(Photo of Tommy London in chair taken by Michael Edmonds)
Tommy London talks SiriusXM, The Dirty Pearls, the $5 Rock Show, unforgettable interviews, and the next chapter of his musical journey.
For many music fans, Tommy London is the voice they hear every day on SiriusXM’s Hair Nation, Ozzy’s Boneyard, Classic Rewind, and Bon Jovi Radio. But long before he became one of satellite radio’s most recognizable personalities, London was building his reputation the old-fashioned way—playing in bands, promoting shows, handing out flyers on New York City streets, and helping create a sense of community within the rock scene. Best known as the frontman of The Dirty Pearls, creator of the legendary $5 Rock Show, and now an accomplished interviewer and broadcaster, London has spent decades living every side of the music business. In this candid conversation with Stage Rush Music, he reflects on his early musical influences, the rise of The Dirty Pearls, his unexpected journey into radio, the art of interviewing rock legends, and why keeping live music affordable remains one of his biggest passions.
Jared Miller / Stage Rush Music (SRM): Hey, Tom.
Tommy London: Hey, what’s going on, man? How are you? Long time no see. What’s going on?
SRM: Ah, loving life. I have fun and get to incorporate music into my work, what could be better than that?
Tommy London: Yeah, you’re right, dude. That’s awesome.
(editor’s note: I was looking at the London Calling / The Clash poster on the wall behind Tommy, and I had to comment)
SRM: Believe it or not, I saw the clash at Shea Stadium, opening for the Who.
Tommy London: No way.
SRM: 1982.
Tommy London: Wow, man. Was that their last appearance? Or performance? Because it was around that time, right after Rock the Casbah, that was it. Wasn’t that that time? (editor’s note: 1983 was the final tour for The Clash).
SRM: I don’t know if it was. But it was officially The Who’s final tour (laugh)
Tommy London: Quote unquote, yeah, right? That’s funny, it was their final tour, they announced it, the other band didn’t announce nothing, and it might have been their final tour, too. The irony.
SRM: So, first of all, I appreciate you doing this interview.
Tommy London: Yeah, thanks for having me.
SRM: I feel like I’ve known you for over a decade or so, and never actually sat down for more than a couple of minutes, so…
Tommy London: It’s true. it gets crazy at those fuckin’ parties. I’m bringing a $5 Rock Nite to New York at the end of June to Arlene’s Grocery.
SRM: Looks like you got some good rooms in LA, too
Tommy London: Yeah, yeah, I got the Viper Room, which is huge. It’s iconic.
SRM: Yeah, I miss my time in LA. I was out there from…1987 to 1991. I was a 22-year-old trying to approach bands on the Sunset Strip to manage them. And it, eventually I got to work with a lot of those bands, but…
Tommy London: Ha!
SRM: I had more courage than experience.
Tommy London: Well, sometimes that’s all you need.
SRM: You’ve done a lot in music already. I mean, you’ve been singing, playing in bands, you still promote clubs, and you’re doing radio. Did you picture this for yourself when you were young?
Tommy London: No,… well, what’s funny is, when I was a kid my parents had the stereo, the big speakers. and, I would listen to the radio, and take my boombox over to the radio and tape songs, not knowing that I could hit record on the boombox and turn the radio on the boombox and record internally. I didn’t know you could do that. I really didn’t. And I would tell everyone to be quiet, because I was taping the songs on the radio. And then, for fun, in my room. I would, play these tapes from the radio and these songs, and I would act like I was the DJ and intro in a song or whatever, never in a million years thinking that I would end up being an “on air personality”, as they call it now, DJ on a Sirius XM. I’m very blessed and I love the job. I look forward to it every day.
SRM: It’s a great thing when you love what you do. Going back to when you were growing up, what music was playing in the house? What music did your parents listen to?
Tommy London: I was raised on 50s, 60s music. My dad would always play Elvis and the Stones, of course, and the Beatles. But that’s when I got turned on to those bands, as well as, Dion and the Belmonts, and Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. who, you know, aren’t as much in the forefront as the others I’ve mentioned. And then Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, so I got exposed to all of that type 50s, 60s, and the crooner stuff, early on when I was a kid. That was constantly played in the house. The only time I remember ever hearing Top 40 Radio is when I’d hop in the car with my mom, she would always have the radio on with the current songs. I remember as a kid hearing certain bands and songs, and when I hear them now, it takes me back to some of those times with my mom in the car, bringing my grandmother somewhere, or something crazy, like when I first heard Journey or Genesis, and things like that.
