One, two, one, two, three, four.
Did you know there's actually only one groove
on a record?
It's true.
Yeah. It looks like all these individual circles,
but no, it's just one.
One single line,
1,500 feet of it, to be exact,
a third of a mile carving its way round and round
in circles until...
it finally just ends.
To make a record it takes 100 tons of pressure
applied under 1,000 degrees of heat,
all to create this perfect vinyl platter.
Now, what music goes on the record,
well, that's where I come in.
I... am a record man.
♪ He taught me how ♪
♪ To watch ♪
♪ Fight and pray ♪
Hey!
-Whoo! -♪ Fight and pray ♪
Sing it!
♪ And in rejoicing ♪
♪ Every day ♪
That, right there,
ah, that is why I'm here, Mr. Hawkins.
You got call-in requests breaking records,
lightning in a bottle,
yet no one east of here has ever heard it.
You heard it, as did six other labels,
-all making offers right now. -Five other labels, Mr. Hawkins,
and you've only spoken to the head of one of them.
Now, give me this song and I promise you,
we will own radio.
I mean, a gospel-pop crossover?
No one's ever done that before!
This is why I'm here. This is what I do,
and I promise you right here in this church
before God,
there is just no one better.
No, no. You called me Mr. Hawkins, not Reverend.
I'm not pretending there's not a line.
I am just respecting when to cross it.
♪ Oh happy day ♪
Now, do we want to talk in height or weight?
Because that right there is about four inches.
Mm.
Yes?
♪ Oh happy day ♪
Yes? Yes?
♪ Oh happy day ♪
Oh, come on!
Yes?
-Yes, yes. -Yes!
We will do an awful lot of God's work.
Oh, happy day.
Happy day.
Whoo!
♪ Oh happy day ♪
♪ Singing oh happy day ♪
♪ Oh happy day ♪
♪ Oh happy happy day ♪
♪ Oh happy day ♪
♪ Oh happy happy day ♪
♪ Oh happy day ♪
♪ Whoo ♪
♪ Oh happy day ♪
Who told you that?
Buck? Cecil?
You talk to Hawkins himself?
"Oh, Happy Day" sold over seven million records.
It even won us a Grammy. Hmm.
Alright. The choir wasn't actually there
when I got arrived. I didn't get up the stage
and perform the song, but you know what?
I could have.
Hell of a lot more fun to tell it that way, though.
You realize that that's gonna be the problem
with all these stories, right?
Listen. I'm not... I'm not sayig that people are gonna be lying.
It's just... Okay.
Well, some of them might be.
It's just that memories,
memories are complicated, you know.
We remember what we wanna remember.
And we forget what we need to forget.
To be at the heart of something as impossibly successful
as what we had...
Gladys Knight, the Isley Brothers,
Bill Withers, Parliament, the Village People, Kiss,
and Donna...
it's... How do you expect me to tell you
how all that really happened?
Couple guys broke as we were
to making over $100 million a year.
I mean, first, you'd have to understand our crew,
because there was just no one else ever like them.
Cecil was my best friend.
He was also a record executive who loved the artists
and the music even more than the business,
and the artists themselves... Oh, my God.
They sure loved him... and trusted him,
more than they ever trusted me.
Larry was a music fan
long before he ever became an executive.
It was why he was so effective
staying out on the road with the bands.
He was also my cousin,
and all great business is family.
Buck had been a short-order cook before he married Nancy.
Our PR man, he was the connection guy
who could convince just about anyone
to do just about anything.
And Nancy.
God. Every DJ and radio program director
just loved Nance.
She was our secret weapon,
getting our music on the air and into your lives.
She was also my wife's sister.
Beth was, um...
Well, she was the first person who ever believed
my dreams could be more than just dreams.
She was the first one to ever truly believe in me.
And Joyce...
You know, I may have met her as Kiss's manager, but...
well, we'll get to Joyce.
Just... give me a little time.
Look. I know that we've been blamed for a lot of bad things
that happened, and I'm not saying
it's not sex, drugs, and rock and roll, because it was.
It's just, it was sex before it was deadly, you know?
And finding out who wasn't doing drugs would be
a hell of a lot harder story for you to tell.
But if what you're after is the truth
of not just what happened but how it happened,
then, you know, you're just gonna have to believe
all of it, because every single bit of it
was true.
Even the parts that weren't.
♪ Everybody everywhere ♪
Los Angeles, February 18, 1974.
There's a hell of a lot that comes before that night,
but the story you want to hear,
well, this is where it all really begins.
Having moved out to California only two months before,
we were throwing the biggest party Los Angeles
had ever thrown, to launch Casablanca Records,
the biggest independent record label
anyone had ever launched.
Absolutely I am. hit me.
And we only had one band to do it with,
and they were... well, they were, uh, different.
I think this was a mistake.
We should not let them go on tonight.
-Bill, it's gonna be great. -Yeah? For who? Him or us?
Are you really gonna put those guys up there
wearing those stupid costumes and that stupid makeup?
It's who they are, Joe.
Nobody knows who they are yet.
You know, I got friends at Warner Brothers,
and people are talking.
And they're not talking the way you want to hear.
You know what they're not talking about, Joey? Huh?
Shit that doesn't scare them.
-Nelly, we're ready. -Yeah. Or excite them!
Or make 'em want to dance or laugh or fuck or cry
or fucking matter at all.
Thank you, because the fact that people are talking,
that's music to my ears.
And you really spent all the three million dollars
Warners gave you as an advance?
Actually, I spent four million.
Show time, Neil.
Ooh, sounds like they're playing my song.
Yeah, well, just remember, the house always wins,
even against you.
-You wanna bet? -I bet they suck.
Uh-huh.
Mwah.
Hello. So, I had a thought...
on my way over here tonight.
I thought to myself, "What the hell am I doing
in Humphrey Bogart's actual suit?"
Poor kid from the Brooklyn projects,
son of a postman.
Oh, stand up, Pops. Pops.
-There he is. -Thank you. Thank you.
-Oh, sure. Take a bow. Why not? -Learned everything from me.
Bad stuff from his mother.
Hell of a long trip from Brooklyn, huh?
Not so far, kid.
Dreams...
only come true for those who believe in them.
So, tonight, to celebrate the launch
of the biggest independent record label in history,
we thought we'd share some of our dreams with you.
So, you may have heard them on the radio,
but after what you're about to experience tonight,
you're never gonna forget these guys.
So, put your two lips together
for the hottest band in the world, KISS!
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that way.
- Hello, Los Angeles! - Ah!
- How we feeling tonight? - Yeah, good. More.
♪ Well the night's begun ♪
♪ And you want some fun ♪
♪ Do you think you're gonna find it? ♪
♪ Think you're gonna find it ♪
♪ You got to treat yourself like number one ♪
♪ Do you need to be reminded? ♪
♪ Need to be reminded? ♪
♪ It doesn't matter what you do or say ♪
♪ Just forget the things that you've been told ♪
♪ We can't do it any other way ♪
♪ Everybody's got to rock and roll ♪
♪ Whoa, whoa ♪
♪ Shout it, shout it ♪
♪ Shout it out loud ♪
Yeah!
♪ Shout it, shout it ♪
♪ Shout it out loud ♪
You know, Kiss may have been
unlike anything anyone had ever seen,
but I could see them.
I could see it all.
Performance was great. I just, um...
you know, forgot about the smoke.
And the fire alarm.
And the sprinklers.
♪ Shout it, shout it ♪
♪ Shout it out loud ♪
Oh, shit!
♪ Shout it, shout it ♪
Guys, don't stop playing.
♪ Shout it out loud ♪
♪ Shout it, shout it ♪
♪ Shout it out loud ♪
You fucking kidding me?
Alright. Guys. Guys. Guys.
I knew they were gonna suck.
Kiss my ass.
It's not your fault, guys.
They don't understand art.
Just be careful around the water.
-I fucking warned you! -Don't touch anything.
-Neil! -Don't touch...
Don't electrocute...
- Paul, please. - Paul. Paul, come on.
Just like that... the night it all began...
we were finished.
You okay?
You made it rain inside, Daddy.
Do another trick.
I'm working on it, honey.
I'll get Jill home to Beth and the boys.
Just tell her I'll be home soon.
But you promised we'd dance, Daddy!
You bet I did.
Prettiest girl in all the world.
I had worked my whole life leading up to that night,
but KISS was dead the moment they took that stage.
The town just hated them.
About the time I got home to Beth,
even she had heard what a disaster it had been.
From the day I married her,
she always knew the truth I was hiding.
She just... didn't always admit it.
Hey, you okay?
Your sister tell you what happened tonight?
Yeah.
Even with everything that had happened
along the way,
we'd still always been better together.
They, uh, say the biggest sin of a record man
is believing in something because you have to,
not because you do.
But I had believed in Kiss,
and I knew what Casablanca could be.
♪ Get yourself together ♪
But after the party, the town was already celebrating
the death of Casablanca.
Hello, Casablanca.
Not that that was gonna stop us.
Mark Parenteau, WABX! Kiss just got added
to regular rotation in Detroit.
Nance, you paid off Mark to do that, didn't you?
Of course I did.
Mwah! Love this woman.
Mo Ostin at Warners needs you to call him back.
-Of course he does. -He called six times.
Of course he did.
Hey, Cec!
Hey. Bill called.
Gene and Paul are demanding a meeting.
Oh. Just tell them to get ready for the tour.
-You got KISS a tour? -No, but you're gonna do it.
Just find 'em a headliner
that's not gonna be intimidated by them as an opening act.
New artist from Giorgio. He'll be expecting a yes.
- Scotty! You listen to this yet? - Ah, yeah,
but they're Giorgio, you know? They're different.
-How different? -After last night,
too different.
Last night went exactly as we expected,
and that includes the sprinklers.
- All set. - Like hell it did.
♪ I love to love you baby ♪
Her voice just... cut right through me.
♪ You layin' so close to me ♪
♪ There's no place I'd rather you be ♪
♪ Then with me here ♪
♪ Ooh I ♪
♪ Love to love you baby ♪
Play that again.
♪ I love to love you baby ♪
♪ Do it to me again and again ♪
Yeah. Get me Giorgio.
He's ready for you, Mr. Moroder.
Sorry I missed it, your party.
I spoke to Cess-ull.
-Cee-sull. -You have no money.
Ha-ha. Well, there's always money, Giorgio,
if you know where to find it.
Listen. Those new songs of yours were different.
The eighth and the sixteenth notes,
that open hi-hat on the down-beat.
That's new. It makes you move.
Mm-hmm.
Where did you find that voice?
An American girl.
She does the musicals in Munich.
LaDonna Gaines.
Gaines. Gaines.
Her first husband's name was Sommer.
Everything is hotter in summer.
An Italian from Germany writing in English.
You know what? Maybe we pretend she's German.
I never could figure out his accent.
What? Neil, you can't afford to buy my music.
I may not have been at your party,
but I could read. Even English.
The party was to announce that we're open for business,
and now, we're on the cover of everything.
