AMJOCK.COM Confessions of Brian Pierce, a morning radio disc jockey.

This is the story that’s made being in my business worth it.  I find out with almost no advance notice, that members of the band Chicago are on the escalator and headed for the studio.  It’s New Orleans 1985.  Chicago is my all time favorite band, so I am psyched.  I wonder who’ll come in.  In minutes, it’s Robert Lamb, Walt Parazader, Pete Cetera & Jim Pankow standing right in front of me.  More than any other time, I’m starstruck.  I have about 3 minutes till I’m back on the air, so I begin to rant about how I’m their number one fan.  They thank me.  I say, no really - I am YOUR NUMBER ONE FAN!!!!  I bought all their albums on the first day they were released.  I’d seen them in concert 15 times.  I was in awe.  We begin the interview (they had a show that night @ U.N.O. Lakefront Arena & I had front row seats) and all things went well.  It was the typical rock & roll interview.  What do you think of New Orleans?  Ever been here before?  Where have you been?  Where do you go next?  What song is the next single?  I went to commercials and then asked them something just between us.  Being that I’d seen them so many times, I knew that they didn’t always play my favorite song - Make Me Smile.  I wanted to know if they’d planned to play it that night.  They said, they didn’t know - the set list wasn’t finished yet.  Then I asked this: "If you wanted to, could you play side two of Chicago II?"  Side two of Chicago II is one continuous 28 minute piece, and Make Me Smile is part of it.  They all looked at each other and said, "yeah sure."  I asked again, "You could play the whole thing from memory?"  They assured me that back in the early 70’s often their tracks were recorded in one straight through take.  I thought that was cool.  We talked on air for another 10 minutes or so and they left without incident.  That night I went to the show and was planted in the front row dead center.  I had the best seat in the house.  The band came on.  The crowd cheered - and before the applause died, they broke into SIDE TWO OF CHICAGO II.  They played the whole thing front to back.  I was crying.  I actually wept when my heroes did this.  Never on Earth did I expect them to do this.  I never really asked them if they would.  Maybe they had planned this all along.  Over the years I’ve come to believe that they did this for me that night.  Since -  I’ve seen Chicago in concert - twice.  Both times they began the concert with SIDE TWO OF CHICAGO II.  They must like it too - I mean II.

So I’m doing a broadcast from San Antonios new Sea World.  The celebrities are out in force.  One by one, Bri meets with them on air.  I’m told that in 15 minutes I’ll do a piece with William P. Clements & Patrick Duffy.  Bill Clements was the beloved Governor & Duffy was the beloved Bobby Ewing from Dallas.  I was excited.  I had a moment, so I decided to have a sub sandwich.  Sea World was providing an endless supply of goodies for the media.  Minutes before the interview, and I mean 120 seconds - I realize that the sandwich has loostened my passenger side front tooth.  It’s a false tooth I’ve had since childhood - (I lost it in an accident.)  The tooth had never loostened before.  I was wary - but confident the tooth wouldn’t just pop out.  The celebrities are ready and so is Bri.  The interview begins.  I speak first with Duffy.  "So Bobby, may I call you Bobb"…spurt.  My tooth careened off his shoulder and onto the floor under a chair.  I don’t think Duffy saw what happened.  I tried to continue, but immediately realized that with no front tooth - I speak like Daffy Duck.  It’s impossible to innunciate.  God it was terrible.  I imagine Duffy wondered how I’d managed a career in radio with a speech impediment.  I cut it as short as possible and took a break.  I tried then to secretly re-install the tooth.  It didn’t work.  I slobbered all over the Texas Governor too.  I slobbered for another hour or so and spit the tooth out one last time on the tram going back to the car.  It literally shot onto the parking lot - causing me to jump out after it.  I was at the Dentist the next day.  Since, I’ve only lost the tooth on air just once - at WNNS about 10 years ago.  It wasn’t a problem - because now I keep glue handy.  I learned from history, and therefor will not repeat it.