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EPISODE SUMMARY:
Listen In to here the story of a John Beyer's Journey from Alcoholism to Sobriety and how he managed to create a successful company and even begin his journey into releasing music and revitalizing his life with family. All documented in his book Live A Little Better.
JOHN BEYER is a singer and songwriter from New York and the founder of Men on the Move, a top moving and storage company on the East Coast. He is an advocate for autism awareness and support and has served as chairman of the Long Island Chapter of Autism Speaks, a founding board member of Spectrum Designs Foundation, and as a founding member of the David Center. He currently lives on Long Island with his wife, Amy, and his daughter, Lauren, who insisted he tell his story.
John Beyer shares his remarkable journey from a chaotic home marked by addiction and neglect to building a thriving moving-and-storage business on the East Coast in his gripping memoir, LIVE A LITTLE BETTER: One Man’s Journey of Survival, Sobriety, and Success
LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-beyer-b976338/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johnbeyermusic/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnbeyermusic/
Author Page: https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/John-Beyer/232139178
Tune in for this healthy conversation at TalkRadio.nyc
In this episode of Frank About Health, Frank R. Harrison interviews John Beyer, an author, entrepreneur, and advocate for autism and addiction recovery. John shares his transformative journey from childhood trauma, shaped by alcoholism and neglect, to overcoming personal struggles and finding success through sobriety. As the founder of Men on the Move and an advocate for autism awareness, John’s story emphasizes resilience, the power of self-improvement, and how personal challenges can be channeled into meaningful contributions for others.
In this segment of Frank About Health, Frank R. Harrison continues his conversation with John Beyer, delving into the transformative power of overcoming personal struggles, including alcoholism, and the path to thriving. John reflects on his journey from hardship to recovery, discussing his book Live a Little Better, which chronicles his experiences and offers a roadmap for those in recovery. The discussion highlights the role of strong support systems, including his wife, in helping John build a successful life through his business, Men on the Move, while maintaining sobriety and advocating for others facing similar challenges.
In this segment of Frank About Health, Frank R. Harrison and John Beyer reflect on the therapeutic power of music and how it has supported John through his journey of recovery. They discuss John's song "Powerless," which he wrote as part of a play inspired by the 12-step process of Alcoholics Anonymous. The conversation delves into how John's music resonates with listeners, helping them stay sober, and the ongoing creation of an audiobook that integrates the powerful messages from his book Live a Little Better. The two also touch on their shared experiences in overcoming challenges, with Frank drawing parallels to his own life and the strength found in personal perseverance.
In this final segment of Frank About Health, Frank R. Harrison and John Beyer wrap up their conversation on the healing power of music, with John reflecting on his journey from alcoholism to success. They discuss the diverse range of John's music, including his song "Powerless," which has inspired many listeners in recovery. The segment also highlights John's book Live a Little Better and the influence of his daughter in both his personal life and musical career. Frank introduces a proposal to collaborate on the documentary Being Frank for a Healthy Future, suggesting a future partnership with John’s music to amplify its message, as they both continue their advocacy work in healthcare.
00:00:24.370 --> 00:00:26.236 Frank R. Harrison: Just just the flow.
00:00:49.490 --> 00:01:03.270 Frank R. Harrison: Hello, everyone, and welcome to a new episode of Frank about health. This is a unique situation we are now under. I have my guest on the phone with me, who has a problem getting into his terminal that allows us to have a face-to-face conversation.
00:01:03.300 --> 00:01:26.779 Frank R. Harrison: But for those of you listening on talkradio dot nyc, right now. This is, after all, an audio show as well. So I will just make sure that when he starts talking about his circumstances. That brings him to Frank about health. Today I will put the phone right next to the microphone so that you can get his story. But today we're going to talk with Mr. John Beyer, who is the author of the book, live a life.
00:01:26.780 --> 00:01:35.990 Frank R. Harrison: no, live a little better. He talks about his journey through struggles and neglect and alcoholism, and ultimately
00:01:36.391 --> 00:01:42.259 Frank R. Harrison: shows how he gets sober and begins to succeed on levels that he never imagined.
00:01:42.280 --> 00:01:54.720 Frank R. Harrison: you know, including marrying his love of his life, Amy having his daughter Lauren and his other son. That also has a story of his own that we're going to share on today's episode.
00:01:54.880 --> 00:02:01.489 Frank R. Harrison: Today's this, today's episode is entitled, Live a letter, Live a life, live a little better.
00:02:01.700 --> 00:02:25.070 Frank R. Harrison: And it's a journey of from sobriety to success, and the main topic in this episode is that of alcoholism. However, we will touch upon autism, and we will also touch upon just overall mental health. The thing about John Beyer is that not only is he the owner and founder of men on the move, he is also the author of the book
00:02:25.490 --> 00:02:47.809 Frank R. Harrison: live a little better, which is available on Amazon, and he's also a musician and songwriter, and we will play some of his tunes throughout the show as far as the disclaimer is concerned. This is a case study on an individual who also dealt with disruption and managed to do something about it. That's been the theme on this show for the last several weeks. And, more importantly.
00:02:47.810 --> 00:03:06.609 Frank R. Harrison: it is not a talking point that is subject to any conclusions or views of Talkradio, Dot, Nyc. Or of Frank about health. But it's an example case in point where we can be able to learn from our struggles and even master them and make them into better opportunities for others.
00:03:07.083 --> 00:03:33.296 Frank R. Harrison: That all being said. We are going to go through the whole technical challenges here of passing on the conversation into the microphone. But I also do want to get in touch, Jesse, behind the scenes. If there is anything you can do to try to help John get on the show. By all means. Do you even need his number? I can give that to you, so you can call him and try to work through all the mechanics.
00:03:33.630 --> 00:03:40.860 Frank R. Harrison: but otherwise I guess, if nothing can be done at this point, since we are now live we will just move forward
00:03:40.880 --> 00:03:45.400 Frank R. Harrison: and go with the show in the format. We're now doing it in.
00:03:45.893 --> 00:03:50.910 Frank R. Harrison: That all being said, let me give you a little overview of who John Beyer is.
00:03:51.960 --> 00:04:15.920 Frank R. Harrison: He is a singer songwriter from New York, the founder of men on the Move Top Moving and Storage Company on the East coast, an advocate for autism, awareness, and support, and has served as chairman of the Long Island chapter of Autism, speaks a founding board, member of Spectrum Designs Foundation, and a founding member of the David Center. He currently lives on Long Island with his wife and daughter, and they insisted he tell his story.
00:04:16.149 --> 00:04:23.929 Frank R. Harrison: Now. Welcome to Frank about health, John. I hope you can hear me. I all right. Great.
00:04:25.110 --> 00:04:54.000 Frank R. Harrison: Okay. Great. I mean. Again, the talkradio dot Nyc audience is audio streaming. So they're just hearing you, which is fine. I guess our Youtube audience and Linkedin audience won't get a chance to hear you, but they will musically, if you know what I mean. Throughout the commercial breaks as well as throughout the rest of the show. So I'm going to pass the phone onto the microphone. So you can now begin to really
00:04:54.080 --> 00:05:10.309 Frank R. Harrison: start explaining to the audience and listeners out there what your whole story has been in your struggle with alcoholism. I think obviously, by having that background, we can really go deeper into your book and into the other creative outlets that you've manifested after you became sober.
00:05:10.590 --> 00:05:17.459 Frank R. Harrison: sound, good, mean I you know I was born into. My parents were both bonafide
00:05:17.700 --> 00:05:23.092 Frank R. Harrison: alcoholics. I don't. I don't like calling somebody else an alcoholic. But in in their case
00:05:23.810 --> 00:05:25.960 Frank R. Harrison: She would argue that that point.
