The Remainders Rock GMA
By Claire Kirch -- Publishers Weekly, 5/31/2007 12:37:00 PM
It was only 6:10 am. when the Rock Bottom Remainders began rehearsing for a live performance today on ABC’s "Good Morning America," but they were in high spirits as they crowded onto the small stage, lined with piles of books, set up in the studio looking out on Times Square. The musicians--a mix of prominent authors, their friends and relatives, led by Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson and Stephen King--clearly were enjoying themselves, exchanging banter, before kicking off the jam session with a spirited rendition of "The Midnight Hour." Janine Sabino, Mitch Albom’s wife, moaned into the microphone a sultry, "wait until the midnight hour, baby," refrain over and over, while, on either side of her, King and Barry energetically strummed their guitars, and Scott Turow, Kathi Kamen Goldmark, and Amy Tan swayed a little off-kilter to the music.
A few minutes later, King took center stage, and the band segued into "Werewolves of London." King howled repeatedly into the microphone, "owwww, oohhhh, werewolves of London," followed at one point by his warbling, "I saw Patty Neger (GMA’s long-time book producer) with a pina colada in her hand." Neger blushed, ABC’s production crew and the other onlookers laughed, and the band swung into a performance of the entire song.
"Any requests?" Barry asked afterward.
"Freebird!" a cameraman next to me yelled, then whispered, while we both laughed," I do that to every band coming in."
Ignoring the cameraman’s request, the Remainders next treated their audience to a rousing performance of "Wild Thing," before the producer stopped them and started going over the morning show’s script.
At 6:45 AM, the Remainders stopped rehearsing and prepared to go up to the Green Room to relax before their segment, scheduled for the show’s last half hour. As the Remainders and their entourage milled about, ABC producers tried to herd everybody into a large freight elevator. It was like herding cats, but, at last, the Remainders were settled upstairs, eating a breakfast of grits, scrambled eggs and fruit. Two industrial-sized thermoses of coffee and tea were quickly emptied of their caffeinated contents.An hour later, Barry shouted, "People, listen up," as Neger stood near the now-empty thermoses and waited for the conversations between people who obviously like each other and don’t see each other often, to subside. "Patty, Patty, Patty," King chanted, followed by the rest of the band taking up the chant. When Neger suggested that authors hold up their latest books in front of their faces to pre-announce the segment at the top of the 8 o’clock hour, King protested, asking who’d agreed to book the band on GMA anyway. Turow suggested that, perhaps, the authors could hold their books up, then pull them down from their faces in sequence. After practicing their "book wave" a few times, the lead GMA producer pronounced it "excellent television, television at its best," at which point, Barry started chewing on his book.
At 8:20 AM, Neger led the group back into the studio, now filled with a live audience of cheering, sign-waving tourists seated in risers stage right, with cameramen in the center, and the rest of the GMA production crew and guests stage left. After the 8:30 station break, Turow led his comrades in an abbreviated version of "Wild Thing," his face scrunched up, his body swaying, lead his comrades in song.
The next commercial break was followed by a few riffs on "Werewolves of London," before GMA co-host Chris Cuomo interviewed a young woman dressed in pink, including a pink toolbelt, on housecleaning tips. Meanwhile, waiting for their cue, the Remainders stood motionless on stage, as a producer held up his fingers, counting down. When GMA began to cut to a commercial, the band whipped into "Werewolves of London" and co-host, Elizabeth Vargas, climbed onto the stage.
After the break, Vargas introduced the band as "some of the bestselling authors in the world.
"Why are they here," she asked, "Well, like everyone else, they want to be rock stars!" After interviewing Barry and Pearson briefly about their upcoming "Still Younger than Keith Tour 2007" with its one date – Friday evening, at Webster Hall, in a benefit for the ABFFE’s "Get Caught Reading" program, Vargas stepped aside and the band rocked the studio with "The Midnight Hour."
Afterward, Vargas interviewed the band members. When Vargas asked Amy Tan why she morphed from well-behaved author offstage into wild rock-and-roller onstage, Tan responded that she was the "rhythm dominatrix. What else can I do?" And when Vargas pointed out to James McBride that he’d referred to Greg Isles as "Gary," he replied, "Oh well, I’m the only Black person here; they all look alike to me."
After Vargas’s group interview, The Remainders wrapped up the show by singing, to the tune of "Louie, Louie," an impromptu "Say goodbye, ooh, ooh, we gotta go," the band members swaying back and forth in time to the music.
"This is the largest gathering of band members in five years," Barry told me during a brief conversation offstage.
"We love playing for booksellers," he added, "Their standards are pretty low. They’re the audience we first played to, and they’re the best audience we’ve ever played to. Because they’re drinking."When I protested, Barry replied, "See, you’re proving my point. You’re in that world."
"If anyone started taking themselves too seriously, we’d have to kick them out of the band," he declared, "The only reason Greg Isles is in the band is that he tricked us. He pretended to be really bad, when he’s really good."
