Paul Scimonelli – Author, Musician, Performer and Director

Our Town with host Andy Ockershausen - Homegrown History

Paul Scimonelli on going to watch the Washington Senators play baseball at Griffith Stadium back in the day~ "The only reason to come to the stadium, and that was Shirley Povich and Bob Addy said the same thing, there's no reason to go see a last place team, and the only reason to go there was Roy Sievers. . . He should be in the Ring of Honor, he really did cement baseball in the 1950s when there was nothing . . ." Paul Scimonelli - Author, Musician, Performer and Director in studio interview with Andy Ockershausen Andy Ockershausen: This is Our Town and I'm Andy Ockershausen, and my wife Janice Ockershausen, I should announce this at the beginning of the program, she is actually the producer. I'm talking to Paul Scimonelli, who's a very important part of WMAL's history, as Janice and I are, but Paul is a one of a kind. He's a teacher, a musician, a performer, a director, and he had his own jazz-rock band called Street Life for 30-plus years- Paul Scimonelli: Still do. Andy Ockershausen: -Playing all over the US. He was a member of the United States Marine Band, how did that happen, I want to talk about that. He's been a teacher, he worked at Landon School in our Bethesda for 16 years, and how do you cram that much into your young life? He wrote a book, a beautiful book about Roy Sievers, that nobody in our audience remembers Roy Sievers except you and I, and the new people are gonna be watching. But Paul Scimonelli, welcome to Our Town. Paul Scimonelli: Thank you, Andy, it's great to be here, it really is great to be here back at WMAL again after so many years. Andy Ockershausen: It makes Janice and I come alive, because our lives were intertwined in this building with these people, and it continues, and we both get so much out of it now. She has her own business and I have my own business and work for her, and we both love to be part of WMAL for a lot of reasons, and always will be. AM, FM, skywriting, we don't care. Paul Scimonelli: It's the greatest station in DC, it really is. Andy Ockershausen: The greatest thing that ever happened to this community I think, for a while. But Paul, what is this Marine Band? How do you become a Marine and you're still in the Marine Band? Paul Scimonelli Played White House After Parties as a Member of the United States Marine Band Paul Scimonelli: That was back in the Vietnam era, and my dad got me an audition in the Marine Band in 1968 actually. Andy Ockershausen: Down at 8th and I, is that where- Paul Scimonelli: 8th and I, that's where I was stationed, at 8th and I. It just so happened that the Marine Band wanted to get a bigger presence in the White House, because the Air Force Strings were doing all of the parties and all of the arrivals and all of the different ceremonies and stuff like that, and so the Marines, which is actually called the President's Own, started by Thomas Jefferson, they wanted to have a bigger presence. Yes, the Marine Band would go in there and they would play before dinner, but then they would leave and then the Air Force- Andy Ockershausen: Strings would take over. Paul Scimonelli: They would take over, and they would do the only entertainment. Well, they wanted to have a combo and there weren't players in the band that knew combo repertoire, tunes, just regular tunes. And I came in there, and I actually could sing a little bit of rock-and-roll, the old Jeremiah was a Bullfrog kind of thing, that was the day. They went crazy, they wanted to have someone with that kind of flexibility to be in the White House, and to play for the after parties. What would normally go on in the White House was that there'd be a big group with strings and horns and they'd play as people were coming in for the state dinners, I remember the big thing they had for President of France that came in there, we played for that. Then they'd go in, they would eat, the Air Force strings would go in and stroll during the dinner.