Rex Smith
The first time I met Rex was on his promo tour for his hit song “You take my Breath Away”. The plan was to appear at the Sam the Record Man store at a shopping center in Richmond. He would sing a few songs with pre-recorded back-up tracks, sign a few autographs, get a few photos and go for drinks and dinner. In just a couple of days before his arrival he morphed into the hottest teeny-bop idol in the country.
Just before we left an on air interview session at CFUN we got a call from the record store. It was chaos. Over fifteen thousand teeny-bop girls had jammed into the mall and it was pandemonium. Police and the fire rescue squads had been called as girls were being crushed and were fainting everywhere. We arrived through the underground service entrance at the back and made our way via the back corridors to the store. The staff in the store were frantic. There were rescue guys administering oxygen to passed out girls and the police had just arrived and were threatening to shut down the whole event as there was a very real risk of kids being pushed through the glass fronts of the surrounding stores. Rex’s manager and Frank Gigliotti, the CBS record rep, were arguing with the police and Frank reminding them he had requested additional security but they had turned him down.
It was decided that the only way to get the people out of the mall safely was to have Rex perform his songs from the roof of the building and the crowd could watch from the parking lot. As this was announced the sound crew started hefting up the sound system to the roof. Miraculously twenty minutes later we were on the roof and all the kids were outside. Rex appeared and the crowd went wild, screaming and jumping up and down, some on cars that were unfortunately parked in the wrong place at the wrong time. Rex sung his four songs and did an encore of the hit and now it was time to get him out.
One of the girls who worked at the CBS office was there and she drove an old beat-up Mazda. We decided to send the limo out empty and put Rex on the floor in the back seat of the Mazda and Frank and I would sit on top of him and we would reunite with the limo at a hotel nearby. The trick almost worked as most of the girls took after the limo but by this time Rex was having the time of his life and kept trying to get up to wave to the girls. Frank and I had to keep pushing him down and Frank, not a small guy, finally had to sit right on top of him.
We arrived at the hotel first and went to the bar to wait for the limo. It took an hour for the driver to show up. In the meantime a number of drunken Richmond housewives were making passes at Rex.
When the driver finally arrived he told an incredible tale of being chased by cars driven by young teeny-bops that probably weren’t old enough to drive. He had this wild look as he told of driving at dangerously high speeds, going through red lights and they still kept coming. He finally lost them by going the wrong way down a one way street.
By the time we got back to the hotel it was apparent that young female fans had staked out all the major hotels in the downtown core. Rex had a large suite at the Four Seasons and the plan was to rest up for a couple of hours before dinner with a lucky contest winner.
The lobby was full of nubile young girls dressed in their sexy best hoping to attract Rex’s attention. By the time we got to the elevator he had three of the finest in tow. When we got to the suite the manager, Frank and I all had a well deserved drink and Rex motioned to one of the girls sitting nervously together that he had something to show her and the two of them disappeared to the next room.
We made small talk with the two remaining girls and less than twenty minutes later the door opens and Rex appears in his bath robe and motions to the next girl and she gets up and disappears behind the closed door.
Like clock work twenty minutes later the door opens again and Rex motions for the remaining girl. Fifteen minutes go by and the six o’clock news is coming on and we’re the lead story. Rex’s manager calls out and Rex bounds in and flops on the couch with the biggest grin I’ve every seen. Rex, I say, shit, three girls in less than an hour? He said that he was just making the most of his situation as being a teeny-bop idol is short lived. “I may last another month or two and this might be my one and only shot at stardom” and he was going to enjoy every moment he could.
I couldn’t argue with that and we settled down to watch the news, lots of shots of screaming young girls, interviews with police, firemen, hysterical fans and finally shots of many damaged cars. No estimate yet of the cost of the damage. Frank immediately gets on the phone to the head of CBS Canada and starts talking liability and insurance. Frank then makes his leave in another limo to pick up the lucky contest winner from somewhere in Surrey and we are to meet up at Trader Vic’s restaurant just after seven.
Upon our arrival who is waiting for us in the lobby? None other than the receptionist from CFUN radio, the girl that everyone in the industry has been trying unsuccessfully to get into her pants. Frank and the young girl arrive shortly and we are led to our table. Rex sets the seating arrangements. The contest winner on one side and the girl from CFUN on the other side of him, Frank next to the young girl, the manager next to the CFUN girl and me directly across from him so I can shoot photos during the meal.
We did not go un-noticed. Many women came up to ask for autographs and pose for photographs. Rex accommodated them all with grace. I was surprised at how much attention he paid to the contest winner as she was somewhat homely and very shy. His manager engaged the CFUN girl in conversation most of the time.
At one point in the evening I was in the washroom and was surprised when Rex slipped into the next urinal. I made a joke about shouldn’t he be concerned about wearing that thing out and he mentioned his manager has made that same comment many times. I then commended him on the attention he was paying to the contest winner and he said that not all girls are born pretty and popular and that his songs probably speak more to the not so pretty and lonely girls.
After the meal Frank was taking the now glowing contest winner back home in one limo and Rex was going off with the CFUN girl in her car and suggested that I drop off the manager back at the hotel and take the limo for the rest of the night on the condition I have it back by eight the next morning as they had to leave then for the airport. Thank you Rex. Time to do some all night clubbing.
The next time I saw Rex was three months later. He was in town to do a taping for the Wolfman Jack syndicated television show. He was still riding high in popularity and was a bit pissed that his arrival in the city had not been publicized. The fact was most acts for the Wolfman show flew in and out of town incognito and most people outside of the industry didn’t even know the show was taped here. I asked him if it was worn out yet and he replied that he was slowing down a bit and he had a few scares with some girls that might or might not have been underage.
I never saw the guy again for years. His career seemed to wane as his earlier prediction but I was pleased to hear that he hit big in the Broadway production of Pirates of Penzance. I saw him in Vancouver years later at an antique car auction when he was doing an extended run of Hollywood Boulevard. The photo above is from the Wolfman Jack show.
