Am I Famous Yet? Memoir of a Working-Class Rock Star

The episode where I am asked repeatedly in broken English about my personal proclivities in a customs holding room at the Milan airport by a member of the uniformed Italian carabinieri gendarmerie. Oh, also, my personal life disintegrates before my eyes on that tour.  

The chapter in which I am threatened with my bodily safety and ultimately my life. And over what? A gig! I also describe my move to New Orleans for college and the musical world that opened for me. 

Jon "Bowzer" Bauman, the lovable bass singer from Sha-Na-Na, recounts our first meeting in his own words.

This episode details my first and second times working with Jon "Bowzer" Bauman from Sha-Na-Na. I discover that I am not "Hershey Happy." I also fear for my life playing a gig in the basement of a New Jersey "legitimate businessman." 

As Bowzer says: "Grease for Peace!"

This episode chronicle the early years, answering the questions: How did I get here? Where did I come from? The music bug first bites me somewhere in my high school years. It turns out that my entire career was the result of the search for free vinyl records.

Solomon Burke was the self-proclaimed King of Rock & Soul. At nearly 500  pounds by the end of his life and as the father of 14 daughters and 7 sons, he was a character of epic proportions. I got to witness some of his legendary shenanigans first-hand. 

The last episode described what happens when everything goes exactly right. This episode illustrates just how tenuous success is by detailing the very next set on the same stage by a different band. The result was both beautiful and terrible to behold.

Most anecdotes are about when things go haywire. This chapter gives an example of what happens when everything works out as planned. At the Tokyo Jazz Festival in front of 5,000 screaming fans, broadcast live on national television, everything went swimmingly. 

Ivan “Funkboy” Bodley is a bass player and music director to the stars. He has performed with 50 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees and appeared in 12 Broadway shows. He has been music director for Sam Moore (Sam & Dave), Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, The Shirelles, The Crystals, The Tokens and has performed with Sting, Elvis Costello, Temptations, Solomon Burke, Ben E. King, Percy Sledge, Eddie Floyd, Rufus & Carla Thomas, Bo Diddley, Buster Poindexter, Uptown Horns, Paul Rodgers, Wynonna Judd, and David Foster.

Appearances include: Carnegie Hall (featured soloist with the Rock Concerto), Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize (with Cracked Ice led by Crispin Cioe), Obama Inaugural Ball featured in the Barry Levinson documentary “Poliwood,” Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Today Show, Emeril Live, Imus in the Morning, Charlie Rose, Live with Regis & Kelly, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Istanbul State Symphony, and Israel Symphony Orchestras.   

Ivan is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of the Berklee College of Music and an inductee into the New York Blues Hall of Fame. To date, he has traveled to 29 countries around the world and played to audiences of up to 82,000 people in performance settings ranging from jazz duos to 150-member symphony orchestras.   

Originally from Chattanooga, TN, Ivan has resided and worked in: New Orleans, Los Angeles, London, Boston, and is now based in New York City. Ivan has a BA in Psychology from Tulane University, where he was Musical Director of college radio station WTUL, New Orleans. He was also a publicist with Epic Records/Sony Music.   

More information is available at www.funkboy.net.   

Ivan “Funkboy” Bodley uses Moxy and Warrior basses, Hartke amplification, DR strings, PRA Audio wireless, and Tech 21, Digitech and Line 6 signal processors. Ivan eats only Little Debbie snack cakes.