Thursday, January 11, 2018

World Cup Show

Fox Sports will be streaming a thirty minute show every day during the World Cup this coming summer. They will also be doing a show on Snapchat.

Details are here.
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Fleetwood Mac Tribute

Talk about a star studded affair! The RAMP Newsletter has the details...

Imagine Dragons, Juanes, Alison Krauss, Jerry Douglas, Little Big Town, Zac Brown Band, Brandi Carlile, Miley Cyrus and Portugal. The Man will join the performance lineup at the 2018 MusiCares® Person of the Year tribute concert honoring Fleetwood Mac on Jan. 26 in New York.

They join previously announced performers HAIM, Lorde, OneRepublic, Harry Styles and Keith Urban. Grammy winners Fleetwood Mac will close out the evening's performances and former President Bill Clinton will present the band with their prestigious award. Three-time Grammy-winning producer Don Was will be the evening's musical director and more performers will be announced soon.

Fleetwood Mac becomes the first band to be honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year and will be celebrated for their extraordinary creative accomplishments and significant charitable work. Proceeds from the annual Person of the Year tribute -- now in its 28th year -- provide essential support for MusiCares, which ensures music people have a place to turn in times of financial, medical, and personal need.

The 2018 MusiCares Person of the Year tribute will feature a star-studded concert, award presentation, and live auction, followed by the official Person of the Year after-party celebration, and a silent auction. Tickets can be purchased at ticketmaster.com. Grammy Week culminates with the 60th Annual Grammy Awards® at New York's Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Jan. 28.
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Reality TV Show Costs Him Two Jobs

He went by the name "Crazy Ray" on the radio, and Crazy Ray was a self-proclaimed racist and woman hater. He worked at 100.7 WRXQ-FM in Coal City and seemingly wasn't in trouble at his radio station, despite his "character" talking like that on the radio.

It wasn't until a CNBC show came to profile his day job, and broadcast some of Ray's views nationwide that his station got rid of him. It also cost him his day job.

You can read the story here, and see the promo of the show "The Profit".
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Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Change in the Cubs Radio Booth

This is a surprise. Mark Grote (Cubs) and Zach Zaidman (Bears) are switching jobs this upcoming season. Grote will cover the Bears, and Zaidman will now do pre and post game for the Cubs.

Grote announced the news today via Twitter...


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RIP Milt Rosenberg

Milt was a legend because of his many many years at WGN Radio. Robert Feder has the details about his passing.

I met Milt about a half dozen times over the years and found him to be a gentleman. He had been a student of John Landecker's father Werner (a sociologist at University of Michigan) and we talked about that. I also tried to talk Milt into doing an interview with me about his career, and he finally agreed after repeated badgering. On the eve of the interview he called me up and said: "I can't do it. It just wouldn't be right. It's not about me, it's about the work."

When I asked him if we could do an interview about the work, he laughed and said, "Hopefully it speaks for itself."

You know what? It did.

RIP Milt.
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CWA Book Awards


For the second year in a row I'll be cheering on an Eckhartz Press winner of the CWA Book of the Year award. Congrats to M.L. Collins for "Out the Door". The awards will be presented at The Book Cellar, 4736 N. Lincoln Ave., at 7:00 pm on Saturday night.

Come on out if you're in the area. We will be celebrating.
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Swimming with Sharks

Anthony Rizzo doesn't believe he's going to need a bigger boat. Just sayin, Chief Brody.*



*Reference to 1975 film "Jaws". Gotta explain my old man references these days.
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Bannon out at Breitbart

It's been a pretty bad couple of weeks for former White House political advisor Steve Bannon. After getting fired by the White House, he helped his party lose an unlosable Senate seat in Alabama. Then he was he was quoted extensively (and apparently accurately--he doesn't dispute any of the quotes) in Michael Wolff's book "Fire and Fury" and those quotes were reeeeeeeally mean about Trump and his family. That led to being ex-communicated by Trump, which led to his billionaire financial backers dropping him, which led to him being forced out at his job at Breitbart. (That was announced yesterday)

I'm worried he's going to let himself go.
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Tuesday, January 09, 2018

Alabama Wins Again

I have no idea why, but I found myself rooting for Alabama last night. This Georgia fan did not...


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Home Run Derby Anniversary

On this day in 1960, the television show "Home Run Derby" debuted. In the first episode it was Mickey Mantle versus Willie Mays.

I was a little too young for this show (born in 1963), but I watched the reruns on the Armed Forces Network when I lived in Germany. (They showed nothing but old shows). I thought it was the coolest show ever when I was in my pre-teens.

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A Fun New Years Resolution

I didn't make a New Years resolution this year. Just coming to grips with my middle-aged fat-piece-of-crapness will have to do.

But a dad in Kansas City came up with a cool one.

He vows to play catch every single day in 2018. Read his story here.
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Greta Leaves Fox News

Politico has the details about why Greta Van Sustern abrubtly signed off Fox News at the end of last week...

"On Thursday night, I made my decision and informed Fox News of my decision that I was leaving Fox News Channel per my contract," Van Susteren wrote on her Facebook page Tuesday. "Fox has not felt like home to me for a few years and I took advantage of the clause in my contract which allows me to leave now. The clause had a time limitation, meaning I could not wait."

