“Spin City,” “Back to the Future,” and “Family Ties” Who isn’t a fan of the ever-popular Michael J Fox?   One morning I was standing at my usual spot at the front counter to the immediate right when you enter the store. (The owner of the company I work for likes to compare me to the Statue of Liberty, in that I’m always in the same place-an icon if you will!) To me, the front corner is like the bridge of the star ship enterprise: it’s where

all the action is. It’s prime real -estate. Nothing passes me by. The store might be having a slow day but the odds are in my favor that I’ll pick up a guitar sale or two

just by the law of averages: ask enough people for help and someone will purchase something. Standing in the front of the store also means that I don’t miss a single browsing celebrity or rock star when they stop by.

One morning while scanning my two computer screens I glanced up and standing there right in front of me was Michael J. Fox and his young son, Sammy.

“Hi Mike,” I yelled out, “How are you today?”

“Fine,” he replied. “What can I do for you guys?”  I asked, and then, like I do with all customers, I racked my brain trying to think  of something I could say to create a connection with him.  I suddenly remembered that Mike purchased a guitar from the Eric Clapton    auction held at Christie’s  Auction House on 6th ave.  “Mike, that was a very cool Clapton guitar auction,” I said.  “Were you there Steve?” he said, taking note of my name on my store ID tag.

“Of course it was very cool,” I replied. “I thought it was great too!’ Mike said.

“Bingo,” I thought to myself, “Let’s rock!” And I asked him what I could for him that day. Michael explained to me that his son Sammy was interested in playing the bass. I directed him to the appropriate section and asked  little Sammy if there were any basses he was particularly interested in.  Sammy who was about 12 years old, pointed to the high-end custom shop

’63 reissue Fender Jazz bass. Beautiful candy apple red finish and an ultra thin fast playing neck. A very healthy price tag of $3500.00! “Here it is. A

home run,” I said to myself. A guy like Mike would pull the trigger on this   baby and make Sammy a very happy camper!

But Michael leaned over to Sam and reminded him of their agreement: Sam  would start off with a  student bass in the $300.00 range. It was very cool for  Michael to teach little Sam the value of a buck, but I watched my homerun

fantasy threaten to transform to the reality of a bunt single. No way was I going to let this happen. As I went to grab the requested bass, I remembered the Musicman stingay bass that I had in stock. The one with the

killer black metallic sparkle finish. “Little Sammy will love it,” I thought to

my self. And I also like the $1350.00 price tag!

I headed back to the sales floor with a bass case in each hand: The   student bass and the striking black metallic sparkle one. I handed Sammy the student model and whispered to Michael, “I have this really cool Musicman stingray bass but is a bit more expensive then your student budget. Is it ok to show him that one as well?”

“Will he like it?” Mike asked. “He better love it for $1350.00,” I said and we both started to laugh. I opened the case and brought the bass over to little Sammy. It was love at first sight!   It wasn’t a home run but at least the

all star salesman, Steve “Babe Ruth” Pisani, turned a ‘bunt single’ into a’double.”!!!

That was fun, but seeing Michael J Fox now a grown up father with his son beside him sent me reeling back nearly 20 years to the time of his  block buster, “Back to the Future” in 1986. I couldn’t stop thinking about not only how much Michael changed, but how much west 48th completely changed.  Those sure were the glory years of the coolest, hippest music  instrument capitol of the world!  Hard rock was the rage!  The guys wore spandex clothing, and used pounds of hair spray and mousse to keep their hairdos in place, and they used the biggest, loudest MARSHALL AMP STACKS they could afford.

The makers  of “Back to the Future” had their fingers right on the pulse of this frenzy: In the opening scene of ‘Back to the Future,’ Michael’s character, “Marty,” plugged his electric guitar into a huge amp, took hold of the oversized volume control and spun it to the right, cranking it up all the way it could go. At that moment he lifted his pick into the air and with one powerful ‘windmill motion’ he struck the strings with such might that the blast of the volume of the amp blew him back against the wall…

Only in the movies? Right?  Wrong! On any or every given Saturday in the late ’80’s on West 48th street’s music row, young guys plugged B.C. Rich Bitch guitars (as we called them) into the famously loud Marshall  amp stacks — and fret board tapped out Eddie Van Halen’s “Eruption” solo — over and over again.  That model of guitar was popular because it was loaded with so many switches and knobs, it was as if you needed a pilot license to play the damn thing! The bigger, the most lavish, the better, in those days.

