Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - 43. Bobby Rydell

Episode Date: March 22, 2015

The pride of South Philadelphia, former teen idol Bobby Rydell joins Gilbert and Frank at the Friars Club's George Burns Room to talk about his early days as a drummer, his hit records "Swinging School," "Wild One" and "Volare" and his memorable role as Ann-Margret's lovesick boyfriend Hugo Peabody in the movie musical "Bye Bye Birdie." Also, Bobby opens for Joey Bishop, tours with the Everly Brothers, shares a drink with Ol' Blue Eyes and inspires the Beatles' classic "She Loves You." PLUS: Crazy Guggenheim! Clem Kadiddlehopper! Bobby plays the legendary Copa! John Wayne meets the Son of God! And Guy Marks steals Uncle Miltie's thunder! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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for the love of God. Hi, I'm Gilbert Gottfried. This is Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast, and I'm here with my co-host, Frank Santopadre. If you're familiar with the stage musical or the movie Grease, then you're also familiar with Rydell High, which was named after today's guest, former teen idol Bobby Rydell. We sat down with Bobby in the George Burns room at the Friars Club,

and we chatted about his hit songs like Volare and Wild One, and about working with people like Red Skelton and Milton Berle. And yes, Milton Berle's penis did come up in conversation. And about his role as Hugo Peabody in Bye Bye Birdie, not to be confused with Mr. Peabody in Problem Child. And of course, me being the deviant I am, I asked him if he ever got extra friendly with Ann-Margret, although I didn't use the term extra friendly. So here's our interview with musical icon Bobby Rydell. Hi, I'm Gilbert Gottfried, and this is Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast.

I'm here with my co-host, Frank Santapadre. Our guest today is a celebrated singer-actor and former teen idol. He's recorded 34 top hits, including Kissing Time, Volati, and the number one single, Wild One. He worked with Jack Benny, Dick Clark, Red Skelton, Joey Bishop, and Perry Como, and was a regular on the Milton Berle Show. In addition, he was playing with Ann-Margret. Not playing with Ann-Margret, but he was a longtime suffering boyfriend, Hugo Peabody, with Ann-Margaret in the classic movie, Bye Bye Birdie. Welcome to Pride of South Philly, Bobby Rydell.

I show up five minutes late. Bobby Rydell takes my fucking job. Did his own intro. Don't blame me. It's 57th Street. What a mess. Holy jeez. Well, I'm used to people stealing my voice by now.

It's great. I love it. I love it. The one thing, because as you had on the show some time ago, Frankie Avalon, a very dear friend, and I started to do one of the jokes that you did, and Frankie just went crazy. And the joke was, so this guy goes to the doctors, and and the doctor said I got bad news you got cancer and Alzheimer's disease and the guy says thank God I don't have cancer And Frankie fell down. Now, tell us who told and how he told you. No, no, no, no, no.

You know, because I love you, Gilbert. And I just went on YouTube, you know, and you do something like 10 jokes. And the one with the cancer and the Alzheimer's disease, you know, that one stood out to you. Oh, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So I did that for Frankie Avalon. But I heard Frankie Avalon, after he did the show, he was raving to you. Oh, he loved doing the show with you.

And Frankie said to me, you've got to do it. You've got to do Gilbert's radio show. And I said, great, I'll try and get in touch with him. I'll call Dick Fox, my manager, and see if he can arrange something. And here we are. That's a pretty good impression. I have to tell you, Bob, it's pretty good. You started out doing impressions. Before we turned on the mics, we were talking about Crazy Guggenheim, one of your early

impressions. Originally, the character was John L.C. Savoni. Then when he went on to the Gleason Show, he became Crazy Guggenheim, you know. But, yeah. Okay, here. Yes. Hiya, Joe. Hi.

No, I'm crazy. Oh, wait, wait. Hiya, Mr. Donaghy. Hey, crazy. It's Crazy Guggenheim. Hi, Joe. How's everything doing? That may be the best one I've seen. one I've seen. You know, Joe, I was reading this magazine, you know, American's

magazine, and it was talking about Christopher Columbus. And he was really terrific. His mother said, hey, Chris, what are you doing around the house? Why don't you go out and get a job? He says, all right,

mom, I think I'll go discover America. Bob, he says, all right, Mom, I think I'll go discover America. That's Frank Fontaine I've heard. Yeah, it's Tom Leopold. You know who does a great Fontaine? Who's that? Steve Lawrence. Does he?

He's wonderful. We've got to get Steve for the show. Oh, you have to get Steve, yeah. He's wonderful. You started out, I think your father and your parents would take you to shows. Correct. That's right, Gilbert. If I had any talent within me whatsoever, my dad was the first one to see it.

And he used to take me around to local clubs in Philadelphia, CR Club, 2-4 Club, BR Club, Sciolis, Palumbos, RDA Club. And my father would say, would you mind if my son got up and sang a song and did a few impersonations? And when your father was in the Army, your mother used to write letters. That's right. Yeah, you'd send letters. My mother would write to my father, and he was overseas in Persia, I believe, at the time. And my mother said in the letter to my father, she said, the baby's always singing.

I'm three years old at the time. And my father wrote back, and to this day I still have the letter. And he wrote back to my mother, and he said, well, who knows, Jenny? Maybe we'll have a star in the family. So that was like 1943. No, no, excuse me, 45. And you, he wanted to buy you, you were interested in playing drums. Well, the reason that that happened, I think I was about five years old, six years old,

and we had a theater in Philly called the Earl Theater. It used to bring in all the big bands, Dorsey, Tex Penike, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman. One Saturday afternoon, he took me to see the Benny Goodman Band, and who was playing drums for Benny Goodman was Gene Krupa. And I said to my father, I don't know who he is, Daddy, but I want to be him. I want to be just like him. And I started playing drums at around five, six years old. And how was your father able to afford the drums? Well, actually, we went to a pawn shop. We went to a pawn shop first. He bought me my first set of drums called Revere drums. They were terrible drums, but it was a drum set. And I'm like, you know, six years old. And then my father was working for a company called the Electronite Carbon Company in Philadelphia,

and he was working on a punch press. And he cut his middle finger off, and they gave him a bonus. And that became my first real set of drums. And it was William F f ludwig black oyster pearl the same set that ringo played with the beatles wow yeah same set well not the same set but the same back back then you lost a finger they gave you a couple of bucks yeah that's what happened yeah no pressure to stay with the drums until my father had to beat a middle finger

