That Thing You Do! Page #11

You tell him, honey.

Who are you?

Call me Kitty.

Well, Kitty,

you watch as Jimmy here...

begins his slow, torturous descent

to the loveless life that he deserves.

Should've dumped you in Pittsburgh!

Which one of you butts

said we're engaged?

The same person who said

you had class, Jimmy.

Let's blow, babe.

Get that desert air in my hair.

OK.

Do we really have to go

with the top down?

Take those stupid

sunglasses off.

Why couldn't you

have dumped her in Pittsburgh?

We do my songs,

or we don't record anything.

You got that, White?

OK. Jimmy.

I was looking forward

to working with you.

You know, you're a liar, White!

You're a liar.

And you're in

a tough spot, Jimmy,

'cause you didn't read the Play-Tone

contract that you yourself signed,

because it says

you do what I say.

And I say you cover these songs

from the Play-Tone catalog.

You record That Thing You Do

in Spanish.

You get one cut

per side of the LP,

but I don't want any of

this lover's lament crap.

I want something peppy,

something happy, something up-tempo.

I want something snappy.

All right.

[Singing]

I quit, Mr. White.

Jimmy just quit.

Your band is

falling apart, Guy.

Where's Lenny?

I have no idea.

[Processional]

I am so happy!

Oh, I can't wait for tonight!

Oh, yeah! Thanks so much.

I really-Thanks a lot!

Thanks for being here!

Thanks for Sharing!

Oh, wow, I'm really so happy.

Well, I guess

you don't need me today.

Yeah. Wolfman,

thank you very much.

You're a good man, Scott Pell.

Give me a call

later on in the week.

We'll do something.

[Door Closes]

I can't believe this.

The Wonders are

in breach of contract.

I'm sorry.

I'm really sorry, Mr. White.

Well, don't worry.

No one's going to prison, son.

It's a very common tale.

Well, maybe for you,

but I was in a band,

and we still have

a hit record.

Yeah, you do.

One-hit wonders.

It's a very common tale.

My first time in

a real recording studio.

You want to hang

around for a while?

OK by me.

But you're out of the hotel

this afternoon.

Can't help that.

You know, Guy,

Horace was right about you.

You are the smart one.

Lenny is the fool.

Jimmy is... the talent.

Faye is...

well, now, Faye is

special, isn't she?

And you are the smart one.

That's what I think anyway.

How you been?

Doing all right.

How about you?

All right. Hanging in.

[Microphone Squeals]

Ernie:
What do you call that?

I am Spartacus.

Ha ha ha!

You wanna lay it down?

Nah. I was just

goofing around.

Hey, my man.

Hey, Del!

What's your name again?

Guy... uh,

Guy Patterson.

Guy. Yeah, that's right.

Hey, you're good.

Oh, you heard that?

You swing.

Thank you.

Uh, can I jam

with you a bit?

You want to jam with me?

Why not?

Sure. Sure.

All right.

What are you doing here?

Recording some tracks in Studio C

with Willy Walker.

Willy Walker?

Can he jam with us, too?

Nah, let's keep this a duet.

Let's play that Spartacus again.

Hey, Ernie...

roll tape on this.

You got it, Del.

Go ahead. Count it off.

[Plays]

[Phone Ringing]

- KJZZ. We don't take requests.

- [Guy] Paris.

It's Guy Patterson of The Wonders.

Do you remember me?

Yeah.

You're the only person I can tell this to.

You'll never guess where I am.

I'm at Discmaster Studios.

I just jammed with Del Paxton.

He's recording down the hall

with Willy Walker...

Five-Hand Johnson

and Peter Dean Falcon.

My God. Man, can you talk to 'em?

I just did.

- No, no, no. Can you record them?

- I don't know. Maybe.

Okay, talk to 'em,

interview 'em, get 'em to play.

Just get it on tape.

God, it'll be priceless.

That is a great idea. I'll try.

Hey, listen. You want a job?

You bring that tape to the station,

and I'll give you the 6:00 to midnight slot...

seven nights a week.

Are you kidding me?

Now, I don't pay much.

Have you ever done radio?

- No. Just with you.

- That's cool. You know your jazz.

- [Tape Rewinding]

- I gotta go. I got a problem. Okay, bye.

[Line Disconnects]

Yeah, we played the Philly Jazz Junction

for a week, and Eddie the Cat-

- Y'all know Eddie the Cat.

- Yeah.

Well, he wanted us

to cut the record there.

But I'd already been booked

to be in Paris.

So, uh, he said, " Can't you stick around

for just one more day?"

Well, that Monday afternoon,

we called in a bunch of our friends to sit in...

and, uh, you know,

be an audience for us.

- We cut that record in two hours.

- Wow.

Wait. You recorded that

on a Monday afternoon at 3:00?

I have the record. It sounds like

a wild crowd on a Saturday night.

- [Chuckles]

- Yeah, well, the bar was open.

[All Laughing]

[Guy Chuckles] Uh, uh, Bobby Washington

played the drums on that, right?

[Del] Yeah, Bobby played.

That dude owes me money.

- Hey, darling, let me take care of that.

- Oh, thank you, Lamarr.

- Sure. It's my job.

- How are you?

I'm okay. But it's gonna be a sad hotel

if you leaving us today.

I gotta get a cab going to

a Greyhound bus station.

Oh, the thought of you

on a bus just ruined my day.

Well, look, don't worry about it.

We'll get you there.

- We got a jitney that leaves here every 20 minutes.

- Here?

- Yeah.

- Mmm, great.

- Great.

- Have you had your lunch?

- I'm not very hungry today.

- Oh, no, no, no, no.

You've got to eat. Now listen, I want you

to go in here to the Caf Ambassador...

and I want you to order

yourself a turkey club, bacon crisp.

And some peach cobbler.

Now that'll hold you.

- Okay?

- Bacon crisp?

- Bacon crisp, peach cobbler.

- You'll watch my bags for me?

I got your bags.

Don't worry about a thing. Enjoy!

Hey, come on over here.

Pick up this lady's bags. Mark 'em V.I.P.

Got it? V.I.P.

Hi. Can I get you something?

Yes. I would like the, uh, turkey club,

bacon crisp, please.

Turkey club. You got it.

Hey! Yeah. I'll talk to you later.

Hey, hey, hey.

Slow down there, young squire.

- Life is long.

- I gotta check out.

You're leaving us today too, huh?

Yeah, well, that partner of yours-

the one with all the attitude,

he left here hours ago.

And your little Fifi is about

to vamoose as well. [Whistles]

Wait, Fifi-You mean Faye.

She's still here?

Yeah. She's sitting there

in the coffee shop.

At the counter, alone.

Now, where I come from, that just ain't right.

[Whistles]

Take that.

- [Telephone Rings]

- Lamarr here.

Yes, sir. Blue Impala.

Absolutely. Uh-huh.

Thank you, sir. Hey, hey, hey!

Now, that ain't your job.

All right, you're not leaving.

- Guy.

- Not without saying good-bye.

It would be a very

un-Faye-like thing to do.

What's that,

The Wonders' next hit record?

No. The Wonders are no more.

Like, no more, no more?

Everything has changed, Faye.

These are hours of the immortals...

gods of jazz, talking, riffing,

telling stories you wouldn't believe.

The Wonders are dispersed.

They're gonna pay me

to broadcast this stuff on the radio.

I got a job here-here on the coast.

Here. So you'll be like

a permanent west coaster?

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