"Recalled to Life" Book Release Party

The official book launch party for Dan Burns' "Recalled to Life" will be taking place this Thursday night at Hammer Boutique, 703 W Hillgrove Ave, in La Grange. Dan will be on hand from 6:30-9pm to sell and sign copies of his debut novel, which has been selling briskly at Eckhartzpress.com.

Don Evans, the director of the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame, said this about Dan's literary effort: "Recalled to Life turns everyday life on its head, and begs the reader to look more carefully on the flimsy fabric and hard work that hold together happiness. This is a modern story of generational family life in which the parts don't neatly make a whole."

They say you can't judge a book by it's cover, but this cover has also been garnering rave reviews. It's as if artist Susan Rackish Janssen read the novel and then painted her impression of its contents. It captures the tone and feel of the book beautifully. Naturally, with a cover this beautiful, the launch party is taking place in a classic boutique.

Come on out and say hello to Dan, browse the boutique, and of course, purchase your copy of the latest release by Eckhartz Press, Recalled to Life

Led Zeppelin

According to The Olde Disc Jockey's Almanac, today marked the official beginning of Led Zeppelin's final tour...

June 17, 1980…In Dortmund, West Germany, Led Zeppelin began three weeks of European shows on what proved to be the band's last tour.

I attended their show in Ludwigshafen. We moved back to America just a few days later. They never made it to the US portion of their tour because John Bonham died.

Today's Best Tweets

Here are some tweets that caught my eye today...




NBC News ‏@NBCNews 6m
Feds digging in Michigan field for Hoffa's remains http://nbcnews.to/11juYVy

Josh Marshall ‏@joshtpm 7m
Snowden loses a little cred each time he claims USG make take him out with a hit squad http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/snowden-us-is-not-going-to-be-able … via @ericlach

Freeman and Fox ‏@TheSportsBros 10m
#BreakingNews @ochocinco Chad Johnson to be released from jail after apology to court; probation extended by a month.

The Associated Press ‏@AP 19m
U.S. Supreme court says states can't require proof of citizenship just to fill out "Motor Voter" forms: http://apne.ws/13NU92q -SS

ESPN ‏@espn 24m
For Tim Duncan, trying to win a 5th championship came second to hanging out with his kids on Father’s Day - > http://youtu.be/eowfq4YTcHs

Ezra Klein ‏@ezraklein 25m
The usefulness of pie charts, in two pie charts http://wapo.st/11t30n3

Chicago Tribune ‏@chicagotribune 29m
Obituary: Second City co-founder Bernard "Bernie" Sahlins http://trib.in/16akPdQ

Taegan Goddard ‏@politicalwire 32m
A new novel imagines the country if Sarah Palin became president after John McCain died
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393240118/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0393240118&linkCode=as2&tag=youwonnowwhat …

Adam Schefter ‏@AdamSchefter 1h
Reality TV 1994: On this day 19 years ago, OJ Simpson led police and this country on the car chase that riveted all.

Rob Hart ‏@RobHart1980 53m
FUN FACT: The White Sox gave up more ML talent to land Nick Swisher than the Tigers did to get Miguel Cabrera.

Miss Utah

Painful.

Miss Utah had a very rough Q&A session in the Miss USA pageant.

Superman Kills At the Box Office

I haven't seen it yet, but based on these opening weekend numbers, I may be the only one that hasn't seen "Man of Steel". It had the biggest June opening in history (and there have been some huge June movies in the past).

Anderson Cooper, The Song

A heavy metal group called Cryptic Murmurs have written a song about Anderson Cooper.

You can see/hear it here.

CNN's New Morning Show

It debuted this morning, with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan and Michaela Pereira, and it's called "New Day". (The AP has details on the show)

I'm not going to watch it for a few weeks to give it a chance to find itself. TV debuts can be a little rough. I'll give it a full review before the end of the summer.

Lite's Out in Chicago

After more than twenty years with the label (since 1989), Lite-FM is changing it's name. Radio Insight has all the details.

The station has been jockless for awhile now, and when the new jocks are hired (and more than likely voicetracked), they will be calling the station 93.9 My FM, and will be playing “More Variety From The 80′s To Now”

Upcoming Appearance

Got this in my e-mail box this morning, so it must be true...



