Stallone: Frank, That Is (2021) - full transcript

I know exactly

the day I opened

my mouth to sing.

It was a Sunday.

All the relatives were

over at the house.

It's an old Italian song,

and I didn't know

what the hell the words were.

I was like six,

seven years old. It was...

♪ Eh, Cumpari ♪

And all of a sudden, I just

start singing along with it.

It just seemed natural.

For some reason,

it was effortless for me.

I never had a pitch problem.

I could just sing.

Please welcome, Frank Stallone.

Frank Stallone.

- Frank Stallone.

Frank Stallone.

- Frank Stallone.

Frank Stallone.

- Frank Stallone.

In his world, and his talent,

he's, you know,

every bit as good as I am

at what I try to do.

He's a five tool guy.

He can sing, he can act,

he can perform,

he can write, and he could

fight like a son of a bitch.

When you watch

Frank Stallone perform,

he fulfills everything.

It's just talent, man.

It's just pure talent.

He sings his ass off.

Always did.

He likes to talk a lot.

He can talk.

He can tell a story,

and he'll just capture you.

He's just wonderful.

It's a combination

of electric magnetism

coupled with

this incredible humility.

It's just a rare cocktail.

It's what I respect

most about him.

Frank has style

and Frank has endurance.

He's very driven. He's talented,

and he's also a sweetheart

of a guy. He's a winner.

He's an electric sort of guy,

and, and, uh, funny.

He's entertaining.

He's got a heart of gold.

There's never

a dull moment with Frank.

He's got a big heart.

That's what people don't see.

It's that big.

He's a force.

He's the real deal.

There's so much more to him

than meets the eye.

I mean, everybody knows,

yeah, he did a little

doowop thing

in the first Rocky film,

and you think, "Oh,

that's cute," you know,

"Sylvester and his brother

sing a little

thing at the beginning."

And then,

you dig deeper,

and you found out,

"Wow, this guy's

a tremendous musical artist

in his own right."

He was into music

24 hours a day.

I knew that was his calling.

He never quit.

♪ I know what I'm missing ♪

♪ I talk ♪

♪ No one listens ♪

♪ Now I'm talking to myself ♪

♪ Reach out, no reaction ♪

♪ What price? ♪

♪ Satisfaction ♪

♪ If you give up ♪

♪ Or give it all... ♪

These were actually, uh,

these were a gift to me.

These were

Frank Sinatra's cufflinks.

Maybe that'll bring me a...

bit of good luck.

See you in the movies.

Welcome back to the stage

Frank Stallone.

I grew up in a kind

of a strange environment.

My father was from Italy,

and my mother is a WASP,

and she was born

in Washington DC.

So I didn't really grow up in,

what you would call,

a musical household.

My father was a hair dresser.

My mother worked

in the same business,

and it was a very

tumultuous house.

It was not a happy household.

I remember once

I went to Bloomingdale's,

he was about five years old,

and he's so quite.

Were-- He said to Frankie,

"Just sit here, don't move."

He would not move until

you gave him a command to move.

When I got home,

I realized I didn't have him.

He was still sitting

on the bench in Bloomingdale's.

I went back to the store,

and there you were.

To pick him up,

that's how wellmannered he was.

He was a good baby.

Frankie actually was

putty in your hand.

He was a beautiful little baby,

and very good.

Growing up, he was just a,

a normal child,

but he developed a passion,

and I mean really a passion,

for music.

I remember to this day,

seeing Elvis Presley.

All of a sudden,

this wild man comes on.

At six years old, I'm going,

"Oh, yeah,

forget 'Eh, Cumpari.'

That, that bullshit,

that's over.

This is it right here."

The hair, the look,

just everything about him,

and that was it, I was hooked.

When my parents got divorced,

I moved from Maryland

to Philadelphia,

which was like night and day.

But then the doowop thing

was always around,

like The Platters,

The Silhouettes,

that was like street corner.

So I got into that.

My mother had left.

She disappeared.

And she came

around Christmas time,

and I saw

these two like ukuleles.

I know my brother

has no musical talent,

so I guess they're both for me,

but he ended up breaking it

over my head.

That was

the beginning and the end

of like the Italian version

of The Everly Brothers,

because my brother,

as talented as he is,

just has no musical talent.

They tried.

They bought him a trumpet.

He hammered the mouth piece in,

but it just wasn't his bag,

and he didn't know what his bag

was until 20 years later.

So he was just

kind of a delinquent.

I would torture Frank.

Everything

from shooting arrows at him,

and trying

to put him in a barrel,

and roll him down a hill

while heaving rocks

onto a freeway

under construction.

His fingers almost got

cut off in a cement mixer.

We got into a fight

over a drum stick,

and I threw it at him, and

it sort of stuck in his head,

and he's still alive,

which goes to show you,

he's not normal.

He has a primitive

neanderthaltypeskull.

He's eating a bowl of ice cream.

He goes...

"Don't touch my ice cream,"

and he throws

the ice cream in my face.

I turn around, I hit him,

and I shatter my hand.

This is the way we've always

conducted our business,

me attacking my brother,

and then blaming him.

So it's consistent.

There something nice

about consistency.

So then, off to military school.

I just got wind of The Beatles.

I don't want to go

to military school,

and get a buzz haircut.

I can't do this anymore.

I just don't want to do it,

because now your hormones

are kind of changing.

The Beatles, The Stones,

all this stuff is happening,

and I'm wearing a buzz cut.

I look like total jerk off.

I don't fit in at all.

So I left.

I went to public school.

I wasn't dumb. I was very smart,

but I couldn't apply myself.

Now you would call that ADD,

but then,

you just called it stupid.

I think I got one A

in 12 years of school.

I flunked music all four years.

Barely got out of high school.

Frankie and I met

in September of 1961.

I had a set of drums,

but most of us,

we were just doing something

that was part of a trend.

For Frankie, it was a drive.

He can't stop himself.

I felt like a separation

emotionally,

like he was moving away,

you know?

He was very serious about that,

and I...

...couldn't possibly

get serious at that age.

I remember I worked all summer

for 150 bucks,

and my stepfather said...

"Well, if you work,

you can buy your own guitar."

I said, "Okay, great."

I went to 8th Street Music,

and I bought this bass,

and he goes, "Oh, I didn't

tell you you could buy that,"

and he took it away from me.

I didn't even get

a chance to play it.

It was so devastating to me,

because I was so proud

because I worked for it,

and he just put it away

in the closet,

and he goes, "Don't you ever

touch that again." I said,

I said, "You said if I worked

all summer, I could have it."

I couldn't wait for when

he left town. Of course I'd...

practice in the front room

with my band, and stuff

like that. But I couldn't--

Then I realized

I sucked at bass.

Well, he didn't

like his stepfather

for the simple reason

his stepfather was

pretty organized,

and very neat, and clean.

He would insist Frankie

get a haircut

as soon as he'd come home.

Well, that's the worst thing

you could say to a musician.

So, they didn't get along

well at all.

Got along very well

with his father.

His father lived in, uh,

Florida or Washington DC

at the time...

in both places,

and he got along well

with his father.

We were getting hit in the '60s.

Every day there was

a new British invasion group,

The Dave Clark Five,

The Kinks, The Who.

It was so exciting. I mean,

it was a blitzkrieg

of British groups.

Everyone thought you were

English if you had long hair.

You know,

those guys had Philly accents.

"Hello, love,

how yous doing there?"

You say, "Oh, God, Almighty,"

you know?

But girls thought

you were British,

We're about as British as,

you know, whatever.

So, what's the next thing?

Let's straighten Frank's hair.

To watch a guy iron

his own hair is ridiculous.

It doesn't work.

I was burning my scalp.

I looked like an OCedar mop,

just like, like a roof.

It was horrible.

So then I figured it out.

If I washed my hair it'd be wet.

I'd put like DippityDo in it,

and I'd put a hair net on,

and sit under a hair dryer,

and it'd come out

beautifully straight.

Two seconds on the stage,

sweat, and it all...

I turned professional in 1965.

The guy next door said,

"Hey, well I'm having a party,"

so we set our stuff up

on the lawn, and we played.

I think they gave us five bucks

like for the band,

and I said, "Well,

I'm professional.

