Friend of the Enemy

You’ve got to understand, there wasn’t a bigger Public Enemy fan than me. I memorized the music on their first two albums. Not just the lyrics, but the beats, the samples and sound effects. I had the UPC code from their first two records written on the tounge of my sneakers. If you didn’t like Public Enemy, well, let’s just say that deep down, I believed that something was wrong with you.

So imagine my reaction when my director, A.J. called and asked me if I would like to interview Public Enemy. Once I floated down to earth, I got in the Camaro and headed to the Richmond Coliseum. I had to share the interview with another host of a different show, (I think her name was Monica.) but I didn’t care. This was something I hadn’t dared to dream.

I think the interview went on for about 30 minutes. I was new at the job, and didn’t know how to wrap things up smoothly, so I just kept going. Chuck left after about 10 minutes and Monica and I kept talking to Flav until he had to go. It was surreal.

Chuck was gracious and attentive and Flav was .... Flav. I got Chuck to speak on the group’s eventual irrelevance and his least favorite music video (Shut ‘em Down). Flav gave us a hundred doowahs as he departed. It was a good night.

It was unusual place to start my career as a tv show host, interviewing one of the top bands of the time as they headlined a big tour. Could anything eclipse this? I needed to know, so I just kept going.