Best Josh Alan Friedman Podcasts (2024)

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#17: Doc Pomus Comes Back/Part 2 32:02

5y ago32:02

32:02

THE GREAT BLUESMAN TELLS IT STRAIGHT Doc Pomus no longer had to cater to the teenage rock ’n’ roll market. He wrote sophisticated songs for adults. In his final years, he mentored dozens of singers, discovered bands like Roomful of Blues and The Fabulous Thunderbirds, and wrote the best lyrics of his life. Episode Links Doc’s website AKA Doc Pomus,…

1
#16: Doc Pomus Comes Back/Part 1 22:41

5y ago22:41

22:41

THE EARLY STIGMA OF ROCK 'N' ROLL After a dormant decade, the great songwriter Doc Pomus was back in business by the late 1970s. I became his sidekick, entrenched in Doc’s late-night rock ‘n’ roll whirl, where he held court like a Buddha. He was amazed that so many of his songs became iconic anthems in a genre once vilified as teenage junk. Episode…

1
#15: The Fall of Al Goldstein/Part 2 33:36

5y ago33:36

33:36

FROM PARADISE TO THE GUTTER The Great Pornographer went from Upper East Side family man/pornographer-next-door to Bowery bum. The First Amendment hero became destitute. But he never lost his appetite for pussy and pastrami. Episode Links I Goldstein: My Screwed Life, by Al Goldstein and Josh Alan Friedman When Sex Was Dirty, by Josh Alan Friedman A…

1
#14: The Fall of Al Goldstein/Part 1 21:56

5+ y ago21:56

21:56

THE GREAT PORNOGRAPHER GETS SCREWED With the creation of Screw and Midnight Blue, Al Goldstein liberated sex from the shadows of shame and illegal obscenity. He had no idea what it would lead to today. But in his era, the sexual revolution was a cry for liberation and the laws against sex came tumbling down in his wake. Episode Links I Goldstein: M…

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#13: Mel Shestack: Magazine Management Trickster 25:15

5+ y ago25:15

25:15

AN EDITOR’S EDITOR A legend among his peers at the old men’s adventure magazines, Mel Shestack made people believe the impossible. And anyone who fell for his “gentle cons” felt privileged afterward. Episode Links Weasels Ripped My Flesh Even the Rhinos Were Nymphos It’s A Man’s World True Action, one of the many magazines published each month by M…

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#12: Jack Bruce Follows His Own Path 23:38

5+ y ago23:38

23:38

A BASS PLAYER PREPARES Jack Bruce reinvented the bass guitar and wrote spectacular songs. Cream lasted a mere three years. But he remained a working musician first and disregarded the pretense of rock stardom. Episode Links Cream Box set Harmony Row Songs For A Tailor Jack Bruce in mid-career Classically trained in cello…

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#11: Cy Coleman: Broadway Jazz Maestro 19:46

5+ y ago19:46

19:46

A COMPOSER PREPARES Cy Coleman wrote the scores to a dozen legendary Broadway musicals. But he was a jazz pianist first, and virtually invented the sophisticated culture of New York cocktail jazz in the 1950s. Episode Links The Best Is Yet To Come Witchcraft and Lenny You Fascinate Me SoBy Josh Alan Friedman

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#10: Mario Puzo 22:53

5+ y ago22:53

22:53

WHEN ADVENTURE MAGAZINES BEGAT MOVIES My father hired Mario Puzo as associate editor at Magazine Management at 655 Madison Avenue in 1960. While working there, Puzo would write his great novel about Hell’s Kitchen, The Fortunate Pilgrim. And then at age 49, break out with the most successful novel in history—The Godfather. Episode Links The Fortuna…

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#9: The Masked Announcer – Joel Dorn 22:00