Because they say you're finished.
That's 'cause they don't know what starting looks like,
Giorgio. Now, I don't want your music for our label, okay?
I want it for yours. Oasis through Casablanca.
You let them write about that.
Giorgio, why don't we take a look at some artwork?
Good old flash paper trick, huh?
Oh! Nelly, Warners wants to bleed us to death.
I snuck a tape recorder into their little sales meeting.
They wanna kill KISS to kill us.
Hello, Casablanca.
Neil, I think you're overreacting.
Oh, really? So you're telling me that Bruce here
did not tell your teams not to push our records?
Bruce, the boys have concerns
about how we're handling Casablanca.
Actually, Brucie, the boys here are concerned
that you might be a spineless little cocksucker.
-Oh, yeah. That's also true. -Well, we don't have
any actual proof about the cock-sucking.
But we all know, and no one here's gonna judge you, Bruce.
-Fuck you, and fuck you! -You see that, Mo?
He's trying to fuck me. I don't blame him.
Nobody gives a shit about KISS.
-Were you not at the party? -This ain't got a damn thing
to do about the party, and you know it.
Oh, you're right about that.
It's about the fact that they can't cut a radio hit.
Their bullshit stage tricks make them a fucking joke,
not an act. That's why their record's not selling.
I wanna play you a little something
from our newest record.
You're an asshole, Bruce.
Mo, just take a listen. It's got a hell of a hook.
We don't promote KISS
or any Casablanca records.
We don't push 'em, they can't sell 'em,
and that's how we end 'em.
Fuckin' bleed 'em to death.
- You fucking recorded me? - Don't touch me.
-My wife got me that table. -He fucking touched me, man.
What the fuck? This is fucking Warner Brothers,
not some fucking New York back alley
you just crawled out of, assholes!
You messed with our business, Bruce, and nobody,
fucking nobody, messes with our business,
-not even you, Mo. -What the hell
do you really want?
Huh? You didn't come all the way over here
just to beat up Bruce.
-I did. -No.
We want out.
-From our distribution? -Fucking everything, all of it.
You're broke.
The whole town knows it. What are you gonna do?
Go door to door across the country,
selling your records yourselves?
You'll never survive without us.
No. We'll never survive with you.
You're gonna remember this fucking meeting.
No, and... and not with a fucking smile.
So, bill me for your table and have a nice fucking day.
Hey. You do know no one's ever done this before?
Because no one's ever tried before.
Launching our own distribution, we weren't
just going up against Warners. We were waging an all-out war
against all the majors at once.
But if we were gonna survive,
we absolutely needed a hit,
which meant we absolutely needed something new.
LaDonna Adrian Gaines may have been born in Boston,
but her dreams had landed her in Germany,
which is where her story with us really begins.
-You're late. -I'm as early as I could be.
He's releasing the song in America,
and I mean right away.
What? We haven't even recorded the real song yet.
-It's just a demo. -When I'm done with the mix,
no one will care.
I'll care.
Uh, you gave him control over how I look?
He creates an image, a story. It's what he does.
Well, don't you think he should at least meet the real me
before he decides there needs to be a fake one created?
LaDonna, your daughter is asleep in the hallway
instead of a bedroom all her own, dreaming
a sweeter dream than you could ever provide her alone.
You will never get another chance like this.
Sign it.
They... they legally changed my name?
He changed his, too.
He was right. I had.
And not just once.
I was actually born Neil Bogatz,
growing up in the Glenwood projects
of Brooklyn, New York.
Alright, Neil. What else do you want?
All of it.
By the time I was eight years old,
I already knew that the life that I wanted
was far, far away from here.
Please. I swear!
You hear that, kid?
Your pops says he swears this time!
You dropped your egg cream.
We'll get you a refill.
Are we poor, Pop?
What?
What you worried about? Huh?
Hey, money's easy.
You can always find money.
A person's got to know what to do with it.
That's what counts.
Do you know what to do with it?
Because it's not here.
Do me a favor, boychik.
Look at all these people, huh?
Now, you got a choice. You can live in a four-color world
or one in black and white like all these schmucks
too terrified to dream of a world
outside of our four shitty blocks.
Eh, not me.
I know what to do with it.
I'm gonna get us the hell out of here.
Hey. I promise you.
Just... need a little more tim.
That's all.
Neil, you got all the machines going.
It saves my time, Mrs. Finkelstein.
If I leave these with you, you'll put them in
when you're done?
I'll give you five cents.
Ten cents.
Saves your time.
You better fold them.
- Let's go! - Within a month,
I had 40 kids working the neighborhood.
Here's how it's gonna go. I'm gonna assign...
Within two, I was bringing in more than my dad.
You know how it feels
making more money than your father?
Exactly how you think it does.
By 1961, I had changed my name again to Neil Scott.
I tried acting, playing the piano, even the sax,
and while I always wanted to be a singer,
it was as a dancer that I finally found the beat.
My fiancée, Erminie McNulty, everybody.
I am Neil Scott, your singer, your dance instructor,
and anything else you need me to be tonight.
But, uh, that's not why I'm telling you this part.
Dance.
Is that a statement or a question
without the inflection at the end?
Dance with me.
We don't dance with the staff.
Our parents own the hotel.
Well, okay. Well, then I work for you.
♪ From within a dim light cast ♪
♪ Two silhouettes on the shade ♪
♪ Oh what a lovely couple ♪
♪ They made ♪
♪ Put his arms around your waist ♪
♪ Held you tight ♪
♪ Kisses I could almost taste ♪
♪ In the night ♪
♪ Wondered why I'm not the guy ♪
Where did you learn to dance like this?
♪ I couldn't hide ♪
My father.
♪ The tears in my eyes ♪
♪ Silhouettes silhouettes silhouettes silhouettes ♪
So, you met your lawyer yet?
Your doctor?
Whoever your parents have already set up for you?
♪ Silhouettes silhouettes ♪
They'll never be able to compete.
With you?
With you.
All this really the life that you want?
When you're all alone and nobody's watching...
♪ Lost control and rang your bell ♪
...lights are out...
♪ I was sore ♪
...just about to fall asleep..
♪ Let me in or else I'll beat ♪
♪ Down your door ♪
...what do you dream?
♪ When two strangers who had been ♪
Dreams are for children.
♪ ...silhouettes on the shade ♪
You don't really believe that.
♪ You're on the wrong block ♪
Someone just told you you did.
♪ Bah bah bah bah bah bah bah bah bah bah bah bah ♪
♪ Bah bah bah bah bah bah bah bah bah bah bah bah bah ♪
What do you dream of, Neil?
Tonight... I'm gonna dream
about how it feels dancing with you right now.
♪ Loved you like I never loved ♪
♪ You my sweet ♪
♪ Vowed that you and I would be ♪
♪ Two silhouettes on the shade ♪
♪ All of our days ♪
♪ Two silhouettes on the shade ♪
♪ Silhouettes silhouettes silhouettes silhouettes ♪
♪ Silhouettes silhouettes ah oh ♪
♪ Two silhouettes ♪
With Beth, I finally felt everything was possible.
All we had to decide was which dream came next.
Yeah. No. The second verse still needs be pop-ier,
right up into the break.
♪ Licorice ♪
And then boom! That, that is when they will swoon.
-Who's gonna swoon? -The girls, Mr. Darnell,
the ones actually buying the records.
The girls buy records after the first take, Neil.
-Trust me. -Let's just do it again.
-I know I'm right about this. -How?
Because I can hear it!
Can't you? Come on!
So, Murray-The-K does a monthly competition.
He pits one new single against another.
The one that comes out on top,
he spins it 'til the grooves wear out.
Well, okay. So, when do we start?
Next month. This month, it's against Elvis.
-Neil. -What? Bill, I know the contest.
The... the call-in votes can only be local, right?
-We can beat him! -No, you can't.
Yes, we can!
It's against Elvis!
Presley, Neil.
The votes are in! The game is won,
and the hot new kid from Brooklyn
just beat Elvis Presley!
-We beat Elvis. -We beat Elvis!
Oh, my God! Neil!
♪ My baby's kisses taste like candy ♪
♪ Every time that her lips touch mine ♪
♪ I don't want to stop ♪
♪ Oh we can dream ♪
♪ About our someday ♪
♪ When I see my sugar ♪
♪ Down at the candy shop ♪
♪ She's the cherry on top ♪
♪ My life was bittersweet ♪
♪ Before her ♪
♪ She's the cherry on top ♪
♪ She floats my ice cream ♪
♪ When she smiles ♪
♪ She's the cherry on top ♪
♪ I'm crazy for her lips ♪
♪ Bright red like licorice ♪
Okay. So, where do we dream from here?
This is Murray-The-K, WINS,
where Neil Scott is the name you're gonna wanna remember!
♪ Uno, dos, one, two ♪
Yeah...
As Neil Scott, I'd recorded two more songs
for Portrait Records,
but we'd made "Cherry On Top" a hit.
It never made me one.
One-hit wonder.
Well, you know that story.
Anyway, after a short stint
as soft porn actor Wayne Stewart,
which there's really no need to get into now,
I'd become Wayne Roberts,
freelancing for Fortune Employment,
you know, getting other people jobs,
when MGM Records called
looking for someone to run record promotions.
And well, fuck me if I didn't know just the guy.
His name?
You changed our names?
After Humphrey Bogart?
Here's lookin' at us, kid.
Us? Does that mean I get a say in this?
Yeah, of course. You get a say in everything.
We'll take a vote.
Did you really change our names?
Well, you got to write down your vote. You know,
who do you... who do you wanna be?
I want to be me.
Okay. Well, you got to... You gonna vote or not?
You got to do the vote. You got to do the vote.
-Ready? -Mm-hmm.
Come on. Come on. Ooh. Bogatz. Bogart. Bogart!
-I win! I get two votes! -Why?
I get two votes, because I voted on that, too!
Come on. Come on.
It's finally the record business again,
for real this time.
For real this time?
Yeah. For real.
And what do we change after our names, huh?
Huh?
Everything.
-Listen. -Neil.
-You put this on the side. -Neil, how many...
Put it down here. You put it up here. You got a big,
-big, yellow sign... -I put what I want in my window,
-Neil! -saying, "Come look
-at my merchandise!" -How many times
do I gotta tell you? I put what I want in my window!
-Come on. It's a great song. -Neil, you just keep trying,
-okay, buddy? -It's a great song. Okay.
One week. One week. I take it down after one week.
-Then we put a new one up. -What are you gonna do for me?
You're asking him to advertise your records.
No. I'm asking him to put a couple posters up
in the window. It's not the same thing.
It's exactly the same thing, except you're asking him
-to do it for free. -Well, you know, MGM won't pay
for local advertising.
Who says you have to call it advertising?
MGM won't pay for anything.
Who says it has to come from them, huh?
♪ Wooly bully ♪
♪ Wooly bully, wooly bully ♪
-No. -I already voted.
♪ Wooly bully ♪
♪ Watch it now, watch it ♪
And this is what comes next.