CWA & IWPA Summer Social 2013
Thursday, August 1, 2013 from 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM

Join the Chicago Writers Association and the Illinois Woman's Press Association for a FREE networking event. Mix and mingle with new friends and professional contacts, while learning new tricks of the trade from seasoned publishing successes. Cash bar and complimentary appetizers.

Special guests include:

Christine Sneed, author of the novel, Little Known Facts, and the short story collection, Portraits of a Few of the People I've Made Cry, and winner of the Chicago Public Library Foundation's 21st Century Award for 2013

Rick Kaempfer, Publisher (Eckhartz Press), Author (Severence, The Living Wills, Records Truly Is My Middle Name), Media Critic (Illinois Entertainer) Blogger (Just One Bad Century and Father Knows Nothing) and Former Radio Producer (Steve & Garry)

Mike O'Mary, founding dreamer of Dream of Things (publishes anthologies of creative nonfiction, memoirs and other books) and a writer of essays, fiction, drama and sketch comedy.
More special guests coming. Stay tuned!

CWA and IWPA look forward to welcoming our members (and welcome guests!) at this FREE event!

Writing it on the calendar now. Actually sounds like fun.

Art Vuolo's Tribute to Bill Bailey

He passed away last week (see excerpt from Records Truly Is My Middle Name a few items below). I thought this was a very nice tribute by Art Vuolo...

A Wrigley Marathon

The Cubs won 6-5 yesterday in 14 innings.

I was there with my son Sean. It was my first time this year, and my first time checking out my brand new seats (about 13 rows behind first base dugout). It was a beautiful day. We were sitting in the sun. Sean got an autograph from a Reds player (Bronson Arroyo). The Cubs won.

And yet, 14 innings of Cubs baseball (something like 500 pitches) is a bit too much even for me.

Even for Sean.

How long is it going to take before we get a team worth watching?

Rupert Files For Divorce...Again

Remember when Rupert had to testify to Parliament about the slimy way his newspapers were bribing officials and hacking phones? A protestor hit Rupert with a shaving cream pie that day. The moment was noteworthy because Rupert's much younger wife Wendy nearly lept across the table to protect her man.

Now he's dumping her, as he dumped his two previous wives.

Full details in Rupert's own Wall Street Journal.

You're Really Not Paranoid

I've been getting a kick out of the Daily Show's bits this week about NSA spying. They are calling the segment--The Good News Is: You're Really Not Paranoid.

Of course my beat is the media business, and I know that I sometimes come off sounding a bit paranoid about the people who run that business. For instance, I wonder why the annual meeting of the media moguls in Idaho is off-the-record and notoriously secretive. I point out the monopolistic urges of the old media giants, and the new whippersnappers coming onto the scene. Sometimes when I write these things, I think I must be paranoid, because I look around and it seems that precious few people even care.

And then, I read this today from the court case regarding the fixing of e-book prices...

A high-level Apple executive admitted his company's deal with publishers caused some e-book prices to rise, giving weight to the government's accusation that Apple's machinations hurt consumers. Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet software and services, who took the stand Thursday in district court in lower Manhattan, also said Apple considered splitting the market with Amazon in a setup where Apple would control the music market, while Amazon would monopolize books.

Emphasis added by me. Just read that sentence again.

The good news is, I'm really not paranoid.

CNET has the full story

Andrew Shaw was Mic'd on His Gamewinner

You can see/hear the video at Deadspin. It's pretty cool.

A Free Excerpt from "Records Truly Is My Middle Name" (A story about Bill Bailey--RIP)

Former WLS disc jockey Bill Bailey passed away yesterday. Tom Taylor's NOW column reported the news this way...

Bill Bailey made it to “the bigs” while he was young – Chicago’s “Big 89” WLS (he was the second Bill Bailey there), Detroit’s WDRQ, and two stations in Washington D.C. (WKYS and then-Xtra 104 WXTR). Later in his career, he worked in Grand Rapids as the PD/afternoon jock at WLHT before his most recent gig doing wakeups on Grand Valley State University’s oldies WGVS/WGVU (850/1480). WZZM television reports that Bill “died of an apparent heart attack on the 17th tee at the Meadows golf court in Allendale” – and yes, he was participating in a station-sponsored golf event. Chicago native Bill Bailey won a Marconi in 1998. How did he break into the business? Trying out radio at what was then called Armed Forces Radio (now American Forces Network), during the Vietnam War.

