Transcript Of Tori's Appearance On Love Lines
June 27, 1996
As kindly emailed to me by Scott Christiansen
Love Line
A = Adam Corola, host
J = Dr. John, psychologist
C = Caller
T =Tori Amos
A: well, the phone number 1-800-LOVE-191 the fax number
310-854-4455. I'm Adam Corola that is Dr. John, tonight's guest
is Tori Amos. There is a slew of people outside, did you notice
that?
J: Very busy, yes.
A: It's buzzing, this place. And, y'know, we have a lot of
marquee-name guests on this show. I mean, we had Rancid, we've
had No Doubt, and we've had other bands that are very hot these
days, yet nobody shows up. Now, not a knock against those bands
but when Tori comes out here the parking lot is filled.
J: Well, we had Blues Traveler the last time I was on.
A: Right! Nobody showed up. I barely came for Blues Traveler.
Although, John Pauper will be in here in a couple of weeks, and
if you remember the last time they were in here, I pulled out the
harmonica. And I am gonna get that harmonica back from the pawn
shop and play it when he comes out here again. Or maybe I'll just
play stupid.
J: I have mine.
A: Oh, do you?
J: I'll loan it to you.
A: Did you spit on it?
J: You bet.
A: Well, wipe it down and bring it in. Oh, we got a lot of
show...
[They talk for a while, take a call from some hick guy before
Tori gets there, and some other guy complaining about his
brother...]
A: Sheri, 13.
CALLER: Hi. Actually, my question is for Tori...
A: Well, that's good timing, because Tori has just blown into the
studio like a sweet breeze.
C: Hello.
T: Hello.
A: I've already started softening up the guest. You notice that?
T: What's your name?
C: My name?
T: Yes.
C: Sheri.
T: Hi, Sheri.
C: Hi...
T: How's it going?
C: It's going fine, thank you. Um, I have a question for you.
T: Yeah?
C: My question was: was there any special significance to playing
a cover of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" on the album "Crucify"?
T: When I heard it I was in Sweden, and the song had just come
out, I remember watching it on this, I don't know what it was,
some new rock show in Sweden, and I'd never heard of this band.
And I saw it amongst other things that were kind of, I don't
know, made me giggle, cause you just had to figure that, I don't
know, these guys, really, wish they were Kiss and weren't, and
then I saw Nirvana, and I said "Oh my God, this is the real
thing," and the piano kind of looked at me sideways and just said
"you know what, we have to do this. You have to put some high
heels on me, Tori, and let me have some fun."
A: I had my VCR talk to me once. It said "feed me pornography,
please!" Sheri?
C: Yes?
A: Is that a satasfactori answer for you?
C: Yes, thank you very much.
A: Alright.
C: Alright, bye.
A: Alright, now let's talk about Tori and how much her fans love
her. Did you see them on the way in, Tori?
T: Yeah. We had hi's and hugs.
A: Did you sign anything?
T: Yes...
A: Cause they all brought junk to sign. You did the Tonight Show
tonight?
T: We did the Tonight Show.
A: Is that on tonight?
T: Um-hum.
A: And you'll be on, uh, they brought out some crappy guests, and
then they put the musical guest on later on, like they normally
do?
T: They always bring the musical guest on and they never let the
musical guest talk.
A: They didn't let you talk?
T: Hardly ever, they never let any of the musical guests talk.
It's like a thing. All these guys, it's pretty much the same now
in all of television where they don't let the musicians talk.
A: Well, you let your piano do the talking. That's the beauty of
this show, you don't have to do anything, just talk. We don't ask
you to play anything... although that would have been cool. We
should have done that. Would you have played?
T: Well, you couldn't get the Bösey in here.
A: What's the Bösey?
T: That's my piano.
A: Is that the name of it?
T: Yeah, the Bösendorfer. It's a Bösendorfer, so I call it a...
A: I thought it was like Bösey, like, y'know, guys name their
penis, and you name your piano.
T: No, she's just her. And she's 9-foot-1.
A: And you have a special connection to your piano, right?
T: Always have.
A: Now what if something happened to that particular piano?
T: I'd, whoever, I'd slit their throat.
A: Alright, but let's just say...
T: True.
A: A gang of crazed terrorists came in and blew up the piano.
T: I'd find them.
