An interesting brouhaha involving a bit of homophobia has emerged in Narragansett, where Steven Storti, formerly manager at the famed Town Beach, is accusing municipal officials of firing him by falsely claiming that he sexually harassing other workers and then demeaning him for being “kwee-aah.” You know — a nancy-boy!
 
According to the Narragansett Times, this led Storti to allege that one of the those named in the suit, Narragansett Parks and Recreation Director Barry Fontaine, allowed town beach employees to create and sing over town equipment “sexually explicit, hateful, homophobic and outrageous lyrics” that characterized Storti as a “faggot” who was sexually interested in “big butts and boys.”
 
These ever-so-clever lyrics make a fine addition to Storti’s suit, especially since, according to the Times, they were heard by employees, beach patrons, and the public.
 
According to the Times, town officials also accused Storti of stealing money collected for the beach, a charge that the local gendarmes have been unable to validate. In the case of the sexually related allegations and the purported theft, Storti asserts that officials knew them to be false, hence the backing away by the police.
 
It will be very interesting to see just how the town reacts to these charges. They likely did not suspect that this “faggot” just happens to have had a 21-year career as a Cranston firefighter, retiring as a lieutenant, and just might know quite a bit about how town government and public servants should behave. Oops. Stay tuned.

Hot time in Old Bedlam
Au courant readers may be aware that Casa Diablo charter guest Bill Flanagan, the one-time NewPaper music writer-turned-MTV executive, has published a new Rhody-set novel, New Bedlam, which is a send-up of the TV industry.
 
Our old friend Bill, currently a New Yawk resident who does regular music commentary pieces on CBS News Sunday Morning, is a Vo Dilun native. He conducts frequent visits to relatives who are still ensconced hereabouts, and he informs us he is house-shopping in the Biggest Little. New Bedlam follows in the footsteps of his previous books, Last of the Moe Haircuts and A&R, a critically acclaimed satire of the recording industry, with which Bill is well acquainted.
 
P&J, living in a self-centered universe, were glad to see the frequent references to local personalities throughout the book, such as Flanagan’s fictional TV star, Mark Cutler; a construction firm called Clancy and Cianci; and most of all, a comedian named Phillipe Jorge, the origin of whose name about which we couldn’t possibly venture a guess.
 
Mr. Bill doubled the pleasure by pointing out that the TV promo for which Jorge is called in to dub involves speculation over who slept with who among the castaways on the legendary TV show Gilligan’s Island. Flanagan properly credits Phillipe for originally posing this in what was doubtless a late-night warped intellect rant session at the late, lamented Leo’s.
 
Much luck with New Bedlam (the supposed Rhode Island pronunciation of the fictional town of New Bethlehem, located between the real South County communities of Jerusalem and Galilee), Bill, and thanks for the mention. Your legend lives on at Oakland Beach.

Rhode Island is famous for you
Now that the Bud-I’s back and ready to assume his duties behind the microphone at WPRO as the “Salty of the Future,” there is one minor issue with which Jorge, strangely enough, has been peripherally involved. Here’s the tale.
 
Back in early 1984, when Cianci was still engaged in his first go-around as mayor of Providence, Jorge was starting his first term as a radio talk-show host at WHJJ-AM. Later, when the Bud-I was offered his own talk-show at ’HJJ, he called Jorge and asked about his previous theme song. It was an obscure recording of “Rhode Island is Famous for You,” a song, composed for a short-lived Broadway musical Inside USA, by songwriters Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz (Dancing In the Dark, That’s Entertainment, By Myself), and originally sung by one of the show’s stars, Jack Haley Jr. (the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz).
 
Jorge’s recording was from a 1976 vinyl LP of Schwartz singing his own compositions. Dietz was the real genius of the songwriting duo. His well-turned and frequently clever lyrics outstripped Schwartz’s all-too-often pedestrian tunes. Add to this how Schwartz’s singing voice made Fred Astaire sound like Sinatra, and you’ve got the makings for an LP that sold perhaps hundreds of copies.
 
One of those was bought by Jorge’s aunt, Millie Gaston, who gave it up to him when he started his talk-show. Jorge was familiar with the tune because a local band, Soop (featuring Martin Mull on vocals and guitar) regularly performed it. Jorge passed the record onto Buddy, and it became strongly associated with his popular (as opposed to Jorge’s not-so-popular) talk show.
 
This was all forgotten until a few years ago, when Cherry Arnold searched for the Schwartz rendition for inclusion in her Bud-I documentary. Jorge looked all over and could not find the record. Cherry went so far as to contact Schwartz’s son, Jona¬than, who has for decades hosted a popular Frank Sinatra show on New York radio, but he didn’t have a copy.
 
Last week, as Jorge was scouring Casa Diablo during a semi-decennial cleaning, the vinyl magically appeared. This seemed like an omen, coming in the same week when Bud-I’s return to broadcasting was announced. So, Buddy, we’ve got the theme song. If you want it, you can use it, and P&J wish you great success with your new venture.