John Landecker worked with Bill Bailey in his early days at WLS. They are standing side by side in the back row of this staff photo below...



In "Records Truly Is My Middle Name", John also tells a story about how Bill Bailey helped him out during those early days...

TRANSITIONING TO CHICAGO

As much as I was loving this radio station, there was one thing that bothered me right away. Mike McCormack wouldn’t let me use my middle name again.

I had been John Records Landecker in Philadelphia — that was the guy that they hired — but when I came to Chicago they lopped the Records off my name. (I eventually was allowed to use it again when a new program director came aboard.)

Even though I couldn’t bring my whole name to Chicago, I did bring one thing from Philly: the high school assembly program. I started doing it right away. I learned quickly, however, that Chicago was a little bit different than Philadelphia.

I had no idea how segregated Chicago public schools were, so I naively chose the schools based on enrollment. I remember walking into Englewood High School, and realized pretty quickly that every single kid in the school was African-American. Two kids, in particular, were staring at me.

“What’s goin’ on?” one asked the other.

“Aw,” the other replied, “just some honky with a tape recorder.”

They weren’t exactly interested in my presentation. But I had an epiphany that day while I was bombing on stage. Bill Bailey, the guy on the air after me every night, was an African-American. So, after that one time, I made sure to check if we were going to an African-American high school, and if we were, I brought along Bill, and had him wait in the wings. I’d come out and do my spiel, and they’d be as apathetic and disinterested as they were at Englewood High, but then I’d say, “Let me bring out another WLS jock to give me a hand. Please give a big round of applause to the guy that follows me on the air every night, Bill Bailey!”

At first he would be greeted with the usual polite applause, but the second they made eye contact with him, the place would go insane! I’m sure that the high school assembly program had a lot to do with the gigantic teen numbers we got in those days. There was a time at night when we had over a third of all teens listening to us. We had the highest nighttime ratings in the entire country.

Records Truly Is My Middle Name is available via Eckhartz Press.

Edward R. Murrow Award

The Edward R. Murrow Awards were given out yesterday. The full list is here.

The only winner from Chicago media was this radio documentary by WBEZ.

1973 Stanley Cup Finals

I have been to exactly one Stanley Cup final game in my lifetime, and it was way back in 1973--another NHL finals meeting between two original six teams. I was nine years old (almost ten) and was crushed that the Canadians beat the Blackhawks to win the Cup. It was Game 7...on home ice in Chicago...



40 years later I can't afford the tickets to see the game, and it's not on my cable system, so I'll be watching it from a neighborhood tavern tonight.

Today's Best Tweets

Here are some tweets that caught my eye today...




Paul Konrad ‏@PaulKonrad 25m
Chicago now under HIGH Risk of Severe Storms this afternoon & Evening. #NotGood pic.twitter.com/nZHTVq3uCR

Amy Guth ‏@amyguth 56s
Chicago Blackhawks Stanley Cup Finals preview in today's @chicagotribune sports section.

New York Daily News ‏@nydailynews 27m
Blackhawks fan grows a 'playoff lawn' ... until city objects: http://nydn.us/172RCWH

Dick Vitale ‏@DickieV 53m
Read where Cubs Triple A player Ian Stewart said Mgr Dale Sveum does not like him -I am sure he does not like .164 avg! #GETAGRIPBABY

Salon.com ‏@Salon 6m
"Shockingly condescending and disrespectful": Darrell Issa's latest temper tantrum http://slnm.us/CM70G2Y via @joanwalsh

nwi.com ‏@nwi 10m
Do you think gas prices will drop? ... Analysts: Midwest drivers to see lower gas prices: http://bit.ly/18xAYir #nwindiana

The Associated Press ‏@AP 14m
Action Comics No. 1 – aka the 1938 comic book featuring Superman's first appearance – sells for $175,000: http://apne.ws/13CaO8S -DC

