“All the world’s a stage…”
I used to play drums in a rock band years before I decided to make radio my vocation. I’ve been on many stages with the band. Those that are in the gyms of schools, to others in drop-in centres where the band played in public. I was on stage giving a Remembrance Day talk one year at my children’s elementary school. I’ve been asked by organization to be on stage to give talks about this radio show and some of the subjects I speak about. I’ve been up on stage at the Oldies Dance in years past to say hello to our wonderful listeners. I must admit I’m more comfortable in front of a microphone in a studio all by myself, but it’s been a great experience to be called up to a stage.
I’ve always been somewhat shy to be under the lights, but I wouldn’t have traded those opportunities for anything else.
In my early radio career in Montreal, I did a late-night show that featured a one-hour tribute each night to a different music act. That show afforded me the opportunity to meet some of the greatest musical acts of all time. Sometimes, a bandmember would be in the studio with me for an interview. Other times, it was recorded over the phone and then interspersed between songs in the show. A lot of listeners there still remember me doing that show long before “Lovers and Other Strangers” ever hit the airwaves.
One of the most memorable telephone interviews was with Al Stewart, who had such hits as Year of The Cat and Time Passages. He was going to be performing later that night at the Montreal Forum. I interviewed him via telephone as he relaxed in his hotel room prior to the concert. We had a fabulous conversation that lasted about 20 minutes. After we concluded the interview I was going to spend some time cutting up the interview to be used in this show that would have aired after his concert that night. You must remember that this was back in the 1980’s. There was no such thing as digital recording devices. We recorded all of our interviews on reel-to-reel tape. As I began to play back the tape to listen to the interview, I realized the tape was twisted….Nothing recorded. I was frantic! I realized I had to call him back to explain my dilemma. When he picked up the phone in his hotel room, I began to sweat. I was embarrassed having to tell him that our interview did not record. He was the consummate professional, and laughed it all off. We ended up doing another 20 minute interview that was better than the first. I can assure you this time the tape was not twisted. By the way, I was there at the forum that night for his great show.
I have even had the opportunity to go backstage before and after a concert to do interviews. One of the most memorable backstage interviews I ever recorded was with the drummer of Chicago, Danny Seraphine. Since I was a drummer from years gone by it was a a rare opportunity to meet one of the drummers I always enjoyed listening to. We hit it off and the interview went well. So well, in fact, that I made him late for his concert that night. I didn’t want to shut the tape recorder off and he was just as happy to sit there and reminisce about his years with the band and his vocation as one of the premiere rock drummers in the world. The backstage staff kept coming into the dressing room, trying to get his attention, and we just kept talking. It was the sold-out crowd that finally inspired us to wrap up the interview. They were pounding their feet on the floor of that venerable concert house and hockey rink to get the show to start. All during our conversation, we could hear the opening act. After they left the stage, the crowd was patient for a little while, but eventually became anxious to hear the group they paid to see. So, if you remember being at a Chicago concert back in the 1980s in Montreal that was really late starting, you can blame me.
The most amazing experience I’ve ever had was the time I was called onto the stage at the old Montreal Forum to introduce Julio Iglesias. The radio station I was working for at the time made arrangements for me to broadcast my entire evening show live backstage at the Forum, including Lovers and Other Strangers. Throughout the course of the show, before the concert-goers arrived, I had the chance to sneak into the seating area and watch the rehearsal for the show that night. I remember Julio sitting out in the middle of the main-floor listening to the sound and making comments to his audio people concerning what needed to be done to enhance the sound.
When the concert-goers arrived and began taking their seats, I was well into my evening radio show. Julio, Enrique’s father, would pass by my remote studio and share the microphone for awhile. In fact, he became co-host of the program for awhile, introducing his own songs and those of other artists. I really enjoyed having one of the world’s most romantic singers as co-host that night. The most incredible experience was to come.
When it was time for his show to begin, his staff asked me if I would go onstage to introduce him. They led me with a flashlight up the stairs to the stage. For a brief moment, I knew what every rock band and musical act has experienced as they make their way to the stage to begin their performance. I think I had more butterflies than the star did that night as I walked out onto that huge stage in front of thousands of his adoring fans. The crowd hushed sensing the show was about to begin. I walked across the stage to the microphone under those harsh lights. I could sense the venue was packed, but could only see about ten to twenty rows of seats directly in front of the stage. If I’ve ever been at a loss for words I was for just a split second before introducing the show that night. I was living a dream I had in my youth to be onstage at a concert at one of the country’s venerable arenas. I may have stammered a bit wen I finally got up the courage to speak, but the memory of that night is as fresh in my memory tonight as I write this as the night I experienced it.
“All the world’s a stage…” It will be, two weeks from today, when the world arrives in Beijing for the Olympics. One can only imagine what it will be like for the athletes to be centre-stage during the opening ceremonies and when they prepare to compete. All the eyes of the world will be watching.
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Don Jackson