SRM: Hmm.
Tommy London: And then, of course, MTV entered the stratosphere, and that was just a game changer for me. I remembered that kids were talking about it. And one kid had mentioned how he had it at his house and he lived a few blocks away from me. I’m like, how does he have MTV? And I didn’t know if he was lying or not, you know, but I remember I would run home every day and check my cable box and there was no MTV and then one day it was there. I was like, oh my god, and I was glued to the TV set. First video I ever saw was Shock the Monkey, Peter Gabriel. I remember, that was the first video.
SRM: That was an awesome video.
Tommy London: Great video. And I was just taken aback by MTV. And it’s kind of surreal now that one of the channels I’m on at Sirius XM is Classic Rewind. And two of the hosts on the channel, Mark Goodman and Alan Hunter are from the early days of MTV. It’s very, very surreal to know that I’m on these channels with these guys and they’re awesome.
SRM: I’m older than you, so MTV came later in my teens, But yeah, they were the voices of my youth, so that must be very cool. And I listened to all the stations that you’re DJing, which is very funny, because it’s like, I get in the car, and every time I turn on the radio, whatever station I happen to go to, you happen to be speaking. So it’s like, oh, there’s Tommy again.
Tommy London: I’m everywhere, dude, I’m all over the dial. I’ll do the plug now, I’m on SiriusXM – Hair Nation, Classic Rewind, Ozzy’s Boneyard, and I’m now the voice of Bon Jovi Radio, every Friday. it’s pretty cool.
SRM: Do you remember what your very first album purchase was when you were a kid? When you had your own money for the first time, what did you go out and buy?
Tommy London: Well, okay, the first album I ever purchased with my own money was Van Halen, 1984. I remember just looking at the cassette with the little baby on it. Like, this is so cool, he’s smoking cigarettes, this little baby. I remember going to the skating rink and always hearing Jump. We would go roller skating as kids. And, yeah, I was like, I have to have this album…Now, the first cassette I ever had was J. Giles Band, Freeze Frame. I remember I got that for Christmas. That was the first rock cassette I ever owned. That was Santa Claus who brought me that one. Thank you, Santa. But the first one with my own money was, Van Halen, 1984. Probably the gift card I got that Christmas, to be honest with you. Who knows.
SRM: When was it that you had the sense that this is…the direction you wanted to go in, performing or just making music a big part of your life.
London: Well, I realized I wanted to be on a stage when I was home sick one day from school. And I went into this big closet we had that was kind of like a big junk drawer, but it was a closet, right? And I was looking for, I think, old video games or something. And I saw these 45 records on the shelf over my head, and I tugged on something, and all the records came down and I started playing them. I was like, Splish Splash and the Beatles and stuff, and I remember I would get on top of the hearth right there at the fireplace, it’s sort of like a little stage there where you sit on when you’re making a fire. I would stand on there, now I’m home alone, sick, and I would perform on that stage. I would do Greased Lightning, I would do… I saw her standing there, the Beatles, and I remember just in my head, you know, visualizing that I’m at this sold-out arena. I was like, I really like that feeling, you know? But I didn’t think anything of it until a few years later when my dad asked me if I wanted to play guitar. He said I didn’t do many school activities or played around with the other kids in the neighborhood, and I think this was starting to worry my mom and dad or something, because my dad takes me aside, he goes. Hey, you don’t want to be a bump on a stump, do you? I still think he meant, to this day, “bump on a log”. But he went with bump on a stump. I’ve never heard that term until then. I was like, bump on a stump? Okay.
SRM: Maybe, maybe he coined the phrase.
Tommy London: Yeah, maybe so. And I was reading comic books, I remember, and he goes, you don’t want to be a bump on a stump, do you? I go, what does that even mean? He goes, well, you should probably do something, play some music if you don’t want to do sports. He just wanted me to get involved with something. And, I remember he said, your cousin is a music teacher, he can teach you guitar, and then you can pick up the girls like Elvis did. That’s what he said to me. I was like, alright, I’ll take up the guitar, which I did. I had this beautiful Fender Strat, it was white with a black pickboard, I wish I still had it. So my cousin was teaching me. He played guitar sometimes, and piano. And, well, whenever he would play the piano, and we would talk about the chords and the notes, I couldn’t see it on the guitar. Like, I just wasn’t grasping it and seeing it. But when he showed me on piano, I saw it all, the inversions and everything else. So I dropped the guitar and picked up the keyboards and started playing piano. And then eventually in high school I just started jumping in bands. And then I was like, man, I just want to sing. I just want to get up there and front a band. I think I can do this. And that opened that door.
