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February 5, 2005
Hooty Hoot Glennmovie folks!
I hope all of you had a lovely holiday season and are now sticking to
all of your rockin’ resolutions! I’ve had the same resolution for the
past three years… er… uh… now it’s almost four years: get the movie
out there for the peeps! Well, all I can say is that I’m working like
a little working thing to make this happen. I don’t want to jinx it,
but I actually think you will all get to see the movie in DVD form
before I die or at least before next Christmas! How’s that for
vagueness? I have a feeling that 2005 will bring swell things for
GT fans worldwide! I will of course, keep you posted and you will
be the first to hear any news.
So what’s new? Glenn is touring the
UK and I’d be most grateful if the UK fans could
print out a few flyers or even just one
flyer and take it to the gig to spread the
glennmovie love! The more people on my mailing list, the more
marketable the movie is in terms of proving that there is a built in
audience who are like coiled springs - ready to purchase the flick on
DVD!
Are there going to be any more
screenings? Why yes! I’m dreaming
about having a few screenings in Atlanta, Nashville, Santa Barbara,
the Baltimore/DC area, Austin, TX, and in my hometown of
Dayton, Ohio. The only definite date I have is for the Dayton
screening. Mark your calendars Midwesterners:
The Neon Movies
Saturday, May 7th at 3pm
130 E. 5th Street Dayton, OH 45402
There will be a brief Q and A afterwards. Tickets are $5. No credit
cards accepted.
If you want tickets in advance, you
can mail a check for tickets to:
The Neon Movies
ATTN: Glenn Tilbrook: One For the Road
130 E. 5th Street Dayton, OH 45402
Glenn will not be in Dayton, just in
case you were wondering. Although I know he loves it there! Shout out!
We will make an announcement as well
as post on our screenings page for the
other cities! I also am hoping to show the movie in Austin, TX on
March 13th as part of the
South Slam Film
Festival, but nothing is confirmed yet. I am keeping my fingers
crossed in the hopes that this will happen since a lot of the live
footage was shot at Glenn’s amazing Antone’s gig by many lovely
volunteers! It would be a treat to have the movie play in rocking
Austin! (Glenn and I will not be in Austin for that one, sadly.)
After a very unfun hiatus from steady
employment, I am happy to report that I have secured a job with the
same unnamed company on the same unnamed show that I worked on last
summer. I traveled throughout the Midwest for a month in August,
stopping to meet Glenn fans along the way. (Shout out to girls in
Kentucky!) This time around, I am heading south. Yep, I’m packing my
confederate flag bikini and hoping to get a
rental car with gun rack and I’m heading to Texas and then various
other states to the right hand side. Here are some of the cities to
name a few: Memphis, TN, Nashville, TN, Knoxville, TN, Raleigh/Durham,
NC, Charlotte, NC, Columbia, SC, Marietta, GA, and Atlanta, GA!
Of course, I’m joking about those
southern stereotypes and I’m very much looking forward to
experiencing bits of America that I’m not terribly familiar with. I
managed to hit a few southern states on the road with Glenn, but when
you’re on the road, you’re either driving and concentrating, watching
the inside of your eyelids and catching up on much deprived sleep or
you’re at a gig then back in the RV. I might be able to try and fit in
an Atlanta and Nashville screening toward the end of April, but I’ll
let you know if I’m able to combine business with
glennmovie pleasure!
I am still hawking my companion book
to the movie around to any publisher who will listen. Unfortunately,
most don’t and won’t. I mean, who wouldn’t want to know what it’s like
to tour with your musical hero and then make a movie about him? I
actually got one response from a very well known publisher who said
that they liked my writing style (did they even read it? - I wonder)
but they found the book to be a ‘hard sell’ because ‘books about
celebrities don’t really do well.” That made me laugh! I had another
publishing company say, “… there isn’t enough about what Glenn
thought, his experiences as well as his history with Squeeze.” Well, I
guess that’s because Glenn didn’t write the book. DUH. How does
a first time author get a book published? I see local bookshops
stocked to the gills with loads and loads of books by authors I’ve
never heard of in my life! How did they get there? When I first
started on this crazy journey, I was filled with unyielding confidence
that the world would not be able to contain their excitement at seeing
a movie about Glenn Tilbrook! I mean, I didn’t do a documentary on the
guy in the Hooters for Pete’s sake… it was the guy in SQUEEZE!! Oh
well. Just goes to show you what I know.
Speaking of books, I read a
fantastic, hilarious book over Xmas. It’s called “Killing
Bono” in the States and “I
Was Bono’s Doppelganger” in the UK. I suppose
doppelganger is a big word for us yanks to understand so they had
to come up with a more simplistic title with violent connotations for
us to really get it.
