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Mark interviews author Mark Malkoff. · The Mark Simone Show

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: On wor Well, we love Johnny Carson, the greatest Todd
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  Speaker 1: Show host ever. And there's a book out, a brand
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  Speaker 1: new book, the Definitive Book on Johnny Carson, the Ultimate Book.
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  Speaker 1: There's been some bad books of these. This is the
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  Speaker 1: book on Johnny Carson. It's out. It's already a bestseller.
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  Speaker 1: I urge you to get the book. Hey, by the way,
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  Speaker 1: be a great Christmas present for somebody. The book's called
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: Love Johnny Carson. You can get it on Amazon. It's
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  Speaker 1: a great book, Love Johnny Carson. It's the real story,
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  Speaker 1: the whole story. And it's by Mark Malcoff, who does
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  Speaker 1: the Carson Podcast, which has been on for years. Got
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  Speaker 1: a lot of big devoted listeners. You should listen to
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  Speaker 1: that too, the Carson Podcast. But the author of the
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  Speaker 1: new book, Love Johnny Carson, Mark Malkoff.
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  Speaker 2: How you doing, Mark, I'm doing great. Nice to talk
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  Speaker 2: to you, sir.
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  Speaker 1: Hey. It's you've been on a book tour all over
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  Speaker 1: the place promoting it. But you just went to Johnny
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  Speaker 1: Carson's hometown, right, tell us about that.
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  Speaker 2: It was in Norfolk, Nebraska. They flew me out there.
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  Speaker 2: I thought it was called Norfolk. They say Norfolk, but
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  Speaker 2: I was in Johnny Carson's boyhood home. The owner invited
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  Speaker 2: me over there and just to be in that space
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  Speaker 2: and see where Johnny slept with his brother Dick, and
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  Speaker 2: it was unbelievable. They had me sign autographed the living
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  Speaker 2: room wall with other visitors. The Smothers brothers have been there,
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  Speaker 2: Paul Riser, and they have a local museum, the Elkhorn
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  Speaker 2: Valley Museum, with Johnny's awards, his Emmy's costumes like art
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  Speaker 2: Fernon Blabby and it was unbelievable just to be at
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  Speaker 2: this place that made and shape Johnny Carson.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, when you stand there in the middle of Nebraska,
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  Speaker 1: the Great Midwest, you realize how far this guy came
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  Speaker 1: and what a journey he took.
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  Speaker 2: He did, I mean when he was seventeen, when he
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  Speaker 2: graduated high school at seventeen, the first thing he did
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  Speaker 2: was hitchhike to Los Angeles and he bought a star
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  Speaker 2: map to the and went to Jack Benny's home and
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  Speaker 2: waved it outside to see if Benny would come out,
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  Speaker 2: which he did. But yeah, Johnny always had these ambitions,
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  Speaker 2: but Nebraska definitely shaped him. And just to be back
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  Speaker 2: there and to talk to people that had Johnny's teacher,
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  Speaker 2: Fay Gordon, who turned when she turned one hundred years old.
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  Speaker 2: And then I think early mid nineties, Johnny returned back
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  Speaker 2: to Nebraska for her one hundred birthday. But I talked
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  Speaker 2: to people that were older that had Johnny's teacher, and Johnny,
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  Speaker 2: of course over there is like, I mean, he's an
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  Speaker 2: icon to us, but back there, I mean he's royalty
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  Speaker 2: and rightfully so. I mean he's donated so much money
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  Speaker 2: and helped out with so many good causes.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Now, there was a guy that gave him his
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  Speaker 1: first big radio job in Nebraska, and as you point out,
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  Speaker 1: he was so nice that guy. For the rest of
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  Speaker 1: his life, he always helped the guy and met with him, right.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Meryl Workhoven was his name, and he was in
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  Speaker 2: Omaha and he got Johnny his really big first job
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  Speaker 2: in radio and Omaha, and Johnny kept in touch with
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  Speaker 2: him for decades, would invite him to the Tonight show.
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  Speaker 2: They'd go out to dinner at Johnny's one of Johnny's favorite,
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  Speaker 2: The Palm in La And then when this gentleman Meryll,
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  Speaker 2: who worked in radio for something like thirty years in Nebraska,
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  Speaker 2: when his car broke down driving out to La Johnny
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  Speaker 2: surprised him with a new car and new Buick. And
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  Speaker 2: when Johnny presented this to Meryl Workove and they both
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  Speaker 2: started crying. I mean their daughter, his daughter, Melanie Workoven
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  Speaker 2: was telling me the story about being there, and yeah,
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  Speaker 2: Johnny had very close friends, which I talked about in
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  Speaker 2: the book, which to the media, you know, they said
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  Speaker 2: he was cold and aloof But the people I talked to,
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  Speaker 2: the four hundred people, I mean, you knew Johnny Carson,
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  Speaker 2: you met him, they told me that he was not
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  Speaker 2: like that.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, he said, when you go to work, it's
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  Speaker 1: called work. It's not fun. You got to be very
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  Speaker 1: business like and you got to be a little cold
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  Speaker 1: when you go to work. You're not there to have fun.
