J. Nick

In Lubbock, while working at the college paper many years ago, I heard that “nuevo wavo” musician Joe King Carrasco was coming to town. I had seen the Dumas, Texas native on “Saturday Night Live” (where he tore it up for a national audience), and I had a Carrasco record or two in my collection … so I HAD to interview him! … Got on the phone. … Talked to his manager — some nice guy named Joe Nick Patoski — who set up the interview for me. (It was so much fun, I actually interviewed Carrasco on two of his visits to Lubbock.)

Ha … being the “undisputed master of misunderstood lyrics,” The UMML — in one of the interviews — Mr. Ping asked Mr. King about a favorite line from one of Carrasco’s songs … something about “peyote tengo.”  (English translation: “I have enough of a certain fun sort of cactus to land in a Mexican prison …”) Joe King told me there was no such lyric in the song … although he added, “But … Hey, I like that!” To this day, I don’t know how the actual lyrics went. I digress …

The best part of the meeting was that I made first contact with a man who evolved into one of the most prolific authors in Texas … a long-time Texas Monthly regular … a Marfa radio host … an expert musicologist who NEVER gets his history wrong … nor the lyrics, I am sure.  

All of this is to say that I enjoyed the book signing at Record Town in Fort Worth the other day, J. Nick. Thanks for shakin’ yo “Wi-Fi Money Maker” the PingWi-Fi way — for the photo!  Yes … J. Nick will live forever in infamy in my VIPings photo album on Facebook.

Know what I sayin?