Brit Hume will take over her 6pm timeslot.
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Pink & JT

The National Anthem singer for the Super Bowl and the halftime entertainment have both been announced. Via the RAMP Newsletter...
The NFL and NBC announced that RCA superstar P!nk will perform the National Anthem as part of the Super Bowl LII pregame festivities on Sunday, February 4 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The performance will be televised live on NBC prior to kickoff. Oh, and make sure you don't wander too far away at halftime, as P!nk's labelmate Justin Timberlake will headline the Pepsi halftime show.

Pink joins an elite group of artists who have performed the Anthem on the massive worldwide platform of the Super Bowl stage, including Luke Bryan, Lady Gaga, Idina Menzel, Renée Fleming, Alicia Keys, Billy Joel, Diana Ross, Neil Diamond, Harry Connick, Jr., Garth Brooks, Natalie Cole, Vanessa Williams, Luther Vandross, Cher, Faith Hill, Mariah Carey, Dixie Chicks, Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera... and who could forget Whitney Houston's timeless 1991 rendition,
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Chicago Radio Synergy

Chicago radio is leading the way again with another 40-station radio advertising gambit. From Tom Taylor's NOW column...

Today at 4:29 Chicago time, another market-wide roadblock by the Radio Broadcasters of Chicagoland. This time it’s a one-minute interview with a very happy radio user of more than 30 years. Roy Spencer’s the owner of Perma-Seal Basement Systems (think severe Chicago Winters and then the Spring thaw). He’ll be heard across more than 40 Chicago-area stations in a coordinated pro-radio campaign. Matt Scarano chairs the RBC Committee of the Illinois Broadcasters Association, and he says “Perma-Seal is a terrific partner of the Chicago radio industry.” Last year the Chicagoland group did something similar with leaders of local auto dealer groups and also the CEO of Wintrust Financial. RBC also did roadblock fundraisers for the American Red Cross – and a 30-minute live “Radio Town Hall” with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. For those in other markets – these events cost very little money to produce and always seem to generate attention. Dennis Lyle is president/CEO of the IBA.
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Monday, January 08, 2018

Doin' The Cruise

Thanks so much to Ann Knudsen of West Suburban Living for this review of the Eckhartz Press book written by Mitch Michaels...

DOIN' THE CRUISE
The times and tunes of a longtime Chicago rock jock

Rockin’ and rollin’ and “doin’ the cruise” is how on-air radio personality Mitch Michaels describes his life-long love affair with rock radio. This music-driven, often irreverent and unflinchingly honest biography, co-written with journalist Ken Churilla, captures the events and sounds of Chicago at a time when rock ruled the air waves and Michaels spun the tunes.

The legendary rock jock worked on virtually every station in the city during the radio heydays of the 1970s and 80s, including WXRT and WLUP. He has tales to tell of a backseat limo ride with Rod Stewart, a ground-breaking live broadcast with The Who, and on-and-off the air friendships with Mick Jones of Foreigner, Jim Peterik of Survivor, and members of the band REO Speedwagon. Michaels also gives life to events that shaped the music-scape of the city, from behind the scenes at its largest outdoor venue, ChicagoFest, to being asked by White Sox management to request over the PA system that all fans return to their seats at the infamous on-field riot on Disco Demolition night at Comiskey Park.

More than a cruise through encounters with the stars — Sting, Bruce Springsteen and Ringo Starr among them — this biography is a candid and at times painful personal memoir. Mitchell reflects on the helter-skelter of a career in rock radio, its impact on his marriages and relationships and even the heartbreaking loss of his son, Spencer, to whom the book is dedicated.

Hinsdale resident Mitch Michaels was at ground zero during the explosion of rock radio in the 1970s. Currently, he is an on-air personality at FM 95.9 The River, out of Aurora. Ken Churilla is a Chicago-area writer, journalist and magazine editor.
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Matt Nagy

The new coach of the Chicago Bears is....Matt Nagy?

The sound you hear is the cash register at Halas Hall trying to keep up with the increased ticket sales this news has brought. My fellow Bear fans are blowing their air horns and vuvezelas. Right?

I know Nagy is a huge name in football and we are STARVING for a great coach with a proven track record, but what's that? He's never been a head coach before? He was an offensive co-ordinator but didn't even call plays until late THIS season? He was an Arena league quarterback?

Whoo boy.
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Elvis & Bowie

I always thought it was cool that Elvis Presley and David Bowie shared a birthday (January 8th). If he were still alive, Elvis would be 83 years old today. Bowie would be 71.

On a cold gray Chicago morn...



And the children that they spit on...

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Mueller's Trump Interview

You may have seen or heard the president very angrily and cockily saying he would happily submit to any questions because he is innocent of all wrongdoing. In one of his mini-press conferences (he doesn't do actual press conferences), he said "100%" he would be glad to answer any questions from Mueller.

Turns out, reality is a little different. That was BEFORE guilty verdicts and indictments starting happening. NBC has this report today...

With the possibility now looming that the president himself could be subject to an interview by the FBI or Mueller’s investigators, Trump’s legal team has been debating whether it would be possible to simply avoid it. One individual familiar with the strategy said those internal discussions within Trump’s legal team began shortly after the president’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, was indicted in late October for money laundering in connection with his business dealings with Ukraine.

In addition to the possibility of suggesting the president submit written responses in place of an interview, a second person familiar with the president’s legal strategy said another possibility being contemplated was an affidavit signed by the president affirming he was innocent of any wrongdoing and denying any collusion. It was not clear what such an affidavit might state regarding the president’s firing of former FBI Director James Comey in May 2017 at a time when Comey was leading the Russia probe.

