It has come to
my attetion that family members of the actor that
played the clown in this video feel like I'm calling
HIM a pedophile and wish to sue me. As much as I'd
welcome a frivolous lawsuit simply for the content, he
actually contacted me to find a way to make this die
down, so at his request, I've taken his name out of
this entry.
To be clear,
it's heartbreaking to do this because I love that
dude and was so excited to act with him on this day
nearly 40 years ago. He was in my father's band when I
was growing up and he was just the funniest dude ever
and spoke to me like I was an adult which I've
never forgotten. As is EXTREMELY clear in this entry,
it was the premise of the college student's video that
25 years later I found humorously creepy, not the
ACTORS WITHIN SAID VIDEO.
It is also the
first video of me, ever. And I always thought it was
cool that my dad and his bandmate were also in it with
me... so it is insane to me to not
NAME THE DUDE, but I more than anyone
understand that keeping peace within the family
sometimes trumps the truth.
But again, to
Mr. Clown, it was nice talking to you again after
nearly 40 years and hopefully this keeps us in touch.
Would be funny to re-enact this video in 2024 for the
40th anniversary, no?
..
3:37 PM, Sunday,
February 22nd, 2009:
I just want
to see the treatment. Seriously. I want to see
what this college kid could have possibly written down
that would have made this seem at all acceptable.
'Cause all I can gather 25 years later is:
Little
boy with balloons gets chased by large clown while
father plays keyboards and doesn't
help.
That's not cool
man. What teacher approved that?
So
yes, 25 years ago (late February '84, but
no exact date known) during a weekend
visitation with my dad, I appeared in
a college music video made by Chris
Achberger. It's actually the earliest
footage of me or my father. Amazing huh?
It is so overwhelmingly mid-80s you can't
look away. It is a train-wreck of a video
that screams "HOLY SHIT we don't have
to worry about expensive film!". To those
too young to remember the early 80s, that
was really the spectacular thing about
video: Cheap, reuseable and instant.
That's why all music videos in the 80s
were so goddamned incoherrent... no need
for complicated scripts - just shoot
EVERYTHING you can think of! Then
throw it together any way you like! Art!
And it's in color!
Thankfully
saving any future therapy sessions,
I actually knew the guy playing the
clown as he was the drummer in my father's
band, and he was an incredibly funny guy.
I remember specifically getting to
drive with him to this shoot in a
volkswagon bug and us talking about it. He
was one of those guys that had no trouble
talking to an 8 year old on their level.
Then again, when you're a pedophile clown
that's probably your M.O.
:-)
The
really trippy thing about this video, is
my father is exactly my current age
in it. This was also during a 3-4 year
period where he lost a tremendous amount
of weight, so we look even more similar.
If I grew a beard and somehow found
pants that went up that high (jesus
christ) we'd be nearly
identical.
The
song in the video was his original piece
called "Being Cool". And there's no
doubting that with his attire. :-) Holy
shit this just occured to me. My dad is
freaking "Live Adam". LMAO. !!!! That's
totally the all black monochrome look! For
those who never understood that about The
Egos, let me explain. When we performed
the 4tvs show, "Live Adam" was obviously
the guy not in the TVs - and was just as
much a character as the other guys. I kept
that going during the CBS shows so
I could put a future sit-com pitch
together, thus I even wore the "all-black"
when being interviewed live on CBS 'cause
it all ties together. But holy shit man -
look at my dad rockin' the monochrome in
1984. HAHAHAHA. Seriously:
That's
craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazy. So awesome.
You
know, I just watched the whole thing
again... and you're not gonna tell me this
director wasn't fucked up. The "Ooooh I'm
following you little boy!" shot? Seriously
- if anyone were to "remix" this video
with some creepy music? It would be
terrifying. Hell I may have to do that
myself.
And
the upside down shot? Fuck having
nightmares as a kid, this shit is gonna
keep me up NOW.
Alright,
I have to get back to work on the big YouTube
project I mentioned in the last entry. I was
gonna have it done today but got a little side-tracked
in nostalgia-land. I am now officially focusing the
rest of my day to it and should have it ready
tomorrow. It's a gargantuan task, but one that is
absolutely necessary as I start the media push
for the big "10 Year Anniversary" of The Journey
coming up on January 2nd. May seem a long ways away to
you, but so did 2009.
