The World's Greatest Minstrel

ROGER STONE
The Prince of Shadows Lights up Our Life
By: Lenore Baldwin

It was on a cool and breezy January night in 1989 that we first encountered the gentleman known to the world as ROGER STONE.

Clive was singing his heart out at an annual event that we have here in Miami Beach called 'ART DECO WEEKEND". A combination street fair, tradesman's delight, for all sorts of antiques and articles of Art Deco prestige are offered for sale and culinary bazaar, with deliciously prepared foods from all of our divergent cultures offered for sale to the ever- hungry crowds of revellers. It is usually on the second weekend in January and much of the time the weatherman forgets this is the sun city of the world in January and with dire certainty predicts cold, at least for us, 65 degree temperatures and mostly breezy evenings sometimes with rain showers. He is rarely wrong and we have battened down the tent flaps around Clive's stage on many, many occasions. This Saturday evening the breeze was very strong, not the usual balmy, palm tree fluttering light wind flurries that we have come to know and love. But, no rain. Thankfully. And, Clive reminded me there was a glorious full moon, hanging low in the sky, a real Moon over Miami, as in the song.
Nonetheless the crowd always comes and endures the weather, however inclement, just to hear the marvellous sounds that only Clive, my husband can make.

On this particular weekend, we had lots of friends visiting us in Miami Beach and the whole entourage trekked down to the North Stage to settle down on the grass, in lawn chairs, on blankets or small chairs. The bandleader introduced his wonderful jazz orchestra. Many of the musicians are friends who have played Clive's shows numerous times all over the city for the past how many years and were well acquainted not only with Clive but also with the Jolson music, which they played with a very special touch.
The night air was fragrant and filled with the odours of all the good things that were cooking just down the way on Ocean Drive. There was a carnival, street party atmosphere and the world was feeling good. Then it got better.

After the first set, about thirty minutes of non-stop Clive, the musicians and Clive took a little break. We all stood around laughing and just enjoying the evening. I noticed a kind of tall, good looking blondish guy with a very attractive dark haired woman at his side, standing just a bit away from the crowd watching Clive. But, lots of people just enjoyed Clive from afar, many too timid to approach and just luxuriating in their proximity to the WGM. This was not to be the case with the handsome blonde gentleman we came to know later as ROGER STONE.

After the last set, the congratulations and salutations over and done with, the crowd began to thin as most folks drifted south down towards the epi-center of the Art Deco Fair, satisfied with their artful entertainment and hungry and eager for a tortilla, quesadilla, corn dog, hot dog and maybe a nice cold beer. I was just outside the dressing room area when the aforementioned couple approached me and asked if I were Clive's wife. I smiled and replied "yes". as I scrutinized this most attractive couple, who were obviously really high class. Roger Stone introduced himself and his wife Nydia and said they were here from Washington, D.C. and were really impressed with Clive's singing. I thanked them profusely, here was a real class act, I remember thinking. Then, Roger handed me his business card and said he would like to have a meeting with us to discuss the possibility of doing a recording with Clive in the very near future. I smiled, said "okay", and took them both over to meet Clive.

Now, you have to remember, Clive and I have been together thirty years come next February, 2001. But at that time we were practically newly-weds with a little less than twenty years of togetherness, and I still felt that protective urge that comes from deep within to compel me to ask myself "is this guy for real?". He was. Most aren't. And we have heard some real shabby promises both before and after meeting Roger. Now, we have gone back to using that famous old show biz adage. Perhaps you have heard it, "money talks and bull-do walks". It works, means that anyone making us an offer has to really have something...or else keep walkin', bud. Saves so much time and complications. One day I will have to do a story about show biz promises made and broken, it will be long, and not too pretty. But, for now let me get back to the exciting tale of the very special Roger Stone.

The very next week we had a telephone call from Roger in Washington, D.C. He and Nydia were coming to Miami Beach the following weekend and would like to meet with us. Okay! He invited us for dinner but said he would like to come to our house first to have a bit of a business meeting. That was fine with us.

That Saturday, Roger and Nydia arrived right on time and we talked for a while at the house. His idea was to do a recording with Clive that he would produce and call 'THE AMAZING CLIVE BALDWIN'. And sell it via television advertising on a 1-800 number, very popular here in America, and catching on world-wide as well. Sounded good to us so we agreed and then we went to dinner at a favourite restaurant of ours called "Puerta Sagua". I have been going there since it first opened in the early '60's and it was my mother's favorite restaurant too. Now, ten years later, Roger Stone, who has since bought a beautiful apartment in Miami Beach can be found there quite often, seems to be his favourite restaurant as well.

After dinner, and let me tell you Roger can eat, he devoured two dinners, but is lean and strong and fit due to all the exercise he does, we discussed some plans for the recording and he kind of sketched out his ideas to Clive. It was left that we would be in touch and the songs to be used would be decided upon.

The next few weeks were a flurry of decisions, what songs, how many, who would do the arrangements and most importantly where would it be recorded. Roger and Clive met and talked and talked on the phone and faxed and we dined together and had a lot of fun setting up this project.