It's not like he's never been questioned or deposed before. Remember, he's been sued more than 3000 times.
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Stephen Miller Escorted out By Security

If you want to watch Stephen Miller's interview with Jake Tapper yesterday, it's available on the internet. I'm not posting it here because I don't want to befoul my blog with his face or words.

What you may not realize is that after the interview was over, and Goebbels, er I mean Miller's mic was cut off, he refused to leave the set and had to be escorted out by security.

Isn't it comforting to know that we pay his salary?
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More Creeps Revealed


Two more sexual harassers have been revealed (and fired). This time by ESPN. Former players Donovan McNabb and Eric Davis.

Also, another film director, Paul Haggis, has been accused of assault and rape. He's an Oscar winner.
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Letterman is coming back

He will be hosting a new show on Netflix, and his first guest will be President Obama.

Details are here.

First show is this Friday, January 12th.
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Dan McNeil

From this morning's Robert Feder column...

Yes, that was Dan McNeil on WSCR AM 670 Sunday morning, co-hosting with Danny Parkins. It marked a return to the Entercom sports/talk station where Danny Mac once drew high ratings as Monday-through-Friday midday personality. He’ll be back next Sunday (with Tim Doyle) and continue at least through Super Bowl weekend. McNeil last worked for The Score in 2014 when he chose not to renew his contract. After a brief run as morning co-host on Hubbard Radio classic rock WDRV FM 97.1, he most recently has been hosting a sports podcast and voicing commercials for a Ford dealership in Highland, Indiana, where he also works as a salesman.

Dan's podcast is on the Radio Misfits Podcast Network, also the home of Minutia Men.
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Oprah 2020

Is this the first speech in her presidential campaign?

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Very Stable Genius

Yup, that's what he called himself.







Love this New Yorker piece about him too. Incredibly well written. I think this one sentence describes him more perfectly than any other: "No bile goes unexpectorated."
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Seth Meyers Golden Golden Globes

The show itself was a little preachy (like most award shows), but Seth Meyers didn't hold back at all...

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Friday, January 05, 2018

Michael Wolff on Today

This guy is a little creepy--no question. But what you aren't hearing is anyone denying the main points/gist of the book. Anyone who has watched the president knows in their heart that it's essentially true...

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The Fox News/Trump Information Loop

Politico has a great piece examining Trump's tweets, and tying them to what was being said on Fox News at that very moment. Scary.

He's basically just watching this abomination of a television news network, and tweeting what he is seeing on the screen.

For those of you who think the tweets are scary (which is the whole world), what you're really saying is that Fox News is scary. They are. They are a disgrace.
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Radio Lunch

This photo was in the RAMP Newsletter this week. Talk about a room full of radio royalty...



Front row, (l-r): Kevin Gershan, Steve Resnik, Jhani Kaye, Art Vuolo, Kevin Carter, Ron Alexenburg and Joey Reynolds.

Back row, (l-r): Shotgun Tom Kelly, John Records Landecker, Lou Simon, Gary Bryan, Mike Sakellarides, Ken Levine, Don Graham, John Leader, Dandy Don Whittemore, Randy West, Don Kelley, Joel Denver, Dan Acree, Bob Hamilton and Al Salci.

For those of you who don't know, Resnik and Carter are the people who run the RAMP newsletter. Art Vuolo is radio's best friend (and the organizer of the event). Joey Reynolds is a legend in Philadelphia and New York. Tom Kelly is a legend in LA, Landecker is a legend in Chicago. Ken Levine is a radio guy turned sitcom writer (Cheers, MASH, Frasier). John Leader is one of the biggest voice over talents in history. Joel Denver is the editor-in-chief of All Access.
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Chairman Pai Getting Death Threats

From this morning's NOW column...

Death threats cause FCC Chairman Pai to cancel his trip to next week’s CES. Ajit Pai was supposed to have an on-stage conversation with his counterpart at the Federal Trade Commission – but last night Recode said the reason behind the cancellation reported earlier in the day is death threats. And that those were related to his rollback of Net Neutrality. You’ll remember that the most recent Commission meeting was halted by a security incident inside the its own building. Recode hears that “federal law enforcement intervened” in the Chairman’s planned appearance at CES (the former Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas. Now he won’t be in Vegas – although three Commissioners (Mignon Clyburn, Mike O’Rielly, Brendan Carr) will proceed with their travel plans. But it’s Pai who’s the focal point of Net Neutrality protests. (Recode reminds us that previous FCC Chair Tom Wheeler, who instituted the policy that Pai’s repealing, was picketed at his house and couldn’t get out of his own driveway.)

I think Tom Taylor (author of the column) doesn't quite understand the anger here. Pai unilaterally did something that 90% of America didn't want done. I'm not in favor of death threats obviously, but I don't think Pai realized just how much people DID NOT WANT HIM TO DO THIS. He ignored people. He was even a dick about it. Again, death threats are out of line. But you can't possibly be surprised by this.
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JRL with Rabbi Doug

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Thursday, January 04, 2018

Combover Mechanics

My favorite excerpt from Fire and Fury was about Donald Trump's combover. I find it hard to listen to him sometimes because I stare at it, and try to figure out exactly how he does it. His daughter spilled the beans in the book...

