Thunder Road, Etta James, Judi and me

Thunder Road is a teenage drug and alcohol center in Oakland that is so much more.  It includes family counseling activities and training for life.

My friend, Joel Selvin, rock critic for the San Francisco Chronicle went to the center to help establish a music department and ended up being a huge supporter.  He put together an annual “Roast and Jam” at San Francisco’s oldest nightclub and invited local celebrities to be “roasted” and local musicians, who probably had similar problems as the kids, to perform.  He was able to have Van Morrison, Sammy Hagar, Huey Lewis, the Doobies, and on and on show up.  And Herbie Herbert, manager of Journey, became a mainstay of the roasters.

Bill Graham, Joel, Sammy Hagar and others were roasted, and I think Joel ran out of victims and asked me to be skewered.  I was an easy target because my computerized ticketing company, BASS, was constantly assaulted for its service charges.

So Judi Flowers and I went to work on fundraising and getting roasters.  We put together a great silent auction that I believed raised about $30,000.  Included was an amazing donation from Pixar’s John Lasseter who gave a private tour and lunch of their wonderful facility in Emeryville .  I think someone paid about $6,000 for that prize.  We had great rock and roll items, band jackets, photos, and it was terrific.

Frank Deford, America’s best writer and commentator on sports and other subjects, flew out and thoroughly laid me out.  He of course knew me from my Roller Derby days, and mentioned that I went from “Tickets” in Roller Derby (see my post on Tickets) to Tickets for admission.  Roger Ebert sent a video in which he mentioned my film “Derby”  for which he gave  stars,  and said he was angry because I had gone from producing movies to just producing tickets;  and Willie Nelson’s video, which brought the house down, accused me of getting him in trouble with the IRS because of my “scalping”  (not true!) of his tickets.

Then came the music,  The house band was Booker T and the MGs, then Joel’s wife Keta Bill (what a blues belter!) performed with Sam from Sam and Dave, then Bonnie Raitt (what a woman, not only did she not get paid, but she and her husband made a great cash contribution), then for the final performance, the unbelievable Etta James.

Even then Etta was not feeling well, but her voice, song selection and total command contributed to a performance that could never be captured on discs  But her best performance was earlier in the day.

At each of these benefits it was arranged that about 15 of the Thunder Road teens who had done well at the facility were brought to the club to see the sound checks of the various performers. Although I was not on hand, Judi was when they came to hear Etta.  She had them sit in front of her and spun a tale of her own transgressions with substance abuse that were so personal and terrifying that it obviously had an impact on all who were there.  She told them whatever they had done, she had done worse to herself and only through the grace of God was she still here.

I know the kids all got the message.  And that is the best memory that Judi and I have of the incomparable Etta James.

Derby’s Golden Age……for me

When most people think of the “Golden Age” they are referring to the 60′s and 70′s when Roller Derby was on 110 TV stations in the US and Canada, and we filled huge arenas and stadia and everyone knew Joan Weston, Charlie O”Connell, Ann Calvello, Ken Monte, Carol Meyer, Tony Roman, Mike Gammon, Judi Mcguire and many more as the superstars of Derby. These people were in 10 million living rooms every week because of the games we videotaped and shipped around to all locations.

Collage with elements by lilie from stock.xchng.com.

And most of these great skaters had become interested in the game because of the early television from New York and Chicago in the late 40′s and early 50′s.  My fond memories are from the late 30′s until my Dad took it into New York for the first big explosion.

As I stated in an earlier post (Roller Derby in Hollywood), I first saw the game in the glamorous movie capital of the world, and these skaters were bigger than life.

Wes Aronson was the golden boy, built like Charlie O’Connell but movie star handsome and an effortless skating style.  He was publicized as dating Eleanor Powell, a movie dancing partner of Fred Astaire.  I think however, that even at that time he was married to his beautiful skating partner, Kitty Nehls.  There were the fabulous Atkinson boys, Tommy and Buddy.  Tommy again movie star handsome and skated the track better than anyone ever; he never used a shoulder or body block but was able to control the pack with his hip block.  Buddy was a choppy skater who made it on effort rather than talent.

And the amazing women:  Ivy King was the first woman superstar.  She skated in the first “race” in 1935 and looked so unlike a skater:  diminutive, wearing glasses while skating and yet with amazing ability.  It wasn’t until she was 90 at the 70th anniversary dinner in Chicago (where I first met Val Capone and the Windy City Rollers) that I realized what a potty mouth she had.  A great sense of humor with one really raunchy joke after another.