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  Speaker 2: He would. Yeah, he would protect his energy too, because
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  Speaker 2: he was you would only get there a couple hours
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  Speaker 2: before the show, because he didn't want to waste his
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  Speaker 2: energy on a show date. No lunch is with people.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, for most of his career he was doing
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  Speaker 2: leads ninety minutes, if not an hour and forty five,
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  Speaker 2: and he was just always exhausted, so he had to
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  Speaker 2: protect his energy, which they hear the stories was just
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  Speaker 2: it's been unbelievable. I mean, Bob Yucker was somebody that
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  Speaker 2: I talked to on the Carson podcast for an hour.
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  Speaker 2: He was telling me that the first time he went
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  Speaker 2: on the show in like nineteen sixty nine, Johnny did
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  Speaker 2: not believe afterwards that he was a real major league
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  Speaker 2: baseball player. He thought he was so funny that he
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  Speaker 2: had to be a comedian that was lying about being
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  Speaker 2: a major league baseball player. And Johnny's staff had to
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  Speaker 2: show him articles and just to hear those stories. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: Uker told me they never used the pre interview. Uker,
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  Speaker 2: Buddy Hackett, Don Rickles no pre interviews. I mean, he
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  Speaker 2: was effortless.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Hey, now everybody should get this book. You're gonna
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  Speaker 1: love this book. It's just one fascinating chapter and story
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  Speaker 1: after another. It's called Love Johnny Carson. Brand new book
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  Speaker 1: by Mark Malkoff called Love Johnny Carson. Go order it now.
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  Speaker 1: They taped the show every night, But in thirty years
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  Speaker 1: did they ever stop a tape? They just never stop
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  Speaker 1: for any reason, did they.
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  Speaker 2: Very few times. The one time I remember is Della
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  Speaker 2: Reese had a throw at an ant brain aneurysm. They
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  Speaker 2: stopped that almost never. I think it was. I think
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  Speaker 2: John Davidson kicked a speaker and the something that happened
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  Speaker 2: and they had to cancel a taping. But Johnny liked
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  Speaker 2: to keep in the mistakes. The mistakes were all part
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  Speaker 2: of the show. Like well, for example, when Robert Gulea
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  Speaker 2: John Davidson forgot the words to a song, Johnny wouldn't
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  Speaker 2: let them stop tape. He said, no, you're gonna get it.
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  Speaker 2: You're gonna figure it out. And the audience loved it.
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  Speaker 2: And you know, it just made these famous celebrities more
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  Speaker 2: endearing to the audience. But I have to say, I
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  Speaker 2: want to tell people in the New York City area.
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  Speaker 2: One thing I do want to mention, and you were
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  Speaker 2: just there and I was there just a day ago,
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  Speaker 2: is the Paley Center at fifty second Street in New
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  Speaker 2: York City has Johnny Carson's actual desk chair the couch.
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  Speaker 2: It's unbelievable to sit there, and you can actually sit
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  Speaker 2: in Johnny's chair from the step. But I know you
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  Speaker 2: were there, I saw the photo. Would is tremendous. But
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  Speaker 2: every opportunity when I'm in midtown, I try to stop
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  Speaker 2: by the Paley Center.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a wonderful place. If you check my Instagram,
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  Speaker 1: you see a picture of me sitting in the Carson desk,
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  Speaker 1: but it's over there at the Paley Center, which is
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  Speaker 1: a wonderful museum on fifty second Street. Hey, there's things
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  Speaker 1: that the Johnny Carson did with traditions on the Tonight Show.
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  Speaker 1: They're all gone now. They don't do them anymore, Like
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  Speaker 1: having a guest host or a sidekick sitting next to you,
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  Speaker 1: or a new comedian stand up comedian new Stanton. How
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  Speaker 1: come that all went away? They don't do that anymore.
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  Speaker 2: I don't know. I feel like the panel was the
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  Speaker 2: best part when you would have these people like I
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  Speaker 2: don't know, Don Rickles or Glenn Campbell and they start
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  Speaker 2: getting at it, and there was just so much fun
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  Speaker 2: with those traditions. I don't know why the shows have
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  Speaker 2: just deviated so much from what worked. It doesn't make
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  Speaker 2: any sense to me about that tradition. Yeah, it's just
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  Speaker 2: it's different. I mean, I do like the fact that
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  Speaker 2: all the late night hosts still talk about Johnny Carson
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  Speaker 2: with reverends. Yeah, it's not the same. I mean, I
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  Speaker 2: and I hear from people all across America that miss Johnny,
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  Speaker 2: that go to the official Johnny YouTube channel, and there's
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  Speaker 2: over a million subscrib people that have subscribed to this
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  Speaker 2: YouTube channel, and it's just amazing just to look at
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  Speaker 2: that body of work. But yeah, I really do wish
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  Speaker 2: they would have kept some of those traditions.
