A Little White Advice
By Jason Auslander

		In the early 1980s, Larry White found himself with a job no one else wanted in a situation he knew was going to turn out badly. He was tour manager for a new band on the Warner Bros. record label called Public Image Limited and it was his job to make sure the group's appearance on the long-running and exceedingly staid ABC-TV program, "American Bandstand," went smoothly. It was a recipe for disaster and everyone involved knew it. "Nobody liked the idea of Johnny Rotten on the show," White said, referring to the notorious former
Sex Pistols lead singer and frontman for PIL. No one, that is, except one of the most influential producers on "American Bandstand," who fought for the band to appear. So White was nervously waiting backstage before showtime when another producer came in and told him Bandstand host Dick Clark wanted to see him.

"Now, I'd done the show before with other bands and I knew Dick and his staff," White said. "But he'd never asked to see me before."

The producer guided him through the studio and down a spiral staircase to Clark's office, where the host sat behind a desk. Clark didn't smile or ask about White's personal well-being or greet him in any way.

"In a vicious tone, he says, "What can I expect from this asshole?" White said, laughing at the memory. "I tried to reassure him and tell him the band was really excited about doing the show.

In the early 1980s, Larry White found himself with a job no one else wanted in a situation he knew was going to turn out badly.

He was tour manager for a new band on the Warner Bros. record label called Public Image Limited and it was his job to make sure the group's appearance on the long-running and exceedingly staid ABC-TV program, "American Bandstand," went smoothly. It was a recipe for disaster and everyone involved knew it.

"Nobody liked the idea of Johnny Rotten on the show," White said,

referring to the notorious former Sex Pistols lead singer and frontman for PIL. No one, that is, except one of the most influential producers on "American Bandstand," who fought for the band to appear. So White was nervously waiting backstage before showtime when another producer came in and told him Bandstand host Dick Clark wanted to see him.

"Now, I'd done the show before with other bands and I knew Dick and his staff," White said. "But he'd never asked to see me before."

The producer guided him through the studio and down a spiral staircase to Clark's office, where the host sat behind a desk. Clark didn't smile or ask about White's personal well-being or greet him in any way.

In a vicious tone he says, 'What can I expect from this asshole?" White said, laughing at the memory. "I tried to reassure him and tell him the band was really excited about doing the show.

"Needless to say the band didn't really want to do the show, and the idea of lip-synching on it was ridiculous to them."

Tension mounted as the moment approached for Clark to introduce the band.

White kept a close watch on Rotten — also known as John Lydon — and at one point repositioned himself in the room between the singer and the door because White thought Lydon might bolt and he wanted at least a fighting chance at stopping him.

Finally, the band went on stage and during the two songs it played, Clark's worst nightmare came true.

"John was making a mockery of the lip-synching, which was basically making a mockery of the show," White said.

Lydon began bringing audience members up on stage with him and the band, which was a no-no. Then Lydon blew his nose at the camera — a so-called farmer's blow, "which was a great shot," White said.

The final insult was hurled when Lydon went up to Clark's podium and began banging the wireless microphone on it in time to the music.

"No one goes up to Dick's podium," White said, adding that the sound technicians backstage were beside themselves with fury as they watched Lydon play drums with their very expensive mic.

"From ABC's point of view, the show was a complete disaster," White said, adding that Clark was, of course, furious. "They did not want to air it."

Again the influential producer stepped in and fought for the episode to air, which it did with some tactful editing that included the farmer's blow shot. As it turned out, the episode made the show's highlight reel year after year.

"It went down as a classic American Bandstand show," White said with a note of pride.

White has been in and out of the music business since the mid-1960s as a tour and artist manager and record executive. The list of bands and artists he's worked for and with reads like a who's who of rock and roll: Tom Petty, Elton John, Pete Townshend, Neil Young, Davy Jones of the Monkees, Van Halen, Debbie Harry, Jane's Addiction, R.E.M., Red Hot Chili Peppers and Paul Westerberg, among others.

White's first assignment in the biz after landing a promotional photographer's job at a Bay Area radio station in 1965 was to shoot the Beatles arriving at San Francisco airport for show at the city's legendary Cow Palace.

"There were literally thousands of kids at the airport, so they landed where the mail planes landed," White said, adding that he still has the negatives from John, Paul, George and Ringo getting off the plane and holding an impromptu press conference.

White began his career in management after a band called the Beethovens asked him to be their manager in the early 60s.

"The first thing I did was change their name to the 'Baytovens,"" he said. Then he guided them away from the Beatles and Dave Clark Five covers they were playing to writing their own songs.

Soon, the band recorded an album and began to build a following. Six months later, they flew to Hollywood and recorded another demo, which was starting to make the rounds among some of the town's connected record producers.

"Then the rhythm guitarist decided he didn't want to leave his girlfriend to go tour for the summer," White said. "The Baytovens broke up not long after that."

Still, despite the disappointment, White was hooked.

"I had never managed a band before and I had to invent it for myself," he said. "My motto in rock and roll is that there are no rules."

And through a succession of jobs with the likes of Warner Bros. and MCA Records, as well as the aforementioned artists and groups, White said that is still his motto and remains the best advice he can give to up and coming bands.

"Approach it as a business but make sure It's fun," he said. "I always go back to the old adage: 'There are no rules.""

Especially now with the corporatization of the major record labels, "companies are not in the artist development business anymore," he said. "Bands have to be creative and do it themselves."

The D.I.Y. legacy left by the punk scene is one of the best blueprints to follow in the music business today, White said.

"It starts with the live show," he said. "You build an audience that way."

Also, bands shouldn't be in too big a hurry to move to Los Angeles or New York, where the competition for gigs and attention is fierce, he said.

"Build a story in your own community…tour regionally…save a little money and record a CD," he said. "Look at Omaha. It's a sleepy, mid-America, beige-colored town and It's now the new hot-bed.

"Come to (the labels) with good songs and an audience."