During warmups the men and women squads would skate together; first the visiting team, then the home team, in their beautiful uniforms, the women wearing capes during warmup.  At the end of the session, the team would form into a pace, flying along in the  five stride all together, high on the straightaway, low into the turn, moving so fast they seemed a blur, and the sound of the wooden wheels on the masonite surface caused the audience to pause from whatever they were doing to become aware of the power of the athletes on the track.

The game would begin, with the men skating first, a fifteen minute period, followed by the women, then the men again and finally the women ending the half.  The trackside announcer would bring the audience to a fever pitch, calling attention to what the athletes were doing and focusing on the stars.  Oftentimes there was music during the jam, with stimulating classics like the William Tell Overture, Flight of the bumble-bee, 1812 overture, etc.

At halftime there would be an “Open House” where skaters would perform various talents such as singing, dancing, etc, and the audience would show their approval by throwing coins…these skaters were making only $25 to $100 a month, plus food and lodging, so everything helped.  Billy Bogash and Buddy Atkinson would perform a jitterbug dance which would bring the house down.  Then the second half would begin, with the women’s period first, and three succeeding periods with the men skating last.  The final score was a total of the each men’s and womens’ teams.

Generally married couples or skaters who were going together would have the same number;  Buddy Atkinson and Bobbie Johnstone would each have number 2, Gene Gammon and Gerry Murray number 10, Wes and Kitty number 12, and so on.   No number 1 after 1937 to honor the skaters killed in the terrible bus crash.   Bert Wall and Bobbie Mateer were married, as was Ken Monte and Toughie Brasuhn.  Ken was a good ten years younger than Toughie, and it seemed at that time that the women skaters would latch on to the younger men:  Loretta Behrens (and later Ann Calvello) with Charlie O’Connell, Mary Youpelle and Russ Massro, and so on.

And skaters were given names and backgrounds to make them more individual in the eyes of the fans:  Elmer “Elbows” Anderson was reputed to have been born in London and a concert pianist,  Mary “Pochahantas” Youpelle was a full-blooded native American (?).  Mary can be asked that today, if you like.  And then there was “Ma” Bogash, whose doctor had ordered her to exercise (true) so she took up skating at the very old age of 42.  My father thought she would be a great addition to the Derby, so he convinced her to join, but she only agreed if her undersized 16-year old son Billy could come at the same time.   Of course he became one of the greatest of all athletes in the game and was one of the first inducted into the Hall of Fame.

These were my childhood heroes, my Dimaggios, Red Granges, Hank Luisettis.  And many were the great women athletes.  Of course they mothered me and I will never forget their affection towards me

And the names that have been lost:  Gertie Scholls, all the Gardners, Bob Satterfield, Paul Milane (who skated for Mickey Rooney in “Fireball”) and on and on.   And how I remember the great Mary Lou Palermo…..please forgive me for those I don’t list.

Today’s game and its empowerment factor are wonderful and I so appreciate it, but realize every time I see anyone on skates, I go back to 70 years of affection for the players of the wonderful game.

If you want to read more about this era in what modern-day fans and skaters are calling “the best coffee table book ever” get your copy of Roller Derby to Rollerjam, covering the game with great writing and photos from 1935 to 1999 at www.rollerderbycommish.com.

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it will happen in 2012

Add the digits in 2012 and you get 5……..as in 1935 when the game was invented.

Photo by ctr from stock.xchng.com.

There are currently at least 4 different groups who are preparing for professional Roller Derby.  One has had men and women skaters in very intensive training getting ready to videotape games; another has been training for a long time and has affiliated with another group in a different part of the country.  And one group is working with several existing leagues.

And they will all be banked track.

Should this make any difference to the leagues currently operating?  Probably it should.

Because of your revival of the game and the many thousands who are currently skating around the world and would like this as a career,  this game is a direct outgrowth of your efforts. Apparently all will be legitimate and skating close to the original and/or the USARS rules.

It is unlikely that all will succeed unless somehow they work together.  The training for paid skaters will be much more intensive that what most leagues are doing.  Conditioning is such an important part of the game, and those of you are interested can be part of it.  All are planning to be men and women competing, although not on the same teams, but that could change.

I repeat, if it does come to pass, there must be some kind of acknowledgment to the amateur leagues who have pioneered the game with sweat and blood the past ten years.  We never had existing skating leagues to choose from when I ran Roller Derby, and what you have done is remarkable.

It does not have to be harmful; the greatly increasing exposure will bring more people who want to skate, and not necessarily professional.   There must be some ways of doing tie ins that will help everyone.

Although I have been approached, I am not currently part of any of them.  And ironically, yesteerday I had a request for advice and aid from a person in Australia who wants to start a professional banked track league.

It will happen……how can it work to everyone’s benefit?