MEDIA NOTEBOOK
A curation of news items about the media from this past week, with a particular emphasis on Chicago.
Media Notebook returns on July 12.
Friday, June 28, 2024
Thursday, June 27, 2024
20 Years: Free Excerpt from Records Truly Is My Middle Name
In 2013 I co-wrote the book "Records Truly Is My Middle Name" with John Landecker. The book is his life story and told in his voice, but the reason I wrote it with him is because I was his executive producer for ten years, and I knew all of his stories. I also enlisted about 30 former friends and colleagues to tell their stories about John.
This week Mel Brooks is celebrating a birthday (June 28). There are a few Mel Brooks stories in Records Truly Is My Middle Name. Here they are...
Bob Sirott has
always been a great interviewer, and when we both worked at WLS, there were
several times he got interview opportunities with big stars. On those
occasions, I inevitably became a parasite on Bob Sirott’s body — hovering
around to get an interview for my show too. One night Bob was taping an
interview with Sylvester Stallone, with the idea of editing it, and playing it
on the air the next day.
Again, this was at
the height of Sly’s popularity — the film “Rocky” had made him one of the
biggest stars in the country — so I asked Bob if I could get Sly live on the
air with me after Sirott finished his interview. Bob graciously agreed.
My Stallone interview went pretty well, but I didn’t really think it was extraordinary or special. The whole thing only lasted about seven minutes. So imagine my surprise a few weeks later, when a record label released it on an album. The A side had my entire interview with Sylvester Stallone. On the B-side, my interview questions were cut out, so anyone could pretend like they were interviewing Stallone. It came with a script. I have no idea why this done. The interview wasn’t that great — I’m sure Bob’s interview was ten times better. No one ever asked me if they could use it, they just did.
The next time I latched
onto Bob’s show was the day he had Mel Brooks in the studio. You have to
understand; to me Mel Brooks is the be all and end all. He is my comedy hero. I
watched Bob’s entire interview, just drooling at a chance to talk to him on my
show too.
When the interview
ended, I made my move.
“Please, just stay
another ten minutes,” I begged.
“Sure,” Mel
responded. “What the heck.”
And he did, and I
loved every second of it. A few weeks later I even got a thank you letter in
the mail from Mel Brooks. I still have that letter framed in my office, so I
can tell you what it says, word for word.
Dated April 18,
1978 on 20th Century Fox letterhead, it says:
“Dear John, it was very
fun to use up the first ten minutes of your show
when we were in
Chicago. You are a bearded pussycat. Please tender
my best regards to
nervous Jews and others at your site of broadcasting.
All the best, Mel Brooks.”
***
I’ll always treasure my interview with Mel Brooks in the 1970s, but during the WJMK years, I got the chance to interview him twice more. One time I had a chance to do a very lengthy interview with both Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner when they did The 2000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000. I must have talked to them for 40 minutes. The highlight for me was when I asked him a question about Blazing Saddles.
“You know the line
about the Dr. Gillespie killings?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Mel
answered.
“That’s a
reference to Lionel Barrymore as Dr. Gillespie in the Dr. Kildare movies,
right?”
He paused, and
said: “You know what? Every once in a while I run into a kindred spirit. You’re
the only one that has ever asked me that question, and the answer is yes!”
To me, that was
like John Lennon telling a Beatlemaniac that he was the only person in the
world who ever understood a Beatles record. I was in heaven. Of course, just to
show you never to take yourself too seriously, when I told that story on the
air, I got calls from people who pointed out other jokes in that movie that I
completely missed.
“John, what about
the Laurel and Hardy handshake?”
“Yeah? What about
it?”
“Laurel and Hardy!”
“Oooooh. Laurel
and Hardy. Right.”
My final time with
Mel was when The Producers played in Chicago before it made its
run on Broadway. Mel held a press conference, and I was one of the press
members that attended. When it was my turn, I asked: “When was the first time
you thought that Nazis were funny?”
“It was when I saw
the shape of their helmets,” he responded.
The next day in
the Sun-Times, that was the headline. Then, a few
weeks later when Matthew Broderick did his interview for 60 Minutes
just before it hit
Broadway, he brought it up too. “You know,” he said, “the first time Mel
realized Nazis were funny was when he saw the shapes of their helmets.”