Ivanka maintained a relationship with her father that was in no way conventional. She was a helper not just in his business dealings, but in his marital realignments. If it wasn’t pure opportunism, it was certainly transactional. For Ivanka, it was all business — building the Trump brand, the presidential campaign, and now the White House. She treated her father with a degree of detachment, even irony, going so far as to make fun of his comb-over to others. She often described the mechanics behind it to friends: an absolutely clean pate — a contained island after scalp-reduction ­surgery — surrounded by a furry circle of hair around the sides and front, from which all ends are drawn up to meet in the center and then swept back and secured by a stiffening spray. The color, she would point out to comical effect, was from a product called Just for Men — the longer it was left on, the darker it got. Impatience resulted in Trump’s orange-blond hair color.

It turns out that David Stern got it almost exactly right in his spiritual classic, "The Balding Handbook: Five Stages of Grieving for Your Hair Loss". In Part 1 (Denial), Chapter 2 (Combovers), he names the various different types of combovers. "The Flip" (sported at the time by Rudy Guiliani), "The Frontal Tuft Fluff Up" (sported at the time by Al Gore), "The Taliban or Soft Serve Swirl" (sported at the time by former Illinois basketball coach Lou Henson), and "The Trump" (sported at the time by someone he never imagined would become president). This is how Stern describes "The Trump"...

The Trump is probably the most recent combover innovation. Trumpers grow their hair really long in the back and sides, flip it toward the front, and keep it in place with ozone-layer-killing-industrial-strength hairspray. There's no need to see the certificate of the bozo who "birthed" this movement, but suffice it to say that baldologists everywhere get a certain glee when they tell their clients combovers--"You're Fired!"
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#Metoo

This is my #metoo movement...


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Fire & Fury Sourcing

You'll be hearing a lot about the "fast and loose" method writer Michael Wolff used and has used in the past, but before you go assuming he made up quotes, consider this report from Axios...Wolff taped interviews with Bannon and other top officials.

Ruh oh.

Also, from the Axios article...

*Although the White House yesterday portrayed Wolff as a poseur, he spent hours at a time in private areas of the West Wing, including the office of Reince Priebus when he was chief of staff.

*The White House says Wolff was cleared for access to the West Wing fewer than 20 times. But Wolff, a New Yorker, stayed at the Hay Adams Hotel when he came down to D.C., and White House sources frequently crossed Lafayette Park to meet him there.

*How could Wolff possibly know for sure what Steve Bannon and the late Roger Ailes said at a private dinner? It turns out Wolff hosted the dinner for six at his Manhattan townhouse.

The dude had access, and the people in this White House didn't know better. Also, Trump himself approved of his presence.
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Mancow Drops Lawsuit


The lawsuit was filed against his boss, and let's be honest, it had virtually no chance of succeeding in the courts, but it did succeed in the hallways of WLUP.

From Robert Feder's column this morning...


The latest suit was intended to “prevent the pattern of retaliation that has occurred in the past from continuing in the future,” according to Muller’s attorney. But now it’s just a memory.

On Wednesday Nyren said he was “glad to be working with Mancow again and appreciating his talents and all he means to Cumulus Chicago without any distractions,” adding: “No one is a bigger fan of his show today more than me.”

Muller described Nyren as “very gracious” in their meeting, saying: “I was brought up to believe that when somebody says they’re sorry, that’s it. He said we’d had a bad relationship before, and if I’d give him a chance he’d be my biggest advocate. We’re all a little bit wiser hopefully. I shook his hand and said, ‘Let’s go to work.’

“To me it’s a very beautiful story,” Muller added. “I get very choked up by it.”
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Tim Sabean

The former Loop and WCKG programmer has re-emerged. Via Tom Taylor's NOW column...

Tim Sabean (pronounced “SAY-bee-un”) had programmed terrestrial rock-formatted stations in markets like Philadelphia (WYSP), Boston (WBCN), Pittsburgh (WRKZ), Columbus (WAZU), Portland (KUFO) and New York (WXRK). Then he latched on at the pre-merger Sirius Satellite Radio as Senior Vice President for the two Howard Stern talk channels. (Tim worked with Stern at both NYC's K-Rock and Philly’s then-WYSP.) He spent a decade at that, before returning to Philadelphia. His reappearance at terrestrial radio comes at Westwood One, in the brand-new role of Senior Vice President of Digital Content. Tim reports to Suzanne Grimes, who holds dual titles as EVP/Corporate Marketing for Cumulus and President of Westwood One. Sabean will be based in New York.
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Wednesday, January 03, 2018

Fire and Fury

This excerpt from the Michael wolffe book is absolutely terrifying. You cannot read it without deeply fearing for the future of our country. The focus will be on quotes like the ones below, but I recommend reading the whole thing.

Uh oh...





Class act...





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WKQX Breaks Up Morning Team

From this morning's Robert Feder column...

It’s splitsville for Brian Phillips and Lou Lombardo as the morning duo at WKQX FM 101.1. In a realignment at the Cumulus Media alternative rock station, Lombardo has moved to evenings, replacing Josh Marconi, who was cut two weeks ago. Lombardo also assumes Marconi’s former duties as digital content captain. Phillips now hosts mornings solo. Walter Flakus has been renewed as afternoon host, assistant program director and music director. Marv Nyren, vice president and market manager of Cumulus Chicago, said the moves were intended “to make us more efficient and effective to maximize our skill sets at each position.”
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John Dean

John Dean must be having daily flashbacks these days. When he speaks on this subject, I listen to him...


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Tuesday, January 02, 2018

Seaver


The latest issue of Illinois Entertainer is out and features my interview with WDRV (The Drive) afternoon man Steve Seaver.

