European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 26, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse The worlds most by Bill Deyoung new York times aul Shaffer is Hep. Make no mistake about that. The bespectacled bandleader from late night with David Letterman has held his own alongside some of the coolest musicians in the world from Billy Joel to James Brown and he commands respect among pop players and jaz Zbos alike for his clean anatomically Correct keyboard work. He s the front Man for a tight four piece band the worlds most dangerous band that can blow lots of bigger groups out of the water. A my ambition was always to be the ultimate party band Quot Shaffer said As he sat in the late night studios in new York. . And the Sunshine band had that title in the 70s, and in a just trying to grab it for myself in the �?T90s.&Quot although late night has Only been on the air for eight years Shaffer said he feels like a Veteran in Many ways. In a the Milton Berle of Rock a no Roll a a he said Deadpan. Quot when i consider How Many of the people in show business i know whether i work with them on the Letterman show or not i realize i have been in the business a Long time. I have a relationship with a lot of performers now. And that a great because its easier to work with them each he said he Quot got the chills Quot backing up heroes like James Brown Steve Winwood and Ray Davies. And yet he relishes his comedic moments on the to series. Quot in be never really had a goal to achieve or a career plan or anything Quot he explained. Quot in a just trying to stay in show the native of Thunder Bay Ontario first came to new York As the hired piano Man for Broadway s the magic show. In 1977, and not Many people know this Shaffer has made sure of ithe co starred in a Short lived Abc sitcom a year at the top. Quot Greg Evigan and i played Rock performers who had sold their souls to the Devil in return for Rock stardom Quot he said quickly changing the subject. He was a recurring performer on saturday night live playing smarmy impresario Don Kirshner and the silent piano a to the Milton Berle of Rock w Roll Shaffer the bandleader from tvs a late night with David says Paul bandleader accompanist to Bill Murray a excruciatingly awful lounge Singer Quot we always called those bits Kwh. Because Billy was either Nick Winters or Nick Summers Quot Shaffer explained. Along with Dan Aykroyd Marilyn Miller and Tom Davis Shaffer wrote the Quot Nicks Quot in an upstairs of ice Quot Billy would come in with the titles of the Sonas a wanted to do and he was always right a never would question his musical from saturday night live he went on the Road with the blues Brothers serving As music director and bandleader until John Belushi s death in 1982 and then came Letterman. Originally hired on As the musical continuity for an essentially All comedy show Shaffer has since become Letterman a second banana As popular and in demand in some quarters As the Star. Quot its been terrific a Shaffer said. Quot he has been obviously very generous with me Over the years As far As really giving the show to me a a Good Section of it at the top a and making me almost into a celebrity the world s most dangerous band in this incarnation has been together since 1985. The others Are bassist will Lee drummer Anton Fig both of whom Are very Well respected session musicians and guitarist Sid Mcginnis who was Peter Gabriel a Lead player for two years. Shaffer said playing live is fun. Quot it s not real important but i absolutely love performing. And i love playing in a band a i have a terrific band on the Letterman show. Quot its a totally different thing playing in front of a live audience a although we play for an audience every Day in the to studio. That s very much like doing a live gig. The difference though is that people come to see us when we go out on the Shaffer said he has seriously thought about his future with Abc and the late night show. Quot i be committed myself for another two years then it la be 10. And at that time Well have to look at it and see if its still fun. So far it s still fun. Quot we had Smokey Robinson on last week and i got to play with yet another one of my idols. And he sounded better than Ever. And i m telling you for an experience like that yeah i la do it another two and what about big Dave Are these Guys pals Shaffer sighed. Quot it gets to be a grind this Day in Day out four shows a week every week so you go through phases of getting along great and getting a Little irritable sometimes. All of us up Here. Quot but basically it s been a nutty eight Bombeck for As Long As there have been washers and dryers women have been plagued by the Bermuda sock Triangle. For every pair of socks put into the laundry Only one is returned. In the 60s, i got a Grant from the mental health association to find out where All these socks were going. I talked with mothers who put casts on their children s legs bought Black stockings for everyone in the House a and to one woman who told her husband she was conducting a test to see if his Quot Green Quot leg was less tired than his Quot Navy one at the end of the Day. We bounced around a lot of theories. Some thought socks were victims of a great cosmic Force that demanded one be sacrificed like a Virgin Maiden. Others thought lost socks were reincarnated and appeared in your dryer As bras and panties that you had never seen before. The defection theory was suggested for Quot socks who wanted to get out of the pressure of living in they were just speculations. The Only person who had a reasonable solution was a Man who bought two dozen pairs of new socks each year Tore them apart and threw out one sock from each pair to save his wife the trouble of losing them. Me i just caved in and told my kids the other socks went to live with Jesus. They seemed to accept that. The other Day i received a package from a woman in Plymouth my. Quot i know you have Given up on the missing socks Quot she wrote Quot but i just thought you a be interested to know where one of ours went a one that had been missing a month or two. Quot on Christmas eve i was preparing Clam chowder in my Crackpot for company dinner. There was a strange odor in my Kitchen All afternoon a not All Christmas like Evergreen or Bayberry candles but rather Puri. I knew i Wasny to the world s Best Cook but i was t that bad either. Quot when it was time to serve dinner we found a sock half melted Between the pot and the crockery. I thought of you that evening and wanted you to have a charred Black Brittle piece of fabric fell out of the package. I did t want to look at it. I promised myself 15 years ago that if i did no to Stop writing about missing socks i would end up on the pages of the National enquirer next to a spaceship that gave birth. But i could t resist. I held the Burnt sock up to a Light and. Here a the scary part. I have the mate to it. I done to want to talk about this any More. C 1990 Erma Bombeck Page 16 a a a the stars and stripes monday March 26, 1990
