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THE TM 911 Franklin Street Weekly Newspaper Michigan City, IN 46360 Volume 34, Number 1 Thursday, January 11, 2018 The Entertainer by Andrew Tallackson Alan Barcus, photographed by The Beacher’s Bob Wellinski after a performance last fall at The Acorn Theater in Three Oaks, Mich. lan Barcus has stories to tell. is”). The guy who wrote a song for a young Richard Magnifi cent stories. Hysterical stories. Marx. Who once served as an orchestra conductor AStories so remarkable, they prompt me to at Chicago’s legendary Playboy Club (“I couldn’t tell give pause, astonished the man seated across from my mother where I worked — all those naked peo- me, so humble and ingenuous, enjoying a cup of cof- ple walking around”). Who generated nearly 2,500 fee, has forged such an extraordinary life for him- radio and TV spots, the most iconic being Car-X’s self. “rattle, rattle, thunder, clatter, boom, boom, boom” A La Porte native, for instance, who boasts a campaign (“That might be my epitaph”). lifelong friendship with actor Joe Mantegna (“He’s regarded as the nicest man in Hollywood, and he Entertainer Continued on Page 2 THE Page 2 January 11, 2018 THE 911 Franklin Street • Michigan City, IN 46360 219/879-0088 • FAX 219/879-8070 In Case Of Emergency, Dial e-mail: News/Articles - [email protected] email: Classifieds - [email protected] http://www.thebeacher.com/ PRINTED WITH Published and Printed by TM Trademark of American Soybean Association THE BEACHER BUSINESS PRINTERS Delivered weekly, free of charge to Birch Tree Farms, Duneland Beach, Grand Beach, Hidden 911 Shores, Long Beach, Michiana Shores, Michiana MI and Shoreland Hills. The Beacher is also delivered to public places in Michigan City, New Buffalo, LaPorte and Sheridan Beach. Entertainer think of myself as shy, but Continued from Page 1 I was uncomfortable about For Barcus, how his life girls. Years later, I wrote the turned out was not part of song ‘14,’ about all the wom- some master plan. To hear en who passed me by.” him tell it, success shadowed After graduating from La luck. Pure luck. Plain and Porte High School, Alan at- simple. tended Indiana State Uni- “So much of it is by acci- versity in Terre Haute, where dent,” he says. “None of it was his dexterity in cross country planned. And to top it off, in and track saw him make the the beginning, all I wanted to track team freshman year. do was succeed in track.” “The coach said, ‘Who are you?,’ and I said, ‘I don’t think I’m anybody.’ But I was In the Beginning — so thrilled.” Athlete or Entertainer? Alan, in fact, was part of the same Hall of Fame class ndeed, the parental in- that includes the legendary fl uences in Alan’s child- Larry Bird. And, it should be Ihood could have tipped noted, it was the night before the scales in either direction. a track meet that the seeds of He was born in La Porte, grow- song his mother planted amid ing up in what was referred to his youth fi nally emerged. as “Poletown.” Densely popu- Alan’s parents, Ray and Nellie Barcus. Photo provided by Alan Barcus Riddled with nerves, Alan lated with Polish immigrants, could not sleep. He tried ev- a young Alan became “fl uent in Polish profanity,” erything to calm himself: a fi ve-mile walk, seeing he says with robust laughter, raised by parents who a movie. Nothing worked. In a burst of inspiration, were polar opposites. he headed over to the practice rooms at the campus His father was Ray Barcus, a minor-leaguer music department. He fi ddled around with notes, through the Chicago White Sox. sequences of chords. “So much of the time,” Alan said of his childhood, Slowly, but surely, a musician was born. “I would easily be out throwing a curveball with my dad. He was a power pitcher. I was a junk pitcher.” His mother, Nellie, was a pianist. She preferred From Teacher to Performer he follow in her footsteps, carting him off to piano pon graduating from ISU with a master’s lessons with Hilda Wagner Pease. Alan, however, degree in business in 1960, Alan did not showed no interest. In fact, he loathed piano lessons, Ustray far from campus. His fi rst job out doing everything possible to persuade his mother to of college was in nearby Brazil, Ind., teaching and call it quits. Eventually, he succeeded. coaching basketball, cross country and track at the So in school, he loved football, baseball, basket- local high school. His mother, Nellie, certainly was ball and track. There was just one problem. Weigh- proud. It