Porn Valley- I spoke to Bill Margold this afternoon. Margold, www.billmargold.com, who along with Jim Holiday was the life force of XRCO is now taking on emeritus status.
“I’m sort of an historian-emeritus,” Margold explains. “I’ll be involved in helping coordinate the event.” The show is scheduled for June 2 at The Century Club.
Saddened by the recent loss of his cat, Pogo, the other thing that’s got Margold’s goat is the war of blogs currently being waged regarding the XRCO show. “I’m not happy with what’s going on,” he says. “I don’t understand all these people who have nothing better to do with their time. But I guess the B in blogging is for blowhard. And the L is for loser. I haven’t figured out what the rest of the initials mean. Now everybody gets the chance to expend gas on the Internet. This is just unbelievable and in many ways I’m glad that Holiday doesn’t have to see it. And maybe it wouldn’t have happened if Holiday were around and he had put his foot down on it before it got out of hand.”
By the same token, Margold said he really thinks the world of Dirty Bob and Dick Freeman. “The only problem is they’re 2,000 miles away from the center of the universe where it’s all colliding.” On another subject which is being highly debated, Margold puts in his vote for Wankus as the XRCO host.
“I hold Wankus in the highest of esteem,” Margold says. “I’ve been in awe of his talent when I go to that studio. For a man to control all of those machinations at the same time- I’ve been there when he’s sung farewell to people with tears in his eyes. And of course I was involved with two of those debate challenges. That’s tough. I defy anybody who’s criticizing him to even show one-tenth of the talent that he has. I think he’s remarkably suited to be the host of this event. I loved what Evan [Stone] did last year. We had a lot of fun with Evan, but now it’s Wankus’ shot. Again, Tim Case may have summed it up- we’re taking ourselves WAAAAAAY to seriously.”
The other thing that’s got Margold seriously concerned is the matter of fights breaking out at last year’s event. “Any more fights and we’re not going anywhere,” Margold predicts. “Woe betide this industry if something comes down out of one of these fights that’s terminal. I witnessed some of them and the anger has a lot to do with frustration and society in general. I lot of these people are loaded up on Ritalin and Thorazene and have nowhere to get rid of their hatred, not only for society in general but themselves as well.”
Margold also has an amusing take on all the talk about posses. “These are posses of pumped up pea brains and prattling pinheads,” he says. “I always thought that Lockwood was more than capable as a stud. And that’s exactly where he should stay. People in this business should essentially know their roles and their rolls and not go anywhere else. I’m sure Wankus would allow Lockwood to have a lockjaw hour or whatever kind of hour that he wants. It would be almost like the Tom Sawyer school of journalism. Bring in Lockwood and let him have an hour to play and see how long he could keep it up. Talk about a hardcore performance. Wankus is the epitome of hardcore performing when he’s on the air. The man is good at what he does and it would be an honor to be at the show with him.”
Asked what exactly an emeritus does, Margold said he’ll be providing insights to the Hall of Fame, noting that Jenna Jameson will be the only Hall of Fame inductee. “Like Reggie Jackson.”
Margold said he’ll also be making two announcements from the stage to include the induction of Bill Liebowitz in the Fifth Estate. “And although Holiday had taken himself out of The Hall of Fame, I immediately re-instated his name in the Fifth Estate. It only is the genuflection he justly deserves. But this is Jenna’s year all by herself.”
Margold’s also of the opinion that XRCO will continue to adhere to Holiday’s precepts of truth and honor. “No matter who donates money to it to have it put on,” states Margold. “If you check the list of winners over the years, it’s spread pretty fairly across the various boards. But if anything happens that causes the XRCO to be held in a bad light, those people, hopefully, will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. It’s a fragile little organization that has somehow managed to survive amidst all of these supposed problems into its 21st year. And that is cool.”