Audiobooks by Bob Andelman

Mr. Media: The Billy Hayes Interview Audiobook

The story of Billy Hayes, an American tourist caught attempting to leave Turkey by plane in 1970 with bags of hashish taped to his stomach, for which he was subsequently jailed for five years Ð and, with only 42 days left to serve, resentenced to life in prison Ð was made into a major motion picture starring Brad Davis and written by Oliver Stone. It won numerous Academy Awards and caused the Turkish government to go on the attack around the world against the filmmakers and Hollywood over its incredibly unflattering portrait of the Turkish nation. And it turns out that the Turks were right about one thing Ð many key aspects of Midnight Express may have been invented by Stone. In a documentary film about his life, Hayes admits the movie got a several aspects of his Turkish experience wrong, starting with the fact he was not an innocent, first-time drug smuggler. When he was caught, it was at least his fourth time moving hash out of the country. Hayes apologizes in Midnight Return: The Story of Billy Hayes and Turkey to the Turkish government for the negative portrayal of all Turks created by the original film. It has more than a few surprises for anyone that remembers the original.

Bob Andelman (Author), Billy Hayes, Bob Andelman (Narrator)

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Built from Scratch: How a Couple of Regular Guys Grew The Home Depot from Nothing to $30 Billion

When a friend told Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank that "you've just been hit in the ass by a golden horseshoe," they thought he was crazy. After all, both had just been fired. What the friend, Ken Langone, meant was that they now had the opportunity to create the kind of wide-open warehouse store that would help spark a consumer revolution through low prices, excellent customer service, and wide availability of products. Built from Scratch is the story of how two incredibly determined and creative people-and their associates-built a business from nothing to 761 stores and $30 billion in sales in a mere twenty years. Built from Scratch tells many colorful stories associated with The Home Depot's founding and meteoric rise; shows that a company can be a tough, growth-oriented competitor and still maintain a high sense of responsibility to the community; and provides great lessons useful to people in any business, from start-ups to the Fortune 500.

Arthur Blank, Bernie Marcus, Bob Andelman (Author), Mike Chamberlain (Narrator)

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Mr. Media: The Charlotte Stewart Interview

When you pick up a memoir Ð particularly a celebrity memoir Ð part of the inherent appeal is that you can safely be a voyeur at armÕs reach. But when that celebrity memoir falls short on sharing names and intimate details, well, thatÕs not a great read. Because if you just wanted to hear how swell everybody is and how perfect a celebrityÕs life is, you could just tune in to ÒEllen.Ó So when I tell you that actress Charlotte StewartÕs autobiography delivers on both boldface names and remarkably personal details, trust me, IÕm underselling the book. Like who? Well, she had a long getaway weekend with singer Jim Morrison of The Doors shortly before his fateful final trip to Paris. She was married to actor Tim Considine, one of the sons in the CBS hit comedy ÒMy Three SonsÓ Ð although that didnÕt keep her from leading a wild life of sex and drugs of which her husband knew nothing. One of the few men she turned down was her boss for four years as she played the reserved schoolmarm Miss Beadle on ÒLittle House on the Prairie.Ó The bossÕs name? Pa Ingalls himself, Michael Landon. A few more names in her lifeÕs story: Elvis Presley. Kevin Bacon. Kyle McLachlan. Neil Young. Joni Mitchell. Jimmy Stewart. Oh, and she inspired a scene in Tom WolfeÕs novel, The Bonfire of the Vanities. She also co-starred in David LynchÕs breakthrough cult film, Eraserhead, as Mary X. And while she and the director never got together off the set, she did live on and off through the years with Eraserhead himself, Jack Nance. (And Lynch gave her the recurring role of ÒBetsy BriggsÓ on his legendary TV show ÒTwin Peaks,Ó a role sheÕll return to in the showÕs third season in early 2017 on Showtime.) During todayÕs conversation, Charlotte will also read a short passage from Little House in the Hollywood Hills, which she co-wrote with Andy Demsky. This book will blow your mind. Promise.

