Frank Sinatra
Countdown To Rocket Launch
BASSIST: A.J.
GUITARIST: MATT
DRUMMER: MURPH
....and the beat goes on...
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Posted by: Nancy | Sep 1, 2001 1:00 AM | 
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FrankFest Organizer Charged With Piracy
FrankFest Organizer Charged With Piracy
- August 19, 2001 - 12:24 AM
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN
Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP — The organizer of this weekend’s “FrankFest 2001” was arrested and charged Saturday with selling unauthorized Frank Sinatra memorabilia.
Atlantic County Prosecutor Jeffrey S. Blitz said Richard Apt, 52, of Galloway Township, was arrested after investigators from the Prosecutor’s Office and the Recording Industry Association of America, or RIAA, determined Apt was selling unauthorized Frank Sinatra merchandise, including hundreds of CDs, sweatshirts and other items at a Sinatra convention being held at the Clarion Hotel and Convention Center Atlantic City West at 6821 Black Horse Pike.
The Prosecutor’s Office, RIAA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation launched an operation at the site of the convention around 9:30 a.m. when undercover investigators purchased some of the CDs Apt was selling.
Apt then was arrested without incident and charged with violating trademarks and the companion charge of violating the state’s Anti-Piracy Act because the CDs contained unauthorized sound recordings.
Blitz said more than 1,000 CDs and other counterfeit items were seized, but the convention continued with other vendors selling Sinatra items.
Apt was released on a summons, pending Grand Jury action, Blitz said.
He faces a maximum of five years in prison if convicted of the third-degree charges.
Blitz said his office and the RIAA have worked together before in an effort to prevent copyright infringement.
“These things are done in two steps. First we confirm the items are counterfeit and then we go in and make the arrest,” Blitz said.
Apt, a music retailer, held his first Frank Sinatra convention in 1989 and then each year from 1995 to 1999.
Sinatra fans were charged $8 each to attend this year’s event, which was scheduled to include the playing of Sinatra’s music, a big-screen TV showing footage of Sinatra and the sale and trade of merchandise.
Two small trucks were needed to transfer Sinatra paraphernalia from Apt’s home to the convention center.
The Egg Harbor Township Police Department also assisted with Saturday’s arrest.
Posted by: Nancy | Aug 19, 2001 1:00 AM | Comments(1)
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ELIZABETH says:
Dec 1, 2001 11:01 AM
BRAVO!
For an interesting debate regarding Bootlegging, see the "Bootleggers And Pirates" Section of the "FORUM"..
About Julia's Comment: Were They Drunk?
First of all, from my experience with these things, I honestly believe Ms. Roberts was kidding when she said they were drunk. Secondly, I'm sure she didnt stop to analyze or dissect what she was saying. It was a joke, a part of the kibbitzing with Letterman. That's all it was.
However, since the subject has come up, I would like to take the opportunity to address it for those of you who have not read my books.
Let's begin with the first show, or the Dinner Show, as it was called then. The Summit Meeting title came from the political Summit Meetings when heads of state would gather to discuss world affairs. Frank, Dean, Sam, Joey, Peter and sometimes Don Rickles, Jerry or Buddy Lester and other comics, would dress in their uniforms (tuxedos, black bow ties, etc.,) and do amazing 1 1/2 hour shows twice a night. That in itself would have been enough to stir things up, but when you add to it the fact that, at the same time as many of their PM Summit Meetings, they were filming during the day, it becomes the stuff about which legends and myths are created.
The half-hour call was 7:30PM and showtime was 8:00. So the process of dressing began at about 5:30 or 6 PM in the steam room of the Health Club at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. It was there that ehy would unwind from the day’s work and prepare for the night’s. More showering, shaving, dressing.
Many times some of the funniest moments occurred here in the steam room far from the eyes and ears of the public. Such as the time they walked Don Rickles, who was wearing only a towel, to the door which led to the pool and locked from the inside. When they pushed him out the door, they kept his towel! In this case the people who were in or near the pool had quite a shock.
The shows themselves were carefully structured to allow for “ad-libs” and songs and comedy routines. The one-liners were so well written that they could be placed in any portion of the show, so each show was fresh and had the feeling of spontaneity. The writers like Paul Keyes, Harry Crane and Sheldon Keller knew the guys well and wrote the jokes accordingly. A lot of off-the-cuff humor would occur as well, but the guys would always get back to the show’s structure. That’s why the performances were so good. The “third act” was never lost because somebody may have messed up the “first act”. If jokes were dropped in the first act, they could be added in the second or third part of the show without the audience realizing anything had gone awry.