A: Alright, you'd find them and kill ‘em. But here's the
question: would you be able to just go out and buy another piano?
T: No.
A: What would you do?
T: It would never be the same. I'd find a piano, but it's not the
same.
A: So, you'd just have to, like, take a job a Circle-K and call
the career?
T: I'd find another instrument but it's like, to be honest with
you, pianos were, I talked to them as a little girl growing up. I
grew up in a real religious home, very, very Christian. And the
pianos, that's where I went, made my friends with the pianos. So,
these particular ones are handmade. It takes 5 years to make one,
cause the wood sits out and gets the weather for 4 years, and
then they get handmade. Every part of them, the Bösendorfers. So
every person that works on them, part of their soul. Some of the
guys that work on it, y'know, pulled me aside and said, y'know,
when I lost my daughter, that's in this piano. When my wife left
me and fell in love with a friend of mine, that's in this piano.
When I cheated on her, that's in this piano. It's all in this
piano. And truly, truly, with the Bösendorfers, you feel their
life, but each one is different, depending on who's working on
them.
A: And, y'know, you can't just play a Casio, then?
T: Well, I can just play any, if I'm honest with you, none of the
others are like the Bösendorfers, cause they're not handmade like
that. Some of the Steinways are, but not, all the others come off
the assembly line. In my album cover I torched a piano, and I
torched a real piano, came off the assembly line, but I did it to
release those demons of getting your hand slapped with rulers as
a kid, and all that kind of, y'know, shame.
A: But your dad was a preacher, right?
T: Yep.
A: Now he didn't come over and smack you for talkin' to the
piano?
T: It wasn't about he knew, he didn't know I talked to them.
A: So you didn't move your lips.
T: Not when he was around.
A: Alright, you ready to help us out with some phone calls?
T: I'd love to.
A: Oh good. You got a call there, Dr. John? Jerry, 20, you're on
Love Line with Tori Amos.
C: Hi, um, first of all, Tori, I love you. You're one of my
favorites. And one question is, are you planning anything for
Sacramento any time soon?
T: Oh, we're coming to Sacramento I think, what, Johnny, 2 weeks?
C: 2 Weeks?
T: I'm getting the date... the 10th of July. We'll be in
Sacramento, so...
C: Cool. We look forward to seeing you up here.
A: And, let me just butt in and tell Johnny that we're all over
the country, so if you can talk to producer Anne, maybe during
the commercial, and figure out some of the dates of the cities
that we're on in, we'd be more than obliged to plug those cities
for you.
C: Okay, cool. And the next one is for you, Adam. I've got an ex
of mine, and she keeps kind of intruding into my present
relationship. My girlfriend right now was very close friends with
her for a while. And she kind of started smothering both of us,
kind of asking her "can you help me get him back," and stuff like
that. She calls me every other day...
A: Hold on, she's asking your current girlfriend if she can help
her get you back.
C: Uh-huh.
A: Okay. That's lovely
C: Yeah, I know. They basically ended their friendship, but I
have a roommate, and she'll call at the most wonderful times of
day. 7 am in the morning, 11:30 at night.
A: Your ex.
C: At my house. I've talked to my roommate about changing the
phone number and he says that's not an option. And I'm just
wondering, I've asked her basically to leave me alone for a
while, and tried to push her away for a while, and it's just not
working.
A: Alright, here's my take on the whole obsessed
stalker/girlfriend/ex-girlfriend thing, or boyfriend, or just a
crazed Tori Amos fan. God forbid, I should get some ex-girlfriend
stalking me for a change. It is a certain form of flattery, but I
suppose it would get tiresome after a while, Jerry. Here's the
deal: you have to treat them like a little potted plant, you must
give them no water, no sunshine, and eventually their leaves are
going to fall off and they're gonna die. But you cannot give them
anything. You can't grab the phone and start yelling at her,
because that's something. She needs something. She wants a
response when she calls, and as long as she just keeps getting
hung up on, or your phone machine, or nothing to go off of,
eventually she will tire and move on to her next victim. She's
gonna see something shiny, be distracted, and move on. Now you're
gonna have to sort of bite the bullet for a while, but you can't
crack, and grab the phone after two weeks and start cursing her
out, and get into a big teary-eyed argument with her.
