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by Doc, DeansPlanet.Com staff writer |
| Can I Have Your Autograph... / Johnny Fratto |
| Johnny Fratto
07-10-06 |
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| My last two interviews for the planet have been with a 19 year old chick getting ready for the oldest gangbang ever (only people over the age of 50 need apply), and another babe who likes to stick bongs up her ass. I thought I'd try something a little different this time, and emailed an interview request to a recent guest of the Howard Stern show, Mr. Johnny Fratto. Mr. Fratto is  the owner of the prestigious motorcycle shop, Beverly Hills Choppers, and star of the new reality show, “Son of A Gun“, coming soon to a television near you…hopefully. Mr. Fratto is also the son of Lou “Cock-eyed” Fratto………mobster. Mr. Fratto emailed me back his phone number, Let's do this!! I have to admit I was a little nervous. I mean, come on, if one of these porn-stars don't like how their article comes out, they just don't send me their autograph. This guy could get me whacked. After watching his appearance on Howard TV, and checking out his website, www.beverlyhillschoppers.com , I gave Mr. Fratto a call. We had a nice chat talking about his Stern appearance, his life growing up Fratto, and about his business in Beverly Hills. During our conversation Mr. Fratto even put out an offer to Eric the Midget, an offer he can't refuse. Fly for Howard (Howard wants to suspend Eric in the air with balloons) and a custom made Beverly Hills Chopper is yours. Sounds like a great deal Eric. Do the right thing Eric. If Mr. Fratto asked me to fly, I would say, How high? Forgettaboutit. He's a friend of ours. Mr. Fratto is a super guy and I really enjoyed our conversation. He even offered to shop Howardshrine: The Book around Tinsel Town for me. Who knows, Howard Shrine: The Motion Picture, like Eric, might be on the horizon. Haha Here is that conversation transcribed as best as I could. I hope you enjoy it.
Doc: You recently made your first appearance on the Howard Stern show. How did you like it?
Johnny: I had a ball. It was very interesting to go somewhere and to not be judged, which is kind of a problem when you come from a background like mine. You are judged, whether you are right, or whether you are wrong. They still judge you that way. I never felt so comfortable. I never felt so at home. |
| Doc: Was that also the first time you met Howard ? |
| Johnny: It was the first time I met him, yeah. |
| Doc: What did you think of Howard? |
| Johnny: I got to tell you, for me, it was amazing because I think that him and I are very, very similar. I am afraid to fly…We have so many things alike. I am kind of like one of those guys that is stuck in the middle too, kind of like him. I am too old to hang around with young people, and I'm too young to hang around with old people. |
| Doc: Are you a subscriber to Sirius? Do you listen to his show at all? |
| Johnny: Yes, oh God yes. I'm addicted. Sirius is the greatest thing. |
| Doc: Ah, great. How about the Howard TV shows, do you get to see them too? |
| Johnny: I'm addicted. |
| Doc: Well, talking about you two being similar, you are also similar in age. You are what, 51? |
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| Johnny: 51, yeah. |
| Doc: I was surprised to hear that because, I got to tell you, you are a pretty good looking man. How do you account for your youthful appearance? Have you had any work done? |
| Johnny: Oh no, no. Nobody with white hair.. I mean that would be the first thing to go.. |
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| Doc: Do you exercise, or have a special diet? |
| Johnny: I walk around a lot. I mean I live right in Beverly Hills, and walking distance from all the cafes and stores. I also have a four year old son, so I'm chasing him. |
| Doc: Right, you said that on the show. I read on the midwestmafia.com an article that you were dating a Baywatch Babe. Is that who you are with now? |
| Johnny: No, no, no, no. My girlfriend was a model, and that's who I am with now. |
| Doc: I noticed you got involved with the Scott Salem bet. What did you think of that hi-jinxs going on? |
| Johnny: That's my nature. I saw some action, and I got excited. You know what I mean? It's in my blood. |
| Doc: Do you have any good behind the scenes stories to tell from that day? Anything happen in the green room? |
| Johnny: You know what, we just got there, and we got in pretty quick. So the minute I got there, this Scott Salem thing was going on, and I thought that was kind of funny watching him being egged on. And, of course, I was getting phone calls all the way up to the moment that I walked out there onto the Stern show from everybody saying, “Oh man, you don't know what you are doing, this guy is going to tear you up.” and rah,rah,rah,rah, and it was exactly the opposite kind of an experience for me. As a matter of fact, I got to be honest with you, I have been pitching a TV show, and I won't say what Howard said, but he said something that made me understand myself a little bit more. I WILL say it. He said sometimes, don't you think growing up that way, it kind of makes it hard for you to say no, to say no even to yourself?. And, you know, I've never thought of it that way. And I have actually changed my whole pitch for the show after watching that on OnDemand. I realized, wait a minute, I have been doing this wrong the entire time. |
| Doc: What people are you hoping to get involved with that TV show? |
| Johnny: It's with everybody right now. The show was actually with Freeman Media for a while. They had it for about 18 months. They optioned it to same people who have American Idol, and the Price is Right. They are a big, giant conglomerate. The problem was is that they kept trying to change it. Our reality is freakier than anything you could make up. Just KC alone. |
 Doc: Oh, he will be involved with the show too?