Roger is a businessman, par excellence, and although I find him to rather unorthodox in his thinking and excitingly creative, he tends to "go by the book" when it comes to contracts and such. Back and forth we went over the following month, contracts drawn by his attorneys did not fit in exactly with our thinking and so back they went for revision. Now, like in any good story with a plot, the time was getting short and decisions needed to be made very soon regarding the "deal". Well, Clive was in England, that much had been decided, that the recording sessions would be in the UK with an orchestra put together by Clive and his good friend Andy Rumble who was busy writing most of the new arrangements for the songs Roger had decided would be used. Mostly Jolson, but with a twist, not all standards and they included my very favorite, "PUTTIN' ON THE RITZ', which Clive sings to perfection. 

So, now it was up to Roger and me to get the contract straight, and for him to send money, so we could proceed. Clive called me twice a day from London, anxious to get started.

Predicament. That's when Roger's being a class act really kicked in. He called me said to me, "Lenore, write up a contract that you feel is right for all of us, keep it brief, I'll send it to my lawyer, sign it and send the money right away". Wow, I was impressed. We're talking lots of money here, well over a hundred thousand dollars and so I wrote up two paragraphs outlining the salient points, sent it to Roger, he signed it and sent CB the money post haste. Simple, eh!, yeah, if you're Roger Stone it is, he takes a lot of complicated things and makes them appear simple by his incredible solutions.

So, the recording was done at the place Clive had chosen, in Wembley, London practically on the grounds of the world-famous stadium in the UK,....and sold via the television sales technique that Roger had outlined in the first place. Both Clive and Roger were delighted with the finished product. Roger said it far exceeded all of his expectations. We have never made the recording available to the general public, for reasons of our own, although by far it is the best thing Clive has ever done. Some of you may have been lucky enough to hear it or get a copy. We are thinking about bringing it out as a CD in the coming year.

Now, let me tell you a little about our friend Roger Stone, who incidentally is an honorary member of FOCBS, of course. Shortly after our first meeting Roger faxed to me a whole bunch of pages of materials about himself, magazine stories and other articles about his work. Favorite among these stories was a very long one written in GQ (Gentlemen's Quarterly) a most prestigious magazine very popular all over the USA. Enticingly called the Prince of Darkness, a name Roger seemed to enjoy at the time, perhaps because he worked in the shadows of the political scene. We were intrigued by the political prowess of this youngish, but very able Republican.
BTW, Clive and I are staunch Republicans, the American version of Conservatives. We have no fear of speaking about our religious or political associations, especially in our own magazine!

Back to Roger.....we had no idea WHO he was when we first met him, the magazine article gave us some insight, but in the years that have passed since 1990, he has become a major political force in the Republican Party. His wife, Nydia, was, for years President Richard M. Nixon's personal photographer and they both spent lots of time at the White House in Washington, D.C. during the Reagan years, while Ronald Reagan was President of the United States for eight years. His political history goes far beyond that and during the Bush Administration, Roger Stone played an important part on the political scene bringing his educated views to the public through American television shows such as "CrossFire", "The Larry King Show", the "Geraldo Rivera Show", "Meet The Press", to name just a few. It is not unusual even today to turn on the tv and see Roger discussing some important topic of interest to our country and to the world.

After the release of 'THE AMAZING CLIVE BALDWIN", Roger called us and said he would like to do a show in Miami Beach the following winter season, a cabaret show starring Clive Baldwin. Innovative as he is he said he would love the show to be called 'DECO AFTER DARK' to pick up on our wonderfully Deco designed buildings and atmosphere upon which most of the Miami Beach, and particularly South Beach architecture is based. It is a thing of the '30's and Miami Beach is the only city endowed with so many of these archival beauties. It was a great idea and I immediately set out to find a suitable room or theatrical setting that would accommodate Roger's idea. After weeks of looking we settled on an older art deco hotel on 90th Street and Collins Avenue and Roger and Nydia designed and had built a beautiful mock-up, or reproduction of an Art Deco street scene complete with lights and the artful art deco colorations of pinks, aquas, corals and pale yellows, and matching bandstands for the musicians to sit behind.

The show was a wonderful compilation of songs starring Clive and featuring Sandy Patton, a black jazz singer, a girl with a marvellous voice, after the style of Ella Fitzgerald. She complimented Clive and our ritzy little show with her glittering costumes and sultry voice. While we were auditioning girls for the part, I asked her if she could sing "Stormy Weather"...and she said "Can I, just listen" and proceeded to do the most beautiful rendition of that song that I ever heard. It still brings tears to my eyes when I think of Sandy on that glitzy stage singing her heart out. She did a pretty good job on "Summertime" as well. She used to make Clive a little crazy with her instinctive scat singing every once in awhile, but no one else minded. Scat, for those of you who don't know is a form of jazz that highlights unusual sounds woven into the music. I find it quite interesting. So did Roger and Nydia.

