Sunday, August 26, 2007

Pop Stars That I Have Known, Part 2


This is Chaka Khan standing at a microphone. The day I had a run-in with her, she was standing, thanks to a wall that was propping her up in a drunken haze.
Once again, an odd meeting, precipitated by my involvement with that entertainment company which specialized in concert tours. We had engaged Chaka to appear at an industry Christmas luncheon. That would be followed by a reception for clients at a suite in the Waldorf-Astoria. (Rhetorical question: was that hotel once in Queens, hence the name?)
By the time Chaka got upstairs to meet the client base, she was about as coherent as Kirk Douglas with a hairlip. But, the photographer was there. The clients wanted pictures. Who cares if the other person in the photo looked like she was on the express line at Betty Ford?
We all ended up on line getting her picture snapped with Chaka. Everytime the flash went off, she almost slid over and hit the coffee table.
When it was my turn, I ambled alongside her. She muttered "Shmerry Christshmas." Snap. Flash. Done.
This would probably be the first time I've been in a picture with someone completely drunk out of their gourd. I'm, of course, not counting family portraits at Christmas gatherings.
I do remember getting quickly distracted by one of our sales managers. He implored me to escort one of our sales people out of the party. It seems he, too, had been over-served and was swallowing hors d'ouevres without removing the toothpicks.
I never knew what happened to him either.
Dinner last night: Still in steamy and uncomfortable NY for some beef with garlic sauce at Pagoda in Scarsdale.







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