so go figure you know happened. No pressure to stay with the drums. Until my father had to be the middle finger. So go figure, you know. Well, to this day, my dad said he wasn't really all that big. So I guess the middle finger, you know, kind of, you know, it missed somehow. So you started out as a drummer? Basically, yeah. I started out as a drummer. And matter of fact, Avalon called me. And it was a place in Bay Shores, Summers Point, New Jersey. And Frankie was with a group called Rocco and the Saints. And he called me up and he said, our drummer is sick. Could you come in, sit in and play? And I went there, sat in, got out from behind the drums, sang some songs, and a guy who was a bass player for a band called Billy Duke and the Dukes, his name was Frankie Day, his real name Francesco Cocchi, and I'm 15 years old, Gilbert, and he

says, I'd like to manage you. I said, I don't know what the hell you're talking about. Talk to my father. And my dad was there, and Frank said, I think your son has talent. I'd like to see if I can do anything with him. And we just shook hands, and that was, oh, I guess around 1956. And then you got on a talent show. And then you got on a talent show. Well, I was 10 years old at the time, and it was called the Paul Whiteman TV Teen Club. And it was a young show that gave amateur talent a chance to get a break in the business. And I went on the show doing Sammy Davis's version of Because of You, where one side he did actors doing singers, and the B side of the record he did singers doing actors. And I did the actors doing singers, you know,

and to the song of Because of You. Can I put you on the spot? Well, let me see if I remember it, my God. Well, like, you know, say it was Cagney, you know. Well, because of you, there's a song. It's like that. I only live for your love and your kiss. What was the Sammy? I just hurt myself.

What was the Sammy impression? What was the what? There was a Sammy. Oh, no, no, there was no Sammy. At the end of the record. Oh, I got it. On the B side of the record, Sammy says, and now this is me. Because of you, my life is now worthwhile.

But he does all of the characters. It was you impersonating Sammy impersonating famous people. Exactly. I assume you probably did a John Wayne or something or a Bogart. Well, I'll tell you, Pilgrim. I didn't do John Wayne on that. That was good. Did Frank do his Wayne thing for you?

Oh, yeah, he did. Because he was in the Alamo. Well, yeah, Frankie, that was his first motion picture, the Alamo. We did dueling Lagosies. That's right. That's right. Remember that.

That's right. No, Frankie, he's funny. You know, he's funny. He says to me, Bobby, you do great impersonations. And I say, Frank, you know, you're not too shabby yourself. And he says, I do an impersonation that nobody does. And I said, who's that, Frank? And he said, Ed Wynn.

I said, Ed Wynn. I said, Ed Wynn. And we were leaving a restaurant in Cleveland, my drummer, myself, Frankie, and his wife, Kay. I said, Ed Wynn? And he just went like this. Do you know my son, Kenan? And I fell down, man. He's funny, man. You're the third person to do Kenenan Wynn because Frankie did it and Chuck McCann did it. Oh, Chuck McCann did it as well?

He did a Keenan Wynn for us, yes. And it was hilarious. It was absolutely hilarious. And the thing he told me about John Wayne was in the movie The Greatest Story Ever Told when he's a Roman, right? Soldier looking up at Jesusesus christ on the cross and his line is well i guess he really is the son of god and the director whoever the director was at the time okay duke is lighting his thunder action and wayne looks up at j Jesus Christ and he says, well, I guess he really is the son of God. No, Duke, cut, cut, cut.

I mean, you know, any John Wayne movie, you know, if it was The Quiet Man, well, that's a good stretch of the legs. You know, that's the way the man talks. So you won the talent show with Paul Blythman? Yes, I did. Yes, I became a regular on the show at 10 years old and was involved with production numbers. And the sponsor of the show was Tootsie Roll. And I won on the show. I think I still have some Tootsie Rolls left from when I was 10 years old.

A little hard, but they're still good. And I became a regular. And then at 11 years old. A little hard, but, you know, they're still good. And became a regular. And then at 11 years old, the show went off the air. And I was out of a job. Now, when did you get on the Red Skelton show? Let's see. I must have been, I guess, maybe 20 years old. And he was just marvelous, Gilbert.

He was really super fine. And I think I did somewhere in the vicinity of 12 shows with Mr. Skelton. And Cecil Barker, who was the producer, said, I understand that you do an impersonation of Red, one of his characters. I said, yeah, I do Clem Cadiddlehopper. And Red was off with the David Rose Orchestra rehearsing something, and Cecil Barker said, can I hear something? And I said, you know, I started going,

do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do, you're there, boy, you're there. And Red overheard me, and he started talking back to me as Clem Cadiddlehopper. And I was the only character, the only person on Red's show to mimic one of his characters. And the episode was Clem Cadiddlehopper, and I played his cousin Zeke Kididdlehopper. And he kind of like took me under his wing because he lost his son Richard at 15 years old via leukemia. And for some reason or another, he just treated me like his son. He was wonderful, just wonderful to work with. Let's take it back a little bit.

Bob, you were working with Rocco and the Saints at this point. Yeah. Because Frankie brings you into the band. Correct. I just filled in, you know, filled in for a drummer who was sick. You filled in, and you get a manager out of the experience. I get a manager out of the experience. And what happened then?

Well, like I said, the man's name was Frankie Day. You said, talk to my dad. I know nothing about this. I don't know what you're talking about, being my man. I'm 15, 16 years old, you know, so we shook hands. My father and Frankie Day shook hands. No contract? No contract. Just a handshake. And Frankie took me around to a lot of, you know, the record companies, me around to a lot of, you know, the record companies, Columbia, RCA, Capitol, you know, and they were all turndowns. And, you know, I was kind of getting frustrated at the time. And then our last thing to do was to go back home to Philadelphia and audition for a label called Cameo. And the owner of the label was a man by the name of Bernie Lowe. And when I was

on the Paul Whiteman show when I was 10 years old, he was the piano player for the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. Okay. So I don't know if he remembered me from back then when I was 10 and I auditioned with the gentleman and we sang a song called Buddies. And nothing ever happened, but I got a phone call from Frankie Day saying that Bernie would like to sign you, meaning me, to Cameo. Wow. Now, like I said, at that time I was close to 17 years old. And I recorded three songs for Cameo, and they all bombed. They did nothing whatsoever.

And I started saying to myself, you, and they all bombed. They did nothing whatsoever. And I started saying to myself, you know, we tried every other record company. Now we're here locally in Philadelphia. Three records did nothing. I was really happy playing drums, you know. So that's what I, you know. You would have been happy with that. Oh, I would have been extremely, extremely happy playing drums. I was pretty good.

