Tales Of The Hunt: Meeting An Idol

Nick from Brooklyn is back with another Tales of the Hunt. You’re going to like this one, but Don-Lucky, it’ll break your heart.

Tales Of The Hunt: The day I met my IDOL!

Like I have mentioned in previous Tales of The Hunt, I used to send postcards to record companies, etc, with these Tales of The Hunt. I had found a great rock instrumental and the BMI publishing company was in a residential area of Brooklyn, so I sent a postcard to the address requesting records. Around a month later I received a phone call wanting to know why I had wrote him. I explained that I found this record and that I sell records and wanted to know if he had any more of them left. He said he might and we set up an appointment. When I arrived at his house his wife answered the door, she greeted me with a big smile and invited me in, we had coffee and were talking about the music business, he then pulled out a few boxes of 45 RPM records and told me to take what I could use. I asked him how much and he waved his hand as to forget it. He then pulled out some records

that he had made in Italy, popular music with huge big bands, his name was not Italian so I asked him and he told me he had changed his name in the music business because in the early days, being Italian in the music game was hard, and I heard this mentioned to me so many times over the years. He asked me what I did for a living. I told him I worked at the New York City Transit, he said oh that’s a good job, can you get my son a job. I told him well he has to take a test and then I told him what to tell his son to do.  After talking for a little bit, I left and he said to stay in touch and we said goodbye.

Around three months later he calls me and asks me could I get a Dinah Washington record for him. He gave me the title, so I went to Greenwich Village and picked him up a copy, called him, went by the house with a box of pastries and had coffee, we chatted for a while and I left. A few months pass, I get a call on a Tuesday and it is him, asking me what are you doing on Friday. I said nothing, he tells me come over I want you to meet a good friend of mine. Again I stopped by the pastry shop and picked up a box, when I arrived his wife again greeted me with her warm smile, she took my jacket and then invited me into the dining room. As I entered the room he is sitting there with another guy and as I looked I said to myself NO, and he said Frankie this is the guy I been telling you about, and he was putting a meatball into his mouth and he nodded to me and then shook my hand. I was still in a trance, Frank Sinatra in this house in the middle of Brooklyn, eating. I sat there for close to an hour in this trance as they chatted, my favorite singer, I didn’t say or do anything. Frank left before me, he shook everyone’s hand, kissed his wife and left. At this time I woke up and I said to myself, why didn’t you talk, you could have asked him Frank you got any connections? That way I could get some records, calling myself a moron over and over. Oh well. And I didn’t even ask him for his autograph.