Ready for a laugh?

I always wanted to be a rock star. One problem though- I sing like a hinge, and failed to master any usable instrument in a band. If I had the talent, someone else would be playing my songs on Alice.

I did, however, make a music video. When M TV debuted, they obnoxiously predicted music radio's doom. Why just listen when you can watch it? Well, that was tough for people driving cars or not wishing for a bathtub electrocution and last I checked, music radio was doing fine 25 years after MTV's premier.

I was at my grandma's house in central Minnesota a few days before Christmas of 1983, when I had an idea. What about all the great oldies that never had a chance to be made into videos? So when I returned from vacation, I threw that idea out on the air hoping listeners would nominate the song I already had in mind. Great minds think alike and Three Dog Night's "Mama Told me (Not To Come" beat "Judy In Disguise" as the listener's choice. That day, the producers of NBC's PM Magazine called and offered to produce it.

We had weeks of listener auditions and ended up inviting over 100 people with varying and weird skills to participate. I got to play the son of "Mama", who was brilliantly portrayed by long time Miami radio legend Rick Shaw. The video took 3 days to complete and debuted in a half-hour prime time special. We got tons of publicity during the process.

Before you watch this, let me advise that this was made in 1984- a year before I went to rehab. I had just left my lunatic second wife and was under the influence of various substances when this was shot. Considering the success of the project, my bosses were thrilled but said "we could tell you were whacked".

I was. Enjoy it anyway.