I'm getting paid."

This was my first group,

The American Tragedy.

Frank is a naturalborn

entertainer.

His singing ability,

and his delivery,

his performance

was unbelievable.

There was

a thing, an advertisement

for a thing called

the Philadelphia Battle

of the Bands,

which was all throughout

Philadelphia.

I heard numbers like

300 bands started or something,

and the competition was fierce,

but we came in second

of all the bands,

and that was a lot

of acknowledgement.

It was a lot of fun.

My brother managed me

for one day

with The American Tragedy.

We went to see a group

called The Soultastics,

and Sly goes, "Yeah, that's

what you guys should be doing."

We were kids.

We couldn't even drive yet.

So my brother's funny maid

just walks up, and goes,

"Hey, who's your manager?"

So my brother contacts this guy.

We auditioned and played.

He goes, "Yeah, you guys

are pretty good,

but you have to get outfits."

They were these big

horsechecked pants

with orange turtlenecks.

But why would you buy

a turtleneck sweater

to play live

with wool plaid pants?

Oh, my God!

- There it is! Mike!

Frankie was looking

for something greater

than the neighborhood.

It was time for him to move on,

time for him to get out there,

but we were that stepping stone.

We got him started,

and I'm very proud of that.

I think our group

is proud of that.

We, we all take pride

in saying that,

"Hey, we know Frank Stallone."

We knew him back

when no one knew

how well he could sing but us,

and he's proved it

over and over again.

I meet my friend,

Allen Rosenblum.

I didn't know he played guitar,

and I was hearing,

"Oh, Allen Rosenblum

can sure play guitar."

So Allen and I got together,

and we put

the first Valentine together.

Why did I change

my name to Valentine?

Because I had no money. I'd

just brought this western belt,

and it had the name Valentine

carved back in western letters.

I said, "Well, shit, man,

I want to wear this belt,

so I'll change

my name to Valentine."

That belt was

the only belt I owned.

It had Valentine

written on the back,

and I didn't want

to explain it to people.

Valentine was a very well

know Downtown Philly band.

We wrote all our own tunes.

We had a nice repertory

of originals.

Frank had some. I had some.

We wrote a couple together.

♪ Fifty pages set

the stage to succeed to... ♪

The bass player, he said,

"Man, I know

this guy, he's a great

keyboard player, Daryl Hall."

And it's this really

handsome guy.

He walks down the steps

while we're rehearsing,

sitting there,

and he's listening to us,

and he's got a smile on

his face. He goes, "Wow, man."

He's a real nice guy. "God,

you guys sound great, man."

And so he was playing

in a successful bar band

that worked all the time

on the weekends making money.

We made nothing. So he had

to kind of bough out,

but he was very nice. And then,

they throw me out

of my own group.

For some reason,

I was becoming unruly.

He would get

into moods sometimes,

and when he'd finally

show up to rehearsal,

you know, an hour late,

we decided that Frank had to go.

And even though

I'd been a schmuck...

you know, when,

when the band, you know,

when we tossed him out

of the band, he wouldn't let go.

Our friendship meant

something to him.

If you have to have a friend,

have a friend

like Frank Stallone.

And then you go through that

bad time being a solo artist,

playing for a white fish.

Seriously, that's how I got

paid, in like smoked fish

one night

because I was starving.

I was suffering from severe

panic attacks, and I didn't know

what they were. I thought

I was absolutely insane.

I'm having like a nervous

breakdown every four minutes.

I'm talking.

I'm going like...

It was horrible.

I was working

at a radio station,

and he had a little demo,

evidently, of his voice.

We went into the recording room

where the engineer was there,

and he played it.

He said, "Kid,

let me tell you something."

He said, "Don't waste your time.

You'll never make it," you know?

And I thought, "Damn, well."

My manager at that time...

..."I got you a job

in Portland, Maine."

I go, "What? You got us

a gig in Portland, Maine?"

We were playing

like country bars in Marysville,

Pennsylvania, you know? And

that group was called Bananas.

We're driving

a Ford Econoline van.

We had no money.

They spent the money on hashish.

I said, "What-- what the hell

are we going to do?

We're driving to Portland,

Maine." He goes,

"Hey, you won't even know it."

We see the club. We go,

"All right, man, cool,

this is great."

The guy goes,

"What are you talking about?"

"We're Bananas."

He goes, "I have no idea

what you're talking about."

I said, "Are you serious?"

We just drove

from Trenton, New Jersey,

to Portland, Maine,

and there's no gig?

It's the middle of the winter.

Obviously, we were blitzed,

and I think we stopped

for like hot dog

and we cut it three ways.

But anyway, we made it back.

That group breaks up.

Then I put together

Valentine Two.

And we said, "Well,

we got this guy, John Oates."

I said, "Yeah, cool."

When I came to my first

rehearsal with the band,

I immediately knew Frank

was the force in the band.

It was his thing, you know? He

had a, he had a lot of charisma,

he had a lot of presence,

and he had a really great voice,

and he looked good.

You know, he was always

very concerned with

how he presented himself,

you know?

In terms of how he dressed,

and how he looked.

I think he had a very kind of

professional approach to this

kind of hippie band that we had.

He was always like up to

something. I remember, one day,

he came in, and he was wearing

like pancake makeup,

and I couldn't figure out why,

because we were rehearsing

in a church or something.

It was very weird.

But, but he had this thing.

He had to give this kind

of theatrical thing.

He was always

kind of performing.

Frank was always kind of on.

We had on big gig

at the Electric Factory,

which was the hot rock club

in Philadelphia in the '60s.

That was kind of our swan song.

I think that was

the big gig, and after that,

it was done.

And that's when Daryl

and I put our thing together.

I stayed with

my brother in New York.

We had like a shit hole.

He crawled through the window.

He goes,

"You mind if I live here?"

It was $72 a month,

and the room next

to me was kind of abandoned.

And it was right next to my

brother's, right, the door--

the wall was here,

he was there, I was here.

They were crap holes.

I said, "Well, why don't we just

take a shovel on the thing?"

And we tore a hole in the wall.

He had a hole,

that he would come through

this condemned apartment

that he didn't belong in,

and he'd sleep in my thing,

and go back and forth.

And I just would bullshit

my way into stuff,

but I was really innocent.

I mean, I didn't do drugs.

I was like a virgin.

I didn't know anything.

I think I got laid once

in like five years, whatever.

I was just focused

into what I was doing,

and girls didn't want to go

after me. I had no money.

There's a place on 85th Street

called Kenny's Castaways.

I walk in, and there's

this guy on stage with a hat.

It's the E Street Band.

It's Bruce Springsteen

doing... ♪ Rosalita ♪

...and now I have to go on.

It's like, you know,

if you had a puppet act

following The Beatles.

And on those white like kind

of things with magic marker,

it says, "Tonight Bruce

Springstine and Valentine."

God, if I had a picture of that!

So that's when

I went to Florida.

I went to a place,

it was called the Feed Bag.

That was the time

when someone gave me PCP,

and all of a sudden,

it just hit me.

I said, "Hey,

how you doing, folks?"

I'm going like this,

but now the neck is growing,

so the neck looks like it's

20 feet long, so I'm going.

And what happened, I just

untuned the guitar so badly,

but I couldn't reach the neck,

and it took so long.

That was the show.

I never got a chance to sing.

They said, "Thank you,

Valentine, man.

We appreciate it, brother.

Right on."

I said...

"But I can't tune it."

They said, "Another day."

The last thing I wanted to do,

was do anything

that was mind expanding.

You know,

my mind was expanded enough.

So I played in Florida

for a while, and then I said,

"Okay, I'm coming

back to New York.

I'm coming back strong

with a vengeance."

And the most incredible

thing I ever did.

I used someone else's voice

to get a record deal.

There was a song

that my bass player, Jody,

sang on, and I go,

"God, this is really good."

I went around to people, I said,

"Yeah, man, what do you think?"

And they go,

"Wow, that's a great record.

We should rerecord that."

But it's Jody singing,

but I'm telling them it's me.

Of course, that went nowhere.

Jody goes, "Yeah,

I'm in New York.

Come over, man. We're over

at these girls' house."

I said, "Why don't we just

put a group together?

