Nash Climbs Into ‘Ring’ as a TV Talk-Show Host

Graham Nash has done it all--he’s been everything from a pop superstar to a political activist to David Crosby’s baby-sitter. But a TV talk-show host?

Nash makes his debut Dec. 17 on the Arts & Entertainment cable network (A&E;), where the politically active pop star will host a planned series of one-hour programs tentatively titled “The Ring.” Produced by DIR Broadcasting and Dalrymple Productions, the shows will feature pop-star guests discussing social issues--and performing favorite songs--before a live, celebrity-studded audience. You might say DIR has run the gamut celebrity-wise: The debut program, with Nash interviewing Grace Slick, features appearances by Steve Garvey, Bonnie Raitt, Suzie Chaffee, Lamont Dozier and the head of the World Wildlife Fund.

You also might say that Nash, despite his obvious enthusiasm, has mixed feelings about his new career path. “I’m not so sure whether I want to be this guy--this talk-show character--or not,” he explained the other afternoon. “I have to admit that I was a little nervous, because in one way it made me feel like I was, well, getting old.

“I was talking to David Crosby the other day and he told me, ‘Stop looking at this as something you have to do because you’re retired or something. It’s just another career move, another facet of your personality.’ ”

Nash laughed. “But still . . . it really is strange walking around an audience with a hand-mike, asking people all these crazy questions. I don’t want anyone to think I’m Phil Donahue.”

Not to worry. Nash has no interest in tabloid-TV journalism. “I’ve always thought there were lots of musicians who really have something to say, but the problem with most TV shows is that you simply come on, sing a song, sit on the couch for five minutes plugging your new record and you’re gone,” he said. “We’d like to give musicians a chance to talk about things in depth. I’d like to have people on like Sting, who could discuss the rain forests, or Peter Gabriel or Midnight Oil or Stevie Wonder, who’s a social activist of the highest order.”

An offspring of glasnost , the show was inspired by a Soviet talk show called “The Ring,” which had Billy Joel on as a guest when he was touring Russia several years ago. “It was a truly unusual program,” recalled DIR president Bob Meyerowitz, who was there handling a live Joel simulcast. “It was a heavy, very intellectual show. The audience was full of Politburo members and Communist Party functionaries, who would all ask Billy questions. He didn’t know what to make of it when he went in, but he came out loving it.”

In conjunction with Robert Dalrymple, DIR has Americanized the show, but they plan to stock each segment with provocative audience participants. A recently taped show, with special guest David Crosby, features appearances from a National Rifle Assn. exec and a woman whose son was recently killed with a handgun. Nash’s guests will also perform--Nash got Slick and Crosby together for an acoustic version of “Wooden Ships.”

According to Meyerowitz, A&E; is still waiting to see the final version of the two initial pilots before making a commitment, but DIR is hoping for an initial run of 13 hourlong shows. Meyerowitz insists that Nash was an obvious choice as host. “I’d heard him do a radio show a few years ago and he was tremendous,” he said. “He’s exactly what we needed--someone who will command the respect of his guests.”

Nash is still a little nervous. “When we taped the first show, I was terrified,” he said. “Put a guitar in front of me and I can keep going for days. But it was scary when I had to just go out by myself in front of an audience. So I just try to read up on my guests as much as possible. For Grace, I studied all sorts of articles and books.”

And for David Crosby, whom Nash has performed with for two decades? “With David?” he laughed. “I knew all I could ever possibly want to know!”