Talking to my brother the other day, the conversation turned (as it does with alarming frequency) to the dreadful 1978 movie Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which led John to mention the interview in Rolling Stone around the time of its release, during which Robert Stigwood kept fondling the triple-embossed cover of the soundtrack LP.
"It wasn't actually Stigwood," I pointed out, "it was Al Coury."
At that point I realized my priorities were hopelessly screwed up. I can't remember phone numbers or names of people I know, couldn't tell you the eye colors of any ex-girlfriends or the clothing size of my ex-wife, can't remember all the details of my mom's last day on earth.
But by God I remember Al Coury was president of RSO Records in the late seventies, and he oversaw the Saturday Night Fever and Grease soundtracks, but miscalculated badly with the Sgt. Pepper soundtrack, an overpriced souveneir for a commercial flop, and the Bee Gees' first post-Fever album didn't live up to expectations, and RSO sank and Coury was out of a job and...
Why the hell did I know any of this in the first place, and why do I remember it?
