Miscellaneous - Interview with David Fishof

  by Lisa Torem

published: 29 / 7 / 2010

intro

Los Angeles-based promoter David Fishof speaks to Lisa Torem about his Rock and Roll Fantasy Camps which allow fans the opportunity to write and perform music with their favourite musicians

Edmund Hillary, the first man to have climbed Mt. Everest; 95 year-old Nola Ochs, the world’s oldest college graduate: Olympic gold medalist/skater Scott Hamilton and Jan O’Brien, a rock music aficionado, from Tucson, Arizona, have shared something sacred; all have conquered fears to embrace their life-long dreams. David Fishof realizes the importance of facing one’s fears and reaping the rewards of all that is possible. The native New Yorker has forged a career as a west coast-based dreamweaver. This last decade has found him creating safe havens in which fantasies between rock stars and their often neglected fans come true. Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp 2010 has already taken place in London and LA this year and will be coming to Chicago for the first time, the weekend of November 19-21st, 2010. “Campers” from all walks of life and varied musical backgrounds get an opportunity to write music and perform with their idols at international venues. For some, the chance comes along only once and for others, this phenomenon has become an annual pursuit. Fishof began his career in the Catskills representing entertainers and then became a sports agent for the likes of Phil Simms, Mark Bavaro, Lou Piniella and Randy Myers. Then, after managing the vocal group, The Association, he launched his career in the music industry, as a manager and promoter. His memoir, 'Putting it on the Line', summarized many of these experiences. Fishof put together two 'Happy Together Tours' (1984-1986), which included the talent of the Turtles, the Buckinghams and Tommy James and the Shondells. Other tours in the 1980s included the Monkees 20th Anniversary Reunion Tour, The American Bandstand Tour with Dick Clark and the American Gladiator Tour, in coordination with Ringling Bros, which Gladiator Tour pitted amateur and professional athletes together in local arenas. In addition, starting in 1989, Fishof restructured the predictable music promotions industry by producing eight Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band concerts which featured Starr and a host of musical colleagues, including Edgar Winter, Gary Wright and Levon Helm. Another creative project, the “British Rock Symphony” was a live show featuring live symphonic music of the Beatles, Tte Stones, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and the Who. A rich fantasy life incorporates many variables; everything from one events, super-sized, whipped-crème, layer cake boasting an edible, black electric guitar, designed by Celebrity Chef Guy Fieri, to the life-affirming expressions evident on the faces of delirious RRFC participants. David Fishof spoke to Pennyblackmusic writer about the importance of realizing one’s dreams, his impressions of many musical friends and his legendary rise as a sports and entertainment professional. PB: I know you’ve worked with sports figures and musicians and I’m wondering if you’ve found some common attitudes between these characters. Let’s compare Randy Myers with Roger Daltry. DF: Oh, wow. (Laughs) Or Lou Piniella to Ringo Starr. PB: There you go. DF: That’s a great one. Yeah, they’re all so talented. I really respect their talents. I would say the common thing is that all athletes want to be rock stars and all rock stars want to be athletes. It’s amazing, yeah. It was so exciting when I met Joe Walsh and he wanted to talk about Phil Simms, and Lou Piniella started talking about Ringo Starr. They all share the same goal, of being the best. The difference is, today, you can be a rock star at 67 years old while athletes' careers usually end at 35, unless they’re talented like Lou Piniella or Phil Simms. But, I would say 90% of them; their careers are over. You work hard being Randy Myers and, all of a sudden, his career’s over. So, the difference for me is as a sports agent it was “show me the money.” In entertainment, you get to be more creative, and I love that part of being a creative person. Mark Bavaro was the tight end who caught Phil Simms’ pass and then, instead of running straight to the end zone, he turned around first and was tackled. So I questioned Simms the next day: "How come Bavaro turned around when he should have out run the defender?" After that question, Simms told me he did the right thing because he had the fastest guy in the NFL chasing him. Otherwise he might have fumbled. Simms said it to me sarcastically, as if to say, "Don’t give me any football advice, Fishof. You