♪ You got it, you got it ♪
♪ Yeah ♪
You're moving up in the world, Neil.
I wasn't running promotions for a year
before I was running it all.
No. I...
I'm running MGM Records,
and I didn't even finish high school.
♪ Matty told Hatty ♪
And there's not a single person who ever did finish high school
that could possibly be better at running MGM Records.
♪ Get you someone really ♪
♪ To pull the wool with you ♪
I'll teach you.
♪ Wooly bully ♪
I know what comes next.
♪ Wooly bully ♪
♪ Watch it now, watch it ♪
♪ Here it come ♪
♪ You got it, you got it ♪
This is what I dreamt of.
The night you asked me when we first met?
This was my dream.
♪ Yummy yummy yummy I got love in my tummy ♪
Buddah Records, 1650 Broadway in the Brill.
Other than what we'd create later at Casablanca,
no more infamous address in the music business
ever existed.
♪ Ooh love to hold you ♪
♪ Ooh love to kiss you ♪
We'd built the kind of independent record company
that no one had ever seen before.
The artists worked with us, not for us.
They were family,
and that made all the difference.
Neil.
He'll see us.
Still holding. Buck.
Hey, man. What the fuck you doing?
What the fuck it look like, black?
Trying to open the... fucking window.
You're the ones making a lot of noise downstairs,
that Buddah Records. Yeah.
Big music needs big speakers, Ron.
Big music needs big dollars, Neil. Black dollars.
Green dollars, my man.
It's the only color that matters.
Maybe to you.
So, Cec tells me you recorded something new.
-I want it. -You ain't even heard it yet.
Well, you're the fucking Isley Brothers.
So, if Motown is too busy to make you a priority,
then Berry Gordy can go to the record stores
and buy your fucking music like everybody else.
Plus, you know that we move product better than anyone.
We know y'all be paying motherfuckin' DJs
to play the records you tell them to.
We don't get pimped out. You dig?
Because we are the motherfuckin' Isleys.
God damn right.
But you got to be out your mind.
You going head to head with Berry Gordy himself.
Well, it is called show business.
So, why don't you play me the song that we're releasing
off of your own new label?
- Our own new label? - Mm-hmm.
That's what you're offering us?
Well, that's your thing, right?
It's a black thing. A black label.
Careful, motherfucker.
You talk a good talk, but there's a line.
I'm sorry. I thought you didn't believe in lines.
You played him the motherfucking record,
didn't you? Because he wouldn't even be acting like this
if he ain't heard the shit.
-I sang it for him. -Don't be lying to me, man.
It's a hot fucking song, Ron. The man had to hear it.
Do me a favor. Why don't you scoot on over, Ronnie?
Who the fuck you calling... This motherfucker
-just called me Ronnie. -You don't know him like that.
Don't be callin' the man Ronnie.
Um, just a term of endearment, alright?
Do I look like a motherfucking Ronnie to you?
Do I look like a motherfucking Ronnie
to you?
As a matter of fact, yeah, you look
exactly like a fuckin' Ronnie.
You're a crazy motherfucker. You got some balls, man.
Let me show you a few ideas I've been hearing in your music.
Oh, now, you got ideas to my fucking music.
Yeah.
Show me what you got, Neil.
That dirty guitar?
No, no. You got to turn that shit up.
That nasty brass. Oh.
You tell me that each punch isn't meant to cut Berry Gordy
right through the fucking gut.
You're a dangerous man, ain't you?
No, man. I'm just the guy who knows that you are,
and you fucking should be. But knockout punches,
they gotta come clean, be relentless,
and never stop until the body hits the fucking floor!
Now, that's a hit.
Motherfucker.
-Hey. -What's up?
What's going on, brother?
Whoo!
Ron Isley!
♪ It's your thing ♪
♪ Do what you want to do ♪
♪ I can't tell you who to sock it to ♪
♪ Said it's your thing girl ♪
♪ Do what you want to do ♪
♪ Said I can't tell you ♪
♪ Who to sock it to ♪
♪ Oh ♪
Ron wasn't completely wrong
about us and the DJs. Now, you may have heard of this
as something called payola, but to us...
Mm. It was just another day at the office.
♪ You need love now just as bad as I do ♪
♪ Oh makes no difference now ♪
♪ Who you give your thing to ♪
♪ Oh it's your thing ♪
Frankie Crocker was one of the most influential DJs
in the business, which is saying a lot,
since he was one of the only black DJs
white audiences ever accepted.
♪ Said it's your thing girl ♪
♪ Oh ♪
♪ Said it's your thing girl ♪
♪ Oh baby ♪
The thing no one ever really got about payola
is that we never paid anyone
to play records they didn't wanna play.
-Whoo! -Ron, you got
my damn table pregnant.
But did we spread a little love to get our records
a little more attention? What do you think?
The records were spinning as fast as we were.
The hits just kept coming. There was nothing
that could stop us.
They bought the company? These fucking guys?
Viewlex. They make film projector lenses.
Which means they know absolutely fucking nothing
about the music business.
♪ One toke over the line sweet Jesus ♪
♪ One toke over the line ♪
Singing about Jesus again. Really?
I think you're missing the subtext.
You wanna sell this as gospel?
It says "sweet Mary".
What the hell do you think they're singing about?
I know exactly what they're singing about,
-and so do you. -Sweet Mary.
Cash and airplanes again?
Ooh! Hello, boys!
Where do you think you're going with all that cash?
-Uh, to make more of it, Darren. -I'm Darren. He's Damon.
- Oh, shit. - Sorry. Did I do that?
I'm just excited about Jesus and Mary.
It's... it's a druggie song!
Did he just call it a druggie song?
You cannot buy this record!
I made over a million dollars for your bosses last month.
How much did you make them?
♪ That my mama said ♪
♪ If I should choose to make a part of me ♪
♪ Would surely strike me dead ♪
♪ And now I'm one toke over the line ♪
Buddah Records became one of the most successful
independent labels there ever was.
Every single bet we'd made,
we'd been right.
But every gambler knows you don't cash your ticket
until your horse actually crosses the line.
- Hey, hey. - There he is.
Why we meeting here? You want a tip or something?
Look at that.
You see the one called, uh, Ghost Train?
Yeah. Don't know him.
She's mine, Pop. I just bought her.
No.
Yeah. You know, people bet on her.
That means they're betting on me.
Wow. Well, you're always in a rush.
Now, you got a horse to prove it.
Why don't you come in with me, hmm?
We can be partners.
Partners on a horse?
Yeah, sure.
No. I... I don't know about feeding and training
and all that bullshit at my age.
Nah. You go ahead.
I, uh, I got my own things going on.
-It's going great. -You sure? 'Cause when you
-called, it was... -No, I mean, I got...
-a cash flow situation. -Oh.
Temporary. You know, it's nothing.
The bookies I got, they're saying it's, like five.
Closer to ten, you know, but it's...
They're talking out of their asses.
I... I'll clear it up. It's nothing.
I'll get it back to you, all of it.
-I just need a little time. -I know, Pop.
Hey, I'm not worried.
Why would you?
Swinging for the trees, right, boychik?
You got the... you got the horse
and your singers and... and the big time life.
Look at you. What you got to worry about?
Hey, I got to go to work, so, um...
Sonny, some nuts on the house, this guy.
- Yeah. It... - Don't spend it all.
Cookie told me about Cecil's raise.
Must be a hell of a thing, changing someone's whole life
-like that. -Mm.
Your mother says you must have helped
your father again. He bought all new clothes.
Everybody's counting on you, Neil,
but you still keep going up against those guys at Viewlex,
but you do work for them.
What do you see?
I'm being serious.
No, no. This, this is
our daughter's view of the world.
She sees the ceiling, not the sky.
Most people grow up in the same four blocks
that they were born into because they can't even dare
-to dream what's beyond them. -You're quoting your father now.
That's dangerous.
No. No. What's dangerous is...
is the day we stop dreaming these walls away.
And if what's beyond them still isn't enough for you?
♪ Ooh child, things are gonna get easier ♪
♪ Ooh child things'll get brighter ♪
♪ Ooh child things are gonna get easier ♪
Beth wasn't wrong.
Beth.
She just didn't realize how right she was.
♪ Someday ♪
Truth is, neither did I.
♪ And we'll get it undone ♪
I just never saw her coming.
♪ Much lighter ♪
♪ Someday yeah we'll walk in the rays ♪
Neil, no one told me you were here yet.
Uh, this is my partner, Bill.
Oh, uh, why don't we talk business first?
Well, this is business first.
I'm Joyce Biawitz.
Direction Plus. Nice name.
Yeah. I'm the plus, and Bill directs.
Oh and Joyce does pretty much everything else.
She writes, produces.
Commercials, mostly, but only up until now.
That's not what we invited you down here to talk about.
Right. Your... variety show.
No, it's not a variety show.
No. It will be unlike anything anyone's ever tried before.
Really?
I'm sorry. What am I missing?
Everything.
We're ready for you, Mr. Aucoin.
Uh, yeah. One sec.
So, we're here in a...
You're gonna shoot your show in a recording studio?
-That's right. -Somebody's finally gonna
make a music show that actually sounds like music.
She practice that line for me?
Yes.
I'm gonna, uh... I'm going to go check on the crew.
-Here. Give this to them. -Yep.
So, now that he's gone, you're gonna close me?
I'm not here to close you.
I'm here to convince you.
You didn't become who you are without seeing
what most people don't.
Hmm.
People love their music.
It's not just what they listen to.
It's who they are.
It's personal.
We don't wanna just play music on TV.
We wanna show where it really comes from,
why the hell it matters so much to us.
Even if just for a song.
Well, shit. You're gonna do all that in a show?
I am sure as hell gonna try.
And who the hell are you?
-I need to, um... -Mm-hmm.
I need to get back to this, but I really do hope
you will consider it. It would mean a lot.
To you?
To everyone who watches.
Every great artist has someone
who believes in them,
but every once in a while,
it's the believer
who's the most gifted artist of all.
I had never met anyone like her.
♪ You just wait and see how things are gonna be ♪
You know how you know when you're about to do
something really reckless?
When you can't think about doing anything else.
Come and work for me.
What?
Come work for me!
I'm not gonna work for you! I work for me, with Bill.
Okay. Well, then come work with me.
I'm... I'm...
Listen. Here's the deal. I can't stop thinking about you.
Well, try harder.
You don't even know me, Neil.
I'm just some broke chick from Queens.
Well, that's just about the last thing you are.
It's small. I know.
I grew up in smaller.
Yeah, but you got out.
Yeah. I still am getting out.
♪ And when I looked at you ♪
Give me one of your artists for my show.
I am offering you more than that.
And I'm not buying.
What I'm selling is the show.
♪ I don't know who he is ♪
♪ But I think that you do ♪
I've done my research, Neil.
You clearly like to gamble.
I like to win.
What happens when you don't?
Then I just keep gambling until I do.
♪ Something in my heart ♪
You have a family, Neil.
Yeah. I know it's complicated.
