The Knicks are back in the NBA Finals.
Thirty-two years ago, I wrote a song for them.
And while you won't hear it tonight in San Antonio, there's a good chance it'll be blasting through Madison Square Garden before Game 3.
Nineties New York was dope. Phat. Fresh. Fly. Ill. Off the hook. Patrick Ewing was carrying New York on his back. The Twin Towers dominated the skyline. If somebody wanted to reach me, they left a message on my answering machine.
I was living in a 400-square-foot apartment under the 59th Street Bridge.
I wasn't broke, but I wasn't exactly thriving either.
A few days earlier, I'd gotten a $500 check for writing a jingle for a clothing company called In The Paint. At the time, $500 wasn't just money. It was rent.
The owner of the company was Nancy Grunfeld. Her husband, Ernie, happened to be the General Manager of the Knicks.
After hearing the jingle, Nancy asked if I would write a song for the Knicks.
Then she told me if I could put together a demo, she'd get me a meeting. That was all I needed to hear. I went home and started recording.
There was no contract.
No guarantee.
No promise anybody at Madison Square Garden would ever hear it.
Just a chance.
The funny thing is when I say I went into the studio, what I really mean is I walked into my closet. Not a studio designed to look like a closet. An actual closet.
That was the studio.
I recorded the demo and played it for Nancy.
A few days later, there was a message waiting for me on my answering machine.
The Knicks wanted the song.
The check was for $4,000.
At the time, it felt like I'd hit the lottery.
The funny thing is, if you had asked me back then what the most valuable part of that deal was, I would've pointed to the check. And I would've been wrong.
The money lasted about six months.
The song lasted thirty-two years.
And thirty-two years later, the Knicks are back in the Finals.
Patrick Ewing is in the Hall of Fame.
The answering machine is gone.
The apartment under the 59th Street Bridge is rented to somebody else.
But if the Knicks are winning in the fourth quarter at Madison Square Garden during Game 3... There's a pretty good chance you'll hear:
Go New York, Go New York, Go!
And every time I hear it, I think about Nancy Grunfeld.
Because sometimes all it takes to change a life is somebody willing to open a door.