Yeah, forget this shit

with these girls."

So we're like drunk.

The girls go, "Hey, we're going

to go out and get some food,

and we'll be back later."

We ran out of the place,

jumped into a cab. I said

"We're going to Trenton,"

and I called my friend,

Bob Tangrea,

because he was a great singer

and guitar player.

I said, "I put a group

together called Valentine,

and we'll get the three

best lead singers I know.

We'll put together this group."

So it will be Jody,

Bobby, and myself, overnight.

These girls are probably

still sitting there

with the groceries.

We formed Valentine,

and we actually had a manager,

who was Robin Garb

and Bill Ring.

They were our managers.

They had a company

called Ascension Artists,

and, uh, they signed us

to a deal,

and we started working at,

you know, local clubs.

We played Kenny's Castaways,

and my brother was there,

which was like 2.50 to get in.

"We'll just carry

some equipment."

I said, "Yeah, they're

with us, the roadies."

It was 2.50. You know,

it shows how good he was doing.

Now we're in New Jersey.

We played at this club

a 130 nights,

and every Wednesday, this place

was packed into the street.

I went to see those guys a lot.

I went to see him

in Philadelphia.

I went to see him in a place

called Charlie's Uncle

in Brunswick. And...

saw him a couple of places

in New York, I believe, too,

and, uh...

You know, it was always a lot

of fun, always very exciting.

I got called

in one night as a sub.

They were nice enough to give

this young 18yearold kid

a chance to come up and play,

and they would call me up

and play with them

once in a while,

and it was a big deal for me.

I did, I got up and played

a couple sets,

you know? We had a good time.

My manager says,

"We finally got you

a record deal on PolyGram,

and we're going to be going

out to California to record."

Everyone in town is so excited,

Valentine got signed.

I get a phone call,

"Ah, deal fell through."

I go, "Excuse me?"

He goes, "There's no deal.

We're not going to California."

I go, "Wait a second,

last night we had

hundreds of people,

a bon voyage party with a keg.

We canceled all our gigs.

And you're telling me,

as I'm opening the door

to go to the airport,

the gig's off?"

That would have made

most people just say,

"You know what?

I can't do this anymore."

But we didn't, we just

got stronger and stronger.

Then I get a call

in 1975 from my brother.

My brother had moved

to California.

He is starting a little

movie called, Rocky,

and says...

"I need a song."

Why he called me?

Because there was no budget.

I remember just sitting there

going... ♪ Take you back ♪

on my guitar,

just figuring something out.

And eventually,

I wrote the song.

So I tell my group, I said,

"Listen, my brother's

doing this movie about boxing."

So they said, "I don't know

if we want to play.

We're making

140 bucks that night."

That's between five people.

Five people at a 140 bucks,

and the manager takes 20%,

so take $28 off that.

So it's $112 divided by five.

So it was a big night.

It was like a bowling alley

that had a stage.

There was supposed to be hot

chicks there. We get a call,

and Sly goes, "Well, yeah,

we can pay you a 140."

I said, "Well,

we're getting 140."

I mean... he goes,

"No, each."

We go, "Excuse me?"

That's like a month's

wages for us.

It was very cool.

We all went down together

in our van, got a little ripped,

and we stood around

those trash cans

singing "Take You Back."

♪ Take you back ♪

♪ Do do do do

Take you back ♪

They showed me at the hotel,

some trailers,

of what they'd shot.

Really low budget.

It was a cheap hotel.

And I remember

John Avildsen, the director,

was there,

and my brother,

and a few other people,

And they're looking

at daily's. I said,

"Man, this is really cool."

There was feeling

I had about it.

Even when they were shooting it

on the street,

there was a feeling

I had about it.

You know, it's a gut feeling.

I can't explain it,

because I hadn't seen the movie.

But just the idea,

it was just kind of cool.

The-- Just vibe that was

going on was really cool.

When Rocky was being shot,

I was, more or less,

around the project,

and could see

some of the assemblages.

You know,

they put stuff together.

And, uh, not the timing,

just assembled.

And then I saw "Take You Back,"

which was like,

"How did this get here?

What is this?

Man, that's really good.

I like that."

"Oh, yeah, yeah,

Sly's brother did that."

I go, "Really?

I didn't know that."

And that was my introduction

to Frank as a singer.

Frank came along with

all the talent that Sly had.

He knew those streets,

and he did sing around barrels,

and he did do acapella,

so he was extremely

original and authentic

for that part.

And the attitude

that you saw between us, like,

"Hey, the bum from the dock.

Get a job, you bum."

That's the way we are.

We was just, you know,

always ripping on one another.

Hey.

- Hey,

the bum from the dock.

Get a job, you bum.

There was a premiere

in New York City

at the theater where Sly

was the head usher for years.

And I have a photo.

We're standing there in really

cheesy polyester suits.

I mean, we didn't have

any money, but that photo

is the last photo

of him being unknown.

From that day on ,it was crazy.

That was the last vestiges

of privacy ever, which is fine.

I'm fine with it...

but to obscure is one thing,

but it's nice to be

remembered for something.

But, my brother, we were, you

know, together at that moment.

So that was, that's pretty,

uh, pretty seismic.

All of a sudden, overnight,

everything is Rocky.

This movie is getting heat.

When that whole effect happened,

and all of a sudden,

we were the band singing

that song on the street corner,

our management was able to go

into RCA Records and say,

"Don't you want them

to have an album deal?

Because they're in what's

looking to be like

probably the best movie

of the year."

So we got an album deal.

The person who produced

the album was Tony Camilio.

He came up

with an arrangement to do

an orchestrated version

of "Take You Back."

That's what

we released as a single.

And as soon as

we released the album,

the whole regime of RCA was...

was cut.

So the people

who were A&R people,

who would be doing promotion,

weren't there anymore.

So we were kind

of like thrown under the rug.

After Rocky was out,

it kind of gave us

a little impetus to get moving,

since we didn't

have RCA behind us.

So our management

got us spots on,

The Mike Douglas Show,

The Jim Nabors Show,

but we also did

Midnight Special,

which was a big rock

and roll show back then.

Dinah! was the very first one.

Sly introduced us

as his favorite band.

I wonder if that's

still the case?

Here they are, and making their,

I guess,

television debut,

my favorite group, Valentine.

♪ Take you back ♪

♪ Do do do do ♪

♪ Take you back, yeah, yeah ♪

Right after we'd play,

I'd go over to the couch,

and everything went to,

"Hey, Frank,

the group sounds great.

So what's it

like being Rocky's brother?

So what's it like...

being in the shadow?"

So all this started,

and I'd never had that before.

They thought I was a nice,

cute kid or something,

but really,

they couldn't get him,

so they'd get me,

ask me about him.

I was always thought

of as Frank Stallone, musician.

It was always Frank Stallone,

clap, musician.

So now it was Frank Stallone/

Rocky's brother/something else

then musician.

He's gone through hell.

I mean, they would put signs up,

"Appearing tonight,

Rocky's brother."

I recognized immediately,

that's real awkward for Frank.

Especially

as I've heard him say,

"To be the brother

of a fictional character."

"Rocky's brother,"

oh, man, come on.

It's so degrading.

And not about the movie,

I love the movie.

It's just that,

it's like I felt like

a complete and absolute failure.

I would be bitter,

but he is bitter,

and I like that about him.

He's very consistent.

I was never mad at my brother.

I always loved what he did.

I was kind of mad that

I was being discounted,

and treated in a way

that like I just picked up

the guitar when Rocky

came out, not knowing

the years of driving

through blizzards

to go to gigs for no money,

and just learning the trade.

We knew where the cards

were starting to go

once we started

to show up at gigs.

And to highlight the connection,

a club owner would say,

"Frank Stallone with Valentine."

The guys in the band

weren't happy about it.

It was source of some

frustration and friction.

We went with it, and

Frank became more featured,

doing more lead vocals.

The rest of the guys

didn't get as much

time featured, with--

you know, in the band.

It was too tempting,

and too much of...

of a thing to turn down,

the notoriety, the success,

but it created

a problem within the band,

and the band didn't blame

Frank for that.

Nobody was resentful at Frank,

because they recognized

that Frank was

in a bad situation that way.

