Watch this exclusive Mr. Media® interview with ‘Quarter to Three’ rock ‘n’ roll singing legend Gary U.S. Bonds by clicking on the video player at the top of this page! (In some browsers it may appear as a black box.)

Order ‘By U.S. Bonds: That’s My Story’ by Gary U.S. Bonds and Stephen Cooper, available right now at a great price by clicking on the book cover above!

Here’s a story you don’t know about a man whose music you do know: Norfolk, Virginia’s favorite and the Jersey shore’s adopted son, Gary “U.S.” Bonds!

I just finished reading By U.S. Bonds: That’s My Story. It’s the kind of book we need more of, one that tells what happens to a performer that rockets to fame and what happens to them when the kleig lights are turned to the next “superstar.”

GARY U.S. BONDS podcast excerpt: “I had no idea who Bruce Springsteen was. I was doing the ‘Holiday Inn Tour.’ Whoever had a lounge, that’s where I’d be playing. I wasn’t listening to a lot of radio. I was too busy learning what I had to do to make the crowd happy in whatever city I was in. What old songs do they like? I didn’t hear the new guys. I knew Bob Dylan, but I didn’t like him. One of Bruce’s friends came up to me at this hotel lounge sage and said, ‘I’ve got a friend who really likes your music–he’d like to come up and do a song.’ It was cool to have anybody come up and give me a chance to go to the bar and have a beer! I said, ‘Here’s a friend of mine, he’d like to sing a song: Mr. Bruce Springsteen!’ And the crowd went wild. I’m going, “Who the hell IS this guy?”‘” 

Order ‘Back in 20′ by Gary U.S. Bonds, available right now at a great price by clicking on the album cover above!

In the case of Bonds — who was born Gary Anderson — he was the recipient of a second shot at the brass ring 20 years after he first hit it big with his such as “New Orleans” and “Quarter to Three,” thanks to the admiration and attention of New Jersey’s favorite son, Bruce Springsteen.

If you follow pop music — or Springsteen in particular — you already know how Springsteen and “Little Steven,” Steven Van Zandt, helped Bonds return to the recording studio and the Hot 100 after a two-decade absence. But what interested me in By U.S. Bonds is the way these men stayed in the life of Bonds and his family.

Family, by the way, is a recurrent theme in this memoir, starting with Bonds’ devotion to his mother and then to his wife and daughter. We’ll definitely talk about that, too.

Gary U.S. Bonds Website • Facebook • Twitter • MySpace • Order By U.S. Bonds: That’s My Story

Order ‘Keep Your Eye on the Marshmallow: Gain Focus and Resilience-And Come Out Ahead,’ the new book by Joachim de Posada and Bob Andelman, available by clicking on the book cover above!

The Party Authority in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland!

Watch this exclusive interview with former ‘Full House’ actress Candace Cameron Bure, sar of GMC TV’s ‘Finding Normal,’ by clicking on the video player at the top of this page! (In some viewers it may appear as a black box.)

Order ‘Reshaping It All: Motivation for Physical and Spiritual Fitness’ by Candace Cameron Bure, available from Amazon.com by clicking on the book cover above!

Every time I hear people babble on about child TV and film stars who struggled to become fully formed adults, I think about Candace Cameron Bure.

Playing DJ Tanner on ABC’s long-running sitcom, “Full House,” didn’t seem to ruin her life. She married a National Hockey League All-Star, Valeri Bure, gave birth to three children, continues to act and is writing her second book.

CANDACE CAMERON BURE podcast excerpt: “I’m very selective in what I’ll do. I love acting but I’m very passionate about family programming.. What I want to do is good, wholesome programming for families to watch together. If I can’t sit down and enjoy it with my kids, I’m probably not going to be in it” 

You can LISTEN to this interview with actress CANDACE CAMERON BURE, star of FINDING NORMAL and FULL HOUSE, by clicking the audio player above!

Oh, and she’s about to make her second appearance on Mr. Media.

Not bad, right?

Candace, who was last here with “Frasier” star Peri Gilpin to talk about their work on the ABC Family series about high school gymnastics competition, “Make It or Break It,” is back to talk about starring in a new GMC TV movie, “Finding Normal.” It airs Saturday, May 18 @ 7 p.m., 9 p.m. & 11 p.m. & again on Sunday May 19 @ 7 p.m., 9 p.m. & 11 p.m.

In “Finding Normal,” Candace plays a great surgeon who is a little lacking in interpersonal skills when it comes to dealing with everyone in her life.

Candace Cameron Bure Website • Facebook • Twitter • Pinterest • Order Reshaping It All from Amazon.com

Listen: Mr. Media’s first podcast interview with Candace Cameron Bure (2009)

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Watch this exclusive video interview with Tampa Bay Times ‘Real Florida’ journalist Jeff Klinkenberg, author of ‘Alligators in B-Flat,’ by clicking on the video player at the top of this page! (In some browsers it may appear as a black box.)

Order ‘Alligators in B-Flat: Improbable Tales from the Files of Real Florida’ by Jeff Klinkenberg, available from Amazon.com by clicking on the alligator above!

They don’t create journalists like Jeff Klinkenberg much any more.

And they aren’t opening any new newspapers with the budget or patience to send a reporter and photographer into the backwoods any more in hopes they might find a captivating story or two.

Klinkenberg — just “Klink” to anyone who has spent more than five minutes in his gentle presence — has enjoyed a remarkable freedom to roam the back roads and small towns of Florida during more than 35 years with the Tampa Bay Times.