I was a pretty good player to the point where my teacher in Philadelphia, a man by the name of Sam D'Amico, said, I can't teach you anymore. He says, if you want to study anymore, you're going to have to go to New York City and study with like Sam Ulano or people like that. I said, no, man. I'm done studying, man. I want to play. I just want to play, man. Dang, dang, dang, dang. I just want to play, man. I'm done studying, man. I want to play. I just want to play, man. Dang, dang, dang, dang, dang. I just want to play, man. I'm done studying. And lo and behold, after the three records, Bernie Lowe, Cal Mann, and Dave Apple write a song called Kissin' Time,

which became my first hit the summer of 1959. I was 17 years old at the time. And that was it. And as they say, the rest is history. The rest is history. How many records approximately did Kissin' Time sell? A lot. It wasn't a million seller, but I guess it was somewhere in the vicinity of a half a mil. And I remember the first three records that all bombed, Bernie Lowe took them to Dick Clark at the time when he had American Bandstand, which emanated 46th and Market Street in Philadelphia, West Philadelphia.

And Dick turned the three records down. And basically they were all dubs, acetates at the time. And then Bernie took Kissin' Time and Dick put the needle down and he said, that's a hit. And then I appeared on the Dick Clark show. And of course, back then it was like 3.30 to 5 o'clock in the afternoon across the country, you know, from New York to Los Angeles. And once the record was played on Dick Clark, bang, you know, became a big success for me. And that was my very first hit record.

And so now was the beginning of your teen idol. Yeah. Now, when did you – you were going out with a girl at the time. Yes, I was, yeah. And you were told to keep hush-hush about that. Right, because you figured back then, you know, there was myself and Avalon and Fabian and Paul Anka. You had the Everly brothers, of course, Presley, you know.

And my manager said, you know, you can't be seen with a girl because there's a lot of fans out there who think they may have a shot, you know, at a Bobby Rydell. And my wife, she passed away in 2003 via breast cancer. We were married 36 years and she was a wonderful woman. So anytime we were out together, she came to see me at a concert. She was always introduced as, oh, this is Bobby's cousin, Camille, or this is Bobby's friend. And it was never like... Amazing. You had to look available. Well, you know.

Part of the marketing. I met Camille prior to me, you know, becoming successful. I was 15 years old at the time. And 10 years later, we got married. And it was a great 36 years. She was a great, great lady. Why does so many, we asked Frankie this, why does so many teen idols seem to come out of that part of the country? I always said.

I always said there was a water trough on Nathan Dickinson. And if you put your feet in it, you became a dancer. If you put, if you drank out of it, you became a singer. If you put your feet in your mouth and you drank it, then you became a singer and a dancer. If you put, if you drank out of it, you became a singer. If you put your feet in your mouth and you drank it, then you became a singer and a dancer. Who the hell knows? I don't know why so many people, but it is amazing. I mean, uh, well, you and Frankie and James Darren and James Darren, I was on 11th street. James Darren was on 10th street. Fabian lived a half a block away from me on 11th street. and Frankie was on 9th Street.

We love the Fabian story Frankie told us about. The thing with the ambulance, I mean, how he was first discovered. Are you sure he wasn't talking about me? No, he was talking about the kid that was sitting on the stoop. Well, that was Frankie's first manager, and Fabian's first manager was a guy by the name of Bob Marcucci. Sure. And Bob just happened to be driving on 11th Street. Yeah, exactly.

The movie The Idol Maker. And he happened to be driving on 11th Street, and there was Fabian. Yeah. Sitting on a stoop. And he just decided to look to the kid and said, that's a... He was a good-looking guy. That's a teen idol. Oh, my God.

I think he was like 15 years old. Tremendous looking. Don't look too good now. But, and Morikuchi said, you know, I'd like to manage you and have you record a record. And Fabian said something like, can I make money, you know, doing this? And the guy said, absolutely. Bob Morikuchi said, absolutely. Ba-da-boom. The ambulance, you know, I, in 2012, July 9th of 2012, I went through a double transplant.

I had a new liver and a new kidney. And then 2013, I had a double bypass, right? And Fabian would say, you know, during the show, the Golden Boys, which is Avalon, Fabian, and me, he said, I think Bobby's here. He said, I saw the ambulance parked outside. That's funny. The version, I think, if I have the story right, that Frankie told us was that Fabian was sitting on a stoop, that somebody had had a – Dick Fox is here, and he's nodding. Yes, that's the true story. Was it Fabian's uncle or dad or his father?

Oh, his father. Right. Oh, okay. All right. And the kid was sitting on the stoop looking kind of concerned or – For his dad. Yeah. Yeah.

And then Marcucci spotted him and said, that's a face. I can make a star out of this kid. You know, I didn't know about the ambulance. I'm awfully sorry about that. Yeah, but, and Fave's father was a Philadelphia cop. He was a cop for a lot of years. Okay, tell us about Jack Benny. Always fascinated about Jack Benny.

Jack Benny, I did his TV show, and of course, like, I had lines, dialogue, you know, with Mr. Benny, and he kind of took a liking to me, and then I traveled around. I traveled around as an opening act for Jack Benny, and we did a lot of the theaters in California and Palm Springs, Phoenix, Arizona, you know. You know, I was very, very fortunate, Gilbert, to be able to work with people like Benny and George Burns and Red Skelton, Perry Como, Milton Berle. And my first appearance in Las Vegas was with George Burns. I'm 19 years old, maybe 18. And we did a soft shoe together to Some of These Days. And, you know, George would do it like he would sing, Some of these days, these days, you're going to miss it. And I did it like a Bobby Darin thing.

Some of these days. And then we'd go into a soft shoe, the old and the young, with a derby, cane, and sand on the floor, on the stage floor, you know, just doing a soft shoe. Can you do some of George Burns telling a joke? I can't do Burns. I can't do Burns. Benny? Benny, I...

Well, no, I... And it's come full circle because we're in the George Burns room right now at the Friars Club. That's right. We should point out. Tell us about the pompadour in the teen idol days. Bobby, you had a famous one. Oh, I did. I had a lot of hair back then.

Where'd it come from? Where'd it come from? Was it your head? I put a little oil, I put a Brylcreem, and the thing grew. I mean, was it part of the whole, was it part of the image making? Well, we all had hair back then. All of the guys, you know, from South Philadelphia, we had hair, you know. And I had a big, big pompadour, you know.

And now it's gone. Now I carry one that's portable. It's nice. This is a portable hairpiece I carry around. Yeah, it is a good one. I heard Frankie Avalon, because you had the pompadour and you were really skinny at the time. Yes, I was. He had a nickname for you.

I forget how. It's in Italian. It means pipe cleaner. I was so thin. cleaner. I was so thin. He said, one time Bobby and I were running for the bus and Bobby stepped on a piece of chewing gum, never made the bus. Never made the bus. You know what's cute about a hairpiece? When I went through my double transplant, of course, I'm in the hospital. I don't have my hair on. And oh, six, seven, eight months, whatever it was later, we're doing some venues in Florida, Frankie, Avalon, and Fabian. And then we do a meet and greet, right?

