Heavy Metal Noise

Way back in 1984, I read a ridiculous commentary about Heavy Metal music in Michael Moore's alternative newspaper, the "Michigan Voice." The author, one Bill Brown, theorized a silliness about a need in young men to control women, worship the devil, and express angst about work and the world in general. Pompous me, I couldn't help myself but write a letter to the editor. Stating my defense of the musical genre, I even made claim that some metal could be regarded as "melodic."

OK, I was young and impassioned.

Moore took that one line to heart, it seems, because then after, he sarcastically referred to heavy metal as "melodic," mentioning it a couple times on his radio show, "Radio Free Flint."

Oh well, that is one instance where he and I definitely disagree. So then, today, I dug up both the article that raised my ire, and the letter I wrote. Yes, the good old days when writing a letter to a newspaper seemed to mean something!

(If you'd like to read these, it might be best to Right Click in the images, and then click on
"Save as..."  Then, open the files on your computer to see them in a bigger size.)

Michael & Me, Part 2

Filmmaker and author Micheal Moore made the only Texas stop on his book tour right here in Houston, Friday, November 4. I hadn't talked him to him since he was on Larry King's radio show in 1990. Much has happened in the world since, not to mention that he's now a mega star. So, yeah, I just had to be there.

I got to Brazos Bookstore at 5:15. Passes for autographs were issued beginning at 5, and all the seats were already taken. I purchased a copy of the new "Here Comes Trouble," and slid into standing-room-only, waiting for his 7:30 arrival. I met a few folks, and chatted with them about politics in general, and Mr. Moore, specifically. I was wearing my "Radio Free Flint" shirt that momma got me last Christmas. Some lady across the store saw it, and turned her camera at me. More on her, later.

Most folks were old folks like me, or even older. I did meet a 23 year-old young man, who is part of a socialist organization. Other than that, not much young activism going on, there. Maybe the youngsters were all down at Occupy Houston.

The general manager of the bookstore told me that Moore had contacted him for the appearance, and of course they obliged. It wasn't the store who contacted Moore. I remarked that that was clearly a statement about his store. Indeed it was. The place had about 200 people jam packed into a tiny space. Aside from this one indy bookstore making some money, Moore donates his proceeds to local libraries on all of his book tour stops.

The clock finally struck 7:30, and in marched Micheal, along with his two body guards (needed ever since the Farenheit film), and a small entourage. The gathered crowd stood and cheered, and held up their camera phones like some discount amateur paparazzi.

Turning the tables, Micheal proceeded to interview the general manager, and then of course, make fun of him. Mocking Houston, Michael said, "I got news on my way here that all copies of the book have been sold out! Of course, they didn't order enough copies! 'Uh, yeah, just order a dozen of 'em. It's in Houston, and nobody will be there. And they can't read, anyway!' "

Micheal later Tweeted that, because there were not enough books, he had to sign arms and napkins. I made my way through the line, and talked with a nice lady standing next to me. We decided that we would both take photos of each other with Mr. Moore, once we got up there. That was a good idea, if I may say so, myself.

When I reached the signing table, I muttered, "Hi, Mike. You won't remember, but in the early 80s, I used to work in a certain Pizza Hut on Dort Highway."

"I know the place well!" he said. "By Atherton Road, right?"

"Yes," I answered. "You used to come to the drive-through on Saturdays, and we'd talk about what was going on." He looked straight at me, as if conjuring up those old days. He smiled, seeming to remember, or, at least, I think he remembered, and he shook my hand, and said, "Wow! Where'd you get that shirt?" He pointed it out to his wife, who was sitting off to the side of the store. She'd already seen it, she said. I realized it was her who was taking a picture of me, earlier.

I told him I got it from my mom last Christmas. "Where?", he still wanted to know, but I suggested that it was probably online. (Thanks for the shirt, mom!)

I said, "Thanks for everything you've done over the last 30 years or so."

He shouted back with "Hey, thanks for the pizza!"

Said the nice lady who took the photo of me, as were were walking out: "I'm gonna have to tell this story, you know. I stood in line next to the guy who made pizza for Michael Moore."

Yeah, I kinda like the story, too.

See Michael & Me (Part 1), by clicking here:

Michael & Me

Michael Moore was recently on "Larry King Live" (9/5) to talk about his new book, and his upcoming film. The book, titled "Mike's Election Guide," pokes fun at the 2008 presidential election. His film, called "Slacker Uprising," documents his quest to get out the youth vote. The film is available for free, via download at slackeruprising.com.