00:05:26.480 --> 00:05:31.320 Frank R. Harrison: They were, you know. And I always wondered, is it is it genetic or environmental.
00:05:31.550 --> 00:05:35.304 Frank R. Harrison: In my case, in particular, it really doesn't matter, because,
00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:41.109 Frank R. Harrison: I had the genes and certainly the environment. And
00:05:41.230 --> 00:05:52.090 Frank R. Harrison: the you know, my parents got the fights and the the discourse and the unmanageability. The insanity affected them.
00:05:54.273 --> 00:05:57.655 Frank R. Harrison: In their marriage. And and I was
00:05:58.540 --> 00:06:10.019 Frank R. Harrison: 5, 6, 7 years old. They were getting fights, and and police were called, and clothing thrown about all over the lawn, and so on, and so forth, and they wound up, getting separated, and
00:06:10.660 --> 00:06:20.539 Frank R. Harrison: father was a very successful photographer. At 1 point he started to fail at that a little bit because of the drinking and money got tight, and
00:06:20.890 --> 00:06:27.419 Frank R. Harrison: they got a divorce, a divorce, as a matter of course, as Billy Joel Lyric says.
00:06:29.550 --> 00:06:39.310 Frank R. Harrison: they. We moved. We lived in a building at one time in Riverdale, where you would call up, and they would bring the car around for you, and a white glove would open the door for you.
00:06:39.640 --> 00:06:47.216 Frank R. Harrison: that as a little kid, and that quickly changed that changed overnight. I think they were living beyond their beats at the time, and they
00:06:48.090 --> 00:06:49.872 Frank R. Harrison: What happened was is that they
00:06:50.920 --> 00:07:12.127 Frank R. Harrison: They went, broke, and got divorced, and we moved to left Rock City in Queens, New York, which is a huge, a huge complex about 2018 story buildings, with 15 or 18,000 people living there at any given time. And it was quite. It was pretty nice when we when we moved there. But
00:07:12.820 --> 00:07:19.030 Frank R. Harrison: It wasn't. Nobody was bringing the car around for you and opening your white glove overnight.
00:07:19.490 --> 00:07:25.759 Frank R. Harrison: Overnight we were eviction notices were on the door was the standard.
00:07:26.030 --> 00:07:37.240 Frank R. Harrison: No food in the refrigerator people, some neighbors anonymously call child protective services. They would come and visit to make sure I wasn't being
00:07:37.450 --> 00:07:43.030 Frank R. Harrison: abused. I was neglected that I wasn't abused. My dad, who lived only miles away
00:07:43.340 --> 00:07:51.819 Frank R. Harrison: in Queens over a 5 year period. I saw maybe a half dozen or a dozen times. It seems like, and
00:07:52.360 --> 00:07:58.396 Frank R. Harrison: it was a very sad situation. I had holes in my sneakers.
00:07:59.070 --> 00:08:06.640 Frank R. Harrison: I used to. I used to take the leftover baseball cards on my friends flipping baseball cards and put them in the bottom of my sneakers
00:08:06.780 --> 00:08:17.880 Frank R. Harrison: and so i i 1 day I, when I was 11, maybe 12 years old, I went across the street to the grocery store. It was a wall bomb shopping
00:08:18.830 --> 00:08:28.520 Frank R. Harrison: grocery store across the street and I started helping people put their their older people. And you know, women with little kids. Maybe
00:08:28.650 --> 00:08:35.409 Frank R. Harrison: I would help them put their groceries in the, in the in the trunk of their car, and I would bring the the cart back.
00:08:35.419 --> 00:09:01.880 Frank R. Harrison: and they would give me a quarter, and you know. Then I started picking up the debris in the in the parking lot, and I was really corralling all the wagons. One day the manager came out and said, What are you doing? And I was scared. I was intimidated first, st big guy, and I said, I'm just trying to make it faster for people to be able to pull in and pull out. The parking lot is crowded, and I'm just trying to earn some tips here, and he handed me $2.
00:09:02.270 --> 00:09:06.730 Frank R. Harrison: Wow! And I'm I meant to get that. And it was so empowering.
00:09:07.540 --> 00:09:13.349 Frank R. Harrison: And I think about it later on in life. I didn't realize it that. But I really actually created my 1st job.
00:09:13.810 --> 00:09:17.490 Frank R. Harrison: And I made money. And I went out and got pizza.
00:09:18.310 --> 00:09:36.310 Frank R. Harrison: Yeah. And it was a huge treat. And, you know, completely ungoverned household. and that's what it was like. And you know I watched alcohol ruin. My parents lives. I have 2 old sisters. They they had left, and for their own
00:09:36.630 --> 00:09:48.171 Frank R. Harrison: reasons. And you know, for those reasons, really, and I and I understood it. They were a little bit older than me. You know. I saw them all the time. They were great, my sisters. They helped raise me
00:09:48.900 --> 00:10:12.820 Frank R. Harrison: but they they left, and it was just me and my mom at this point, and she was in very bad shape, and I remember I vowed I would never be. I would never drink, I would never become an alcoholic right? And I did. You know, somehow, what happened was in the stairwells of left Wreck city when I was a little bit older. I'm in the stairwells with 2 of my buddies, and we did shotguns of beer
00:10:12.990 --> 00:10:20.200 Frank R. Harrison: and you know, that's when you you puncture a hole in the can, and then you turn it. You start to drink it, and then you
00:10:20.450 --> 00:10:36.760 Frank R. Harrison: flip the the little flip there, and the beer gushes down your throat and you get a buzz quickly that way. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I did that. And there, you know, I drank every drop. It didn't spill anything, and they're spilling it, and I'm trying to catch it.
00:10:36.880 --> 00:10:42.230 Frank R. Harrison: And immediately, as soon as we gathered ourselves, I said, Hey, let's get toble.
00:10:42.350 --> 00:10:45.120 Frank R. Harrison: Let's get the big ones and I.
00:10:45.220 --> 00:10:48.739 Frank R. Harrison: Everything is that I just drank differently from the get. Go.
00:10:49.333 --> 00:10:56.090 Frank R. Harrison: I really did. I just drank like a pig, and I was off to the races. Yeah, when I was 21
00:10:57.106 --> 00:10:59.987 Frank R. Harrison: my sister dragged me to
00:11:01.380 --> 00:11:05.320 Frank R. Harrison: my sister Denise dragged me to a Gi doctor on the upper East side of Manhattan.
00:11:05.710 --> 00:11:20.319 Frank R. Harrison: and I didn't meet the doctor yet, and I drank the Malton. They do the X-rays, and I'm in one of those robes where you know split down the back, and I'm clinging to the back of the robe, and the nurse says, make a left and a left, and the doctor's office is down the hall.
00:11:20.470 --> 00:11:25.330 Frank R. Harrison: and I do that, and it's standing in the doorway, and there are 2 doctors where they're back to me.
00:11:25.540 --> 00:11:29.529 Frank R. Harrison: and they're looking at a light box at an X-ray with a light box.
00:11:29.840 --> 00:11:34.530 Frank R. Harrison: And I clear my throat, and I say, Hi! My name is John Byer.
00:11:34.690 --> 00:11:37.730 Frank R. Harrison: and they turn and look at me, and one of them says.
00:11:37.910 --> 00:11:43.710 Frank R. Harrison: your John Buyer, we were expecting somebody 80 years old, those 21.
00:11:43.910 --> 00:11:46.820 Frank R. Harrison: Oh, well, how did they confuse you?
00:11:47.610 --> 00:11:54.919 Frank R. Harrison: The the X-ray showed such damage to my my stomach at 21
00:11:55.880 --> 00:11:59.179 Frank R. Harrison: that I they thought they were dealing with somebody 80 years old.
