Summary

PETE FORNATALE INTERVIEWS DICK CAVETT. THE INITIAL PART OF THEIR DIALOGUE IS PRIOR TO THE FORMAL INTERVIEW: Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 0:00 I was happy to stand there knowing Groucho was inside Pete Fornatale 0:03 Sure. Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 0:03 And he stayed till the end Pete Fornatale 0:07 I wonder if that was the last generation that will approach it that way? Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 0:13 Well, that's what I was thinking that I was caught by myself mentioning the Marx Brothers to some people that age now. Pete Fornatale 0:27 Oh, oh no. Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 0:31 Old Time movies stars Pete Fornatale 0:33 Oh That's scary. Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 0:36 When I was a kid or in college. I knew quite a number of things that took place before I was born. But nobody does anymore. Pete Fornatale 0:47 I don't know. I wonder if that's another another consequence of the super information highway or? Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 0:53 Yeah, I wonder I don't know. I just, I just know that I knew. I knew that Weber and Fields was a comedy act and anything. They were way before my birth, but like, Pete Fornatale 1:08 I at a public station now. And much of the staff are young people college age, or just out of out of college. And it's a real reality check for me. Anytime I mentioned a name. You know, it runs the gamut from Henry Fonda. Oh, that's Jane's dad. Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 1:29 Worked for years to become Jane's dad/ Pete Fornatale 1:34 But you know, it is a good reality check. And I feel that it's part of my mission, I sometimes wonder if they talk about me behind my back as this teller of old school tales. Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 1:46 The old guy who knows names no one ever heard of. who knows names no one ever Pete Fornatale 1:48 Right but you know they do see, when we connect on something that has managed to, you know, hang on by the fingernails to the current popular culture, there is that feeling of some sort of a bond? Absolutely. Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 2:03 I think how far ahead of me, the Marx Brothers were. I only heard of 'em because my father mentioned him a lot of times. And I said, what do they do? And he said, Well, they did a movie called Coconuts. And when it hit this town, this was Grand Island, Nebraska, there were people who could not stay in their seats from laughing and it was screaming and nobody was prepared for it. Nobody had seen anything like it. Well, that was quite a ways ahead of me, but I knew about it. Pete Fornatale 2:31 But that's what I was trying to say on the way back from the coffee machine to have gone from that to meeting then working with then becoming a pen pal. I mean, it's impossible. It's, it's it's fiction. That's the stuff of fiction. By the way, I had the presence of mind to take this on to say Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 2:52 where did you pick that up Pete Fornatale 2:53 off my bookshelf at home? Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 2:55 Oh Pete Fornatale 2:55 and my intention was to have you autograph it. And this was Saturday. Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 3:00 But what happened? What went wrong? Pete Fornatale 3:01 I picked it up and read it from cover to cover Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 3:05 Oh. Pete Fornatale 3:05 I spent the entire day yesterday. Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 3:07 You know, it is a funny book and it reads well. Pete Fornatale 3:09 It is. Well, it's wonderful. I mean, talk about Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 3:13 I forgot how good it was in the same way. Pete Fornatale 3:16 What did they call these squibs? Or uh Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 3:19 Blurbs. Pete Fornatale 3:24 Well, you know, we're gonna talk. You know, we oughta get started! I think we already have but I don't know that we're, we're recording. Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 3:31 You mean we wasted all that All that good stuff! Pete Fornatale 3:33 Do you have any deadlines? Unknown Speaker 3:35 You have a car at 3:30?. Pete Fornatale 3:37 Oh, wonderful, wonderful. Let's get rolling. Let's go. Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 3:40 All right, why the hell not. Pete Fornatale 3:41 We got a lot of good stuff to do. Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 3:43 What does this clock say? Pete Fornatale 3:48 I've got the sneak preview but, uh, let me see the actual Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 3:51 So it is Pete Fornatale 3:52 That you refer to. and we can use the actual performances from the disk that was this is basically a music show. Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 4:05 Yeah. Pete Fornatale 4:05 So I constructed it around the things that are on here. In fact, why don't I tell you that because I usually run down the music with the with the musically performing guests. In the first segment in the intro, I'm going to introduce you introducing Janis Joplin performing Move Over. That's how the show will open. Pete Fornatale 4:25 I can handle that. Pete Fornatale 4:26 We'll pick it up, that is the first segment, we'll do our talking points and I will lead you to from Sly Family Stone that's on the DVD and then it's "thank you for letting me be myself again" That's this performance that will end the first segment. I'll pick up from the imaginary break and all of that will be done in post production by the way, so we'll just keep talking. Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 4:50 Oh. Pete Fornatale 4:51 The second segment will open with second segment I'm going to concentrate on talk shows, the ones that came before you, the ones of your era. And the ones that have succeeded you. Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 5:06 I may need notes on that. Pete Fornatale 5:08 Well, well, well, you know we can play uh, what's that, off the top of your head. Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 5:13 I was usually working for the ones that came before me. Yeah. Well, good. I usually think of just jack and Johnny. But there was also Merve, there was Pete Fornatale 5:27 There was Merve. That was right that was your first talking on the way in and I made the point to my friend, Chris here, that by virtue of being an employee of the show, it was probably harder for them to look at you as a performer who might go out and do stand up. So that's why your debut was Merve not not, Johnny. Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 5:49 Yeah, and uh, the Tonight Show had come down and have them see me at the bitter end and said I wasn't ready. Pete Fornatale 5:57 You know the person, it wasn't that famous, uh Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 6:00 Schmuck. Pete Fornatale 6:02 No i'm thinking of the NBC guy who's job was basically to take care of Johnny Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 6:07 Somebody once called him David Tibbett RN Pete Fornatale 6:18 standing for Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 6:20 registered nurse. Pete Fornatale 6:21 Oh, oh, actually standing for the real RN. Glen Is this working better for your for your sake, in that segment? Well, I think at the end of that segment, I'm going to ask you about the Rolling Stones, which was not done in the studio, you went on location. Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 6:44 We outsmarted them by going through the garden Pete Fornatale 6:47 was that the 1972 tour? Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 6:49 Never asked me a date Pete Fornatale 6:51 I'm checking with Jenny. I think it must have been okay. Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 6:56 72 Was it in fact? Pete Fornatale 6:57 Yeah. Yeah. And then my memory was that Stevie Wonder opened. Open that tour for them. So that in the third segment, we'll start off with the Stevie Wonder performance that's on the DVD. Which Which one is that Jenny? Pete Fornatale 7:22 Great. I don't think we'll go with that Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 7:28 Wait a minute. Am I on television here? What is this Pete Fornatale 7:37 This is this is a web a web camera. Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 7:40 What is that? Pete Fornatale 7:42 Internet Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 7:43 for the internet. Oh yeah, I just wondering why I didn't have any makeup on. Pete Fornatale 7:48 And the last song in the show should be Bowie because that's the latest. The latest performance was from 74 December 5 74. Bowie performs his 1984 and Young Young Yong Americans, I think will close will close with the Boeing young Americans Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 8:14 Okay Pete Fornatale 8:18 Is that right? wow Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 8:20 That's the one I was trying to think of. Yeah. Pete Fornatale 8:25 What have you done so far? What other things Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 8:29 Linda Hello? Pete Fornatale 8:32 What other what other dates is Dick doing to promote the video? DVD? Pete Fornatale 8:52 Very nice. Pete Fornatale 9:16 We already ran all over DC and Philadelphia. Pete Fornatale 9:20 Do you still have a place in the city or are you mainly on the center? Is it the same place that Woody's former apartment that Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 9:29 oh, yeah, Pete Fornatale 9:30 it is? Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 9:30 How do you know this stuff? Pete Fornatale 9:31 Wow, that's amazing. Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 9:33 One has no secrets left. I've taken the old Woody Allen place in Hollywood they say we've taken the old best wherever you place Harold Flynn place. I'm talking about that to Mike Nichols and he said we've taken the old do grocery place when you when you say your own name, you stress on Ultima. Pete Fornatale 10:01 I stress on on a silent e Fornatale. My son who is who speaks Italian fluently and lived over there for two years, he says Fornatale Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 10:15 Well, sure, that's a beautiful beautiful way Pete Fornatale 10:18 I was Americanized from out of the womb and never you know never bothered Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 10:24 to stress is that that boom. Pete Fornatale 10:27 Pete Fornatale Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 10:31 Oh, that was the part I was looking most forward to Pete Fornatale 10:39 Oh, I see Pete Fornatale Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 10:46 Fornatale rhymes with fornapal. well, you're off the hook. Pete Fornatale 10:55 Do you want to do that first Linda and get it over with if you don't mind. Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 11:00 How do we that doesn't matter where I look. I hope no. Do I get cute or am I anytime? We're Hi, this is Bob join the Peace Corps hope. Hi, this is Pete Cavit and you're listening to Pete Fornatale on mixed bag radio. Wise you are Pete Fornatale 11:30 we're on Alright, let's Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 11:31 Did you catch any of that on the tape? Pete Fornatale 11:36 You know the joke Ready when you are sleeping? Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 11:39 I had it happen to me. Pete Fornatale 11:42 That's good point. Something new that has to be asked at a recession. I have 2:28 and we're going to begin in 10 Dick Cavett (JJ-209) 11:50 Oh my God, what's my name? Pete Fornatale 11:54 Five. I'll tell you