Moore published an alternative newspaper in Flint, Michigan called the Flint Voice in 1976, that reached wider circulation in 1983, under the new banner of the Michigan Voice. The newspaper ran stories exposing corruption, police abuse, chemical dumping and racial discrimination.

In 1980, the Flint police raided a local printing firm looking for information related to an article in the Flint Voice criticizing the city's mayor. By that summer, the ACLU defended the Voice, when their case reached the Supreme Court, eventually moving Congress to pass a law prohibiting such searches.

In addition to the newspaper, Moore hosted a Sunday morning radio show on Flint's WWCK 105 FM, called "Radio Free Flint." This is where I discovered the brash activist. I couldn't believe some of the "radical" ideas that came out of his mouth at the time, but after tuning in weekly, I became a convert. His plain-talk, common-sense view of local and national politics made a lot more sense to me than the drivel and gobbledy-gook that was aired everyday on every tv news program. Even if I didn't always agree. And unlike the popular commentators today, he never yelled and screamed at his guests or his callers, and he never called them names.


My feeling is that it's that approach that scares politicians so much that they feel compelled to bring his name up in the unlikeliest of places. At the 2008 Republican Convention, Joe Lieberman mentioned him. Four years ago, John McCain did the same. Why? He isn't a candidate, he isn't even a politician! Are these folks so afraid that the common citizen just might be listening to this man? You bet. Millions of people buy his books, see his movies, and find a resonance they can understand. That's political influence. They should be very afraid.

In 1980, I was working at a Pizza Hut restaurant in Flint, and a phone order came in. It sounded shaky to me. We used to get fake orders all the time, so I called the number back to verify. It was the Flint Police Department! I hung up, and threw the order away.

Twenty minutes later, up drives Michael Moore to the drive-through window. "I'm here to pick up a pizza for Moore," he said. Ooops. It was a real order. We had this guarantee that if the order wasn't ready when we said it would be, the customer would get the order for free. I had some explaining to do. I told Mr. Moore what happened, apologized for my goof, and quickly made his pizza. While it was baking, I took the opportunity to have a chat with him. This turned out to be the first of several rap sessions he and I had from that drive-through window. On those invariable Saturdays, we'd talk about current events, political happenings, whatever was in the recent issue of the Voice, and his speaking appearances at the University of Michigan-Flint.


Michael left Flint in 1986 to take a job at the magazine Mother Jones. When that didn't turn out so well, he headed back to Flint, got a film camera, and made his first documentary, "Roger & Me" in 1989. By that time, I was teaching in Dallas. Michael appeared on Larry King's radio show on January 16, 1990. Excited that someone I "knew" had made a film (about my hometown, no less!), I just had to call in.

You can listen to our conversation by clicking the button below! Michael remembered our window-side chats at the pizza joint. He remembers to this day "where he came from." Whatever our political views, we should all be so moved to get up and do something about them.

Radio Free R.E.M.

My Phone Call to R.E.M.

Rock band R.E.M had just released their album Automatic For The People, and as part of their promotion tour, they appeared on the Global Satellite Network's call-in radio show, "Rockline." This is the still-running show that allows listeners to interview their favorite rockers, live, and on-the-air.

On this particular Monday (October 12, 1992), band members Peter Buck and Mike Mills were behind the microphones and fielding the questions. Well, I just happened to dial in and pose a question of my own.

As you might guess, getting through on the 800 number isn't an easy task. Every R.E.M. fan and his mother is trying to do the same thing -- mostly dialing frantically and getting a busy signal, and then dialing again. Even if you get a ring, I discovered, there's no guarantee that someone on the other end will pick up the call. After many, many rings, the call may be dropped, and you can start all over again! After dozens of attempts, I finally got through, to a real live person. I was ready; I went through my list of questions until the screener agreed one of them was worthy. Then, I just had to wait with the phone pressed up to my ear for my turn to talk to two of my musical heroes live on the radio!

After letting Peter and Mike know that they were both my favorite half of R.E.M., I asked them about the expectations of AFTP being a "return-to-rock" album, and what had changed that idea. Here is Mike's answer:

"Well, we kind of expected that too, but when we wrote all the songs, we looked at 'em, we picked the best ones, and Michael chose the ones he felt like writing words to, and we found that they were slower and mid-tempo. And, you know, our main interest is in creating the best record possible, with the best songs possible, so rather than take the rockin' songs that might not have been as good as others and trying to force them into a record, we took the ones that we thought would make the best overall sound. And it turned out that they were this way. We were as surprised as anyone I think, by this turn of events, but we're very pleased with it, I think that the songs are all very well realized, and I like the record."