SRM: Were you writing songs back then, or…
Tommy London: Yeah, the first song I ever wrote, I was 16, it was called Heart Cries. I still have the cassette somewhere. I gneed to dig that up and put it onto digital, I guess, because that was the first song, Heart Cries. I remember going into the recording studio to record that song. I was so nervous and excited at the same time, that experience, I felt like I was recording this huge hit song for a big record exec at Warner Brothers, and… it was all in my head, but it was exciting.
SRM: And so when did the Dirty Pearls come about?
Tommy London: So, that was years later. I was in New York City. At this point, when I moved there, which was, mid-late 90s. I went there for music from Pennsylvania. I had always formed bands and when I went to New York, I didn’t really know anyone. So, I got the Village Voice, which doesn’t exist anymore. And I was looking for ads about bands to audition for as a singer. I mean, I remember some of these experiences, and they were just extremely weird and odd. I’ll give you one example. I went to this audition. They wanted me to sing The Who, Oasis and a few other British bands. And I get in there, I’m singing the songs, I thought I sang them pretty well, and he goes, hey man, you gotta sing with an English accent. I go, but I’m not British, like, I don’t understand. No, no, but that’s what we want. I go, well, Tommy London is just my name, it doesn’t mean that I’m, from London. And, it was so weird. And there were a few other ones. And that’s when I was like, man, I’m just gonna form my own band, and I’ll figure this out. So I… it took me a while. I had a band in New York prior to the Dirty Pearls, and that band consisted of mostly people I knew from Pennsylvania, because I wasn’t getting any headway in New York yet. And then, as I was playing and got to know people, that changed, of course. And, that band fell to the wayside, and I formed the Dirty Pearls. And, it was a lot of fun.
SRM: What year was that?
Tommy London: I’m gonna say 2007, 2008, around there. Yeah. So we put out our first EP. It was, I believe, 2007. And, I mean, we were old school. Social media was a thing, but not like it is today. MySpace may have just been on the cusp at that time. I remember I was in awe that we could put our flyers on the page. Remember MySpace had a social page. People could see things, sort of like Facebook is. And, we would advertise on there. I remember we would also go out with flyers. Not many bands were doing that then, because they had this new medium of MySpace. We would print flyers and go to town, hang posters everywhere. We really worked hard as a band to make sure that every show was sold out and jam-packed. And, we did achieve that, for sure. We made sure of that, five of us.
SRM: Yeah, the flyerng, not enough bands do that even today, and it’s…
Tommy London: Yeah, and you know what? I’ll tell you what. Because we have all this social media and you get numb. you’re just flipping through everything. If someone came up to you with a flyer at a club, and you just put it in your pocket, it’s gonna go a long way. Longer than social media. You’re gonna get home, you’re gonna find this thing in your pocket, oh, that was that guy with that band. And then you’re gonna put it on your dresser, or your counter, or whatever, and you look at it, or… you might throw it away, but nonetheless, at least you got the message across to somebody, you know. But…if you make the flyer… if you really work on the artwork of the flyer, too, it’s gotta be eye-catching. Well, I’ll tell you what, we used to go out to all the clubs as a band. When we weren’t playing, we would go out, we were like a gang. That’s what I wanted, I wanted a gang mentality with the band.
SRM: Okay.
Tommy London: And I remember telling them, hey guys, let’s go out tonight, where we going? We’re gonna go see this band play. We would always go see all the bands play. And then some of the bands started shouting us out from the stage. And I remember my guitar player turning to me, goes, whoa, this is crazy. I said, I know, this is called free advertising. But we were doing well as a band, we’re showing up at other people’s shows. And, yeah, it was wild when they started shouting us out from the stage.
SRM: That was kind of the experience that I remember in Los Angeles in the late ’80s. The bands would travel as packs.
Tommy London: Yep.
SRM: And then everyone would end up at the Rainbow.
Tommy London: Yeah. Well, in New York, we’d all end up at Three of Cups.
SRM: I can’t remember if I saw The Dirty Pearls, honestly, but I know I’ve seen you solo a couple of times. What was the transition like having the band and then going Solo. Was there more collaborative songwriting in the Dirty Pearls versus solo, or did you do all the writing for both?