Taking a walk down west 48th in the mid to late 80’s  you would find, Sam Ash Music, Manny’s  music, Alex Music, Terminal Music, S & H  music, We Buy Guitars, Accent Music and Rudy’s Music stop. And every single one of them was filled with dream guitars.  What a place to work everyday!   The sounds of screeching heavy metal guitars were everywhere to be found on the street. Customers would stop into each store to check out the latest gear and of course to compare prices. Each store offered the same standard merchandise  but the key to high profits was to also offer for sale  something we call “Unique-Exclusive” guitars. Instruments that the customer might only find in your store. For example , a one of a kind hand made classical guitar from Spain would be a high (GP) gross profit item.   Such an instrument saved my life one day back in 1986.  I bought a used B.C. RICH BITCH SUPREME guitar and displayed it in the window. This axe was the ultimate metal machine.   Besides the traditional volume and tone knobs, the guitar also featured a pre-amp volume, vari-tone control, coil tap and phase switches and mini toggle switches to activate the daul preamp circuits!  Talk about confusing! Over the top?  Sure, but remember this was the 80’S music scene, and “excessive” is what sold Anyway, there was a “tech head” that stopped by the store nearly every weekend throughout the ’80’s. You know the kind. The guy with glasses as thick as coke bottles, high water jeans, tons of detailed, technical questions, and never a dollar in his pocket. In all the years I have seen him in the store, I never even saw him buy a guitar pick!

“What is the band-width of that flanger? Does that compressor work on a 10 to one ratio?”  And so on.          One busy afternoon, he asked to play the guitar in the window.  I didn’t have to be a genius to figure out the guitar he wanted to try out.  I plugged the used B.C.RICH SUPREME into the amp handed it to ‘Tech Head’  “I’ll be right back,” I said, as I headed to the front of the store to assist some other customers that had arrived. It was hard to focus, though, because I began to hear some strange sounds coming form Tech Head’s guitar. Do you remember in ‘Back to the Future’ when ‘Marty’ attempted a wild version of “Johnny B. Goode” and no one in the scene knew what the hell he was playing?

Well, I finally figured out that Tech Head, too, was proudly — and loudly — playing a perverse version of the Chuck Berry classic. “Steve,” he yelled across the sales floor, “What does this switch do?” pointing to the coil tap switch. I told him and tried to return to my “real” customers. “And what about this one?” he interrupted again. This scene repeated itself over and over again as I became shorter and shorter with him. “One more question please,” he begged.

“Ok but as you can see I am very busy here today,” I shot back at him.  “How about this mini switch here?”  he asked as he pointed down to the switch on the guitar.

“Oh wow great question,” I said in an excited manor. “That is the FLUX- CAPACITOR control.” I said while flashing him the thumbs up sign. In attempt to escape, I told him I had to leave because I was needed in the front of the store.

“Flux-Capacitor’? he asked again.  “Yes,” I am sure that is what that switch controls. I will be back in a sec.” By this time his eyes were rolling in his head, like a slot machine out of control!  I could almost hear the bells and see the smoke pouring from his ears!  A moment later one of my senior salesman Mike was hurriedly on his way to the stockroom.  The tech head with the loaded B.C.RICH guitar in his hands yelled over to Mike “Excuse me you work here right?, “Yes” Mike said . The tech head continued,”can you please tell me what is a FLUX-CAPACITOR?”     Mike not even knowing what was going on remembers  the ‘flux-capacitor from the back to the future movie yelled back to him  “lets see’ emmmmm  “I know’ “IT MAKES TIME TRAVEL POSSIBLE!!”

The Tech Head Customer  looked over at me and smiled and said what every sales man  in every music store from coast to coast lives to hear, “DO YOU TAKE MASTERCARD CARD HERE?”

Lesson Learned- the light approach is some times works the best!