5+ y ago22:00

22:00

A HUSTLER WITH EXQUISITE TASTE Joel Dorn was one of the last record producers standing from the old music biz. When the new industry pushed him out in the 1980s, he bounced back with the creation of CD box sets. “Don’t give me that ‘Hey, baby’ shit,” he said. “I invented it.” Episode Playlist Joel Dorn discography Don Mclean: Homeless Brother Joel …

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#8: Lou Reed – A Foul and Bitter Interview 40:53

5+ y ago40:53

40:53

UGLY PEOPLE GOT NO REASON TO LIVE As a new, 22-year-old writer for The SoHo News in 1978, I was sent out to interview Lou Reed. He gave the nastiest interview of his life. Then demanded it be printed verbatim. Episode Playlist Lou Reed: Growing Up in Public Transformer Little Richard Lanham: On Your Radio SoHo News, March 9-15, 1978 Lou Reed in fro…

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#7: The Lullaby of Tiny Tim 30:37

5+ y ago30:37

30:37

A DIVINE MADMAN Tiny Tim lived in his own bubble with angelic girls dancing in the clouds, while 1920’s Broadway lullabies played on harps. He became the biggest fad of 1968. But his lifelong dedication to early 20th-century music was without equal. Episode Playlist Prisoner of Love: A Tribute to Russ Columbo Girl: Tiny Tim with Brave Combo God Ble…

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#6: Seymour the Kike 33:33

5+ y ago33:33

33:33

THE BRUTE PIMP OF WHITECHAPEL The 19th century life model for anti-Semitic caricatures was quite a guy. Except I made him up. And he now joins the cast of this season’s Dead Heroes. Episode Playlist The Worst, Bela's Funeral Dirge heard in this episode.By Josh Alan Friedman

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#5: Keith Ferguson Remembers/Part 2 22:57

5+ y ago22:57

22:57

PACHUCO BLUES Ferguson avoids the Vietnam draft, plays Houston lesbian clubs with young Johnny Winter, and joins the Thunderbirds. Like an old wolf, Keith paces his communal porch in Austin. It was his last refuge. Recommended Playlist Girls Go WildT-Bird Rhythm The TailGators Second WinterBy Josh Alan Friedman

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#4: Keith Ferguson Remembers/Part 1 28:21

5+ y ago28:21

28:21

AUSTIN'S GREATEST FALLEN MUSIC HERO In a town known for its fallen musical heroes, Fabulous Thunderbirds bassist Keith Ferguson was a tour de force. He submerged into semi-retirement on his rustic estate, a hangout for wounded animals, reptiles and old pachuchos. The music biz turned ugly, but Austin’s beautiful losers—as well as the heroin—remaine…

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#3: Midnight Jerry Leiber/Part 2 25:38

5+ y ago25:38

25:38

IS THAT ALL THERE IS? Writing songs with Jerry was, for me, like having a catch with Willie Mays or Joe DiMaggio—when they were old. But his genius was never far away. Cloistered in his exquisite home in Venice Beach, the awards for Leiber & Stoller’s achievements came in by the week. But only Mike Stoller showed up to receive them. Episode Playlis…

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#2: Midnight Jerry Leiber/Part 1 28:58

5+ y ago28:58

28:58

THE IRVING BERLIN OF ROCK ‘N’ ROLL We worked on a book in which he would tell off the world, to be called Kiss My Big Black Ass. It remained unfinished. But Jerry Leiber blew my mind. And he was one bitch of a chef.By Josh Alan Friedman

1
#1: Almost George 23:18

5+ y ago23:18

23:18

BUT ALMOST DOESN'T COUNT When Josh auditioned for Beatlemania in 1977, he was just one hopeful in the callbacks for George. Thousands of Beatle manqués descended from the hinterlands to audition for the Broadway show. There were only four parts, but no shortage of broken dreams.By Josh Alan Friedman

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Tales of… Season Two Trailer 2:36

5+ y ago2:36

2:36

Josh's dead heroes. Interviews, memories and short stories. First up, A 20-year-old Josh auditions for Beatlemania in 1977. Coming September 20.By Josh Alan Friedman