And there's an elderly lady who maybe was, I would say, 68 years old. She came in the back with some old pictures and some old 45s. And she said, oh, Bobby, she said, I'm so happy. You know, God bless you. You came through the surgery, you know, and everything is wonderful. I said, thank you. That's very sweet. She says, may I ask you a question? I said, absolutely. She said, I didn't know they shaved your head for transplant surgery. She said, I didn't know they shaved your head for transplant surgery. I swear to God. And I looked at her.

I said, sweetheart. I said, this is a hairpiece. She looked at me and she went, no, it's not. I said, you want me to take it off? I'll take it off. All of the guys back in the neighborhood had, you know, great hair. Great hair. Great hair.

This episode is brought to you by FX's The Bear on Disney+. In Season 3, Carmi and his crew are aiming for the ultimate restaurant accolade, a Michelin star. With Golden Globe and Emmy wins, the show starring Jeremy Allen White, Io Debrey, and Maddie Matheson is ready to heat up screens once again. All new episodes of FX's The Bear are streaming June 27, only on Disney+. Tell us a little bit about touring with the Everly Brothers. You were just a kid. I only did one appearance with the Everly Brothers,

and that was my first time in Sydney, Australia. Australia. And we worked the Sydney Stadium and we did Sydney, we did Melbourne, we did Adelaide, we did Brisbane, we did Perth. And they were absolutely wonderful. How old were you? Let me see. I was

18 years old. Wide-eyed kid from Philly. Now you're in every city in Australia. Here I am in Australia, yeah. And I was there just this past February, and that was my 23rd visit to that marvelous country. Wow. All right. You know, I have really a good fan base here. But Australia, I mean, when you get into oldies, they are right on top of everything.

I mean, they are tremendous. They don't forget. They don't forget anything. And, you know, I'd be in the audience and there's signs. Make signs. Bobby, you came back like a boomerang, mate. You know? Good on you, mate.

I love you. And it's, I don't know what it is, but it's always been wonderful for me. Gilbert's big in Melbourne, aren't you, Gil? Yes. Are you really? No, I've never been there. I've never been. Melbourne, Florida?

Barry's big. You must have been there. It's a retirement community. I'll join you soon. Now, tell us about Bye Bye Birdie. Bye Bye Birdie. I screen tested for George Sidney, who was the director. And I screen tested with Ann-Margret.

And when you screen test, you know, they just roll the film, you know. Okay, you know, you talk about yourself, you know, how you grew up, your family, this, that, you know, what are your aspirations, this, that, the other thing. Read a few lines from the script. And Ann and I sang together. I think we did one boy, you know, one boy, one girl, one special girl. And that was it. You know, Mr. Sidney said, thank you very much. And I go home to Philadelphia.

I get a call from Frankie Day, my manager, saying you landed the part of Hugo Peabody. I said, wow, man, you know, this is fantastic, you know, and went out to California for close to six months to film Bye Bye Birdie. And the part that I played, Hugo Peabody, in the Broadway show, he did nothing. He was more like a nerd. I mean, he did no singing, no dancing. I don't think he had a line in the Broadway show. And for some reason, Mr. Sidney saw some kind of magic between Ann-Margaret and myself. And each day that I would go to Columbia Studios, my script kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger to the point where there were a lot of lines, there was lot of singing there was a lot of dancing i i you know i haven't done nowhere

near the kind of motion pictures that uh frankie avalon did but you know if if there was one picture that i had to be involved in you know bye-bye birdie such as such as greece you know they're classics they're classic movies and now that you mentioned greece because it was one of our questions how did you... Don't know. You don't know. I know where you're going. Rydell High?

Sure. I honestly don't know. Just an homage to you and to the period. I guess so. I mean, let's face it. It could have been Anka High, Presley High, Everly High, Fabian High. But Rydell has that good name that sounds like a school. It sounds like a school. Yeah. I guess. I guess Rydell has that good name that sounds like a school. It sounds like a school.

I guess Rydell High. It does. But more importantly, did you slam Ann-Margaret? Well, we had an episode. We had an episode. We were both in London, and we did the command performance for Bye Bye Birdie for the prince and the princess at that particular time. And we were both staying in the same hotel. And her mom and dad were with her.

And said to me, Bobby, would you mind walking me back up to my room? And we're both staying in the same hotel. I said, no, and I said, it would be my pleasure. So we went back up into her room, and Columbia gave her a suite that was knocked out, bearskin rugs on the floor, fireplace in London. Forget the name of the hotel, but it was gorgeous. And I was, you know, trying to have a little fun, you know, and I think I kissed her on the cheek, and she said,

well, I think it's time to leave. And I flew to Coupe. And that was it. That was the end of our love affair. Oh, damn it. What are you going to do? Blow your eyes? Yeah. I mean, you know, it was one of those things to do? Blow your eyes? Yeah. I mean, you know, it was one of those, it was just one of those things.

Boy, that was really leading up. To what? To a great story. Oh, I know. Wasn't it, though? Hey, you know what? Can you correct it? Well, then we laid on the bearskin rug.

And she was totally naked. Can you do an imitation of me fucking Ann Mott? Don't take the bait, Bob. Please. Kim, this is good. It wasn't like that when we were in the pictures together,

but oh, Kim, this is nice. What are your memories of making that movie? How long were you there? Too long. How long were you in Hollywood? Too long. It ran on. Musicals tend to...

Well, lots of living. It took two weeks to rehearse. Two weeks. Two weeks to shoot. Really? Two weeks to shoot. It even took two weeks to rehearse and two weeks to shoot. Really?

Yeah, two weeks to shoot. And I could remember, like, being in makeup at, like, I'd be at the studio at 5 o'clock in makeup by 6 a.m. in the morning, and they never get to you. Because the way the lighting is, how the cameras are set up, so on and so forth. Well, let's do this first, you know, while we got the time. You know, everything is set up. So there are some days I just sat around, you know, twiddling you know wishing that i was with ann margaret any memories of paul lynde or uh dick van dyke or uh any of those other luminaries that were in the film but you know this is my first time you know not my first time in hollywood but very, very first motion picture. And to be involved with the people who were in Bye Bye Birdie, like you said, Paul Lynn, Dick Van Dyke, Maureen Stapleton.