00:11:59.890 --> 00:12:03.289 Frank R. Harrison: and that's all because of the alcohol up on the light box.
00:12:03.700 --> 00:12:06.440 Frank R. Harrison: Oh, wow, yeah.
00:12:06.800 --> 00:12:14.100 Frank R. Harrison: yeah. So. And so they gave me a prescription for to heal my stomachs, and I wound up drinking another 5 years.
00:12:14.950 --> 00:12:19.258 Frank R. Harrison: That's what an alcoholic does. So yeah. Became an alcoholic. And
00:12:19.910 --> 00:12:24.770 Frank R. Harrison: you know I dated a girl in in high school. Her name was Amy
00:12:24.880 --> 00:12:38.242 Frank R. Harrison: and you know. She went away to college. I went away to college, but we always we always still going out with each other, even though we saw each other, you know, saw other people at times and and things like that, and she always stuck by me and
00:12:39.150 --> 00:12:43.439 Frank R. Harrison: I wound up, getting sober, walking into the rooms of Aa
00:12:43.961 --> 00:12:49.680 Frank R. Harrison: On March 31, st 1986. And I went to my 1st meeting.
00:12:50.070 --> 00:12:57.360 Frank R. Harrison: and she was back at her apartment cooking dinner, and I walked into the the apartment.
00:12:57.950 --> 00:13:01.639 Frank R. Harrison: and before the door closed behind me. I said.
00:13:01.750 --> 00:13:04.220 Frank R. Harrison: our whole lives are going to change.
00:13:04.670 --> 00:13:09.389 Frank R. Harrison: And they and they did, and they did, and I've been going ever since.
00:13:09.750 --> 00:13:20.600 Frank R. Harrison: Well, that's wonderful. In the meantime, though I'm kind of curious. Where were you completely separated from your parents and your sisters, and and practically homeless? Or were you able to to. Still.
00:13:20.610 --> 00:13:47.080 Frank R. Harrison: I see that working and making money when I had that experience of war bombs, and I realized I could work and make money myself, and that, like, I said, was very empowering, and I always managed to do that except when I started getting really bad with the drinking. So I did go from place to place, and I had all kinds of jobs. I drove a cab for a while when I was 18 years old in South Jamaica. Queens
00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:51.999 Frank R. Harrison: was very rough neighborhood at the time. Right? And I I
00:13:52.710 --> 00:14:22.219 Frank R. Harrison: I was a bartender for many years, which is not a good place for somebody with a drinking problem to work, and I got introduced to cocaine to a ton of cocaine. And you know this was early eighties when this is all happening, and I was a mess. My father died when I was 21, so he died. He was only 56, and the doctor said to him. His name is John also, and he said to him, John, if you don't stop drinking, you're going to die.
00:14:22.410 --> 00:14:26.299 Frank R. Harrison: And he said, I know when he stopped drinking for a year. He, white knuckled it.
00:14:26.740 --> 00:14:33.239 Frank R. Harrison: and one exactly New Year's to New Year's, and he picked up on New Year's Eve again.
00:14:33.940 --> 00:14:43.360 Frank R. Harrison: and on March 31, st just 10 on on March 17, th on on Saint Patrick's day, just 10 weeks later, he went into the hospital.
00:14:43.630 --> 00:14:45.210 Frank R. Harrison: It took him 10 weeks
00:14:45.410 --> 00:14:52.449 Frank R. Harrison: of drinking again to go into the hospital, and he wound up dying, this long, slow, horrible death
00:14:52.570 --> 00:15:00.330 Frank R. Harrison: of heart failure and cirrhosis of the liver. Just 9 months after he started picking that he picked up the drink again.
00:15:00.650 --> 00:15:04.340 Frank R. Harrison: and I I saw it, and I kept on drinking.
00:15:04.600 --> 00:15:06.720 Frank R. Harrison: and my mom at that time ironically
00:15:06.830 --> 00:15:09.761 Frank R. Harrison: stopped drinking and got sober. And she
00:15:10.790 --> 00:15:36.859 Frank R. Harrison: She was amazing. Actually they had become very friendly. They were happily divorced. They had both had significant others long term significant, others, but they were very friendly, and unfortunately she smoked 4 packs of cigarettes a day, and 3 years after she stopped drinking she developed 9 lung cancer, and then she died when I was 24, which was a long, slow, horrible death.
00:15:36.880 --> 00:15:47.020 Frank R. Harrison: Yeah. And it was it was you know I was 24 years old. I'm in the throes of some deep alcoholism already, and I'm I'm experiencing these deaths
00:15:47.160 --> 00:15:47.835 Frank R. Harrison: and
00:15:48.710 --> 00:15:51.469 Frank R. Harrison: It was pour me. Poor me! Pour me a drink.
00:15:51.670 --> 00:15:57.230 Frank R. Harrison: It became your go to during depression and anxiety and everything else.
00:15:57.460 --> 00:16:06.710 Frank R. Harrison: Yeah, you know, you go to to mind altering substances when you're hurting in pain or have voids. And and that that solution
00:16:07.140 --> 00:16:08.590 Frank R. Harrison: winds up becoming
00:16:08.690 --> 00:16:20.060 Frank R. Harrison: a bigger problem. And you you realize you're just masking all the the real problems underneath. Well, John, we're about to take our 1st break. But now that we've had
00:16:20.060 --> 00:16:45.519 Frank R. Harrison: the real gripping story in the 1st 13 to 15 min of the program. We want to spend the rest of the time talking about how you definitely have worked through all of it. We'll start talking about your book. In the next segment. We'll play your music after the 3rd segment, and then, at the same time, we'll talk about all your advocacy work that you're doing both for autism as well as for alcoholics anonymous as well as men on the move. We want to learn about how you've made
00:16:45.570 --> 00:16:55.029 Frank R. Harrison: made your way from that experience, first, st getting that $2 to buy that slice of pizza to doing what you do every day in, day out at this point right?
00:16:55.650 --> 00:17:11.710 Frank R. Harrison: All right. So, ladies and gentlemen, please stay tuned right here on Frank about health, as we are here with John Beyer talking about how to live a little better. We're learning about John's story from survival sobriety and success. We'll be back in a few.
00:18:55.570 --> 00:19:25.499 Frank R. Harrison: Hey, everybody with the magic of technology. I have John Beyer with me here on Whatsapp, and we are broadcasting it on video as well for all of you out there who just heard his interesting story that he had to undergo as a youngster, and then really overcome not just alcoholism and substance abuse, but to really understand what it's like to work hard for the money to really survive and thrive. Eventually I also showed, during the commercial break
00:19:25.810 --> 00:19:33.519 Frank R. Harrison: an image of his music. He's available on Youtube, spotify apple music as well as
00:19:33.780 --> 00:19:42.870 Frank R. Harrison: Amazon Amazon music. We will hear some of his music later on, but his website, John buyermusic.com indicates not only the book
00:19:44.040 --> 00:20:04.890 Frank R. Harrison: live a little better, which is available on Amazon, kindle at half price, but the point of the matter is is, you're really getting to resonate with his own story, especially if you have any family or friends or loved ones that have an alcoholic story as well that they can probably learn from or mirror after, so that they can find their way to thrive
00:20:04.890 --> 00:20:14.680 Frank R. Harrison: and recover from that again, if you are dealing with disruption in your life. What are you going to do about it? That's what I've been trying to do right here on Frank about health for the last few weeks.
