ArtArsenio

Pia Zadora on the Arsenio Hall Show

Pia Zadora brings a live version of 'Heartbeat of Love'

First of all, who’s the rapper? Who’s the rapper with you?
La Rue.
You were successfull in turning the critics around, but you were doing classics. What made you change and decide to do this?

OK, so this is your thing?
This is my thing, from my heart. There are some ballads on the album that
are really pretty. This was one of our ‘dancier’ things.
I caught your 'When the rain begins to fall'.
With Jermaine Jackson. My friend jermaine, who is here tonight to see me.
That was kind of out of this…
It was! It was pop, very huge in Europe. We have gold and platinum records
and travelled all over Europe, doin’ concerts and had a great time. And then,
I did the standards to get my credibility going here. And then I went back to
pop music.
That’s great! Let’s talk about a very strange era.
Do we have to?
In getting this credibility back, you went through a lot of changes, with the
public and with critics, because they didn’t take you seriously. As a matter
of fact, as you noticed during the monologue, there are still a dozen of
sceptics here.
Get them out of here. I brought Don King. Don! Get them out of here!
Don ‘ll have a Ceasars next week : Pia and twelve people from the Arsenio
Hall Show!
I’m going in the ring next week!
You have these sceptics –still- left over.
That’s why I’m here tonight.
There’s a lot of pain sometimes in dealing with the criticism. How did you
make it through that period?
I’m a fighter by nature, really in there to do my thing and to prove that I’m meaning to do the best at

what I’m doing. And I went through a lot of crap, I got of to a shaky start. You know, it’s not, like, where you start is where you finish. Sally Field was the Flying Nun, you opened for Jim Bailey,…(laughs)
Yeah
I’m here and that’s what matters. Not where you start is where you finish.
So what’s next for you? What are you gonna do next?
I’m gonna sing, I’m gonna go on tour and I’m gonna do my thing.
Do you ever plan on opening for Tiny Tim again?
Oh please, don’t remind me! I had to mention Jim Bailey, right?
Yeah! I got my Jim Bailey, you got your Tiny Tim! (Sings in high voice) Tip Toe…
It was the most horrible thing. We were in this little club in Clearwater, Fl. and in the dressing room we only had a curtain between us. And when we vocalized, you couldn’t tell which one was me and which one was Tiny Tim. His voice was actually higher than mine.
Yeah, I can imagine. Gigs from hell, we’ve all been there.
That’s right.
Thanks for stopping by, Pia.

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There was a time when a lot of people didn't take my next guest seriously. And then, about four years ago, she turned her career around. She did a series od concerts and left the critics raving. And tonight, she's gonna turn y'all around. She's teamed up with Narada Michael Walden for a serious rock album. This album's called Pia Z. Performing Heartbeat of Love, please welcome Pia Zadora

Jermaine Jackson

Don King

I was singing the standards and I love singing them. I mean, they’re gorgeous songs and hard songs to sing. But what they did, they gave me…They let me prove myself, they gave me the ability to put my best foot forward and do what I did best and get the credibility going. So I could take it from there and do my own thing. I mean, I couldn’t sing them forever, they’re not my songs, I didn’t make them hits. They’re Judy Garlands’, Frank Sinatra’s.
When I did them, they were really hip to do and they worked for me, but now I’ve got to do my own thing.