I think it went

to Frank's head a little bit.

I don't know if he was, uh,

he was a little hard to work

with, let's put it that way.

It was a very dismal time.

Very dismal because

this was kind of our shot.

We'd lost our record deal.

Nobody really wanted us.

That was a tough

pill to swallow.

And then it just kind of...

...it kind of deflated.

Frank can be moody.

We would come to a gig,

and it was like,

"Hey, Frank, how you doing?"

He was like,

he wouldn't even say anything.

Yeah, we had some tense moments.

It got a little out of hand,

and I think

maybe the competition

with his brother

maybe brought out

some bad things.

Uh, and it just-- I just

didn't want to take it

anymore,

and I was a little fed up.

I regret breaking up Valentine,

because I think

we could've gotten past it.

We were really a good band.

We were really tight,

and we were friends.

I just couldn't take

the moodiness anymore.

And they tried to get me

back to reform the band,

and I just said no, so.

But I do regret it.

It would be a nice thing

to be able to put

a Valentine reunion together,

if we could make it happen.

Somehow bring Jody back,

that would be the best.

Jody, our bass player, um,

unfortunately,

just recently passed.

Amazing guy,

amazing bass player.

Uh, him and I were very,

very tight.

We played a lot

of gigs together.

He had a service

in Pennsylvania.

Frank had another commitment.

And I thought that

that would be the moment

where we would reconnect.

I know that there was an issue

that surfaced with Robin.

Would it be nice

for the three of us

to be able

to get together again?

Absolutely,

and I would hope we could bury

whatever hatchet, uh,

Frank feels needs to be buried.

We parted company.

It wasn't on the best of terms.

But, um, I love the guy.

I really miss him,

and I miss his humor.

I miss just being

with him as a friend.

Oh, man.

I haven't seen these guitars...

in almost 40 years.

This is just kind of weird.

I don't know

how I'm going to feel.

But I know, like when Jody died,

I didn't want to see

these guitars that,

from the guy that stood

on my left side for almost,

off and on, 20some years,

go to some like wedding band,

you know?

Oh, my God.

Wow.

Look at this.

Look at this, man.

Look at this case.

All the names on it.

All our friends.

Oh, God, look at this.

That's a 1963

Höfner Beatle Bass.

Wow! Look at this.

Man, this is the bass he used

when we did our

first album for RCA.

This reminds me of, you know,

my youth.

Oh, my God.

Hey, Bill. How you doing, man?

Oh, my God, look at this guy.

Are you crazy?

- Hey, Robin.

How are you, man?

How you doing, man?

I know the last time I saw you

these weren't in CD,

so there you go, and this.

Oh, man.

- Oh, my God.

Geez.

This has been a long time, man.

This was the team,

this is...

...this is the team here,

and we're going to have

a lot of fun, man, tonight.

This bass guitar belonged to

one of my best friends.

He just died.

I wanted to honor

with him tonight,

Hussein, playing Jody's bass.

"I'll Take You Back."

♪ Take you back ♪

♪ Do do do do ♪

♪ Take you back ♪

One, two, three.

- ♪ Take you back ♪

♪ Do do do do ♪

♪ Take you back ♪

♪ Well I've been told by... ♪

I think after I did Rocky,

I might have had

maybe had $1,000 saved,

and I was back to square one

with nothing, no money.

So I ended up playing

at these little clubs

by myself

with an acoustic guitar.

I mean, motor inns.

And the worst thing

is the signs.

Like in chalk, "Frank Stallone,

Rocky's brother,

Straight from Rocky."

And I made $30 a night.

It wasn't so much being

the folk singer,

it was the thing like,

"Rocky's brother,

well, what is he doing

playing here?

Shouldn't he be in California,

and shouldn't he be driving

a new car, or a Vette,

or something cool?"

No.

And in between that, I came out,

and I sang in Paradise Alley,

but also, I did Rocky II.

Frank was working with his trio,

and it was rather beautiful.

Sort of like a,

a chorus of musicians

that sort of sang

the love song of Adrian

and Rocky along the way,

and it...

...it gave the piece a kind

of tone, a fairytale tone.

And I would look over at Frank,

and he was...

First of all, he's very

handsome, and very gifted.

And I would look over at him,

and it was

always a pure moment with Frank,

because Frank

clearly was a real musician.

♪ There are two kinds of love ♪

♪ That you oughta know ♪

♪ There are two kinds of love ♪

He flipped a quarter.

He made that little song

very warm, very great.

It was wonderful.

He contributes a lot, you know?

He's... he's good

to have around.

Frank,

unbeknownst to a lot of people,

has a huge boxing background.

Frank just took to it,

and developed as a fighter.

He had a good corner,

had a terrific left hook.

He was very faithful

to his training.

No smoking or drinking.

And had several great

amateur fights

against some very,

very tough competition.

When he was fighting also,

he didn't have to wear headgear.

And you know what?

There is no difference between

professional and amateur,

only that professionals

get paid.

you still get punched

in the face a dozen times.

You're still taking the abuse.

He was a contender.

He's got the fighters eye,

and you only get

that if you were a fighter,

if you've been

in that ring more than once,

and he was in there

quite a few times.

Frank is an extremely cerebral

and intelligent man.

I don't think there's

any question you can throw

at Frank Stallone about boxing

that he can't answer.

He's a plethora of knowledge.

And what I love

about being around Frank is,

aside from the fact,

and I love you Frank,

but he will never stop talking,

but everything he talks about

make sense.

He's full of information.

He,

he's got a lot

of stories to tell,

and he's fun to listen to.

He has the best memory.

Um, sometimes Sly and Frank

get into battles,

but I always believed Frank,

because he always comes up

with the story that's correct,

and I'm going with Frank.

Frank, as a boxing historian,

this man knows

more than anybody,

plus he's got total recall.

I've got dementia,

so I can't remember my losses,

only my wins.

Frank had that knowledge

that savant every detail.

One argument ended, "Well,

this guy did this and this,"

and then Frank goes, "Well,

I have all his press clippings.

I have his trunks, his robe,

and his gun."

Frank's a very tough individual.

I mean, he's a warrior

in his own right.

Even if it gets down

to the fight he had

with Geraldo Rivera

on Howard Stern

years ago, that my brother,

the legendary Michael Buffer,

announced,

they went in there,

and they slugged it out

for those three

two minute rounds.

Back in 1992, I owned

a boxing gym on 57th Street

right here in Manhattan

just behind me.

It was called

the Broadcast Boxing Gym.

And so I was talking about it

on The Howard Stern Show,

and he said, "I'm going

to promote a fight.

You're going to be

in this fight."

So it turned out that

he had Frank Stallone lined up.

I mean, Frank Stallone,

he's a younger,

far better fighter than me,

all right?

Frank was semipro.

I was just a flailer

in my own gym.

In the first round, he hit me

with some of those shots.

They felt like he was hitting me

with a baseball bat.

I remember a couple of times,

that I really was knocked out

on my feet.

- When you see

the boxing match,

it's actually

a really good boxing match.

These guys were

really going at it.

There's no losing.

You can't lose,

because, you know, it's the

name. It's the Stallone name,

so he better be good in boxing.

But he beat Geraldo,

and to do that under pressure

for a charity event

shows you what kind

of guy he is.

Frank Stallone, a real man,

a real man, a real fighter,

and a, and a great guy.

I was getting really depressed,

and I had to get

some psychotherapy,

and my brother paid for it.

He says, you know, he says,

"He's my only brother.

He's just going through

something." He knew

I suffered from panic attacks,

and he took care of it for me,

and it helped.

And then he said,

"Just come to California."

I said, "Really?" He goes,

"Yeah, just come to California."

I said, "Just like that?"

He goes, "Yeah."

My hero was Harry Nilsson,

the singer.

Aerial Ballet, Pandemonium

Shadow Show, loved him.

And Sly, when I moved

to Bel Air, he goes, "Hey,

you know who lives next door?"

I said, "Who's that?"

He goes, "Harry Nilsson."

I go, "What?"

He ended up producing me, and he

never produced anybody before,

just me. So we're in the studio,

and this is the who's

who of recording is in there.

