “We Didn’t Start The Fire” (and I’m still amazed that he didn’t do any research before writing that song. As a student of history, he knew all those facts off the top of his head!) At the end of the interview, I just had to tell him about the night I saw him perform in Allentown in 1974. He went over so well that he ran out of songs to play by the final encore and ended up playing the instrumental “Root Beer Rag” a second time!

After that, Billy asked me a question. He wondered if I was related to his favorite author, Jonathan Carroll. I’m not, but because of Billy’s recommendation, I read one of Jonathan’s books and it was pretty good!

There was also the time I participated in a roundtable interview with Sarah Michelle Gellar. I had recently discovered “Buffy” on DVD and had pretty much watched every episode in just a few months. So I couldn’t help but make a personal observation. I said, “I’ve recently become a big fan of your work on “Buffy.” The show proved to me that you can play anything. Do you think there are any acting challenges left for you?” Sarah replied, “Well, thanks. You’re my new best friend!” She went on to say that her goal is just to do different roles.

So if there’s something you’ve always wondered about a star, put it in the comments section and I’ll ask them about it the first chance I get! At least it will stop me from asking a personal question for myself…

GOODBYE TO HOLLYWOOD WEEK

Not a lot of suspense on tonight’s conclusion to Hollywood Week on “American Idol.” Pretty much everybody they showed on last night’s show made it through to the top 24 (and I’m glad they didn’t put through Josiah Leming… if you can’t sing with a band, what hope do you have on “Idol” anyway?).

So far I’m pulling for two singers who aren’t especially favorites of the Fox editors, given how much exposure they’ve had: Syesha Mercado and David Cook (although Michael Johns may be able to win me over after seeing the sympathy he showed tonight for some contestants who were headed home). Of course, there’s a few Top 24 contestants I haven’t even heard sing yet, so I’ll keep an open mind for a while. I will predict this: the 2008 American Idol will be male!

THRILLER 25

There’s been a lot of publicity surrounding the 25th anniversary edition of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” (which really should have come out in November of 2007 if they had wanted to hit the real 25th anniversary of the album’s release). I moved to Los Angeles around the time “Thriller” hit the stores, so it’s an anniversary for me as well. I remember enjoying the videos for “Billie Jean” and “Beat It” in the dance clubs I frequented back then, and even went to see Disney’s re-release of “Fantasia” in 1983 just to be one of the first to see the video for “Thriller.”

But it wasn’t long before I got a little closer to Michael Jackson than seeing him on the big screen. My roommate from college, Tom Stepanchak, had just moved out to L.A. and gotten a job as a runner at dick clark productions. A few weeks after he started, he was given the job of taking the eight American Music Awards Michael won in January of 1984 to his home in Encino. Tom got a late start and was forced to bring the awards to our apartment for safekeeping overnight, planning to deliver them the next day. While we were protecting the awards, we took the liberty of getting some photographs of them… in our refrigerator, sitting beside a spare glove and with us holding the awards (while wearing sunglasses of course)!

The next day, Tom and I set out for Encino. We easily found the Jackson compound, which was just a block or two off of Ventura Boulevard. The gates opened and we drove a few yards to a parking area with the Tudor-styled house on one side and a second building in front of us.

At first, we had no idea where to go until La Toya Jackson pulled up behind us in her convertible and told us we should go into the office in the building in front of us. Naturally we went in the wrong door, going up a short stairway into a rehearsal room where aside from a few mirrors, every inch of wall and ceiling space was covered by posters and photos from the Jacksons’ career.

We quickly retreated back outside and went through the correct door to find Michael’s assistant sitting at a desk at the front of the room… and Michael himself dancing around a few feet behind her, holding up outfits in front of a mirror. Wanting Tom to keep his job, we pretended not to notice him.

Although that was the closest I would ever get to Michael Jackson, I did see him a few more times over the years. I went to the Jacksons’ Victory Tour stop at Dodger Stadium, then went to see Michael solo on his “Bad” tour at the L.A. Sports Arena, but was probably most impressed by the performance of “Dangerous” he did for the “American Bandstand’s 50th Anniversary” show.