C: There is one more thing with this: she goes to my church.
A: Alright, convert. We're moving on. Nothing wrong with Judaism.
Absolutely. Best religion there is. What do you do? You eat and
lie around. That's what Judaism's about. That's what all the
holidays are: don't use anything, just eat and hang out. Great
religion. You got eight days worth of Christmas. They got it
down. Everyone loves the family...
T: And chase schikzas(?), yeah?
A: Yeah, love the schikzas.
T: I know about that.
A: I'm not Jewish myself but I'll still chase a schikza every
once in a while.
T: I'm a schikza. Been one, babe.
A: Are you? You single now, are you?
T: No...
A: No?
T: No...
A: Anything beyond the piano? Are you cheatin' on the piano at
all? I mean, you got a man?
T: I have a man and a piano.
A: Really?
T: There's room for both.
A: Jeez, I've got a roommate and a refrigerator, that's it. I'm
feeling kind of slighted here. Dakota, 18, you're on Love Line
with Tori Amos.
[He has a problem about smoking weed and telling his parents, but
Tori doesn't have anything to say. Then they go to commercial.
Afterwards, they talk about Dr. Drew, their regular host.]
A: Hi Tori.
T: Hello Adam.
A: We have a song off of the Boys For Pele album, or CD, that
we're going to play, but first let's talk a little about the Boys
For Pele. Isn't Pele some sort of sacrificial god?
T: Goddess, Adam.
A: Oh. Pele?
T: Pele.
A: That's a girl name?
T: She was around before the, uh, footballer.
A: Oh really.
T: I think so.
A: Oh yeah, the soccerballer Pele guy. And what is the story
behind this goddess Pele?
T: She's been around thousands of years, I think. And she's in
Hawaii. She's a volcano goddess, goddess of fire, and I was
trying to find my own fire, not through the men in my life, which
I've done all my life. And I began that journey and wrote this
album. So what the title really means is what the men in my
life, whether they meant to or not, they brought me to my fire,
to me finding it for myself.
A: The men in your life meaning everyone from Dad to Grandpa to a
current relationship?
T: To Bobby the 5-year-old boy who threw a hammer at my butt,
yeah all that.
A: When you were five, I hope?
T: When I was five.
A: Oh, okay, at least he didn't... I thought it was an on-stage
thing, y'know, the guys get out of hand sometimes, well, you
don't really have a mosh pit... I need a god for some
inspiration! Is there some god of napping and masturbating that I
could...
T: I'm sure there is, Adam. Maybe he's called Adam.
A: Wow! I never thought about that! The god... Okay, anyway,
uh... we have a song... what'd I do with the CD.. the song is
"Hey Jupiter," the Dakota Version.
T: Yes, there's an EP coming out in about 3 weeks and this is a
rerecorded version of "Hey Jupiter," very different from the
album.
A: Alright. But do we have the one that you want?
T: This is the one. This is the Dakota Version.
A: Alright, well here it goes.
[They play the song.]
A: Hey, Jupiter, the Dakota Version, off of Boys For Pele, off of
Tori Amos' latest CD, and Tori, we were talking a little bit
during the song about your dedicated fans, and I have a little
fan story. I was saying that I was at K-Rock in Los Angeles when
you came in there about a year and a half, maybe two years ago to
do the morning show over there, and one of your fans, and, every
time you go somewhere there's a bunch of people waiting there for
you to show up, which would, kind of cool and kind of a pain in
the ass at the same time, but we won't examine that. Someone gave
you a nice bouquet I believe, I'm sure it happens all the time.
You brought it up, you probably had enough of these bouquets, and
it was sitting around, and I wandered in and I said, "Hey, can I
have those?" and you went, "oh okay."
T: Did you really?
A: Yeah, and you gave me this bouquet of flowers.
T: Well, I hope you liked it.
A: No, I sniffed ‘em all the way home. But, my girlfriend at the
time was a big Tori Amos fan. So I had this bouquet of flowers.
Now, I had a dilemma. Was I gonna just give her this bouquet of
flowers and say, "Hey, here you go. It's 9:30 in the morning,
it's a Tuesday, I've never bought flowers before in my life, but
here. I just thought, y'know, just because." Or was I gonna go,
"Guess where these flowers came from." So, like an idiot, and
because I know she'd see right through me, I said, "here's some
flowers," and she went, like, "whoa, wow, this is beautiful,
this is amazing," and I said, "Tori Amos gave them to me," and
she threw ‘em back at me and got pissed off.
