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Counting The Stars: Mike Isenberg

Writer's picture: Feef MooneyFeef Mooney

My pleasure to feature Mike Isenberg, host of THE DIFFERENCE on IROCK109, Sundays 7pm EST.

Check it out. Mike features unsigned artists as well as the iconic greats.

(Mike Isenberg with... can you guess?...)


It's funny how things can work out sometimes. When my life in music began over five and a half decades ago, I dreamed of meeting and mingling with stars, and how all of those meetings would come about. I imagined backstage gatherings and cocktail parties, things I'd seen on television as a kid in the 50's and 60's, and things along that line did happen. But, more often than not, the meetings took place completely by surprise.

There was the time in 1974 when the band I was touring with stood at the front desk waiting to check into a fancy hotel in Iowa. There were little security monitors on either end of the counter, and we could see the lobby behind us. A man walked into the hotel and up to the desk behind us, and I was startled to see that it was Leonard Nimoy, who played Mr. Spock on television's Star Trek series. I didn't want to be obvious and look like a goof, so I gently nudged one of the band members next to me. He looked over at me and I nodded towards the monitor on the desk. When he saw who it was, like a nut, he spun around and shouted 'MR. SPOCK!' I thought I was going to die right then and there. But Leonard was great and we had a good time together.

Then there was the time here in Hollywood many years ago when I rolled out of bed and grabbed a basket full of laundry and thought I'd go down to the laundry room. I looked like hell, my hair was sticking up from having slept on it and I had sleep lines on my face, and as I round the corner from our apartment I'm stunned and embarrassed to death to run into one of our neighbors and her friend Jody Foster. 'Oh this is just great,' I said. 'Beautiful timing, Isenberg.' Jody busted out laughing and said 'It's all good. Really. Don't worry about it. It's cool. This is my old neighborhood. We're good!' Believe it or not, that exact same thing happened TWICE.

When we first moved to Hollywood we didn't have a bank account and had to use one of those currency exchange places to cash checks, and on one of those occasions I ran into the late Little Richard, and he was just as Little Richard as he could be.

Naturally, you just never know who you'll run into in Hollywood, and there were many meet ups at our local grocer, Rock and Roll Ralph's on the Sunset Strip, with Sally Struthers, who played Gloria on All In The Family. She used to give me rides up the hill to Hollywood Boulevard.

But I think my favorite has always been having Dawn Wells as a dear friend. Dawn, as you probably know, played the beautiful Mary Ann on TV's Gilligan's Island. Every single time I meet up with her she immediately grabs and pets my beard. She's such a sweetheart.

I could go on and on and on. I've been around a long time, and the meetings have been many. I guess the point it that sometimes the surprises can be just as memorable as the things you intend to happen!

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