But hey, my life outside that door is my problem.
It's not yours.
♪ Just passing by ♪
We both know that's not true.
♪ Who is he and what is he to you? ♪
♪ Ah now when I add up ♪
- You're married. - Yeah.
It doesn't change the way I'm feeling right now.
It's just...
Different.
Is there anything I should know, um,
about something going on between you and Bill?
Bill's gay. He plays straight to protect me.
♪ What is he to you? ♪
From people like me.
From people exactly like you.
♪ Well you tell me men don't have much intuition ♪
It's like you remind me of someone.
Who?
♪ Before you wreck your home ♪
Me.
♪ Who is he and what is he to you? ♪
You don't wanna bet on the show? Fine.
♪ Well, you tell me men don't have ♪
Place a bet on me.
♪ Much intuition ♪
♪ But before you wreck ♪
♪ Your old home ♪
♪ Be certain of the new ♪
♪ Dadgummit girl ♪
♪ Who is he? ♪
Kiss.
♪ And what is he to you? ♪
The demo. That demo tape over there.
Kiss, it's a good name.
♪ Who is he? ♪
You really wanna talk business right now?
You really expect me to climb up there?
If you want to sleep with me, you are.
I know what you're thinking, but I'd never met
anyone like her.
And I know I said that about Beth, too,
but it... it's only because it's true.
♪ Dadgummit girl ♪
♪ Who is he and what is he to you? ♪
I was honestly in love with both of them.
♪ Well you tell me men don't have ♪
♪ Much intuition ♪
♪ My God ♪
Falling in love with Joyce,
for the first time in my life, I finally felt like me.
♪ Ain't no sunshine when she's gone ♪
♪ It's not warm when she's away ♪
♪ Ain't no sunshine when she's gone ♪
♪ She's always gone too long ♪
♪ Any time she goes away ♪
♪ I wonder this time where she's gone ♪
♪ Wonder if she's gone to stay ♪
Kid works at in airplane factory installing toilet seats,
and yet he could dig deep enough to write this.
♪ Ain't no sunshine when she's gone ♪
♪ She's always gone too long ♪
♪ Any time she goes away ♪
What are you thinking?
That we can make him matter.
♪ Ain't no sunshine when she's gone ♪
♪ Only darkness every day ♪
Mr. Bill Withers.
Shit, Neil.
I see why you're bringing the hit, huh?
Thank you, Mr. Crocker.
♪ Ain't no sunshine when she's gone ♪
♪ She's always gone too long ♪
You know, I can remember watching my dad as a kid,
thinking, "Here's a guy
who's taking risks with all our lives,
just never ones big enough to actually change our lives."
♪ And I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know ♪
♪ I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know ♪
♪ I ought to leave those young things alone ♪
♪ Ain't no sunshine when she's gone ♪
I am gonna win...
bigger than anyone has ever done before.
Or else I'm gonna fail.
It's ending up lost somewhere in the middle
that I just... I can't live with.
♪ Any time she goes away ♪
Bill Withers was born in the small coal-mining town
of Slab Fork, West Virginia,
with a stutter.
Did not stop him from becoming
the Bill Withers that we all remember.
Signing him before, uh, Motown could,
changed everything for Buddah.
Shit. Changed everything for me.
♪ Lean on me ♪
♪ When you're not strong ♪
♪ And I'll be your friend ♪
♪ I'll help you carry on ♪
♪ For it won't be long ♪
♪ 'Til I'm going to need ♪
There he is.
With money in your pocket,
you're fucking wise,
you're fucking handsome,
and you sing better, too.
Old Jewish proverb?
It's a new one for me.
Be careful, kid.
Oh, not in this life, Joey.
♪ That you won't let show ♪
♪ You just call on me brother ♪
♪ When you need a hand ♪
♪ We all need somebody to lean on ♪
Big fuckin' problem.
Oh, shit.
Manny, what the hell? Really?
Your boy's on trial, motherfucker!
Hey, you're really gonna cross this line
over us signing Bill Withers?
Withers, Hawkins, fucking Isley Brothers!
And you got the nerve to come to our convention
and try to steal our music?
Manny, is this a black thing?
Buck. I'm-a kill you last, Buck,
so you got time to think about it.
Andre.
Manny, just put the gun away, man! Come on!
-Easy, easy. Easy, easy! -Sorry, Cec!
You backed the wrong colored horse.
I got my orders.
Orders?
Somebody actually put out a fucking hit on us?
Manny, who did this? Was it Gordy?
Let's just say you crossed
one too many fucking lines.
Manny!
You are gonna need to make a phone call.
True story.
Ask Big Joey.
You just called the Italian mob
to tell the black mob not to kill us?
You had a better idea?
Nance, you know you can't tell Beth about this.
Not about any of it.
I know, Nelly.
♪ If you need a friend ♪
♪ Call me ♪
Thank you.
Y'all need Jesus.
♪ Call me ♪
♪ If you need a friend ♪
♪ Call me ♪
♪ Oh just call me ♪
♪ Call me ♪
You okay?
How was Miami?
Uh, it's complicated.
Not sure which question you just answered.
Coffee's in the kitchen.
Uh, Beth!
You can't go after Gordy yourself, man.
The man fight dirty.
He gonna come after your life.
Now, you know 110 percent I got your back.
Mm-hmm.
But we don't have to fight this war.
There's no need.
We good.
Are you fucking kidding me?
You're talking about not starting a war,
the man who just showed his black chest
to fucking white America?
It's almost like they don't realize
that the black voice is coming from a black man.
Say, could you imagine
dreaming of something your whole life,
finally getting on that stage,
thousands of screaming fans...
singing every single lyric to every single song,
loving the music
but hating the color of my skin?
What kind of dream is that, man?
I don't know, man.
I know where I come from.
Shit. I can't forget it.
I'm just trying to figure out..
how to change where we're going.
Shit. We still talking about music?
You're always talking about music.
That's the weapon.
Oh, man.
You got lucky, kid.
I could've been on the other line
when your friend from Miami called.
-Played the odds. -Yeah, well, Motown was gonna
sign the Withers kid, and you knew it.
-It's just business. -Not with Berry Gordy.
-Yeah. -Look. A gambler's a gambler.
And you're a gambler, kid,
but you're risking everything with those fuckin' suits
who're just waiting for any excuse
to bring you down.
If you're gonna bet this big, bet on yourself,
or keep away from the fucking table
before too many people get hurt.
Alright. Alright.
Big Joey was right.
We'd taken Buddah Records as far as we could go.
If we were ever gonna really matter, we were gonna
have to raise the stakes,
higher than ever before.
Whoo!
-What have you told her? -That you've gone insane.
We're really gonna steal
-Gladys Knight from Motown, too? -Hey, you're the one
that told me she's pissed off that Berry Gordy is giving
all their best stuff to Diana and Marvin and the Temptations.
-Yeah, she is. She is. -Alright.
So let's swing for the fences, Cec.
One last big hit.
What do you mean, one last big hit?
Well, you know, I've always kind of dreamed
of owning my own record company.
Didn't you?
Neil.
"Midnight Plane to Houston"? My people from Georgia.
They would never take a plane to Houston.
I'm-a have to change that.
I'll... I'll let him know.
Mrs. Gladys Knight, this is Mr. Neil...
Neil Bogart.
I have definitely heard of you.
Well, only good things, I hope.
I heard you got something special.
Listen, Neil. If Berry finds out about this, he...
Hey, if Motown was treating you properly,
you wouldn't be here.
No. Y wouldn't be here.
Hmm. Do you mind?
Go ahead.
Let's see. "Midnight Plane to Houston."
Alright. Here we go.
♪ LA ♪
Okay.
♪ Proved too much for the man ♪
♪ So he's leaving the life ♪
Mm-hmm.
♪ He's come to know ♪
♪ Mm ♪
Oh, you love your tracks lush, don't you?
All the time.
Ah. Well, we'll add a full horn section,
keyboards, a Wurlitzer.
Has anyone ever told you no?
Always been a bigger fan of yes.
I can't believe I'm singing with Gladys Knight.
Let's keep going. Yeah?
- Yeah. - ♪ World ♪
Ooh, I like that. Wait, wait, wait.
♪ My world ♪
♪ His world ♪
♪ Our world mine and his alone ♪
-♪ I've got to go ♪ -♪ His world ♪
-♪ I've got to go ♪ -♪ Her world ♪
-♪ I've got to go ♪ -♪ World ♪
♪ His and hers alone ♪
-♪ I've got to go ♪ -♪ Our world ♪
-That works! -♪ I've got to go ♪
Let's sing the chorus. What do you think?
Yeah, but I have to change that line.
-It has to say Georgia because.. -Georgia.
Houston is not working for me.
Who wants to go to Houston? Let's go to Georgia.
-Give me some peaches. -Here we go.
How you feeling tonight?
♪ Mm, LA ♪
♪ Proved too much for the man ♪
Hey, guys. She's making me play you.
Hey, do that A.
♪ So he's leaving a life, mm ♪
♪ He's come to know ♪
♪ Ooh mm ♪
♪ He said he's going ♪
♪ Say he's going back ♪
♪ Going back to find ♪
♪ Ooh what's left of his world ♪
♪ On that midnight train to Georgia ♪
Ooh, I love that.
As long as it says "Georgia," I'm good.
- Oh, my God. - This is good.
That's beautiful. That's just the best.
♪ He's leaving ♪
♪ Leaving ♪
♪ On that midnight train to Georgia ♪
♪ Leaving on a midnight train ♪
♪ Ooh Lord ♪
♪ Say he's going back ♪
♪ I've got to go, I've got to go ♪
♪ A simpler place and time ♪
♪ Oh yes he is ♪
What does a train sound like?
-Whoo, whoo! -Okay. The Pips can do that
- in harmony. - Oh, yeah.
Whoo-whoo!
♪ I'd rather live in his world ♪
♪ Live in his world ♪
♪ Than live without him in mine ♪
♪ Her world is his ♪
♪ His and hers alone ♪
You resigned from Buddah?
If we're ever gonna do something that truly matters,
it's gonna have to be our own.
In California?
Cecil just called.
- Everyone's going? - Okay. Not everyone.
Larry's never leaving New York, but Cecil, yeah, Buck, Nancy.
And Beth?
And Beth.
Don't look away.
Hey.
Don't turn away.
How long have you been planning this?
Since I was eight.
Okay. So this comes next.
You're not even gonna look back?
Ooh, I have already seen it.
♪ I know he's leaving, yeah ♪
♪ On that midnight train to Georgia ♪
♪ Leaving on the midnight train ♪
♪ Hey, ooh, yah ♪
♪ Said he's going back to find ♪
♪ Going back to find ♪
♪ Ooh a simpler place and time ♪
♪ Oh yes he is ♪
♪ And I'm gonna be with him ♪
♪ I know you will ♪
♪ On that midnight train to Georgia ♪
♪ Leaving on a midnight train ♪
-♪ Oh yeah yeah ♪ -♪ Whoo-whoo ♪
♪ I'd rather live in his world ♪
♪ Live in his world ♪
♪ Than be without him in mine ♪
♪ Her world is his ♪
♪ His and hers alone ♪
Come on!
