Chapter 39

Circle Under

Mon, Aug 17, 1970

Travel Day

If everybody had an ocean

Across the U.S.A.

Then everybody’d be surfin’

Like Californi-a

You’d seen ‘em wearing their baggies

Huarache Sandals too

A bushy bushy blonde hairdo

Surfin’ U.S.A.

You’d catch ‘em surfin’ at Del Mar

Ventura County Line

Santa Cruz and trestle

Australia’s Narabine

All over Manhattan

And down Doheny Way

Everybody’s gone surfin’

Surfin’ U.S.A.

We’ll all be planning that route

We’re gonna take real soon

We’re waxing down our surfboards

We can’t wait for June

We’ll all be gone for the summer

We’re on Surfari to stay

Tell the teacher we’re surfin’

Surfin’ U.S.A.

Haggerties and swamies

Pacific Palisades

San Ano free at sunset

Redondo Beach, LA

All over La Jolla

At Waimia Bay

Yeah, everybody’s gone surfin’

Surfin’ U.S.A.

Everybody’s gone surfin’

Surfin’ U.S.A.

Everybody’s gone surfin’

Surfin’ U.S.A.

Surfin’ U.S.A.

by the Beach Boys

Written by Chuck Berry & Brian Wilson

The Beach Boys had just Performed at Radio City Music Hall. Chip Monck had been telling them about our new C-4 Ads with Bob Seger. He wondered if they would allow us to use their Songs for our Ads also. He told them of us Manufacturing some cool Cars, from Rambler, Jeep, Porsche. Fiat, Ferrari & Mercedes. Chip had been the Lighting Director for the Fillmore East, in NYC, then the Woodstock Festival, as well as doing the MC Duties there, making most of the Audience Announcements at Woodstock, introducing the Bands.

I had asked him to manage our new/old Radio City Music Hall, as I couldn’t think of a better choice.

The Beach Boys loved the fact that we were using the complete Song, as the Ad would really be remembered, being over 1 Minute long. They said they wanted to be a part of our Ad mix. They even rewrote some Lyrics to include our new Car Makes, doing so during their RCMH Sound Checks, which were Recorded.

We would soon mix them in, as they had some classic songs, most involving Cars:

1. Surfin’ Safari, 1962, 2:09, Written by Brian Wilson & Mike Love

2. Surfin’ U.S.A., 1963, 2:29, Written by Brian Wilson & Chuck Berry

3. Little Deuce Coupe, 1963, 1:40, Written by Brian Wilson & Roger Christian

4. Shut Down, 1963, 1:52, Written by Brian Wilson & Roger Christian

5. I Get Around, 1964, 2:15, Written by Brian Wilson & Mike Love

6. Fun, Fun, Fun, 1964, 2:21, Written by Brian Wilson & Mike Love

7. Help Me, Rhonda, 1965, 2:49, Written by Brian Wilson & Mike Love

8. Barbara Ann, 1966, 2:09, Written by Fred Fassert

9. Good Vibrations, 1966, 3:37, Written by Brian Wilson & Mike Love

Damn, it would have been awesome to be Holed Up in Brian Wilson’s Room, with him. What a talent he was, but he was also nutty as hell.

From now on, we would try to get with Groups ahead of time, at the start of their 6-Day Gigs at Radio City. If they allowed it, we would take their best couple Songs, quickly mixing them with our Videos, in time to Broadcast for that week’s Sunday Night at Radio City Ads. C-4 & Radio City would soon became synonymous with each other.

My Directors, often used things mentioned in the Songs, to include in their Videos. I was hoping to include Paul Simon’s best Songs, from his Simon & Garfunkel days. If we Filmed Bridge Over Troubled Waters, I wanted to have Shots of many famous Bridges, including those in NYC: Brooklyn, Manhattan, Throgs Neck, Triborough, George Washington, Verrazano Narrows. Add in the Golden Gate, in San Fran too.

