Met John Force back around 1990 or so when he joined us for an open house at a Castrol Oil signed shop in Neptune NJ. I was there with two co-workers representing Allen Test Products (automotive diagnostic equipment) doing free computer analysis with the Allen Digital Engine Analyzer, and John was in town for the Summer Nationals at Englishtown, and was at the shop for probably over 2 hours... hanging out... talking to customers... and even letting us wheel the diagnostic machine over to the Olds Funny Car to make it look like we were checking it out. It was a really relaxing day, and in between customers, it was really cool to just hang out and with John. Felt like he was enjoying it too as it really ended up being a pretty laid back deal. ------------------ So... As for my brush with fame with Carly Simon..... I didn't really get to meet Carly Simon, but I did get to talk to her on the phone, and even got her to sing a line from one of her songs.... It's a long story, but I worked for a record and tape distributor from 1982 - 1987... I was calling in an inventory from the Sears at the Seaview Square Mall in Ocean NJ, and when our branch receptionist/phone operator Darlene picked up the phone (in Mt. Laurel NJ), she said that Carly Simon was there, in the office... (We did have different artist stop by the branch from time to time, but I thought she was putting me on since she knew I liked Carly Simon... and would often comment on the framed poster we had of Carly in the main office area, so of course I tried to call her bluff by saying, "yeah right... ") She came back with, "I'm not kidding... Carly Simon is here right now...." To which of course you know I had to say: "PROVE IT..." After a brief pause, Darlene said, "What do you want me to do?".... ...And yup,... of course (still thinking she was trying to have fun BS'ing me) I said, "Put her on the phone." Darlene quickly said, "I can't do that..." So I of course I said, "Nice try Darlene..." To which she then responded... "Hold on." After about a minute (the whole time I'm thinking what is Darlene cooking up now... and, how far is she going to go with this....), a woman's voice (through the phone) said, "Hello?"... and I of course I said, "Hello again Darlene - nice try...."... and the voice said, "This is Carly..." Still sure it was Darlene, I figured I'd put her on the spot and said, Oh...OK "Carly," ....then sing me a line from one of your songs. (I figured now I really had Darlene in a bind. There was no way Darlene was going to keep the hoax going and start singing to me, right? That was when the voice on the other end of the phone said, "What song do you want me to sing?" Now I started getting nervous.... But still thinking something was up, I blurted out the name of the hit single that Carly had at the time.... and said, "Sing, "Coming Around Again..." 
Just like the record, the next thing I hear is: Baby sneezes
Mommy pleases
Daddy breezes in
So good on paper
So romantic but so bewildering ... As soon as I heard "Baby sneezes, Mommy pleases," I knew it wasn't Darlene on the phone...
I apologized to Carly, and told her the back story, on how I was a fan, and how I was sure they were putting me on... as I had often mentioned in the past to them that if one day the "Boys in the Trees" poster of her (you can see it in the background in the top photo) was missing from the office wall, they would know who took it.... She laughed about it... and was really a great sport about the whole thing.... 
The next time I visited the office, Darlene just smiled... and handed me the photo, of the day that Carly visited, and sang to some idiot over the phone.... (See Darlene's comment on the back of the photo.)
Carly Simon: Coming Around Again
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RickD 6/12/2025 10:28:27 AM