Dinosaur Jr - The Wagon [5-21-92]

I was at my desk one morning when Thurston Moore called.
"dinosaur jr are taping the Letterman Show this afternoon and j's really nervous about it. Can you go over there and hang out?"
I told him: "Sure"
I hung up and rolled a couple of joints. I worked at 75 Rockefeller Center and Late Night
taped across the plaza at Studio 6A in the 30 Rockefeller Center
building. I met the guys at the freight elevator and we loaded up their
gear. It was gonna be their first TV appearance. Green Mind had just
come out on Sire Records. I'd been to the Studio before so I showed them
to the Green (Mind) Room. Paul Shaffer came in and I introduced
everyone. The band took their equipment onto the stage and setup their
gear. I watched the soundcheck and camera blocking.
When we got back to the Green Room we were surprised to find Donald Trump
sitting there watching TV. He stood up and introduced himself. He's a
tall guy. His hands are thick but it's his fingers that are short and
disproportionately fat. He had on a rather well-worn, tired looking
single-breasted navy blue suit. It had those shiny patches behind the
elbows that come from excessive wear. It wasn't tailored so the area on
the top of it's shoulders and around his neck sported a concentric
series of furrows. They were dusted with a layer of dandruff. These were
tough times for The Donald. He was going through a very public
separation from Ivana for over two years at this point and his relationship with Marla Maples had only recently become public, further clouding his divorce negotiations. The Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City was in the final throws of it's bankruptcy death. The Trump Shuttle
airlines had also just declared bankruptcy. It shut down without notice
leaving many passengers stuck with their pre-purchased monthly passes.
All this caused much speculation that his whole "Trumpire" was on the
verge of collapse. There he was, gorging on the complimentary Deli tray.
I couldn't help myself.
"Man, Donald, I've just been striking out non-stop lately with the ladies. What's your secret, man?" I asked.
He passed on the joint.
"You
gotta get them to think that you're listening to them. Let them blab
on. They're not gonna listen to your opinion anyway. Just act all
sympathetic. Works like a charm"
Letterman came into the room.
"Smells like 1975 in here!"
He grabbed some cheese wedges offa the now almost barren tray.
"No wonder you're so hungry"
I pointed to The Donald and said: "Not us, Dave, this guy is out of free business lunches" Everyone laughed. Except The Donald.
"Great.
Kick a guy while he's down! Do me a favor, don't ask me for anymore
advice, OK?" He continued: "You believe this guy? He was just asking me
for dating tips" Letterman got it.
I rolled my eyes into my head as I looked upwards to the ceiling.
"Next thing you know he'll be asking you for business advice" Dave said.
Everyone's chuckling. The Donald asked Dave to please not get into anything to do with Marla or his divorce.
"Well, what the fuck are we gonna talk about then? The Taj?" Dave asked.
"Ask me about Miss America. I got a bunch of announcements I can make about that"
"OK" replied Letterman.
Dave turned to me and asked if I'd been talking to Don (Van Vliet)
recently. I told him that I had been and that I would be flying out to
see him sometime soon. Then I gave him a CD of Trout Mask Replica that
was soon to be reissued on Warner Brothers. He asked:
"Think that you'll get him to make that Blues record for you?" We talked about that for a bit.
"Make sure he knows that I want him back on the show. You think you can get him to autograph this for me?"
"Sure N'uff N will do" I told him.
I don't know if it made it to the final edit of the show that night but like, the first thing he said to The Donald was:
"So in the Green Room I heard you giving out advice on women to the band. How's that going for you?"
dinosaur jr performed great that day. When they finished the camera cut to Letterman. He was taking his fingers outta his ears.
"Man, that was the LOUDEST band that's ever played here!