-Ah! -A pool?
It's a pool!
You couldn't find a bigger house?
Just close your eyes and jump.
And dream all these walls away?
Hey, can't you see?
There are no walls here.
-Come on, Mom! -Ah!
And we all lived happily ever after, right?
Well... it's complicated.
I'd been betting on what I believed in
my whole life.
I promise you.
So, where do we dream from here?
KISS!
And every bet we'd made back at Buddah
had paid off,
but Casablanca, KISS, and now Donna...
Mm. So far, we'd lost every hand.
No, no, it's dance music, right?
There is no other voice like her.
It's worse than we thought.
What?
Donna's not selling anywhere?
No one knows what to make of her.
R and B doesn't want her. Pop doesn't get her.
-She's just... -Different.
The song's dead, man.
You were wrong about the Gaines girl.
It's Summer, okay? It's Donna Summer.
Well, you were wrong about her, too, man.
Hello.
By 1975, we'd done everything we could think of
to introduce Donna to the world.
Right in my heart.
The world just... didn't care.
You said that he loved the song,
that he was so sure that it would change everything.
The song is over, LaDonna.
I was wrong.
Just because the audience doesn't hear it
does not mean it isn't there.
Sometimes, it just takes time.
But we were out of that, too.
-Neil, don't do this. -Hey, you called me, Bill.
To talk about it, not so that you could do
whatever you're gonna do.
This came from Steven Tyler himself.
Called and said if we don't cut the pyro and get a smaller
sound and lighting rig, we gotta pack it up and go home.
-Well, he is the headliner, so. -Bill, you have to trust us.
Well, I thought we were the us.
We're their managers, Joyce, you and me.
Neil, I'm begging you, please don't gamble on this.
We should have parked closer.
And sometimes...
they hear it even when they don't know it.
Hey, Mr. Aerosmith!
What kind of rock and roll pussy are you?
♪ You show us everything you've got ♪
♪ You keep on dancing and the room gets hot ♪
♪ You drive us wild ♪
♪ We'll drive you crazy ♪
Ah!
♪ You say you want to go for a spin ♪
♪ The party's just begun ♪
♪ We'll let you in ♪
♪ You drive us wild ♪
♪ We'll drive you crazy ♪
Come on!
♪ You keep on shouting, you keep on shouting ♪
Come on!
♪ I want to rock and roll ♪
♪ All night ♪
♪ And party every day ♪
♪ I want to rock and roll ♪
♪ All night ♪
♪ And party every day ♪
♪ I want to rock and roll all night ♪
♪ And party every day ♪
♪ I want to rock and roll all night ♪
♪ And party every day ♪
They love them when they see them.
So why the hell can't we get them to buy their records?
♪ You drive us wild ♪
♪ We'll drive you crazy ♪
♪ You keep on shouting ♪
I just...
♪ You keep on shouting ♪
I need... I need more time.
♪ I want to rock and roll ♪
♪ All night ♪
♪ And party every day ♪
♪ I want to rock and roll all night ♪
♪ And party every day ♪
You lost us an Aerosmith tour.
The tour was already lost, Gene.
Aerosmith doesn't want you anywhere near them, alright?
No headliner does. Your...
Your show scares the hell out of everyone.
So you want us to scale everything down,
- cut the pyro and the lights? - No. No. No. No.
If you're gonna be a headliner, we're gonna need to make
everything all that much bigger, alright?
That means more explosions and so much, so much louder.
I have this guy, alright? He's got these risers that...
You really think that more fire and some forklifts
are gonna be what finally breaks us through?
No.
No. It is gonna be the music,
and it was always gonna be the music, but we might
just make enough noise to... to get enough people
to actually listen to it,
to pay attention.
Why did you sign us?
Our demo was good, not great. Even I can admit that.
You had to know how hard this was gonna be.
Why take the risk?
Because your real name is Chaim Witz,
and you moved here from Israel when you were eight years old,
speaking nothing but Yiddish.
Because Paul's real name is Stanley Eisen.
Because two kids from Queens
had dreams about being the next gods of rock.
And little Neil Bogatz from the Brooklyn projects
thinks he can make everybody's dreams come true...
if he's just given a little more time.
You know, your demo really was that great, Gene.
Yeah. Raw and honest rock and roll,
even without all the costumes. But I tell you
what your real brilliance is, and I don't even think
you know this. It's that you write
every single one of your songs
with the same four God damn chords.
That means that any... any 14-year-old kid
can go out there and buy a guitar,
and within 20 minutes,
they can be you!
And that matters, Gene.
That is who you are.
Now, why did you sign with me, huh?
Brand-new label with you as our only act.
You had to know you were taking as much of a risk as we were.
Because you never should have gotten
out of the Brooklyn projects.
And yet, here you are.
Here we are.
Two imposters.
Only if we're wrong.
I get that you like to gamble,
but what if Joey was right?
In the end, what if the house does always win?
Well, then we raise the stakes so high
that we become the house.
Two hundred grand more.
You're still upside down the last hundred.
Why don't you make it a personal loan, then?
Don't do this. You go upside down this big,
it don't matter how much I fucking love you.
Hey, you ever gambled yourself, Joey?
That thumping in your chest right before that dealer
turns over your next card? Anything is possible
right before that moment.
Neil, I'm telling you,
I'm not gonna be here for you this time if you don't pay off.
Are you gonna give me the money or not?
No.
-Two hundred? -Two hundred.
I know it's bad.
I just wish you would be honest and tell me how bad.
It's... it's... it's fine.
No. It's not fine We're not fine.
None of this is fine, Neil.
We were fine when we were on the floor of our home
in New Jersey, when I was teaching you even how to read
those books. And now, we are broke,
and you are giving the guys bonuses!
Hey. No. Did you sister tell you
that Buck was the only one that took it?
Maybe he was the only one smart enough to.
Hey. Hey.
Come on.
Just dance with me.
Oh.
You stopped dreaming again.
You did.
You know what I dream of?
It's that you're actually here with us, Neil,
and not in New York or Las Vegas
or wherever else you disappear to
when you're too afraid I'll see the truth.
What do you think the truth is?
Beth, I love you. Come on. I'm always with you.
You, the kids,
you're all I think about.
You have to know she's going to end up just as hurt as me.
I convinced myself for so long that it was okay
when I knew that you were sharing your bed, Neil,
but you are sharing your heart.
Tell me I'm wrong.
It's complicated.
No.
It's not.
It's really simple.
♪ You've got a real type of thing going down ♪
♪ Getting down ♪
♪ There's a whole lot of rhythm going round ♪
You want a little bit more or you good?
What?
Yeah, yeah. You good?
I'm great.
Oh, there he is. There he is.
-Is that what you gave me? -That's it right there. Uh-uh.
Hey, what up, Neil? Look at the space in here...
I can't even feel my lungs anymore.
Now it's a party.
George, George, George, George, if we're gonna sign you,
you cannot be your own opening act, alright?
You are Parliament and Funkadelic. It's confusing.
Only on some planets, man.
See, that's why I need a motherfucking spaceship,
so we can leave this Earth.
When the mothership gets built,
the connection between Earth and the galaxy
is gonna be made, and everything will be clear.
I'm trying to tell you, it'll make sense. You'll see.
How quickly can you cut us this new record?
How quick can you build me a motherfucking spaceship?
How much?
A million motherfucking dollars.
Would those be Earth dollars?
I can't even feel my bones anymore.
He's giving me space...
I know what you need to do, Neil.
- It's party time. - Yeah?
It's time to fly. I'm gonna need you to hop on this ride with me.
If Buck can handle it, so can I.
You in or you out?
I didn't start the heavier drugs
because of what was going on between Beth and Joyce.
Didn't start them because of what was going wrong
with KISS and Donna and Casablanca.
I just...
I did them because I like...
I liked how it made me feel.
Why don't you take a ride with me, Neil?
Alright. Let's go, Neil. It's on you.
Okay.
- You ready to go? - Do it.
You ready to build us a spaceship, Neil?
Fuck it.
You look like you like it. I think he likes it.
Let's build you a motherfucking spaceship.
That's what I'm talkin' about.
Liftoff. Let's go.
♪ We need the funk ♪
♪ We got to have that funk ♪
♪ Oh we want the funk ♪
♪ Give up the funk ♪
♪ Oh we need the funk ♪
♪ We got to have that funk ♪
♪ Oh we want the funk ♪
♪ Please, mother ♪
♪ Give up the funk ♪
♪ Oh we need the funk ♪
♪ Please mother ah ♪
♪ We got to have that funk ♪
♪ Oh we want the funk ♪
♪ Please mother ♪
♪ Give up the funk ♪
Well, alright.
Partying on the mothership.
I am the mothership connection.
♪ If you hear any noise ♪
♪ It's just me and the boys ♪
♪ Hit me ♪
Hit it, fellas.
♪ Swing down sweet chariot ♪
♪ Stop and let me ride ♪
♪ Swing down sweet chariot ♪
♪ Stop and let me ride ♪
♪ Swing down sweet chariot ♪
♪ Stop and let me ride ♪
♪ Swing down sweet chariot ♪
♪ Stop and let me ride ♪
That million dollars actually went a long way,
and not just for the mothership. George bought two new tour buses
and new cars for everyone in the band.
Everyone, 28 of them.
We had Rolls Royces, Mercedes Benz,
Jaguars, six Sevilles.
Everybody got a car, except for me, motherfucker.
I needed a spaceship, because I don't drive.
♪ Let me ride ♪
♪ Swing down sweet chariot ♪
They pioneered almost every genre
that came after them.
They just spent more money than they ever made,
and the money just... kept bleeding.
That's really beautiful. I love that.
Thanks. They've been making fun of me.
They don't think it sounds like KISS.
Oh, no. Hey. Hey. Not those.
Those are the empty shells, right?
- Hide them somewhere the back. - Wait, wait. Empty?
-Yeah. -Those are empty?
Yeah. They might just make you look as big as you sound.
You know, now you're beginning to sound just like him.
Bill, is he... is he serious?
Guys, uh, give us five.
-It's a bullshit trick. -Bill.
Okay? It's a mirage.
And it sure as hell isn't rock and roll, and...
and...
and I wish any of that mattered right now,
but it just doesn't.
Nobody's buying our records. No one's coming to see us play.
And if an empty speaker cabinet tricks people into thinking
that we sound better because we sound louder...
If this is what it finally takes
so that everybody else feels the way we do...
what I think is,
we do what we have to to survive.
It's just another part of the show,
like the costumes, the... the make-up.
No.
It's not.
It's a lie.
About the music.
We've never lied about the music.
Hey, uh, why don't you, uh...
why don't you sing that song?
The one that you said you liked it.
You said you liked it, right? Sing it. Sing it for him.
He thinks he's got our next single.
