1968 Conqueror of American Rock - Chapter 152



Only Noblemtl

152. Share Your Heart (2)

“A Christmas charity festival on the Sunset Strip. That’s a great idea.”

Michael, Michael Wynn, the president of KMTV, was very supportive of my idea.

Thanksgiving Day, which falls on the fourth Thursday of November each year, is a Protestant holiday to give thanks to God for the harvest and harvest of the year, and is the biggest holiday of the year in the United States.

The next day, Friday, many stores hold sales events and consumers start shopping. This day is called Black Friday because the ledgers are recorded in the black.

From this time until Christmas and New Year’s Day, the American holiday season is called the holiday season.

Most companies in the United States also finish their main work in November, and December is a month of leisurely rest. On the other hand, for self-employed people such as clubs and restaurants, December is the month when they can make the most money.

But I’m planning to decorate the two blocks that Kings and CW have occupied, about 200 meters, with a Christmas atmosphere and hold a charity festival during the month of December.

Michael was now the station’s director, but he still had influence over the King’s Club. As a successful promoter, he was acutely aware of my long-term intentions.

“It’s a great opportunity to introduce not only existing artists but also new artists. Also, since it’s a charity event, it can give a good image to various organizations and the media. It may be a deficit right away, but in the long run, it will inevitably lead to a profit through album and merchandise sales and tours. But I didn’t even think about it until a month ago.”

“It’s impossible to donate the entire amount for a month. We’re just making the concert admission fee free. We’re selling drinks and food at regular prices, and donating a certain percentage of the goods. Instead, we’re selling tickets that allow free entry to four clubs, including our club and one or two that have agreed to participate in the Clean Zone campaign. It’s like a free pass to an amusement park. Then, people can choose to see performances by artists with different characteristics.”

“Oh, that’s a really clever idea!”

“Yes, if we try it this time and the response is good, I think it would be a good idea to set a regular club day and operate it in the same way.”

I performed a lot during Hongdae Club Day, hehe.

“Club Day, that’s great, haha! Our broadcasting station will take care of the promotion. Oh, not only will we promote it, we’ll also have to film the entire festival!”

* * *

Route 66 is one of the western axes that connects major cities in the Midwest of the United States, starting from Los Angeles, California to Chicago, Illinois. It became better known through Nat King Cole’s song ‘Route 66’, and since then Route 66 has become the next home for Americans.

We decided to rush the filming of the music video for ‘Sk8ter Girl’ before the festival season starts.

We started filming at the Santa Monica Pier, the westernmost point of Route 66.

This filming was done outdoors, without a set. Annie leads the story from the top, but here and there, musical instruments were set up in the middle of the road and scenes of playing were filmed.

The plan was to drive through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma, then turn around and head to New York. It was a tough schedule, eating, sleeping, and moving in trailers, but we enjoyed it as if we were just traveling.

Annie’s portion takes up about 80% of the entire video. Annie runs, runs, and runs again on Route 66, which stretches coolly in the middle of a desolate desert, with her feet rolling powerfully under the hot sun.

“Cut! Very good!”

As we entered the middle, the road became steep, but Annie took off down the steep road without any hesitation. Director Robert Smith filmed this scene from multiple angles.

“Yay! This is exciting!”

Annie was really enjoying this moment.

The acting of hitchhiking while looking like a beggar was also top-notch.

“Cut! Hahaha, Annie, your acting is really great.”

Thanks to Annie’s performance, which had almost no NGs, the filming crew was able to enter New York within a week. The company had already obtained permission to film in certain areas of New York State for a certain period of time.

We set up our instruments and performed on the back of a moving truck on a road between the skyscrapers of Manhattan. Annie climbed on top of a green car like a squirrel and sang while jumping up and down. For safety, the car moved as slowly as possible.

As we blasted ‘Sk8ter Girl’ from the filming truck to sync up, people started to gather.

“Wow, it’s a sparkling ripple!”

In an instant, a large crowd of people filled the road and ran with us.

“Oh, really? Are you filming a movie?”

“I don’t think it’s a movie. I think it’s a music video that you can only see in California.”

“Anyway, this is awesome. Just look at Annie’s fashion. I want to copy it too.”

“Hey, run quickly! You’ll miss it!”

Thanks to the fans who followed us, we were able to safely finish filming the street scenes.

“It was finished much faster than I expected.”

“Director, it wasn’t in the storyboard, but let’s go for one last shoot.”

“Where?”

“Sunset Strip.”

* * *

Woodstock Business Office.

The Woodstock Four were planning a massive festival with Metropolis, led by John Shea.

“What’s so noisy about this? The cheering is too loud for a busker. Is this a protest or something?”

John Roberts opened his window at the noise and looked outside.

“Oh, that’s… Hey, everyone, come here!”

