American Entertainment 1978: New York Night Fever

Chapter 100 The Chicago Gang

"Could it be the Mafia?" Zeke tentatively guessed, then immediately dismissed the idea. "No, that doesn't make sense. The Mafia and Jewish gangs are completely unrelated."

"Yes and no." Tino waved his hand. "A large part of the funds came from the Italian Mafia in Chicago, from Al Capone's gang, The Outfit. And Chicago was a gathering place for Russian Ashkenazi Jews who came to the United States. When these Jews first arrived in the United States, they had nothing, were ostracized and restricted, and did not even have the right to rent a house. They could only start from small stalls and odd jobs to slowly accumulate wealth."

The five New York Mafia families have always looked down on Chicago crime groups, believing that they originated from Italian immigrant gangs and therefore are of the same blood and geographical origin.

But the Capone era was too barbaric, too open, and too mixed. The Irish gangs, Jewish partners, African American gambling dens, and Chicago municipal corruption were too closely intertwined, making it not orthodox enough in the eyes of the old New York school.

Therefore, New Yorkers often refuse to give the respectful title "Chicago Family," instead using "Outfit" (which implies a group or unit, or in military context, your company/platoon/unit), which sounds more like a "work crew in uniform" than a sacred family line. It's a subtle form of hierarchical discrimination.

"After establishing themselves in Chicago, these people invested heavily in their children's education, cultivating a large group of lawyers and political manipulators. Chicago gangs never lacked cash flow, but they lacked legal channels for laundering money and professional legal teams for financial management. They really liked to use these Jewish lawyers to manage their businesses and act as brokers. The two sides were deeply intertwined, firmly controlling both the underground and above-ground order in Chicago."

"But wasn't Al Capone already dead?" Zeke asked, puzzled.

"Only Capone has fallen," Tino said calmly. "The Russian Jews and the Mafia aren't finished. They have huge sums of laundered cash, are migrating to California, and are aggressively expanding their presence in Hollywood."

"The group of industry bigwigs you're hearing about now—CBS founder William S. Paley, Paramount founder Barney Balaban, Universal Pictures founder Julius Stein, and president Lou Wasserman—this group of Jews is what the industry calls the Black Mafia."

19

"Black Mafia?" Zike asked, puzzled. He knew a little about the Mafia, but very little about the inside story of Hollywood.

"That's what they were called in the industry back in the 40s, but back then it mainly referred to the MCA group. They were all dressed in black suits, white shirts, and black ties, like a funeral procession. Plus, the MCA was ruthless, closed, and strictly disciplined. You didn't even need to say a word when they walked into the room; just by sitting there, you could tell who was in charge."

"But not the Mafia kind with knives and guns, it's a more sophisticated version. Chicago Outfit's money needs to be laundered, and to launder it, you need a legitimate facade, and these Russian Jewish lawyers have been doing this for generations: turning cash into luxury hotels, Paramount shares, CBS GG contracts, and MCA brokerage empires."

"They are based in California, protecting Outfit's traditional businesses such as real estate, talent agencies, clubs, drug distribution, transportation, and loan sharking, while also controlling film studios, talent agencies, industry unions, and regulations. They are the real top-level forces hidden behind Hollywood."

Zike thought to himself, "Tsk tsk, so he wasn't a good person at heart. No wonder he felt there was something sinister about Hollywood."

As for not resorting to knives and guns? Even a fool could see they could mobilize Chicago's underground forces at any time...

Furthermore, America truly is a promised land for criminals, who have brazenly climbed to the top of Hollywood.

"Who else is in this Chicago gang?"

"I don't know about that. Perhaps your friends in New York know more about it than I do. I heard from my friends in Chicago that these people also have close ties with the major families in New York. After all, such a big pie can't be eaten by themselves."

"So they also obey CosaNostra (our cause)," Zik said in Italian here, "their orders?"

Tino shrugged. "Who knows? I don't have sources that high-level. But Zeke, you know what? Guess who former California governor Lonner Reagan's agent was when he was a second-rate actor?"

"How could I possibly know? I wasn't even born then!" Zik said, both amused and exasperated.