T: And hates my guts now.
A: No, nothing to do with you, but it shows how the female mind
works. And I hate to lump you all into one big group, but she
wanted the flowers from me, and when I told her I got them from
you, even though she's like a big fan of yours, it didn't work
for her.
T: Well of course. So how long were you with her?
A: About another 4 minutes.
T: No, how long were you with her before all that?
A: Oh, all told, like a year...
T: And you never got her flowers??
A: Y'know, I wasn't making a lot of money at the time...
T: I know, but can I just say something? Guys, you listeners out
there, you know when you think a rose doesn't mean much, I don't
care what a feminist she is, I don't care, sometimes nothing you
can say... I sound like a bloody FTD commercial. But sometimes
nothing you can say says it better. I'm serious, it's like,
y'know, don't bring peanuts. Or, y'know, flagellation. Bring
something yummy.
A: Wait a minute, the flatulation comes with the package.
T: No. No. Let me discuss, I know all about it. It's like, guys,
come on, it's so unromantic.
A: Alright, but where am I supposed to leave the flatulence?
T: Outside. Somewhere. Just not in the kitchen and not in the
bedroom. I mean, please.
A: Now, Tori, we've discussed this many a time.
T: No, girls will agree with me, there's just a level of being
romantic.
A: Yeah, but here's what I wanna say about the whole farting
thing.
T: Oh...
A: It comes at a point in the relationship when the guy feels
comfortable and committed enough in front of his lady. You see,
so, even though to you it's just a noise, to him it's like going
pphht... I love you. You know what I'm saying? It's a smell of
love!
T: I know, but why can't you say, "I love you, so excuse me." I
mean look, if it happens once in a while that's one thing, you
know, you can kind of go, "god he's cute," but y'know, every
day...
A: Right, okay. That's my problem, see the thing is too...
T: During every timeout during the game? It's like that's how you
have to root. You go, "Root root root, toot toot toot." No.
A: Then you get, y'know, a cover flap thing at night...
T: Oh...
A: Yeah, and ladies, I know we're running late for a commercial
and everything, but here is my PSA I'd like to give out to all
the ladies. The first time the guy farts, you go ballistic on the
guy, because if you chuckle, the next time he farts, it's gonna
be on your head.
T: No, but can I say something to the ladies? Just don't give him
any for 2 days and he'll stop doing it.
A: Two days? That's all?
T: Two days is all you guys need.
A: Wow.
[They go to commercial. A rock song is playing as their intro
when they come back.]
A: Tori, that's not you playing that guitar lick, is it? No. Tori
Amos is our guest tonight. She has a CD out called Boys For Pele,
she's gonna be at the Greek theatre here in Los Angeles Friday,
Saturday, and Sunday, that would be this weekend, so if you're
out here... is it all sold out already?
T: I think there's room Sunday.
A: Oh, Sunday. So still time to get those tickets. So get in line
and do what you've got to do. Phone number: 1-800-LOVE-191, fax
number: 310-854-4455, and Tori, I was just looking at you when
you handed me something, and I notice you've got stuff written on
your hand.
T: Yeah.
A: What is that?
T: These are my lyrics. These are my notes, cause I forget stuff.
So I write everything on my hand. Cause I don't lose it.
A: I've got a notepad I could lend you.
T: No, but I lose it. I don't lose this.
A: Your hand? What about if you put... alright...
T: Oh, let's not go there.
A: Alright, but, the lyrics to new songs that haven't been
composed yet?
T: No no no, the ones I'm doing every night, Adam.
A: Oh, so you're playing and looking at your hand?
T: Yes.
A: Really?
T: Well, it's better than playing and looking somewhere else. I'm
a piano player. That's the closest thing I've got to my eyeballs.
A: Can I read your hand?
T: Oh...
A: Alright, I don't know what that first word is...
T: Pocket-pro.
A: Pocket-pro, sorenet...
T: Sometimes I breathe...
A: Switch...
T: Swim... switch, no. You got it wrong, switch. We got all this
wrong... flatulence and flagellation, whipping...
A: Oh yeah, right
T: So, what am I, farting a dead horse?
A: We'll backtrack a little here: before we went to the break we
went out talking about farting, because anything that starts with
an F to me sounds like someone is trying to say the word fart.
And Tori said "flagellance," like flogging someone.
T: Like whipping. I'm Christian.
A: Right, so you know all about the whipping. That's why I wanna
go to the Judaism by the way, they don't know about the whipping
over there. They do eating, not flogging over there. But she was
basically saying "flogging," and I thought she said
flatulence...
T: But I went with you.
A: Yeah, you were right there.God bless you. We got more calls
lined up here? Tony, 14, you're on Love Line with Tori Amos.
C: ...Yeah. Um, when I was on a school trip, and we were on the
bus to Springfield and I did stuff with two different girls, and
the next day at school they were getting made fun of and
everybody was calling them whores, so they turned it around and
said that, like, I made them do everything, and they went to the
social worker at our school...
A: Hey Tony, let me butt in.
C: Yeah?
A: We got this call about three weeks to a month ago, as I
recall, and it was a girl calling I believe. Do you know anything
about that?
C: No, what'd she say?
A: She said you were an idiot. Now, I don't remember what she
said about you, but she said she was on a school bus and she
fooled around with some guy, and that was basically her question.
I just wanted to know if you were that guy.
C: Probably. The two girls, they would talk to each other about
it...
A: Tony, how did you fool around with two separate women on a
bus?
C: Well, we were in the back of the bus, and I had my friends
watching out and stuff, and so if the teachers were coming back
they'd like nod us and we'd stop, and then when they'd go back
we'd, like, do stuff again.
A: Was it two at the same time?
C: No.
A: Did one know about the other?
C: Yeah, like, I was doing stuff with this one girl, and then she
went back and told her friend to come back by where I was, and
she went back there, and then the next day, they went to the
social worker, and the social worker told the principal, and I
got suspended.
A: And they told your parents and everything?
C: Yeah.
A: And did they lie?
C: Yeah! They said that I made them do it, and they didn't get in
any trouble.
A: And how old were they?
C: Um, my age. They were in my grade, I don't know how old they
were.
A: So they were 14 too.
C: Yeah, they should be.
A: Okay, and you're saying they willingly participated in your
touchy-grabby-feely-bussy thing.
C: Definitely.
A: Okay, and you're the one who got suspended.
C: Yeah.
A: Well, that's the way it works here in society, Tony. I mean,
in a way, they participated, but in a way the guy's usually the
aggressor, and is seen as the sort of promoter of this sort of
thing, and you're the one who's gonna get into trouble. Doesn't
mean they didn't have some sort of part in it, but usually the
guy had a larger part in it.
C: Like before we even did anything they talked to my friends and
like told my friends what they wanted to do and everything.
A: Okay, so Tony, you feel like you got the shaft.
C: Yeah.
A: Alright. But has your good name been cleared?
C: Not really. My parents pulled me out of that school, so I
can't go there, and I've been going there since I was in
kindergarten, and I can't go there anymore.
A: Alright, Dr. John, what do you think?
J: Tony, how does this affect you now at this time ?
C: I just feel that the way it got around and stuff, the stories
just totally got changed, and what some people think happened
didn't, it's nowhere near, like, some lady...
J: Well, Tony, let me say something about that. I think you made
a poor choice, and I think you have to pay for it at this time.
And it's a bummer, and I think it's something that you've just
got to get over with.
A: So you're telling him to move on.
J: To move on.
A: So, crappy advice. Thank you. Alright, Tori.
T: Yes?
A: Ever get it on in a bus?
T: No. I'm not a bus girl.
A: How about a van?
T: No.
A: Truck?
T: What kind of truck?
A: Step side?
T: 4-wheel drive.
A: 4-wheel? Really? In the bed or in the cab?
T: I'm not gonna go into all those details with you, Adam, but I
will say I was a truck and it was mine.
A: Really?
T: Yes.
A: You got a gun rack?
T: But I was a consenting adult, and I didn't deny what I wanted
to, um, let's say, have transpire with this wonderful man. And we
were together.
A: You knew the guy or you just picked him up hitchhiking?
T: Adam, please, I know you guys have these fantasies, but I'm
really into having a partner. I always have. I've always wanted a
partner. I've never been into just having a guy for a few nights
or... no. I'm not into that. I know some women are, and I know
some men are, but I'm not. I do think Tony, though, has a strange
issue here, because I do think, in truth, he should write the
editor of the paper in his town. Yes, the girls came back, but I
think you should say that you didn't molest them, because if
they're saying that you did molest them, this is serious, y'know,
because some people really do get molested and really do get
raped. And so when people use this as, I don't know, revenge, or
a game, it isn't a game. Believe me, it is not a game. And so
Tony, I think you have a responsibility to yourself and to the
truth to own up to your part in it, but also to own up to what
really happened. And you can write to the editor of the paper in
your town, I don't know where you live, but you really need to do
this and you need to make sure it gets published. I mean, this is
how you can make peace with yourself.
A: And clear your, well, we won't call it "good" name, but decent
name.
T: Stand by, whatever the truth is, if you really want to make
peace with yourself, tell the truth.
A: Good advice. Michelle, 15, you're on love line with Dr. John
and Tori Amos.
C: Um, this is for Tori.
T: Hi Michelle.
C: It's Nishelle, actually, with an N.
T: Oh, that's different. Nishelle, what's that? Where does that,
what's the derivative?
C: I'm not sure, my mom just came up with it. They were gonna
name me Michelle, but...
A: They went with Nishelle?
C: Yeah.
A: Parents smoke a lot of grass?
C: It's spelled different. It's N-I-S-H instead of C-H...
A: Okay. Alright.
C: I just wanted to know that, um, I sing, and I love to sing,
and I have a feeling that I can go really far with it.
A: Do you know any Tori Amos songs?
C: Oh god, all of them.
A: Okay, do a little.
T: Oh no Adam, don't put her on the spot.
A: Well, she wants to sing she's gotta learn to perform.
C: Um...
T: Nishelle, you don't have to.
A: But if you want to...
T: Don't let him coerce you, Nishelle, if you don't want to.
C: I'd love to sing.
T: Okay, then do it.
C: What do you want me to sing?
T: It's your choice.
C: Um... I don't know
A: I'm gonna break out into "Kung Fu Fighting" if someone doesn't
start singing in about two minutes.
C: Um, I don't know what you'd want me to sing
A: Well, give her a song, Tori.
C: I don't know any about Boys For Pele cause I just got the
tape.
A: Well, give her something off the others.
T: What about Silent All These Years?
C: Okay. Um... Excuse me but can I be you for a while. My dog...
ugh. Oh man, I forgot the...
A: You were going! Go girl, go! Scat, if you don't know the
lyrics.
C: Man, I forgot the words.
T: I sing it with you
A: Duet.
T: Do it with me, okay? We'll do your key. Excuse me but can I be
you for a while...
C: My dog won't bite if you sit real still, I've got the
antichrist in the kitchen yelling at me again, yeah I can hear
that, been saved again by the garbage truck, I've got something
to say, you know but nothing comes, yes I know what you think of
me you never shut up, but I can... okay, I'm done.
T: Nishelle.
A: Wow!
T: Jesus, so what are you doing the next three days? You come do
the Greek, I don't know, do you have any tests that you need me
to go take, where do you live?
C: I live in Portland, Oregon, near Portland.
A: You a thin white chick?
C: Huh?
T: Oh, pass off Adam.
A: Wait a minute, I got a plan going here. Relax, now I know
touring is a grind, you've said it yourself, there's no reason
why you have to show up for every show...
T: That's right.
A: And it's not like you're doing Leno where they're pulling in
tight. This Greek Theatre is a big place...
T: That's right, we'll give her a red wig.
C: I have red hair.
T: Do you have red hair?
C: Well, I had dark, like brunette, but I tried to dye it blonde
but it came out orange.
A: Good. That'll work.
T: But lemme ask you, you were gonna ask a question about
singing, so...
C: Um, I don't play, I really want to go far, I just found out I
could sing when I was in eight grade, and that was two years ago,
and I just wanted to know, I'm taking piano lessons, and, I don't
like them, I don't feel a connection with it.
T: When you have a voice like that, there're so many great
singers that don't play an instrument, the thing is you find
people that...
C: I feel just kind of limited.
T: Well, but there are a lot of people out there... Janis Joplin
didn't play an instrument, I mean there are a lot of great
singers...
A: Fred Schneider from the B-52s. I don't believe he plays
anything.
T: Michael Stipe, doesn't play an instrument, you know, there are
a lot of wonderful singers. Peter Gabriel doesn't really play,
and you just need to trust that beautiful instrument that you
have.
A: Alright.
T: You really have a beautiful instrument. Your voice is your
instrument.
C: I just, I mean, I'm in choir in the school and everything, and
I just, I don't...
A: Nishelle?
C: Yeah?
A: You have a beautiful instrument, damn it. Now...
T: Yeah, find some people, Nishelle, that have their...
C: Well, I just don't know where to start.
T: Well, find people that have an instrument, whether it's a
guitar or a piano or an organ or whatever or drums, like you have
your instrument, whether you get a band together, or just open
yourself up.
C: No one seems to have...
A: Nishelle, it's time to rest that valuable instrument of yours.
T: Nishelle, they're gonna kick you off so listen real quick. If
Portland, Oregon is too small for you, Find a place that isn't.
A: Good advice, and we'll be back.
T: But keep singing.
A: What do you want her, to get out there and start taking fans
away from you?
T: Yeah, she sounds great. I'm gettin' old. Come on, Nishelle,
there's room, baby.
A: You should be squelching the dreams of people like this.
T: No, Adam.
A: Absolutely!
T: It's doesn't work like that.
A: If some guy called in and said "hey, I'm a real funny talk
show host," I would tell him to kill himself.
T: No. It's bad karma.
A: Alright.
[They go to another commercial.]
A: Well, alrighty then. Phone number 1-800-LOVE-191, fax number
310-854-4455, faxes like this one Tori got and took a particular
liking to.
T: You might find this interesting, Dr. John, too, so, we've just
gotten this fax and she says, "when I like a guy, I get it bad,
the whole obsession thing took up a lot of my time and even
caused the loss of friends, and made me lose track of my
priorities. Is there any way to get over this guy. I've tried
almost everything and he is definitely not interested. And I'm
obsessed."
A: So I guess she's never had a relationship with him, or she had
one and got over it, or broke up.
T: I don't know. It says, "I've been obsessed with a certain guy
for almost a year." Obsessed means I don't think you've been...
A: Right. That means no sex.
T: Adam...
J: I think it's tragic.
A: It all breaks down into sex and no sex for me. John, you deal
with this stuff...
J: I think it's tragic when someone becomes that obsessed and
that focused on someone that it becomes their whole life, and I
think it's very difficult to get out of something like that. It
really involves talking with loved ones, with sometimes
professionals about it to try and break the obsessive pattern.
But it is a pattern, and I think it's, again, real tragic thing.
A: Tori, have you ever been, besides me, obsessed with someone
else?
T: Believe it or not, actually I was. And you know what, it's
strange, because it wasn't years and years and years ago, it was
more recent, in the last couple, and it took me, I had to deal
with the fact, why didn't I think enough of myself that, I would
want to be with somebody that I thought enough of me like, well,
do I like him, what about the fact that I wanna be respected. I
wanna be in a relationship where it works both ways. Or I'd
rather be alone.
A: It seems to me that this always comes back to a self-esteem
thing, like if you're feeling really strong, and you're feeling
empowered, and you're feeling real good about yourself, then you
can fall in love or you can be infatuated, but when you hear the
answer is no, then you can move on. It can be painful, but you
still will move on. I don't know many real strong, together
people that get into an obsessive pattern thing, and I don't mean
to cast any dispersions on you, Tori, but you know what I'm
saying. When things are going great and you're feeling real good
about yourself, you don't get into the whole obsessive thing.
T: Well, but...
J: One thing about the obsession, it takes care of the loss, I
mean, people aren't grieving, they're still focusing on the
person, so the grief is very difficult for these people.
A: So it's a way of putting off the grief.
J: Or denying it.
T: A lot of times I really think, but I can only speak for me,
but, when I looked at it, I felt that if I could turn this person
around who was rejecting me, then I was almost fixing something,
maybe in the past, maybe growing up, I don't know. But I was
attracted, it's true, it was the men, this is an interesting one,
there could be men throwing flowers at my feet, for a time, and
the one that would spit on me is the one that I would say "I have
to get him to understand I'm okay."