It's Harry Nilsson, producer,

and Van Dyke Parks,

Klaus Voormann,

he played with The Beatles,

Freddy Tackett, all the best

musicians were there,

and all of a sudden, the

talkback goes, "John's dead."

I said, "John who?"

"Lennon."

Former Beatle, John Lennon,

is dead.

Lennon died in a hospital

shortly after being shot

outside his New York

apartment tonight.

Harry Nilsson was

John's best friend,

and they had had a falling out.

Harry was just going to New York

in about a week and a half

to kind of reconcile

their friendship,

so this was really bad.

I'm trying to do a record,

you know?

And people were like... "Cry it out, man,"

like blow coming out

of their nose,

and I didn't do that stuff,

so I'm sitting

there like-- I'm there,

"Oh, my God,

the Scotti Brothers

are going to kill me,"

you know, because I'm supposed

to finish this record.

The next day, we get

called into Scotti Brothers.

We play what we have, and it

was dead silence, like this.

Are you kidding me?

It was unlistenable.

And Harry's sitting there

sweating with sunglasses on,

like recovering

from the night before.

To be with Harry Nilsson

when John Lennon was killed

was really heavy.

We were good friends, and, uh,

when he passed,

it was very, uh, very sad.

He abused himself,

but he was a wonderful guy.

Just a great artist.

Taxi!

I don't find out from my

brother, but I find out

that he's directing the sequel

to Saturday Night Fever.

And I went, "Whoa."

I mean, you have to understand,

Saturday Night Fever was

the biggest musical in history,

as far as album sales, huge.

And a great movie, fantastic.

There's no way I got a shot

in this, not even close.

So I drive to Paramount,

and I think they didn't

let me on the lot, or something.

My car was shitty.

I don't know what it was.

So I said, you know, "I'm Frank

Stallone, Sly's brother."

"Yeah, so what?"

I think I might've gone

to a phone booth or called,

and they let me in.

So anyway, I go in there,

and I said, "Sly, man,

do you think there's

like a remote chance

I could get like a song

in the movie?"

"Yeah,

I don't think so." I said,

"Okay, that's

all I want to know."

I said,

"But just like an instrumental."

I'm figuring if I just get like

a 15 second thing of,

you know...

like John

going to the bathroom,

and taking a whiz or something.

You know, at least

I can get some royalties,

and I'll make some money.

My brother

plays me the Bee Gees'

new songs,

but it's just kind

of the acoustic guitar,

real barebones, and I'm there,

"Oh, man, I'm screwed,"

because they're great. I mean,

the Bee Gees are fantastic.

So he patronizes me,

and he says, "Ew,

just write some stuff.

Why don't you and the guys

write some stuff?" I said, "All

right, we'll write some stuff."

And every few weeks,

I would pull up to the studio

with a cassette. All my songs

are getting turned down,

but I'm working, man.

I have, uh, I have

a train of consciousness,

and I'm working my ass off.

I get a call.

"Hey, Brother, it's Sly."

I said, "Okay,

I know he wants something."

He goes, "Yeah, remember

those songs you wrote?"

I go, "Yeah, of course I do.

You mean the ones

you turned down?"

Of course I remember them.

No, I forgot about them.

I just part my heart and soul

into like 12, 13 songs.

He goes, "Yeah,

we've got a problem.

The Bee Gees

walked off the movie."

Something went down,

and they kind of walked off.

Only part of the soundtrack

for Staying Alive

was created by the Bee Gees,

but originally,

the brothers Gibb

didn't even want to be

involved in the sequel.

We thought that it's been done,

and let's leave,

let's leave our music out of it

this time, and you get

somebody else to do it.

But after some

heavy contract negotiations,

the Bee Gees agreed to create

part of the music for the movie.

At that time,

they were musical gods,

but they were coming up with,

with okay songs,

but they had done such

an amazing job on the first one

that the songs were

not even as magnificent,

or as accomplished,

as they were in the first album.

So he goes, "Listen,

bring those cassettes,

you know, with the songs."

So we go,

and John's renting

a house out here,

and, uh, we're having lunch,

and they're talking,

and, you know,

it's like Sly's talking to John.

They're talking business

at the table having lunch.

And I'm kind of...

...laughing to myself,

because it's so ridiculous.

It's like Barbarino

from Welcome Back, Kotter

meets Rocky.

"I swear to God, they're proud.

The Bee Gees... "

"Absolutely, we've got

a big problem. The Bee Gees..."

"Yeah, I just really, yeah."

And John's got these big teeth,

you know?

And he's like, it's the smile.

Just like Barbarino.

He puts the tape on.

So John goes...

"Well, who is that?"

And Sly goes, "It's Frank."

And John, John goes like,

"Frank?"

He couldn't even

imagine that came out of me,

like I was Fredo

in Godfather II,

"Hey, Mike, I'm your older

brother. I can do things!"

He ended up writing

the majority of the songs,

and, you know, I caught hell

for it, but I said,

"Hey, it sounds

good to me, guys."

The opening to the movie,

they put "Far From Over."

♪ This is the end ♪

♪ You made your choice

and now my chance is over ♪

Ever week or something, they

start adding another song in.

So by the end, there's like

nine songs in the movie,

but there's some jealousy

going on, you know, on the set,

because they think I'm getting,

you know, favored attention.

How come he's staring

at you like that?

Maybe, in a way, but I worked

my ass off on this.

No one wrote these songs for me.

I wrote them.

Nobody sat in the studio

with no air conditioning

sweating until the wee hours

of the night

to try to get everything right

with these great musicians

I was working with, and I was

never so busy in my life.

I never felt...

so good about it,

because I've spent so many years

feeling so bad about myself,

I never felt

so good about myself.

It was something I was

born to do, you know,

and I was able,

for once in my life,

to be able to show people

what I could do,

because before, it was always,

you know, a struggle,

and then when Rocky came out,

it was Rocky's brother.

So no one ever took me

like kind of serious. I did.

♪ Waking up, you're still

sleeping by my side ♪

That was the greatest time,

watching my music,

watching

like these choreographers

choreographing dance

to my music.

So it was pretty awesome

to be writing the songs,

and having like 150 dancing

hot chicks at the set.

That was like putting the fox

in the henhouse on that one.

They were paying me $3,500,

$4,000 for a song.

I'd never seen this kind

of money, never.

Little did I know,

they were also keeping

my publishing,

which would've made me

a multimillionaire.

But I'm not kicking.

It was great.

If it really wasn't

for John and Sly,

I wouldn't have gotten

the songs in.

♪ This is the end ♪

♪ You made your choice

and now my chance is over ♪

♪ I thought I was in ♪

♪ You put me... ♪

- I had

a date one night,

and what comes on the radio?

"Far From Over."

The first I ever heard it,

sitting with this gal,

who was a big shot in the music

business, and she says,

"So are you ready?" I go,

"What do you mean?"

"That's a hit record.

Are you ready?"

I said, "I guess."

And I'll never forget

at the premiere,

I was like this big shot, man.

I mean, you look at the end,

it's Frank Stallone,

Frank Stallone, Frank Stallone,

Frank Stallone.

Rocky was great because

the whole thing was great,

and I was so happy for my

brother, but this was for me.

This is something that I did.

This is

the chance of a lifetime.

I was nominated

for a Grammy and Golden Globe

for best soundtrack

and for best song.

I lost. I said, "Okay, fine,

at least I'm nominated.

I feel great."

Are you kidding?

Coming from playing

like at the Beef & Ale

to being nominated

for a Grammy and Golden Globe.

I actually

opened the Golden Globes.

I performed.

I was the first act.

And I get a call

from my brother.

That was the day

they were announcing

the Academy Award nominations,

and now we break out

the champagne,

the nominations are coming in,

and then he said, "Frank,

it's your brother." I go,

"Oh, Christ, who, who died?"

"Uh, you didn't get

your nomination."

I go, "What?

I didn't get my nomination?

Are you kidding me?

This is insane!"

And now I'm pissed, because

now I know that's bullshit,

and that's unfair, because

it was a number one record.

I'm above Thriller.

I'm above Billy Joel's album.

I'm above Synchronicity.

Not for a long time,

but at one point, I was there.

Here's my first break,

and I got screwed,

and then I realized

at that point,

that's insider

Hollywood bullshit.

