Fan of the Month: Dr. John Saranto, Northern CA
Interviewed By Kayt via email

For the record, what is your name?

John Saranto, MD, FACS. The latter means Fellow, American College of Surgeons. Some people think it means Fat-Ass Country Surgeon.

Where were you born, and where did you grow up?

I was born at Monte Santo Hospital in the Los Feliz district of Los Angeles. It's since been torn down. We lived in LA until I was 11, then we moved to a suburb in the San Gabriel Valley called Alhambra, where I lived until I graduated from high school.

What were your main interests, entertainment and otherwise, growing up? Any obsessions you don't mind people knowing about?

Entertainment in those childhood days in LA consisted of watching TV, going to the movies, and listening to the radio, pretty much just like now. Our old TV set seemed to be on the fritz a lot of the time. It was a treat when it was working and you got to watch your favorite program, like the Walt Disney Show, on Sunday night. There was a plethora of 'horror movies' and I was drawn to them like a moth to a flame - 'The Blob' still terrifies me. There was a really great AM radio station called KFWB that played rokenrol (back then it was called 'rock and roll') and you could hear the latest songs from Elvis, Chuck Berry, the Drifters, Sam Cook, Pat Boone, Nelson Riddle, Percy Faith, Richie Valens, etc., on your AM radio. After that came folk, then surf music, the British Invasion, psychedelia and heavy metal. As late as 1969 you could hear the full-length version of 'Inna Gadda da Vida' on AM radio! When I was a kid the Japanese introduced those tiny little transistor radios and I remember lying quietly under the covers long after I was supposed to be asleep with an earpiece, trying to adjust the antenna so's I could listen to the Bill Ballance Show on good old Channel 98. Radio seemed a lot more important then but, if you stick with this piece, you'll hear my idea of its resurgent role in the 21st Century, especially with regard to the Red Elvises...

As for obsessions: reading books, especially my brother's medical texts that showed how you could take the human body apart, remove and rearrange stuff, then sew it back together. Also bicycles - taking them apart and putting them back together - astronomy, skateboarding (a piece of pinewood with a discarded skate, metal wheels and all, nailed to the bottom), model cars and airplanes, and the internal combustion engine. A lifelong obsession began in 1961 when my brother traded in his '56 Bel-Aire for a brand spanking new VW beetle. I was fascinated with VWs from that day on, read and learned everything I could about 'em. By the way, a few years later the bastard sold it behind my back for $300 right before I was old enough to drive. I eventually got my own beetle and have stayed with VWs since. A '63 Westphalia camper serves as my daily driver. Chris is now in his 60's (Haw, Haw) and is a Red Elvis fan himself.

Tell us about your musical endeavors and any musical instruments you play...

Unfortunately I never learned the first thing about music. I can't even play air guitar.

What accomplishments are you most proud of at this point in you life?

- Things that have proven their worth by standing up to the test of time. Linda and I are approaching our 30th anniversary this December so I guess that's a good example (I told her that, what with HMOs and Medicare cuts, I'll never be able to afford the trophy wife I'd promised myself all those years, so it looks like we're going to go the distance). A bonus is, she likes the Red Elvises, too.

- Our three fine children, Nick, Pete, and Elizabeth. At this moment in time they all have jobs, something their parents are quite proud of.

- The speech I delivered to my classmates at the USC School of Medicine's 1982 commencement ceremony.

- Getting board certification as a general surgeon, membership in the American College of Surgeons, and participation in the San Jose Surgical Society.

- Being able to maintain and drive my fleet of heavy-duty trucks, including the Red Elvis (see it, read all about it in the FANS! section of these Red Pages). I'm refurbishing it and hope to have it at the next Red Elvis show in Santa Cruz, plates and all.

- My two previous contributions to these Red Pages, and the honor of being featured as Fan of the Month.

What are your favorite movies?

Dr. Zhivago, Blazing Saddles, Thomas Crowne Affair (the original one with Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway), Tommy, Forbidden Planet (starring a dashing young Leslie Nielson), Lawrence of Arabia, Clockwork Orange, anything Austin Powers, anything Marx Brothers.

Do you have any favorite books?

- John Muir's 'How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive, a Manual of Step by Step Procedures for the Compleat Idiot.' The early editions are the best in my opinion.

- 'LSD, my Problem Child" by Dr. Albert Hoffmann, the Swiss chemist who accidentally synthesized the molecule some 60 years ago and experienced mankind's first acid trip while riding his bicycle home from work!

- 'Even Cowgirls Get the Blues', and 'Still Life with Woodpecker' by Tom Robbins.

- The classic technical manuals on VW and Porshe repair by Floyd Clymer and Henry Elfrink.

What music are you into, in addition to Red Elvises?