While it may be too late, I’ve always thought that Michael could make a comeback if he would just go back to basics and concentrate on the music. He should stop trying to convince us that he’s still a huge star around the world or that he’s beloved by the world’s children. Let the music do the talking. He’s still admired by today’s biggest stars and producers in R&B and pop and could work with any of them at any time. He’s always one song away from getting back to the top of the charts.

STARRY EYES

One of the friends I grew up with in Pennsylvania loves show business. To Keith, the stars are real icons, people worth listening to and emulating (of course, he grew up in the heyday of Stallone and Schwarzenegger). So Keith was very excited when he first came out to visit me back in the eighties, only to have his starstruck eyes opened at every turn.

Right after I picked him up at the airport, we headed to Westwood for a bite to eat. While walking around, we saw soap star Kin Shriner of “General Hospital” in front of us. Keith was amazed that Kin was just wandering around with no bodyguards and no one bothering him.

A few days later, I was assigned my very first interview as part of my job as researcher for Dick Clark’s radio show, “Countdown America,” and I took Keith along. I was supposed to attend a rehearsal for a tribute to Oscar Award winning music in order to interview Burt Bacharach. While I went off and talked to Burt in the lobby, Keith sat in the audience of the theater and watched the rehearsal, which included Bob Hope, who was part of a salute to his longtime co-star, the late Bing Crosby. Keith told me later that Bob and a friend sat down right in front of Keith. Keith overheard Bob’s friend ask Bob what he was doing at the show. Bob complained that whenever anyone paid tribute to Bing, he was forced to be there. Keith couldn’t believe that Bob was putting down his fellow star!

But the crowning moment came when we bought a star map and headed out to Malibu to see if we could find the home of one of Keith’s favorite TV actors (who shall remain nameless). We parked on PCH and soon found the address we were looking for, although there was no proof the actor lived there. Then a man in scuba gear came walking up the beach. My friend went up to him and found out he was a stunt man practicing diving for a movie. Then Keith pointed at the house and asked, “Do you know if ___ ___ lives there?” The stunt man answered, “Do you mean the old drunk?”

But in spite of having his respect for the stars trampled in the mud at every turn, Keith still had a good time during his visit. He’s a huge fan of the “Planet Of The Apes” movie series and when we went to take a look at the old set of “MASH” at Malibu Creek State Park, he realized we were walking through the area where they filmed the original “Planet Of The Apes” movie. Of course, the stars were long gone, which was good because who knows how his love for the acting of Roddy McDowell would have been besmirched …

“LOOSE” WOMAN

I had a big phone interview lined up for Saturday with Nelly Furtado for the sixth edition of “The Billboard Book of Number One Hits.” Nelly was scheduled to call me at 3:45 in the afternoon, so I got up late, went out for lunch and returned in plenty of time for the interview… only to discover that the power in my apartment was out, knocking out my telephone and tape recorder! Seems a power line went down across the street. I quickly packed up my taping gear and rushed out to set up the equipment at a friend’s home, but then Nelly got busy with pre-Grammy events and the interview never took place. But she definitely made up for it the next day, calling me exactly at 11 in the morning and staying on the phone for forty minutes.

I was worried going into the interview that Nelly might be bored of talking about her album, “Loose,” which came out back in 2006. But she turned out to be in a good mood and still enthusiastic about her most recent music. Some of the interesting tidbits were that the number one “Promiscuous” reminds her of the music Salt-N-Pepa made when she was a teen, that “Say It Right” is her favorite of all the songs she’s recorded even if she isn’t quite sure what it’s about and that she’s about to release a new single, a redone version of the “Loose” song, “In God’s Hands,” as a duet with country star Keith Urban.

Nelly concluded the interview by saying her mandate as an artist is to never repeat herself and to always strive to outdo herself. I wish her luck in that quest and look forward to her next album!

MY LIFE AS A FANILOW

I’ve been a fan of Barry Manilow ever since I first heard “Mandy” on the radio back in 1974. But what really cemented my love for Barry as a performer was seeing him that year on the PBS show, “Soundstage,” which was his TV debut. It was my first glimpse into his humor and showmanship, and with the release of his great second album, “Trying To Get The Feeling,” I truly became a fan for life.