I wasn't expecting to win,

but I would've loved

to have had that nomination.

You have to be thick skinned.

You have to have determination.

You have to be

able to swallow it.

You know, not that you have

to take shit and eat shit,

but you have to,

you have to be able to say,

"You know what?

Okay, fuck them."

So that Academy Award

thing really

ripped the heart out of me,

and I suffered

with it for a while,

but you gather yourself,

and I gathered myself. I said,

"I'll be back. I'm not dead."

I still-- You know, as long

as I can still play guitar

and write a song, I'm in,

I'm in the game.

♪ Save me darling ♪

♪ I am down

but I am far from over ♪

♪ Give me something ♪

♪ I need it all

because I am... ♪

What's happening

in your life now?

Well, it's good.

Well, the record is doing well.

I have a great band,

and we're writing,

and I'll be starting

a solo album in about...

November or October.

I had a big year,

this should be no problem

getting an album due.

My manager,

he was saying too, you know,

"Yeah, we needed a solo album.

Let's follow up with that."

He just comes back

with one deal.

I said, "That's it?"

In those days, everything

was a three album deal.

I don't know, shit.

I said, "Well, whatever."

Back then, this is the '80s,

a different time.

This is when albums sold.

This better have

a couple singles on it

to go to radio, and get

in the top 20, or you're done.

That put a lot of pressure,

I would think,

on that one album. This thing

has got to be a smash.

It was because

of Russ Regan we got on.

Russ Regan's like a legend

in this business.

You know,

he's one of the great A&R guys.

I had first met Frank in 1983

when I was working

for PolyGram Records.

He had a few demos he had made,

and I listened to them,

and I said,

"You're pretty good, kid."

He said,

"You've made superstars."

He said,

"Why don't you make me a star?"

So I signed him

to PolyGram Records.

You know, I signed Neil Diamond.

He's a great writer.

I signed Elton John.

He's a great writer.

Barry White, a great writer.

Alan Parsons is a great writer.

Brian Wilson, great writer.

That's one of the things,

by the way,

that I liked about Frank,

that he was a writer.

That influenced me a lot

on his signing

to the PolyGram Records.

He did a great job.

He was always wonderful

to work with.

Had a great personality.

A very charismatic

character, and hard not to like.

You know, I'm a young guy.

You know, I'm on every TV show.

We've got more of music's

best coming your way,

including Frank Stallone.

♪ Oh, darling ♪

♪ I wish you were lying ♪

♪ When you said that

you're leaving me, darling ♪

We did David Letterman,

which I didn't get to sing on,

which was weird.

Oh, sorry. Just leave

that alone. You all right?

- I'm fine.

Good to see you.

Thanks for being here.

Congratulations on the success

of the album. And the picture.

- On the picture. Yeah.

That's a good looking picture.

- Thanks.

I was on a date

with some girl I'd met,

and there's a giant picture

of my album cover,

like ten feet by ten feet

on Tower Records on Sunset.

Okay, the kids in.

The album didn't do well.

Things just didn't work,

you know?

I mean, the album died.

You know, I've waited

almost 20something years

to have my first solo album.

It's like, "Wow, I-- please

don't make me a onehit wonder."

Oh, God, you know?

I mean, I know it's easier

than having a full career

being a onehit wonder, but I

wanted to have a full career.

It takes a team to make a star.

A star just doesn't

happen by accident.

He never had the team

he should've had,

even when he signed to me.

I just don't know

if my management team

was that involved,

or had the capability

to move me.

"Far From Over"

should've been played up

much bigger than it was.

You know,

you get a Grammy nomination,

that's, that's incredible.

They just never did

the PR on Frank Stallone

that he deserved

and should've had.

I'm thinking, "Okay,

I'm going to be making records.

I'm going to be writing

with the greatest song writers.

I'm going to be doing what I was

born to do." It did not turn out

that way. Everything was going

good, and then, all of a sudden,

whoo, I said,

"Oh, no, not again.

No, no, not again."

Then like I had

come up a little bit,

a little good news,

and then kind of even off,

and then, wham! Goes down.

And stays down there

for a long time.

After having a hit,

he'd think, you know,

"I'll have a few more,"

and it just didn't go

that way for him.

If you're doing it expecting

you're going to have

a worldwide smash hit, or, uh,

or you--

or that you're even going

to make any money in music,

you're doing it

for the wrong reason.

Frank, I'm sure, knew what

he was getting himself into.

He just loved to play.

You've have to learn your craft,

and the only way you learn

your craft

is by making mistakes,

and you correct those mistakes.

And I had learned it,

but again, I, I guess

I didn't learn it enough.

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Peace in our life ♪

♪ Remember the call, oh ♪

'80s and '90s

was a tough time for me.

Thank God for my song writing.

I was making

residuals, you know?

I wrote the theme to Rambo II.

♪ We'll never fall ♪

I figured I'd get healthy,

so I went to a detox place,

not because I drank or did

drugs, just to clear myself out.

And at lunch time,

I walked past this place,

and I had my lunch with me,

and I saw a gun store.

So I went downstairs

to take a look,

and the gun store owner

looked a little dodgy.

He kept pulling

guns out of the case,

showing people

without breaking the gun.

He pulls out the gun

to show somebody,

pulls the trigger, boom!

Right on my fingers, and

the blood came up on my face,

and I looked down.

I was almost numb.

This guy had the nerve

to look at me and say,

"What happened?" I said, "Well,

I think you shot me."

I'm a musician.

A guitar player

needs ten fingers.

My fingers looked like a handful

of exploded stogies.

It was horrible. I mean,

I could've been killed. I mean,

if my hand wasn't there,

it could've gone

into my abdomen,

could've shot me

in the heart.

I mean, it was really--

literally

two and a half feet away

with a .357 Magnum Colt Python.

I've lost my record deal.

I'm living in like

a crappy apartment.

I'm going from this high level,

from Staying Alive

to this, and then I get shot.

You have to have thick skin

and be bulletproof

to be in the body

of Frank Stallone. Trust me.

So then little gigs started

dripping and drabbing,

but I had started doing movies.

I had jabbed inside the socket.

- Good luck.

When I came

to California,

I started working on Rocky III.

My acting job consisted

of being a stand in

for my brother,

and then I did everything.

I sang in the movie.

I'm on screen singing "Pushing,"

and then I'm on the scene

where my brother knocks me

out in the ring.

And then I'm in another scene

where Mr. T knocks me out.

So like I'm basically

a utility heavy bag that sings.

Of course, there's a little

bit of an acting thing

in Staying Alive.

It was Carl, like,

"What are you Allstate, pal?"

Is everything all right?

Everything is fine.

She's in good hands.

Hey, what are you Allstate, pal?

Yeah, you want disability?

Look, I'll see you

Wednesday, okay?

All right, good night.

Good night.

Good night.

After Staying Alive,

then my manager, Robin, said,

"Well, you should get into

acting," but I was going

to acting class. I wasn't bad.

So the first movie I got

was called The Pink Chiquitas.

All right, everybody down!

Let's go!

So I'm in the movie,

and all these

really thespian theatertype

actors are there

and I'm just like this hack.

I, Tony Mareda, have to roll.

So I did some good movies,

but a lot of it was garbage,

and it was all

like gratuitous sex,

which I had never really

got into the sex thing.

"Yo, would you like

to have sex with her?"

I'd rather shoot her.

I did movies like

Terror In Beverly Hills,

and some of these have become

like cultiweird movies.

I know nothing

about martial arts.

So these guys are flying

in the air, kicking,

and then I stand and go...

like I did it.

You're doing good, Billy.

You keep it up,

you're going to be able

to whip my butt.

I said,

"I can't be an action star,

look who my brother is."

I mean, I'd be like

a really bad version

of an action star.

I was being hired because

they couldn't afford my brother.

I was under no allusions

my acting career was like...

"We can't get Rocky,

let's get his brother

for 20,000,

instead of 20 million."

Like I did

a movie with Chris Mitchum.

So Stallone, Mitchum, in almost

microscopic, Frank, Chris.

So I was definitely

no threat to Sylvester,

as far as my movie career going.

I mean,

I don't think I'm a bad actor.

I think I could've developed

into a better actor.

Aye, aye, Skipper.