00:20:14.830 --> 00:20:18.960 Frank R. Harrison: And this is an interesting story for me, because, while
00:20:19.420 --> 00:20:42.370 Frank R. Harrison: I guess you could say, fortunately I have not had to deal with alcoholism. I have had to deal with a life of epilepsy. I've had to deal with other kinds of hardships, sometimes burdened by people so-called friends, family members that really are more narcissistic in nature, and don't have an understanding of whatever advocacy plans that I have, that they're more tools for their purpose rather than
00:20:42.370 --> 00:20:50.260 Frank R. Harrison: for the greater good. But this platform that I've had for almost 150 episodes now has been a real
00:20:50.290 --> 00:21:13.296 Frank R. Harrison: measure of how I can individuate from that kind of chaos, and more on that. A little later in this part of the show. I want to discuss a little bit about the book with John, particularly how it's broken out, and what the the reader can take from it, especially if they are in recovery as well as dealing with whatever they can to
00:21:13.900 --> 00:21:19.889 Frank R. Harrison: to continue to thrive without the challenges that they make, you know, continue to face day to day.
00:21:20.070 --> 00:21:42.160 Frank R. Harrison: So that being, said, John, do you have any thoughts on how you wrote the book, or why you did, was it? I know you said your wife and daughter said you should tell your story. But how did it help you also in creating a schematic, a roadmap of sorts, to help keep yourself in recovery and continue to thrive? And how do you educate others to do the same?
00:21:45.870 --> 00:21:52.029 Frank R. Harrison: It's been simple. It was. It was. I took a chronological approach. Mostly. I don't jump around
00:21:52.310 --> 00:21:57.300 Frank R. Harrison: timelines much at all, but it was my daughter
00:21:58.220 --> 00:22:06.090 Frank R. Harrison: much more than my wife. It's my daughter who, you know, called the tender bar which George Clooney
00:22:06.460 --> 00:22:15.870 Frank R. Harrison: read, and he loved, and he turned it into a movie. He was not in the movie. He did start Ben Affleck. The book did much better than the movie. The book was terrific.
00:22:16.040 --> 00:22:19.069 Frank R. Harrison: There was a there was a page in that book of
00:22:19.460 --> 00:22:22.579 Frank R. Harrison: boy is waiting for his dad, young man.
00:22:22.910 --> 00:22:28.670 Frank R. Harrison: and it's a true story. It's a memoir about a kid who grew up in Manhasset and
00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:30.550 Frank R. Harrison: in a bar.
00:22:30.820 --> 00:22:33.159 Frank R. Harrison: And it was, it was like telling my story.
00:22:33.400 --> 00:22:38.980 Frank R. Harrison: Yeah, the same, but are different, you know, and it was one page where one story where he's waiting for
00:22:39.090 --> 00:22:44.489 Frank R. Harrison: his dad and I have a gut wrenching story in my book about how my dad
00:22:44.630 --> 00:22:46.740 Frank R. Harrison: prompts to take me to a Yankee game.
00:22:47.030 --> 00:22:51.170 Frank R. Harrison: and I'm downstairs waiting in the lobby. I'm 10 years old or so.
00:22:51.380 --> 00:22:53.459 Frank R. Harrison: and downstairs, waiting in the lobby.
00:22:53.710 --> 00:22:55.940 Frank R. Harrison: They have to show up, and
00:22:56.480 --> 00:23:01.250 Frank R. Harrison: you know we're going to a 1 o'clock or 2 o'clock game, and he's a lane.
00:23:01.420 --> 00:23:06.710 Frank R. Harrison: and I'm buzzing upstairs. There were no cell phones at the time. I'm buzzing upstairs to my mother.
00:23:07.200 --> 00:23:09.829 Frank R. Harrison: are you? Did that call? Did that call?
00:23:10.470 --> 00:23:13.569 Frank R. Harrison: And 1st he called and said it was going to be late.
00:23:13.950 --> 00:23:18.889 Frank R. Harrison: and then, 20 min later, he's not there. I buzz again, and I can hear her getting
00:23:19.160 --> 00:23:27.620 Frank R. Harrison: more drunk was every time I I buzzed her, and he never shows okay, deck
00:23:27.800 --> 00:23:30.710 Frank R. Harrison: kind of stuff that a child experiences
00:23:31.220 --> 00:23:33.330 Frank R. Harrison: kind of creates a hole in your soul.
00:23:33.520 --> 00:23:42.040 Frank R. Harrison: Yes, I really, you know it does. It creates a void and and pain. And you want to.
00:23:42.160 --> 00:23:45.470 Frank R. Harrison: You want to smother that pain. You want to numb yourself up
00:23:45.630 --> 00:23:50.200 Frank R. Harrison: to to episodes like that. And there were many episodes like that, that one in particular stuck out.
00:23:52.870 --> 00:23:57.320 Frank R. Harrison: You also have a word about his experience very similar.
00:23:58.370 --> 00:24:01.010 Frank R. Harrison: I'm not alone, I mean, you know, I've had a lot of
00:24:01.210 --> 00:24:03.440 Frank R. Harrison: adversarial. So life comes at us all.
00:24:04.180 --> 00:24:09.109 Frank R. Harrison: That's my expression. It comes at us all right. We have to learn how to deal with it and really
00:24:10.030 --> 00:24:15.340 Frank R. Harrison: appreciate when when life is not coming at us with difficulties and challenges.
00:24:16.180 --> 00:24:22.880 Frank R. Harrison: Yeah. And and I do want to share that. That's that's my goal is to share that at this stage of my life.
00:24:23.110 --> 00:24:24.849 Frank R. Harrison: And my daughter, really.
00:24:25.150 --> 00:24:39.719 Frank R. Harrison: I was telling her about the book that I had read, and she said, Dad, you have to tell your story. You have to tell your story, and she goes. You know, it's such a success story she was. But it's more than origs, the riches. It's it's really you're going to inspire people. And and I hope I have, and I hope I do.
00:24:40.040 --> 00:24:47.720 Frank R. Harrison: You know, I hope the reader identifies with it, gets inspired by it, and realizes that no matter what your situation, no matter
00:24:47.880 --> 00:24:50.089 Frank R. Harrison: you come from, no matter what been through.
00:24:50.200 --> 00:24:52.370 Frank R. Harrison: you can be okay, and you can thrive
00:24:52.720 --> 00:25:17.310 Frank R. Harrison: nice nice. Now, when you go through the your story like you told in the beginning of the show. Where do you get to the point where you show how your your aggressive stance for working and finding your own money made you come up with. You know I'm going to become sober because this business has to come through. Hence the birth of men on the move. When did that pivot point come from you in your life?
00:25:18.520 --> 00:25:21.649 Frank R. Harrison: Late in September of 85, while I was still drinking.
00:25:22.120 --> 00:25:25.919 Frank R. Harrison: I got a business license. Said it was my friend, John Tarco.
00:25:26.090 --> 00:25:26.860 Frank R. Harrison: It was in the book.
00:25:27.120 --> 00:25:33.559 Frank R. Harrison: Okay, quite a past. Quite a hit. Quite a story himself. And he he! He encouraged me to
00:25:33.760 --> 00:25:38.009 Frank R. Harrison: to start my my business. He had. He had a small movie van, and
00:25:38.190 --> 00:25:43.870 Frank R. Harrison: trucking thing is, we'll share jobs. We'll do this. We'll work together with them, and we'll
00:25:44.860 --> 00:25:46.012 Frank R. Harrison: we'll do that. And
00:25:48.020 --> 00:25:50.820 Frank R. Harrison: that's what I did he it was really him who talked me into doing it.
00:25:51.130 --> 00:25:52.850 Frank R. Harrison: and that's what I did.
00:25:53.750 --> 00:25:59.829 Frank R. Harrison: and it took off. I mean, it was clear I got sober months later, and you know I worked.
00:26:00.710 --> 00:26:05.630 Frank R. Harrison: When I 1st wrote the book I found myself writing too many times.
00:26:07.110 --> 00:26:12.090 Frank R. Harrison: I work like an am. So I had to go back and edit that out because I had written that too often.
