kid. Jerry also had a number one hit at one time called “They’re Coming to Take Me Away Ha-Ha” which he recorded under the name of Napoleon XIV, it was novelty record. All talking really but went to number one on the charts. To show you how crazy he was, if you flip the forty-five-record over, the song was all in reverse. He followed it up with several other novelty songs and an album, none were every successful as that first hit. He is still something of a cult figure to fans of the sixties novelty music.
Jerry primarily booked me at nursing homes and occasionally private parties. He loved Chinese food, so when we got together, we always went to his favorite Chinese restaurant in Philadelphia. He would call each facility when I was finished with my shows, as he did all his other bookings, to make sure everything went well. He would call me and say that they loved me and then tell me that they had no taste! It was not always easy getting around to these different facilities. His directions left a lot to be desired. One nursing home he sent me to was way out in the country somewhere where they didn’t have names on the roads. I wound up getting there late but did the job and made a lot of senior citizens happy. It was a lot easier getting around after the cell phones were developed.
The nursing homes were a real experience. This was a different audience than I was used to. Some of them were attentive while others seemed to drift away. At times it was sad to see how some of them were. My heart went out to them and I always wished I could do more for them. My theme has always been “I loved making people happy with what I do.” There were times when I was singing and some senior in the back of the room were holding their ears saying I was too loud (which by the way I wasn’t, and if I was, I would have been told to tone down). At the same time, there would be someone in the front row sleeping! This always amused me! They loved the scarves I handed out! They always asked when I would back. One woman asked me when I’d be back, and I told her probably the following year. All she said to me was, “I might be dead by then.” For once in my life I was speechless.
I’ll never forget that one facility I was working for Jerry Samuels. A lot of times I brought my girlfriend with me, which was a big help setting up and helping with directions. Anyways, we were setting up one time, and one of the women yelled out, “He brought his girlfriend!” I didn’t know how to react to that one, I guess she thought she had a chance with me and didn’t want the competition. I guess I should take it as a compliment.
At times, one of my sons would go to the nursing homes with me. We got to one day and got all set up. The administrator came up to me and asked what I was doing. I said, “We are supposed to play here today.” She proceeded to tell me that she did not book us for that day! Then I called Jerry and found out that we were in the wrong place! We packed it all up again and did get to the other place we were supposed to be and did the gig! What a day that was.
Every year, Jerry would ask me if I could work at the Carousel House in Philadelphia. He would try to get all the entertainers from the agency to work there. It was a freebie thing to entertain poor children, disabled children, and all kinds of children in distress. I would do it every chance I could though sometimes I had a previous engagement. One time I was there as the emcee, which turned out to be interesting. Another time they had the mummers there, and we had a nice picture session. All the mummers wanted their pictures with me. The most interesting thing that happened to me at the Carousel House was meeting Donna Summers. What a nice, lovely woman. I asked her how she was doing and what she was doing. She proceeded to tell me that she got out of the recording industry and went into the ministry. I had no idea that she had done that, but I’m sure it was what she wanted. I wished her luck, said goodbye, and that it was nice meeting her.
CHAPTER 7
Getting the Bookings
After I started working for Jerry, I started looking for more agencies. I wanted to go full force with this. It amazed me how many people wanted to be entertained by me. Apparently, I was doing something right, and I was happy to see how I can excite the people who hired me. I found about a half dozen agents, which I never knew existed in New Jersey. I had thought that they were all in New York, Philadelphia, or just in big cities. Soon I was getting booked for a lot of occasions all over New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Thanks to my two sons, Ryan and David, my jobs went very well. They couldn’t be there for all of them, but when they were, I knew I had no worry about how it would all go. They were my two biggest supporters and fans, but they worked hard for me also. It was always a fun thing.
There were places I went that I had never heard of. One place was on a farm in a town called Towanda, Pennsylvania. Interestingly, several weeks after this gig, I was watching an Elvis movie called Loving You. Elvis was performing and behind him was a banner that said “Towanda.” Here I was playing in the same town that Elvis had played in the movie. That was about a four-hour drive from where I lived. I can’t remember how I got that job. The job went great though. They put me up in a motel for the night, fed me, and paid me $500! The farmer also raised snakes. He took me out to the barn to show them to me. He had a bunch of rattlesnakes and asked me if I wanted to hold one, saying they wouldn’t bite unless they think you’re going to hurt them. I said, “No, thanks.” He also had a boa constrictor which was about twenty feet long. He told me that he fed it chickens that didn’t lay eggs (poor chickens); he told me that it would take the snake about a week to eat it. They crush it then swallow it whole. At one time, he told me that he and three friends took it into town and stretched it out on the sidewalk. Imagine walking down the street and seeing a twenty-foot snake! He told me that it took all of them to hold it up. At that point, I decided to leave the barn, considering that the snake weighed over two hundred pounds!
One agent booked me for a job in a big hall for an act that had a fortune teller bringing me back from the dead. At that time, I had a smoke machine, and the effects worked great. The audience went nuts over it! Some of the ladies even threw underwear at me.
Another agent that I worked with out of Philadelphia, Jimmy C. (who by the way, I was not too fond of), booked me for a couple of nice jobs. One of them was at the Philadelphia convention center. That’s where I met a Frank Sinatra and Tina Turner impersonator, who were both very good. This was for a big senior citizen organization. I had a couple of female friends with me. I sang “An American Trilogy.” During the song, I had them stretch a big American flag out behind me. The people loved it so much that I got a standing ovation from a thousand-plus audience.
The most interesting job that Jimmy C. got for me was at Temple University. The theme was “Vegas Night.” We (Jimmy and I) got there kind of early. He told me to put my stuff in a large coatroom which was empty at the time. A blond woman came in and started talking to him. The conversation seemed a little strange to me, so I kind of blew it off. Then the time came to get changed. I was not prepared for what I was about to see. I walked into the coatroom, and there was clothes all over the place and about ten people in the room. The room was full of guys who were female impersonators. It was close a quarter in that room which made me a little antsy. I made the announcement that I had to change, thinking everyone would leave. They didn’t. They just looked at me and said, “So go ahead.”
Modest as I am, I tried to cram myself in a corner and do it as fast as I could, although nobody really cared. Jimmy C. walked in and started talking to the blond again, who had a cigarette in her hand. He started telling her that she was not allowed to smoke in there. They got into an argument, and in the course of their conversation, I realized that this woman was a transvestite! Now, you must realize that I was quite new to all this. She was wearing a netted type top and netted stockings. Curiosity finally got to me from what was being said. At one point, I turned around because she made the comment to look at the work they did. I couldn’t believe my eyes, there was nothing left to the imagination. This was a full-fledged transsexual!
I’ll tell you, you would never have known that was a man at one time. The
