I have been obsessed with biopics ever since I can remember. I even remember liking the 8 hour long movie Ghandi when I was a kid! I loved A Cry in the Dark, Gorillas in the Mist, and Reversal of Fortune. I wanted to see any movie about real people. I also wanted to watch all the TV movies. Melendez: A Killing in Beverly Hills, Sybil, Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratten Story, Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones, and The Amy Fisher Story were all my favorites. I love Drew Barrymore in The Amy Fisher Story. I watch this movie many times every year. Not sure why. The movie is not the best in the world, and yet I just can't get enough of it. I put it right up there with Showgirls!

But I have also been obsessed with movies about rock stars. I would probably go see a movie about Kenny G if it was done right. The first movie I remember seeing about a rock star was La Bamba. I probably had no idea who Richie Valens was at the time. He was just the "La Bamba" Guy. I was 13 when La Bamba came out but it was one of my favorite movies. I was also obsessed with the Karen Carpenter Story, which was released as a TV movie two years later in 1989. Cynthia Gibb played the lead role. I was a bit obsessed with The Carpenters. I still can't get enough of them. I find it to be the most tragic, depressing pop music ever. It seems like most of these movies all ended up with the star dying an early tragic death. I also loved Selena starring Jennifer Lopez. I was never a fan of her music until this movie, but it is actually Jennifer Lopez's best role and a pretty good movie with Edward James Olmos as her dad. Angela Basset played roles in two of my other favorites. She of course played Tina Turner in What's Love Got To Do With It and Katherine Jackson in The Jacksons: An American Dream. But she didn't stop there! She also played the mom of the Notorious B.I.G. in Notorious. She is for sure the queen of the biopic! She also ventured out into some non-music biopics. She played the wife of Malcolm X in Malcolm X and Rosa Parks in The Rosa Parks Story. And you might or might not also remember her as Cheryl McNair in the movie Challenger from 1990.

In following with both the fact that Amoeba hires only the most insatiable and voracious music enthusiasts, and the fact that we of course all learn from one another, periodically I will be posting interviews with staff members. In this edition, I discuss with San Fran's own Zack his musical past and present, among other things.

The Employee Interview:
Zack
4+ years employed at Amoeba
Floor dude

Q:  What was the first music you remember hearing as a kid, before you had a say?

Z:  "Back in the USSR," "Good Vibrations," and the "Monster Mash." My dad would play these while he got me dressed on the couch in the living room before preschool.

Q:  How have these songs influenced your musical likes and dislikes?

Z:  With the Beatles, it gave me a great pop foundation for discerning melodies I like and dislike, but as I got older I really couldn't take the Beatles anymore and had a long stretch of being completely over them while I explored other musical avenues. Since the birth of MY son I have embraced the Beatles once again, having had enough time off and being able to hear them again for the first time along with him.

Q:  What was your first concert?  Last?

Z:  First concert was the Kinks at the Palladium in LA, '87 and my last was the Melvins at Great American.