just do the business..understand?" It propelled me to spend more time in show business, where I could have creative input. PB: You were involved in eight Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band events. I know you wrote a letter to initiate that project. What did it say? DF: I had just finished producing 'Dirty Dancing' and the live tour. I came up with that idea to make it into a live arena and it was successful, and the president of Pepsi approached me and they asked me, would you produce a tour based on the 25th Anniversary of the Pepsi Generation? And, I said I would. I’d want a million dollars to do it. And they said to me, “You’ve got it. I’ll give you a million.” But, we want to make the next million. So, I wrote a letter to Ringo Starr and I offered him a million dollars. That’s why I’m a great letter writer. PB: But, for somebody like Ringo Starr that would not have been enough. DF: Right. It wasn’t enough. It wasn’t the money. Absolutely. It really wasn’t the money with him. I think what happened was that Ringo had just completed his rehab and he found my idea compelling. I went in there with a pitch, told him the idea and he said, “I was thinking about the same thing.” So, about two weeks later, we made a deal. PB: So, after having done this eight times my question is: Did you find this a harder concept to implement than simply showcasing four guys that have been rehearsing together for a long time; the typical band structure? DF: All- Starrs was a challenge; a major, major challenge. Everyone said to me, you’re never going to pull this off. I love when they tell me that, because I’ve heard it my whole career. You’re never going to pull it off. And, it was funny, because, after the fourth show that I did, I was back stage at the Garden State Art Center, in New Jersey and Clarence Clemons (saxophonist/vocalist and member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band-Ed) walked by my table and I was having dinner. And, he said to me, “Fishof, I’m quitting. I’m quitting.” I said, “Oh, no, what’s going on?” And he said, “I can’t take it anymore; the fighting between Joe Walsh and Levon Helm is out of control. And, I just can’t take it anymore.” So, I’m getting nervous and I said, okay. Let me see what’s going on and then I walked down stairs to the band’s dressing room and out comes Nils Lofgren. He said, “Fishof, I’m quitting,” and I said, “What’s going on?” And, everybody had told me that you’re never going to get all these stars, from different bands, together on tour. You could do it for Live Aid. You could do it for a one-time benefit concert, but, to get them to tour for 30 shows; you’ve got too many egos here. Everybody’s a band leader. So, I said, “What’s the problem, Nils?” He said, Walsh is in there with a knife and Levon Helm and they’re fighting over songs. So, I walk in the room and I’m screaming at them, like a bunch of babies, because Joe Walsh had a knife in his hand, with blood on his hands, and Levon Helm had a glass bottle, also, blood all over his hands, and I walk in. He hits Walsh over the head with a glass bottle, and, all of a sudden, they both turned around and stuck their tongues out at me. They had gotten fake blood…They had gotten a knife that was made out of rubber and they pulled a gag on me. I had to mortgage my house to make this tour happen, because I needed the money. I had to give Ringo that and I had to sign the other guys. They just played a joke on me and it was so great. That’s when I got the idea, that year; I got to make this into a fantasy camp. This is what it’s about, travelling with a bunch of great guys. Everybody doesn’t always know how amazing they are, because they’re usually with their managers and agents and their band mates. Here, we’re on tour with eight guys. They were stripped naked in the sense that they had no one around them, no one. It was just them, Ringo, his wife Barbara and myself. You saw how creative and funny they were. And, I just kept saying if people can have this opportunity; hang with these people, jam with them and watch their creativity, of writing songs, this would be the greatest experience in a lifetime; being with the Eagles, being with the Beatles. Again, they had no other band mates that they had crazy histories with, or a manager they were scared of, or an agent. They were just stripped naked in the sense that they could just be who they were. And they played cards and we had fun and they played a joke on me. We laughed and I said, this is the experience that I hope we can recreate. Little did I know that in doing this, in creating this camp, that it was going to be fun for them. It would be great for people; they could jam with these rock stars. Little did I know