Hey, how about the Short Film of Galloping Gertie, what the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge was being called. The Narrows was a Wind Tunnel, & the Engineers didn’t allow for it. Gertie would twist when Gusts hit it. It finally gave way, taking Abandoned Cars with it. One Dog, who wouldn’t let them get him out, as it was freaking out, also went down with the Car he was in. It was a Photographer’s Cocker Spaniel, named Tubby.

The Bridge had just Opened, Jul 1, 1940, & collapsed, Nov 7, 1940, a colossal Fail. Because of WW2, it wasn’t Rebuilt until 1950, really fuking Tacoma, because any way you went, you had to take a Ferry.

Anyway, if we would use Galloping Gertie collapsing, to close out the Ad, it would be cool, really memorable, our main goal.

We had a big Audience each Sunday Night, because it was fast becoming THE place to be from 9-11pm, Sunday Nights.

The Ed Sullivan Show, was on before us, from 8-9pm, which was the perfect Lead-In for us.

We replaced 2 Shows, that would find new Homes on CBS, the Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, from 9-10pm & the Tim Conway Hour, from 10-11pm.

We were going up against Bonanza on NBC, From 9-10pm, but Bonanza was showing its age by then. From 10-11pm, on NBC, was The Bold Ones.

The ABC Sunday Night Movie, was our other competitor.

Let’s just say that the cool People were watching CBS on Sunday Nights, Ed Sullivan, then Sunday Night at Radio City. We owned Sunday Nights, which brought great joy to Bill Paley, CEO of CBS, my good friend, Bike Buddy & Partner in Top-5.

Tue, Aug 18, 1970

Regular Season, Game 118, at Minnesota Twins. (Nite) We Lost 7-8.

John Kay & Steppenwolf & Deep Purple, Day 1 of 6 @ Radio City Music Hall, NYC, 8pm.

After we took over Control of G&W, we Moved most of the Personal of Paramount Pictures Studios out of the G&W Building, moving them back to Paramount’s 1st HQ, in the Paramount Building.

The G&W Building, was located at Columbus Circle, at the confluence of Broadway, 8th Ave-Central Park West, & 59th St-Central Park South. It’s old Address was 15 Columbus Circle. When reopened, it became, 1 CPW.

The Paramount Building, is in the heart of Times Square, 1501 Broadway, @ 7th Ave, between 43rd St & 44th St. It was 36 Blocks SE along Broadway, from the G&W Building, to the Paramount Building.

We were still Selling Off most of the G&W Conglomerate. We had already broken even, being left with the G&W Building, not to mention Paramount Pictures Studios. It was all just Paper, but after all the Dust settled, we basically got both of them for free.

That was awesome, but spending any time in the G&W Building during any kind of Wind, made you almost Queasy, it twisted so much.

Fuk Trump would close it down, years later, gutting it to its core, then Rebuilding it from scratch. It would reopen with 44 Floors, with a Hotel on Floors 1-16, with 168 Hotel Suites, with either 1, 2 or 3-Bedrooms.

Above that would be Condos.

Even though the G&W Building had just opened that year, 1970, I wanted to close it now, not later.

We had gotten the Building for free, plus we didn’t need it for Offices, as, we still had room to expand in the old Paramount Building.

When we did max it out, across 44th St, at 1515 Broadway, Astor Place, was under Construction, about to Open in 1971. After I checked on it, I was pleasantly surprised that my old Pal, Gavin Astor’s Family Owned it.

When I called about it, he got all excited like. Sure enough, he showed up in NYC that night, taking a NetJets Gulfstream 2, within the hour of my call. He begged me to HQ T-SqFilm&TV there, once it was completed.

Astor Place, once Open, would be the HQ for WT Grant, but Gavin thought they were shaky, besides, Astor Place was still 1/3 Empty, so he was eager to fill it with us. It would open May 26, 1971, being 54 Floors tall.

I didn’t micromanage, but I’m pretty sure we got a reasonable Lease, when we Moved T-SqF&TV’s HQ Offices there. Gavin showed us plans for an Office Suite, that took up 2 Whole Floors, with a beautiful Spiral Staircase connecting them. They were Floors 33 & 34. We Signed a Long-Term Lease that day, as that would become T-Sq’s new HQ Office. I could eventually see us maxing out both the old Paramount Building, as well as the new Astor Plaza. That would take years though.