David Corn ‏@DavidCornDC 17m
...Or see Rand Paul take the crazy train to NSA conspiracy theory town. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/06/rand-paul-nsa-fundraising-lawsuit …

James Finn Garner ‏@jamesfinngarner 23m
Who sez the Post Office doesn't deliver? Not Mike Perez: http://bit.ly/11VSvas #indians #tribe #baseballpoetry

The New York Times ‏@nytimes 40m
Pope Is Quoted as Acknowledging a Vatican ‘Gay Lobby’ http://nyti.ms/11fxzfX

No Boston on The Loop

This is a nice little gimmick. In honor of tonight's Game One of the Stanley Cup Finals (Blackhawks versus Bruins), the Loop is not playing any songs from bands that come from Boston today.

No Aerosmith, Boston, The Cars, or J. Geils Band.

I like it. Chicago civic pride.

Radio Directly Connecting With An Artist

This could be a very big news story for the radio business. Fleetwood Mac has signed a direct deal with Clear Channel. Details at the RAMP Newsletter...

Clear Channel Media & Entertainment and Fleetwood Mac just announced what could be a precedent-setting agreement -- the first direct performing rights partnership between a radio company and a recording artist that will enable the iconic group to receive revenue from airplay on Clear Channel's digital and broadcast radio platforms. The group's new EP, Extended Play, features the first recording of new Fleetwood Mac music since the release of Say You Will a decade ago. "It's fitting that a group that’s played such an integral role in radio and music history would be the first band to take such a major step -- helping the music industry create a sustainable digital marketplace so it can thrive for decades to come," said Irving Azoff of Azoff Music Management. "We're delighted to join Clear Channel in creating a new model for the music industry, one that will be good for performing artists, good for music fans, and good for the people who have invested their talent, time and money."

Very interesting, indeed.

Ripping the Bosses

There's a reason why I chose to write "$everance" AFTER I left the radio business. You simply can't publicly rip your bosses and not expect to be punished for it.

Chicago Cubs Triple A third baseman Ian Stewart found that out this week, when he went on a Twitter tirade ripping the Cubs. Someone needs to explain to the young man that "social" media means that everyone else can see it too...including your bosses.

45 years ago today...

From Bob Dearborn's The Olde Disc Jockey's Almanac. Hard to believe that all of this was going on the same day in London 45 years ago today...

June 11, 1968…At EMI's Abbey Road studios in London, John Lennon worked on "Revolution 9" in Studio 3, while Paul McCartney recorded "Blackbird" in Studio 2.



June 11, 1968…At Olympic Studio in London, a fire in the building interrupted the Rolling Stones while they were recording "Sympathy For The Devil" for their "Beggars Banquet" album.

Chicago Radio Ratings

A nice paragraph to sum up where everyone stands, courtesy of Tom Taylor's NOW column...

Chicago – Hot AC WTMX, Hubbard’s “Mix 101.9,” is indeed hot, up 5.3-5.9-6.4. That’s the first time it’s topped a 6-share in either PPM or diary measurement. It’s #3 in cume, behind the two big CHRs, Clear Channel’s “Kiss” WKSC and CBS Radio’s “B96” WBBM-FM. Back to the shares - #1 again is Clear Channel’s urban AC “V103” WVAZ, 6.5-7.0-6.9. Then comes “Mix” WTMX and CBS Radio’s all-news WBBM (plus its FM partner at 105.9) – 5.4-5.4-4.5. Tribune-owned Cubs flagship WGN is off 4.7-4.8-4.3. Merlin’s classic rock “Loop” WLUP improves 3.6-3.5-3.7 for its best PPM yet. Cumulus talker WLS (2.5-2.7-2.5) may still be missing Don Wade and Roma in mornings. In sports, it’s CBS Radio’s “Score” WSCR (2.5-2.8-2.7) compared to Disney’s WMVP (1.1-1.1-1.5).

iTunes Radio

To the surprise of no-one, Apple introduced their new streaming service iTunes Radio yesterday.

The Washington Post has the details. This is the bottom line...

