Poorman’s 15 Minutes of Fame: Tommy James, of Tommy James and The Shondells

Poorman’s 15 Minutes of Fame: Tommy James, of Tommy James and The Shondells

“[I thought this was pretty interesting, you know, that at one point in your career the Mafia was involved somehow] Well, the bottom line was that we signed with Roulette Records and we wrote a book about it, which is going to be a movie called Me, The Mob, and The Music. And the bottom line is that Roulette, in addition to being a functioning record company and a label and a pretty good one, it was also a front for the Genovese crime family in New York. And of course we didn't know that when we signed and we learned that incrementally and we spent a lot of time pretending. We didn't see the things we saw and it's all in the book and soon to be a movie. And so we were very fortunate to make it out of there in one piece. “ — Tommy James, of Tommy James and The Shondells

Poorman’s 15 Minutes of Fame: Al Jardine, The Beach Boys co-founder

“[On bumping into Brian Wilson at El Camino College, sneaking into the music room to play folk songs, and then starting a band together] And we bumped into each other on campus. Basically, we hadn’t seen each other since high school and I said, hey Brian, we’ll start a group, and let’s go and let’s do some music together. And then we walked down the pathway into various classes. Afterwards we met up and we found a music room. The music teacher came in and kicked us out. Yeah, so we went, so we found another place to go and then after that, Brian said, you know what? I’m gonna introduce you to my brothers and my cousin and Carl is really great, he plays guitar and Mike has a really great baritone, or something to that effect. And so sure enough, we all met up at his place in Hawthorne.” — Al Jardine, Co-founder of The Beach Boys

Poorman’s 15 Minutes of Fame: N.B. The PoorDad, World War II Vet, on 11/11/2025

[You know, it's Veterans Day, as you know, right? Right. And N.B., World War II veteran, my dad, 102 years young, Yeah, I appreciate you coming on. What are you having for breakfast?] For breakfast, I'm having cream of wheat, prunes, and figs. And a shot of Jack Daniels. No, I think not. I was a scotch drinker. But I also liked cold beer. And I guess you knew I had a wine cellar I made in the wall. And I had One time six hundred bottles of different wines I collected Either I stopped drinking Or Or or I stole them from the wine cellar I got a lot of those bottles. I'm the guy. —N.B. The PoorDad, World War II Veteran on 11/11/2025

Poorman’s 15 Minutes of Fame: Gino Vannelli (Rock Singer/Songwriter)

“So by the time I was eight or nine, I was listening to Miles and John Coltrane and whatnot. So that was a big influence on me. To the point where when I was a kid, nine or ten years old, I was a drummer playing in one of the top clubs in Montreal, in the relief band for one of these big jazz clubs.” — Gino Vannelli (Rock Singer/Songwriter)

Poorman’s 15 Minutes of Fame: Red Hot Chili Peppers 1988 Interview

“[You guys have actually gotten naked on the stage when you played, is that right?] Well, see, it’s our feeling that nakedness is an expression of freedom. And we like to promote freedom in the world. And so we feel that by taking off our clothes that we show a representation of naked freedom.”— Anthony and Flea, Red Hot Chili Peppers Interview, 1988