I mean, it was a pleasure. You know, I just, you know, every day, I mean, I'd look forward to going to the set every day. Like I said, some days they didn't use me, but it was just great just being around to see, you know, how movies were made and what they do but they were all just you know they were just wonderful people to work with how about that dance did they call it the birdie that i don't think it had a name you know the lots of living number yeah yeah i mean it must have taken weeks and weeks it took two weeks to to rehearse a girl by the name of anna white was our choreographer and she had an assistant by the name of Anna White was our choreographer, and she had an assistant by the name of Tommy Pankow. And Anna White broke her foot, and she taught us all of the moves, Bye Bye Birdie,

the Lots of Livin' number on crutches. Wow. She did it on crutches, man, with a cast on her foot. Here's a little Bye Bye Birdie trivia Gilbert would like. I read, and this may be bullshit, but that Groucho's daughter Melinda was one of the uncredited teenagers. I believe she was. I think Melinda was, you know, one of the girls screaming for Conrad Birdie. I believe she was. As was Melody Patterson from F Troop. Wrangler Jane. If IMDB is to be believed.

Do you do a Groucho imitation? No, I don't do that. Paul Lynn? I don't do Paul Lynn. Gilbert does a lovely Paul Lynn. Yeah. Let me hear you do Paul Lynn. Okay.

Well, according to a story I heard, I think Frank found it, that at the end of the filming of Bye Bye Birdie, Paul Lynde screamed out, I'm the only one in this cast who didn't want to fuck Ann-Margret. There you go. That's great. That's a great Paul Lynde. Told you. I warned you. That's great. That's a great Paul Lynn. Told you. I warned you. That's great. And after Bye Bye Birdie, you could have stayed in Hollywood like Frankie did and some of the others did. But you chose not to.

No. I'm an East Coast guy. And, you know, I love the East Coast. I love New York. I love Philadelphia. I love Boston. I love Jersey. You know.

And I could never live out in California. And Frankie would say to me, Bobby, Avalon, Bobby, come on. Why don't you move out to California? We could play golf every day and this and that. And I said to Frank, I said, you know what, Frank, by the time I move out to California, I said Montana is going to be oceanfront property. I said because you people are nuts out here with the fires and the earthquakes and the mudslides. He said, yeah, Bob, what about back home, you know, when it gets cold? I said, you know what, Frank, I can always turn up the heat.

You know, it's no problem. You know, I could be nice and cozy and warm. I wasn't a California guy. And you were a regular on the Milton Berle show. It didn't last too long. I think the show was only on the air for about six months. And I think the director

was Bill Dana. Oh, wow. Can you imitate? Wait a minute. My name, Jose Mene. Now, this is... Oh, God. Yeah, he was the director. And, you know, Milton Berle happened to be a very, very fine songwriter.

He did a lot of great tunes. And he wrote a song called You Gotta Enjoy Joy. And that was the theme song of the Milton Berle show. And at that time, I was on Capitol. And I recorded with all of the studio cats in LA. And being a drummer, on the date was Louis Belson playing on the tune that I had to record for Capitol. You got to enjoy joy. And the chart was a great chart. It was a Bob Florence arrangement. It was a marvelous, marvelous arranger. And the chart was cooking.

You know, everything was swinging. And I went over to Louis Belson. And I said, Louis, when we get into the top verse, you got to enjoy joy. I said, can you just play it on a closed hi-hat? He said, is that what you want, Bob? He said, I'll play it. And then I turned around and looked at myself. I'm saying, I'm telling Louis Belson Bell somewhere how to play on my record, you know, which is kind of stupid, you know. But he was a super dynamite guy.

And he did. He played it on a closed hi-hat. And then when the thing opened up where, you know, the reeds and the brass and everybody comes in, blah, boom, pat, pat, pat, you know, he starts swinging. But and I traveled around with Milton promoting the show. And I think we followed a show, which I believe Jimmy Darin was on, called Time Tunnel. Oh, sure. We talk about that show. Oh, I remember that show.

And Time Tunnel. Yes. I think we were both on ABC. And Time Tunnel was first. And the Milton Berle Show followed after Time Tunnel. I remember because the Green Hornet used to be on before Time Tunnel. And then the Berle Show. Now, something very important.

Yes, sir. Did you ever see Milton Berle's penis? I've heard a hell of a lot about it. Dick Fox is raising his hand. Dick is waving his hand from across the room. You've seen... Your manager nodded his head. He's seen Milton Berle's penis.

What was the line that Red Buttons... Was it Red Buttons who said that Milton had passed away, but they're still keeping his penis for life support? That's funny. Hey, do you want to come over here and tell how you saw his penis, please? Oh, come on. Be a regular guy. Poor Dick Fox.

Yo, Dick. What about Miltie's reputation as a joke thief? Do you know anything about that? Oh, well, you've heard that forever. Sure. You know. Sure. Nothing like that ever. Sure. You know. Sure. Nothing like that ever.

I. Never witnessed it. No, I never witnessed it. But that's the saying that, you know, he stole from everybody. You know. Two guests on our show at least have seen Milton Perl's penis. Or claim to have. Yes. Yeah.

Well, Dick Fox. Oh, that makes three. That's right. Okay. Well, Dick Fox. Hell, that makes three. That's right. Okay, so there was also Jeff Ross and Alan Swibell.

Correct. Both claim that Milton Berle would put his penis on a serving tray and walk around with it. That's a joke. Ah, now there's another story. Okay. There used to be a comedian in South Philadelphia by the name of Guy Marks. Oh, yes, yes. Sure. F. Drew. M.A. Marks. Oh, yes, yes. Sure. F. Drew.

M.A. Marks. Guy Marks. He was originally on the Joey Bishop show. Yeah. And he was getting more laughs than Joey, and Joey got the hell rid of him, you know, and went with Martin, the comedian. Dick Martin? Not.

Was it? Oh, geez. Okay. Anyway, Guy Marks was known to be very well endowed. This is gold, Bob. True story. And the Rat Pack, meaning Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Joey Bishop, Dean Martin, they dressed Guy up as a waiter at this big function in California. And they got Guy's unit

and they put it on a tray. And Guy was going around with the tray and his unit and a Hollywood makeup artist made his unit to look like salmon.

And on one side, there's like, you know, clams and shrimp and oysters, you know. And everybody's kind of pushing his unit away to go for the clams and the oysters. It's a true story. True story. Guy Marks. So on this show, I discovered Guy Marks's a true story. True story. Guy Marks. So on this show, I discovered Guy Marks had a big dick. I mean, I knew Milton Berle and Forrest Tucker. Those were the famous ones.

Guy Marks? Did he have an American Indian bit? Wasn't that his big bit? Oh, yeah. He did it on D. Martin Rose. Indian Sergeant or something like that? Yeah. He was great as far as impressions. Funny guy.

He did Gary Cooper, Bogart, and Robert Mitchum, and he was wonderful, and he was wonderful. And he would do this Indian, you know, and the three guys are there, and he's doing this. And Gary Cooper says, what did he say? And Bogart says, I think he said there's no towels in the men's room. You remember that bit, don't you, Guy Marks? Now, did Guy Marks used to imitate a housefly? He would do that, yes. He would do a housefly.