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  Speaker 1: Well, you should also start listening to the Carson podcast.
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  Speaker 1: Mark Malkoff did with like six hundred episodes of it
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  Speaker 1: with every.
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  Speaker 2: We did a lot, and we have new episodes coming up.
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  Speaker 2: Ed Shaughnessy, who's the drummer. We have his son I
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  Speaker 2: talked to. I talked to a bunch of other people
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  Speaker 2: that I wasn't able to get on the podcast. So
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  Speaker 2: we're doing new episodes and we're gonna be doing some
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  Speaker 2: events around the country. I was just in Chicago at
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  Speaker 2: their Museum of Broadcasts and Communications. They have a late
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  Speaker 2: night exhibit some Carson and Letterman items. So yeah, it's
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  Speaker 2: been just incredible. Just people miss Johnny. I thought, Mark,
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  Speaker 2: I really thought, like, wh're talking to you? When we
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  Speaker 2: first started talking and stuff, I didn't realize how many
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  Speaker 2: people that around the country just missed Johnny as much
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  Speaker 2: as us. But they are all over the place.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's why should get the book. Love Johnny Carson big, new,
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  Speaker 1: wonderful book about Johnny Carson, the real story, and it'd
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  Speaker 1: be a great Christmas present. It's called Love Johnny Carson. Now,
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  Speaker 1: I always preferred the New York Tonight Show years. There
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  Speaker 1: was something better about it. But Carson had a lot
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  Speaker 1: of trouble in New York, right, women drinking, that kind
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  Speaker 1: of stuff.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, he would talk about on the Tonight Show with
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  Speaker 2: his struggle with alcohol. That was always a thing he
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  Speaker 2: talked about. He would say he would have one more
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  Speaker 2: drink than he should, he would turn into Attila the Hunt.
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  Speaker 2: So he definitely had some tough times. Jillie's and Ed
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  Speaker 2: McMahon would babysit him and make sure he would get home.
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  Speaker 2: And he got in some trouble in Frank Sinatra one
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  Speaker 2: time had to save his life there. I talk about
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  Speaker 2: that in the book, But I agree. I think the
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  Speaker 2: New York years with you know, Jimmy Breslin and just
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  Speaker 2: I think that it was just such a more intimate,
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  Speaker 2: classy show, sophisticated show. I did like when they during
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  Speaker 2: those first ten years when they go out to Hollywood,
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  Speaker 2: because it would go off the rails with you know,
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  Speaker 2: people like George Goebel and Dean Martin. But I definitely
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  Speaker 2: think those first ten years from the clips that I've seen,
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  Speaker 2: I think that those are stellar, and those really hold
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  Speaker 2: up the footage that does exist. Not a lot of
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  Speaker 2: it does, but when I've seen it.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, So it's a one of a book. I'm telling
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  Speaker 1: you get the book. You'll really love it. It's everything
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  Speaker 1: you ever want to know. I knew everything there was
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  Speaker 1: to know about Johnny Carson, but I could read this
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  Speaker 1: book and find out fifty thousand things I didn't know.
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  Speaker 1: It's got everything about Johnny Carson.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean Ed Eames. I mean, I'm in but
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  Speaker 2: for at Beverly Hill is sitting down with Ed Eames,
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  Speaker 2: He's in his nineties telling me about he didn't know
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  Speaker 2: how to throw a tomahawk, And I'm getting the actual
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  Speaker 2: story from the man himself, the most famous Carson clip
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  Speaker 2: of all times. So we put all the stories in.
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  Speaker 2: Talk to everyone that went on the show, Johnny's staff,
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  Speaker 2: and I have to say, I've heard from a lot
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  Speaker 2: of people that knew Johnny and people at the tonight show,
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  Speaker 2: and they have all been so complimentary about me getting
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  Speaker 2: the story right, which I'm grateful to hear. And you know,
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  Speaker 2: I've been, you know, working on this for years, and
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  Speaker 2: you've been such a great support in helping me with
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  Speaker 2: the books. I mean, you know so much about Late
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  Speaker 2: Night and Carson. I didn't know. I'm grateful to you.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: Well, everybody, get the book. Order it today, Order it now.
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  Speaker 1: It's called Love Johnny Carson. It's on Amazon. It'd be
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: a good Christmas present too. Love Johnny Carson is the book.
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: Go order it and listen to the Carson Podcast. Start listening.
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  Speaker 1: Mark Melcoff, thanks for being with us. We'll talk again.
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  Speaker 2: Soon, Talk soon. Thank you so much, Marcus pleasure, take care.
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: Thank you sure. Thanks.
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: Hey, don't forget Bucking Clay coming up at noon today
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: right here on seven ten wor