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#17: Josh in Times Square 23:43

6y ago23:43

23:43

So long, Sucker Old Times Square was at the brink of extinction and my job was done. The finale of this series.By Josh Alan Friedman

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#16: Old Flesh Agents 27:10

6+ y ago27:10

27:10

OLD FLESH AGENTS Irv Charnoff and Jess Mack were the last remaining vaudeville/burlesque booking agents in 1984. They mourned the decline of wholesome American show-biz, as it devolved into pornography.By Josh Alan Friedman

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#15: Gentle with the Girls 25:12

6+ y ago25:12

25:12

FREEING THE NIPPLE FROM SALES TAX Al Kronish, one of the Melody Burlesk’s owners, was the first CPA to do tax returns for porn stars. Under constant legal harassment from the city, he kept Times Square’s last bastion of old burlesque open and spread-eagled. (All photos by Don Demcsik for Tales of Times Square)…

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#14: The Life 24:19

6+ y ago24:19

24:19

TIMES SQUARE CLEANS UP FOR PORN REBORN No sooner than the neighborhood rid itself of filth, pimps and whores came dancing back into the hearts of Broadway. Composer Cy Coleman and writer David Newman discuss their hit musical in 1997.By Josh Alan Friedman

1
#13: The Hooker Bus 32:33

6+ y ago32:33

32:33

A SAFE SPACE FOR SISTERS OF THE NIGHT. Girls from all over the country gravitated to NY to make more money in street prostitution than anywhere else. Missionary Arlene Carmen ran a mobile van that gave them a respite from the cops, the tricks and their pimps.By Josh Alan Friedman

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#12: The Princess of 42nd Street 19:34

6+ y ago19:34

19:34

Caruso tipped her $5. Fanny Gold ran her family’s 42nd Street newsstand as an eight-year-old girl in 1915. Living in poverty one block away, she was enchanted by Times Square’s aristocratic era. And was mugged six times there as an old lady.By Josh Alan Friedman

1
#11: The Man Who Booked the Movies 24:40

6+ y ago24:40

24:40

FROM CAGNEY TO KUNG FU. Martin Levine, president of Brandt Theaters, booked most of the movies across 42nd Street for 50 years. His office reflects the faded glamour of a once mighty theater empire now reduced to kung-fu, grindhouse and porn flicks.By Josh Alan Friedman

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Josh Alan Friedman Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

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Tales of... by Josh Alan Friedman

Josh Alan Friedman

1
#17: Doc Pomus Comes Back/Part 2 32:02

1
#16: Doc Pomus Comes Back/Part 1 22:41

1
#15: The Fall of Al Goldstein/Part 2 33:36

1
#14: The Fall of Al Goldstein/Part 1 21:56

1
#13: Mel Shestack: Magazine Management Trickster 25:15

1
#12: Jack Bruce Follows His Own Path 23:38

1
#11: Cy Coleman: Broadway Jazz Maestro 19:46

1
#10: Mario Puzo 22:53

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#9: The Masked Announcer – Joel Dorn 22:00

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#8: Lou Reed – A Foul and Bitter Interview 40:53

1
#7: The Lullaby of Tiny Tim 30:37

1
#6: Seymour the Kike 33:33

1
#5: Keith Ferguson Remembers/Part 2 22:57

1
#4: Keith Ferguson Remembers/Part 1 28:21

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#3: Midnight Jerry Leiber/Part 2 25:38

1
#2: Midnight Jerry Leiber/Part 1 28:58

1
#1: Almost George 23:18

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Tales of… Season Two Trailer 2:36

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#17: Josh in Times Square 23:43

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#16: Old Flesh Agents 27:10

1
#15: Gentle with the Girls 25:12

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#14: The Life 24:19

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#13: The Hooker Bus 32:33

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#12: The Princess of 42nd Street 19:34

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#11: The Man Who Booked the Movies 24:40

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