He's absolutely a natural,

and never selfconscious

of any kind of

comparison, considering the

giant shadow his brother casts.

And he always delivers.

He's always very,

very believable.

You know, we have a deal.

I said, "Look, pal,

I won't sing," which...

...has been well documented,

"And he shouldn't act,"

but actually,

he's a much better actor

than I am a singer. He can act.

When he does it, he's good.

Like in Barfly,

he was fantastic.

Hey, you!

You with the filthy apron!

Be back in seconds.

I hear a voice down there,

but I sure as hell

don't see much.

Seems like that beating

I gave you last night

must've rattled your belt, huh?

I felt Barfly was going to be

my shot to prove that

I could get deep into stuff

because I had a lot

of emotions going on

and stuff like that.

You'd think that son

of a bitch would learn

by now to stop trying me.

Whoa,

you are a genuine man.

See this balance, the, you know,

the... tolerance,

the intolerance

of this character, and,

and, you know,

the humor was perfectly placed,

pitched in that, in that role.

It was awesome.

Your credit's no good here.

You have to have the green.

Mickey's not an easy character.

A brilliant actor.

Faye's not an easy

character to work with,

but a brilliant actress.

So Frank had to hold his own...

- This can't be true.

...and he had to show his

strength at the same time,

and not be pushed around,

because either one

of those actors

could just move him

around whenever they want.

I asked, who's going to pay

for the goddamn drink?

Acting is all about moments.

And he had those moments,

and I think that's

what made a great performance.

Not acting, but knowing

when to really put on the moment

in front of a Mickey,

or in front of a Faye,

or in front of the director.

The movie didn't do well,

but it got good reviews,

in Europe especially,

so now it's like a cult classic,

and you'd think I'd be

working all the time,

because I get all

these young directors

coming to me, "Hey, man,

loved you in Barfly."

I thought something good was

going to come from it,

and it did.

There's a safe

on the seventh floor,

you take their thingy,

and you put it in this thingy.

- Directions even

your brother could understand.

Yeah, directions even

I could understand.

- Shut up.

And then Hudson Hawk,

that was going to be

a big movie, man.

It was a disaster.

People would ask us,

what was-- is it about?

Is it a comedy? I said,

"Well, if it is

a comedy...

...I don't know that yet,

but we'll find out soon."

Someone told me a lot of

horseshit. You want to open up

a hardware store, go straight,

and sell spatulas.

Have you lovely ladies

tried our house wine?

I think you'll enjoy.

I thought, of course,

that it was a kind of comedy

that I had never done before,

but I had the feeling

it was going to be

something special and new,

but as you probably know it,

it wasn't.

It was a bomb.

The critics hated it.

It cost about

60 million dollars.

You don't do

that auction house job,

I'm going to put you on trial,

and I promise you, my friend,

there'll be no bailiff,

you understand?

Why you son of a bitch!

Hey, Bailey, just settle down!

Shut up.

Take your money and get out,

because I'm tired

of listening to your mouth.

Why, Ed Bailey.

And then Tombstone,

to me, a great Western.

One of the great

modern Westerns, I think.

Guns don't scare me,

because without them guns,

you ain't nothing

but a skinny lunger.

People call and say,

"Hey, man, you're Ed Bailey."

No one comes up and says,

"Hey, man, loved you

in The Terror of Beverly

Hills." I don't get that.

"I loved you in Pink Chiquitas."

I don't get that.

I was supposed to do

a movie with my brother.

This agency, they came after,

and he said,

"Frank, I think we can do

really big things with you."

I signed with him Friday.

That Monday,

what comes across their desk?

It's my brother.

He's the star of the movie,

and there's a part

in the movie as his brother.

These guys, sitting here, they

go, "Come on, it's a slam dunk.

Frank just did Barfly,

Tombstone.

It's Sly's brother.

it's not a huge role,

but it's an important role,

it's great."

They call up the casting agent,

"We just signed Frank Stallone."

All of a sudden, there was

like silence on the other end,

and this is what he hears,

"Mmm, I don't see it."

I never heard

from the agency again.

So they figured,

if we can't deliver

Frank playing

Frank to his brother,

it's a lost cause.

"I can't see it."

♪ Those fingers in my hair ♪

"I can't seem to get

a record deal no matter what,

so I'm going to do

my own record.

I'm going to pay for it."

♪ Strips my conscience bare ♪

♪ It's witchcraft ♪

So I do the, you know,

big band album

because I figured no one else

is doing a big band album.

So who do I find?

One of the greatest conductors

ever, Sammy Nestico.

One of the greats, Count Basie.

He's up there

with Nelson Riddle

and Billy May. He's up there.

It's easy working with him,

because he's so open.

"What do you think

about this idea?"

"Oh, yeah, that sounds good,

Sammy.

Let's use that." What a joy.

I didn't get that

with every record,

but I got it with Frank.

Tony Bennett wrote

the liner notes for the album.

And Sammy Nestico,

who'd been nominated

for a Grammy so many times,

said to me,

it was one of the best albums

he ever did. So he goes

back to playing

with Tommy Dorsey,

that's how far back he goes.

So for him to say that,

it was pretty good.

Frank doesn't know this,

but when I was

working for Michael Bublé,

David Foster has a studio

in his first floor of his home,

so my wife

and I would go up there

and talk with Michael

and David Foster,

and my wife says,

"You know what I saw

on David Foster's desk?

I saw this."

So Frank, believe me,

they were listening to it.

Again, no management,

no support team, nothing.

So that's like

the story of my life.

So it just goes nowhere.

I never could figure that out,

what could've gone wrong.

I don't think the public

just took him serious.

Why? I don't know.

People are going to be

thinking of Sylvester Stallone,

I think that's the issue.

You just think of him

as soon as you see

Frank, and I think that's

what he is up against.

You know, it's not easy

having the name Stallone.

Because you live in a shadow,

and every time you get a great

job, you know, people say,

"You probably got that

because of your brother."

He didn't. He got this

because of his talent.

He would have all that

same talent and all that

if his name was Joe Schmo, but

it's not, it's Frank Stallone.

So I think from right

from the beginning...

it's almost

like being set up.

It's almost like you...

...you put yourself almost

in the middle of a target.

Like, "Okay, here I am.

Take your shot."

He knew that I was sensitive

being the sister of somebody

who is very well known.

We talked a lot about that,

about how one designs

a professional life

given your sibling.

Frank then had to make

some big decisions.

Should he change his name?

At one point, I know

he wasn't completely serious,

but I said, "Frank, why

don't you change your name?"

He says, "Oh, well, why doesn't

my brother change his name?"

People may think,

"Oh, yes, Frank Stallone.

Oh--" he's not a joke.

Finally, the votes are in,

and Entertainment Weekly

has chosen

its funniest man alive,

and who is

the funniest man alive?

You guessed it, Frank Stallone.

Maybe it was a little dark,

a little bit harder to be him

at that particular

place and time,

and he finally came to terms

with it, and he found himself.

And I think

when he found himself,

I think it all

just came together.

I'd doubt if they could

live without each other.

They have each other's back.

If either one were in trouble,

the other one would be

there in a minute.

If there was a plane,

and we were going down,

and there was one parachute,

guess who's not getting it?

No one owes me a living, nobody.

I chose this,

or it chose me when I was a kid,

and I've loved

every minute of it. Yeah,

do I get disgusted,

do I get pissed off?

Do I-- Yes, I do.

I think I'm better now

than I was then

all around with the music.

But guess what?

I cannot get a booking agent,

and you see our shows.

We sell out.

We get standing ovations.

It's just good music

and energy from him on stage,

and the way he talks

to the audience is also cool.

The crowd just loves him,

and his stories on stage,

and his ability to sing

all different genres

of different kinds of music.

Frank is a very

talented musician.

I go to a lot

of his performances.

He works very hard

on his singing.

He, uh, he has such

a huge variety of voice

and reach. He can do anything.

He can play the blues.

He can play rock.

He can play pop.

He can play R&B.

He did the big band thing.

He's running

the gammon in his career.

He's having a good time

for himself.

It's almost a variety show.

He's kind of all over the place,

but it seems to fit.

He knows

how to make it fit that set.

He's got Frank.