He would do a horse falling down on the trolley tracks trying to get up. He did a piece of driftwood. He was really something. He was really something. He was really something guy. I had the good fortune to work with him at a local club in Philly called Palumbo's, owned by a man by the name of Frank Palumbo. He was a funny man. Did he ever show you his speech? No, I never saw it.

I wouldn't want to look on it. You didn't go for the salmon? No, I don't want that salmon. I don't want to look on it. I don't want to touch it. I don't want to look on it. I don't want to touch it. I don't want to, you know. Since you brought up the chairman of the board,

we have to ask you about meeting Frank for the first time. Yeah, okay. The first time I met Sanasha was at the Copa. And I'm 19 years old. And who's working the Copa

but Joey Lewis. And Carmine, one of the waiters. Now, my dad and my manager were already sitting downstairs in the Copa. I was doing German TV at the time. arrived late so carmine says and my manager's name is frank as i said frankie day and my dad and carmine says bob he says you want to sit with frank i said

that's okay carmine i said no problem i said i'll just go down and join my dad and frank he says bob frank and my mouth dropped. I said, Frank? He said, yeah, he came in to see Joey Lewis. You want to sit with him? I said, oh, no. I'm 19 years old, you know. So now at the end of the show, you know, Joey, of course, introduces him. And Frank, get up and sing.

Frank, get up and sing. He says, I can't. I don't have my police card with me. Now, if you remember back, you know, in the 60s, to work New York City, you had to be fingerprinted and have a police card to work cabaret, you know. So it was a joke. Ha ha ha ha. And and there he goes. So now I said, that's it. You know, I'll never get the opportunity to meet Mr. Sinatra again. Go upstairs to the lounge to say goodnight to Jules Padel who was like the front you know. We wanted to ask you about

Jules Padel. Yeah Jules Padel he was a trip yeah he was an absolute trip and he was about four foot no neck and he talked like this almost like almost like a Gilbert Jules Padel is a legend oh yeah oh yeah absolutely absolutely i mean when

you heard when he used to sit in the back of the room and he'd knock his ring on the table and like there'd be 15 captains 40 waiters you know yes mr podell yes mr podell so um i go upstairs to say good night to podell through the the kitchen doors comes Mr. Sinatra. I said, Uncle Julie, I said, all I want to do is shake his hand. You wanted me, Frank? I said, I'd love to. Now he's sitting at the table with Sammy Kahn, Jimmy Van Heusen, Richard Conte, and Joe DiMaggio before all of the Marilyn Monroe bullshit. Marilyn Monroe, you know, bullshit.

And Frank is sitting, and we're walking, coming to, with Jules Padel, and Mr. Padel hits Frank on the shoulder. I mean, he really hits him on the shoulder. I went, Jesus, oh, my God. He says, Frank, I want you to meet the kid. Sinatra stood up, you know, with them blue eyes. He put out his right hand. He said, how you doing, Robert? Called me Robert.

I said, fine, Mr. Sinatra. How are you? He says, I'm just wonderful. He said, would you care to join us? I said, it'd be my pleasure, Mr. Sinatra. So I'm sitting down. I'm 19 years old. Sammy Conj.

Jimmy Benj. He's a Richard Conte. Frank Sinatra. Joe DiMaggio. He says, Robert, what do you drink? I said, Coke. I figure if I said Scotch and Water, he'd smack me in the face, you know. But I've got a wonderful picture with him.

We were up in the lounge, and he's got his left arm around me, and under his right arm he has my picture, excuse me, my album of Rydell at the Copa. And it just says, to Bobby, best always your friend, Frank Sinatra. And I, you know, I was in his company quite a few times and he was always absolutely marvelous. I remember one time there was a guy here in New York by the name of Louis D. He owned a restaurant called Separate Tables. He was Louis D. He was Louis Dome. He was a lot of Louis. And we were at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas and

the old man was married to Mia Farrow at the time. So it's Mia Farrow, Joey Lewis, myself, and Mr. Sinatra. And Mr. S says, what are you up to, Robert? I said, well, Mr. S, I said, I'm up for a motion picture, Walt Disney.

And he looked at me and said, you'll never get it. I said, excuse me, Mr. Sinatra? He said, Bobby, you're Italian, aren't you? I said, yeah, you know that, Mr. S. He says, you'll never get it. I never did, and I never asked why. Wow. You know, that was it.

What was the picture? Can you share? I haven't a clue. I was up for a motion picture with Disney. Right, right, right. Don't know. Interesting. Yeah. So he.

I guess the only one Walt Disney liked Italian was Annette Vulicello. Yeah. Yeah. So this means Walt Disney hated both Italians and Jews. I, I, well, evidently that's what I hear that's going around. That. Cock guys. And. Italians and Jews. Well, evidently, that's what I hear that's going around. That cock-ice. He was Mickey Mouse.

What are you going to do? Were you the youngest performer to headline in the Copa? I was the youngest performer. At 19? I was 19. I was the youngest. Who are you doing now? I don't know.

Maybe that's Mel Brooks, the 2013-year-old me. I don't know. Any other stories about the Copa? I mean, you were there in its heyday. Well, like I said, Mr. Podell, I mean, we did tremendous business for him. And it was mob run at that time, we could say. I would imagine. I would say the noses had something to do with it.

Now, you said right after you met Sinatra the first time, you called your mother. Yes, I did. I said, this is now, we left the Copa, I don't know, 2.30 in the morning. By the time I get to the hotel here in New York City, it was about 3 o'clock in the morning. And I called my mother. She answered the phone. She said, what happened? 3 o'clock in the morning.

Yeah. I said, Mom, I just met God. She went, what? Huh? Oh, ha. Do you want to watch? Ha. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Ah, Jesus. And speaking of your mom, it was your mom, do I have this right, who persuaded you to record Volare? We had, she had said something about that. I was coming off a record called Swingin' School, which was part of Dick Clark's first motion picture entitled Because They're Young.

And we went into RCA recording studios here in New York City and recorded a lot of tunes. And it was basically for an album. But on the album, supposedly, was Volare, Sway, and Old Black Magic. And we needed a tune, and my mother had said, why don't you release Volare, Sway, and Old Black Magic. And we needed a tune, and my mother had said, why don't you release Volare? I said, I have no say over it.

I said, it's up to Bernie Lowe, Cal Man, and Dave Apple, the powers that be at the Cameo Parkway. And we didn't have the girls on it at the time. I had three black girls who were like gospel singers who read music, and they became the sound behind me. Oh, Bobby, oh the sound behind me. Oh, Bobby, oh, everything you want. Yeah, yeah, whoa, whoa.

