Richard interviewed on KLOS radio.

-(Rose Tint my World) And of course, the Rocky Horror Picture Show. You know, Richard. I'm writing my own sequel kind of thing, hope you don't mind.

R- Are you? Could you help me out? I'm trying to write one as well, perhaps we should get together.

-Well mine's the uh, Rocky Balboa Picture show. You know, Rocky goes "Uh,yo" and the audience goes "Adrian". It's really kinda fun. (It's gonna be wild . . . and wacky) Starring . . . (you get the idea here that Richard is giving them some sort of odd look, because the subject just sort of . . . dies) Let's just sample some of this CD, Absolute O'Brien. Give us a cut that we can sample about 30 seconds of.

R- Uh . . . oh my God. Uh, just do the opening, you'll just hear the sax on the opening, I love that sax. Track one.

-(Incubus of Love) Alright, this . . . Apartment Jazz. (talking through the music) Oooh, that's nice.

R- It is nice, isn't it. Nick Payne. (Saxophonist on the album)

-Very nice.

R- Cool, isn't it. Cool and groovy.

-You just said groovy. And Apartment Jazz. And now every time I hear this I'm going to think of you in an apartment with a couple of buddies and a radio or a tape recorder playing, and you recorded it there. You did it in a studio, I'm sure but . . .

R-Yeah.

-It's really gorgeous. [We always love it too when guests work the word "groovy" into their answers, and you've done that already. Twice, as a matter of fact.]

R- That's very nice. Why do you like it? Why do you like it so much? Why does it appeal to you? It's your age, isn't it. You're showing your age.

-It was one of my favorite words in the 70's, it went away, and all of a sudden it's come back.

R- Fab is another word I like very much. Absolutely FAB.

-I like "oyster".

R- Well, have you thought about therapy?

-I don't know what the hell I meant by that. Uh, Renee you're on the air with Richard O'Brien, go ahead.

Renee- Hello Richard!

R-Hello.

Renee- Richard, we know each other!

R- Oh my God. In the biblical sense?

Renee- Well, I don't know if you remember doing "Lower Depths" in the Hockston Theater in Boston?

R- Indeed I do . . .

Renee- You do?

R- Yeah . . .

Renee- Uh, I was working as an understudy in stage management and I asked to borrow the pair of tails that you wore as the actor in Lower Depths.

R-Yeah . . .

Renee- And you lent it to me. And then when I went to return it, you said "Oh no, keep it." And ever since, most every Halloween, I wear your tails.

R-How extraordinary. They're a collector's item.

Renee- It is, actually. I have meant to dry clean it, it's become a bit tattered.

R- Well, it's not original anymore, it's had some restoration, sorry.

-Renee, thanks for calling. Let's go to Kevin. Kevin, you're on the air. (pause) Kevin, you there?

Kevin- Oh yeah. Hey Richard what's going on?

R-Oh not a lot. How bout you?

Kevin- A friend of mine has seen the stage show live in Europe, and I've heard rumors of it being in the States live, and I was wondering if you knew if it would ever go live again in the States.

R- Well we've let the stock rights go in the States, that's true. We have trouble in the United States with the stage show because the movie has been so popular. And as a consequence, we take the show into a town and a taxi driver for instance will say "Why you in town?" And you say "Well we're bringing the Rocky Horror Show" and they say "Oh I've seen that." And you say "Really?, but this is the live show." "Yeah, I've seen the live show, it's on every Friday night down at the theater." You call cinemas theaters, that's another problem you see. And we go "No no no, that's the movie. This is the live show. You know, live actors." "Yeah, yeah, every Friday night in front of the . . " and you go "No! (gritting teeth) That's the FILM, this is live." And then they turn round and say "Why should we pay 30 bucks for a seat when we can go down to the theater- the CINEMA- and pay five bucks." And you say "Oohhhhh, ok. Let's leave town, what the hell."

-Do you think you'd have a problem filling a theatre? I don't think you would, would you?

R- No, I don't think so. But it's always educational, isn't it. It's educating the audience.

-And I love a guy coming in with an eloquent British accent doing a hick taxi driver. That was really cool.

R- (doing it again) Oh yeah?

- Well plus, I think that if it were to be back on stage, say for example on Broadway.

R-Yes.

-The performances would be so passionate and inspired because people have become so enamored with the film.

R-Yes. The production values would have to be high. We have toyed with the idea of dropping it in Vegas for a while and putting it back into, into the consciousness.

-It'd be a blast. Get Tom Cruise.

R- Tom. I tell you who'd really like to do it- David Hasselhoff. He's been trying for years, he'd love to do it. Yeah, I'd like to see him in the heels. Strut your stuff, David! Do your Thang!

-I don't think I'd want to see that. I don't know. I can think of a lot of people I'd LIKE to see in that role, but not David.

R- Would you like to share that with us?

- I'll make you a list.

-Let's go to Susan, she's on line 5. Susan?

Susan- Hello?

-You're on the air.

Susan- How're you doing?

R-Hello Susan.

Susan- Uh, I just fell in love with that bit of a song you had. What is the name of the CD so I can go out and buy it?

R- It's called Absolute O'Brien. Yeah.

-Record stores?

R-Most record stores, popular record stores that push up the prices . .

Susan- That's the way it always is. But I just fell in love with that small cut.

R-Well that's nice. I was very lucky. I got a very good producer. Now I was supposed to go and do this album and get out in three weeks. Because it was a stage show, most of it is from a stage show that I had already done with the band . . . and we went in and uh, about 18 months later, we wound up with this album.

But I was so lucky with this producer who was expecting to only do three weeks and went . . . beyond his remit. And the generosity I have found in this industry is remarkable. People who will go the extra 40 yards for you. And it breaks my heart, the generosity is so good I sometimes weep with the way these people work. And Pip Williams of course is well known, he worked with the Moody Blues and played guitar with the Moody Blues, this is the producer, and Shirley Bassie he's produced, among others.

-Sounds like you had a great deal of fun.

R-I learnt an awful lot.

-We're sitting here with Richard O'Brien, who wrote the Rocky Horror Picture Show and has a new CD out, Absolute O'Brien.

PART 3