Tommy London: I was always involved in the writing, in the Dirty Pearls, and of course, solo. In the Pearls, it was always an open forum if you had an idea we would all get together and work on it, or me and a guitar player would work on something and bring it to the band. As a singer, when you have other members in the band writing things for you, you have to make sure it’s in tune of who and what you are. I remember having that conversation with one of the guitar players in the band. He wrote a song, and it was a cool song. I go, this isn’t something I would say or sing. It sounds like something you would say or sing. And he had a side project that I had recommended maybe that song go there. He really wanted to push this song into the pearls, so I said, you know what? We’re gonna play this one live tonight. And I know I wasn’t the only one who felt this way about the song. think it was Marty, my drummer, who also felt like maybe this one wasn’t right, but he was always willing to try anything, and I kind of wanted to prove a point. The song was very negative, it was very down, about having a gun in the bed next to you and stuff, which, that’s Johnny Cash, and that’s great, I’m not a Johnny Cash singer. So, I remember we did the song. And it was crickets, and I knew that would be the reaction, because this was just out of left field, this song. And I made sure in the set that it was followed by a song that everyone loved… it was called Lovesick Love, they’d sing along. I was like, I’m gonna put this new song right after this one just in case it goes the way I think it’s gonna go. And which it did, and then we saved it with this other song. And my guitar player that night took me aside and goes, hey man, you’re right, I go…hey, there’s nothing wrong in trying things out. There’s nothing wrong in bringing in a song, but we have to think about who’s singing it. That’s just songwriting 101, you know?
SRM: I think point was made.
Tommy London: Yeah, yeah, it was made. But, for me as the singer there, where the glass is always half full, it’s not half empty for me, this isn’t something Tommy would say. You know, so, it’s just funny. Lesson learned.
SRM: When did you start promoting shows?
Tommy London: So whenever we would do a Dirty Pearls show. I would put the shows together. So I guess I was a promoter and didn’t know it. And then we went on the road and we came back, and we were all broke. Which is the harsh reality of when you hit the road. You’re on the road, yeah, we’re broke on the road, we’re gonna be even more broke when we get home. So, we would headline in New York. We would headline Bowery Ballroom, Gramercy theater, we did Irving Plaza as well. And when you do these shows, you can’t play every month. You need to stagger them out, because these are big rooms, you know, 600-700 seaters and. So I had an idea. I said, hey, let’s do a residency in a small club. And I’ll go after maybe a sponsor, or we’ll get a good paycheck, because we had a great reputation and a really strong following. So I went to Arlene’s Grocery, which was the first place we ever played as the Pearls, and hadn’t played there since. And I pitched to them about doing a residency every week. I got a sponsor, and I worked out a deal with them. And it was gangbuster. We did every Wednesday. And the line went around the block, and I had different bands play with us, bands that weren’t playing Arlene’s anymore, for whatever reason, but came back. Anyway… every Wednesday was through the roof, man. It was really amazing. I mean, we got some money for the band for the pocket, and maybe we could have done it every week, but I think it would have eventually wore thin.
SRM: Yeah, and it would have diluted attendance at your other shows.
Tommy London: Right. Oh yeah, for sure. That’s why I didn’t want to consider that. So she says to me, well, you know what the thing is, Tommy? She goes, the bands, besides you guys playing here, the bands you had play don’t play here anymore, but they’ll play here if you put the night together. I said, okay, she goes, so how about if I give you a monthly, where you put a show together, and I was like okay, she goes, your band can play or not play, you know, we’ll cross that road. But if you can just book the bands. So that’s when I came up with the $5 Rock Show, and it went for, like, 10 years, man. I was proud of that party, because I wanted to create a place. where there were a few things. If it’s 5 bucks to get in, and you’re paying to see Band A you may stay for band B or C, or even go in early to the room, because it’s just 5 bucks. It’s like, I’ll just see who’s playing now. You know, it’s kind of weird. Mostly you wait for your friend’s band or the band you know, but in this case, I wanted to expose other bands. The bands get 100%, so the more they bring in, the more they can take home, and the bar wins, because the more you bring in, the more alcohol is sold… yeah. And I thought it would be really cool to have a gathering of sorts, where I really wanted to be a place where if you were forming a band you would come out to the $5 Rock Show, and you know what? I know I’ll probably meet a bass player there. You know, I’ll probably see a drummer hanging out there. That’s something I really wanted to happen, and I do know a few people who formed bands from being there and hanging out and that’s what I want. I wanted to be a community, its own little scene within a scene, I guess.