♪ Beth I hear you calling ♪
♪ But I can't come home right now ♪
♪ Me and the boys are playing ♪
♪ And we just can't find ♪
♪ The sound ♪
♪ Just a few more hours ♪
♪ And I'll be right home to you ♪
♪ I think I hear them calling ♪
♪ Oh Beth what can I do? ♪
♪ Beth what can I do? ♪
What's... what's the matter?
It's not... not the radio hit you were hoping for?
Paul!
I will drop you right off on that fucking street corner
in Queens.
You can't.
We're all you got.
The song was not supposed to be Beth, okay?
Peter wrote it for his wife. He'll change it back.
- We'll change it, Neil. - Mm...
-Mm... no, we won't. -No. No.
"Beth" just has a better... I don't know.
It's just got a better ring to it.
-Don't you think? -Okay.
I think I finally got the lights the way you want 'em.
What'd I miss?
You know...
you guys are just a couple of fucking children
playing dress-up.
Aw, where you going? Come on.
He bet everything on you!
No, no, no, no. He bet everything on him!
We just happen to be the cards he was dealt!
♪ You say you feel so empty ♪
♪ That our house just ain't a home ♪
♪ I'm always somewhere else ♪
♪ And you're always there alone ♪
♪ Just a few more hours ♪
♪ And I'll be right home to you ♪
♪ I think I hear them calling ♪
♪ Oh Beth what can I do? ♪
♪ Beth what can I do? ♪
♪ Beth I know you're lonely ♪
♪ I know I'll be alright ♪
♪ 'Cause me and the boys will be playing ♪
♪ All night ♪
- Hey. - Hey.
You look like shit.
You get in okay?
Limo was waiting?
Yeah, yeah. Like movie stars.
Your mother loved it.
Okay. How much you need this time?
You got to talk to me like that? I'm your father.
You think that's why we
flew in? I wanted to see how my son's doing,
if he's okay.
What do you need, Pop?
It's for your mother, okay? For the foster home.
She's going nuts. I don't know.
Like, ten or something.
You make it harder than getting money from loan sharks.
It's just fucking money.
What is it you always say?
Uh, you just got to know where to find it.
Like at the card tables?
I heard things, Neil.
What are you doing, huh?
Oh, you know, just still trying to escape
-those four God damn blocks! -What the fuck's
-the matter with you? -Hey! Fuck!
Huh? I raised you to be smart!
How you gonna be smart shoving that shit up your nose?
Come on! I'm talking to you!
How you gonna know when you're hot,
when to bet big, when to fold?
You can't even decide who you want in your fucking bed!
I have everything under control.
Doesn't look that way.
You've lost the music, kiddo.
Hey. You understand?
Is there anything else you need?
Hey, you don't think you could have made it
using your real name?
Bogart is my real name.
Sure.
Tell me what I'm supposed to do.
Just keep dancing, Neil.
Always was the one thing you were best at.
I did always love the way you moved.
No. Just... I'm... I'm asking you.
Just tell me what I'm supposed to do.
Go and say goodbye to your kids.
That's what you're supposed to do.
You're breaking my heart.
Hurts like hell, doesn't it?
She won't even put them on the phone.
My kids.
I don't know how to stand up.
I'm just... I'm sitting here,
and I don't... I don't know how to get up.
Hey, you can almost see Brooklyn from here.
This is bullshit.
There isn't a thing that you have ever asked for
that I haven't given you,
and you know exactly how expensive it is
to keep you on tour and in the studio!
Let's seriously talk about releasing "Beth," okay...
No. No, no, no! We're not releasing that shit. No.
...cross us over into mainstream radio.
-It's not who we are. -Nobody knows who you are,
which is why you're not making any fucking money!
Isn't that your job? Huh? To get them to know? And yours?
Or is that not the kinda pillow talk you two like to talk?
- Jesus, Paul. - What?
I'm just saying what everyone's fucking thinking, man.
- No. Let him say it. - It's just the truth.
You're our manager,
and you are fucking the president
of our record company.
You're right. That is the truth,
which you didn't seem to mind when you asked me
to give him your demo. You didn't mind either, Bill,
when you begged me to convince Neil to sign us
even though Warner Brothers begged him not to.
Or when you asked me to get us on tour, Paul,
and keep us on tour.
You were all just fine asking me to roll over on my pillow
and talk to the president of your record company then.
Yes.
I am your manager,
and you know just how lucky you are that I am,
because if I wasn't, you'd still be trying to figure out
how to wear your mom's makeup, 'cause I taught you
how to do that, too.
Who I love is my business.
Your business is to make the damn music.
-That's your job! -No, no, no.
-Start doing it. -No.
It doesn't matter how we got here. This is real.
This is happening. This is happening right fucking now.
-Tell them, Bill. -You really want us to be
the hottest band in the world?
He better start paying us like we already are.
There he is.
There he is, folks,
Chaim Witz,
the demon of rock and roll. Oh!
You want some real money, Gene?
You want some real money?
Well, then you go out there
and you write us a fucking song
that will actually make us some!
- No, no, no. - Wow!
-No, no, no, no, no. -Fuck you.
You don't make it about them. Not this time.
- Bill. - Uh-uh. I am sorry.
We are renegotiating right now, or we're leaving.
Bill.
Okay. Okay.
How much?
A million dollars an album.
And another million in tour support.
You want two million dollars an album
for a band that can't sell a... a fucking single?
I want two million dollars an album for KISS.
Bill.
Okay. Fucking fine. Deal.
We finished?
It's just business.
It's nothing personal.
Of course it is, and you fucking know it.
It's okay.
And now, ladies and gentlemen,
here's Johnny!
Here he is, Lenny Bruce!
Maybe you should slow down a little.
Maybe you should speed up a lot.
Hey! I love Lenny Bruce.
Did you know that he was 40 when he died?
You think it was worth it, dying so young
but then having all that success?
No. I think dying old and having all that success
would be worth it.
You promised our distributors a sure thing
so they'll keep letting us ride on everything else.
Well, it's Johnny Carson.
It is a sure thing.
Besides, a bet is only a bet if it matters.
It's a wedding night,
and you're both virgins. It's disgusting.
Abe, Abe...
You don't mean that. No, because it's me, Abe,
because you've always trusted..
-Talk to me. -They're not waiting for Carson.
-What? -They're returning
all the unsold KISS albums and Donna and Parliament.
-Everything. -That's
-too many fucking records, man. -No shit, Buck.
-What do we do? -We take 'em back,
but you tell every single fucking one of them
if they do, they don't get Carson!
Neil. Neil!
What?
What if we're wrong about Carson?
I mean, we're shipping gold. More.
Over 750,000 copies already.
And with the money we're spending
on... on commercials and... and print ads...
-It's Johnny fucking Carson! -And nobody understands
why the hell we're even doing it!
Then ship more!
Spend more! Do you job and make them understand!
This is gonna be the biggest fucking album
of the year, okay, folks?
You've lost your mind.
Did you not hear what they said on the phone?
And they're on our fucking side!
-Nobody is on our fucking side. -Because nobody understands
what the fuck you're doing anymore!
Not even me!
We were wrong about KISS, Neil,
and we were wrong about Donna.
Even George and his fucking spaceship.
We were just wrong!
And here we are, still betting money we don't even have
on them!
I can't even pay my...
If we're wrong about Carson...
We are not fucking wrong, Cec,
not about any of them.
We just haven't figured out
a way to finally be right!
-What the hell's happening?
I dared question the postman's son from Brooklyn,
and he didn't like what he heard.
Oh, is that right, Cec?
Is that the same postman's son been carrying your ass
from nowhere to somewhere your whole fucking career?
-Excuse me? -Tell me this.
Did you believe we would make it this far?
Now, be honest. Do you believe that we could
actually go further? So, you do your fucking job,
and I will go get the fucking money!
Uh...
He didn't mean that.
Cec. Shit.
And now, ladies and gentlemen,
here's Johnny!
The Carson album's still considered
one of the biggest disasters ever conceived
in the record business.
The joke was that we'd shipped gold but returned platinum.
Just... wasn't a joke.
We'd given away so many promo copies
that when the stores started returning them to get
their money back, we were on the line for every last one,
and it was killing us,
killing us, because I was wrong.
Biggest sin of a record man...
believing in something because you have to...
not because you do.
I fucking begged you to pay back that money, Neil.
You kept sayin', "Waiting for Carson."
And I convinced them to wait,
because this is me and you,
but they're done waiting.
I'm sorry.
It's okay, Joe. Just tell them
not the arm I sign contracts with.
I remembered my dad,
remembered my promise
to never become anything like him.
I just... can't remember the exact moment when I did.
Egg cream?
Just get us the fucking money, Neil.
I fucking hate LA.
- Jesus. - Neil!
Jesus.
It's not that he was a postman. It's just...
I knew that he knew that's all he was ever gonna be.
-Here. -I'm scared.
-Come on. Shh. -I'm scared.
Shh. Just our little secret, brother.
Can we get something to clean him up?
-You want a cigarette? -You're alright.
It's okay.
Okay. Come on.
Get him up. Walk it off. Walk it off.
Oh, fuck.
-Come on. -Fuck.
If we can't sell enough KISS records on our own,
then folks, we are gonna need an army.
-It's merchandise, Nelly. -It's a movement, Nance.
I love KISS, but how the fuck are we gonna get people
to buy shit about the album and we can't even get them
to buy the fucking album?
Because KISS has always been about the experience,
Buck, and that is where we have failed.
If you're not in the KISS Army, oh,
then you are not in the KISS Army!
You don't get the limited edition posters,
the signed T-shirts, the comic books!
-So we have comic books now? -Yes, created specifically
for the KISS Army,
and the only way to get into the KISS Army...
- Is to buy their albums. - Thank you.
Now, we have one very important question to answer:
What color do we paint the building?
Hundred bucks to whoever gets the... the best color.
Okay. Can we just, um... Can we just get a minute?
Thank you. Thank you so much.
What about black? Can you imagine
the whole fucking block was painted fucking black?
-No, I can't. -Oh.
Neil, you are my brother,
and if you want me to go off this cliff with you,
I'll even be the first to jump,
but you have got to help me understand why.
-We are broke. -Yes. Yes. That is exactly
what all of these fuckers are saying.
So, by tomorrow, I want an entire crew...
no, two crews outside, painting the entire block,
and I want you to pay them extra to do it slowly.
The longer they're out there working, oh,
the longer people are just gonna drive by and see 'em.
-See 'em doing what? -Painting the building.
We're gonna place one final bet.
On who?
On us.
It started with a makeover of the building,
but to the town, we were building our own makeover.
I mean, every day, we'd announce a new promotion,
but in real life, we were just swapping titles around
like the paint colors of the building.
We called everyone we owed, hyped every plan we had,
making most of it up as we went along.
-We made them root for us... -Mo.
...not against us.
Where the fuck is all the money coming from?
Nowhere. There was none. We... we just made everyone
believe there was. We bet everything we had
on everyone we already believed in.
