My One Night Stand With Frank Sinatra Jr.

     Several decades ago I received a phone call from Rich Szabo, lead trumpet player with Frank Sinatra, Jr.'s band playing at the Sands Hotel in Atlantic City. Rich and I were long time friends. He grew up in Livingston, NJ and became a first class musician. I hired him in 1980 to lead a small jazz band I needed when I campaigned Betty Boop for President. He was also in a pilot tape I produced for TV Channel 9, performing on the street with other musicians. They all played out of tune, displaying a sign: WE NEED MONEY FOR MUSIC LESSONS. That pitch generated enough money to buy our musicians and camera crew dinner.
     So Rich is on the phone and says that Sinatra, Jr. wants to meet me personally in Atlantic City the next night. He'll pay all expenses....travel, hotel room and meals. I'll get a front row for his soldout show and we'll hang out together in his penthouse suite afterwards. I accepted the invitation.
     For those who don't remember or were not born at the time, little Frankie was kidnapped and held for ransom. Frank Sr. paid the million dollar ransom and got him back unharmed. The kidnappers were caught, went to jail and the money never found. I suspect the criminals buried it somewhere so they could live nicely after twenty years of incarceration.
     As a result of his abduction, Sinatra, Jr. developed a phobia about being in crowds, always fearful of being kidnapped again. So he became reclusive, except for appearances on stage. His meals were always in a guarded suite and he stayed very close to home. Szabo had told him about my many adventures, especially the ones with Betty Boop campaigning in Los Angeles, Aspen, New York and Detroit. In the latter city we marched into the Joe Louis Arena with our entourage, Ms. Boop and the band playing "The  Saints." The guards surrounded us and we were thrown out. What fun that was!
     I enjoyed dinner at the luxurious Sands with Szabo, enjoyed the show afterwards and then took the elevator up to Sinatra's suite. A guard ushered me into the sunken living room and Rich Szabo introduced me to Frank Sinatra, Jr. He was delighted to meet me as was I to meet him. I accepted a diet Pepsi and noticed two stunning blondes standing in the background. The were wearing skimpy outfits that barely covered anything. (I learned later they were Penthouse Magazine models who occasionally traveled with the singer. Hmmmmmm.)
     Szabo had warned me in advance not to pose for any photos with Frank; that was always a no-no along with the crowd phobia. I always had my 35 mm Kowa camera with me. Oh well. We'll see, I thought.
     It was around 11 pm when I arrived at the penthouse. Frank and I hit it off immediately and talked and talked about everything imaginable. The phone rang once. It was Frank, Sr. I heard one side of their conversation:  "Hi dad. Everything went well. Great show, great audience and I feel fine. How about you? I'm here with Alan Abel. You remember that campaign in the 60's to clothe all naked animals for the sake of decency? Yes, that was his creation. He had Buck Henry helping him with the hoax. It fooled everybody, including Walter Cronkite. Yes, very funny. We're having a lot of laughs over that and other capers he did. O.K. I'll talk to you tomorrow night. Love you. Bye-bye."
     The hours went by with more talk and lots of laughter from Frank, Rich, the two girls and two security guards. Room service brought up a rolling table laden with sandwiches and salads for all at
4:00 am. I was getting very tired. Frank must have had his adrenaline kicking in. He showed no signs of relaxing from more talk. Around 6:00 am I told him I really had to get some sleep and he quickly apologized and agreed.
     Rich Szabo was in the bathroom and I asked Frank, "would you mind posing for a photo with me?" He paused for a moment and then said, "Sure. Why not?" One of the guards took my camera, we posed with arms around one another and Szabo appeared with a very shocked look. Until he saw Frank smiling.
     That was my my one night stand with Frank Sinatra, Jr. and I have the photos to prove it.