Happy to contribute.
Wednesday, June 26, 2024
Studio Walls--June 26, 2024
A weekly update/preview of my latest podcasts, and a look back at some of my previous audio work from this week in history over the past 40+ years.
Here are a few from the archives...
June 23, 1939—Siam changes name to Thailand.
=How many podcasts have had guests on live from Thailand? We did. Author Bill Paige was living in Thailand when he talked to us about his book Everything I Know I Learned From Rock Stars
June 23, 1993--John Wayne Bobbitt gets his penis cut off by his wife Lorena
=Yes, of course we wrote a song about that for Landecker and the Legends. I told that story in this episode of Minutia Men. If you want to read the lyrics, they are here.
June 23, 1995—Pocahontas released by Disney
=Yes, we wrote a song about that too. "The Polka-hontas Polka" was on Landecker & the Legends Volume II, and just might be heard again in a future episode of Minutia Men.
June 24, 1901—Brighton & Hove Albion founded
=Just another reminder to listen to the Free Kicks podcast with Adam and Rick. Brighton & Hove Albion is mentioned quite frequently.
June 24—Dave Vescio birthday
=Dave is an actor and an artist and a memorable guest on Minutia Men Celebrity Interview
June 24--Roger Badesch birthday
=We talked to the former newsman/political flak/teacher & author of The Unplanned Life on this episode of Minutia Men
June 25—Carly Simon birthday
=Record producer and engineer Bill Schnee told us a story about what it was like to work with her. You can hear it on this episode of Minutia Men Celebrity Interview.
June 26—Vick’s Vapo Rub debuts 1905.
=We did a radio ad for them when we owned our advertising agency. Would you like to hear it? It stars Dave. We'll play it on a future episode of the show.
June 26,
2023—Dick Biondi death
=I worked with Dick for ten years at WJMK, but only appeared on one show with him--when he was on Tony Lossano's podcast. Here's a photo from that day.
June 26, 1981—Stripes premieres
=Did you know that Bill Murray and Harold Ramis were not the original choices for the lead characters in that film? Tommy Chong revealed to us that Cheech and Chong were offered the movie first.
June 26--Bobby Holland Hanton birthday
=The stuntman who has worked in virtually all of the Marvel films appeared on our show to explain the stunts. You can hear that here.
June 26—Eric Nelsen birthday
=The star of the Yellowstone prequel 1884 was a fun guest. Here he is on Minutia Men Celebrity Interview
June 27, 1994—Caning in Singapore
=The story of the American kid who was sentenced to caning in Singapore was the top story in the news here. Scott May told us a great story about how the Kevin Matthews show and the Danny Bonaduce show on the Loop helped celebrate the story. Listen here.
June 27—Adam Howarth birthday
=Adam is my co-host on Free Kicks. Free Kicks returns at the end of August for the new Premier League season.
June 27—James Breakwell birthday
=The NY Times best selling author appeared on Minutia Men Celebrity Interview
June 28—Mel Brooks birthday
=Mel is 98 years old this week. We talked to actor Eric Allan Kramer (Little John in "Robin Hood: Men in Tights") about what it was like working with comedy's greatest legend.
June 28--John Cusack birthday
=I told the story of my brush with John Cusack in this episode of Minutia Men.
June 28, 1997—Mike Tyson bites Holyfield’s ear
=Was it a huge story in the 1990s? You bet. Did Landecker & the Legends record a song about it? What do you think? It's on our fourth CD "Live Long and Perspire"
June 28, 1970—Gay Pride Day established
=It's expanded into a whole month now. We interviewed actor Dan Butler (Bulldog on Frasier) about his activism for the LBGT community in this episode of Minutia Men Celebrity Interview
Tuesday, June 25, 2024
Publishing Portal--June 25, 2024
The latest news from Eckhartz Press, and a chance to peek into some of the great previous offerings from our humble little publishing company.
Happy Birthday!
=Two Eckhartz Press authors are celebrating birthdays today. Bob Shannon (June 23) wrote the book Turn it Up for us in 2017. Roger Badesch (June 24) contributed The Unplanned Life in 2020. Happy birthday to both!
=Ken Smoller is coming back to town this coming weekend. He will be at Blue Island Brewing on June 29 selling and signing his book from 2-4pm, and then he'll be at the Windy City Thunderbolts game that same night at 6:05.