Bob Andelman (Author), Bob Andelman, Charlotte Stewart (Narrator)

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Mr. Media: The Tony Tennille Interview

ÒToni Tennille: A MemoirÓ is an okay title for the Alabama nativeÕs life story, but once you read it to the end, you might agree with me that ÒToni Tennille: Happy At LastÓ is more fitting. I cannot deny that I had low expectations as I began reading the autobiography of this singer who I always adored as a teen and held on to over the decades as a guilty pop pleasure. The glamour, the celebrity friends, parties, etc. Ð ho-hum, weÕve certainly heard it all before. But trust me, you havenÕt heard this story. If, like me, you are old enough to remember The Captain and Tennille as a top of the charts recording and touring sensation, youÕll remember Toni TennileÕs soaring vocals, her Southern charm and her big as all-outdoors smile. As for The Captain Ð Daryl Dragon, the former keyboardist for The Beach Boys Ð what youÕll recall of him was that he rarely spoke while glowering at his wife and everyone else most of the rest of the time. He always wore a hat, eventually hiding behind sunglasses, too. I spent a lifetime thinking it was an act. Toni Tennille spent a lifetime wishing it was an act. Turns out, The Captain was a miserable wretch of a human being and spent decades treating his wife like crap. Reading ÒToni Tennille: A MemoirÓ is a soul-crushing experience; turning each page youÕll find yourself screaming, ÒToni! Get away from that bastard!Ó But as anyone who has ever suffered emotional abuse at the hands of a spouse knows, itÕs not always easy to make a clean break. IÕm glad I read Toni Tennile: A Memoir; IÕm even happier to know that the subject of the book is finally free.

Bob Andelman (Author), Bob Andelman, Tony Tennille (Narrator)

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Mr. Media: The Kent Crowley Interview

Is it fair to call Carl Wilson the ÒaccidentalÓ Beach Boy? He was the youngest brother Ð and cousin Ð in the worldÕs most enduring and prominent California surf band, the one that probably had other youthful pursuits in mind when older brother Brian recruited him to the band in the early 1960s at age 15. But the rest of The Beach Boys were lucky he got around Ð I mean, came around Ð as Carl eventually became the bandÕs musical director, lead vocalist and its conscience in the absence of brother Brian. In his new biography, Long Promised Road: Carl Wilson, Soul of the Beach Boys, writer Kent Crowley tells the story of the Brother who spent much of his life in BrianÕs shadow, even when Brian was nowhere in sight for years and years. Know the BoysÕ music but not their history? Maybe you didnÕt realize those are Carl WilsonÕs vocals in your head from the immortal beach tunes ÒGood VibrationsÓ and ÒGod Only Knows,Ó among many others.

Bob Andelman (Author), Bob Andelman, Kent Crowley (Narrator)

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Mean Business

Al Dunlap is an original: an outspoken, irascible executive with an incredible track record of injecting new life into tired companies. The business media have coined a new verb--"to dunlap"--when describing a fast company turnaround. In April 1994 he became CEO and chairman of Scott Paper, which had lost $277 million in 1993, was on credit watch for excessive debt, and whose stock had been comatose for seven years. In a mere nineteen months, Scott had record earnings, the stock had increased in value by $6.5 billion (over 200 percent), and Dunlap merged Scott with Kimberly-Clark in a stock swap that valued Scott at $9 billion and created the second largest consumer-products company in the United States. Mean Business combines Dunlap's colorful personal history--his working-class background, employment, friendship with such people as Sir James Goldsmith and Kerry Packer, his views on why too many executives think of themselves as corporate royalty--and his provocative ideas on management and leadership. His specific, tested program on how to evaluate and choose a management team, get the lowest costs from suppliers, improve the balance sheet, and develop a real strategy make this an invaluable book. The controversy about corporate performance and how to achieve it is near the boiling point, as executives face the hard fact of business life: What is good or even excellent today won't be satisfactory tomorrow. Mean Business is absolutely essential for both companies in trouble as well as those at the top of their game.

