American Entertainment 1978: New York Night Fever

"Zick, listen carefully. 'Je suis' is me, and 'Tu es' is you. Not 'Juice' or 'Tooth'. If you mix these two words up, you won't even be able to find a toilet in Paris."

On a Sunday morning, sunlight streamed through the French windows of the cliffside cabin, casting slanted rays onto the bedroom floor. Judy sat cross-legged on Zeke's waterbed, a book on her lap, her brow slightly furrowed.

Qi Ke was slumped over the flip-top desk in front of the bed, his hair disheveled and his eyes glazed over.

"Dude, are you serious? Why would I go to Paris? There are beaches, sunshine, and bikini-clad beauties here. Who would want to go to that godforsaken place where even hot dogs come with snails?"

Judy, who was behind him, rolled her eyes and reached down to close the French book on her lap.

"Because if you fail French, you won't be able to graduate, and you'll be stuck in the mud at the bottom of society, unable to even live the life you have now. Now, say to me: 'Le chat est sur le tapis.'"

"Luh... shat... is... sur... luh... toppy," Zeke imitated listlessly.

This unexpected French tutoring session was a promise Judy had been making a long time late in fulfilling.

With no improvement in box office performance, Disney had given up hope and withdrew the film from theaters. Judy was finally freed from her hectic schedule and no longer had to travel back and forth, which gave her the time to take the initiative to come to them.

She arrived far too early. Zeke had spent the previous night with TJ on a promotional tour, and only returned home after breakfast. He had slept for less than an hour when Judy banged on the door and dragged him out of bed. His head was still fuzzy, and he was filled with sleepiness.

Dinoble's aggressive, blunt, and outspoken style does not always work.

Although he has close relationships with many producers of Top 40 chart shows, Neil often sends Dinoble away when he needs to deal with more casual media or radio personalities.

Because of his outstanding performance on the radio program, with his cheerful and humorous manner, Zeke was very popular with listeners and DJs. Neil specially entrusted him with an important task this time, pairing him with TJ, two young and handsome guys, to handle this kind of "soft" media and radio stations.

Dinoble was like a loaded weapon, and Neil was the one who knew when to use it.

This wasn't the first time Zike had done this kind of "soft marketing" work, and it wasn't actually that difficult.

He and TJ often visited the radio station in the early hours of the morning, bringing hot food and drinks to the DJs who were working late into the night. Sometimes they would also bring some marijuana or cocaine. In TJ's view, these drugs were never just gifts, but a shared pastime to bring them closer together and quickly make the DJs feel like one of them.

Of course, Zeke would always find an excuse to slip away during these times. His high school student status was the best shield; he neither had to participate in these forbidden pastimes nor appear out of place.

Occasionally, he would stumble upon some embarrassing scenes: TJ would be having sex with female reporters or music directors on the radio station's sofa or desk, without any restraint.

Zick secretly chuckled to himself, thinking that if Neil knew TJ had "settled" the deal this way, he might just give the guy a promotion and a raise on the spot. After all, what could be more direct and ensure a song's stable release than "sleeping with" a renowned music director?

After Zeke's interview program ends, he and TJ will use company money to treat the DJ to breakfast, have lunch with the music director, and have dinner with the program executives. Occasionally, they will also have a few drinks with the reporters.

With money to pave the way, coupled with their eloquence, securing cooperation is a piece of cake.

In addition, TJ has another little trick: he gives chocolates to the radio station's secretaries and buys small gifts for the elevator operators. He will take care to maintain relationships with even the most inconspicuous staff.

As a result, almost everyone in the other company was willing to speak well of Casablanca, which indirectly reduced many obstacles to their publicity efforts.

This trick is very useful... Zeke decided to learn it in the future.

At this moment, Zeke didn't want to think about anything, didn't want to learn anything, and just wanted to lie down and sleep to catch up on his sleep, instead of being forced by Judy to recite those difficult French words.

Just then, the phone in the living room rang. As if grasping at a lifeline, Zeke immediately jumped up from his desk and ran to answer the phone.

"Zek, it's me."

Hi, Holly.

"I have great news for you, our band has a new name, Spiders." Holly's voice was excited, and she spoke very quickly.

"Why call it that? It sounds a bit strange."

"It was my suggestion! Because we're all huge David Bowie fans, and the name alludes to his famous band, the 'Mars Spiders,' and it's easy to remember. Anyway, everyone agreed, and a trademark search confirmed it's usable. Now that all the obstacles are cleared, we'll head to Los Angeles right away to officially sign the new contract with Casablanca."

"Okay, see you then."