♪ She's a stone-cold stunner ♪
We'd gone as far as we could go as fast as we could go.
It's just we were now seven million dollars in debt.
Well... until that night.
♪ She's a stone-cold stunner ♪
♪ With a body too ♪
♪ So watch out ♪
♪ Huh! ♪
♪ She's a stone-cold stunner ♪
Hey, come here.
Do you wanna dance with me?
♪ I love to love you baby ♪
Hey, play that song again.
Play that again.
Yeah. Play that again.
♪ When you're laying so close to me ♪
♪ There's no place I'd rather you be ♪
♪ Than with me, here ♪
♪ I love to love you baby ♪
♪ Lay your head down real close to me ♪
♪ Ease my mind and set me free ♪
♪ Set me free ♪
♪ Oh love to love you babe ♪
- Put it back on. - Play it again.
Somebody put the music back.
Don't stop now.
The song is too short to have sex to.
Do you wanna dance with me?
Play it again. We're dancing.
-Hey! Play it again!
The answer had been there all along.
I just never imagined she'd be hiding 7,000 miles away.
♪ Oh love to love you babe ♪
Not that she was happy to see me.
LaDonna, please wait.
Giorgio said you'd be coming through.
So, I hope that you enjoyed the show.
Have a nice flight back.
My real name's not Bogart.
I changed it, actually, a couple times.
Was, uh, Neil Scott when I was a singer,
Neil Stewart when I worked for a modeling agency,
uh, Wayne Roberts when I did a soft porn film.
You made pornography?
Well, to afford my wife's engagement ring.
Okay. So, you did a dirty film
so that you could ask your wife to marry you?
The point of the... Yes. The point of the story
is that we can be whoever we want to be.
Hmm. Well, that may be the point of your story, but not mine.
It's the point of everyone's story, LaDonna,
especially yours.
Why didn't people like the song?
-I liked it. -No. I mean, why didn't...
No. I... I know what you meant. I...
And the answer is that they didn't get it,
because I failed to get them to.
So, then why are you here? Giorgio told me
that he wanted me to cut the same song again.
-I don't understand. -You don't have to, okay?
You just have to trust that I do.
I don't even know you.
But I know you,
LaDonna... Adrian... Gaines.
Grew up singing in a choir.
Raised by your mom in Boston.
You heard your voice raising all the way up
to the top of those stained glass windows,
and you let yourself believe that you could be more
than just that girl in a church.
And now, here you are,
performing halfway across the world,
getting further and further away from that stained glass.
And every night...
you close your eyes,
dreaming that maybe someone will come along...
and give you one last chance.
Now, you tell me I'm wrong,
and I'm on the next plane.
Why me?
Because I have never heard
a voice like yours.
I will make you a star.
♪ I love to love you baby ♪
You... you know what? I wanna do this again.
I just... Go back from the top.
It's impossible!
Repeat the same eight measures over and over again?
It's just one lyric, Neil!
Yeah, which is going sound like something new
each time she sings it,
when she sings it right.
This music is about the music,
not the fucking vocal!
Her fucking vocal is the music, Giorgio!
Her voice is the thing that's gonna make people wanna dance,
and nobody wants to dance for three minutes, alright?
People wanna to dance forever! And when they're making love,
they wanna love forever!
Nobody could make a fucking half-hour song, Neil!
Not even you!
Neil could make a half-hour song.
-Hey, you okay? -I don't know. You just got
Giorgio to leave his own studio. You tell me.
Let's, uh, just try it one more time.
♪ I love to love you baby ♪
♪ I ♪
What? What's wrong?
You're just singing... You're just singing the lyrics.
I'm a singer. That's what I do.
No. I just... Give me one secon.
One.
I... I don't understand what you want from me.
To escape, Donna. That is what everyone wants, alright?
In the discos, on the dance floors,
they want to fucking escape, alright?
And you, you will be the one to take them there.
You have to be their fantasy!
Do you know what my mother will think?
Yeah. I do.
♪ Mm love to love you baby ♪
♪ I love to love you baby ♪
-More. -♪ I love to love you baby ♪
♪ When you're laying so close to me ♪
-Feel it. -♪ There's no place ♪
♪ I'd rather you be than with me ♪
That's it.
-♪ Love to love you baby ♪ -Even sexier.
-♪ I love to love you baby ♪ -Louder!
-Harder! -♪ I love to love you baby ♪
♪ When you're laying so close to me ♪
♪ There's no place I'd rather you be ♪
♪ Than with me ♪
♪ I love to love you baby ♪
Just you.
-No one else is here. -♪ I love to love you baby ♪
♪ Oh I love to love you baby ♪
You and the music.
♪ I love to love you baby ♪
♪ Oh love to love you baby ♪
It's just you.
♪ Oh I love to love you, baby ♪
♪ Oh love to love you baby ♪
Use your whole body, Donna.
♪ When you're laying so close to me ♪
♪ There's no place I'd rather you be ♪
Arch your back.
It's impossible, Neil.
It's absolutely impossible.
When... when am I supposed to play the commercials?
Frankie Crocker, you cranky fucker.
Fuck the commercials!
Fuck the commercials, man. It's a test. It's science.
Let's test it out on the... Whas your name again?
-Shari. -Shari. That's my mother's name.
Come on. Come on. This is something new, Frankie, right?
She's explosive. She's... she's dangerous,
and you, my friend, can be the one to introduce her
-to the world. -We already introduced
this fucking single, and it didn't move shit.
No, we did not introduce her to the world.
That was a different fucking record.
That was not this record. This is different.
This is... this is new.
I mean, we were right about this girl.
-She's amazing. -You listen to the man, Frank.
And what does that mean? I'm right about a lot of shit
I don't put on the radio.
This may be Casablanca's last fucking chance, Frankie.
Neil, it's 17 minutes long, alright? I can't...
How do I explain that?
Handcuffs.
Frankie.... I brought mine.
Now, you ain't had those last night.
-I didn't need them last night. -Hey, how about you take
a bathroom break, Frankie? We'll take over from here.
-Come on. -Whoo!
I gotta be out of my fucking mind.
-You're in your mind. -You're about to be
out your pants.
You motherfuckers gonna owe me one.
Looks like you got two, motherfucker.
Sixteen minutes and 50 seconds.
With the record glued to the turntable,
it played all night long with Frankie still locked
in the bathroom. Lawyers were calling
even before we landed back in LA,
swearing they'd never play a Casablanca record again,
except... something happened,
something that never had before.
Not just in New York. Stations all across the country
are calling. Everybody's trying to find a way to play her.
-Tell them I'll buy them all. -Buy what all?
-The whole half-hour block. -On every station.
-Every city. -The ad campaign:
Tune in at midnight for a half-hour of love,
brought to you by Casablanca.
-Call Giorgio. -And then?
Call everybody else!
♪ Love to love you baby ♪
♪ Do it to me again and again ♪
We released our version of "Love To Love You" in 1976,
and when we did,
it was like nothing else there ever was.
Branded too graphic by some critics,
it was even banned by some stations,
which only helps us to sell more records.
♪ Oh love to love you baby ♪
Time magazine reported 22 simulated orgasms
in the song, and the more people talked about it,
the more they wanted more. I mean, we were riding
the biggest single we ever had
with the biggest artist we ever had,
and we were literally making her up as we went along.
♪ Oh love to love you babe ♪
Is this make-believe, Mama?
No, sweetheart. This is real.
I need makeup in here.
We brought in everything...
designers, hair, make-up.
In the end, we went with wigs,
in every picture you've ever seen.
We invented every detail.
But the truth was that the First Lady Of Love,
the superstar we were selling her as,
was as far from who Donna really was
as she could be.
I want to know this woman.
You raised my vocal in the song.
Your vocal is the song.
♪ Bad girls ♪
♪ Talking about the sad girls ♪
♪ Sad girls ♪
♪ Talking about bad girls ♪
♪ Yeah ♪
♪ See them out on the street at night ♪
♪ Picking up all kinds of strangers ♪
♪ If the price is right ♪
♪ And you can score if your pocket's tight ♪
♪ Plus you want a good time ♪
♪ You ask yourself ♪
♪ Who they are ♪
♪ Like everybody else ♪
♪ They come from near and far ♪
She's gonna be great. I know it.
I love you.
You got it, Donna. Nailed it.
LaDonna?
So, what happens next?
You do.
♪ Dim all the lights sweet darling ♪
♪ 'Cause tonight it's all the way ♪
♪ Turn up the old Victrola ♪
♪ Gonna dance the night away ♪
♪ Love just don't come easy ♪
♪ No it seldom does ♪
♪ When you find the perfect love ♪
♪ Let it fill you up ♪
♪ Dim all the lights sweet darling ♪
♪ 'Cause tonight it's all the way ♪
♪ Hey baby ♪
♪ Turn up the old Victrola ♪
♪ Gonna dance the night away ♪
Donna was every one of our dreams
wrapped up in a once-in-a-lifetime voice
that didn't just rise up to those stained glass windows.
She smashed right through them.
Now, when people who remember Casablanca
actually remember Casablanca,
this is what they remember,
Donna on top of the world,
as if this was the moment that began it all.
♪ Up ♪
♪ Hey baby ♪
♪ Dim all the lights sweet honey ♪
Having spent my entire life inventing my life,
I'd now invented hers.
That voice, the way Donna would just flow inside you,
that came from something far more inventive than me,
but the First Lady Of Love?
The Queen of Disco?
That was as much of a fairy tale as I was.
Let's replace Gladys with Donna.
And suddenly, for the first time,
it wasn't just breaking one hit, because once Donna broke,
the hits just never stopped coming.
I knew what else we'd did wrong, too.
Recording a live album of greatest hits
from a band who doesn't even have one?
-That's new, Neil, even for us. -Hey, they've always had hits.
We just failed to record them in the way
they needed to be heard.
By recording KISS live,
we finally captured the experience of KISS live...
which is what we'd really been chasing from the very beginning.
Turned out, we'd been right about them, too.
We sold over nine million records.
Every bet we'd made,
we were right about all of them.
We just... needed enough time
for all of you to catch up to us.
What is this? What are you doing?
Oh, my God. Al.
Welcome home, Ma.
Nelly, I already have a house.
-Yeah, well, this one's bigger. -Love you!
Are you nuts? What are you doing here?
Al, look.
We don't need this. Come on.
What?
No. No. That is too much.
I can only do all this because you taught me.
Who taught you? I taught you nothing.
-Taught you how to lose. -No, you taught me how to win.
You taught me to swing for the trees,
to bet big to win big. You remember?
You taught me how to dream!
Maybe a little bit.
No. Maybe a lot.
And you know, maybe you were just a little unlucky.
Right? Well, I got your luck.
Ah. Nah.
You made your own luck.
You're a genius. You're a fucking Jewish genius.
Ah, come on.
Hey.
You're a good son, bubbeleh.
Four-color world, Pop.
I'm in heaven.
Jesus Christ. You know what? If you can't
keep the beat, let's just fucking spell, okay?
That's right. We created the Village People, too.