You can read it here.
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Terminal 4 at O'Hare

For years I've wondered why there was no Terminal 4 at O'Hare. My kids ask me every time we go there, and I am always unable to answer them. Even though, it turns out, I was around when they made this decision.

WGN-TV answered it over the holidays in case you missed it. The decision was made in the 80s.
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What He Said


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Dave Fogel

From this morning's RAMP newsletter...

Chicago radio fixture Dave Fogel certainly wasn't on the beach for long... Cumulus excitedly announced that Fogel is returning to Classic Hits WLS-FM as co-host of The WLS Wake Up Call, plugging in across from Kim Berk. Concurrent with Fogel's arrival this week, Berk's former co-host Brant Miller, a local TV weatherman, will anchor weather on WLS-FM and WLS-AM.

Fogel already knows his way around the WLS hallways, having previously co-hosted mornings there from 2010 through 2013. He spent the past five years at former CBS Radio Classic Hits WJMK (104.3 K-Hits), which in November flipped to Classic Hip Hop as WBMX (104.3 JAMS) under new owner Entercom. Fogel started his radio career in Kansas City and has also worked in San Diego, DC and Detroit.

Marv Nyren, VP/Market Manager of Cumulus Media Chicago, said, "We welcome Dave to our Cumulus Chicago team and know that he and co-host Kim Berk will kick off the New Year in a big way on 94.7 WLS. We couldn't be more excited about the energy and fun this dynamic duo will bring to mornings on 94.7 WLS, and know our listeners and advertisers will actually look forward to their morning Wake Up Call in 2018!"

Brian Thomas, who doubles as PD of 94.7 WLS-FM and Cumulus VP of Classic Hits Programming, said, "Dave has a great history of Classic Hits success in Chicago and will be an incredible addition to The WLS Wake Up Call. I look forward to the great pleasure of working with him again and think our listeners will love what they hear!"

When Dave started at WLS the first time (2010), I interviewed him at Chicago Radio Spotlight. You can read that here if you're interested.
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Chicago Radio Ratings

From Tom Taylor's NOW column...

Chicago helps iHeart’s AC/Christmas WLIT blow way past last year’s 6.3 share and second-place finish. This time WLIT really scales the Christmas tree, 2.2-2.8-8.5. It’s #1 in all dayparts except mornings, where it’s second. Total-week, the second-place finisher is iHeart’s very consistent urban AC “V103” WVAZ (5.6-5.9-5.7), followed by Hubbard’s hot AC “Mix” WTMX (5.8-6.3-5.5, but still #1 mornings). Fourth is Entercom’s news WBBM/WCFS (5.0-5.0-4.7) and fifth is another Entercom with a real story to tell. It’s former classic hits WJMK, now turned into classic hip-hop/throwbacks “104.3 Jams” WBMX (2.4-2.4-4.4). What did that do for the surviving classic hits station, Cumulus-owned WLS-FM? It’s up 2.8-2.7-3.0. Some classical Christmas-time pop for Window to the World not-for-profit WFMT (1.0-1.3-1.4). No question about the cume leader – AC/Christmas WLIT at nearly 2.4 million, up from about 1.52 million.
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Hallway Wall

Beginning 2018 with Brendan Sullivan, David Mosele, and Swany John Swanson on my hallway wall. Bridget found these old book signing posters, framed them, and gave them to me for Christmas. I will see all three of you every day from now on.

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Sunday, December 31, 2017

Happy New Years Eve!

Same here...


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Friday, December 29, 2017

Todd Manley


Radio Ink has a nice interview with new WGN boss Todd Manley.

Todd's a very nice guy. Wish him the best in his new role as the station manager.
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RIP Rose Marie

As a long-time fan of the Dick Van Dyke show, and a Twitter follower (she was pretty active on Twitter, believe it or not), I was bummed to hear the news of Rose Marie's passing. She was 94 years old. The Washington Post has a great obit. I love this part...

Ms. Marie sang in a series of movie shorts including “Baby Rose Marie, the Child Wonder” in 1929 and appeared on vaudeville circuits until vaudeville’s demise. Among her friends was one of the country’s most notorious gangsters.

“My father worked as an arsonist for Al Capone,” she told People magazine in 2016. “He used to burn down your warehouse if things weren’t going the right way, but I didn’t know that at the time. I was a child star and to me Al was my ‘Uncle Al.’"






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Northwest Indiana Press

Thanks so much to Tom Lounges for this mention in his year end column at nwi.com...

This was a year when a lot of folks felt the need to tell their stories, as books by and about some of the Chicago music scene's movers and shakers were published. Popular radio DJs became first time authors as they led the pack. Bobby Skafish ("We Have Company: Four Decades of Rock and Roll Encounters") and Mitch Michaels ("Doin' The Cruise") each dropped their titles via publisher Eckhartz Press.

The same is true of John Records Landecker, who updated and re-issued his previously-released 2013 autobiography "Records Truly IS My Middle Name" (Eckhartz Press), to tie-in with his being inducted this year into the National Radio Hall of Fame and being awarded the Hoosier state's prestigious Sagamore of the Wabash Award. Landecker is a resident of Michigan City. FYI: eckhartzpress.com.
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Thursday, December 28, 2017

People Love Minutia Men



Over 22,000 downloads, and the reviews are coming in from around the world. These are just from this past month...

A Podcasting First
in iTunes by Chubby Smalls from USA on December 27, 2017
This is the only show that could seamlessly weave in topics as diverse as testicular fungus, psychosomatic heart attacks, and the sex life of widows into one episode and make it entertaining. Great job! Highly recommend and will be listening again!