He's got Tony Bennett.

He's got, you know,

he's got Dean.

He's got it down,

and he's really good.

I'm from that era of, uh,

phrasing,

you know, the whole

discussion about phrasing,

and, uh, he really understands

the, the lyric when he sings it.

I'm a big fan.

He's got incredible pipes.

Sinatra

even sent him

a monologue after a gig.

I mean, that ain't nothing...

you know? Or--

Or the Chairman of the Board

gives you, uh, gives you a nod.

Anybody who ever sees

his name on a marquis,

whether it be a theater,

or whether it be--

whatever kind of venue,

and you see Frank Stallone,

go and see Frank.

You'll become such a fan.

He's wonderful.

He can play.

He can play electric too...

He spent some time actually

developing himself

as a guitar player.

A really good rhythm player.

And he'll

whip out a lead here and there.

Frank is actually a very good

and interesting guitar player.

I mean,

his chord playing

and his rhythm is terrific.

Um, he plays a lot

of different styles,

too many styles, in my opinion,

only because it's hard to

pigeonhole him into one thing.

He can do a variety of things,

which is good as an entertainer,

but not good

as a recording star.

I wanted to clarify that.

If you're going

to become a recording star,

stick to one genre of music.

♪ And I'm never

going to give you up ♪

♪ For someone else's love ♪

You try to be all

things to all people,

and you become

nothing to nobody.

We had gone through the country

playing outdoor festivals

and clubs.

The fans started to pile up,

and the gigs started to happen,

but they were kind of like,

"What is this?" You know?

And, you know,

it took a little time.

It was not easy.

And then we had the opportunity

to open for Don.

We opened for Don Rickles

maybe 20 times.

Did you pass away?

What, am I talking

to a wall here?

These are nice people.

Look at the front. I'm working

a state home for Christ's sake.

Look at it.

Don was a real gentleman.

A lot of fun.

Frank is very gracious,

and he went backstage with me

to thank Mr. Rickles

for the gig, and he said,

"Don, I just want to thank you."

In Rickles fashion, he says,

"Shut up, Frank,

you have the job."

♪ Before you carry on ♪

♪ Doo do doo do doo do dow ♪

He constantly amazes me,

because I don't think

he'll mind me saying,

he doesn't really

read a lick of music.

That's one big part

of what I do. It's almost--

There's a bit of interpretation

for him, if you like.

He-- but he's so--

He's very innately musical.

He's not going to weigh down

with the music theory

side of things.

So he does what he wants.

Any kind of rehearsal

or sound check,

you don't want to run into him.

He is grumpy.

Way back when,

he'd just kind of breeze in,

and everything

would be taken care of,

and now he's a schlep, and he's

got the guitar on the back.

So, yeah, he could be a little

less grumpy before the show.

But as soon as the lights

come on, the people are in,

it's business as usual.

Here we go.

All right.

- Now

the fella

you've been waiting for,

the star of our show,

Frank Stallone.

Hey!

He just knows

how to communicate with people.

He's not always PC. And, uh,

you know, that's part

of his charm, I suppose.

He'll speak his opinion,

whether he's in a room of people

who completely think

the opposite way.

He doesn't have any fear

when it comes to that.

He don't take

no bullshit from nobody,

and he'll tell you exactly

what's on his mind,

and that's what

I love about him.

On the positive side,

you have to admire someone

that stands by what they think.

Frank is a guy who's remained

true to his roots,

and you couldn't corrupt that

with all the money or fame,

fortune,

because that's part

of his metal.

It might bend here and there,

but it never changes.

He's a straight shooter.

Several years ago, I did

a charity event

called Songs of Love.

It was a charity

for terminally ill children,

and I booked a bunch of acts,

and Frank was

the first person I asked,

and he said yes immediately.

And I got choked up

introducing him,

because I said, "This guy

is such a great guy, a nice guy,

and the first guy

I asked to come onboard,

come here for free,

do this for the kids,

and Frank was there...

like that."

So that just shows

the type of person he is,

and I love him to death.

He may not admit this to you,

but he has a very gentle,

in a way,

very precious side to him,

and he's warm

and sometimes not warm.

He's dramatic, and sometimes

he's intentionally vulnerable,

and sometimes he's cynical.

He's a man of emotions.

That's what makes him

so great on stage.

But he's also

extremely eccentric.

I mean,

this guy's never been married.

He's consumed with his art,

and he's consumed

with information,

and he's consumed with, uh,

a curiosity.

The question that

a lot of people ask is,

"Why hasn't Frank

ever been married?"

An artist has to be

in the state of inspiration.

Frank stayed in a certain state.

I don't ever see him really

connecting in a part where

he'd be away from his music.

He can be away from acting,

perhaps.

He could be away from writing.

But his music,

that's the foundation

of everything.

He is forever a bachelor.

He does his thing,

if he's interested.

When he's not interested,

he does their inventory

like nothing I've ever

heard in my life,

and he gets all the nice girls,

all the beautiful,

beautiful girls.

And, you know, when he falls

in love, it's under the radar,

like you find out

in his really peculiar ways

that he's got like a girl,

and then it's over.

What will

Frank Stallone's legacy be?

It's have to be his music.

At what level he wants to do it,

because he's got another

15 years in him.

I swear the guy's got...

He's just on a tear now.

Whether you have success

or you don't have success

is kind of irrelevant.

If you're getting to do

what you claim to love to do,

and you're doing it

at a high level,

I think you're a lucky guy.

Down the road, there's still

something there for him

that's going to lift him out

of the shadow a little bit.

Maybe a song.

Maybe another album.

Maybe a part in a movie.

He might have a future,

because he's got

a lot of life left in him.

Frank's a great song writer.

He's a great singer,

but it's about material.

It's about writing.

It's about pouring it out.

What Frank would be great at,

is if he'd write something

that embarrasses himself.

I mean,

something that reveals him.

He's have to rip himself open,

and, "Oh, geez,

I didn't know that was there,"

and if he does that,

he'll be great.

He paid all those dues

that we all pay to this day,

and he never really

got credit for it.

There's a magnetism to him

that I don't know

that's been realized yet,

but it will be. It will be.

I'd probably say,

95% of the people

that I grew up with

that played music,

"Oh, yeah, we're going

to do this," they all quit.

They all quit. They all

got jobs. They got married.

"Ah, well, you know,

I need something more secure."

And I just flew

by the seat of my pants.

You had to have

a certain faith in yourself,

because I didn't know,

I really wasn't

interested

in doing anything else.

I took the worst job you could,

show business. That's the most

insecure job you could ever do.

God bless you.

Goodnight. Thank you very much.

I always wonder,

what has kept me in this game?

But, you know, I just keep

coming back to it. I love it.

Pump up the triceps, Frankie.

You can do it.

Perfect.

Very nice.

Look at this body.

Unbelievable.

Now if you teach me how to sing,

like I teach you

about bodybuilding,

I would be performing in Vegas.

That's right.

- This is like a oneway

street here.

♪ Save me darling ♪

♪ I am down but I am

far from over ♪

♪ Give me something ♪

♪ I need it all

because I am running over ♪

Is he around?

- He's around.

Well, get him in here.

I want to just talk

to him to see if he's

as goofy as I remember.

Yo, Frank.

- Hey, what's up?

All right, I was, uh,

inviting you in here, because--

No one asked you to sit down.

But don't try to assume,

like my pose. We're like--

- We're trying to do,

you know--

- We're doing Joe Weeder, like.

Considering

from where we came from...

Oh, man.

- ...and the family,

and the disfunction,

that we're even here

and functioning...

Yeah.

- ...and that he has like

really well adjusted children...

Right.

- ...is amazing.

I'm not that welladjusted.

Mmmm.

- But again-- But the thing is,

it's really amazing

when you think,

because those boxing gloves...

- You know--

...have, have made this dynasty.

We actually should be

like making

lunch meat

for a living somewhere.

Just like nothing--

- Well, you did do that

for a while.

I did actually do--

- He did work at a deli,

actually.

That's the--

- And I got thrown out

of that too.

Got thrown out of that.

- That's right.

Keeping my thumb on the scale

a little too much.

But anyway, nice knowing you.

Nice knowing you.

- Yeah, take care.