• Miss Manners was no stranger to Marilyn and Paul
• You’ve heard about it – now you can hear it. The naked radio interview, last aired in 1981
• For some reason, my posts about Marilyn Chambers get a lot of clicks
It occurred to me today that, as far as I can recall, only two celebrities I interviewed ever sent me a thank-you note. That is probably two more than one would expect, if you think about it. In a world of layered publicists, talent bookers, and assembly-line junket interviews, who has time to sit down and write a hand-written thank-you note? Especially to a member of the news media who, if not an enemy of the people, was, well, a little seditious or suspicious around the edges. Paul Rodgers, that’s who.
The lead singer of Free and Bad Company and one-time stand-in for the late Freddie Mercury in the iteration known as Queen + Paul Rodgers. In the 1990s, I did a CNN interview with him at the original Hard Rock Café in NYC. He was touring with one of a couple of groups he formed that decade and if you can identify the two guys on each end of the above photo, please leave their names here. [UPDATE: I have it on good authority (Mark Felsot) that Simon Kirke is on the left and Mick Ralphs the right and therefore the occasion was a reunion of Bad Company.] Paul was friendly, articulate and good company (couldn’t resist). And, to my surprise, a nice handwritten note arrived a few weeks later, containing an extra photo of us around the Hard Rock table.
As I have detailed before, Marilyn Chambers disrobed for a radio interview when I had a late-night talk show in Chicago. She, too, sent a note afterward — perfumed, no less -_ and I’ve posted that before, but for old times’ sake, here it is again.
So, now that I’ve got your attention, if you’ve got about ten minutes, I recommend listening to some of the actual “nude interview.” This is the way she intended to be “heard,” not just in the eye-catching photos by the great Chicago photog, Paul Natkin, but in a radio interview sans clothes – radio, where the listener’s imagination can run wild.
While the language we used that night was nothing that had to be “bleeped” on air, I would point out that this is probably NSFW in many a workplace. So, turn it down or get out the ear buds. Enjoy some good clean fun with the former Ivory Snow girl:
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Lovely and hilarious interview, Mark! Marilyn sounds delightful, and you certainly brought her out with your own usual wit and charm.