Funny and mentally stimulating
in iTunes by L4999 from USA on December 26, 2017
Makes you laugh while making you think!


Listen!!!
in iTunes by 94MK from UK on December 26, 2017
Top Podcast by two Hosts who are really easy to listen to The episodes fly by and are very nicely broken up. Personal favourite is the section about the Cubs and baseball as someone Who doesn't really know baseball I found this easy to understand and fun. The rest of the podcast is easy going chat that is great to listen along to and you'll find yourself wanting to respond. Great podcasting from either side of the pond 🇬🇧🇺🇸


Amazing!
in iTunes by alfsmith23 from USA on December 26, 2017
This is a great show. Highly recommend!


A lovely listen
in iTunes by Besd1 from UK on December 26, 2017
This is a really enjoyable wander through bits and bobs of life, with two very welcoming and interesting hosts.


Misfits
in iTunes by Cashhmonet from USA on December 24, 2017
Really entertaining ! Definitely binge listening for the holidays! Keep up the great work


Fun Podcast
in iTunes by LaughingLuchadores from USA on December 23, 2017
This is just an all around, well produced podcast. It is a lot of fun and although they talk about some Chicago based things it is still relateable to someone like me who isn't familiar with Chicago at all.


Great podcast!
in iTunes by Akshay-Blood on the Rocks pod from UK on December 22, 2017
These two are ace! Some great chemistry, stories, and solid humour go together a treat!


This Show Is Fantastic!!!
 in iTunes by RayGFX from USA on December 17, 2017
I recently came across this show and i simply cant get enough, ive binged through 17 episodes already!!! These 2 guys have great chemistry, great production and one hell of an awesome show!! I highly recommend you hit that subscribe button you will not regret it!!


Easy Like Sunday Morning
in iTunes by Ericsubpar from USA on December 7, 2017
Really great laid back podcast. Super funny with wonderful topics. I loved hearing real talk from other dads. And these two have the greatest voices of any other podcast I listen to. Kick sand, Ira Glass.


This is funny
in iTunes by Mainethepain from USA on December 6, 2017
Had me from the beginning. Good show guys don’t scream at Santa guys.


good for morning commute
in iTunes by grandmastersmack from USA on December 4, 2017
reminds me of old school talk radio without the annoying music. good for a 30 minute commute to warm up your brain


Very soothing voices
in iTunes by The Hoopers Podcast from UK on November 28, 2017
I know this sounds flippant, but I very much appreciate that both speakers had excellent 'podcasting' voices. Don't underestimate that; great for paying attention and soothing to fall asleep to at the same time. Perfect! I envy you.
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Tuesday, December 26, 2017

RIP DIck Orkin

So sad to hear about the passing of the greatest radio advertising man in history. Below is my interview with Dick Orkin back in 2012. Thanks to Robert Feder for mentioning this interview in his Dick Orkin obit...



Dick Orkin is the owner of the Famous Radio Ranch, and one of most acclaimed radio commercial actors and producers of all time. He worked in Chicago radio at WCFL in the late 60s and early 70s.






Rick: I still think WCFL in the 1960s was one of the best radio stations of all time.

Dick: I agree.

Rick: How did you get in the door there?

Dick: Ken Draper (photo) was a program director in Cleveland prior to that, and I worked with him there. When he moved on to Chicago, he invited me to come work with him again, and I accepted his invitation. We were together there for a few years.

Rick: Did you realize while you were doing it how special that place was--the sheer amount of talent in one place at one time--I mean here it is more than 40 years later and I'm still asking you about it.

Dick: I recognized very quickly that Draper had assembled a great group. It was a great station for talent; Jim Runyon, Barney Pipp, Jim Stagg, Ron Britain.

Rick: Tell me about the creation of Chickenman. How did that start?

Dick: The origin of Chickenman was the direct result of the popularity of the television show "Batman". It was huge. It was camp. It was fun. Draper decided that each of the DJs should choose a campy superhero mascot, and for the Jim Runyon show, we came up with Chickenman. I sort of based the character on the Broderick Crawford sheriff character--that sort of straight, know it all delivery of his. It seemed like a fun thing to parody. It began with that. I wasn't thinking about a chicken.

Rick: A good twenty years after Chickenman ran originally, my alternative rock station was still running it. It really did transcend the time and format, didn't it?

Dick: Oh yeah, no question about it. The funny thing is, it wasn't intended to run for that long. We were thinking maybe a month. That was the way Draper ran things. His style was to run with something for the short term, and then replace it with something new, to stay as current as possible. No one seems to remember that all of the personalities at the time had their own superhero mascot. Ours was just the one that caught on.

After it did, Draper decided to syndicate it from WCFL for a few years until I left the station, and then I bought it. Even after I left, it continued to run as a serial, and I continued creating new episodes. It probably still runs on a dozen stations or so. My brother, who handles that now, will still get an occasional call from radio stations around the country.

Rick: Chickenman, of course, wasn't your only radio serial. You also did "Tooth Fairy". How did that one come about?

Dick: I only did Tooth Fairy as a follow up to Chickenman. It was requested by Draper. If I'm not mistaken, the Dental Association wanted a short term thing, a PSA sort of campaign, and it also became popular, and turned into a full fledged serial. Tooth Fairy ran on more stations than Chickenman did, but it didn't have the same life.

Rick: In the early 70s, you made the decision to leave radio--at least the structured world of working at a radio station. What led to that decision?