Records Truly Is My Middle Name
=This week in 2017, Eckhartz Press author John Records Landecker was named to the National Radio Hall of Fame. That led to the release of an updated version of his book, Records Truly Is My Middle Name.
=This week in 2014, Bruce Bohrer held the book launch party for this book Best Seat in the House at Tavern 60 in Mundelein. Here are a few photos from that memorable day.
A new article about Surviving Sue and Writing for Wellness is out --featured in Happiness Between Tails by da-AL -- Writing/Tales + Tails + Culture + Compassion. Read more about that here, and congrats to Vicki Atkinson for the additional exposure.
=This week in 2019, author Rick Kaempfer appeared on Garry Meier's show on WLS to promote the book (June 24) and on-stage at the play about the Cubs, Miracle (June 27). Rick was asked to lead the crowd in "Take Me Out to the Ballgame"
=This week in 1984 (June 23), one of the most famous games in Wrigley Field history occurred. The Ryne Sandberg game. Rick was there and told the story in this Just One Bad Century video...
=Bob Vorwald is a WGN-TV legend for his many years as the producer of WGN Sports. Bob is celebrating a birthday this week (June 23). He's a big fan of Ryan Trembath's book Signature Shoes. Here's what he said about it...
“A loose mental inventory has me concluding I’ve owned around 200 pairs of shoes in my life. None will ever stand up to the 1979 white Adidas Kareem Abdul-Jabbar hi-tops I had for my last year of high school basketball. I played better (there was nowhere to go but up) knowing that I looked better. Those shoes were sweet and I thank Ryan for this fun project which sparked this memory.”
=Two big rock stars are celebrating birthdays this week, which means of course, that it's another good time to mention Bobby Skafish's great rock and roll interview book We Have Company. The Clash's Mick Jones (June 26) and indie-rocker Chris Isaak (June 26) both rate their own chapters in Bobby's great book. Both were interviewed by Bobby during his days at WXRT.
Everything I Know I Learned from Rock Stars
=Rocker Mick Fleetwood also has a birthday this week (June 24). Yes, he's in Bobby's book, but he's also featured in a long interview in Bill Paige's book Every I Know I Learned from Rock Stars
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Ike and Me and My Maggie
=Rich King has two books available through Eckhartz Press, and former WGN-TV main anchor Mark Suppelsa (June 25 birthday) plays a role in both of them. He is featured in this photo, the night the Cubs finally won the World Series in 2016, in the book Ike and Me (second from left. Rich is on the far right)
=He also provided this endorsement of Rich's first book My Maggie
I breezed through the pages not only engrossed in the phoenix of Rich’s ‘second life’ with his new bride, but thoroughly enjoyed traversing with him through his memorable career. A truly good man who thankfully for all us chose to tell another good story about his remarkable life.
=One of the biggest fans of the Eckhartz Press book Mob Adjacent is former Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass, who is celebrating a birthday this week (June 25). Here's what he had to say about the book...
“I love this book. A fascinating account. You’ve got to read this book before the movie.”
=The book Cubsessions is a collection of celebrity Chicago Cubs fans telling their personal stories about loving the team, and what the World Series victory meant to them. One of the stars featured in the book is former Parks & Recreation star Nick Offerman. He's celebrating a birthday this week (June 26)
=Who would have thought that this book would have a resurgence now that Donald Trump is running for president again? Well, one big fan, Joe Conklin (WIP Radio/Philadelphia) had a pretty good idea. He's celebrating a birthday this week as well (June 26). Here's what he had to say about the book...
“Clever and hilarious.”
=For more than twenty years Randy Merkin was a sports radio producer. In that role he met a Who's Who of sports icons, including this week's birthday boy John Elway (June 28). Randy's John Elway story rates an entire chapter in the book.
=In recent months and years several of the greats mentioned by Chuck Swirsky in his book Always a Pleasure have passed away. One of the first was his broadcasting colleague Craig Sager. His story lives on in the pages of Chuck's book.
=This week in 2021 (June 24), Paul Banks appeared on WGN Radio to talk about his book Transatlantic Passage. The book is about the popularity of the English Premier League in America. You can still listen to that interview here
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