During Barry’s tour to promote “This One’s For You,” I got my first chance to see him live at a concert in Reading, PA. A few minutes into the show, annoying feedback came roaring out of the speakers. Manilow immediately began a comical strip tease to amuse the audience. The audio problem was soon fixed, and I believe it led Barry and his band to put on an extra special show, which would become the first of six Manilow concerts I would attend over the years.

After I moved to Los Angeles and started working at dick clark productions, I had a chance to work as a production assistant on Barry’s TV movie, “Copacabana,” but only for one day. I didn’t get near Manilow that day, although I did have a chance to talk to co-star Estelle Getty for a while.

Over the next few years, I saw Barry in concert twice more at the Universal Amphitheater, once on New Year’s Eve and again during a great show where he projected his various album covers on a screen and brought audience members up to use a remote to stop on an album. Whatever album it was, Barry would do a selection of songs from it. We were lucky enough that one of the albums was “Barry Manilow Live” and Barry played the great but rarely heard “Studio Musician.”

A few years later, I finally got my chance to talk to Barry when he did a roundtable interview with a number of journalists to promote his “Here At The Mayflower” album. Naturally I took along a pile of items to get autographed after the interview. First I passed Barry a copy of his autobiography, “Sweet Life.” While he signed it, he said, “I hope I don’t see this on E-Bay.” But when I next gave him a concert program from 1978, he knew I was a real fan.

When Barry settled in at the Las Vegas Hilton for his “Music And Passion” shows, I knew I would have to go. I went on my birthday three years ago and got a chance to go backstage after the show. It was a small meet and greet, just four people in all alone with Barry in the green room. Barry told us how happy he was to be playing in Vegas, because it meant he could fly home to Palm Springs every night and be in bed in time to catch “The Tonight Show.”

One of the guys at the meet and greet was a performer in “We Will Rock You,” the Queen show at Paris Las Vegas, so talk turned to the chances of success for the various Broadway transplants opening on the Strip. Soon our time with Barry was over, and I paid for not carrying a camera, missing my chance to get a photo with Barry.

I saw “Music And Passion” again for my birthday last year. The friend I took was a hard rock fan, yet Barry won her over. She really enjoyed herself and admitted he was a great performer.

Now Barry is playing Staples Center here in L.A. on Valentine’s Day. I’ll be missing this one, but if you have a chance to go, I highly recommend it.

HOW TO BECOME THE NEXT AMERICAN IDOL

Finally the auditions are over, with Hollywood Week on deck. I always wonder why the various contestants don’t spend the months between winning their Golden Ticket and landing in Hollywood losing weight, improving their hair and wardrobes and picking and learning songs in every genre. Because on “Idol,” preparation is everything, so why not start out ahead?

But even if you didn’t get ready ahead of time, here are five tips to keep you in the competition:

1. PICK A SONG THAT GIVES YOU SOMEWHERE TO GO!

Don’t sing a song that just says “I love you.” Pick a song that says, “I love you, but it isn’t working out between us” or “I love you, and that love gives me the strength to go on.” You want a song that tells a story, a song that an actor would say has an emotional arc, one that takes you and the audience on a journey.

2. PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT THE SONG IS SAYING!

You want to bring the right emotion to a song. Just because you have a powerful voice doesn’t mean every song has to be a powerhouse. A lot of people still express shock that Jennifer Hudson was voted off so early during season three, but her version of “Weekend In New England” during Barry Manilow week communicated none of the pain of missing someone that’s inherent in the lyric.

3. PICK A SONG THAT WAS A POPULAR HIT!

Sure, if you’re Bo Bice, you can sing a little known song like “In A Dream” a capella and knock it out of the park. But otherwise it will help if someone has heard of the song, even if it’s only the judges.