And we went back in. We got the master from RCA, you know, and added the girls. Oh, la, dee, whoa, whoa. Da, da, la, la, da, da, da, da, da. And ba-boom, it became my second million seller. And Dino had already recorded it. Dino had recorded it, and of course, Domenico Madugno, who was the original writer and original artist who recorded it first. And when you were at the peak, you and Avalon and Fabian and all those guys were at the peaks of your career. That's when the Beatles landed.

Absolutely, yeah. Matter of fact, a very interesting story. Anne and I were out in London doing command performance for the royalty. And while there, I recorded, which became my third millionth solo, a song called Forget Him. I recorded it in London, England with a gentleman who wrote it by the name of Tony Hatch. He was the songwriter. And then I was doing three weeks of touring with a girl by the name of Helen Shapiro, who was wonderful, UK, British singer, you know, female. She was absolutely fantastic. And we're traveling on the bus,

you know, going from city to city throughout the UK. And she says, there was a car in front of us. We're traveling on a bus, and there's a car in front of the bus. And she says, they're the Beatles. Well, this is 1963, early 63. I started looking around the bus for cockroaches. I didn't know what the hell she was talking about. There's the Beatles. I'm looking for bugs.

The bus stopped. The car stopped. The bus stopped, the car stopped, the bus door opens, and the four of them come on. The original guys. Now, they know me. I don't know who the hell they are, you know. And I met the four guys. And to this day, I could kick myself in the ass, you know, for not having, that would have been a phenomenal, you know, picture. Oh, sure. Just a great picture. And then I go home. Six months later, bam, the Ed Sullivan show.

Ladies, you know, here they are. And ba-boom, there's the four guys, the Beatles. And I went, Jesus, I said, I met those guys. Well, didn't Swingin' School, one of your records, inspire Lennon and McCartney? That's the story. Paul McCartney, yes. As a matter of fact, he did a documentary, I believe, McCartney, and he mentions me in the documentary.

Now, I always thought for some reason it was a song called We Got Love because Paul McCartney said, We got yeah, yeah, yeah from Bobby Rydell. Right. We got yeah, yeah, yeah from Bobby Rydell. But something happened. He mentions forget him in the book or in the bio or whatever. The story I heard was that She Loves You was inspired indirectly by Swingin' School. I didn't know that, Frank. Swingin' School. Yeah, that's what I hear.

I could be wrong. Interesting. We'll research it. Yeah. Yeah. But wasn't that like a point where like now all of you who are at the height now was like, oh, forget it. Yeah. Absolutely.

Yeah. Because all of the disc jockeys in the United States started playing, you know, what was called the British invasion. You know, and it was all British and British and British and British, and it kind of killed the American recording industry at that particular time. And then as time went by, I guess the disc jockeys started thinking to themselves, hey, it's enough of this, let's start playing our own product. And then it started rebuilding again. But yeah, the British Invasion hurt a lot of us guys, yeah, absolutely.

The British invasion hurt a lot of us guys. Yeah, absolutely. And as did the closing of clubs later. Yeah. During the disco era. Yeah, yeah. You know, and nightclubs, you know, what a marvelous era that was, you know, to be able to work places like the Copa and, you know, the Coconut Grove, you know, with big bands, you know, smoke-filled rooms, you know, people drinking their cocktails, you know. It was marvelous.

So you were in the middle of that, and then that era just kind of died. It died, and it's dead as of today as well. I mean, there are no more. There's no more cabaret. Was there like a panic among? You know what, Gilbert? I would venture to say that, you know, everybody at one time in his career, you know, has the ups and downs, the peaks, the highs, the lows, the valleys, so on and so forth. But I kept plugging at it. You know, I kept working, working.

I wasn't making, you know, the greatest money at the time, but I wanted to keep working, you know, keep working, keep working, keep my craft, you know, in tune. but I wanted to keep working, you know, keep working, keep working, keep my craft, you know, in tune. And as luck would have it, a good thing that happened was back in 1985. I had a manager at that time by the name of Stan Seidenberg. God rest his soul. I don't know if he's dead or not, but I don't really care, to tell you the truth. and he called me said uh this guy in new york dick fox he wants to put three italian guys together and do like a summer concert uh would be you avalon and fabian and i said wow man i said that sounds tremendous you know that sounds absolutely great and we we did. And this was back in 1985.

And that was all because of my manager now, Mr. Fox, Dick Fox. I call him Mr. for what reason? I don't have a goddamn clue. Because he's in the room. Yeah, because he's in the room. Would you mind leaving the room? But really, I think for the three of us, it was kind of a resurgence. You know, we started it back in 1985. And Frankie and I looked at one another.

We said, how long is this going to last? A year? Two? Tops? It's over. It's 2015. We're still doing it. Still doing it.

It's bigger today than it was back in 1985. 30 years. And it's great. I mean, we have fun. Frankie says, you know, here here we are three guys on stage hanging out and we used to hang out on a corner together you know in south philadelphia but here's the three of us hanging out on stage it's like old times you know like being in south philadelphia again and you're still doing it you're still doing it you're still book solid yes we are. I love it. Yeah. And Frankie Avalon said something that he said he has never seen a father and son anywhere near as close as you are with your father.

Yeah. My mother, well, she was an evil person. A lot of people don't know this, but matter of fact, I'm coming out with a book. And hopefully it will be out sometime. I was just going to ask you if you read the book. You should. I'll tell you, so many people, you know, because of the stories that we're kind of like talking about, Bobby, you should put, you know, why don't you write a book and tell all these stories?

You know, Sinatra and Benny and George Burns and Red Skelton, yada, yada, yada, so on and so forth. And nobody really knew the true Jenny Ridorelli. But my father, when he passed away, a lot of part of me just left, you know, because like I said earlier, if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be around today. We should also point out to our listeners that your dad quit his job. He'd been there 20 some odd years. Well, actually, I took him be around today. We should also point out to our listeners that your dad quit his job. He'd been there 20 some odd years. Actually, I took him out of work. You took him out of work. I said, Dad, that's it.

You're not going to the machine shop anymore. You're not going to lose any more fingers. How did you employ him? He just hang around. Did he become your road manager? Well, not even. I had a guy at the time. Just wanted hang around. Did he become your road manager? Well, not even. I had a guy at the time.

There was a guy. Just wanted Dad around. He was a guido. Guido the guide. No, he'd come to me. Japan, Hong Kong, Australia. That's great. Long way from the machine shop.

I think the first time my father ever got laid beside my mother was in Australia somewhere. He was so happy. What? What? How did he meet this? Huh? There was a guy there. There was a guy.

