CELEBRITY TALES......AS I REMEMBER THEM: DEEPAK CHOPRA

During my career, whenever I interviewed anyone with any semblance of celebrity, I would ask them to record an “endorsement” when we were done. It's a pretty common practice among radio folk and it was always a great way to give you some credibility with the audience, not to mention how much of an ego blast it is to hear, say, one of the Beatles or a former President telling your entire audience that, “whenever they are in town.....they listen to (your name here).” I have had the remarkable opportunity to spend a lot of years talking to a lot of people, some of whom were of substantial note and I got some very nifty “voicers.” How cool was it to hear people like Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner or George Burns saying they listened to you? I even got Dan Castellanetta to do a “Homer drool” to illustrate how enjoyable he found the show. The best of all, however, was the celebrity who never spoke my name but whose “drop” was used more than any other - New Age and alternative-medicine advocate, physician, public speaker, writer Deepak Chopra. In studio interviews were, pretty much, all done the same way. We would welcome the guest, offer them some coffee or, perhaps, a vending machine goody from, what we called, “The Dead Break Cafe,” which was, in reality, just a break room down the hall with candy and chips in machines and coffee pots loaded with what we knew as “fuel,” and, then, sit them down in a chair across the console from me. There was no engineer......I ran things myself. This was a practice I preferred because I was always a bit of a stickler when it came to the sound of my show. I wanted the production to be seamless and spotless. If there was an issue, I would know it was because I screwed up, not because someone else couldn't hear the “audio vision” in my head. If there was a problem – I would be responsible. I work better like that. Deepak Chopra was a new age guru who, at the time we had him in the studio, was a very influential voice. Quantum Healing, Distance Healing, Mind/Body Medicine.....but, that was just the tip of the iceberg. Aside from being an important critical thinker and doctor, he is an extremely versatile human being. In 2009 he founded the Chopra Foundation to promote and research holistic medicine; the Foundation sponsors annual Sages and Scientists conferences. He sits on the board of advisors of a national medical foundation, he's been involved with a tech start-up - state.com, since 2005 he has been a board member of, believe it or not, Mens Warehouse, a mens clothing distributor where, you'll look good and HE now “guarantees it,” and in 2006 launched Virgin Comics with his son, Gotham Chopra (the doc was apparently a huge fan of either New York City or Batman or both) and entrepreneur Richard Branson. There isn't much Dr. Chopra doesn't do. He sat in the chair opposite me and, I will have to admit, I was a bit in awe. I have met a lot of people over the years and, occasionally, I would get a little “star struck.” That type of reaction, however, was reserved for a select few......Deepak Chopra, Carl Sagan and Pres. Jimmy Carter come immediately to mind. We chatted for a few minutes and were about to get to the point where I expected the “hot line” to ring and the boss to remind me that this was a “music station” and that I was neglecting the most important element of the concept but, honestly, what Deepak Chopra had to say was far more interesting and entertaining than some Air Supply song being played for the 500th time that week because “it tested well in Helena.” I knew and understood the rules, though and I had to play a song. I grabbed the next song in the rotation and started the intro, over which I explained that we would get back to the fascinating conversation but, first, we had to play some music and I introduced Fleetwood Mac, at which point, Deepak (by this time we were on a first name basis) said, in his unmistakable Indian accent, “Lets, rock & roll!” I was dumbstruck as my mouth hit the floor. Deepak Chopra had just said, “Let's rock & roll” and I had recorded it. Now, every time I played something that was a bit on the “heavy,” rocky side, I had one of the world's great thinkers telling us it was time for all of us to rock & roll. That was tantamount to having Mick Jagger shout out to the crowd, “Everybody – meditate!” Completely unexpected and very satisfying. I used it sparingly over the ensuing years, understanding that those things can get very old very quickly. My philosophy was: use it a little, drop it for a while, bring it back some other time for a short period, retire it for a while.........keep a rotation of “drops” available to give the impression of “fresh and new,” even if it's old and stale. I never had the opportunity to repeat my meeting with the good doctor, although, I've seen any number of TV appearances over the years and have been able to rest in the knowledge that, no matter how much he has evolved over the years or how much more profound his train of thought has become, Deepak Chopra was never one to shy away from his love for or his ability to – rock & roll!