“It’s Sparkling Ripple. Are you suddenly showing up in Manhattan and busking in a truck or something?”

Artie Kornfeld said.

“No, there’s a filming vehicle in front. They’re filming a music video right now.”

Michael Lang would go to California on days when he didn’t have meetings and continue to monitor KMTV. His colleagues also knew that his constant trips to LA were no longer for fun.

“Wow, this is amazing. This is so much hotter than the Beatles’ rooftop live. Just look at the crowds on the street.”

Joel Rosenman was shocked by the fresh culture he was seeing for the first time.

“I’m trying to promote the Sunset Strip Festival with that music video.”

Michael told his colleagues about a charity event Kings and the CW were planning.

“Ah, no······ You’re donating all of the profits from the performance for not even a week, but a month? Isn’t that too much of a deficit?”

It was simply incomprehensible to the common sense of investment expert John Roberts.

“It may be a loss right now, but it will be a profit in the long run. Two clubs on the street they run have already agreed to join. With one ticket, you can enter all four places freely.”

His colleagues became serious after hearing Michael’s words.

“LA is becoming the center of rock music. Shouldn’t we be doing our part?”

John Shea asked Michael Lang.

“So, how about we pool our connections and hold a year-end festival across the street?”

“If it’s across from you, is that the Devils?”

“Yeah, I’ll take care of Anthony. His reputation is a bit bad these days, but his underground band connections are definitely something you can’t ignore. They’re definitely going to have a lot of new bands on stage at the month-long festival. We need to get ahead of the new bands that are likely to make a splash.”

“I agree with discovering new bands, but do we also want to do it as a charity event?”

“It’s the holiday season. I heard they only donate the ticket prices. We also donate the ticket prices. And we sell alcohol. If there are a lot of people, we’ll never lose money. Anthony found a really hot band.”

Michael Lang didn’t like Anthony as a person, but his talent for scouting new talent was truly phenomenal.

The band that Anthony discovered recently performed on stage at The Devils got a huge response from the crowd at the Halloween festival, and they helped bring a dying business district south of the Sunset Strip back to life.

“John, if you saw them for yourself, you’d want to take them to Metropolis. They’re really shocking guys.”

“Who the hell are you?”

“I heard you recently changed your band name to KISS.”

“Huh, that’s a really cool band name.”

* * *

We shot the Car Parade scene on the Sunset Strip, just like we did in Manhattan. I decided to use the stills taken by Robert Smith as the cover for this single album.

It was a scene where Annie was sitting on the roof of a green car crossing the street, bending one knee and winking. On the left side of the photo was a sign for The Devils, and on the right side was a sign for The Age of Rock. And behind Annie, the sky was turning red.

Annie’s hip fashion was completed thanks to Rob Halford’s props. Rob and I started collecting heavy metal accessories from stores all over LA. I thought it would be okay if we coordinated them appropriately without going overboard.

“Wow, look at them. They’re buying a lot of scary stuff.”

Where Rob pointed, four men who looked to be about our age were giggling and buying a bunch of costumes that looked almost like Halloween costumes.

“That’s too much. All I’m after is leather clothes, bracelets, necklaces, chains, and sunglasses. They look like they’re auditioning for a horror movie.”

Huh? I heard a familiar name in the conversation they were having. I don’t remember the others, but I definitely remember two names.

Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons.

Those two are the main members of KISS. I was curious, so I went a little closer to eavesdrop on their conversation.

“As expected, the mecca of rock music is LA’s Sunset Strip, haha. Jin, you were glad you listened to me, right?”

“Yeah, Paul. It’s totally different from New York. It’s like the whole atmosphere here was created for rock music.”

“That’s why we’re changing the name for this festival, just like I said. Rainbow felt too much like a school band. I asked Anthony to promote it as KISS.”

“Yeah, it’s really hot and good, hahaha.”

I kept pushing history forward and KISS was already in LA. And Anthony’s club of all places. I knew KISS would be a great band in the future, but it didn’t fit my style so I had no regrets.

And I brought the metal gods, Judas Priest, from England. Kiss may look like a heavy metal band because of their bizarre makeup, but their music is actually closer to pop.

“Okay, now let’s go to Age of Rock to buy some effectors.”

The name of our club came out of Paul Stanley’s mouth.

“Ace, if you use a booster pedal called LA Metal, you can make a powerful sound like James Choi. Now that we’ve made some money, let’s really fly. The people who planned Woodstock are really excited about this festival. If we do well, we can even release an album.”

“Paul, I could buy that pedal and use it, but I’d never be able to replicate James’ tone. He’s a guitar god······.”

I was embarrassed and tried to avoid showing my face, so I deliberately looked away until they left the store.

By the way, the Woodstock business is jumping into the Sunset Strip festival, right?