00:26:12.380 --> 00:26:13.140 Frank R. Harrison: Hmm!
00:26:13.470 --> 00:26:32.429 Frank R. Harrison: Incredible. But I did work very hard. So when I 1st got sober, when I 1st went in, all I did was work. I worked 360 days a year, for sure, the 1st several years really did not take any vacations. It wasn't even like much of a consideration. Maybe one or 2 long weekends, or something like that
00:26:32.790 --> 00:26:37.360 Frank R. Harrison: work 350, 60 days a year, for sure, and
00:26:37.640 --> 00:26:40.009 Frank R. Harrison: I paid back all the money I owed
00:26:41.170 --> 00:26:44.249 Frank R. Harrison: lots of debt up to my eyeballs, credit cards, and people.
00:26:44.500 --> 00:26:49.350 Frank R. Harrison: and paid back all that money, and I started building a client just
00:26:49.490 --> 00:26:53.844 Frank R. Harrison: schlepping furniture for people very nice.
00:26:56.640 --> 00:27:06.390 Frank R. Harrison: not insured, pretty illegitimate, but I was doing a legitimate work. I you know I got out of. I was well intended, you know, so I got out of bed.
00:27:06.670 --> 00:27:09.909 Frank R. Harrison: I wasn't going to screw anybody, and I just wanted to do
00:27:10.470 --> 00:27:13.319 Frank R. Harrison: have the phone ringing. The phone started to ring phone kept ringing
00:27:13.540 --> 00:27:31.500 Frank R. Harrison: because we did the right thing. Very nice, I gather, when you were creating men on the move. You also got yourself, your lawyers, and your and your clients and your whole business infrastructure while maintaining sobriety. And you were able to really find a volume business over the last 30 or so years. Right?
00:27:31.990 --> 00:27:39.170 Frank R. Harrison: Yes, yeah. My wife was really instrumental at the time. She had a high level administrative job at the age of 25,
00:27:39.330 --> 00:27:42.510 Frank R. Harrison: working for an institution called European American bank.
00:27:43.890 --> 00:27:48.039 Frank R. Harrison: and that she she was really not combat. And I talked her into
00:27:48.740 --> 00:27:57.770 Frank R. Harrison: this today. I tell her, you know I told her to leave him there, and she says, Well, I left on my own, I said, let's let's take the smoking thing and not go back.
00:27:57.920 --> 00:28:01.319 Frank R. Harrison: And we did. And she she brought a lot of structure, and
00:28:01.830 --> 00:28:04.710 Frank R. Harrison: to to the company. She's my wife.
00:28:04.860 --> 00:28:12.179 Frank R. Harrison: the Cfo. She hates when I say this so, but let's say it. Anyway, I call my wife my controller, with or without the P.
00:28:12.910 --> 00:28:21.010 Frank R. Harrison: Understood. I mean, you do dedicate the book after her, so obviously she was your. She was your
00:28:21.780 --> 00:28:49.980 Frank R. Harrison: your guide. She had your back. She was your guiding light. She was your your definite support system. I mean, it's inevitable that no matter what your illness is whether it's alcoholism or epilepsy, or cancer, or whatever you always need that one person that is your inspiration that keeps you going, because I'm sure that when you've already described how the beginning of your life was with the chaos in your pet, with your parents and your sisters.
00:28:50.100 --> 00:29:12.320 Frank R. Harrison: I mean it could have gone any way for you, and you just had those small little nuggets of gestures like that guy with the $2 that made you buy that pizza, and of course, meeting your wife eventually, that you just know where things need to be grounded and you just anchor down on them as best as you can while you're still dealing with all the challenges you continue to face right
00:29:14.380 --> 00:29:18.890 Frank R. Harrison: things right now. My wife is right. Right there with me.
00:29:19.580 --> 00:29:31.285 Frank R. Harrison: Exactly. I I, I can honestly say my last 6 months has been has as not not as challenging. It's been challenging on a different level. But I've had to make
00:29:31.720 --> 00:29:50.020 Frank R. Harrison: If I do this, then this gets lost. If I do that, then that gets lost. It's like an and it's like an extreme choice mode that I'm in right now, I would say survival mode. But I think that with some of the support systems, including the people of Talkradio, dot nyc, I've been able to
00:29:50.040 --> 00:30:17.319 Frank R. Harrison: get some balance back, and I'm looking at the next 5 months, or the remaining. What was it the next? The remaining 5 months of 2025. My God! Look at that half over. There's going to be more of a balance that I'm going to see an upward trajectory, and I will say, in looking at your book, I'm taking some inspiration from your story. We're about to take our second break. So that being said, I'm going to start advertising features of your book on our commercial break.
00:30:17.598 --> 00:30:31.250 Frank R. Harrison: I will put the phone down. You probably won't see this, but you will see it on the copy of this video once it posts on Youtube. But I'm going to be doing all the promo work on your music and on your book at the moment. Okay, John.
00:30:32.550 --> 00:30:48.429 Frank R. Harrison: all right. So, ladies and gentlemen, please stay tuned right here on Frank about health with Mr. John Beyer. There he is on Whatsapp right here on Talkradio, Dot, Nyc. And on our Youtube linkedin Facebook and twitch channels. We'll be back in a few.
00:32:33.620 --> 00:32:46.500 Frank R. Harrison: It takes strength to admit we are powerless, we are powerless.
00:32:46.920 --> 00:32:52.190 Frank R. Harrison: But can I see it has nothing to do
00:32:52.470 --> 00:33:11.300 Frank R. Harrison: with anyone but me, with anyone but me, blaming everyone, blaming everything blame in me me.
00:33:11.860 --> 00:33:13.040 Frank R. Harrison: But.
00:33:17.290 --> 00:33:18.410 John B.: Prank them, in.
00:33:18.620 --> 00:33:20.928 Frank R. Harrison: Yes, I see it's perfect.
00:33:21.880 --> 00:33:27.419 Frank R. Harrison: Now I'm I'm back to the main screen for all of us to be together
00:33:28.140 --> 00:33:34.420 Frank R. Harrison: all right halfway through the show right when the music started. You see, music does create change for the good.
00:33:34.420 --> 00:33:35.870 John B.: Healing.
00:33:35.870 --> 00:33:49.909 Frank R. Harrison: It is very healing, you know. It's it's kind of funny. I've had technical challenges on this show for the last 3 weeks in a row, and I think it's it's telling me something. It's telling me I got to be more creative on how I do these shows going forward.
00:33:51.270 --> 00:33:58.469 John B.: So it's not just me. I suggest you that when you, when you're interviewing anybody with gray hair, you triple, triple, quadruple check it.
00:33:58.710 --> 00:33:59.264 John B.: Oh.
00:33:59.820 --> 00:34:29.669 Frank R. Harrison: Oh, believe me, sometimes it's me, because, like, for example, 2 weeks ago I had another guest on the show who had a book on interior design. She was dealing through grief, and at the same time she was showing me the before and after pictures of her home that she inherited when her parents died. The 1st pictures were, you know, they just needed a lot of improvement, and the after pictures showed when she was enlightened. So I'm enjoying all the pictures, but nobody can see them.
00:34:30.550 --> 00:34:38.610 Frank R. Harrison: So then I figured, Okay, I'll show them during the commercial break. But in all in all honesty I'm gonna have her come back probably next month, and we're gonna do an entire show just.
00:34:38.610 --> 00:34:39.890 John B.: Do it again.
00:34:40.139 --> 00:34:52.049 Frank R. Harrison: Yeah, but to really do justice on the book, because the book is an example of creativity that she used to reclaim her resiliency and her identity.