Using the firm’s Music app, users will be able to create digital radio stations based on their favorite artists or songs. Listeners can then tweak the stations by indicating which songs they like and which they don’t. Users can also buy songs with one click, see what music is trending on Twitter and share songs with friends. Apple’s new service will not require a subscription, though the free version of the service will include advertisements. Users who pay for the company’s $25 per year iTunes Match service, will be able to listen to iTunes Radio without commercials of any kind for less than comparable services from competitors.

Katie's Show Is In Trouble

Even though the ratings for Katie Couric's show are pretty good, there are some obvious signs of unrest. Two producers and a director have left the show over the past few days, and there are rumors that CNN is trying to woo Katie to leave the show too.

According to the article in the Hollywood Reporter, Katie's having trouble adjusting to the softer stories she has to do in daytime after her stint as a network news anchor. (Ironically, they said the same thing about her transition from soft stories to hard-news stories when she first became the network news anchor).

All I know is that it's not appropriate at this time to print my favorite Katie Couric picture, because she clearly doesn't feel like cheering right now.

Although...think about it for a second. Sometimes cheerleaders need to be brought in for this precise purpose, to cheer everyone up when things aren't going well. OK, that settles it. I talked myself into it.

You Won't Finish This Article

According to a recent study of on-line behavior, readers only finish about 50% of on-line articles. Slate has the story. I didn't quite finish it, but it probably has some good points.

Eckhartz Press at the Printer's Row Litfest

Eckhartz Press took over the Chicago Books United tent on Saturday at the Printer's Row Lit Fest.



Here are a few highlights...

"Recalled to Life" author Dan Burns (left) and "Cheeseland" author Randy Richardson in front of their books...



"Records Truly Is My Middle Name" author John Records Landecker...



"Down at the Golden Coin" author Kim Strickland...



John Landecker holds court along with "The Balding Handbook" author David Stern and "Down at the Golden Coin" author Kim Strickland.



We couldn't have asked for a more beautful day. Thanks so much to everyone for coming out and saying hello (and there were many!)

Today's Best Tweets

Here are some tweets that caught my eye today...




DRUDGE REPORT ‏@DRUDGE_REPORT 6m
'Vampire' Mom Admits She Has Drank Human Blood From Donors For 30 Years... http://drudge.tw/1145ifx

Deadspin ‏@Deadspin 15m
A list of players' relatives who were taken in the MLB draft-and those who weren't: http://deadsp.in/TBMNJzl

Chuck Garfien ‏@ChuckGarfien 21m
After not winning a major league baseball game in 7 years, Neal Cotts has won 2 in the last 5 days. http://bit.ly/13PBJ03

NBC News ‏@NBCNews 27m
More than 1 in 3 American adults now own a tablet, study reveals (up from 18% last year) http://nbcnews.to/13tBEym

WGN Radio 720 ‏@WGNRadio 31m
Kane's winner earns spot among great Chicago sports moments, writes @DavidHaugh. http://trib.in/113VceE #stanleycup

The Daily Beast ‏@thedailybeast 36m
Hey, that's not Jon Stewart! Meet John Oliver, @TheDailyShow's replacement host http://thebea.st/11afobv

david carr ‏@carr2n 41m
I was not compensated for this tweet endorsing @nickbilton's story about murky world of Twitter endorsements. http://nyti.ms/14P42KQ

Jeff Dickerson ‏@ESPNChiBears 42m
Bears trade former first-rounder Carimi http://es.pn/13tzy1q

Huffington Post ‏@HuffingtonPost 56m
8 things that may slow the aging process http://huff.to/19gvece

NHL ‏@NHL 7m
MUST SEE: An all-access view of the @NHLBlackhawks celebration: http://ow.ly/lSuxd #StanleyCup

The Lone Ranger, the video game

I'm really looking forward to The Lone Ranger movie coming out this summer. It's being released by Disney, which is also releasing a video game. Details about the video game are here.

Hi Ho Silver...get to the next level.

Somehow that doesn't sound right to me.

If you watch David Letterman, you might have seen Jay Thomas come on the show and tell his famous Lone Ranger story. I love this story, and it's obvious that Dave does too. He makes Jay Thomas come on the air every year to tell it...