SRM: I mean, it definitely became a scene. And, you know, it was like going and meeting old friends. It was just…
Tommy London: Yeah, it’s always, like, a reunion, and I have one coming up. I don’t know, you know, when you’re gonna air this interview, but at the Five Dollar Rock Show in New York, will be on Wednesday, June 24th. The bands are Killcode, Ten Ton Mojo, Honor Among Thieves, Newborn Kings, and Love and Murder. I know. It’s gonna be jam-packed, and I’m looking forward to it.
SRM: So now that you’ve done promotion in both New York and LA, do you see any difference of how you’re generating that scene or anything with the musicians or the crowd?
Tommy London: Yeah, well, the one thing that’s wild about LA…I knew this going in with some of the venues out here. It’s pay to play.
SRM: It has been for many years….
Tommy London: For years, but here… but here’s where it’s weird. For some of the pay-to-play, it is the club itself, you know, who book the bands. And there are clubs out here who don’t have bookers, they have promoters. You know, a guy like myself, comes in and puts a night together. And what they’re doing, though, is, some of these promoters are charging the bands to have their name on the marquee. Like, that’s just disgusting to me. And the bands don’t get a payout until like 25 people and then maybe they get half and then they have to pre-sell X amount of tickets. Look, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong in saying trying to get the band to make some sales and things like that. But when you’re charging them for the marquee it’s just out of control. So I bring in this thing that everyone’s like, huh? Actually, a few of them weren’t getting it at all. Oh, it’s a $5 rock show, and here’s how it works. And the band’s got 100%. Band’s get 100%? How do we make money? Well, you’re gonna make money off the booze. Yeah, uh, because when they’re coming in for $5 a night, they may not have gone out at all, but since it’s $5. and then I get a sponsor who’s gonna bring down the cost of a special drink. In this case, it’s Jaeger. So we have special Jaeger drinks, and in New York I had Fireball sponsored back then and Jameson. I wanted to make it a night out where you could spend $20 and have a great evening out. Five bucks for the cover, and then $25 would be boom, you know? so I got Jaeger doing some shot specials here, and some drink specials, and it’s built up. Even the GM of the club, of the Viper, said to me, he goes, hey man, you got people coming here that haven’t come here in a long time. And I said, yeah, dude, because we’re making it affordable for them to come out. I mean, parking in LA alone is, like, $25, $30 bucks. If you have a cover charge of $20 to $25 bucks, and gas out here is nuts. But, just alone, to get to the bar, from maybe where you live, if it’s outside of Hollywood, it’s gonna cost you $75 just to walk up to the bar and say, can I have a beer? Right? So I go, we gotta make it so it’s not that. And it’s worked out. People… I’ve noticed… people are coming, not even caring who the band is. It’s, oh, this is where I need to be on Thursday night,
SRM: Give people a good time and they’ll come back.
Tommy London: Yeah, and you know what was cool in New York, too? This organically happened. Frank Ferrer, who was playing for drums for Guns N’ Roses at the time, put together a jam band that would always close the $5 rock show. And, they would also work on a door deal, by the way. It was strictly just the door, and they were just cool with it. They just wanted to be part of it, you know? It was just so awesome. And I wanted that here in Hollywood, and I remember talking to my girlfriend about it, I was like, man, if I could just get a jam band for the end of the night, I gotta figure that out, and it just landed on my lap. The universe must have been listening, man. It’s crazy. Chad Stewart, who plays drums for Faster Pussycat, approached me, going, hey, I’m thinking, My party ninjas. And we’ve been doing that maybe every other month. And it’s been so cool. Members of LA Guns and Vixen and Gilby Clark of Guns and Roses, came down. And it’s just been a lot of fun. So I’m glad to see that I was able to carry the torch of the $5 Rock Show, here to the West Coast. And by the way, some New York bands have come out here just to play it because of that, which is really cool. I am able to do it in New York, just not consistently because I’m not there, so whenever I’m visiting, uh, I try to put one together. And, um…Yeah, $5 Rock Show, as of now, though I’m open to other cities, um, is LA and New York City.
SRM: Okay. So… the very first time I heard you on SiriusXM, I was kind of taken aback because I didn’t even know you had the gig. I was like, wait a minute, I know that voice. And then I heard you say your name. I was like, wow. But then, like I was saying before, you were on every channel. All I can imagine is that you were, willing to substitute for anybody and years later, you’re now one of the main names on SiriusXM. It’s just so awesome to see, but how did that start and how did you transition to being a regular?