The rolling bar was a part of the set as were the bandstand and the mikes. They would pour drinks and sip them and toast the crowd in between songs and jokes. The orchestra was well-rehearsed, the songs were professionally sung, there were rarely mistakes on anyone’s part. There were planned mistakes, such as when Dad would sing the line in A Very Good Year,”When I was seventeen,“ the sad, string intro having already set the tone of the song, and from an offstage mike, Dean would sing, “You were a pain in the ass.”
Absolutely nothing was sacred! And the audience would fall on the floor.
These were excellent shows. EXCELLENT.
Why, you may ask, is she going on about this. We know how great the shows were.
Here is the point. When the guys were filming Ocean’s 11, they were also doing two of those shows every night. So look at it this way: If they were drunk there is no way in hell or heaven they could have maintained the excellence, let alone the schedule.
Back to the schedule.
After the Dinner Show, they would dry off the sweat from the hot lights, sometimes change clothes and go to dinner, either in the Garden Room at The Sands or at a favorite restaurant nearby. Sometimes together, sometimes with other guests and friends. At dinner, they would still be keyed up from the adrenaline of the performance. It took a while to relax. Then, by the time they were wishing they could go to bed, it was time to gear up again for the second or Midnight Show.
The Midnight Show call was only a 15 minute one so “15” was called at 11:45. Every professional entertainer is there for the “half-hour” or “15 minutes” calls. The stage manager goes to the various dressingroom doors, knocks and announces “15 minutes, Mr. Sinatra” and if he doesn’t hear the “Thank you,” he worries and has to find out why the performer is not there. The show may have to be “held” until the entire cast and orchestra is present. These guys were never late.
After the second show when the energy level would be even higher than the first, they would retire to the lounge which was located on the shoulder of the casino itself. It was there they would unwind and have some fun. There would be friends, families, showgirls, other entertainers from other hotels on the Strip - an ecclectic group. And everybody felt the force of the talented captains of the clubs. The laughs would continue until well into the next morning, sometimes 3, 4 or 5 AM, at which point everybody would head for their rooms to try to steal a few hours of precious sleep.
The calls for the filming days would vary, depending on the actor’s scenes for the particular day. If one of them had an early call, he would go to bed earlier than the others. Usually filming began in the mid morning. So let’s say 11AM for argument’s sake. This meant that the guys had to shave and get made-up and costumed, etc. in time for the first call for “action.”
They were professional actors too, so they knew their lines and managed to give performances that pleased the movie going audiences. The filming days ended just in time for them to go back to the hotel, maybe grab a very quick nap and report to the steam room to begin the process of getting ready for the shows. My father’s face used to be raw sometimes from having to shave twice each day.
Part of the humor of the shows was the built-in pouring of the drinks and the drinking. The audience loved that. My dad showed me how they did it. It was a case of taking a drink and sipping it (usually toasting the audience) then putting the glass down. After an interval of time, the next drink would be poured. Same story. Meanwhile, the audience was “keeping up” with them and drinking right along. They had a ball visiting those shows and left feeling high and happy.
If they were drunk, the entire experience would have been a mess. Just keep that in mind when you watch those movies they made in and around Las Vegas. Sometimes they would have to fly by helicopter to the location shoot. It was never easy. It was hard work, but they made it fun, for themselves and for everyone around them, and mostly for the audiences who paid to see them perform together.
It was the stuff that dreams are made of, Baby.
Nancy Sinatra
July 16, 2001
Posted by: Nancy | Jul 16, 2001 1:00 AM | Comments(1)
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ELIZABETH says:
Dec 1, 2001 7:41 PM
Dear Nancy,
I have read Your Books, and I Thank You for Your additional interesting and descriptive insight into The Rat Pack's busy schedules. They were such pros that they made their work look easy, more like play. It's obvious that they also genuinely enjoyed themselves while working and making the Audiences happy. I can understand that awesome adrenaline rush and the difficulty in coming down from that heavenly natural high afterwards. Performing well demands full alertness, sober concentration, boundless energy, and careful timing, day after day, night after night, and in the case of The Rat Pack, "Night And Day". They were were remarkable!
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ELIZABETH says:
Dec 1, 2001 7:49 PM
And the Sinatra Musical Legacy goes on!
Best Wishes for lots of Fun and Success, AJ!
Best Wishes to "ROCKET".