It breaks my heart to write that Floyd Vivino — known to many fans as Uncle Floyd Vivino — passed away last night. He was a great comic and a great friend. His freewheeling spoof of a kids’ television show, “The Uncle Floyd Show,” ran from 1974-1998, and earned him fans ranging from John Lennon and Iggy Pop to David Bowie– who paid tribute to Uncle Floyd (and his puppet sidekick, Oogie) in a song he wrote and recorded, “Slip Away.”
The Ramones referenced Floyd in their song “It’s Not My Place,” and were proud to periodically wear “Uncle Floyd” shirts and buttons. (They shared his cheerfully anarchic spirit.)
And Stan Lee even saw fit to reference “Uncle Flord” in “Spider-Man”–as seen in comic-book panels I’m sharing below! n this comic-book sequence, Peter Parker–a/k/a Spider -Man–is seen watching his “favorite local kiddie show,” “The Uncle Floyd Show.”
Many popular performers made guest appearances on Floyd’s show–including Tiny Tim (singing a memorable duet with cast member Michael Townsend Wright), Bon Jovi, Jan and Dean, Peter Tork, David Johansen, Blue Öyster Cult, Joe Jackson, and Cyndi Lauper. Cast regulars included Scott Gordon, Artie Delmar (David Burd), Looney Skip Rooney, Muggsy, Netto, Jim Monaco…. and sometimes Clark, the Wonder Dog.
Floyd made countless live appearances–joined for some of the bigger shows (like at New York’s famed The Bottom Line) by his brothers, Jerry Vivino and Jimmy Vivino and their band. (Jerry and Jimmy would go on to play for many years for Conan O’Brien.) Floyd did other work in film and TV, and on radio, and made the Guinness Book of Records for playing piano nonstop for more than 24 hours, at a benefit for a child who was ill.
Floyd was a great guy–a wonderfully talented friend, with a big heart. We were classmates in Glen Rock. NJ, and enjoyed doing shows together at Glen Rock Jr Sr. High School. I even got to understudy him in one show. And we were in one film together, made by our friends Rich Valley and Mark Watkins. (And my mom was good friends with Floyd’s mom, which was nice, too.)
When I produced and hosted the documentary “Glen Rock in its 90th Year” (available on YouTube), the best segment was my visit with Floyd, which we filmed at the house he grew up in, on Harding Road. He played piano, sang, and bantered.
In more recent years, Floyd and his brothers were captured brilliantly by filmmaker Barry Rubinow in his documentary “Banded Together–the Boys from Glen Rock High…“
Floyd was the most talented entertainer in our high school class. When graduation from high school approached, Floyd was voted the senior that the underclassmen would miss the most. (I still have that issue of the “Glen Echo” newspaper, with Floyd’s picture on the front page. I’ll post a photo of it below.)
I dedicated one of my CD’s to Floyd and his gifted brothers, musicians Jerry and Jimmy. (Floyd is also the proud uncle of Broadway’s Donna Vivino.) And I thanked Floyd in many of the CDs I produced (including the most recent one). When we were growing up, he was the only other kid I knew who was into old-time music, and collected 78s as I did. He was a kindred spirit. And he also loved classic old-time comedy routines, as I did. (We could quote “Slowly I Turned… Niagara Falls” from memory at age13.)
Floyd eventually amassed an extraordinary record collection–zillions of recordings from the birth of the recording industry to the present. And on his long-running radio show, he’d play everything from vintage vaudeville-era recordings, to big-band swing, to early rock n’ roll (to provide a perfect segue into David Ghosty Wills‘s show that followed.)
A few years ago, I told Floyd I wanted to write a show about Jimmy Durante that Floyd could star in. (He knew Durante’s repertoire inside out.) But then he suffered a stroke about two-and-a-half years ago, and wound up hospitalized. He still contributed some spoken comments to the podcast that Scott Gordon produced, This WAS The Uncle Floyd Show. But his health problems kept him confined to bed. I’d invited Floyd to be on my latest album, “Chip Deffaa–Down in Honky Tonk Town.” It was not possible, but he was on my mind as we recorded some old songs he liked, and I was very happy that he got to listen to the finished album. I still have all of the recordings he made, as 45 rpm singles.
He was a great comic and clown. He’d studied and learned from the best in the business. He knew seemingly every gag and routine from the days of vaudeville and burlesque, to the present. And his piano playing was filled with life. (I loved the way he played “Alabama Jubilee.”)
His family will be holding a private funeral. A public memorial celebration of his life will be held at a future date.
In the mean time, I’ll go to the nearby Hillery Street Cafe in Totowa, NJ–a local joint we both liked. Have a bite to eat. And toast to his memory…..
I’m sharing photos of Floyd by himself; with the cast members from his long-running TV show; with brothers Jimmy and Jerry, when they were kids; a “Spider-Man” comic book referencing Floyd; Floyd; Paterson’s current Mayor Andre Sayegh ( big “Uncle Floyd” fan) with Floyd; and Floyd and me with the late Okey Chenoweth, who directed plays, and taught English and drama, at our high school.