was precisely what she wanted for her ing only 149 pounds, he was getting hurt all the son. A respectable career. A steady income. A family. time. In fact, he broke his wrist diving for the end Alan was now married. He and his wife, Ann, had a zone during a high school football game. He ended daughter, Katie. his high school career with the Slicer baseball team. For a while, Alan was content. Life was good. Socially, life was frustrating. He describes him- Gradually, he grew restless. He couldn’t shake the self freshman year as a “miserable 14-year-old. love of music that fl ourished in college. He realized, “I looked like a straw,” he continued. “I didn’t if he was to succeed in music, he needed to escape a THE January 11, 2018 Page 3 'RQ¶W0LVVWKLV0RQWK/RQJ6DOH :LQWHU+RXUV 0RQ6DWDPSP(7 6XQ1RRQSP(7 Alan, in his track days at Indiana State University. Photo provided by Alan Barcus provincial Indiana life and head for either Los An- geles, New York or Chicago. The decision was ago- nizing, but with the support of his family, and with no solid job prospects in sight, he, Ann and Katie -,2L'PABMM:D>KLM%G>P;N??:EH%FB moved to Chicago. The aforementioned luck was the catalyst for Alan scoring his fi rst two big gigs. One was as an orchestra conductor at Chicago’s Playboy Club. This, Alan says, was back in the days when fi rst-rate musicians performed, when then unknowns like Steve Martin and Billy Crystal test- ed material as fl edgling standup comedians. Play- ing fi ve nights a week, Alan never told his mother where he was performing. She was insistent on not only seeing him, but also bringing his former piano teacher. Those requests, Alan says with a chuckle, were denied. Take steps toward “Those bunny costumes, alone, would have made your new home! her faint,” he said. “She would have fallen over. Buying a home doesn’t have to be scary or hard. Dead.” When you partner with MutualBank, a mortgage loan expert will guide you through these steps: Alan would work at The Playboy Club for four years, and it was during this time that his path 1. Apply with Mortgage Lender, Cheryl Hamilton crossed with Dick Marx, then a top music produc- or online at bankwithmutual.com. 2. Submit documentation for review and er in Chicago, his forte being commercials. Alan’s property appraisal. style, Dick felt, in some ways resembled Elton John, 3. Participate in the closing of your new home! and it impressed Marx, who started hiring him for Contact Cheryl Hamilton! various ad campaigns. It was also what, down the NMLS 436346 road, lead Alan to help Dick’s son, Richard, write a 6 West Buffalo Street, New Buffalo song the musician would take with him to Los An- 269.469.5552 [email protected] geles to pursue a career. Alan also was hired as the music director for a production of “Hair.” The landmark Broadway mu- sical also marked the stage debut, in 1969, for a Subject to credit approval. Entertainer Continued on Page 4 THE Page 4 January 11, 2018 Entertainer Continued from Page 3 The Car-X Man young actor named Joe lan can tell Mantegna. you the exact Mantegna, of course, number of TV would go on to co-write A and radio spots he cre- “Bleacher Bums,” the ated. It’s 2,498. His gift award-winning play in- for tapping into what troduced by Chicago’s appeals to consumers Organic Theater Co., has spawned work for and become a regular in Pepsi, State Farm Insur- David Mamet produc- ance, McDonald’s and tions, winning a Tony as Kellogg’s. Remember Richard Roma in Mam- the “Oo, La, La” jingle et’s “Glengarry Glen for Tresemé shampoo? Ross.” His subsequent That’s Alan. career has spanned fi lm But the big one, the and TV, but the friend- one, the one that earns ship that emerged be- him scads of recogni- tween him and Alan tion, is the “rattle, rattle, never dimmed. They thunder, clatter, boom, produced the Chicago Alan (seated at the piano) rehearses for a show with the likes of Joe Man- tegna and Andre DeShields. Photo provided by Alan Barcus boom, boom” campaign” play “Eli,” with Manteg- jingle for Car-X.” na co-writing the book How did that memo- and Barcus writing the rable jingle come about? book, music and lyrics. It was just a burst of Mantegna recommended inspiration, says Alan, Alan to score the Oscar- who comes across as fl at- nominated short fi lm, tered, amused, even be- “Medusa Challenger.” fuddled by its success. Alan also had the op- He frequently jokes that portunity to work with the jingle will appear on the likes of Dennis Franz his tombstone.