Johnny: Oh, of course.
Doc: Oh, because he is living with your son, right.
Johnny: Yeah, what happens in our real life is part of the show.
Doc: That's great. I hope it gets picked up. I understand Artie (Lange) even stayed with you, at one time, last year.
Johnny: No, he just came to visit. What a wonderful guy. When people compare Artie to John Belushi, I really don't think it's fair. To me Artie is one of the funniest guys in the whole world. He is as creative as Belushi ever was. He is definitely wittier, there is no question about that. I think Belushi was more of a skit guy, more of an actor, then Artie is as far as a stand-up. I think they could go toe to toe.
Doc: I was reading on the Internet that your son was the first one to make the move to Beverly Hills. Is that right?
Johnny: My daughter actually. I have a daughter that is 31 years old. She moved out here first. Then my son followed her. And then I just came to visit, for two weeks, and I never left, ever. Doc: Just fell in love with the place.
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| Johnny: Yeah, you know, the weather. I came from where there is snow, and cold, and rain. |
| Doc: So, did you get involved with motorcycles right away when you got out there? |
| Johnny: No, I got involved with some movie stuff. I produced a couple of hip hop documentaries. And then the motorcycle stuff came, and now we are turning from motorcycles to jewelry. I got another deal for t-shirts, clothing with a company called Sublimation. And we really turned it into a real business. They are opening up our first store in Toyoko in October. |
| Doc: What makes your motorcycles so different from the others? |
| Johnny: Because it's a lawnmower engine. It's a Harley Davidson frame with a lawnmower engine. I mean, who would put a lawnmower inside a Harley Davidson? It's not a actual Harley, it's like a Harley Davidson frame. Ours are not tiny. They are actually like a full size motorcycle with low horse power. It's like a scooter that looks cool. |
| Doc: You have a nice celebrity clientele out there now right? |
| Johnny: Unbelievable. |
| Doc: I saw Paris Hilton, and Snoop Dogg on your site. Do you have any good stories associated with the celebrities? Who is your favorite customer? |
 Johnny: The Hilton sisters were the best ones. People put them down, but I got to tell you, they are wonderful to work with. One of the funniest stories, the best stories, for me, is when Paris came in and she wanted one to be covered in diamonds. And we were trying to explain to her, Paris that really isn't practical to do, but in Paris's world it really is. She had to settle for crystals, but she was very serious that we cover it in diamonds like it was nothing.
Doc: Before you moved to Beverly Hills, you were involved in all kind of different businesses I read like strip clubs, and adult clubs. Was that true?
Johnny: I was never involved with adult clubs, that was my brother Tommy. But I am always being accused of it. But I did own nightclubs. As a matter of fact, I had the nightclub that gave the first break to the band Slipknot. Slipknot came from one of my clubs. They kind of rehearsed in my club, and they got their act together in my club.
Doc: They have come along way too.
Johnny: They have come along way. And the new Superman is where I am from. The kid that plays Superman. There are a lot of famous people from Iowa, people don‘t realize that.
Doc: When you and your son left (the Stern studio), you told the cameras in the hall that you just barely scratched the surface, and there was so much more you wanted to talk to Howard about. What were some of the things you wanted to talk to him about? |
| Johnny: I wanted to talk to him about my family. I had an uncle that was a wild man. My dad had a brother that was a wild man. And I had a couple of stories about him. This guy was a maniac. He was my father's younger brother, and, of course, I am my father's son, and so there was some rivalry there. The difference was I was 9 and he was like 50. But, we had some rivalry. So, I would do practical jokes on this serious gangster. He was the real deal gangster, and I wanted to tell Howard the story of when I stole his credit card. On TV there was an infomercial, at that time, where they were selling these banana trees. I started to order banana trees, by the dozen, on his credit card and we were sending them to his house. It was freaking him out. There are a million growing up childhood stories that Howard would love. |
| Doc: Do you associate with anybody still in that lifestyle? |
| Johnny: That is not like something I can really answer, because we are all accused of it. They accuse everyone of us. The answer to that could be yes, but I don't know for sure. |
| Doc: I noticed that there are all different kind of names like cock-eyed, your dad. There was one-ear |
| Johnny: One ear is the guy I was talking about |
| Doc: And cherry-nose. Do you have a gangster name like that Johnny? |
| Johnny: There have been a couple of names I have been called. There is an article, I think they called me Handsome Johnny. There is another that called me Johnny Diamonds. |
| Doc: Those are two appropriate names. |
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| Johnny: I was also called Johnny Boy . |
| Doc: Any other good KC. Stories, or Karen Carpenter stories as you like to call him? |
