I’ve only been truly starstruck twice in my life: Once when I met Red Skelton. My childhood hero. Cyndy and stumbled upon him in a gift shop at Lake Tahoe. He signed my business card, hugged Cyndy, told me to “always work clean, son, you don’t need to work blue to be funny” (I was doing standup at the time – or at least trying to), and he was exactly how you’d picture Red Skelton. Years later, of COURSE I got a song out of it.
The only other time I was star smitten was when I had the amazing good fortune to not only *meet* Michael Nesmith – but play for him. (We’ll get to that.)
This morning’s news of his early passing (at 78…sigh) bought tears to many of us, as we quickly put our “Nez” playlists on a loop all day. Nez is a “favorite Monkee” to many, but the rest of us know that not only was he an amazing songwriter…He was so much more. The Nez original “Different Drum” became a hit for Linda Ronstadt after producers of “The Monkees” rejected it – he later recorded it on his own. Of course, he did write many of the Monkee’s tunes, and he played several instruments on many of the recordings. Post-monkees, the hits kept coming (“Joanne,” Rio, “Cruisin’,” “Laugh Kills Lonesome”). He’s a favorite at KPIG radio (where I’m fortunate to have drafted into part time work for the past several years), and he’s been a favorite since the station’s KFAT roots.
Nez was truly a pioneer. Remember MTV? In 1981, Michael Nesmith produced “Elephant Parts,” a collection of skits and music videos through his local (Sand City-based) Pacific Arts. It won the first Grammy in the Music Video category. He also created a related project called “Popclips”. Warner offered to buy it. Nez rejected the offer. And Warner went on to create MTV on their own. Then there were movies. Nez produced some very quirky films that are still favorites of mine, including “Repo Man,” “Tapeheads,” and “Timerider”.)
Cut to circa 2008. Jimmy Jackson had produced my first record, and he was doing some work at Nez’ Sand City studios where he and his crew were pioneering the idea of showing live concerts on the Internet. This is decades before we had something we now take for granted as “livestreaming”. Jimmy invited me and a few bandmates (Aaron Bagchee and Breanna Eddy) down. We played against a huge green screen and were keyed onto a virtual stage to “Video Ranch” subscribers around the world.
Nez greeted us, we were treated like rock stars with a real green room (pun unintentional) and snacks galore. He was charming, friendly, and a little shy. He thanked us profusely for coming, watched the show in his office, and rushed down afterwards, shook our hands and again just ever so graciously told us how much he appreciated our time and performance. Wow. I didn’t ask for an autograph. I had a memory that was so much more. Nez didn’t do anything he never wanted to, and he exceeded in everything he tried. Just a tad inspirational, ya think?
Contrary to the old saying, it’s not always bad to meet your heroes.