Dick: Well, the changing of programming at WCFL was the main thing. A radio rep firm came in and decided the musical format needed to change, and those changes didn't allow for enough time to keep Chickenman. It was really that. They did change their mind about it, but I wasn't comfortable with the new format. Plus, I was production director by then, and that just wasn't as fun for me. I also wanted to go into business for myself, and I found a partner that was willing to do it with me, and the timing just seemed right.

Rick: I think it's safe to say that your radio advertising work is just as famous, if not even more famous than your earlier stuff. Everybody has a favorite Dick Orkin spot. What have you figured out in those dialogue spots that no one else can seem to figure out? Is it the writing, the acting, the timing?

Dick: I don't know how to answer that. I just did it. You know, my background was in theater--I went to the Yale School of Drama. So I was far more interested in the dialogue, and creating real characters. My partners and I, first Bert Berdis, and then Christine Coyle (photo), would discuss our days and what was happening to us, and that's where a lot of those ideas came from. Real life. Our characters and scripts were based on people we knew. Our families and friends.

Rick: In 1978, you decided to relocate to Hollywood--the current home of the Famous Radio Ranch. What was the reason you did that?

Dick: The bill collectors were chasing me (laughs). Just kidding. It was the weather. Honestly, I was suffering from respiratory problems, and the weather was just making me sick. That's really the reason we moved out here.

Rick: There are fewer and fewer advertisers focusing on radio advertising these days. What is it that they are missing about radio's potential impact?

Dick: I don't think they see it as a theater opportunity. There are no limitations to radio--they don't think of it that way. Radio has the advantage of creating any stage you want, with a limitless cast of characters, in any location in the world, your imagination is your only limitation.They're so stuck in that straight spot with a single announcer. Their concept of dialogue is a rote, 'he said, she said' thing, and they don't really deviate from that.

Rick: Your list of admirers is long and distinguished. At least a dozen of my previous interviewees have mentioned you as an influence. Whose work do you admire, then and now?

Dick: Back then I was an admirer of Bob & Ray and Stan Freeberg, and people like that. I always loved the husband and wife team Stiller and Meara (photo). I actually got to know them for a period of time and we frequently talked to one another in New York and Chicago. They did a Blue Nun commercial that really changed radio in the late 60s, early 70s, which, by the way, was also based on their own experiences and their own lives.

As for who I admire now, I really regret that there isn't anyone I can think of. I wish it wasn't so. When I hear spots on the radio today they are usually pale imitations of sitcoms.

Rick: You're in several broadcasting Halls of Fame, but in 2010 you asked the NAB to take down your plaque in the Broadcast Hall of Fame because you didn't want to be associated with Rush Limbaugh after his tacky comments in the wake of the Haiti earthquake. Do you still feel that strongly about that?

Dick: There was a whole series of things he said, that was just the last straw for me. It hasn't changed. He's still out there with his foul-mouthed racist attitudes. The foul mouthed stuff didn't bother me. I always loved Howard Stern. It's the racist stuff--there's just no call for that. But Rush just doesn't know when to stop. And the targets he chooses--like the college student Ms. Fluke. He just attacked her again the other day. He has a marvelous opportunity--there are so many pompous and stupid politicians to make fun of, but he's so pompous himself, he can't recognize the opportunity. He's a great talent, but that talent is simply wasted doing what he's doing.
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Thursday, December 21, 2017

Minutia Men, Episode 78


EP78 – Rick and Dave discuss the happiest women, half-pint movie critics, a German banker’s dream, Just One Bad Century roulette, and Rick’s brush with Darlene Love.​

Listen to it here.
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Isn't This The Exact Plot of "The Natural"?


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Shortest Day of the Year


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What Happens When You Sign a Non-Disclosure, And Then Disclose?

You get sued again.

Bill O'Reilly obviously wanted the non-disclosure included in the agreements because he didn't want the women speaking out about what he did or said. The problem, of course, is that it goes two ways. He has to keep his yap shut too. If he starts going around saying he didn't do anything, that violates the agreement.

There's a good chance those details are going to come out now.
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Rolling Stone Magazine Sold



The company that owns Variety just paid over $100 million for Rolling Stone Magazine.

Jann Wenner will stay on in some capacity, according to the article.
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Ryen Russillo Leaving ESPN Radio

From this morning's Radio Ink...

SVP for ESPN Audio, Traug Keller, made the announcement that, despite a lucrative offer, Ryen Russillo will not return to ESPN Radio next year. He’s been with the network for over eight years. Keller said Russillo, who hosted the 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. slot, has decided to pursue other opportunities when his contract expires next year. Russillo’s final day on the air will be this Friday.
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Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Jerry Taft


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We the People

President Obama created a page on the White House website for people to start petitions. He vowed his administration would respond to any petition that got over 100,000 signatures. They actually lived up to that, including to a petition that asked for the president to deport Justin Bieber. (They said no.)

President Trump had to take the page down. From the Washington Post...

The Trump White House has not responded to any of the petitions that have circulated on the site since the president took office, many of which have taken a particularly grave tone.

Other popular petitions on the site this year included those calling on Trump to put his businesses and financial assets in a blind trust (356,000), asking for the anti-fascist organization Antifa to be recognized as a terrorist organization (366,000), asking that the liberal financier George Soros also be declared a terrorist (152,000) and calling on President Trump to resign (138,000).