That genre of music that gets played to death on baby-boomer oldies rock stations - Beatles, Floyd, Hendrix, Traffic, you get the picture. Anybody who gets up on a stage and delivers it to a real audience up close and personal in a small venue has my vote. I'm a big fan of the British bluesmen and in the past year have seen John Mayall and The Yardbirds live on stage (everyone thinks of the Yardbirds in terms of the guitar gods who've passed through the group - Beck, Clapton, Paige. Well, forget those guys, the Yardbirds stand on their own merit, they don't need 'em). I go to see Dick Dale whenever he's in town - I want to be just like him when I grow up. Recently saw Dr. John for the first time at the Santa Cruz Blues Festival. There's a lot of really good original stuff out there, fabulous artists who haven't succumbed to the hype. I highly recommend that anyone who reads this and has access to the Internet listen to a local station, KPIG 107.5 in Freedom, California (www.kpig.com - they broadcast on the Internet and are therefore global. I haven't heard them play Red Elvises yet, but maybe if a few Piggies spoke up on their request line...). Listening to KPIG and the likes of the Austin Lounge Lizards and the Trailer Park Troubadors (saw them, too) gives me hope for the future of music.

When, where, how, etc. did you first hear and experience the Red Elvises

At the Gilroy Garlic Festival about three years ago. They'd played there before and a lot of folks came over to see them. They were working hard on an uncovered stage in the merciless July sun - most of their audience knew the words to their songs and were dancing in the blistering heat. It blew me away when I realized they really were a bunch of Siberians, except for the nice Jewish boy on drums. Their CDs were selling fast, I got a cassette copy of 'Bellydance' and howled the first time I played it. For weeks afterwards it was the only thing we played in the operating room at my hospital.

About how many times have you seen them?

Less than ten times so far - looking forward to their next stop on the Central Coast. By the way, anyone know why tour dates following their trip to Russia were deleted???  [FotM Editor’s note: the culprit was most likely a server crash that sent some of the web pages into The Retro Zone.]

What is it about the Red Elvises that draws you to them, that you like the most?

What drew me the most is their accessibility to their fans. I've had some very nice conversations with Igor, Z, and Avi between acts and after shows and talking to them makes their artistry very personal. I haven't had a conversation with Oleg yet - he moves through the crowd pretty rapidly and everyone else seems to get to him before I do. They're quite articulate, good conversationalists, aren't egotistical, and they make us fans feel as much a part of their performances as they are themselves. That's one of the things that keeps me coming back to their shows.

What's the furthest you've traveled to see them? And do you have a good story around that?

Glad you asked. I flew from San Jose to Tampa last December 31st to see their New Year's Eve show at Skipper's Smokehouse, then flew back the next day. I wrote all about it in the Feb. '02 issue and got some great pics, which are also in that issue, so I'll spare you at this time. My favorite picture is the one where Igor's in the crowd, lost in his guitar, with happy fans dancing about. We've driven down to Santa Monica a couple of times to see them on their home turf, at Rusty's Surf Ranch on the pier.

Any other standout, all time great memories of shows you've seen so far?

Igor's recent birthday party at Rusty's. The Russian Sweets, four beauties with an accordionist, all in traditional folk garb, serenaded Igor. It seemed like we were the only people in the audience who didn't speak Russian that night. The ladies each sang songs they'd apparently written for the occasion and someone in the audience was saying they were pretty ribald. Anybody who was there who speaks Russian and can give us some more info on the performance?

What are your favorite Red Elvises songs?

All of them, of course. But especially Sex in Paradise and Rocketship. I was very impressed with their solo albums last year and haven't yet heard their new releases. I once played the Russian Bellydance album for Dr. Yakarina, from St. Petersburg (she is 'your favorite anesthesiologist'), who told me what they were saying in Russian. The music on those familiar songs was the same but the lyrics were very different from the English versions.

What would you like to see them do in the future? Any ideas?

I'd like to see them keep playing together well into the future, at least from time to time, become very successful as a group and as individuals, and get filthy rich like they deserve to! I'd love to see them in front of a large audience with lots of backup - horns, keyboard, more percussion. They could make a large crowd go wild.

Okay, last question...do you have anything you'd especially like to say to all the fans?

Yeah. The Red Elvises are part of a much bigger scene, a longstanding tradition that takes a lot of dedication - they are members of the larger group of artists who have the fortitude and motivation to pack it up, get out there on the road, and deliver their talents to live audiences. Show your appreciation and help keep the tradition alive by going to see your favorite artists at live shows whenever you can. Buy albums, posters, T-shirts (and condoms, too). Tell all your friends to buy tickets too, beg for autographs, and tell those performers how much you like 'em before they get back in that van and head to the next venue.

And...if you listen to a particular station that has a request line, especially on the Internet, let 'em know about the Red Elvises (hmmm...www.KPIG.commie???).

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Thank you very much, John, for being our Fan of the Month!  Now all you other Red Elvises lovers out there who haven’t been hunted down by us, don’t be shy, write in and nominate yourself or a red-crazed friend for FotM!!