Trial Date Set

Two of Rupert Murdoch's former top henchmen (and women) in England had their trial date set on Friday. Former News International CEO Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson (former spokesperson for the Prime Minister) will go on trial beginning September 9th.

The trial is expected to last up to three months.

I can't wait.

Uniform Numbers

On this day in 1932, the Cubs wore numbers on their uniforms for the very first time.

Read about those first uniform numbers at Cubs 365.

Meet the Eckhartz Press Author Stable at Printer's Row Litfest

All of us will be at the Printer's Row Litfest this weekend. The Tribune hasn't printed a map yet this year, but here's the map from last year. I assume it will be the same. We'll be in tent H on Dearborn.

Who can you meet there?

The Living Wills co-author Rick Kaempfer (and possibly Brendan Sullivan too), Down at the Golden Coin author Kim Strickland, Records Truly Is My Middle Name author John Records Landecker, The Balding Handbook's David Stern (we'll all be there from Noon-2pm on Saturday), and Cheeseland author Randy Richardson will be there most of the day on Saturday, and Recalled to Life author Dan Burns will be there most of the day on Sunday.

Here's a photo guide of our authors...Rick, Kim, John, Dave, Randy, & Dan.













(Note: Dan will be appearing in full color)

You will have a chance to purchase all of these beautiful books below...

Nascar-ization

In my satirical novel "$everance" I predicted the future Nascar-ization of television and radio. It wasn't really a joke...I honestly believed it was going to happen. It's been happening on television for the last few years (think those pop up ads that constantly fill up part of your screen), but now it's happening in radio too.

From Tom Taylor's column this morning...

The CBS folks on the “Future of radio” panel said they’re now selling spots as short as five seconds and as long as two minutes. Scott Herman says the flexibility of local radio is such that “if somebody wants to come in and buy the whole four-minute spot set” and sponsor a song, they’re open to that. He and Michael Weiss agree that there’s been a turnaround in the thinking about sales calls. Years ago, an in-person visit might have been 80% the sales rep talking and then 20% of the time the client. They’d like to reverse that, then have the sellers come back to the station where they (in Herman’s favorite new word) “ideate” about the client’s needs. CBS is also selling “the Allstate route” during traffic reports in multiple markets, keyed to the insurance company. Weiss says they’re also pursuing selling naming rights to stations. He says “we just did it with [all-news] WBBM in Chicago, which says it’s broadcasting from the MB Financial Studios, one time an hour, 24/7.” Agency rep Michael Maze of Local Broadcast Initiative welcomes the new flexibility – “it’s great that we’ve moved away from the standard :60s and :30s.”

Rich People Libel

Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who owns London's Savoy hotel, is suing Forbes magazine for libel.

What did they do? They underestimated his wealth in their most recent "Rich List". Forbes said he had $20 billion. The prince says he has $30 billion.

How can he show his face when they've only ranked him #26 on the list?

You can see why he had no choice but to sue them for libel.

Lisa Miller on JRL (via Radio Ink)

I was surprised to see this piece written by big-time talent agent Lisa Miller. She's married to Brant Miller (NBC and WLS), but in the business she's even bigger than her husband. She wrote this about John Landecker in Radio Ink...

I first met John in 1977 when my husband went to work at WLS. John was the night jock and the hot young guy on the station. All the girls loved him and at every appearance he had a huge following of dedicated and loyal fans. John was a great ambassador for WLS and, for the 18-34 demographic, John was the hippest, coolest, edgiest guy in radio. As a fellow family member of the WLS team, we all spent a lot of time together at events, appearances, ball games, charity events, concerts, dinners, and pretty much anything happening in Chicago. Every weekend the WLS basketball and baseball teams played rock bands, celebrities, and other pro ball players all in an effort to raise money for a charity or someone in need. Besides being a talented on-air jock, John was an equally proficient jock on the basketball court and the baseball field. But John’s great love was rock and roll. He didn’t just love the music, he also enjoyed playing the music on stage.

