For that first Radio for Rwanda I pulled out all the stops: tons of guests, bands, surprises. But I knew I needed a gimmick – something to center the marathon around. I had this idea that I wanted to shave Alex York’s head, who was a really well-known friend of ours with truly luscious hair. He wasn’t willing to do that, but he agreed to let us shave his chest. And then, since he’s a professionally trained singer, I wanted him to sing “I Dreamed A Dream” while we did it. It was the craziest, stupidest, most bizarre concept I’d attempted – I’m a sucker for wild ideas coming to fruition. I’m pretty sure people thought I was actually insane: a twelve-hour marathon where the centerpiece was shaving this guy’s chest. But it was a huge success: people loved it, and we raised a ton of money. To make matters even better (or worse), I got Kevin Killian to drink the shaving water if we cobbled together enough money – and that was when everything really spiraled out of control. Those twelve hours were a total frenzy, but something happened down there that I couldn’t have planned for: a feeling, a community, an energy. It isn’t until you’re in a basement shaving a grown man’s chest for charity that you really feel how united this world can be. We got the school newspaper the following week and there was York on the cover, mid-shave, belting out Les Mis.