Bob Coburn, the host, then asked "In general terms, is it easier to write an up-tempo song?"

Mike replied, "It's easier to write an up-tempo song, but it's harder to write a good one, one that hasn't been heard a million times."

After my part on the show ended, I stayed on the phone line listening in to the off-the-air conversation taking place while “Man On The Moon” was being played, and then even longer, during the commercial break. I was supposed to hang up, but this fly on the wall opportunity was in my grasp! I listened for 5 or 10 minutes before they disconnected me, and I wish I could have recorded it, but I'll tell you what I remember. Drummer Bill Berry had called two callers before me, so during the break Peter commented that he wished lead singer Michael Stipe would call.

Mike Mills: "I doubt he's listening. No offense!"

Peter said that Michael never knows about the media and promotion side of things. "We'll be doing some promotion and we'll come back and he'll say 'where you guys been?'"

Mills: "And we'll say ‘what do you mean, mother ___, we're out plugging your record!'"

Another topic of their discussion dealt with Al and Tipper Gore, and the Parents Music Resource Center, etc.

Mills: "She means well."

Bob Coburn talked about censorship and said someone had made the argument "Why don't we start with Shakespeare?"

Mills: "...or country music."

Mike also commented that he still couldn't figure out the lyrics to "Ignoreland!"

As an added bonus to calling in, the good folks at the show sent me two REM cds, and here you see the letter that was mailed with them. (Click it for the bigger picture.)

REM also has archived every appearance they've made on Rockline on their website, and you can listen to my actual call here!

By the way, I made it onto yet another Rockline show a few years later, but you'll have to wait for that story!

60 Minute Man

Speaking of asking questions...

In 1990, I was a member of North Dallas High School's mathematics department. It was just my second year as a teacher, but I learned fast in the inner-city. Our department chairman, a man of much experience, was a big proponent of a series of textbooks published by a man named John Saxon. Our chairman contended that the Saxon texts, along with tutoring and committed teaching were responsible for improved student scores at NDHS. Because Saxon was a controversial maverick publisher, going up against math experts who rejected his books, "60 Minutes" deemed the story worthy for its show.

When I learned that the show was coming right to my own department, I became excited, to say the least. I was a huge fan, going back to my early teen years. Mike Wallace was one of my heroes, with his trademark, hardball, go-for-the-throat style of interviewing. Was he going to be at my school, I wondered? Or, would it be one of the shows' other correspondents?

Soon enough, a production crew for 60 Minutes came out, and they talked to several of us about our school, and teaching math, in general. They were doing their homework, and I was pretty impressed. I was happy to know that as journalists, they lived up to everything I had heard about them.

I think it was a week later, I was teaching class, and I heard an unmistakable voice from down the hall -- it was Mike Wallace! Wow! I hoped I could meet him! Was he going to ask me questions? What would I say if he did?

Well, he did ask me a question as it turns out, but more on that in a minute. I didn't get to see Wallace, my hero, until after school let out, and I went up to the school library, where he was interviewing our department chair for the show. I waited around for a chance to talk, and finally I got to sit at a table with him. I couldn't muster the courage to ask for an autograph, but I sure wanted to! We talked for about 20 minutes. Nothing in particular, just general chit-chat, we shook hands, and I mentioned that I was a big fan of the show, from the time I was a kid, and my mom had it on, every Sunday. He seemed to have heard that kind of adoration a lot, but he was very generous with his time, while he waited to do more filming.

Finally, he asked me that question, as I mentioned above. World famous journalist Mike Wallace gave me that Mike Wallace look, and with that Mike Wallace voice, he said...

"Where's the can?"

Yes, the man who interviewed so many world leaders -- people like George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, LBJ, JFK, Manuel Noriega, the Ayatollah Khomeini, Menachem Begin, Anwar el-Sadat, Yasir Arafat, on and on and on... also put me in the hot seat. Er, sort of.

I started to tell him, and then thought, ahh, what the hell, I might as well walk him downstairs and show him the way. I did, and he even said "thanks." I didn't lose my job, I didn't make the papers, but I will always remember that day.

Tick, tick, tick, tick...