Tommy London: Uh, it’s the same hustle as the band, you know? It’s funny you say that, going out there and giving out flyers, I’ll take every channel you’ll put me on, you know? Every shift. You know, it’s funny, I’ve been now with SiriusXM 8 to 9 years now. Best job I ever had and I can honestly say that I have never taken a day off from work and I’ve never turned down a shift. Obviously, because you kind of brought that up, but I’ve never said no, because, I just knew that would help build me up as an on-air personality. The more I did it, the better I became, and the more that my name is heard, the more experience I get, and, yeah, I even have…other channels, that are hitting me up now.
SRM: You had…Ozzy’s Boneyard, Hair Nation, you’re doing Classic Rewind. Did you miss the entire alternative rock era, or did you not like that style of music?
Tommy London: Oh, yeah, I would love to do those channels, like Lithium and stuff, yeah, I love all that music. You know, at the end of the day, it’s just like anything else, there just has to be an opening. I am mainly, I guess you could say, classic rock. I have filled in on Pop Rocks a few times. If you’re familiar with that channel, it’s more geared towards 90s, 2000s, and today, rock and pop. Like, you’ll get Lenny Kravitz to maybe a Lady Gaga song or something, so I’ve been going outside my classic rock area here, which is pretty cool. But I’m not opposed to doing any of those channels, just the opportunity hasn’t come up, and it’s just like anything else, just have to wait to see when someone needs off or wants to step down, you know, things like that.
SRM: On your website, it says “Vocalizer and Socializer”. How did that come about?
Tommy London: Yeah. Oh, that was just my way of saying I’m a singer and also a promoter, vocalizer and socializer, and DJ hypnotizer, so I kind of wanted to put all three in there and make it rhyme and funny, and maybe make sense, but apparently it does not. It does to me.
SRM: But then, the other phrase… “Who the fuck is Tommy London?” How did that start, and did you think it would go on for so long? I mean, it’s always fun to see the memes.
Tommy London: Yeah, man that started as an accident. Well, first of all, I can’t take credit for it. Keith Richards used to wear a shirt that said, who the fuck is Mick Jagger? There was a poster of this hung at the now defunct Three of Cups in New York City. My roommate at the time, Jason Cadic made a joke, he pointed at it and goes, dude, you need to do that, “Who the fuck is Tommy London?” We were laughing, because the joke was, like, okay, so there’s an affiliation with Lady Gaga, so if someone said that…You know, oh, Tommy London, and it’s him with Lady Gaga there. “Who the fuck is Tommy London?” You know, or hey, I heard Tommy London on SiriusXM the other day. “Who the fuck is Tommy London?” Like, it was a real question, and him and I would just laugh at this, right? So, one day the band, Dirty Pearls, were going out to the West Coast to play, which we would do pretty often. And we were playing the Viper Room. And my roommate was gonna be in LA at the same time for business or something. He shows up wearing a shirt he made that said, “Who the fuck is Tommy London?” And Jason’s a singer as well. He jumped on stage with me. We had pictures, we had video. The pictures go out on the socials, people asking where they can get the shirt, so I started making the shirts, I started making the memes, just as a joke, I was just having fun, and they kind of took off, and I’m like, dude, I’ll play a show, and people still shout out, “Who the fuck is Tommy London?” It’s hilarious.
SRM: I I love it. Oh, it took on a life of its own.
Tommy London: It did. It’s so funny.
SRM: And then you did open for Lady Gaga.
Tommy London: Oh, yeah, played a few shows with her. I performed with her and opened for her as well. The biggest one was as a solo artist, I opened for her at Citi Field. And I remember, dude, that day, it rained, okay? And I was so happy that it rained because the show got delayed, which means I went on later, which means those people who weren’t coming early, who didn’t realize it was delayed because of the rain, I got them. And that was that was pretty wild moment. It was cool.
SRM: So in what you’re doing on SiriusXM. Your interviews are getting so much better and better. You’re a good interviewer, and.
Tommy London: Oh, thank you.
SRM: You know, I think the God of interviews is Howard Stern. But, like him, you really get people talking about deep stuff.
Tommy London: Oh, for sure.
SRM: Like the interview with Bruce Dickinson, I think I learned more about him in that interview than I ever knew, and I’ve been a fan of Iron Maiden since the beginning.
Tommy London: Oh, wow, thanks, man.
SRM: Just curious, how did interviewing come to be for you? Did it just come naturally or did you have to work on that?