His name was Norman Erskine And he said Come on, Pop We're going to get you a lady here And he took my father Into whatever motel We were staying in The King's Cross And there was a lady there

And my father said Hey, there's ladies here You know Simple as that Simple as that. Simple as that. Oh, God. I just want to ask you real quick, Bob, about Joey Bishop. I saw a clip of you guys doing schtick on YouTube.

That was great. Oh, that was the Joey Bishop show. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, Joey was a South Philly guy, too. Right, that's right. He lived around Fifth and Porter. I was 11th and Moy-Mensing. I mean, walking distance, you know, about five, six blocks, something like that.

And I worked with Joey and opened for him. Of course, Joey was a big star at the time, and Joey liked me. And of course, Joey was a big star at the time. And Joey liked me. And matter of fact, Joey hosted the Tonight Show. I was filling in for Johnny Carson. Don't remember who the director or the producer was, but Joey wanted me on the show. And the guy says, no, he says, you can't have Bobby Rydell.

And Joey said, hey, look, he's a self-fully guy. I want him on the show. The reason being that I was so close with Red Skelton that my manager at the time, Frankie Day, didn't want anything to kind of interfere with my appearance on the Red Skelton show and the Tonight Show. Don't remember who it was. And they just didn't want me because of the affiliation and the love and the respect that I had for Mr. Skelton. And Joey was the one to say, well, if he's not on, I'm not doing it. And I was on the Tonight Show with Joey. And he was great. He was a great guy. It's a strange career, isn't it?

You started out, you were just content to be a drummer, and suddenly you wind up being practically a comic because you wind up doing comedy. Oh, I love doing comedy. I absolutely love doing comedy. There's a great bit that Frankie and I do when just Frank and I work together, and it was a bit that was

made for Martin and Martin and Martin Lewis. No, no. Oh, Steve Rossi. Oh, Alan and Rossi. Alan and Rossi. And it's a punch drunk fighter routine. Frankie plays, you know, the straight guy. And I'm the punch drunk fighter.

Right. And the bit goes on and on. It's a pretty funny bit. Frankie says to me, he says, you know, everybody had a nickname back then like Boom Boom Mancini, Tommy Hitman Hearns. And he said, did you ever have a nickname? And I'll talk like this, right? Right, Frank. I said, right, right, Frank. I said, my nickname was Quits.

He said, Quits? He said, how the hell did you ever get the name Quits? I said, well, when I was first born, my mother and my father, they took one look at me and they said, let's call it Quits. But the bit goes on. It's about, oh, I would say a good, you know, eight-minute piece of material.

And then he says to me, I understand that you, at one time, you wanted to be a singer. And I say, yes, you know, and I do because of you as a punch-drunk fighter. Because of you, there's so... Hear my heart...

So if somebody comes to see you and Fabian and Frankie, they're going to get comedy as well as music. There's some bits in the act? We used to do a lot of bits. There's some things that happen like spontaneously.

Stuff will happen. We don't necessarily do a lot of comedy. There's some comedy lines in the show yes of course uh i remember one time um oh uh who's the guy the exercise guy richard richard simmons richard simmons okay so now frankie says to me uh i understand that you got a an email right and it's just frank and me you know working uh working the Orleans in Vegas. And he says, can you read me the email? And I read to him. I say, dear Bobby, I think you're absolutely adorable.

You're cute. You're one fine singer. And I would really love to spend some quality time with you and jump all over your bones. Frank, he says, wait a minute. Wait a minute. He says, you know, this is an older audience. We can't talk like that. But wait a minute.

He says, I guess I know who sent you that telegram. I say, guess. He says, Ann-Margaret. I said, no, Richard Simmons. No, no, no, excuse me. I said, he said, Ann-Margaret. I said, no, Richard Nixon. I don no, no. Excuse me. I said, he said, and Margaret. I said, no, Richard Nixon. I don't know what the hell happened.

Richard Nixon. You were supposed to say Richard Simmons. I was supposed to say Richard Simmons. And Frank and I just look at one another. The band is falling down altogether. And Frank and I just lose it. But, I mean, there are type of things that happen. There are things that happen that you just can't write it down.

Did you ever see Frank Sinatra's penis? No, I didn't see Frank Sinatra's penis. Nor Milton Berle or Guy Marks. Did you ever meet Elvis? Or Forrest Tucker. How about the Beatles? The Beatles? Wait a minute.

Dick Fox is raising his hand. He's saying he's seen Frank Sinatra's penis. And he don't like Sinatra. He's a doo-wop guy. Did you ever meet Elvis in your travels, Bob? Never met him. Never met the king. Nah, never met him.

We're in a movie about the king, but never met him. Never, never met him. Yeah, that's right. Conrad Birdie was Elvis Presley. Yeah. So in your book, will you have dirt on the rat pack? Not dirt so much on the rat pack. There are certain stories about a couple of people that I knew,

and there's one particular story that I will not relate right now. Damn it. Is that the one where you fucked Ann-Margaret? I didn't say that. You said it. I said I wish I did. Now, to wrap up the show, you repeat everything I say.

Ah, hi, this is Gilbert Gottfried. Hi, this is Gilbert Gottfried. And this has been Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast. And this has been Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast. And this has been Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing iPod Colossal Cast with people that come and talk to me. With my co-host, Frank Santopadre. Santopadre, my co-host. Oh, God.

And who's Italian. That's right. And he's making us meatballs and spaghetti. Forget it, buddy. And we've been talking. We've been talking to the legendary singer, Bobby Rydell. Thank you very much. No, you're supposed to say that.

Oh, oh. Who was it again? The legendary we've been talking to, Bobby Rydell. Thanks, Bob. It was a treat. This is my pleasure. Thank you, Frank. Thank you, Gilbert. It was an absolute, genuinely great time. Next time we'll have you back to sing.

Oh, that'll be good. That'll be fine. Could you take us out with a little bit of something? A couple of bars? Can we pose on you? A couple of bars? I'm going to one right now. I can't do that anymore. Let's fly way up to the cloud. Now, if you want

to hear any more, you've got to come and pay the money. Fantastic. Bobby Wright. And Mr. Fox. Thank you, buddy. Thank you. If you like listening to comedy, try watching it on the Internet. The folks behind the Sideshow Network have launched a new YouTube channel called Wait For It.

It's got interviews with comedians like Reggie Watts, Todd Glass, Liza Schleichinger. Slicing, driving friends with her for 10 years. One of the funniest people out there, and I still have a hard time with the last name, Liza. Our very own Owen Benjamin, that's me, takes you on a musical journey down internet rabbit holes and much more. You don't have to wait any longer. Just go to youtube.com slash wait for it comedy. There's no need to wait for it anymore. Because it's here.

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