Albert J. Dunlap, Bob Andelman (Author), Albert J. Dunlap (Narrator)

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Mr. Media: The Robert Greenfield Interview

If youÕre going to write a book about the Rolling Stones at this point in their history, you damn well better have something unique to say. Because if you search ÒThe Rolling StonesÓ on Amazon.com under ÒBooks,Ó it brings back Ð IÕm not kidding Ð 17,812 results. There are many duplicates, of course, and a lot of books that only mention the Stones, but still! Oh, and in my humble opinion, after Keith Richards wrote his own memoir, ÒLife,Ó I believed you could pretty much set aside almost everything that came before it. Not only was KeithÕs voice compelling and authoritative, it was an absolutely fascinating read from a voice you never thought youÕd hear. All of which brings us to former Rolling Stone magazine associate editor in London, Robert Greenfield. He wrote two previous books about the worldÕs most dangerous band, 1974Õs well-received ÒS.T.P.: A Journey through America with The Rolling StonesÓ and 2006Õs not-as-well reviewed ÒExile on Main St.: A Season in Hell with the Rolling Stones.Ó So Greenfield Ð and rock fans Ð could have gone either way with his latest up-close-and-personal report, ÒAinÕt It Time We Said Goodbye: The Rolling Stones on the Road to Exile.Ó I am happy to report that the author has added several new colors to what we know of the band coming in the aftermath of ÒLife.Ó Goodbye is a cheeky behind-the-scenes report on what the band imagined to be its last tour of England before relocating to tax exile in France. Greenfield tells the story in two voices Ð the 25-year-old, sole journalist on the road with the band, as well as the 67-year-old eligible for Social Security that he is now. If you love the Stones, youÕll find this tale irresistible.

Bob Andelman (Author), Bob Andelman, Robert Greenfield (Narrator)

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Mr. Media: The Tommy Roe Interview

There are two pictures on Tommy RoeÕs website of him with The Beatles. I glanced at them last night and then moved on, looking for ideas about what to ask the man behind such immortal 1960s bubblegum hits as ÒSheila,Ó ÒDizzyÓ and ÒJam Up and Jelly Tight.Ó This morning, I got to thinking about it some more. Those were some very young Beatles in those photo, gathered around behind Roe. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr are dressed alike in suits and ties, not unlike what they wore on the cover of their first album, Meet The Beatles. Hair is about the same length, too. So I did a little more research and this is the moment when my eyebrows shot up. Two days after The Beatles made their American debut, February 9, 1964, on ÒThe Ed Sullivan Show,Ó they made their first-ever U.S. concert appearance at the Washington Coliseum in Washington, D.C. According to a website called PopHistoryDig.com, the opening acts on the bill were Jay & The Americans, The Righteous Brothers ... and Tommy Roe. But wait, it gets better: The Beatles already knew Roe; they were one of the featured acts on his top-billed tour of the UK a year earlier! And they recorded a cover of his #1 hit from 1962, ÒSheila.Ó Let me give you a quick overview of Tommy RoeÕs success: he had his first #1 with ÒSheila,Ó of course, and subsequently charted a number of songs on the Top 10, including ÒEverybody,Ó ÒSweet PeaÓ and his biggest single, ÒDizzy,Ó which was #1 in the US, UK and Canada in 1969. And as much as I love that song, IÕve always had a special fondness for his other Õ69 hit, ÒJam Up and Jelly Tight.Ó

Bob Andelman (Author), Bob Andelman, Tommy Roe (Narrator)

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Mr. Media: The Paul Cowsill Interview