Tommy London: Well, a little bit of both. My first interview was Steve Harris, coincidentally enough, of Iron Maiden. And it was the first time ever I was doing an interview in my life. And I was so nervous. I wasn’t nervous about meeting Steve and I wasn’t nervous about talking to him because I bartended for many years. So at the end of the day, I interviewed everyone. Do you know how many conversations I had with people at the bars and, and we’re just inquiring about their lives and you know, whatever. I mean, I think that was the training ground for me. So now, fast forward, I’m here with Steve in the studio, and I was just nervous because it was the first time I was ever doing an interview on a national platform. I did not want to screw up. I think that’s what I was more nervous about, not the interview, but just making sure I did a good job. And I remember talking to a fellow on-air host who was in the building at the time at Sirius in New York. I was telling him that I was nervous, and asked if he had any advice. He said to me, and I’ve used this advice to this day. He said, get to the interview room about five, 10 minutes early. And, talk with the person you’re interviewing for a bit. Talk to them, not about what you’re gonna talk about in the interview. But, like hey, you got a Yankees hat on. How do you feel? Yankees, you know, how are they doing this year? Or how about the weather? Or, I saw on the socials, you were away this weekend. Like, make just conversation like we’re buds. Even though we’re not. So we can kind of get that going, that chemistry maybe a bit. So when we get in there, your mind’s saying, I already know this guy. You know, let’s just roll this out. Then I have my questions prepared and all that, but yeah, thanks for noticing that. I always try to make sure when I have a conversation with someone that I go in as a fan as well, and I want to make sure I ask a question as a fan that I’ve always wanted answered, because I’m probably not the only fan that was curious about this, you know. I always want to make them feel like they’re comfortable with me and can tell me anything, and I feel that I have gotten that from quite a few of them. Nuno Betancourt stands out to me, because when I was talking with him, who’s a lot of fun, and he’s very open and cool, I mean…he told me about how Prince…had said that Nuno was one of the top 3 guitar players he’d ever seen in his life. Nuno shared that with me, and that went viral, so that was cool that there was a comfort zone there for him to tell me this. I brought up Prince, and mentioned something about how I always thought it’d be cool if Prince would have covered, Get the Funk Out.
SRM: For sure
Tommy London: Cause you know, Prince would cover Foo Fighters and Sheryl Crow and a bunch of bands. I was like, well, I go, it would have been cool if he covered that. And that opened that whole can of worms. The other thing is when I get these artists for interviews, they have other interviews to do too at Sirius XM or somewhere else. So you only get them for a limited time. As a matter of fact, Howard Stern, too, he’ll be talking to someone going, hey, I’m told I gotta let you go, you know, but they sit with Howard for, like, an hour and a half, or whatever
SRM: Sure.
Tommy London: But I only get them for about 10 minutes, I’m told. And what’s happened to me a few times, and this always made me feel good Is, some of the artists, they’re told it’s time up and the artist says, no, uh, I’m good. I want to talk some more with him. One of those was Nicky Sixx, from Motley Crue. And, my boss told me after the interview, he goes, that’s never happened with him. That makes me feel even better that he was like, you know what, nah, I’m cool, I’m gonna talk to him a little longer, like… I think part of it is, that some of the interviewers that they speak to, especially, sometimes, it’s because of the era they’re from, with the 80s, that maybe the interviewer who isn’t a fan approaches them in kind of, I don’t know, sarcastic way or something, you know? And doesn’t really know anything about their careers, or is just talking about the fluff, like, oh, you’re on the road, which is maybe what they’re there to promote, big summer tour or something, or a new album, and they do touch on that, but they don’t go any deeper into them. And, I do, because I’m a fan, and I just think it’s the right thing to do, even if you’re not a fan. So I think that’s why I’ve had these cool opportunities. Alice Cooper was another one. He stayed with me for an hour. I only had him for like 15 minutes. It’s pretty cool.
SRM: So, anything about doing what you do at SiriusXM that would be a surprise to listeners? Like, everyone thinks backstage at a concert must be the most fun place in the world until you get back there and you see what’s actually happening.
Tommy London: Right. Nothing going on. Yeah, I’ll tell you the one thing, everyone always writes me, so I don’t know if you’re familiar with the other hosts on my channels, in particular, let’s just say Hair Nation, Keith Roth and Dangerous Darren.
SRM: Yep.