Neil McCormick is the name of the author and the book is
heartbreaking, inspiring, laugh out loud funny as well as an amazing
commentary on the very mercurial nature of the music business. Neil
was school chums with Bono and grew up with the other members of U2.
Neil was in a band as well and the book goes onto explain why all of
you know the name Bono and considerably less of you know the name Neil
McCormick! I know it sounds trite, but I laughed and I cried
throughout the book! If you’re a U2 fan, you’ll love this different
perspective on the band and it’s members. For me, the book was about
following one’s dream and realizing the role of destiny in one’s life
and appreciating the journey rather than obsessing over the
destination. Hmmmm… there’s a lesson in there somewhere.
U2 are gearing up for their
big honkin’ tour and though they are one of my top five fave bands, I have
only seen them live twice and that was in
1987. I remember laughing on
my way to see U2 in Indianapolis. A bunch of us decided to form a rock
caravan and drive in separate cars for the two hour trek to see our
beloved Irish boys. I howled with laughter as my friend Jake drove
past us waving something out of the window. Upon closer inspection it
was a 2 foot long stick with a ‘banner’ attached. The ‘banner’ was
emblazoned with a hastily scrawled U2 . I think it was about the size
of a tissue! A bold statement of solidarity to be sure, but unless
Bono and company had
Six Million Dollar Man like vision, they would probably be unable
to see Jake’s lovely ‘flag’. But it’s the spirit of the event that
counts!
I will leave you with my favorite U2
story of all time. When U2 were touring with their last album “All
That You Can’t Leave Behind”, ticket prices were outrageous for
your average grunt working in television. I simply could not afford
the tickets. In a week long funk before their LA show, my friend Tony
called me from the lobby of a trendy LA hotel and said, “You’ll never
guess who I just saw walk past me!” It turned out to be
Bono. As much
as the teenager inside me wanted to run down and camp out and cling to Bono’s leg, I was a mature 31 and had a steady job and I had no time
for such frivolous activities. So, I thought I’d fax the band at the
hotel to see if they could swing me a ticket. Hey, I have worked in
the music business since I was 17; I know how things work. If you’re a
mate of the band, you get in, right? I thought that maybe faxing Bono
at this LA hotel wasn’t the best idea since everyone on the planet
wants to talk to Bono. I mean, he’s busy saving the world! And I
couldn’t fax Edge because he’s kind of the second most popular guy and
guitar cult hero to millions. I couldn’t fax
Larry Mullen, Jr. because
he’s considered the brooding, foxy guy in the band. That just left me
with one guy to fax. The
Ringo of the
group: Adam! Adam is a groovy guy but surely no one would be sending
stuff to the bass player, right? So I used my TV journalistic skills
to get the unlisted fax number of the hotel and compose the following:
(I’m paraphrasing since it’s been a while)
Dear Adam,
My name is Amy Pickard and I’m currently working for VH1. I’m faxing
because I wanted to know if there is any way that you could give me
a ticket for any of your LA shows. I’m not super connected, I am not
a supermodel, I’m not a cast member on ‘Friends’ and I have no
showbiz pals to hook me up. (Unless you count the guy from Squeeze.
But he can’t hook me up with U2 tix.) I was thinking of camping out
at the hotel for you but I’m far too old to stalk and thought that
faxing you is a great way of maintaining my dignity. I did actually
stalk you back in 1987. I hovered outside the backstage door in
Lexington, KY and saw you guys drive past. Bono ended up coming out
to say hi to us. He was lovely. (A bit short though.) You might
actually remember me. I was the one in the U2 shirt singing “No
war!” I love the new album and would really enjoy seeing you
guys play the new songs live. I’m a huge fan of the band. (I even
liked “POP”!) Feel free to give me a call. I appreciate your
time. Rock On.
Amyx
p.s. You’re my favorite. Don’t tell the others.
The next morning I came into work,
wearing my 1987 U2 concert shirt. (You probably have one too. From the
Joshua Tree tour - the one with the album cover on the front.)
I figured it was my little nod to the band since I wouldn’t be going
to see them later that night. I check my voicemail and there is a
message. The message said, “Hello Amy. This is Adam Clayton and I got
your message. I have tickets and backstage passes waiting for you.
Bye.” Before you get excited, the message was left by what I can only
describe as a twenty year old with a Dick Van Dyke-esque cockney
accent that sounded eerily like my mate from Michigan and one cubicle
over, playing a joke on me. He didn’t even try to sound Irish!!!! I
lived in the UK for seven years, what was he thinking?? I hung up the
phone and said, “Very funny!” The whole office erupted in laughter.