Our stage, with it's wonderful backdrop glittered as a night sky of an Art Deco city and behind that we had a silvery, shimmery stage curtain, the effect was dramatic. Potted palms all over the place lent an atmosphere of a night club back in the early '30's and our Maitre'd and Hostess were dressed in clothes of that period. Oh, it was grand, so swell. Roger paid a small fortune to have a video of the entire show made, and it is pretty good, but, so far we have not done anything with it.

So, we opened with high hopes and the public responded to the ads that Roger and Nydia put together and we were well on our way to success. Unfortunately, so was Saddam Hussein and when his little war started about a month after our grand opening, well, folks preferred to stay home and watch the war on CNN rather than pay for a night out at 'DECO AFTER DARK' We humped along with slim audiences until Roger realized we were hopelessly over-shadowed by the war and we closed the show . It was a sad day for all of us. Sandy got to keep her costumes, Roger paid the bills and we got to keep our memories. Roger and Nydia were real sports about the show, and we thank them for the opportunity, even to this day.

Well, the next step for the indefatigable Mr. Stone was to put Clive into a major Atlantic City production with Merv Griffin, the popular American entertainer and television talk show host, at his hotel, Resorts International. It was a good show with Toni Tennile, of the Captain and Tennile, and the inimitable Eva Gabor. sister of Zsa Zsa who claimed to be one of the greatest housekeepers in the world, every time she got divorced, she kept the house! . Great week. Then on to the Donald Trump owned world famous Plaza Hotel in New York where Clive co-starred with Eartha Kitt. Roger saw to it that we were treated royally at the Plaza, a first class room and I got to have Japanese breakfasts every morning!

Then we had a phone call from a Producer, Nick Howie, who was planning to open a show at Harrah's Broadway By the Bay Theatre. He had been told by Harrah's higher-ups that he had to put Clive in the show to pick up the tone, because it was a good show, but missing something. They felt that something was Clive Baldwin. They were right. But, here's how it happened. Since Clive was appearing at the Plaza, we thought it a good idea to have them come over and meet with Roger, Clive and me, after all what more prestigious place to hold a business meeting than the glamorous Oak Room at New York's Plaza Hotel? Almost as impressive as meeting at the Savoy in London. They were impressed. No doubt that helped to double our asking fee, but, I'm getting ahead of myself.

So, they showed up and Roger was impeccable in his fur trimmed long black cashmere coat and Clive and I dressed to the nines. It was a cold, wintry day in New York City, but all the talent at our table soon heated the room. After all the niceties and preliminaries, Nick Howie finally got around to asking how much Clive was asking in salary for this twelve week run. Roger, Clive and I had decided in advance what we wanted, and that I would be the spokesperson. Well, they made an offer, without dribbling my Eggs Benedict, I said, "double it and throw in a few perks, and we have a deal" Tense moment. Then Nick Howie said, "Okay, we have a deal". Very nice. When Rog, Clive and I went upstairs, CB said to me "why didn't you say triple it". I will next time.

Then came another wonderful break and Roger Stone was once again responsible for it. The Republican National Convention was to be held in San Diego, California in the summer of 1996. Roger, maintaining his political clout arranged for Clive to sing on the main night of the Convention for twenty three minutes, song after song to a rapt audience of thousands in the great convention centre and MILLIONS all over the United States and indeed the world, via CNN. It was thrilling. Thank you Roger, for such a wonderful experience.

For the couple of years preceding that Clive was very heavily involved in "Legends In Concert" and travelled all over with the show, Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Miami Beach, Boston and even a short Broadway run, at the Academy theatre, where I met and talked to and sat next to EDDIE FISHER, who adored Clive and left as soon as Clive finished singing.

ROGER STONE sort of left the political arena when the Democrats took centre stage and our paths crossed only occasionally and then only socially. Then most recently Clive has been doing a lot of work in the UK , with 'GIVE MY REGARDS TO JOLSON' and has little time for any major work here in the States. 

However, Roger has maintained his position as powerful executive advisor and political pundit and most recently he has been working with Donald Trump as Director of his campaign to run for President of the United States of America. He recruited me in January of 1999 to work as one of his staff. What an honour! And it was about ten months of real fun for me, and of course for Clive who came along some of the time. He is still Roger's favorite entertainer The Donald, as he is known country-wide did not feel it was opportune for him to run in the year 2000 and so the campaign was brought to a halt, but one never knows what the future may bring. Mr. Trump is a brilliant man, smart enough to employ Roger Stone and he is an exceptional businessman. I personally think, from what I know and have seen of Mr. Trump, that he would make a great President of the United States, and many, many people feel the same way.

In June of this year, Clive performed at the prestigious Town Hall Theatre in New York with a seventeen piece orchestra and Roger, who is now living in New York, Washington and Miami Beach, happened to be in New York and came to the show. His latest inspiration, after listening to a full hour of the WGM's inimitable singing was that Clive needs an Off-Broadway Show...in a smaller, more intimate theatre than the very expensive and risky big Broadway houses...and this is where the "HOOKED ON JOLSON " idea would reach it's zenith. Hello Roger, is you dere?.

So, that is my story, turned into nearly epic proportions, but, I did not want to leave out any details pertaining to our exciting adventures with our friend, the one and only ROGER STONE.