"YMCA" became
one of the all-time biggest selling singles,
more than ten million copies,
though other than the cop,
none of the others even sang, not on the records,
not at the concerts, not ever.
Again. Let's go again.
You don't trust me? Look it up!
We went from living on the brink of bankruptcy
to earning five million dollars in one month,
six the next.
♪ Beth I hear you calling ♪
I finally even let Kiss release "Beth"
on the Destroyer album.
It would hurt every single time I heard it,
but it was the smash we'd been chasing
since it all began.
Now, this is a love story.
You're the best fake boyfriend I ever had.
♪ Just a few more hours ♪
♪ And I'll be right home to you ♪
♪ I think I hear them calling ♪
♪ Oh Beth what can I do? ♪
♪ Beth what can I do? ♪
♪ Beth I know you're lonely ♪
♪ And I hope you'll be alright ♪
♪ 'Cause me and the boys will be playing ♪
♪ All night ♪
As for Donna,
even with all her success,
I don't really believe LaDonna Adrian Gaines
ever really became Donna Summer.
We just made you all think that she had.
So, truth is, none of us
were still who we'd been when it all began.
Casablanca had become something else.
I had become something else.
Okay, Neil. What's this all about?
We sold half the company to Polygram.
Forty-nine percent. We still keep control.
We've lived an awful lotta years pretending to be rich.
You wanna see what it feels like
when we finally actually are?
Nelly!
Jesus Christ.
Um, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I never use the Lord's name
in vain, but...
Fifty million dollars for just half the company,
made out to Neil Bogart,
a name and a life I'd made up along the way.
Even paid Mo back every penny.
Not because I had to, but because I could.
My dad had been right.
Most were all still there
on the same four blocks of their lives.
For those of you who don't know,
I left Casablanca finally on February 8, 1980.
It was a Friday.
It was five days after my 37th birthday.
Now, disco had officially died the year before when a local DJ
set a bunch of records on fire to the roar of a crowd
as if that was a fucking concert.
Yeah. It was a good bet most of those were ours.
Now, all of you remember, I'm sure,
Donna and KISS and George,
Village People, Gladys,
the Isleys, Bill Withers,
all the others.
But I bet each of you $100...
that not one of you has ever even heard of my name.
And that's okay. It's not like I had the talent that they did,
because I didn't, you know,
or that I... or that I mattered like they did,
because, uh... I... I couldn'.
But I sure as hell made you dance.
I sold over 200 million records,
and all that music that I helped made possible...
became the soundtrack of your lives.
And we... we were in the business of making dreams come true.s
Didn't we do that?
And if we did, didn't... didn't that matter?
Didn't I?
Even if... even if only a song?
I died...
May eighth, just two years later, from cancer.
I was only 39 years old.
I... I wouldn't change a fucking thing.
I just wish I had more time.
♪ I need you ♪
♪ By me ♪
♪ Beside me ♪
♪ To guide me ♪
♪ To hold me ♪
♪ To scold me ♪
♪ 'Cause when I'm bad ♪
♪ I'm so so bad ♪
♪ So let's dance ♪
♪ The last dance ♪
♪ Let's dance ♪
♪ The last dance ♪
♪ Let's dance ♪
♪ The last dance ♪
♪ Tonight ♪
♪ Last dance ♪
♪ Last chance for love ♪
♪ Yes it's my last chance ♪
♪ For romance tonight ♪
♪ Oh I need you ♪
♪ By me ♪
♪ Beside me ♪
♪ To guide me ♪
♪ Oh to hold me ♪
♪ To scold me ♪
♪ 'Cause when I'm bad ♪
♪ I'm so so bad ♪
♪ So let's dance ♪
♪ The last dance ♪
♪ Let's dance ♪
♪ The last dance ♪
♪ Let's dance ♪
♪ The last dance ♪
♪ Tonight ♪
♪ Oh oh oh ♪
♪ Yeah ♪
♪ Hey hey ♪
♪ Mm ♪
♪ Whoa I need you ♪
♪ By me ♪
♪ Beside me ♪
♪ To guide me ♪
♪ To hold me ♪
♪ To scold me ♪
♪ Because when I'm bad ♪
♪ I'm so so bad ♪
♪ So come on baby ♪
♪ Dance that dance ♪
♪ Come on baby ♪
♪ Dance that dance ♪
♪ Come on baby ♪
♪ Let's dance tonight ♪
♪ It was the greatest time ♪
♪ Of my life ♪
♪ Yeah the greatest time ♪
♪ Of my entire life ♪
♪ Always made sure I took a road ♪
♪ Less traveled 'til the curtain closed ♪
♪ Living for my story to be told ♪
♪ 'Cause we all have a story to be told ♪
♪ It was the greatest time of our lives ♪
♪ It was the way we felt the love on hot summer nights ♪
♪ We never thought about getting old ♪
♪ And every day was rock and roll ♪
♪ Living for our stories to be told ♪
♪ So we dreamed so big ♪
♪ They were destined to explode ♪
♪ We knew one day that we'd be spinning gold ♪
♪ We bet it all to never fall ♪
♪ We'd rather die than fold ♪
♪ We just want our story to be told ♪
♪ It was the greatest time of our lives ♪
♪ When it was over all we know ♪
♪ Is that we got it right ♪
♪ With every heartbeat and every note ♪
♪ Let's dim the lights and start the show ♪
♪ Ready for our stories to be told ♪
♪ Call on me brother when you need a hand ♪
♪ So we dreamed so big they were destined to explode ♪
♪ We all need somebody to lean on ♪
♪ We knew one day that we'd be spinning gold ♪
-♪ We bet it all to never fall ♪ -♪ Ooh child ♪
♪ Things are gonna get easier ♪
♪ I've got to go, I've got to go ♪
♪ No matter how high or fast we went ♪
♪ We never looked back or lived life no regrets ♪
♪ Wanted to leave this world a better place ♪
♪ Whenever I left and give you something ♪
♪ That you'd never forget ♪
♪ Oh let's dance ♪
♪ The last dance ♪
♪ Let's dance ♪
♪ The last dance ♪
♪ Let's dance ♪
♪ The last dance ♪
♪ Tonight ♪
♪ Dreams so big they were destined to explode ♪
♪ We knew one day that we'd be spinning gold ♪
♪ We bet it all to never fall ♪
♪ We'd rather die than fold ♪
♪ We just want our story to be told ♪
♪ And so we dreamed so big they were destined to explode ♪
Well, alright. Star child.
♪ That we'd be spinning gold ♪
♪ ...Taste like candy ♪
♪ I'd rather live in his world ♪
♪ Than live without him in mine ♪
♪ Want to rock and roll all night ♪
-♪ We knew one day that ♪ -♪ And party every day ♪
♪ We'd be spinning gold ♪
♪ I want to rock and roll ♪
♪ All night ♪
♪ And party every day ♪
♪ Oh we were destined to explode ♪
♪ 'Cause we knew that we'd be spinning gold ♪
♪ And we said we'd rather die than fold ♪
♪ We want our stories to be told ♪
-♪ Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah ♪ -♪ Just a few more hours ♪
♪ And I'll be right home to you ♪
♪ Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah ♪
♪ Let's dance the last dance ♪
-♪ Tonight ♪ -♪ We just want our story ♪
♪ To be told ♪
You had a lot of resilience.
You have been up and down, and you've made a lot of money.
And you've been flat on your bum.
- It's nicer being up. - Yes.
If that was the question.
Why your resiliency? Where does it come from?
Where's that drive come from?
Probably, it originally comes from Brooklyn.
- Brooklyn. - You know, all people
that are born in Brooklyn seem to be able to bounce back,
because you have to if you come from there.
You have to have the desire to succeed and be a gambler,
and I both have the desire and am a gambler.
So, you were poor?
- Yes. - Mm-hmm
I came from Brooklyn,
and I used to sing on the street corners and stuff.
Do you think... I mean, what does it take to be a greaser?
-I mean... -You got what it takes.
You probably got what it takes.
What do you think is the biggest misunderstanding
about Neil Bogart?
There are quite a few misunderstandings
about Neil Bogart.
If you feel like rocking the Hollywood Bowl,
it feels like being rocked.
How'd you get so down and out, Neil?
I came out to California
after having a company called Buddah Records
in New York City,
which was very successful, and I went into partnership
with Warners Brothers Records.
Inside of eight months,
the partnership had just about dissolved,
and I lost the quickest three million dollars
anybody ever put up for anybody else.
What does it feel like to lose
a couple of million dollars?
Well, the strange thing is,
I really didn't have it, you know?
Of course.
I don't think if I had it, I could have taken the risk.
You know, it was a kind of situation
where I just kept going and really didn't stop to think
of how I was going to pay it back.
And fortunately, success was around the corner,
and I was able to pay it back and come from behind.
You did it by giving, first of all,
one of the largest parties ever given in this town,
-didn't you? -Yes, it was.
He laughs about it.
And you couldn't leave a tip, right?
At the end, I couldn't.
The party was fabulous.
The reception was fabulous.
The welcome to California was exciting,
and from there, everything went downhill.
About eight months later,
I realized that um, it wasn't going to happen.
I had just finished
probably the most expensive album ever done
in the record industry, which was
Here's Johnny: Magic Moments From The Tonight Show,
- and we opened... - Oh, you did that.
Yeah. That was our record.
You all bought that, didn't you?
Yeah.
We over-advertised, and we over-promoted.
And we did everything you could possibly do wrong.
And I went to Acapulco,
and while I was there, scuba diving,
I thought that, "You owe three million dollars.
You don't have any money left in the bank."
- Yeah. - "You might have payroll
for about two or three weeks left."
And I was down there, and I took the mouthpiece out
and said, "It could be over."
I mean, that could be it. You don't have to come back
to the problems. You don't have to come back
to face the failure.
And, um... the last record I released at Buddah Records
was a thing by Gladys Knight and the Pips,
that when LA seemed too much for the man,
he couldn't make it, so he's leaving
the life he's come to know.
He's leaving on a midnight train to Georgia.
And I just realized that wasn't me.
I had to win, or I had to fail.
I couldn't cop out,
and I put the mouthpiece back in.
I swam and found Joyce.
I said, "Come on back. We're going upstairs.
We're gonna go back, and we're gonna do it.
We're going to win, or we're gonna fail."
And in the back of my head, I always had the thought
that I can always go back to Brooklyn and open
- a candy store. - Yeah,
except there are a lot of those there, aren't there?
Yeah, but you know, growing up there, I mean,
that was always a kind of comforting thing
that I could always go back to that,
and that was a great life.
Hi.
What does a tiger say?
That was the Bogarts, the fabulous Bogarts!
Well, I want to thank you all.
Jill, Timothy, Bradley, come on. Come on.
Say goodbye to the audience.
We'll see you again!
-Bye! -Bye, everybody!
- Bye! - Bye!
Do you have one more word you'd like to say to everybody?
Goodbye. Cheerio.
What was that?
...from the fabulous Bogarts!
See you next week!
Yeah!