Hello readers, welcome to a very special edition of Dougsploitation's The Douglas Michael Show. For those of you unfamiliar with the back story of my relationship/obsessesion with Sonseed, here it is in a nutshell.
I've owned a VHS tape of Sonseed performing "Jesus is a Friend of Mine" on an episode the WNBC TV show THE FIRST ESTATE for over 25 years. I've shown it to hundreds of people over the years. People of all faiths and people of no faith all just seemed to LOVE it. In August of 2008, a friend of mine converted it to digital and I posted it on Vimeo and also here on this very blog. Some crafty person stole it from Vimeo and put it on YouTube and before you knew, people all around the world were singing along with Sal Polichetti and the band. I later stole it back and posted it on YouTube myself as well- as have countless others. 2 Million viewings, several parodies and covers later, the song and the video had taken on a life of their own.
Soon after I posted the video, I was able, through a series of lucky circumstances, to get an exclusive interview with Sal, which I posted on this blog as a "Dougsploitation News Special Report". My daily visitors suddenly went from around 8 to over 8000 because there was no information about Sonseed available anywhere other than here...and then accusations began to fly that I made the whole thing up. That was fun. I even got to do a few interviews myself because of that. Now, a year later, I sit across from Sal Polichetti in a diner in Manhattan's Chelsea and we talk like old friends.
Doug : Hey Sal, it's great to talk to you again - almost a year later and this time FACE-TO-FACE! Welcome to my virtual talk-show - and my first on-location interview! If someone told me a year ago that I'd be sitting in a diner in Chelsea across from Sal from Sonseed, I would NEVER believe them. Life is strange sometimes.Sal: You can take the boy out of Brooklyn but you can't take Brooklyn out of the boy. Although you've been living in California and I've been living upstate NY for quite some time it was obvious where we came from. Not everyone would understand that (you have to be from "New Yawk").
Doug: It's good to be back home, even if it is just for a quick visit. As you know, since I first posted the Sonseed video on my blog last year, you might say that things have kinda gotten outta control. Before Sonseed I had about 8 readers a day - then it was about 8000 a day. So, how has YOUR life changed in the past year?
Sal: I've never had a fan club in Sweden before! My brother-in-law forwarded it to me last week. I don't know what they're saying but I assume it's positive. I've also never done a telephone interview for a morning drive-time radio station in Sydney, Australia either (it's true; every other word out of their mouths is "mate"). I guess it's the wide scope of this whole thing that amazes me!
Sal: Greg Glover from Arena Rock in Oregon contacted me. He distributes a lot of indie, out-of-the-box stuff and thought this might be fun. We couldn't use the entire album due to copyright restrictions but most of the good stuff is there.
Doug: Oh, and it's so cool that I got a special "thank you" on the CD! What has been the reaction of your family...and friends to Sonseed's resurgence?
Sal: My sisters and their kids are blown away. I guess when you're a teenager and your old uncle Sal is a "YouTube" star that's big cred at school. My kids are sort of used to it; they've been seeing me perform in plays and with the band their whole lives. But I am waiting for my son to use "have you seen my dad on YouTube?" as a pick-up line.
Doug: That's hysterical! Mabye he can get a tee-shirt made via Cafe Press that says that? I have to tell you, the part that makes me the happiest about this whole thing is you were able to reconnect with old friends because of all this and that it brought some happiness to Brother John before he passed away.
Sal: Everyone I've gotten in touch with has been really cool about the whole thing. It was great re-connecting with Frank Franco again (besides the annual Christmas card exchange) and we've actually met a few times in the past year. There are still some Sonseeders I haven't heard from yet. I find it hard to believe they all haven't heard about this whole thing. Maybe they're pissed off. Maybe they're embarrassed. Hard to tell.Doug: Maybe they just don't have internet access yet? You've recently appeared on stage with a few bands- performing "Jesus is a Friend of Mine" to sold-out crowds. That must have been and incredible experience. So what's next for you? What's next for Sonseed?
Sal: Same old for me. I just finished doing "The Sunshine Boys" at a small theater in Walden, NY and I'm now in rehearsals for "Kiss Me Kate" in Monroe, NY. I still play old rock and roll with 3 other old guys every so often (my first love, actually). As far as Sonseed I suppose that's it. It would probably take "Beatle reunion" type cash to get all of us in the same place at the same time again. Frankly, I don't see that happening.
Doug: Well, if that reunion happens, I wanna be there! I just have to say what an extreme pleasure it has been meeting you in person and getting to know you. I only wish I had posted the video YEARS ago, but I'm so glad I finally did.
Sal: Same for me, brother. I don't know how I would have handled this years ago but I'm in a good place in my life right now and was able to enjoy it.
Doug: Thanks again for talking to me and helping put my blog on the map. I love that your family sent me a "Hi Doug" photo. That is so sweet! All my best to your daughter Christina, your wife Donna and your son Joseph. I love that I can now say that "Sal Polichetti is a Friend of Mine"!
Sal: Same to you and all you care about. If we ever get out to LA, we'll do this again!Doug: I look forward to it - LA has a lots of great diners for us to hang out in. Oh by the way, I recently got to re-screen the video at Dennis Hensley's HOME VIDEO GONG SHOW at the REDCAT Theater at Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown L.A. - it did not get gonged this time! Here it is again, for old time's sake...ZAP!
