David Naughton’s most well-recognized contribution to the world of pop culture came from his starring role in the John Landis classic An American Werewolf in London. While this film is in fact a fun classic, there are three other things that David Naughton did, each of which mean more to me than that film. The first is his appearance as recovering alcoholic Dick in a 1991 episode of Seinfeld. Even more so was his starring role in the hideous but beautiful Disney film Midnight Madness, which also starred Michael J. Fox.
But my favorite of all of his entertainment contributions was the larger-than-life cocky disco classic Makin’ It, a song originally created as the theme music for his TV show of the same title. The song stayed in the Billboard Top 40 for 16 weeks, which was longer than the show lasted. It peaked at #5 and stayed in the Top Ten for five weeks. Simply put, it is an awesome song that one has to hear to believe.
Mr. Naughton enjoyed the inscription that I had him write on the photo from An American Warewolf in London. I told him that the first time that I heard the song was when it appeared in Meatballs. He said that since Paramount owned the rights to it from the TV series that they just went ahead and stuck it in there. And when I mentioned hearing it again in Detroit Rock City, he said that he almost fell out of his chair when he was seeing that film and heard it utilized there as well. He had a 12″ single version of the single with him and that was virtually all we talked about. Not even a mention of Seinfeld or Midnight Madness.
He was offering the same deal as most at the Chicago collectors show on September 25, 2010: $25 for the signed photo and a picture with him. The prices are creeping up gradually on these celebs, but I suspect that if David Naughton wants to stay solid gold…and keep the goods…and make them stand when he walks through the neighborhood, he’ll have to take what he can get.
Celebrities of the Fall 2010 Chicago collectors show will continue…
Makin’ It! Great song! He was outstanding in that Dr. Pepper commercial too.
Eric Hubble
November 3rd, 2010
Yes, I remember him for “Makin’ It” and the Dr. Pepper commercials, which were really lavishly produced and had some very complex choreography. Lots of those are here, along with a video of “Makin’ It”: http://tinyurl.com/2bz4cnf
Randy Skretvedt
November 3rd, 2010