We're not a very serious people, are we?
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High School Rick

This photo was sent to me yesterday by an old Heidelberg High School classmate. It's from the school yearbook...in 1979. I was a junior. This is the year before we moved back to Chicago.

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Kaempfer's Woodpecker

This is The Kaempfer's Woodpecker, a real bird in Brazil. It's named after the man who discovered it--a man named Kaempfer. It wasn't me, but I do believe we have some relatives that settled in Brazil. (Not for THAT reason. Generations earlier)



The Kaempfer’s Woodpecker, once thought extinct, now has its first protected habitat through a 593-acre land purchase in central Brazil’s Cerrado biome, the world’s most biodiverse tropical savanna.

Read all about it here.

(Photo by Instituto Araguaia)
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Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Fixing up the old girl


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Another Potential Creep Revealed



This time it's Silicon Valley star TJ Miller. He's accused of sexually assaulting and punching a woman.
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Return of "The Office"


It looks like NBC is preparing to bring back "The Office". Details at the Hollywood Reporter. Steve Carrell will not be involved in this reboot.

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Hall of Presidents

It does kind of look like that, doesn't it?


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Twitter Blocks Violence & Hate Speech

Twitter is finally cracking down on violence and hate speech. From AdWeek...

“Content that glorifies violence or the perpetrators of a violent act,” according to the blog post. “This includes celebrating any violent act in a manner that may inspire others to replicate it or any violence where people were targeted because of their membership in a protected group. We will require offending Tweets to be removed and repeated violations will result in permanent suspension.”

Along with cracking down on violence both on and off the platform, Twitter says the rules will apply to anyone who intimidates a user or group in an effort to silence their viewpoints or voice. That now includes anyone that uses their profile’s user name, display name or profile bio. Hateful imagery will also now be banned as sensitive material.

The president just lost about a dozen twitter uses he has retweeted over the years.
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Jill Stein Collusion?

Is it possible that former Green Party candidate Jill Stein also colluded with the Russians? The Senate Intelligence Committee is investigating that very possibility. I say, go where the evidence takes you. I've always thought it was strange that she was sitting at the same table with Michael Flynn and Vladimir Putin in Russia.
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Fogel is Back at WLS-FM

This is good news for Dave Fogel. Happy to see he has landed back at his old station/time slot. From today's NOW newsletter...

Brant Miller and Dave Fogel both see changes out of Entercom turning Chicago’s WJMK/104.3 from classic hits to classic hip-hop/throwbacks “104.3 Jams” WBMX last month. That liberates Dave Fogel to cross the street back to Cumulus, to co-host “Wakeup Call” on classic hits WLS-FM/94.7 with Kim Berk. (He’d previously held down mornings there from 2010-2013.) And Entercom’s format change lets the versatile Brant Miller focus on his specialty – weather. He segues from co-hosting with Kim to supplying weather forecasts for both WLS-FM and talk sister WLS/890. Cumulus market manager Marv Nyren calls Brant “the best in the business.”
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Monday, December 18, 2017

Sunday Breakfast with Tom Weinberg

Great piece in the Daily North Shore about Eckhartz Press author Tom Weinberg. Here's a small taste...

Mid-February 2015. Tom Weinberg, still adventurous, is a 70-year-old journalist/TV producer/professor, braving the conditions in the Mosquitia Jungle of Honduras with author Douglas Preston, cinematographer/documentarian Steve Elkins, jungle survival experts and a team of archaeologists.

“We dealt with rainstorms on steroids,” Weinberg recalls. “And Doug Preston called a spot in the jungle ‘more Jurassic than Jurassic Park.’ ”

They were there to search for The Lost City of the Monkey God (or Ciudad Blanca), a quest that began with an Elkins video shoot in 1994.

Weinberg, 73, and Elkins, 66, have been friends since the 1970s.

“It became something of an obsession for both of us,” Weinberg writes in his book, Chasing the Lost City: Chronicles of Discovery in Honduras (Eckhartz Press, 2017), a pictorial and personal companion to Preston’s 2017 New York Times bestseller, The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story.

“Nearly every night I wrote my personal impressions [17 chronicles in 2012; 12 more in 2015] of our journeys into the unknown.”

Read the whole story at the link. I love their illustration of Tom too.
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Illinois Youth Soccer Volunteer of the Year

This was a nice surprise. Look under "Volunteer of the Year"...


Congratulations to the following, very deserving, recipients of 2017 Illinois Youth Soccer Awards. Each of the award winners will be honored at the Illinois Youth Soccer Awards Banquet on March 2.

Competitive Coaches Of Year:
Frank Mateus, Rockford Raptors*
Craig Snower, FC United

TOPSoccer Coaches Of Year:
Cary Claver, Grove United TOPSoccer

TOPSoccer Buddies Of Year:
Jenna Birdsell, Trevian TOPSoccer
Alex Narel, Park RidgeTOPSoccer
Zoey Kolhoff, Kaneland TOPSoccer
Matthew Birkshire, Chicago TOPSoccer

Demosphere Administrator Of Year:
Jan Berkley, Young Sportsmen's Soccer League

Volunteer Of Year:
Shawn Danhouser, Chicago TOPSoccer
Rick Kaempfer, Green White Soccer Club
Steve Samuelson, Green White Soccer Club

Young Referees Of Year:
Gabe Billings
Kelsey Medina

TOPSoccer Community Partner Of Year
Maine South High School
More winners still to be announced

CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN TO OUR HONOREES!
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Two Legends

John Landecker (left) and Mitch Michaels (right)

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