Fun with A Big Foot

I was really prepared for my first show. I wrote out all the questions, follow-ups and a couple of adlibs. I attempted to script everything. I wanted it to be the perfect show. My quest for perfection was cut short when the producer ran the wrong intro at the top of the show. Damn.

The sole guest on my first show was Parliament-Funkadelic expatriate Jerome “Bigfoot” Brailey. My P-Funk obsession was in its early stages back then. I had just discovered their greatest hits and was starting to dig deeper into their catalog, when I heard that a guy from my hometown had played in the band. I wondered what had become of him.

As luck would have it, the next week, I was standing by my security desk at Burlington Coat Factory. A girl I worked with at danced by my desk and said she was going to a party at Jerome's. I didn't make the party, but she hooked me up with Jerome later.

The show is hard for me to watch now, with the weight of all the years and styles that have passed since '91. But it is a factual, informative document that I was glad to be a part of and Jerome's story is one that deserves to be told.

Jerome’s involvement with the show didn’t end there. I used a track from his 1996 album Aftershock 2005, “The Growl,” as the Wavelength theme song for several years. He appeared on the show a second time and we've maintained a good friendship.