So whether it was “Boogie Check” on the radio or as the lead singer with his band “Landecker and the Legends,” or his cameo appearance as part of the band “The Kind,” John was willing to donate his talents for the good of others. But the day he stood up in the WLS conference room in front of all his colleagues and management and announced he would volunteer his talent to be the fifth member of “The Knack” in order to make the band's Chicago debut a promotional blowout, was the coolest idea that never happened. It was always John’s style to give of himself so unselfishly. John is truly an icon in Chicago, and you can’t help but love him. But it’s his years of hard work and dedication that makes you respect him above all else.

There's more here at Radio Ink.

Get Your Kicks on Route 66

This morning I was at the famous Lou Mitchell's Restaurant in Chicago to help WRLR (98.3FM) and 92.3 Forest FM (from the UK) kick off their Rt. 66 radio tour. Lou Mitchell's is just a few blocks away from the very beginning of Route 66.

John Landecker stopped by and chatted with the hosts from England, Paul Peters and Geoff Kemp, as well as WRLR's morning man Paul Lepek. It was fascinating to hear how excited the Englishmen were to be touring on Route 66. They had wanted to see it ever since the Rolling Stones came out with their version of "Route 66".

"Get your kicks on Route 66," John Landecker said.

"Precisely!" Geoff Kemp replied.

A good time was had by all. Their rest of their radio tour will continue without us, but we wish them the best of luck.

Landecker at Lou Mitchell's on Thursday Morning (June 6th)

John Landecker is on the air at WLS-FM doing mornings this week for Brant Miller. After he gets off the air Thursday morning, he'll head over to the best breakfast place in Chicago, Lou Mitchell's restaurant (565 W Jackson Blvd) to join WRLR's Route 66 broadcast. (Details about the broadcast are here)

John will have copies of "Records Truly Is My Middle Name" available for sale, and he'll happily sign them for you. It will be a short appearance (from around 10:30 until 11am), so if you're in the area, swing by, say hello, and get some great food.

I'll be there taking photos, and I'll post them on the Eckhartz Press blog.*


*Yes, you're right. I am much more likely to attend when there is good food being served.

Gordon Sinclair

40 years ago today, courtesy of Bob Dearborn's The Olde Disc Jockey's Almanac...

June 5, 1973…CFRB-Toronto radio newsman Gordon Sinclair aired an editorial, later released as the recording "The Americans (A Canadian's Opinion)," his reaction to the growing amount of U.S.-bashing around the world. Another recorded version of his dissertation, "Americans" by CKLW-Windsor/Detroit radio news director Byron MacGregor, peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1974 and became one of the most popular spoken-word recordings of all time.

Today's Best Tweets

Here are some tweets that caught my eye today...




Buster Olney ‏@Buster_ESPN 8m
Today's column is posted. http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/buster-olney/post/_/id/1985 … Why crime still pays in MLB, and why Ryan Braun could be the Lance Armstrong of baseball.

Ezra Klein ‏@ezraklein 20m
Immigration reform is looking iffy: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/06/05/wonkbook-the-immigration-bill-is-moving-right/ …

phil_rosenthal ‏@phil_rosenthal 50m
Peggy Olson never would have signed off on this: http://www.buzzfeed.com/copyranter/many-call-this-the-most-sexist-ad-of-all-time …

ABC News ‏@ABC 29m
Wine, Beer and Spirits Could Get Nutrition Labels http://abcn.ws/14vHAWU

ThinkProgress ‏@thinkprogress 30m
Thanks to Obamacare, major insurers have to give back $36 million to California small businesses http://thkpr.gs/14vEouk

The Daily Caller ‏@DailyCaller 33m
Conrad Black is out of jail, and is sharing his thoughts on America and its justice system: http://ow.ly/lJhVu

Rolling Stone ‏@RollingStone 34m
Toad the Wet Sprocket are back with their first album since 1997 - get a first listen here: http://rol.st/14ePgA4

Rolling Stone ‏@RollingStone 18m
With Johnny Cash's postage stamp being released today, see other artists immortalized on stamps: http://rol.st/10L4Orb

Tim McGill ‏@WGNWeatherGuy 43m
What Not to Do During a Tornado - http://goo.gl/news/gBNv via http://news.google.com/

Chet Coppock ‏@ChetCoppock 21m
The #Bears can't get here fast enough #Cubs and #WhiteSox both d.o.a.