"Wait, Zeke, there's one more thing." Holly changed the subject, her tone becoming more mysterious. "I've also changed my name."

"Whta?" Zeke frowned, looking puzzled. "Isn't Holly a nice name?"

He never really understood why it was so easy and casual for people in America to change their names.

"Not my first name, but my last name. Holly Erlanger is such a mismatch to me. It doesn't sound like rock and roll or disco, and people always mispronounce it."

"So what's your name now?" Qi Ke rolled his eyes inwardly. Well, he'd even changed his surname. In China, that would be considered forgetting his roots.

Holly Knight.

"WHAT!?" Zeke's jaw nearly dropped. "Holy Knight!? What girl would be called a Holy Knight? That's so weird!"

"Shit, Zeke! My name is Holly, not Holy! They pronounce it differently, okay?"

"To the French, there's not much difference between the two words," Zike joked seriously. "My French tutor can't tell them apart when he speaks English; they sound exactly the same to him!"

"Uh, never mind, I'm too lazy to argue with you. It's already changed." Holly wasn't bothered at all; her tone suddenly became languid and ambiguous. "But, Zeke, are you ready to welcome your knight?"

Qi Ke instantly understood her meaning and jokingly retorted with a smile:

"Hehe, no problem, my bed is super big, it can easily accommodate you, knight."

After hanging up the phone, Zeke was in a great mood. He turned around and went back to the bedroom, only to find Judy standing in the room with her hands on her hips, her eyes darting between him and the waterbed, her face full of disgust.

"You usually bring girls to this bed to fool around? I heard everything you just said, so loudly, it was hard not to hear."

"What nonsense are you talking about? No one has slept in this bed since I moved in."

"Was that girl your girlfriend?" Judy pressed, her tone softening slightly.

"Holly? No, she's more like a friend. I originally intended to give my song 'YMCA' to their band, but then... well, it's a long story, too complicated to explain in a short time."

Zeke didn't think he was lying; he and Holly were never in a committed boyfriend-girlfriend relationship.

The concepts of free love and casual sex that emerged in the 1960s were quite widespread in the 1970s, and Holly, as a rock musician who had been active on the West Coast, had a very open mindset.

In Holly's words, "It's perfectly normal to sleep with someone you don't love. You should do crazy things when you're young so you can figure out what's right for you."

"You brought her into the bedroom even though she's not your girlfriend? And you said those kinds of ambiguous things?" Judy frowned, puffed out her cheeks, and looked kind of cute.

"That doesn't make sense," Zik shrugged, pretending to be poor. "You're here too, are you my girlfriend? My family's only means, what can I do? I can't even afford extra furniture, I can't just let my friend stand in the living room."

"Tch, who wants to be your girlfriend?" Judy's cheeks flushed slightly, and she quickly turned her face away. "Your song 'YMCA' is so popular right now, you must be making a lot of money, right? Casablanca treats you like a treasure, how come you can't even afford furniture?"

"You think royalties are so easy to get?" Zeke sighed. "Record royalties are settled very slowly. Larry told me that at the earliest, I would have to wait a month after the song was released, after all the fees were settled, and then another week or so before I could get my first royalty payment."

At this point, Zik suddenly remembered something, and his eyes lit up:

"By the way, there's a party in Casablanca next week to celebrate YMCA breaking into the Billboard Top 10 and the official release of Village People's second album. Do you want to come? I can take you. You'll meet big names like Peter Cooper and Neil Bogart, as well as many people from the film and record industry."

YMCA's sales figures have been soaring, with its ranking on the charts climbing rapidly: it ranked #19 in the first week, jumped to #12 in the second week, and then squeezed into the Top 10, showing tremendous momentum.

The Village People also achieved their first platinum single with this song, and are now incredibly popular, receiving a lot of attention wherever they go.

Zik didn't have any other thoughts about his tomboyish French tutor; he simply wanted to help her make connections and build some networks, which was just a side thing for him anyway.

He knew that Hollywood was a very ruthless industry, and that Judy's starring role in a film like "The Castle" which flopped so badly that it didn't even make it onto the box office charts could very well affect her future career.

Casablanca is currently riding high, not only with a film and television division, but also with a record label that is far more reliable than CBS, a record company that verbally opposes disco but only secretly tries it out.

Judy's eyes lit up, and the disdain on her face vanished instantly.

"I'll have to ask my mom first," she said after a moment's hesitation, "but it shouldn't be a big problem. After all, it's a Casablanca party, it's definitely a good opportunity."

"Why don't you just make a call and ask?" Zeke waved his hand, then added, "The party is at President Neil Bogart's estate in Holmby Hill."