00:34:52.209 --> 00:35:00.809 Frank R. Harrison: after being enmeshed in a lot of grief over the loss of her parents, that she was doing caregiving, for in your case you were living a life
00:35:01.379 --> 00:35:17.829 Frank R. Harrison: undergoing tremendous challenges. And I know one thing you didn't mention was a car accident you were in, you know, so to do all of that, and at the same time have a thriving business. I could see how music was your outlet similar to what I mentioned about that interior design book.
00:35:18.019 --> 00:35:47.369 Frank R. Harrison: So I started that whole segment talking about your song powerless. And when we spoke this morning you'd mentioned you wanted the audience to hear it. Do you have any thoughts on. Why that song in particular, in relation to either maintaining sobriety, or the development of your business, or even other aspects that are that are somehow and captured within this book. Would you like to share with the audience what that song really drives home.
00:35:47.940 --> 00:36:02.530 John B.: So you know it's interesting. Powerless is the 1st song that I wrote and released. It's not the 1st song I wrote. It's the 1st one that I wrote and really produced and and released publicly. And I did that
00:36:03.070 --> 00:36:13.370 John B.: that song was written for a play. I have this idea. It's more than an idea. I've been working on this play called We, and the reason why it's called We is because we is the 1st
00:36:13.540 --> 00:36:26.850 John B.: word of the 1st step in the 12 steps of alcoholics anonymous, we admitted we were powerless over alcohol, and what I point out in that play is that it's not finished yet. But I'm going to finish it.
00:36:27.090 --> 00:36:40.359 John B.: What I point out in that play is that all the 12 step programs, whether or not it's gamblers, anonymous narcotics, anonymous, or sexaholics anonymous, or readers anonymous. The 12 steps that are in those come from the 12 steps of alcoholics anonymous.
00:36:40.360 --> 00:37:05.300 John B.: So it's called we and and powerless is very personal. I mean, I wrote every lyric. I do have a collaborator, Benjamin Hay, and he helped produce the song, but the song is mine and heart and soul. It's not my great, best vocalization. It's not my best singing, but it's okay. It's good. It's good enough. I'm very proud of that song. And I've gotten phone calls from people and texts and
00:37:05.300 --> 00:37:11.150 John B.: emails on social media, from people that I listen to your song every day. It helps me stay sober.
00:37:11.540 --> 00:37:12.300 John B.: Amen.
00:37:12.300 --> 00:37:13.279 Frank R. Harrison: Very nice.
00:37:13.280 --> 00:37:18.599 John B.: Man, I gotta tell you that's the most rewarding thing in life.
00:37:18.810 --> 00:37:23.180 Frank R. Harrison: I understand it. It gets you right here doesn't matter if it doesn't fill your wallet. It.
00:37:23.180 --> 00:37:24.480 John B.: Yeah. I don't care about that.
00:37:24.480 --> 00:37:26.140 Frank R. Harrison: Your motivation going.
00:37:26.340 --> 00:37:47.000 Frank R. Harrison: I totally relate to that. I mean, it's kind of interesting where I found myself in a situation 6 months ago, where? I was really thriving a lot with my! I wouldn't call them my former sponsor, but they were pretty much on the road with me, with Frank about health since 2021,
00:37:47.220 --> 00:37:54.499 Frank R. Harrison: and due to our interesting election that we had in November. They bowed out of working with me.
00:37:54.500 --> 00:37:54.970 Frank R. Harrison: Hmm.
00:37:54.970 --> 00:38:23.710 Frank R. Harrison: Healthcare advocacy was now taboo, you know, so it knocked me out a little bit stunned like I wasn't totally shocked or disappointed because I was already thriving on legitimate healthcare content that people were wanting to know, but they had funded a piece of content that I was about to release in January or February, to really show the platform that I was building in conjunction with them.
00:38:23.890 --> 00:38:29.270 Frank R. Harrison: So when they pulled out. What I didn't realize is that they also pulled out of the platform.
00:38:29.450 --> 00:38:31.869 Frank R. Harrison: So I found myself having to.
00:38:32.290 --> 00:38:50.390 Frank R. Harrison: I kind of crash and burn. But I wasn't. I wasn't burning. I still had my audience. I still had my support network. But I guess you could say the marketing fuel or the big mouthpiece that this sponsor was going to bring became very, very minuscule.
00:38:50.970 --> 00:38:56.919 Frank R. Harrison: and on top of it. One of my one of my dearest friends and partners in this also died.
00:38:57.370 --> 00:38:58.070 John B.: Oh, boy!
00:38:58.070 --> 00:39:06.089 Frank R. Harrison: So I'm losing my personal advocate and my brand advocate within a month apart.
00:39:06.670 --> 00:39:11.479 Frank R. Harrison: And I was like, talk about this, the song powerless.
00:39:11.720 --> 00:39:35.839 Frank R. Harrison: I did feel that way, but for some reason I don't know. I can call this A, and I don't mean to just redirect the conversation towards my circumstances, I'm actually reflecting on what you've been saying. The thing is is that during that same time, while my partner is my business partner is out of the out of the game or out of the equation, and my friend passes on.
00:39:36.130 --> 00:39:40.480 Frank R. Harrison: I have to put my cousin in a nursing home with Alzheimer's disease.
00:39:40.720 --> 00:39:43.209 Frank R. Harrison: She's not. She's only 65,
00:39:43.370 --> 00:39:55.779 Frank R. Harrison: you know so, and I'm not even next of kin. I'm the proxy. But there was nobody else to do it, but I think I was able to put all that energy into putting her where she needed to be
00:39:55.910 --> 00:40:00.200 Frank R. Harrison: to come back and own my own power again, regardless
00:40:00.350 --> 00:40:04.890 Frank R. Harrison: of the fact that I no longer had my friend or my business partner.
00:40:05.050 --> 00:40:11.730 Frank R. Harrison: And then I realized that talkradio dot Nyc. Had been my cornerstone since the very beginning, regardless.
00:40:12.010 --> 00:40:26.419 Frank R. Harrison: They're the ones that welcomed me back, and glad to be back in, so I can see what you're saying in the song that you know it, you know, if someone praises you and it, even if it doesn't give you money, but it it reaches your heart.
00:40:26.630 --> 00:40:29.339 Frank R. Harrison: That's exactly what I felt with talk radio.
00:40:29.820 --> 00:40:37.470 Frank R. Harrison: you know, instead of feeling like, Wow, I've disappointed them all. Everything that I've been trying to build with the network is now gone. No, it wasn't gone at all.
00:40:37.610 --> 00:40:42.389 Frank R. Harrison: But that's the illusion that I guess a lot of us, if we're dealing with
00:40:43.017 --> 00:40:51.139 Frank R. Harrison: whether it's stress or addiction, or in your case, alcoholism, or whatever may have been going on.
00:40:51.780 --> 00:40:59.789 Frank R. Harrison: we have to stop relying on the illness as what defines us, and more of what's within us that we can do to overcome it all.
00:41:00.440 --> 00:41:03.860 Frank R. Harrison: you know. So maybe that's the way I'm translating your song.
00:41:05.150 --> 00:41:08.150 Frank R. Harrison: because you're not saying that we're powerless, really.
00:41:08.150 --> 00:41:08.640 John B.: No.
00:41:08.640 --> 00:41:13.960 Frank R. Harrison: Saying that when we feel powerless we have to reach for that thing within us that brings back the power. Am I right.
00:41:14.270 --> 00:41:19.130 John B.: The the lyric. The lyric says, when I say I'm powerless, it sets me free.
00:41:20.400 --> 00:41:25.129 Frank R. Harrison: Yeah, because you see the freedom in the choices you can make to get out of that feeling of power.
00:41:25.130 --> 00:41:31.449 John B.: That's right, and you're owning it. When you re own it and recognize it. Then you can. You can make choices. You can act on it.