I soldiered through the morning and
my friend Lisa and I decided to go down to the chicken place on Sunset
for lunch. As we were driving along, my cell phone rings. I don’t
recognize the number but answer anyway although I’m distracted because
I’m driving and my friend was talking. I say “Hello” and the caller asks
to speak to Amy Pickard. “Speaking.” “Amy, this is Adam Clayton.” Now,
I’m thinking it’s my friend from work again but the accent is pretty
good. I paused and said, “Nu-huh! No way.” And he said, “Yes it is.
It’s me Adam.” And I said sarcastically, “How do I know it’s you and
not someone from work playing a joke?” And there’s a huge pause. I
imagine that it was because he was thinking of some way to prove it’s
him and I was trying to think of some trivia question to prove it’s
him and then as we both were figuring out how to prove that it was, in
fact, the world’s most popular bass player on the phone with me, he
suddenly sighed into the phone and said exasperated, “Oh, I dunno Amy.
It’s me Adam! I got your fax at the hotel.” Needless to say, it WAS
Adam and my eyeballs nearly popped out of my head and I very nearly
crashed my car.
I’m waving furiously with one hand to
my friend Lisa whilst trying to remain unbelievably nonchalant and
cool on the phone to Adam. Lisa is looking at me like I’m smoking
crack. I keep pointing to my chest… to the picture of Adam on my chest
implying that he is the one I’m talking to. He is the one that is
calling me. She didn’t understand and thought I was just pointing
frantically to my boobs for some unknown reason. I immediately pull
over to the side of the road in order to prevent an accident and I
say, “Oh! It IS you… Um… what’s up Adam. How’s it going?” (I’m so
eloquent in a crisis.) And he said (paraphrasing here since I was in
complete shock), “Look, I got your fax and we thought it was very
funny. I’ve been on the phone all morning and I’ve called around and I
just cannot find anyone with an extra ticket. I’ve tried for hours now
and as you know, LA is a huge industry town and it seems there is a
guest list for the guest list. It’s absolutely mad. But I wanted to
call you and let you know that I did try.” Well, what do you say to
that? I just sort of awwwwed and squealed, “I can’t believe you tried
getting me tickets and that you actually picked up the phone to call
me. That is so unbelievably sweet!” And he said, “Well, your fax was
lovely and I really tried to get you tickets but the good news is that
we’re coming back round in the autumn and I’m sure I can get you on
the list then. It would be lovely to meet you.” Now, I wasn’t thinking
clearly at this point. I didn’t think of saying, “That’s okay, how
about a drink right now! Do you like chicken? Join us for lunch!” or
even “Okay, how do I get a hold of you in the autumn? Or will you call
me?” I simply said, “I’d love that. That is sooooo lovely of you. I’m
just in shock.” And then there was a weird silence because I didn’t
know what to say and maybe he thought I might want to ask him some
groovy esoteric question or something but I just said, “It’s so lovely
of you to call Adam. You’ve made my day! You’re so sweet!” and he
said, “It’s no problem really. You take care of yourself and I’ll see
you in the autumn” Before he hung up, I said, “Adam?…. You really ARE
my favorite!” Adam let out a hearty chuckle and said, “Thanks very
much Amy. Lots of love. Bye!” As soon as I hung up, I screamed to my
friend Lisa, “I can’t *****ng believe it!!! Adam ******Clayton just
******ng called me!!!! That was Adam ****Clayton!!!” Lisa was
convinced it was his assistant or something but I know it was AC. She
still didn’t believe it.
I skipped lunch and just called every
human being I’ve ever met to tell them that Adam Clayton called me. As
it turns out, U2 played LA the following autumn as promised in
November. Sadly, I was on the other side of the country living out a
different dream! I was shooting Glenn for the documentary! I ended up
dedicating the movie to all the musicians who followed their passion,
which helped me follow mine. The first in the credits is of course,
Chris and Glenn, the Beatles, then U2 (especially Adam, my favorite)!
It’s fun to think about what it would have been like to see U2 as AC’s
guest, but I wouldn’t change a thing. Adam, if you’re reading this,
hook a sister up this time round!!!! And, if anyone out there knows
him, tell him to call me again! He’s got the number. Perhaps I could
pitch “One plus Three Others For the Road” to him.
Check out the
merchandise page for some hot new
additions for spring and summer!
I’m going to be on the road for ten
weeks or so but will definitely update the site with screening
information, so please check back frequently!
Take care and maybe I’ll see you on
the road!
Keep Rockin'!
Amyx
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