Tommy London: And Mark Striegel there as well. And people write me all the time, like, hey man, so it must be cool, you guys all hanging out together and this and that. I’m in LA now, Keith’s in New York and Jersey, so is Mark. Dangerous Darren is out in LA, but we’re not in the same part, and we don’t do it from the studio. I think they envision that we’re all in this one studio, hanging out and partying, which, hey, listen, that would be awesome. And when I would go to New York. the studio, pre-pandemic, because now a lot of us do it from the home. That wasn’t really the case before the pandemic. And I would go to New York, and I would see everybody, Mark Goodman there, and, you know all these different hosts and stuff, but it still wasn’t this big party. Everyone’s working and doing what they have to do. But it’s just so funny, they assume, like, yeah, we’re just ripping it. I wish that was the case, probably was back in the day, but uh…I hate to ruin the magic.
SRM: Well, I do remember one night at Arlene’s, I was there, you were there, Keith Roth was there, and so was Mark Striegel, so it was kind of…
Tommy London: Right, so it does happen, but, I mean, they think it’s on the regular, like, they think because I’m on after Keith, that Keith passes me the mic in the hallway there, you know what I mean? It’s just funny.
SRM: So I know you also have a new podcast, Rock Camp, with Britt Lightning and David Fischhoff. Is that going to become a regular thing? Is it going to grow from there?
Tommy London: Yeah, so I have two podcasts, at the moment. I do Rock Camp, the podcast with my girlfriend Britt Lightning of Vixen and, David Fischoff, and we do have some episodes that should be airing soon. And, I also do a brand new podcast I started with my good friend Tor. It’s called the Mighty Van Halen Podcast, though technically it’s the Mighty VH Podcast, if you…should look it up, and we’re about three to four episodes deep right now, and I’ve got some very special guests coming up, and it’s been a lot of fun. Especially because him and I are huge fans of Van Halen. So, it’s funny,… that’s all we ever talk about anyway, so we were like, let’s make a podcast about this. So…Yeah, it’s great.
SRM: Final question, If you could put together any bill. Living, dead. Any artists, at any venue, what would a four-band bill be, and where would you put it?
Tommy London: Well…
SRM: If you could do anything.
Tommy London: Dead or alive? So if that’s the case. I would probably go with Giants Stadium, because I’m a Giants fan. And I love that stadium. And I’d have to run with…Van Halen, with both Dave and Sammy, closing the night. Let’s get Kiss up there with their makeup back on. Let’s get Aerosmith back in the saddle. And who would I get to open? Um, you know who I have open? The Dirty Pearls Reunited. For one night only. That would be epic! Hey, speaking of bands, I have a new band, coming out very soon. Britt Lightning and I formed it, I don’t want to reveal the name yet, though. That’s gonna be revealed very soon.
SRM: Awesome.
Tommy London: Uh, we have a bunch of songs. And a music video that we’re getting ready to drop, and, the band should be playing live by the Fall. But, this summer, there will be music coming your way. New music. Can’t wait.
SRM: Send me a link so I can do an album review.
Tommy London: Oh, okay, for sure. Yeah, man.
SRM: All right. Well, to respect your time, I appreciate this. I know you’ve got your meeting coming up in a minute.
Tommy London: Yeah, I’m sorry, man. I enjoyed talking to you. That’s totally cool.
SRM: I won’t get to the June 24th show in New York, but maybe the next one you do.
Tommy London: Yeah, I’ll probably do something in the fall. I’m also working on some other big things within New York City. So yeah, keep you posted on all that. And I’m really looking forward to debuting this band with Brit. I can’t wait for everyone to hear the songs. I’m excited.
SRM: I met her at Arlene’s that night you guys came together, she seems really awesome.
Tommy London: Yeah, she’s awesome. Yeah, I’m a lucky guy.
SRM: Thank you again, much appreciated.
Tommy London: Sweet, dude. Great to see you, and thanks for having me. It was a lot of fun.
What becomes clear after speaking with Tommy London is that his success has never been the result of luck alone. Whether it’s fronting a band, promoting a club night, interviewing rock icons, or stepping behind the microphone at SiriusXM, the common thread has always been enthusiasm, hard work, and a genuine love for music and the people who make it. Even after decades in the business, London still approaches every opportunity with the same excitement as the kid recording songs off the radio onto a boombox. With new podcast projects underway, the continued growth of the $5 Rock Show, and a new musical collaboration with Britt Lightning set to debut soon, it’s obvious that Tommy London isn’t slowing down anytime soon—and rock fans are better off because of it.