00:41:31.660 --> 00:41:52.099 Frank R. Harrison: Exactly. And by and, by the way, I don't know if I had told you this when we 1st met, but I spent 10 years at Sony music. So I have my whole music industry background invested in what I've already seen in your spotify catalog. I do think you have a lot of poignant material out there. I my 1st question is, do you have your stuff published because.
00:41:52.100 --> 00:41:57.020 John B.: Yeah, yeah, sure. I mean, I mean, what do you mean by published in? In what way.
00:41:57.020 --> 00:42:06.899 Frank R. Harrison: Of course you can license it out to to Cds or to organizations or streamers, or, better yet, maybe you can even create a soundtrack to the book.
00:42:06.900 --> 00:42:30.940 John B.: Well, it's funny you should say that because just yesterday there is on the John Beyer Spotify playlist, there is a live a little better with all of the songs that had the titles for every chapter. So we have white Room, by Clapton. We have piano man by Billy Joel. We have. I can see clearly now by by Nash. We have
00:42:31.060 --> 00:42:51.609 John B.: people by Barbara Streisand. We have all that on the playlist, the 12 Songs. By the way, it was 12. There's 12 chapters in the book, which is a complete accident that was not meant. You know. I didn't plan to have 12 chapters like there are 12 steps. That was Kismet. That was a little I was like, oh, that's a little scary.
00:42:51.610 --> 00:42:56.430 Frank R. Harrison: I like that. I like that. I don't consider that a coincidence that it's a destiny play.
00:42:56.430 --> 00:43:23.040 John B.: So I'm about to record the audio book for this, and what I decided to do is, I went into the studio yesterday, and with my with Benjamin Hay, my colleague, and Arthur Pingray, our producer, and we played the piano, and I sing the 2 or 3 lines of the beginning of each chapter of the song that has up each chapter.
00:43:23.040 --> 00:43:23.370 Frank R. Harrison: During, that.
00:43:23.370 --> 00:43:33.580 John B.: Then I'm going to read it. So that was a lot of fun doing it. It was exhausting also. It was only 12 songs, with just a few lines each, but I was tired at the end of the day.
00:43:33.580 --> 00:43:46.350 Frank R. Harrison: Oh, wow! Oh, that that does sound very inspiring! I would then ask, is like these 12 chapters, or these 12 songs? Are you going to be the one to sing them, and you're probably going to get the licensing rights of the lyrics.
00:43:46.350 --> 00:43:55.970 John B.: No, you don't have to. If you cover a song, if you just cover a song. But if you use the exact music that the original artist did. Then you have to mechanical
00:43:55.970 --> 00:43:59.954 John B.: royalties? Yeah, yes. Exactly. Then, then you're paying dear money.
00:44:00.795 --> 00:44:01.270 John B.: Okay?
00:44:01.270 --> 00:44:16.419 John B.: Then you're paying crazy money. Yeah, you know. What's her name? The great singer, the girl Ariana Grande. She's got a great voice. She did do, re mi, you know, from the sound of music she made no money on that.
00:44:16.450 --> 00:44:39.039 John B.: She I think she made 0 she all the royalties because she just used part of it in her version of it, which is kind of fun. It's funky. It's very different. and but she had to pay everything really to them. I think she made nothing on it. She has more. I think she has more Instagram followers than anybody else on the planet, or something like that. But yeah. So that's very interesting. That the
00:44:39.470 --> 00:44:44.499 John B.: she made no money from it. That's how much she had to pay for the rights to a song. From the sound of music.
00:44:45.020 --> 00:44:52.090 Frank R. Harrison: Well, like we've had in this episode of Frank about health, all of our technology challenges. I would have to say that has been what kind of changed
00:44:52.230 --> 00:44:59.250 Frank R. Harrison: the music industry she may have had to put so much money in to not get paid on the song, but it did bring out her presence.
00:44:59.250 --> 00:45:00.299 John B.: Oh, oh, yeah. Yeah.
00:45:00.300 --> 00:45:04.329 Frank R. Harrison: She's about to do a sequel to the one of the biggest movies last year. Wicked.
00:45:04.330 --> 00:45:07.259 John B.: It. Oh, it helped the rest of the sales of the of our.
00:45:07.260 --> 00:45:33.209 Frank R. Harrison: Correct. It's like if it didn't impact her directly with the actual music. She's getting the return on her other projects. We're about to take our final break again, just like what I told the other guests that had the technical difficulties. I will have you on the show again. In fact, I'm in the final segment of the show. I'm going to talk about the future, of not just your music and of this book, but of frank about health, and I'm going to on air.
00:45:33.210 --> 00:45:49.729 Frank R. Harrison: Make a proposal to you with regards to your music, and you'll hear about that when we return. Alrighty. That all being said. Please stay tuned right here on, Frank, about health, both on Talkradio, Dot, Nyc. And on our socials, and we will be back in a few.
00:47:45.260 --> 00:47:59.120 Frank R. Harrison: I already saw more technology difficulties occurring. So I decided not to play that song which you said was an upbeat song. I know powerless was your big track. But we are in the last segment of the show, and we have another show coming up in about 10 min.
00:47:59.220 --> 00:48:17.609 Frank R. Harrison: But, ladies and gentlemen, please listen to the music of John Beyer. His website is johnbeyermusic.com. It also discusses the book, live a little better light, live a little better his journey from sobriety to success, and simultaneously
00:48:17.940 --> 00:48:32.220 Frank R. Harrison: also listen on spotify Amazon, music, Youtube, and Apple Music. And you will see those 4 tracks, including the songs powerless, and to love a little more.
00:48:32.220 --> 00:48:33.979 Frank R. Harrison: Love you more.
00:48:33.980 --> 00:48:38.160 Frank R. Harrison: love you more. And then 2 other songs. One of them, I think, is after your daughter, right.
00:48:38.210 --> 00:48:42.674 John B.: Now, now the the other songs are rat-a-tat-tat and
00:48:43.190 --> 00:49:03.010 John B.: It's like, it's really not about my daughter. It's about. It is about a father-daughter relationship. But our relationship is nothing like that. It's fictional. But that's a fun song. But the song, the funny, the thing about the music is that it's so diverse, I mean rat-a-tat is a hip hop song that my collaborator, Benjamin Hay
00:49:03.548 --> 00:49:13.249 John B.: performs. But the song was my idea, and the lyrics started with me, and it's an anti-gun violence.
00:49:13.270 --> 00:49:23.770 John B.: him or prayer and it was very personal, because, like I said, I grew up in left rack, which became a rough environment. He grew up in the projects in Brooklyn.
00:49:23.770 --> 00:49:47.610 John B.: which was a very rough environment, and so we both experienced that to some extent in my book. I was almost being forced into being in a gang at 1 point, and I had guns in my hands and stuff like that. Yeah, and live a little better. So you know I think about that. I could have been a criminal, and here I am. All I want to do now, particularly in this phase of my life in the last.
00:49:47.670 --> 00:50:12.650 John B.: Really, in the last 1015 years, I just want to help people you know, and and share love. So either. Music's diverse. The other songs are pop and and and ballads, and but every song has a message, and every and I like to be to think that you can hear every lyric. Maybe that's because I'm you know. I'm a little older, but that's important to me.
00:50:12.650 --> 00:50:18.299 Frank R. Harrison: No, I totally understand. I mean, if anything, it sounds like to me that between your journey
00:50:18.960 --> 00:50:25.290 Frank R. Harrison: of survival all the way to success it was music that was your through line. In all of that. Am I correct?
00:50:25.290 --> 00:50:39.670 John B.: That's correct. My mom used to make me sing when she was sometimes drunk. Actually she would make me sing to Andy Williams and Frank Sinatra, or a song after song after song, and I love the attention I realized.
