Friends & Legends with Skip Martin
Host: Skip Martin
Summary:
Skip Martin sits down with his old friend Andre O'Neal, the roadie who says bands make it rock and roadies make it roll. Andre takes us back to the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland, where he worked the stage crew on rock night and jazz night and first watched Kinsman Dazz open for Spyro Gyra and Weather Report. He tells how he quit his job as Blondie's guitar tech at the height of "Call Me" to work for a Cleveland band nobody outside Ohio knew, and how he talked his way onto the crew at a red light. Skip relives the racist hotel clerk in Seaside, California and the one line from Andre that snapped him out of it. Andre reveals he was the man who put in the word that got Skip the Kool & the Gang gig in 1987, and he doesn't hold back on his 26 years with Earth, Wind & Fire. Skip recalls the Statue of Liberty review from Madison Square Garden, the two friends talk about facing cancer with the right frame of mind, and Andre admits the night Midnight Star was so good it made him cry. He signs off with why Debbie Harry and Whitney Houston both greeted him the same way: "You're that guy from Cleveland." And there's plenty more to come, from Prince to INXS.
Main Topics:
Bands make it rock, roadies make it roll
Rock night and jazz night at the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland
Quitting Blondie at the height of "Call Me" for Kinsman Dazz
Talking his way onto the crew at a red light
Platinum rock and roll knowledge in an R&B world
The racist hotel clerk in Seaside, California
26 years with Earth, Wind & Fire, and the meeting with Verdine White
How Andre helped Skip land the Kool & the Gang job
Opening for Kool & the Gang with Let It Whip
"More poses than the Statue of Liberty"
Facing cancer with the right frame of mind
The night Midnight Star made Andre cry
Babyface, the producer behind Midnight Star's sound
Why Debbie Harry and Whitney Houston both knew "that guy from Cleveland"
Intriguing Quotes:
"Bands make it rock, roadies make it roll." - Andre O'Neal
"You act like you never saw a racist before?" - Andre O'Neal, as Skip remembers it
"Handsome, tall, he can play the horn, he can dance and sing. What is there to know?" - Andre O'Neal
"Success is all about access." - Skip Martin
"Just because you get a diagnosis doesn't mean that's a destination. Destination is where your head is at." - Skip Martin
"Midnight Star was so good, I cried." - Andre O'Neal
Key Moments:
[00:00] Skip welcomes Andre O'Neal
[01:29] The Agora Ballroom, Cleveland
[05:44] Guitar tech for Blondie
[06:42] The red light that got him the job
[08:06] Platinum knowledge
[09:23] The racist hotel in Seaside
[12:30] 26 years with Earth, Wind & Fire
[14:09] Andre helps Skip land Kool & the Gang
[15:10] Success is all about access
[16:31] Let It Whip versus Kool & the Gang
[18:53] More poses than the Statue of Liberty
[20:21] Facing cancer
[25:42] The night Midnight Star made him cry
[26:43] Babyface and the Midnight Star sound
[28:47] "You're that guy from Cleveland"
[29:21] Don't play no games
Notable Resources:
The Agora Ballroom, Cleveland, Ohio
Blondie, Eat to the Beat era
The Dazz Band (formerly Kinsman Dazz), "Let It Whip"
Kool & the Gang
Midnight Star
Connect with Skip Martin:
Website: https://www.skipmartinmusic.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/skipmartinmusic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skipmartinmusic/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/skipmartinmusic
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/skipmartinmusic
Watch Every Episode of Friends & Legends with Skip Martin:
YouTube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLV1sm5Ou1dv5BtxzWFV3Wq8jxDi17jNhJ