1. In the early 90s, I had an office in Maverick Records, the company Madonna formed with Freddy De Mann. I was tasked with developing a project on the warehouse party “rave” scene. Whenever Madonna came in she’d pass my door, give me a wave, and yell “Hey, Rave Guy!” How cool was that?

 

2. I discovered I wanted to be a writer at age 14, so immediately started a novel. Westerns were a popular genre in the 60s and that seemed to be the way to go. Mine was called 'Red Dust' and was about a teenage boy who comes back from working on the range to find his family slaughtered. A clichéd opening to be sure, but it worked well enough for George Lucas a decade later, didn't it?

3. I was a circus clown for a while. I played the stern ‘straight-man” to the goofy ones. That’s how I came up with my name. The troupe owner told me I had to have an Italian-sounding name for the introductions. Like Pagliacci or Giuseppe. The Innocenti company built a scooter I used to ride, and L'Innocente was a Visconti film I liked so… that's how I became Mister Marco Innocenti. 

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4. For a brief moment in the 80s I played guitar and sang back-up vocals with Bowie. No, not David — his ex-wife, Angie. I was fired, which was humiliating. But a bit of a relief.

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5. When I was 16 I applied to join the Merchant Navy. But I failed the Board of Trade eye exam. If I'd had 20/20 vision, how different my life would have been. And doesn't everybody have that moment that takes them away from one path and down another? Life is always stranger than fiction.