"Lou Wasserman of MCA, who is now the president of Universal, is a core member of the Chicago clique. They started out as brokerage firms, and he was Frank Sinatra's agent for a long time."

"You mean the Chicago clique produced a Screen Actors Guild president and the governor of California?" Zeke was dumbfounded.

"Heh heh, I didn't say that," Tino winked slyly. "But one thing is certain: these Chicago Jews have been manipulating votes and controlling public opinion for decades. And think about Kennedy, his father had close ties with these Chicagoans too..."

"That sounds even more impressive than the five major New York families..." Zeke remarked.

He had also heard rumors about the Mafia assassinating Kennedy.

It is said that the Mafia fully supported Kennedy's election campaign under the mediation of the elder Kennedy, but after he came to power, he turned his back on them and made his brother, who was appointed Minister of Justice, work hard to crack down on the Mafia. This ungrateful behavior eventually gave him a sudden idea.

However, this is just an urban legend. The investigation into the presidential assassination was very hasty, and more than ten years have passed without a consensus.

As the two were chatting, there was a knock on the door of the dressing room.

"The recording is finished." Marco walked in with Judy, Christy, and Stacy.

After agreeing to meet Tino again the day after tomorrow, Zeke put his arm around Judy and went straight back to the cliff cabin.

On the second day of the disco competition, Zik was too lazy to go out; he was simply too tired of watching it.

However, Judy, who came back from watching the show, said that the competition was very exciting and the two episodes were a great success, even achieving the highest ratings of Murphy's career to date, which can be considered a win-win situation with Casablanca.

"Final exams are less than a month away, remember to come back early, otherwise I won't be able to help you."

"Don't worry, I'll go home as soon as I'm done."

At the airport, Zeke and Judy shared a passionate kiss before saying goodbye.

He boarded the plane to New York with Larry Harris, Tino, and a middle-aged man in his fifties.

The middle-aged man is Bill Wadlow, whom Neil mentioned.

According to Larry's introduction to Zeke on the way to the airport, Bill is no ordinary person. He is the editor-in-chief of Billboard's charts department, holding the lifeline of the entire music industry in his hands, and can be said to be one of the most powerful and influential figures in the industry.

Bill was tall and relatively thin, with a head of neatly combed gray hair. He dressed impeccably, favoring long-sleeved, crisply ironed button-down shirts. He always spoke with an air of self-importance, as if he were the sole judge of the world.

Sitting in first class, watching Bill chatting happily with Larry, Zeke silently speculated: This guy is probably Casablanca's secret weapon for controlling the Billboard charts, or at least one of them.

It's worth noting that Casablanca recently featured Bill Wadlow as a celebrity judge on the "Murphy Show" TGIF special, a disco dance competition.

而在他上节目之前，《狂热周五夜》原声带（还附赠了一张12英寸单曲）在5月13日的《公告牌》杂誌上以第74名首次亮相，并迅速在Top200专辑与磁带排行榜上攀升。

Bill is a disco fanatic; he loves talking to Larry about disco artists like Donna Summer, Patty Brooks, and Paul Jabara; he's absolutely thrilled when Village People appears on The Murphy Show.

He was also very enthusiastic about Zick, especially when discussing Zick's concept of New Wave, where he spoke at length. He strongly agreed with Zick's idea that disco, like rock, could be integrated with other musical genres.

"Thank you for your approval, Mr. Wardlow," Zeke said modestly. "This term was actually given to me by Mr. Seymour Stan of Siren Records; I just added some of my own interpretations."

Bill was quite surprised and said that he must have a good talk with Seymour Stan when he returned to New York. He and Seymour were acquaintances because Seymour had worked for Billboard when he was young and was considered one of the magazine's veterans.

The transatlantic flight was no easy feat. Bill, claiming to be getting on in years, ordered a few shots of strong liquor and soon fell into a deep sleep, even snoring softly.

Looking at the person drooling and sleeping in their seat, Zeke felt an indescribable sense of disillusionment.

Is Billboard, considered the holy grail of authority by countless industry insiders, really controlled by such an ordinary old man? In the end, those chart numbers that affect the careers of countless musicians and record company executives are nothing more than numbers that he can manipulate.