4. PLODDING HARD ROCK SONGS DON’T WORK ON “AMERICAN IDOL”!

Just ask Constantine Maroulis, who left the week he sang Nickelback’s “How You Remind Me,” or Sundance Head, who just missed the Top 12 thanks to his choice of Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy.” Even Chris Daughtry never had a chance at making the finals, thanks to his parade of sound alike hard rockers from the likes of Shinedown and Creed. If you have to sing rock, make it something fun and tuneful.

5. DO WHAT YOU DO BEST!

If you excel at one genre, stick with it. If you specialize in country, you’ll always be able to find at least one song in whatever category the producers pick that sounds country. The same goes for soul singers or rockers. Remember, the only time the judges ask the contestants to try something different is when they’re bored with what they’re getting. If you sound great every week (and pick interesting songs), you’ll stay around.

See you at the finals in May!

SWAGTASTIC

One of the perks of covering junkets is the free stuff we get. Not just the free food for breakfast or lunch, but actual gifts.

The most frequent gifts are clothing. I’ve gotten T-shirts, caps, jackets and even a robe or two decorated with movie logos. My closets are full of this stuff. I still take along a sweatshirt from “Golden Eye” or “As Good As It Gets” if I’m headed back east during the winter, and I still wear my watch from “The X-Files” movie. One movie, “The Clearing” starring Robert Redford, awarded us with sneakers.

Another popular gift are carryall bags. I’ve got duffel bags, gym bags and backpacks. Every summer I grab my “Lake Placid” backpack to use to carry books around the San Diego Comic-Con.

There have also been some unusual gifts. One was a custom made bowling ball for the comedy “Kingpin.” Because I rarely go bowling, I passed on that one. There was also a “Charlie’s Angels” beach chair and even an actual cell phone designed for “The Matrix Reloaded.” More recently, we got a pregnancy test with the logo for “Juno” on it!

Now some people give these promotional items to charity or blow out the gifts at an annual garage sale. They might also put them up on E-Bay, although that may be why the movie companies have cut back on junket swag. You never know what people will want. We once got a wooden box with the logo of Mel Gibson’s “The Patriot” on it. Someone I know sold it for $ 700 to a fan who lived near where the movie was made and wanted a souvenir of the film.

Now every so often, someone will do an article or say on a TV show that swag will buy a good review. I don’t think that’s true. If you see someone recommend a terrible movie in an ad blurb, it’s more likely they just like to see their name in the paper. Although the carrot cake at the Four Seasons is pretty good…

THAT’S NOT SO HOT

Saturday should have been one of the most packed days in junket history with roundtable interviews for five different movies… at least until interviews for “The Accidental Husband” were canceled (the movie will now be released this summer) and Colin Farrell cut back on his interviews for “In Bruges” after attending a memorial service earlier in the day. Since I had already decided to skip covering “Step Up 2,” that left just “The Spiderwick Chronicles” and “The Hottie And The Nottie.” Of course, the packed schedule meant we didn’t get to the main event until 6:30 at night.

I don’t have much to say about “Hottie” star Paris Hilton because she didn’t really say that much. She was paired with co-star Christine Lakin, which cut down on the questions for Paris. Here’s what I learned about Miss Hilton:

1.   She’s always wanted to be an actress.

2.   She loves doing comedy, especially after doing five seasons of “The Simple Life”

3.   She always forces her boyfriends to see romantic comedies.

4.   She’s looking forward to celebrating her birthday at Las Vegas clubs Pure and LAX in two weeks and will be making an appearance with the Pussycat Dolls to mark the occasion.

The strange thing was when the interview was over, Paris stood up but didn’t leave the room. It seemed like she was waiting for something. Perhaps she wanted to give us time to ask her for an autograph or take a picture, but it didn’t happen, so she thanked us and left.

Much more interesting to talk to was Nick Nolte promoting “The Spiderwick Chronicles.” He may have jumped from subject to subject in a haphazard manner, but I found myself agreeing with his take on politics (he believes there haven’t been huge protests against the Iraq War due to the lack of a draft) and sympathized with his tales of growing up in a small town where his best friends were the snakes he found in the woods. Also enjoyable were Nick’s young co-stars, humble soccer fan Freddie Highmore and energetic Dubliner Sarah Bolger.