Reliving My Youth

I catch up with Grammy-Award winner Billy Vera, who has done it all in the music industry. His career spans over 50 years. It didn’t just start with “At this Moment”, which is the most unlikely song to hit number 1, largely in part to Family Ties. Billy still performs with the Beaters. Billy has also done quite a bit of acting, with roles in the cult classic, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, Wiseguy, he had an occurring role of Duke on Beverly Hills, 90210. He’s also preformed the theme songs for two television hits, we will get into that. His autobiography, Harlem to Hollywood was released last year to rave reviews. I listened to the audiobook which Billy narrates. It’s a facinating listen about a fascinating man.

I catch up with actress Vanessa Angel (Kingpin, Spies Like Us), who tells me how she got started in acting. Vanessa was the first choice to play a certain warrior princess, she tells me what happened. We talk about her role as Lisa on the TV version of Weird Science and her cameo on Entourage.

I catch with singer Oleta Adams, who collaborated with Tears for Fears on the Seeds of Love album and toured with them. She did vocals on “Woman in Chains” and Badman’s Song.” Some say it was Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith who discovered Oleta in a Kansas City hotel bar, but that’s not the case. They were just the ones who kept promises. We talk about her time with the band. She was there when the band broke up and her latest release, Third Set, that came out in 2017. The Grammy nominated Oleta had a top-five hit with “Get Here” in 1991.

I catch up with comedian Frank Ford, who is one of the founding members of the comedy group, Four Day Weekend. Frank talks about his comedy influences growing up, how Homer Simpson had a part in the group’s name and how he went from a full-time, six figure job to doing comedy full time. Frank, along with his partners, David Ahearn and David Wilk, wrote the book, Happy Accidents: The Transformative Power of "YES, AND" at Work and in Life.

I catch up with Scott Schwartz (A Christmas Story, The Toy), who tells me how he won over Jackie Gleason on the set of The Toy, if he got all of the jokes from the movie. Scott played Flick in A Christmas Story and tells me how the movie went from a cult classic to iconic status.

I catch up with actor, Dan Lauria, who tells me how he went from the gridiron to the stage and what sitcom star helped him land the role of Jack Arnold on the Wonder Years. We talk baseball and cross off how many different types of coaches he has played in his career.

I catch up with rapper, Positive K, who talks about the lasting impression of “I Got a Man” and who voiced the female track on the song. We also talk about his track on the Beavis and Butthead CD. Positive K joined forces with Greg Nice (Nice & Smooth) to record Gr8te Mindz, we talk about how the collaboration came about.

I catch up with David Ruprecht, the longtime host of Supermarket Sweep, who tells me the differences of filming in a real market and a studio, why his famous sweaters went away and if he’d be interested in hosting the talked about revival. We also talk about his role on Three’s Company. Whose got the Charmin? You’re on!

I catch up with Kurt Maloo, the former lead singer of Double, who had one of the best one-hit wonder songs, not just of the 1980’s, but of all-time with “The Captain of Her Heart.” Kurt tells me his relationship with the song, its path to success and if there are any covers of the song that he likes.

I catch up with Expose’s Ann Curless. The band became the first act to have four top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100 from its debut album. Ann talks about getting involved with Exposè, the band taking a hiatus and going to court, as a group, to fight for the right to use the name Exposè.