The Count is livin’ lucky with his favourite things

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/03/2015 (3327 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

You’d have to consider yourself a pretty lucky person if there were three things in life that you really loved to do and you somehow ended up doing all three of them for a living.

Danny Koker is that kind of lucky.

Koker, better known as “the Count” from History TV’s Counting Cars and Pawn Stars, is a lifelong car and motorcycle nut and rock ‘n’ roll fan who runs a hugely successful custom car and bike shop by day and fronts a very popular ’70s rock band by night.

“I’m a fortunate guy in the fact there are three aspects of my life that I was raised in — motorcycles, cars and music — and I find myself in a position now where I’m actually able to do all three of those things,” says Koker, who was born in Akron, Ohio, grew up in Detroit and has called Las Vegas home for the past couple of decades.

“I wouldn’t be able to do them without the greatest team on the planet. I’ve got wonderful people that manage all the businesses I’m involved in (including Count’s Kustoms, a restaurant/nightclub called Count’s Vamp’d Rock Bar & Grill, a tattoo shop and a recording studio).

“Those are the people who make things run smoothly and let me be able to float through all these different things that I love to do. Most of my days are spent at the shop, with the cars and the bikes and shooting the TV show, and most of my evenings are spent rehearsing or playing (with his band, Count’s 77) or travelling to a gig somewhere. I’m probably one of the busiest guys in the world, but I love what I do.”

Also crammed into Koker’s schedule each year are dozens of personal appearances, including one this weekend, accompanied by longtime friend and Counting Cars co-star Kevin Mack, at the annual World of Wheels show at the RBC Winnipeg Convention Centre. The pair will meet with fans to talk cars, bikes, music and more on Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

This year’s World of Wheels also features appearances by WWE superstar Sheamus (Friday, 6-8 p.m.) and Farmtruck and AZN from TV’s Street Outlaws (Saturday, 12-5 p.m.).

The roster of “celebrity” cars at this year’s auto show are from various instalments of The Fast and the Furious movie series, including a green 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse and a white 1995 Volkswagen Jetta (Jesse’s Jetta) from the first movie, a primer-painted 1970 Chevy Chevelle SS, a flat-black 1970 Dodge Charger from FF4 and a 2008 Dodge Challenger from FF6.

Tickets for World of Wheels are $14 for adults and $5 for children (kids under five are free) at Ticketmaster.

Growing up in Detroit, Koker was surrounded by relatives who worked at the Ford Motor Company and were obsessed with cars and motorcycles (he got his first bike at age eight); his father, Danny Koker, was a gospel singer and pianist with the Cathedral Quartet who eventually moved the family to Las Vegas, where he continued to perform and also owned a television station.

While dabbling in car and bike customization in the late ’80s, the younger Koker became host of a weekend scary-movie showcase called Saturday Fright at the Movies, adopting the persona of Count Cool Rider, whom he describes as “a vampire who was a biker who lived in Vegas and loved Elvis — kind of a combination of all the things that were me, turned into this vampire character. It was a blast.”

The TV show ended in 2000, but the nickname stuck. And when his car-customizing interest graduated from word-of-mouth hobby into a full-time business, it made sense to include the “Count” moniker on the storefront sign.

After appearing as a friendly expert in Season 2 of Pawn Stars, Koker was offered a chance to do his own show for History and Counting Cars became a hit. Season 4 is currently airing and Season 5 is being shot at Count’s Kustoms this spring. Koker says he’s contracted through the end of an eighth season.

He describes pal and co-worker Mack as the guy who brings a common-sense, left-brain approach that balances well against Koker’s wildly imaginative, right-brain inclinations.

“We go back probably 19 years, as far as being buddies is concerned, and he’s been working with me at the shop for eight or nine years,” he says. “I brought him to be the guy who put the head on the monster, so to speak, because it was pretty helter-skelter around here; we were building some pretty crazy things, but I can’t say the business was being handled properly because I was buried in the creative side of things.

“I knew Kevin as a person, I knew his work ethic and I trust him, so bringing him in was a very good business decision. He’s been great to work with.”

brad.oswald@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @BradOswald