It was a week or so before Christmas, 1968, and I owned fewer than five long-playing record albums, including The MonkeesÕ Headquarters and the first two Beatles albums. I played them endlessly on what was essentially a toy record player. That its sound was tinny and that it didnÕt get very loud didnÕt matter; I had my very own music. I well remember that holiday season, visiting my parentsÕ friends, Mickey and Ginny and their infant son, Mickey Jr. Mickey Sr. was a New Brunswick, New Jersey cop and the family lived in a modest apartment in a small complex above the Raritan River. The visit was largely uninteresting for me except when Ginny handed me a wrapped present from under the family Christmas tree: a new record! What else could it be that shape? Eight-year-old me quickly tore off the wrapping and discovered The Rain, The Park and Other Things: The Best of The Cowsills inside. I didnÕt know anything about The Cowsills yet but it had a funny caricature of the family on the cover and I couldnÕt wait to get home and put it on my cheap turntable to hear it. Instead of being appreciative of the gift, however, I became a bit of a brat because I couldnÕt wait to get out of there and hear it! Songs such ÒHair,Ó ÒWe Can FlyÓ and ÒIndian LakeÓ became lifetime favorites that I have yet to tire of hearing. Like a lot of bands from that era, The Cowsills soon disappeared from view Ñ 1910 Fruitgum Company, anyone? Ñ and I didnÕt give them much thought until last week when I was invited to watch a new documentary film by Louise Palanker, Family Band: The Cowsills Story, about the real family behind the singing family. Joining me today to talk about his family, the band and the documentary is Paul Cowsill. Paul still leads The Cowsills, but his day jobs are equally interesting: he was an ÒextremeÓ landscaper on the NBC fantasy series ÒGrimm,Ó having previously worked on TNTÕs ÒLeverageÓ and the first Twilight movie.

Bob Andelman (Author), Bob Andelman, Paul Cowsill (Narrator)

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Mr. Media: The Mark Margolis Interview

If you've been watching the AMC drama "Breaking Bad" over the years, you've had the privilege of seeing some extraordinary performances by the lead actors, Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul and Anna Gunn. But some of the greatest moments have been of the smaller, more isolated type. Like the ones featuring my guest today, Mark Margolis, who plays Ð or should I say played Ñ Hector "Tio" Salamanca. You remember Hector, the notorious, bloodthirsty bastard we met as an old man and later in flashbacks as a young badass. As Hector, Margolis never says a word, communicating extraordinary viciousness and anger with nothing more than a glare and the pounding of a little bell.

Bob Andelman (Author), Bob Andelman, Mark Margolis (Narrator)

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Mr. Media: The Kurt Andersen Interview

Kurt Andersen has one of those careers that makes him the envy of a lot of folks in media. The guy has had a fairly golden touch, starting with the birth of the late gret humor magazine, Spy, which he co-founded with Graydon Carter and Tom Phillips. He's also been a columnist for The New Yorker and editor in chief of New York. And he currently hosts public radio's popular "Studio 360," which has won a Peabody Award. All that and he tells a pretty fair story on the fictional side, too, first as the author of Heyday and Turn of the Century and most recently with the just released True Believers.

Bob Andelman (Author), Bob Andelman, Kurk Anderson (Narrator)

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Mr. Media: The Max Allan Collins Interview

Collins became a next generation Mickey Spillane, creating memorable titles and characters of his own such as Road to Perdition and Quarry. He's worked in all kind of media, from scripting Dick Tracy daily comic strips from 1977-93 to writing the novelizations of movies such as Saving Private Ryan, Air Force One and American Gangster and creating his own one-man show, "Eliot Ness: An Untouchable Life." The crowning achievement of his career, however, may have been when Mickey SpillaneÑthe best selling mystery writer of the 20th centuryÐchose Collins to be his literary executor. Spillane passed away in 2006 and Collins has since lit a fire in new stories of private dick Mike Hammer. His latest is Lady, Go Die!, the riveting sequel to Spillane's classic, I, The Jury.

Bob Andelman (Author), Bob Andelman, Max Allan Collins (Narrator)

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