Wed, Aug 19, 1970

Regular Season, Game 119, at Minnesota Twins. (Nite) We Lost 0-3.

John Kay & Steppenwolf & Deep Purple, Day 2 of 6 @ Radio City Music Hall, NYC, 8pm.

Recently, I had asked my Partners, if they knew of a Mid-Level Exec at General Electric, GE, named Jack Welch. None had, so I asked D-Rock to reach out to him, asking him to Dinner one night, which was tonight.

I had told the Top-5, that I’d heard someone talk about Jack once, remembering his name.

As Ralf, I knew he’d go on to Control GE, Blasting it into the Stratosphere of the Business World. He took over GE in 1981, but I wanted him to be CEO of Top-5, now in 1970, when he was only 34yo.

Jack walked to The Plaza, after Work, from his Office in the GE Building, 570 Lexington Ave, a few blocks away. My kind of guy. I bet he’d love our Bike Rides too.

We had our Sunset Tower Chef in town, just to impress Jack. Mario put on a nice spread, as usual.

We mapped out what-all Top-5 was up to, then we asked Jack to tell us about himself. We basically wanted to know everything he’d learned so far at GE. We didn’t want any Secret Info, we just wanted to get a feel for him.

We were amazed at how quickly Jack picked up on a new Concept, flushing it out, then re-presenting the Concept Fully Formed, in just a minute or 2. We loved that, as we were adding Units at an almost alarming rate. We needed a strong Leader, which apparently Jack was, In Spades. The only drawback I saw, was when Jack gained Control of GE, it was his Policy to Fire the Bottom 10% of his Managers every year. If your Division was in the Dumps, you went bye-bye. I wanted to temper that some, as there could be valid reasons for the loss. Jack was ruthless, & didn’t care. It sure got everyone’s attention though.

Thur, Aug 20, 1970

Regular Season, Game 120, at Minnesota Twins. (Nite) We Won 4-3.

John Kay & Steppenwolf & Deep Purple, Day 3 of 6 @ Radio City Music Hall, NYC, 8pm.

I was giddy, thinking of our Repurposing of the G&W Building. It would have a new Westin Hotel, Floors 1-16, with a Total of 168 Suites.

Floors 17-44, would be Whole-Floor Apartments. I wanted to keep them as Apartments, so we could keep Control better.

In the Basement area, was a Major Subway Entrance, I wanted to start a cool Jazz & Blues Club down there too. I thought we could call it the Circle Under Jazz & Blues Club. Circle Under, because it was under Columbus Circle, duh.

I reached out to these awesome Performers, to be my Partners in the Club, some were just starting out, others already seasoned.

1. Woody Allen, 34yo, was a famous amateur Jazz Clarinet Player, living for it. I thought he’d draw a hip crowd. He loved my offer, as we had already hung out some, because he was a regular at our Paris Theatre, across 58th St, from The Plaza.

2. Willie Dixon, 55yo, the Master. I would invite him the following week, when he Performed at Radio City. He would love the idea, & would move into The Plaza that night, becoming a fixture at the Oak Bar, where the Circle Under Club, would have its temporary Home. He lived with us in NYC, until he left us to continue his Celestial Journey, in 1992, 22 years later. Willie was a prolific Song Writer, as well as Muddy Water’s Long-Time Bass Player.

3. B.B. King, 44yo, was pure class. He would eventually open his own Club in NYC, but this would be awesome for now. He would Play Lucile.

4. Buddy Guy, 34yo, had been around since 1959. Buddy was a great Blues Guitarist, being a favorite of Eric Clapton, high praise.

5. Dave Brubeck, 49yo, was a well known NYC Jazz Piano Player, who was very prolific, Gigging every night somewhere. He was like my pal, Jerry Garcia. Dave was the King of Cool Jazz.