JEFF KLINKENBERG podcast excerpt: “Sometimes I resent a little bit that ‘Weird’ Florida has become the national narrative: hanging chads, flesh-eating zombies, bizarre trailer park crimes. It’s certainly part of Florida culture, but it’s not the whole thing.” 

You can LISTEN to this interview with journalist JEFF KLINKENBERG, author of ALLIGATORS IN B-FLAT, by clicking the audio player above!

In the latest bound collection of his newspaper stories, Alligators in B-Flat: Improbable Tales from the Files of Real Florida, Klink once again takes readers from the flatlands of the Florida Everglades to the legendary mountains of Chesty Morgan and down deep into the water hazards of the state’s numerous golf courses.

And, of course, he is always up to his ass in alligators, mosquitoes and roadkill.

Order ‘Seasons of Real Florida’ by Jeff Klinkenberg, available from Amazon.com by clicking on the swamp above!

Every week in the Times, Klink introduces loyal readers to beloved Floridians such as Oil Boy and Conrad Yankee, or he’ll take us to one of his favorite places, from Mack’s Fish Camp to Gatorama — from which the book’s catchy title comes.

What ties each of these stories together is the respect Klink gives each and every one of his subjects, no matter how bizarre or how far off the beaten path their lives have taken them. No matter where you live, you’ll marvel at the stories he has to tell.

Jeff Klinkenberg Website • Real Florida @ Tampa Bay Times • Facebook • LinkedIn • Twitter • Order Alligators in B-Flat

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You can watch the exclusive Mr. Media® Interview with musician Nat Osborn of the Nat Osborn Band — and his live performance of two songs, “Yours Always” and “Little to the Left,” by clicking on the video player at the top of this page! (In some browsers, the video may appear as a black box.)

Order ‘The King and the Clown’ [Explicit] by the Nat Osborn Band, available from Amazon.com by clicking on the CD cover above!

All the featured performers had to go through me for an interview and I had a blast talking to Herbie Mann, Dave Brubeck, Richie Cole and flirting with the charming Judy Roberts. I also got to know many of our great Tampa Bay-based jazz talents, including Fred Johnson and Gumbi Ortiz.

It was, always fun because, of course, while I loved their music, I had no idea what I was talking about.

NAT OSBORN podcast excerpt: “I like seeing what a jazz musician sounds like playing rock ‘n’ roll, and what does a rock musician sound like playing jazz mixed with reggae. It’s a fun experiment.” 

You can LISTEN to this interview with musician NAT OSBORN of the NAT OSBORN BAND, by clicking the audio player above!

Well, it’s many years later and I still get a thrill from being introduced to new jazz talent — such as today’s guest, keyboard player and singer Nat Osborn.

Osborn brings a modern swing to his performances fronting the Nat Osborn Band, a joyous exuberance reminiscent in many ways of early Harry Connick Jr. The band just released a new album, The King & The Clown, and Nat joins us today to talk about his work and perform a couple tunes from it, “Yours Always” and “Little to the Left.”

Nat Osborn Band Website • Facebook • Twitter • Order The King & The Clown from Amazon.com

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You can watch the exclusive Mr. Media interview with Jacques Boyreau, editor of ‘Sexytime: The Post-Porn Rise of the Pornoisseur,’ by clicking on the video player at the top of this page! (In some browsers, it may appear as a black box.)

Order ‘Sexytime: The Post-Porn Rise of the Pornoisseur,’ available from Amazon.com by clicking on the book cover above!

I had a lot of really great jobs as both a high school and college student in my youth, from hauling carpets in a Sandler & Worth retail store to working in E=MC2, a science fiction bookstore across the street from Princeton University and being a substitute rural mailman.

But my favorite was working as a ticket taker, usher and concessionaire at the Royal Park Cinemas 4 in Gainesville, Florida.

Frankly, a lot of my memories of that place revolve around sex. There was the time our manager, Mr. Symons, defied local police warnings and ran the classic full-length porno, Debbie Does Dallas. You know, the one where the panicked guy says, “Don’t choke, baby! Don’t die!”

Yup, that one. And the police shut us down on Friday night after oh, I don’t know, the second or third showing they monitored. (The staff watched it, as was tradition, on Thursday night after the projectionist assembled it.)

JACQUES BOYREAU podcast excerpt: “Pornography is a type of storage device for our species and contains an unbelievable amount of information — not just the obvious!” 

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You can LISTEN to this interview with JACQUES BOYREAU, editor of SEXYTIME, by clicking the audio player above!

It was the Royal Park where I met the first girls I ever had sex with myself. And it was where it seemed like all we ever did was talk about sex — getting it and not getting it.

I also got one of my first major magazine assignments thanks to the theater when adult film director Russ Meyers came to the Royal Park to promote his new film, Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens. My future best man, Allen Solomon, and I had a two-hour lunch with the legendary director and had to return later to collect our jaws.

Order ‘Trash: The Graphic Genius of Xploitation Movie Posters,’ available from Amazon.com by clicking on the book cover above!

And the Royal Park was also where, late one night after the weekly midnight screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, my co-workers and I discovered a treasure trove of neatly folded ’70s porno movie posters behind a silver screen.

I cannot tell a lie: by now, someone has probably discovered that the one-sheets for Flesh Gordon, Sex World and many others are no longer in their hiding spot.

Sorry.

Fast-forward many year and I saw a tease for Sexytime: The Post-Porn Rise of the Pornoisseur. It was a book after my own nostalgic heart — even if I don’t know exactly what a “Pornoisseur” is.

Joining me to explain it all is Jacques Boyreau, co-editor with Peter Van Horne of Sexytime.

Sexytime Fantagraphics • Order Sexytime from Amazon.com

The Party Authority in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland!