"(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)" "All night long" "Hey, now, now, now, now" "Hey, little baby" "You been on my mind" "Look in my dreams" "Your taste is all I find" "Hey, now, darling" "Where you stay out all night long" "I wanna tell you" "You know your daddy's home" "All night long" "Whoo" "All night long" "Lord, Lord, Lord" "Please help me find my way home" "Lord, Lord, Lord" "Please help me find my way home" "I was young when I left" "Didn't realize what I was doing" "I've had pains and trouble" "Ever since I've been gone" "(SOBBING)" "I've had pains and trouble" "(MAN SOBBING)" "Ever since I've been gone... (RABBI SPEAKING HEBREW)" "Francis Rogers, loving son to Natalie and Boris." "Buck to his many friends." "Cultural figure." "Generously supported the Federation, the Sisterhood lunch, the renovation of the Bessie Weinbaum Memorial..." "Excuse me, are you Richard Finestra?" "No." "He, uh, couldn't make it." "Just..." "He wanted to be here." " RABBI:" "Owner of six stations on radio." "(SIGHS)" "Music, sporting events, traffic." "WBSO especially good for the traffic." "(RICHIE GRUNTING)" "Okay, now say it." "(PANTING)" "Selling the company really fucked with me in ways I didn't anticipate." "I didn't get how much it brought up shit about my father and everything." "And Buck's funeral today." "They're putting the man in the ground, I'm not even there, okay?" "Which shows you how committed I..." "He refers to Buck Rogers as "that psychotic dipwad."" "Don't roll your eyes." "Put it into the couch." "(GRUNTING)" "DOUG:" "There we go." "Put it into the couch, not your marriage." "RICHIE:" "Fucking bitch!" "(PANTING)" "How does that feel?" "Yeah, better, actually." "I don't want to take it out on her." " On you." " Who?" " Devon." " Yeah." "Say it to her." " I don't want to take it out..." " I got it, thank you." "Good." "Why don't you give it a try?" "Whacking the couch?" "I'm okay." "If you were okay, you wouldn't be here." "The racket's not gonna help." "DOUG:" "I think it helped Richie." "We got him to talk about what's happening with him without attacking your relationship." "Both of you need to identify who you are outside of the marriage." "That's important for you, too, particularly now that Richie is looking at his own shit." "Mmm, so now Little Richie's feeling better." "I fucking hate it when she calls me that." "I don't want him to feel better." "I want him to feel worse." " You see this shit?" " DOUG:" "Devon." "Our marriage is based on an agreement that nobody does drugs." "Ah, this is how this goes, nobody but me ever did anything." "Because when we do, people end up in the hospital on life support or dead." "Mea culpa, okay?" "Nobody got hurt this time." "You have two healthy children." "What do you want me to say?" "Not that you feel better!" "DOUG:" "Devon, I hear how angry you are." "You have every right to be." "I want you to pick up the racket and let the couch absorb..." "He's ruining my life!" "I'm not hitting the fucking couch with a tennis racket!" "(MUSIC PLAYING OVER RADIO) Oh, Candida" "We could make it together" "The further from here... ls he trying to kill me?" "Leo, the station." "(RADIO STATION CHANGES)" " SCOTT:" "Come on." "Well, at least we don't have to worry about him boycotting us anymore." "(CHUCKLES)" "Buck." "The man was murdered." "I'm just saying." "Silver lining." "See that guy talking to me, at the service?" "Brown suit." "Thought I was Richie." "You would dress better." "(CHUCKLES)" " You know, if you were Richie." " Yeah, I follow you." "SKIP:" "Probably a bill collector." "Schulman says there's some fishy shit in the books." " Who's Schulman?" " The forensic accountant." "Did he call you?" "He had some questions I tried to answer." "It didn't add up." "Somebody's playing shell games." "No, no, if Richie drained the goddamn company, why didn't he unload it when he had the chance?" "'Cause he's a coke fiend back on coke." " You're looking for logic?" " He's under a lot of pressure." " A lot of pressure." " Oh, really?" "Whose fault is that?" "Yeah, he's got all of AR shitting their pants." "I mean, he's really gonna fire them if they don't sign an act in a week." "Yeah, why the fuck not?" "You should find an act." "It ain't rocket science." "You throw a brick in this town, you hit somebody singing a song." "Bette fucking Midler got discovered in a feygele bathhouse." "(PHONE RINGS)" "I have a girlfriend." "I don't hang out at feygele bathhouses." "LEO:" "Hey, Zak, I got Richie." " Give me him." "Give it to me." " Give it." "ZAK:" "Give me the phone." "JULIE:" "Here, give him more cord." "It doesn't reach." " Hand me the phone!" " You're gonna break it." "You're gonna break the fuckin' phone!" " You're holding it." " ZAK:" "I got it." "Leave it alone." "JULIE:" "It's stuck." "SCOTT:" "Come on." "ZAK:" "Fuck." "Hey, I thought you were gonna be there." "Had to meet somebody." "How was it?" "ZAK:" "Fucking freak show." "Couldn't call me and let me know you're not coming..." "Hey, you didn't think I wanted to be there?" "I wouldn't miss a goddamn funeral unless there was a significant thing." "Well, I would have appreciated a warning." "I got to tell everybody you're late." "ZAK:" "Then there's this other guy coming around." " And then I don't know who he is." " Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, listen to me." "Okay?" "I got Hannibal coming in today to get fluffed before we re-up his contract." "How about you and the guys grab lunch before you come home?" "You know, so he doesn't feel swamped." "ZAK:" "Don't we want him to feel swamped?" "Fuck!" "Well, Skip won't shut up about the royalty rate, and Julie gave him all that shit about the fucking synth on the last album." "No, Julie's in the studio today and Skip's making sales calls, so I can ditch Scott, so..." "RICHIE:" "Hey, are we arguing about lunch?" "Get a drink." "What's the problem?" "Yeah, fine, okay." "Whatever." "Fuck." "(SIGHS)" "I just had this pressed." "I'm calling Joe Smith at Warners today." "Beg for a fucking job." "You're gonna walk away from a 22% stake in the company?" "Oh, my stake in the company." "My stake is now worth zero." " Just fucking relax." " You fucking relax." " I lost everything." " We all lost everything." "Nobody hires you right now." "You tanked the buyout." "You smell like a turd." "Get out of the fucking limo if it's such a hardship." "What, you were really gonna retire after that buyout?" "And do what?" "Paint Moira's toenails?" "And you, you think you'll ever get pussy again, you're not a record man?" "Bunch of whiners." "Enough already!" "Watch your leg." "This is my side of the car, that's your side." " What, are you six years old?" " SCOTT:" "Yeah, maybe I am." "Shut up." "Shut the fuck up." "(HORNS HONKING)" "(SIREN CHIRPING)" "You recording today?" "Goulet, the Christmas album." "Oh, yeah, my mom loves him." "Do me a favor, look out the window." "Play the license plate game, all right?" "In silence." "(MUSIC PLAYING OVER RADIO) Everything is beautiful... (TSKS) Leo!" "You're killing me." "(RADIO STATION CHANGES)" " Just a minute." "(PHONE RINGS)" "Cece, he's here." "People, let me tell you about a place I know" "To get in it don't take much dough" "Where you can really do your thing" "Oh, yeah" "It's got a neon sign outside" "That says come in and take a look at your mind" "You'd be surprised what you might find, yeah" "Strobe lights flashing from sunup to sundown..." "There he is." "Give me five, my brother." "Look at that." "We got a butterfly." "What's your name, butterfly?" " Cece." " Cece." "Hal has the big room all set up." " Can I walk you in?" " Yeah, we got ribs, brisket." " You remember that place..." " We're vegetarian now." "Get this shit out of here." "Move." "All of it." "You don't got no Danish at 11:00 in the morning?" "Uh, of course we do, sweetheart." "Jamie, uh, go down to Goldie's." "Uh, twenty-five Danish, no poppy." "Uh, it sticks in the teeth." "Am I right?" "RICHIE:" "Where is he?" "Hannibal!" "Unh!" "Somebody get me a marker so this man can sign my chest." "HANNIBAL:" "Hairy motherfucker." "How I'm gonna sign that?" "Come on, give it to me. (LAUGHS)" "I see you, Starr." "I see you like a goddamn poem." "So fucking beautiful." "(LAUGHS) I love you, baby." "Me, too." "Somebody get the queen some champagne, please." "Uh-huh." " Mmm." " You got your own poem." "Oh, yeah, huh?" "I guess I'm not as dumb as I look." "You're gonna have a drink with me, right?" "Penny, Jamie hook you up?" "Yep." "How's everybody doing?" "Oh, yes." "STARR:" "My favorite white girl." "PENNY:" "Forgive me." "Hannibal." "RICHIE:" "We're not talking deal points, Harvey." "We're just two big boys having a drink, am I right?" " No numbers, okay?" " We good, bro." " Get some fruit." "He got to reduce." "(LAUGHS)" "Fucking fat ass." "RICHIE:" "I got something that's waiting for you." "JAMIE:" "Five cheese, five apricot." "No, no poppy." "I'll be right down." " You meet him?" " JAMIE:" "No, you?" "I will." "I just found these two guys who sound exactly like Humble Pie." "Do you really need me to break this down for you?" "Find somebody who sounds exactly like nobody you've ever heard." "Oh, now she's the Dalai Lama." "Look, the Nasty Bits suck my balls." "Just because Richie..." "I don't want to get into this with you." "Oh, okay, then they're geniuses and I just don't get it?" "You're right, you just don't get it." "You think I could fire her, huh?" "You haven't found anybody, huh?" "(BIRDS CHIRPING)" "(TEA KETTLE WHISTLING)" "How's Starr treating you?" "HANNIBAL:" "Starr want me dead." "That's why I can't go nowhere without her." "Can't give her no time to plan." "So, Harvey walk you through the changes?" "We weren't gonna talk business." "I'm not negotiating, brother." "I just hope that he told you that we rolled over on basically everything." "I'm a dog laying on the floor showing you my belly." "(RICHIE CHUCKLES)" "Jackie Jervis sent me a case of Dom." "Jackie Jervis is a twat." "He suck you off, too?" "HANNIBAL:" "He didn't have to." "All the Dom I drank, I got too tired." "You know how many funk acts they have over there at Koronet Records?" " Not gonna remember your name." " He said my name a lot." " He got it down." " Oh, yeah?" "Can I interest you in this?" "Or do you want to run home to Jackie's Dom?" "(CHUCKLES)" " Give me that." " Line it up." "I want to throw something on the pick for you." "I want you to listen to this horn." "This is the cat who played with Les McCann on Compared to What." " HANNIBAL:" "That's a hot track." " No shit." " Listen to this." "(MUSIC PLAYING)" "(HANNIBAL SNORTING)" "Hey." "Hey, me, too, motherfucker." "You off the wagon?" "Shit." "Listen, listen." "Ooh!" "That's a mean horn." "I'm putting him on your next album." "(SNORTING)" " My ma coming to the show tonight." "Front row." "Esther?" "She's a fucking pistol." "Rein it in with the chicken." "Last time she saw you, she started bringing over trays of that shit." ""You give this to Richie." "His folks both in the ground now." ""Somebody got to take care of him."" " Well, she's fucking right." "How come you didn't bring me my fucking chicken?" " I ate it." "Man, Starr only cook vegetarian now." "(LAUGHS)" "Fucking nasty shit." "We're running the world, we can't get a bite to eat." "You better not run this world into the ground, Mack." "Selling your label, not selling your label." "I heard Dusty Springfield bailed." "Dusty Springfield's a fuckin' loon." "Have a little faith, how about?" "Do I not take care of you?" "Have I not always taken care of Hannibal?" "Found a couple of your fucking groupies downstairs." "Oh, my goodness." "Hi." "RICHIE:" "Cece brought out the new Bobby Womack." "Playing it for Starr right now." "(CHUCKLES)" "All right, sugar." "You better pinch me, make sure I'm real." "(ELEVATOR BELL DINGS)" " Sorry." "I need to get out." "Thanks." "Hey." "Shall we?" "JAMIE:" "Uh... (MOUTHING)" "Let me just see what's going on back here." "(MUSIC PLAYING) -(lNDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)" "LESTER:" "I need to see Richie." "Do you have an appointment?" "Tell him Lester Grimes is here." " Does that mean you have an appointment?" " Yeah." "Trying to sign with him?" "I can slip him your tape." "Oh, yeah?" "You an American Century artist?" "I'm here to sign." "Sorry, just a few more minutes." " You want a drink?" " We want to sign the bloody contract." "Lester?" "What the fuck?" "Welcome to American Century." "Get ready to take it up the ass." "(SCOFFS)" "MAN: (ON RADIO) The news watch never stops." "You really think Richie's skimming?" "Probably." "Selfish piece of shit." " I bought my in-laws a condo." "Boca." " Mmm." " You get a deal?" " No, I didn't." "I didn't." "They were gonna move in with us." "And I was saving my life." "I thought I was about to make millions from the sale of a company." "Eight years cleaning up after him like the asshole behind the elephant." "What's with you?" "You don't seem to give a shit that the sale tanked." "I give a big shit." "I was gonna stay with them, PolyGram." " Maybe work at the headquarters." " Germany?" "(SCOFFS)" "Fucking kike." "What, are you gonna pass as an Italian?" "No, stop." "It's different now." "West Berlin is..." "It's a happening place." "Culturally." "Well, you're not going." "Did you ever meet him before?" "Hannibal?" "Once, twice." "The big acts, Richie doesn't want you to come around because you'll steal his thunder." "I can't come home with a napkin that he signed?" "That's all." "You know, I listened to Hannibal when he was still called Lyle Hanny." "I brought an act in once." "A girl with a guitar." "So sweet, you just..." "You wanna die." "Irish." "Not that Celtic crap." "She wrote a, uh, song about a boat." "He says, um, "You don't got an ear, Zak." ""Yeah, but that's okay 'cause you got a nose for promos."" "That's his rhyming couplet." "This artistic visionary that we're following off a fucking cliff." "Hey, listen to me, Zak, you got a great ear." "I do or I don't, who gives a shit?" "I got relationships with every DJ in the United States." "Yeah." "Mobile, Alabama, has got two broads playing the tin cups, I know about it." "And if Mobile loves them, I take them national." "That's how we got Wilson and Chick." " And the..." " Penny." "The Penny Fliers." "I'm a relationship person." "Richie Finestra, he's got a relationship with himself." "This is bloody." "I can't eat this." " Ma'am." " Medium well." "(CASH REGISTER DINGS) -(COINS RATTLE)" "(MUSIC PLAYING)" "SKIP:" "Thank you." "Ah!" "Money" "Get away..." "Hey, Skippy, we got a card game Thursday." " I bet we can make room." " Fuck off, Moose." "More pay and you're okay" "Money" "It's a gas" "Grab that cash with both hands" "And make a stash..." "This one of mine?" "Pink Floyd." "Capitol." "Just released." "How come I never walk in here and find you playing my shit?" "I got a Puerto Rican chick for questions like that." "But she's got tits like helium balloons, so from her I'm willing to take it." "I need you to hold off on the extracurricular Donny Osmond run." " The fugazis?" " Yeah." "I pressed them Friday." "We're very efficient." "Well, sit on them a couple of weeks." "The trucks went out this morning." "It's already at the Goody stores." "What the fuck?" "I ask you to run something, I normally got to stand here and threaten to piss in your face before it gets done." " I quit drinking." "I had a heart scan." " Oh." "Three nights in the hospital." "Turns out I can get a lot done in a day." "Mario, do you have any fucking idea what you just did?" "I am feeling better, thank you very much." "They're auditing my company." "I can't have 10,000 fake Donny Osmond returns showing up, right?" "It'll be more than we pressed in the first place." "So next time, do the math before you order an illegal run." "Hey, I paid for that run, I can't sell it." "I feel terrible for you." "Now don't give me that look." "Don't give me that look!" "You made this bed, not me." "You're a moaning asshole." "My blood pressure was 180 over 90!" "Man, fuck the coat." "I'm gonna get you an actual leopard." "Like a baby one?" "Yeah, you can't get them old or they'll eat your face off." "Cece, I want to take this kid out after his show tonight, so book a table for everybody, okay?" "We're gonna have a goddamn vegetarian orgy." "Rice." "Whatever you want." "Richie, there's a detective calling for you." "Take a message, for Christ's sake." "Rich." "Ain't I clean Bad machine" "Super cool Super mean" "Feeling good for the man" "Superfly here I stand..." "Richard, I need to speak with you." "Hey!" "Do you know Hannibal?" "Hannibal, this is Robert Goulet." "You think you got to tell me that?" "He's fucking Lancelot." "Man, you the whole salami." "Oh, look at that, you're the salami." "Shouldn't you be in the studio?" "JULIE:" "Bob." "Bob, can you have a seat in my office, please?" "No, I have one original song on this album of warmed-over slop." "If we start on the original material..." "It's about the day after Christmas." "It's an untouched market." "You want to stick your head in the oven, you hear this song." "There he is!" "Zak is back." "Take your time, honey." "Been at lunch since breakfast." "Uh, would you offer Bob a drink, please?" "I'll be in in a minute, okay?" "Hannibal, I fucking love you." " He doesn't give a shit." "(CECE CHUCKLES)" "Five minutes." "Superfly here I stand..." "JAMIE:" "Oh, Richie..." "Baddest bitches in the bed..." " HANNIBAL:" "Buy these for yourself?" " But they're not real." "HANNIBAL:" "They don't need to be real." "Next to these eyes, real rocks is a waste of bread." "JAMIE:" "Hey." "This how he treats all his bands?" "I'm so sorry." "It's crazy here today." " Fucking bullshit." " Have you had lunch?" "No." "There's a diner called Munson's up the block." "We ain't signed." "We ain't got no money." "LESTER:" "What'd you think was gonna happen?" "I don't..." "Even if you managed to sell this sorry shit as an album, what then?" "The fucking Mike Douglas Show like this?" "Am I a sideshow monkey, man?" "Put me in a little vest?" " Shut the fuck up." " You got a guilty conscience and this is your solution?" "Ten years and this is what you come up with?" "Yeah, man, that's it!" "That's all I got!" "You don't like it, get the fuck out!" "Fuck." "I listened to that shit." "That's my fault." "It's been years since I heard what I used to..." "Why didn't you just fucking hit me with a bat like Galasso did?" " Ain't no difference." " Lester, if I thought for one second that this was gonna hurt..." "Look, I swear to God, man, I just thought that if we took those tracks..." "What are you doing?" "What are you doing?" "Oh, that's great." "Very nice." "Oh, come on, man." "Yeah, that's really great." "Thanks." "Cece, get me some water, please." " Cece, get me some water!" " Holy shit!" "Cece, get me a fire extinguisher!" "WOMAN:" "What's happening in there?" " Back, now." " Are we getting water?" " Cece, anybody, get me some water!" " I sent someone, Richie." "JAMIE:" "Hurry up!" "CECE:" "Get the hell out of there!" "(FIRE ALARM RINGING)" "CECE:" "Go away!" "Get out!" " RICHIE:" "What the fuck?" " Holy shit." "Fucking kidding me?" "Fuck!" "(SINGING) Crybaby" "Cry baby" "Cry baby" "Honey, welcome back home" "I know she told you" "Hon, I know she told you that she loved you" "Much more than I did" "But all I know is that she left you" "And you swear that you just don't know why..." "WOMAN:" "This was when?" "DEVON:" "Uh, a couple weeks ago." "WOMAN:" "You, too, or just the den?" "Excuse me?" "Any physical abuse in the marriage?" "Oh, no, no." "Not in..." "No." "No, you don't need to write that down." "It was an accident." "(SCOFFS) ls that what women say?" "I get a lot of clumsy women." "That's not what this was." "It was a car accident." "As much my fault as Richie's." "So you can cross that out." "How about I do my part, you do yours?" "I don't want you suggesting in your records that I have an abusive husband." "He abuses drugs." "That's different." "I want it to be about what it is." " Drug abuse." " And alcohol." " Which, for an addict with a history of..." " Accidents." "Is this supposed to feel like a cross-examination?" "It's not supposed to feel very nice." "And if someone told you it would, they misled you." "You expect sole custody of the children?" "No." "He's a good father." "He's never exposed the kids to..." "I thought your son found him drunk on the couch with the rectangular guitar." "Shared custody." "Because he's a good father?" "Yes." "Sylvia!" "Invoice the hour." "You want the questionnaire?" "Sure, what the hell?" "You bring a checkbook with you, Mrs. Finestra?" " Yes." " Great." "There's a $150 charge for this meeting and Sylvia will give you a questionnaire." "You can fill it out at home." "Your secretary said on the phone that there would be no charge for the initial consultation." " Well, she was mistaken." " What if I hadn't brought my checkbook?" "Lucky for me you did." "If you think this somehow makes me more comfortable with the idea of you handling my divorce..." "You're not getting divorced, Mrs. Finestra." "You just wasted an hour of my time generating a card to play in the next fight you have with your husband." "That is the most condescending thing anyone..." "You love your husband, sweetheart." "I wish you didn't." "He sounds like a real asshole." "If I'm wrong, fill out the questionnaire and we'll discuss it the next time we meet." "$150." "My last name is Gross." "Spelled like "Wow, that was really gross."" "One, two, three, now" "(MUSIC PLAYING)" "They could care less about you They could care less about me" "As long as they are to end the place that they want to be" "They're always wearing false smiles I guess it goes with their style" "Politicians in my eyes..." "LESTER:" "You get an idea, you can't shake it." "Hum along with it when you're on a train." "You like it for a minute, but then you hate it." "It ain't good enough, but you write it down anyway just to get it out of your head." "Then you pull out your guitar, see if it might stand up." "Your mouth, your thought, your hand." "Put a microphone in your face, somebody hits record." "Hmm." "Now you sign a deal with a label, paid you a big chunk of change to cut an album, so you're feeling like the man, but they gonna hit that pile of cash, pull out a stack to pay for the studio," "the guy pushing the button and the cover art and the poster and the launch party." "That's called recoupment." "Cut the record, it sells in stores, shop gets half." "Take out a buck for the manufacturing." "Buck and a half for the distribution." "Buck for marketing." "Not a whole lot left for you." "But, even if there is, you don't get to see a dime of it till they pay off your production costs." "Probably need to sell 100,000 records to do that." "A hundred thousand is more people than you'll ever meet in your life." "You know the difference between mechanical royalties, performance royalties, artist royalties, songwriting royalties?" "All that shit's gonna show up on a stack of paper, your name at the bottom under a dotted line like it's already done." "And Richie Finestra's gonna hand you a drink and a pen." "He knows that every single one of those things is negotiable down to 100th of a percent." "I know." "Only ones that don't know is you." "And you're the ones holding the pen." "CECE:" "Hannibal said he'd put me on the list for the show tonight." " RICHIE:" "Good for you." " You're going, too, right?" "What do you want, a ride in the limo?" "Are you gonna change before the show?" "I take off the jacket, it's a whole nother story." "All right." "Goulet wants to record an original song, I think we should let him do it." " Throw him a bone." " You're the one who thinks we're getting evicted, so if you want to do it..." "You're the one who wants new material, okay?" "He's got a fresh idea." "It's worth trying." "Got him in here anyhow." "Not like we got to hire an orchestra." "You know what, we're here arguing and they're sitting in the studio burning up the hour..." "I said yes." "What, you want it in a telex?" "(SIGHS)" "Richie, you're signing the Nasty Bits." " You can do it in Julie's office." " Can't I get one minute?" "No." "They've been sitting here for the entire afternoon." " Try and look excited, okay?" " Shut the fuck up." "Hey, there they are." "The Bits." "We were listening to your demo this afternoon." " It was so hot, set my office on fire." " Shit." "Cece's gonna open a bottle of champagne so we can all get shit-faced, okay, before you throw your chop on the line." "Come on." "Get in there, you nasty, Nasty Bits." "Hey, coffee." "We want to go over a couple of deal points first, yeah?" "Yeah, okay." "Sure." "Our manager's gonna join." "He just went to take a leak." "You got a manager?" "Good, one less thing to figure out." " Yeah, there he is." " Great." "You two go back, right?" "I don't need to do no introductions." "(MUSIC PLAYING)" "Fuck." "Piece of..." "Hey, you gotta buy that, man." "(MUSIC STOPS)" "What the hell are you doing?" "You can't touch that." "I'm gonna have to call my manager." "SKIP:" "You take this off the platter, I get you fired." "(MUSIC PLAYING)" " Okay, sunflower?" "Hey, why is my Donny Osmond display shoved in the back of the window behind the Dueling fucking Banjos?" "People love those banjos." "That fucking retarded kid." "But I paid you for the front row." "I want to see Donny Osmond's face, he's got half a nose out there." "Okay, okay." "I'll fix it." "Okay, Mario just sent you an overrun of the Osmond." "I want you to hold off on it for a while." " You kidding me?" " No." "Gonna put the whole operation on ice for a couple of months." "Fuck that." "I got two dozen copies of that fucking record." "I want my return money." "No, you can return what you'd have normally." "No extras, okay?" "'Cause I got accountants crawling up every orifice this week." " That's your problem, man." " Oh, you want to blow the whole gig?" "You don't need the extra cash?" "They pay you so much as a manager of shoving paper clips up his ass, you don't want a cut anymore?" "Why can't Mario take them back?" "Because Mario's a fucking asshole." "Like you're a fucking asshole." "He gets a cut, you get a cut." "I'm the only one taking risks." " Oh, you don't get a cut?" "You bought that shit-brown Camaro on what you won betting on the Mets?" "I take plenty of risk." "Howard's been sniffing around here all the time now that his wife left him." "And I'll tell you what risk I'm not gonna take." "I'm not storing 50 boxes of illegal Donny Osmond albums." "I'm gonna lose my job." "I just bought a bumper pool table." "I can't be out of work right now." "You destroyed my office!" "That's 10 grand worth of damage in there." "Fucking gold records warped." "Let's talk about the band's advance." "You're a fucking manager, I'm Venus on the half-shell." "I am, and I'm gonna specialize in people Richie Finestra's ready to gut." "Let me ask you something." "In what universe do you think these shit palms" "pay a black man 20% of their dough?" "(KNOCKING ON DOOR)" "Richie, we gotta swing." "Snow's gonna start." "RICHIE:" "Yeah, I'll meet you there." "Uh, should I take the limo?" "How about you take a cab?" "ls that too much of a hardship?" "Thirty-grand advance." "Fifteen, which is five more than they're worth." "Thirty, and you stay out of the studio." "Get the fuck out of my office." "They have a right to preserve their sound." "You don't give a crap about their sound, you tripped over them in my lobby." "They have a raw energy." "I wanna protect that." "You wanted to protect me, so that ain't something that inspires much." "You know something?" "You overestimate how shitty I feel about what happened to you." "My label, my artist." "I wanna mix that fucking record myself, I'll do it." "Twenty grand." "The future is not what it seems... (RICHIE SIGHS)" "I'd offer you a drink, but you're an asshole." "Qué sera" "When I saw you outside your building that night, what was playing?" "Some kind of bongo beat under a funk something." "Oh, this kid, Kool Herc, plays two records at the same time." "Turned my fucking head around." "I had to stop the car." "Does he write his own stuff?" "You never stop hustling, do you?" "You better hope I don't." "Qué sera" "(MUSIC PLAYING OVER HEADSET)" "(SIGHS)" "(PEN SCRATCHES)" "(SIGHS)" "Hey." "So you found an act, huh?" "Yeah, man, I think so." "Called Veiniacs." " The Veiniacs." " No, just Veiniacs." "Are they, uh..." "What are they like?" "If T. Rex and Sweet fucked, had a baby raised by Dr. John, you dig?" " Yeah." " Yeah." "Yeah." "They're black guys?" " No." " Really?" "Did you not, um, find any?" " Black bands?" " Yeah." "I did." "Didn't want to go that way?" "Yeah, no." "I feel that, you know?" "You don't want to be pigeonholed." "You think I'm here just to bring in the brothers?" "Hey, no, I mean, we're all just here to be who we are." "Did Julie say something?" "Uh, about?" "I'm supposed to only bring in RB and funk?" "No, no." "I mean, he may have said something." "I don't really remember." "You know?" " You want some coffee?" " No." "(MUSIC PLAYING)" "MALE ANNOUNCER:" "Ladies and gentlemen, the man of the hour." "Put your hands together for Hannibal!" "Yeah!" "(CROWD CHEERING) -(VOCALIZING)" "MAN: (SINGING) Hannibal" "CHORUS"." "We want you back" "MAN:" "Hannibal" "We want you back" "CHORUS:" "We want you back" "MAN:" "I said Hannibal" "We want you back" "CHORUS:" "We want you back..." "STARR:" "Nobody got the carrots like I asked for." "Excuse me." "Bitch, get a hobby." "You see how these bitches want something for free?" "You see that one back there?" " WOMAN:" "Hey, Starr." " Hey, Deirdre." "Chew on a stick." "Baby, why are you not wearing the scarf?" "Shit." "Where it at?" "Get that goddamn scarf!" "You gonna walk slow?" "Oh, my God." "Supposed to be good for the throat." " Oh, yeah?" " Not really." "But it shuts him up." "Hannibal!" "Jackie Jervis." "Look at you." "That's some bad pants." "I want some pants like that." "(CHUCKLES)" "I'll take them off." "You can wear 'em." "Get out the way." "Andrea, baby." "You so hot, you dangerous." " Oh, can I eat you alive?" " HANNIBAL:" "Mmm-hmm." "ANDREA:" "Ooh, you smell like cookies." "MAN: (SINGING) I said Hannibal" "We want you back" "CHORUS"." "We want you back..." "You know Cece?" "Jackie Jervis and Andrea." " She so fine, she don't need a last name." "(LAUGHS)" "CECE:" "Nice to meet you." " Cece work for Richie." " Oh, yeah?" " Is he lurking around here?" " He's on his way." "Oh, well, maybe I should leave." "I don't want to show him up." "He'll be here in a minute." "Just stuck in a meeting." "New artist." "Wow, you're already yesterday's news over there, huh?" "(LAUGHS)" "MAN: (SINGING) Hannibal..." " Was the opening act one of yours?" " What?" "No, man." "I'm not here to see your opener, motherfucker." "I'm here to see you." "I don't care whose label you're on." " L'm a fan of your music, man." "(CHUCKLES)" " He's smooth." " Mmm." "Hey, you better play Up the Kleedle tonight." "lt's my favorite song." " Gogo!" "We got Up the Kleedle on the list tonight?" "Put it on!" "I have the artist stage right." "Hannibal, we're ready for you." "(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)" "JACKIE:" "All right, Hannibal." "Whoo!" "Hannibal!" " Whoo!" " All right, baby." "(CROWD CHEERING)" "WOMAN: (SINGING) Hannibal" "MAN:" "Put your hands together" "(CROWD CHEERING)" "Just clap your hands like this, here." "Come on." "Let's go." "(SINGING) Come here, kitty Got a bottle of wine" "Come on, kitty Want to kill some time" "Who knows when they gonna drop the bomb on us?" "Singing everybody better get along" "CHORUS:" "It's all right" "Lady" "Let's make a baby" "It's all right" "Lady" "Let's make a baby" "Sing, girl" "So what you saying to me, brother'?" "That every woman got to be a mother?" "Maybe that's not my scene" "Oh" "If you know what I mean" "I'm talking about love, love, love" "I'm talking about love" "I'm talking about love, love, love" "Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, yeah" "Whoo" "Ooh, lady, let's make a baby" "Whoo" "Ooh, lady, let's make a baby" "Ooh, lady, let's make a baby" "Ooh, lady, let's make a baby" "Ooh, lady, let's make a baby" "Ooh, lady, let's make a baby" "Ooh, lady" "Everybody sing It's all right" "Lady, let's make a baby" "All right" "Lady, let's make a baby..." "Richie, Cece's on the phone." "She says Jackie Jervis is at the show and he's all over Hannibal." "Are you fucking kidding me?" " Do you want to talk to her?" " No." "No, just tell her to keep him away from Jervis." "Offer to blow him in the corner." "Some fucking thing." "I'll be there in 10 minutes." "Hannibal or Jervis?" "(SNORTS)" "What?" "Should she offer to blow?" "It's an expression." "Hannibal, should the opportunity arise." "Tell Leo to bring the car around." "Fuck." " What are you doing?" " Uh..." "Those two guys right there want to talk to you." "They're detectives." "Why'd you let them back here?" "Well, nobody's out front." "I'm covering Cece's desk so you're not alone." " Should I..." " Well, I think at this point, you got to let them in." "Hey. guys." "What's up?" "DETECTIVE RENK:" "Hey." "DETECTIVE WHORISKY:" "Hey." "DETECTIVE RENK:" "What happened here?" "Oh, uh..." "Sprinklers." " Wow." " Yeah." "It's not really a good time." "Besides, I already talked to Voehel." "Somebody's got your hoe in the same row." "Voehel?" "Yeah, Detective Voehel." "I hate to eavesdrop." "Did I hear one of the gals say Robert Goulet was here today?" " Yeah." "ls he making a record?" " Yep." " I knew it." "That's terrific." "When can I purchase a copy?" " Christmas." "It's a Christmas album." " Oh." "What you gonna call it?" "I don't know." "Something like Robert Goulet's Christmas Album." "Ch." "How about something in a neighborhood of Christmas with Bob?" "Hmm?" " Does he go by Bob?" " Uh, yeah, he does." "Guys, how can I help?" "Is it standards or new material?" "Mostly standards." "Hmm." "You weren't at Buck Rogers' funeral." "We thought we'd catch you there." "Yeah, I wanted to come." "Got detained." "DETECTIVE RENK:" "Oh, with what?" "Something happen at the funeral?" "The mother was really... (EXHALES)" " Undone." " Did you know her?" "No." "No, we were business acquaintances." "No social interaction at all?" "No." "I mean, look, I'm in a business where professional interaction has a social component." "Did you two chat on the phone a lot?" " We spoke." " Yeah, we saw that." "Saw what?" "That he called you." "We looked at his phone records." "(SINGING) Call me irresponsible" "Call me unreliable" "Did he say that when he called?" "(CHUCKLES)" "It's a Goulet song." "The last person he called from his home on the night he went missing was a Finestra, Richard, of Greenwich, Connecticut." "(MUSIC PLAYING)" "ROBERT: (SINGING) All the stockings are hollowed" "All the paper is torn" "All the eggnog is swallowed" "Not a drop left this morn" "And I wonder how long" "This poor pine tree will last" "Christmas, you go so fast" "So I sit..." "You're right." "I wanna drown myself in a bucket of water." "Just the memory of kissing" "Underneath mistletoe..." "Come on, come on." "Let's go." "Let's go." "I have waited all year" "For what's now in the past" "Christmas, you go so fast" "It's only fa-Ia-Ia-Ia-Ia" "Goodbye to gingerbread" "And fa-Ia-Ia-Ia-Ia" "Old Santa's gone to bed" "Oh, fa-Ia-Ia-Ia-Ia" "Little star upon the tree" "Say fa-Ia-Ia-Ia-Ia" "It's only you and me" "And so now as the year ends" "I see slush on the floor" "From the boots of my dear friends" "As they walked out the door" "(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)" " Yuck!" "(COUGHS) -(LAUGHING)" "If it takes a whole month" "If it takes a whole year" "(SIGHS)" "I'll bring you back" "Christmas, come back" "Christmas, you go" "So fast" "(PHONE RINGING)" " Hello?" " RICHIE:" "Hey, babe." "Listen, I've got to take Hannibal and his fucking circus out after the show." "I'm gonna stay in the city, okay?" "I spoke to a lawyer today." "A divorce..." "Baby, I'm sorry." "I've gotta run, okay?" "I'll try you in the morning." "(PHONE CLICKS)" "(CLOCK TICKING)" "(CRICKETS CHIRPING)" "(DOG BARKING)" "(SOBBING)" "(SHOUTING)" "(MUSIC PLAYING)" "(CROWD APPLAUDING)" "Oh, you good." "Thank you." "Enjoy your drink." "We gonna do the same." "(SIGHS)" "You still dry?" "No." "Pour him a drink." "He's got a fat wallet, so..." "Pour everybody a drink." "What do you want?" "Maybe I just..." "I wanted to see you." "(SIGHS) "Hey, Papa."" ""I've come home, Papa."" ""Hold me, Papa."" "Fuck you." "I need an alibi." "(MUSIC PLAYING)" "(SIGHS)" "Oh, sinnerman Where you gonna run to?" "Sinnerman, where you gonna run to?" "Where you gonna run to?" "All on that day" "Well, I run to the rock" "Please hide me I run to the rock" "Please hide me I run to the rock" "Please hide me, Lord All on that day" "But the rock cried out "I can't hide you"" "The rock cried out "I can't hide you"" "The rock cried out "I ain't gonna hide you, guy"" "All on that day" "I said, "Rock" ""What's the matter with you, Rock?" ""Don't you see I need you, Rock?"" "Lord, Lord, Lord All on that day" "So I run to the river It was bleeding" "I run to the sea It was bleeding" "All on that day" "So I run to the river It was boiling" "I run to the sea It was boiling" "All on that day"