that the rockers would love this as much as the campers. That’s really what I believe the success of the RRFC is. It’s Roger Daltrey who calls me yesterday and says, “Hey, I can’t wait. Let’s do a camp in New York.” And, Dickey Betts (founding member of the Allman Brothers Band) saying, “I want to jam with these people.” PB: That’s amazing. DF: That’s what’s amazing. That, to me, is what’s amazing. Look at Steven Tyler. He comes to RRFC and he gets to play with these people, jams with them. The next thing he knows, now he’s thinking about doing 'American Idol' and he says it on radio yesterday; his experience with the RRFC. Because, you know, these rock stars, for years, unlike the country acts, they would run away. I flew to Chicago recently. I brought my daughter. She wanted to see 'The Oprah Show. So, I fly in there and I bring her in, especially. And Kenny Chesney, is the first guest. Oprah’s doing a country-western show; country music. So, she introduces him. She says, “Kenny, I know you go out to your audience before a show.” And, he says, “Yeah. I like to visit my audience and say hello to my fans before the show, in the parking lot.”He said, “My first concert was Aerosmith. I would have done anything to see Steven Tyler in the parking lot.” But, in the rock’n’roll business, you know, the guys sneak in the back door, right before the last song. We always ran. It’s a different world. You can go to Nashville and you can have Nashville Fest, Country Fest. You can meet every country star. In America, the rock star has become aloof. He runs out the back door. He’s afraid, you know? PB: Yes. DF: What I wanted to do is access people to these amazing people. These rock stars really liked meeting people, and being enthusiastic, who want to make music. And, what happened is, it reminded these rockers what it was like when they first started. And, that’s why they love the camp. PB: Ringo requested Levon Helm, another singer and percussionist, and there didn’t seem to be any ego issues. DF: No, not at all. The greatest thing about Ringo, on our band tour, was that, and he taught me a lot, he said, “Worry about everyone else. Don’t worry about me.” And, I’ve done that with the RRFC. I’m interested in promoting all these guys and I’m happy Steven Tyler is up for 'American Idol'. I’m happy that the Who got together again after Roger was doing the camp. What it does is it puts a lot of these individual rockers in the spotlight and gives them the opportunity. Just like, Levon Helm got a record deal after his Ringo tour. He hadn’t been doing anything for a long time. I’m a huge Levon Helm fan. He came to RRFC. PB: So, how did you lure people like Gary Wright, Jack Bruce and Edgar Winter back again? DF: I’m not doing Ringo’s tour anymore. I’m just doing RRFC. Because what I decided to do with my life is I didn’t want to travel anymore. It’s easy to lure those guys back. PB: Is this the first time the camp is coming to Chicago? DF: This is the first time I’m bringing the camp to Chicago. I already did these camps in LA, London, Las Vegas and New York. What I decided to do was bring the camp to the people. I’m realizing that a camper would come in from Chicago and Milwaukee and end up flying his entire family in to watch him perform the last night. PB: It's a working-class town. DF: A working-class town. There’s a new economy. It’s the first time I’m bringing the RRFC to the people. It’s the first time I’m bringing it to where people don’t have five days to go away anymore and it’s the perfect situation to entrust yourself for three full days and jamming and learning and recording and playing live and taking master classes. This is going to be almost like a boot camp in the world of rock’n’roll and music, without leaving your hometown, or coming very close. And, then, on Nov. 21st, you’ll be able to have your family and friends and your co-workers watch you perform on stage and opening for Dickey Betts. PB: I’m wondering if there is a type of psychology involved here. I bought a photograph of Ringo, for example, and still haven’t hung it on my wall. It’s still in my closet. It’s a gorgeous photo and I don’t know why I haven’t hung it up. Sometimes fans have a fear and it sounds like you’ve taken it a step beyond those initial questions of “What will I say to this rock star? How will I feel meeting him?” You still have to deal with that, but then all are engaged in this task where they’re doing something meaningful together. Does a transformation take place by the time the campers perform in the final concert? DF: Lisa, hat’s a great question, because that’s what the camp is all about for me. The camp is basically a life-changing experience. That’s what it is. Again, that was something else I didn’t realize before I put it together. A lot of things came out of it, but, that to me, is the most incredible thing. It’s how they come to the camp and they get passion or fear. You’re absolutely right. If you have to overcome one thing. There is a fear that people get going to RRFC. Scott Hamilton came to RRFC. He got it as a gift for his 50th birthday. He' an ice Skater. Three days before the poor man calls me and says, “David, I’ve got to cancel.” “What do you mean ‘I’ve got to cancel?’ “ “I can’t I’m scared. I can’t play behind Steven Tyler and Roger Daltrey and Dickey Betts. I’m just too scared.” And, I said to him, “Scott, you skate in front of a billion people on TV at the Olympics. And you’re scared?” I said, “You’ve got to come. You’ve got to go through this experience.” He said, “Okay. I’m doing it, and he came in and he said it was the greatest experience of his life after winning the Gold, after having his children and his marriage. He said it was unbelievable and he put in a testimony for me saying it. He just loved it. Everybody gets something out of it. I just came back from doing a Tony Robbins (motivational speaker/success coach-Ed) weekend and I could see I told 50 people you’ve got to come with me, but nobody came. People are scared. PB: What are they most scared of? DF: Change. They’re afraid of the fear. You’ll have to put them on stage. You’re going to be jamming with your legends. You’re not going to feel good enough. The whole object of the camp, not only do we make you feel good enough; we bring you back to your childhood before you had all those issues and the music will give you the passion to rebuild you into that person you were before you had before you had fears. We all live on fears. There’s no question that some people are intimidated. You don’t have to be intimidated because if you’re singing in the shower we’ll put you in a band with other people who play air guitar. If you’re a master musician, you’ll come in on Friday and we gave these auditions and you’re going to play with other master musicians. But, anytime you immerse yourself in something, you’re gong to become better. You’re going to become a better musician and you’re going to become better at working in a company. We get a lot of lawyers, school teachers, executives and a fellow from Oracle. He had three partners. He went to RRFC and he walked out afterwards and he said, “I learned to run my company better.” He walked into the room and he’s a big shot in his business. He walks into the room; so funny, it’s Levon Helm, and he says, “I want to do ‘Cripple Creek’ by Levon Helm.” The guy says, very nice, you want to do it, but I’ve got to teach it to five other people. So, you’re going to have to learn to have patience. The guy walked away and said I learned how to run my company better because I learned to listen. To be in a band, you have to listen. Everyone says the Beatles were McCartney and Lennon. The Beatles were a band and they were successful because they had Ringo and George Harrison. That’s what made the Beatles. Try Mick Jagger touring on his own. You won’t sell one ticket. Like Mick Jagger in the Rolling Stones, you’re in a band. Going into a band for a weekend you will have a life-changing experience and will see what it’s like to be in a rock band and that is team building. And I make them come up with the name of the band and I make them write original songs. So, they have to do all these things and they go through all these examinations of their own lives. So, psychologically, it’s all psychological. PB: It sounds like a huge amount of work with great results. At what point can you say, I’ve done the major work, gotten people together, established a vision and then find you can relax, put your feet up on the sofa and simply watch it happen? DF: Well, first of all, the work to put these camps together is the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. Very hard. The details. But, what makes it satisfying is a day doesn’t go by that I don’t open an email and someone tells me my life has been changed. It’s amazing. I’ve made friends. The campers show up to a lot of these rock star concerts, like Rudy Sarzo (bassist with Blue Oyster Cult and Ozzy Osbourn-Ed). He had his band come on stage with him for the last song and performed the last song with him, from camp. I never get the chance, it’s not my nature. I’m on to the next thing. We have a TV series coming up. Mark Burnett produced a series about RRFC. It’s coming up October 16. He saw the life-changing experience that the camp offers. It’s about sixteen people going through the process. We’re not about winning and losing. We’re an extreme make over, but we’re Rock’n’Roll. It’s going to be great. PB: How many campers are you expecting? DF: We’re expecting about 75-80 campers. We’re half sold-out already. PB: What’s your favourite musical era, David? DF: I love the classic rock era. I love the 60s, 70s and a little of the 80s. Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers said it to me, best, “David, we wrote all the hit songs back then. We took all the notes.” These people aren’t going to be able to write these songs that were written back then. How many notes are there so they can keep going around? So, I think the major creativity of Rock’n’Roll was the 60s, the 70s and a little bit of the 80s. PB: So, what’s your fantasy? DF: That’s a great one. In People Magazine, years ago, they asked me and I said, “I want to be Lou Piniella.” My fantasy? I do want to become a great musician. I’ve just been so busy helping everybody else. I think the power of music, to play an instrument, to play the guitar, makes your partner appreciate you, love you, and it gives you passion in your life. Anyone can write a song at 60 years old. That’s what’s amazing. People say, “Oh, is this like baseball fantasy camp?” No, the baseball fantasy camp, no offence, the guy’s 300 pounds and he can’t hit the ball over the fence anymore, but these rock stars are still selling out arenas and they’re selling out major venues. Look at Ringo. He’s doing concerts at 70 years old. He said, “I’m going to go to 80.” It really gives you that youthfulness. PB: What’s the difference between organizing a Happy Together Tour versus an American Gladiator Tour? DF: Touring-wise, it’s not that different. You still have to do the trucks and you still have to do the buses. 'Gladiators' was very challenging because I was so used to always putting things on in the arenas, on one stage. When I did 'Gladiators', I had to do it all around the arena. So, when you have to worry about lighting up a stage, it was one thing, but you have to light up the entire arena, so you have to hang lights. There’s many more obstacles. But again, there was a challenge to see these people aspire to beat the gladiators. And, it was fun, it was a fun experience. It motivated me to get into shape. You have to take on some of your personality to do these things. I had to work out and get healthy. PB: I know you also spent time in the sound studio. You’re not afraid to get into other technological areas. DF: No, I’m trying. That was one of my biggest fears. I couldn’t stand the recording studio. PB: It sounds scary. DF: It’s scary. It’s so intimidating. When I was managing the Band, Levon would say, “You’ve got to sit here in the studio with me.” And, I said, “What am I doing?” I’m going to end up eating ten thousand dollars worth of sushi." The band ordered all this sushi. Nobody ate it. I would have… Let me learn what all these knobs are. Let me understand it, so that was another reason that motivated me to do the camp. The camp is more exciting because you really get to change people’s lives. Not a day goes by that you don’t get a thank you. You really feel like you’re really giving back and doing something good, and you’re in the business and you don’t have to travel and leave your family. That is what I did. PB: What is your idea of a perfect evening? DF: Oh, wow. A perfect evening, every year you would ask me that would be a different answer. I would say, now, that to take my wife on a date. That’s a perfect evening for me. Then, I know I’m successful. PB: Is there anything you’d like to say to any scared, but possible campers out there? DF: Don’t be scared. Don’t be fearful. It’s only going to be a positive change. You play an instrument and you play for a day, whether you’ve played for a day or thirty years. You’re going to get so much out of this experience. You sing in the shower and you’ve never been in a band before. There are people that are working all day and they used to play in high school, they played in college. All of a sudden they had to find a real job and the wife said stop touring or get that dream out of your mind. So, now they’re working and they can never find that dream again. Here’s that opportunity where they can have that dream in one weekend. And, from the minute you sign up, you get a list of songs and how to get ready for it, so it’s not just a weekend. It’s getting prepared for it and then the after effect. I would say 50 percent of our campers come back. There’s a well-known doctor in Chicago. He’s head of the medical school, there. Dr. Jeffrey Matthews They come. They’ve been to nine camps and he and his wife keep coming back. She came as the wife and she couldn’t play an instrument and then she saw him. So, she played keyboards and now she has transformed into becoming a bass player. PB: Thank you very much, David.