00:50:39.670 --> 00:51:04.629 John B.: and then, when things were really painful, we had a terrace in that apartment in La Frac City Queens and that terrace. I used to go out there with my little panasonic cassette radio and try to time the songs and press the 2 buttons at the same time to record them. That's what you used to have to do back then, or you spoiled people with streaming today, and it was very difficult to record a song. So, and that was my refuge.
00:51:04.630 --> 00:51:18.870 John B.: It was like a sanctuary for me. Music became a sanctuary for me and healing, and I enjoyed singing, and I loved it, and I would really hear the music, and I think that's where my love, that's where my love of music comes from from that time of my life.
00:51:19.520 --> 00:51:29.470 Frank R. Harrison: No, I can relate in many ways, considering that when I had left college quite some time ago, I was working for a bank, and it was
00:51:29.680 --> 00:51:42.239 Frank R. Harrison: killing me on many different levels, including the lack of sleep. But in order to get out of that I became a Dj. And a club promoter, and then eventually, when they laid me off, I said, now I can party harder
00:51:42.810 --> 00:52:10.159 Frank R. Harrison: for Sony music for 10 years, so I consider that when music is actually carrying you to your destiny, then it's for a purpose, and a real solid one at that. That brings me now to the part that I left off in the 3rd segment about an offer. My 150th show of Frank about health is next week, and while I'm still planning on the episode as we speak. You know I have to talk to the engineer and the other people at the at the network to figure out how the show is going to come across.
00:52:10.200 --> 00:52:20.430 Frank R. Harrison: I'm going to use it as a time to launch the very project I had been working on with that business partner, and it is a documentary called being frank for a healthy future.
00:52:20.530 --> 00:52:41.319 Frank R. Harrison: All throughout that time I had always wanted a song to really claim the narrative of what really was my story of advocacy while dealing through Covid. While dealing through my cousin's healthcare crisis, my father's recovery from cancer, not to mention what we were all dealing with in terms of.
00:52:41.450 --> 00:52:52.820 Frank R. Harrison: you know, misinformation in healthcare, and so forth, and so on. So that being said, I'm going to send you a copy of the documentary to look over, and if you're open to it, of course
00:52:53.000 --> 00:53:06.809 Frank R. Harrison: we'll figure what works and what doesn't work. I'd like to either work with one of the songs that you already have put on spotify. Or maybe there's another song that you could think of that would that would really amplify the message.
00:53:07.070 --> 00:53:17.880 John B.: Okay, I I would love that, and I'm flattered and I am honored. I would love that. I don't have to think much about that at all. Yes, the answer is yes, I am flattered and honored. Thank you.
00:53:18.030 --> 00:53:33.309 Frank R. Harrison: Oh, and thank you. Thank you in advance, because I know that you know one of the executive producers who's also my business partner, Jose Dennis has a beautiful singing voice, and there's a scene in the documentary where he's singing to my mother for my mother's 80th birthday.
00:53:33.490 --> 00:53:57.779 Frank R. Harrison: but because of publishing issues. He could use the vocal track. So you see him singing. But you hear the narrator talking about what's going on, you know. And then there was another song in particular that used to be used on the show Grey's anatomy, which I'm a big fan of, and it's actually my ringtone also. But when I heard the price is $50,000 to get the rights. Of course I'm not.
00:53:59.540 --> 00:54:13.629 Frank R. Harrison: although I mean, of course, if money does come into it, I will. I will fit the bill. I mean, it's it's an issue where I'm promoting a big advocacy platform going into the next 150 episodes of Frank about health, but more importantly.
00:54:14.170 --> 00:54:30.829 Frank R. Harrison: because we are at a time in our healthcare system and in our social system, where there is mainly disruption, no matter where you turn. If you're an elder, where, if you're a child, if you're a woman, if you're dealing with chronic illness, if you're dealing with
00:54:31.180 --> 00:54:40.900 Frank R. Harrison: Medicare and Medicaid. I mean, there's nothing but disruption. So it really has made me see the value of this show and any other
00:54:41.190 --> 00:54:49.652 Frank R. Harrison: healthcare advocacy platform which this actually serves as one, especially in the areas of alcoholism and autism.
00:54:50.640 --> 00:55:08.399 Frank R. Harrison: I think it's I think it's a story that when you see it, when I send it to you, you will see how much I'm really speaking to all advocates out there, and we have to just keep all the information consistent with the truth and not with whatever rhetoric we're hearing every single day today in the media and stuff like that.
00:55:08.710 --> 00:55:09.250 John B.: Okay.
00:55:09.250 --> 00:55:09.650 John B.: Sure.
00:55:09.650 --> 00:55:19.229 Frank R. Harrison: That's a little bit of my view. We're about 3 min to ending, but if anything again, you will be on the show again, probably in the next 3 or 4 weeks. I have to figure that out in the time.
00:55:19.230 --> 00:55:20.200 John B.: Terrific.
00:55:20.630 --> 00:55:26.769 Frank R. Harrison: But I I figure if there was any one thing that we were to really dig into when we
00:55:27.000 --> 00:55:33.700 Frank R. Harrison: get together next, would it be about details in this book that maybe we have not said throughout the hour.
00:55:34.110 --> 00:55:50.159 John B.: Yeah, yeah, I think, yeah, I think there's a lot more that we could talk about within the book. It's a surprising subject that you know I go into a little bit. I touch on you know you write, you write your memoir, and and it's stream of consciousness. I,
00:55:50.160 --> 00:56:06.199 John B.: my son and his autism probably took up the most ink, but alcohol runs through the entire, and recovery runs through the entire book, and my daughter inspiring me. You know. The 1st song I wrote was called
00:56:06.380 --> 00:56:33.580 John B.: Not Just any, and it was my daughter's wedding. What I did was I take piano lessons and realized I didn't know how to play the piano, and I then wound up writing a song, and that song I sang, and we we played it at my daughter's wedding, and I danced to her. I didn't sing it live, but I danced to that song, and she got me started with this. So there's a lot that we could talk about. It really is, yeah, yeah. My daughter really inspired me.
00:56:33.750 --> 00:57:00.890 Frank R. Harrison: There is a person that I had on my original iteration of Frank about health in 2016, who was a music therapist at Nyu Langone health. Maybe I can get him to join us on the show as well. It would be getting to get to see his view on how music serves as a therapeutic angle and everything you've been through. I mean, I know, if anything, one of the things that I had read in the book that we didn't get to cover in detail was that.
00:57:01.070 --> 00:57:06.670 Frank R. Harrison: you know, while you were overcoming all your challenges and in your sobriety mode.
00:57:06.900 --> 00:57:22.810 Frank R. Harrison: that's when you were facing the challenge of your son with autism, and how you were able to fight through it with your newfound resiliency. So that is something I definitely would look forward to talking with you about further. All right, ladies and gentlemen, we're about to sign off. Just remember everybody
00:57:22.860 --> 00:57:37.689 Frank R. Harrison: stay tuned for the next episode on talkradio dot Nyc. At 6 o'clock of success with a splash with Bruce Bruce Kramer. But at the same time next week will be the 150th episode of Frank about health.
00:57:37.750 --> 00:57:59.319 Frank R. Harrison: I'm not sure exactly if it's going to be a panel discussion, or if it's just going to be myself talking about that documentary that is going to be the impetus of how this show moves forward. Thank you again, John, for being on the show, in no matter what format. It was the telephone, Whatsapp or Zoom? Thank you, Jesse, behind the scenes for all your support.
00:57:59.530 --> 00:58:06.520 Frank R. Harrison: and, ladies and gentlemen, we'll be back next week. Stay tuned for the next show and see you. Then
00:58:06.720 --> 00:58:07.460 Frank R. Harrison: bye.
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