I was talking with a good friend who is not in this biz the other day. The conversation turned to how something of real quality can be overshadowed by lesser competitors because the people with the power to “make it happen” can’t see what is standing right in front of them.
“It’s like when I was shopping Bette Midler around and the record company guys would say, “Yeah, she can obviously sing, but I just don’t hear ‘It. ‘“
I stopped him mid-sentence and said, “Wait a minute. I didn’t know you shopped a deal for Midler.” He replied that she was in the chorus of Fiddler on the Roof, and he knew her from playing at a dive called Hilly’s on 9th in New York. They recorded a couple of cuts, and he took tahem around to some people he knew in the record biz, but never got anywhere. “Next thing I know,” he says, “she comes into the bar and says she got a gig down at the baths. So she starts playing down there, and a couple of guys from Carson’s band see her and get her a slot on the Tonight Show, and the rest is history.”
Fun story, but the key part is this. My friend says that Bette used to come in and sing show tunes and Streisand stuff, and that one night he told her, “You oughta sing the blues.”
“You think so?” she replied.
“Yeah, you have the voice for it, and there’s already a Barbra Streisand.”
When I asked him if they kept in touch over the years, he said, “Aw, no. She wouldn’t remember me.”
I am guessing he’s wrong. That kind of seemingly little thing can put someone on a whole new path, and when it happens, few people forget.
The Proof
I was reminded again of that basic idea when we found a letter that had never been opened stuffed in a drawer by a former employee. We opened it and found a note from the band and choir teacher at Rogue River High School in Oregon. (All of the net proceeds from the sale of the FOH FAQ T-shirts go to the arts programs at that school. Mixer James Geddes originally came up with those FAQs, and his kids go to that school.) Cool thing is that the teacher, Leonard Maxson, had a bunch of the kids sign the letter as well.
Seeing the note was proof positive that something we had been involved in had made a difference in someone else’s life, and it was at once gratifying and humbling. The original is being framed, and I have a photocopy on my desk.
How You’re Remembered
And it brought home, again, the fact that the very nature of our business puts us in the position to be an influence in the lives of a lot of people. Whether we are a positive or negative influence is up to us. It comes down to this: Don’t be an asshole. (This spoken by a guy who has been just that more times than any human can count. Just ask anyone I work with at FOH…) So you can write this off as total hypocrisy or take it as the musings of someone who is trying to do better.
We work everyday with people ranging from clients who just want the results the way they want them as quickly and as cheaply as possible to younger crew guys and even talent who will eventually find themselves on this side of the snake. We never know when something we do or say will have an effect on someone, somewhere down the line. If I keep that in mind, there is a lot less chance of me being a jerk with a short fuse.
People remember. And I don’t know about all y’all, but given the choice, I would way rather not be remembered as the guy known for throwing raging fits when things did not go his way.No, make me the guy who quietly says, “You oughta sing the blues.”
To influence Bill, e-mail him at bevans@fohonline.com.