A: I would be the guy, by the way, who picked up the flowers and
gave ‘em to my girlfriend.
T: Fair enough. But you know, this isn't... as you know, Dr.
John, if we're honest, it's not a little thing. If you have
those feelings it comes from a really deep place of being hurt,
from somewhere, and a lot of times I think you're trying to fix
that hurt. And that's what I was doing with this guy anyway. He
could have been, to be honest with you, he could have been
anybody at that time. And as I, and you might laugh at this, but
this is where Pele came in, because I was so hurt I fled to
Hawaii, and I really started to feel this energy of the volcano,
to find your own flame, to find your own fire, not through
somebody. And as I started to understand and, I don't know, kind
of be kinder to myself and give myself a little credit, then I
started to say "hang on a minute, y'know, I don't, I like myself,
and it's a strange thing to kind of, this sounds so namby-pamby,
but be your own margarita buddy, be your own friend. And I
haven't spoken to this guy in a while, and don't have any desire
to, really, he doesn't even interest me now.
A: If he showed up now you'd crumble.
T: I would not.
A: Absolutely. C'mon, you would get all weird and start sweating.
T: In truth, Adam, I'm over it.
A: I went to Honolulu once, but I just hung out in strip bars the
whole time.
T: What were you doing?
A: Flatulating. A bouncer kicked my ass for that. Alright, now
Tori's gotta go, because she's gotta run home and see herself on
TV, and I understand that. Believe me...
T: Oh Adam, stop.
A: If I was doing a frickin' infomercial at 11:15 I'd be out of
here, but we're gonna play another song while Tori is leaving and
before we say goodbye, the song will come after the goodbyes, but
I would be remissed in my job if I did not ask you about the
whole pig-suckling thing. Now, I realize you've probably answered
this question several thousand times, but the kids, they wanna
know because I saw the big Sunset.. big billboard, up on Sunset,
that is. What is up with that? Have you told the story several
thousand times?
T: This is my Madonna and child shot.
A: Uh-huh.
T: So, instead of a Christmas card.
A: Real pig?
T: Of course it's a real pig
A: How did you... uh, trained pig? Stunt pig? Or just a
regular...
T: It was 4 days old. I don't know anything that's trained at 4
days.
A: But it's really suckling there, isn't it?
T: Yes, Adam, that's what that's there for. That's what that
does.
A: I thought you could take a picture that suggests suckling, but
I didn't know there was actual suckling going on.
T: Well, if you're gonna take a picture that suggests, why aren't
you doing it? I mean, this picture is about exposing that which
is hidden, you'll understand this, non-kosher, if you will.
A: I'm not Jewish, I just like to talk about it.
T: I don't believe you, Adam. There's something in your
grandmother you don't know about.
A: I think it was my grandpa. But, that was a long time ago. You
didn't have to put any peanut butter on your boob or anything? It
just went right for it.
T: Y'know, pigs are different than guys. They don't need peanut
butter on the boob.
A: Oh, then they're the same. Alright, Tori, we thank you for
coming in and being such a breath of fresh air here in this dark,
dank Love Line studio. [Farting noise] You were a good time.
Thank you for that classy effect, engineer Mike.
T: I haven't heard that for a while. Thank you for that.
A: Why don't you pop another one off there, engineer Mike.
[Pause] Alright, very good, fantastic, that's why he gets the big
bucks. Tori, thank you for coming in... [farting noise]... I
think he actually did that one... she has a CD called Boys For
Pele, you should go out and get it, still time to get tickets for
the Sunday appearance at the Greek, she will be there Friday,
Saturday, and Sunday. Much luck to you Tori, and come visit us
again anytime.
T: Okay. Bye Adam, bye Dr. John.
A: Thank you very much, and this song is called the Doughnut
Song.
[They play the song.]
A: Doughnut Song, by Tori Amos, off of Boys For Pele. I like that
Tori.
J: She was something. I really like her.
A: Yeah. She's got a...
J: Very down-to-earth, knowledgeable.
A: Down-to-earth yet in outer space at the same time. A rare
mixture.
[No more interesting stuff for the rest of the show.]
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Email me (Michael Whitehead) at: mikewhy@iglou.com