| Johnny: Christ almighty, where do I fucking begin? Do you got 2 hours? Shit. I will tell you what is funny about K.C--the navigation. I still can't get over the navigation thing. We got him this Tom-Tom navigation. I don't know if you are familiar with this company, Tom-Tom, but when I say that these guys have the most unbelievable navigation system in the world , it is so simple to use, you would have to be a fucking moron to not…you literally just push in where you want to go. You can start and put a letter in there, and it will give you all the list of the cities and everything. You don't have to type the whole thing out. It is so easy to use, a piece of cake. One button it tells you where you are, the next button tells you where you are going, and it tells you exactly how to get there, and this fucking guy can't figure it out. But he thinks he can take apart all these computers, and put them back together. It's so crazy. I'm afraid to leave anything around him. The Sirius.. I left and came home one day, he had taken the portable, that's before I had the big Sirius, I have three of them at my house right now…He actually had taken this fucking thing apart. And cut wires and shit, on the back of it, so he could put this portable speaker thing to it. And it did work, finally at the end. I said, holy fuck, “You're cutting this thing up.” He literally cut like wires that aren't suppose to be cut. |
| Doc: Maybe you can help us out. There are a lot of Stern fans been waiting in anticipation for his DVD, have you had a chance to look at it at all? |
| Johnny: I've seen it, and it looks very funny. I know he turned it over to a distributor. And you know, I got to tell you the truth, I don't believe that there are that many people who are angry. And I think that might come from some jealous staff people over there. Because, let them come forward then. Let them come forward, and I tell you there aren't that many. I know that he has talked to a lot of people. He did put it in the hands of a distributor, and, from all indication they are legitimate, and they know what they are doing. There is nothing more he can do. He has turned it over to them. He even turned his profit over to them, just to get it to the people. So there is really no more he can do other than doing what he is doing. I did see it, and it is funny. |
| Doc: It's funny? I've seen clips of it I thought were pretty funny, when they riding around screaming “Fuck You” to everybody on the street. I liked that part |
| Johnny: He is a funny guy. |
| Doc: Would you like to go back on the Stern show? |
| Johnny: I would go every day. For me it was like therapy. |
| Doc: Is there anything you would like to say to the Stern fans, or to Howard himself in this interview? |
| Johnny: I would love to go back on, and tell him some more stories, now that we set up who we are. I got stories that just would kill him. When I say we scratch the surface, all we did was scratch the surface. I know a lot of Hollywood stuff too. With the Hollywood scene, it's pretty weird out here no question about that. If you want to feel normal, come out here. |
| Doc: Is there anything else that you wanted to add ? |
 Johnny: Yeah. We will build Eric the Midget a chopper. We will build him a three wheeled chopper that he could really ride. It will have Tom-Tom navigation, it will have a video IPod, it will have a PSP for games, it will be cooler than fuck. The coolest thing he will ever own in his whole life, if he'll fly with the balloons.
And not only will we do that, but we will get four of the hottest Beverly Hills Angels to bring it to him to the Stern show, naked. This isn't something for him to look at, this is something that he will really be able to get onto, and he will really be able to ride it. It's for real. This will probably give him some freedom, that he could never, ever have.
Doc: Great, well we will make sure he knows about your offer, and hopefully it will work out.
Johnny: Speaking of flying…I am also a huge Superman fan. And like Howard Stern, as a child, I had a Superman suit, and I would put that suit under my bed, and would wake up every morning dreaming I could put that suit on, and fly-- and obviously it never worked. |
| Doc: How did your dad get to meet all those people in Iowa? Did he travel a lot, are those pictures from Vegas or somewhere? |
| Johnny: My dad didn't have to do anything. They came to him. |
| Doc: They came to him, they came to Iowa? |
| Johnny: He was from Chicago. He grew up in Chicago. Many of those people were from Chicago. Kind of like when we were talking about the Harlem Globetrotters. What I wanted to say is that when they played on our court, they had the ball with the rubber band, and the bucket with confetti. |
| Doc: They did all the bits there. |
| Johnny: Everything, yeah. It was really something. |
| Doc: That would have been really exciting growing up. |
| Johnny: Absolutely, it was a blast. Every kid should have that life. |
| Doc: Well, it sounds like you are giving your children an exciting life too. |
| Johnny: Well, they are giving me one also. My son Johnny is having a ball. He is around with all the young actors and actresses, all of that.. He wants to be a writer. The whole place is kind of set up...you know it's really weird to come from a place like Iowa where people are working hard, and a lot of it is manual labor, to come to a place where there is no manual labor, and it is all ideas. How interesting is that? I have something in my head that could be valuable rather than my two hands having to lift this up for me to get a check. Really interesting. Johnny: You know, when people talk to me about Howard Stern I say, Jesus Christ, if you had to pay 48 cents to watch Jay Leno nobody would watch, and I believe that includes Oprah too. I really believe that. What this guy has done, I think is unbelievable. Not now, but five years from now, I think he will be the biggest person on the earth. |
| Doc: I'm right there with you. I think so too. |
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