Landecker's Last Show

I signed on to be his producer 22 years ago, and I shared some of the most important moments of my life with him--from the birth of my three kids, to the renewing of my marriage vows, to the best time I've ever had doing radio, to the first and only time I've ever been fired (let's call it a non-renewal), to the writing of his memoirs. Wishing my good friend John Landecker a great last show on WLS tonight. I will definitely be tuning in.

RIP Mike Pyle

He was the center of the 1963 Bears championship team, and a longtime broadcaster after his playing days (which is when I met him). Pyle had been suffering from dementia for years, and his family has sent his brain to be studied to see if he was suffering from CTE.

Mike Pyle was 76 years old.

Waddle & Silvy Get National Exposure

This morning's Radio Online has the details about the national exposure that ESPN Radio will be giving to Chicago's AM 1000 afternoon team of Tom Waddle and Marc Silverman...

During the month of August, ESPN Radio will offer listeners three teams between 10am–1pm ET, featuring commentators who currently host shows on ESPN's owned and operated stations in Los Angeles and Chicago. "ESPN Radio has an extensive pool of talent from our national network, local stations and ESPN television," said VP/Network Audio Content David Roberts. "We're excited to take advantage of this opportunity to give national radio exposure to our local hosts."

ESPN Chicago 1000's Waddle & Silvy will host the week of August 24. Former Bears receiver Tom Waddle and Marc Silverman host a daily show in Chicago from 2-6pm CT.

MSNBC Makes Changes Official

It was leaked out last week that this day was coming for a few of these shows, but the announcement was officially made yesterday. The Cycle, Now with Alex Wagner, and the Ed Show are out. Alex Wagner and Ari Melber will be kept on in some other capacity, but the rest of the hosts are goners including Ed Schultz, Abby Huntsman, Toure, and Crystal Ball.

Full details are here.

Sounds to me like MSNBC is going for more hard news coverage. To be honest, as someone who would like to be able to watch actual news occasionally, I'm all for that.

Binge Reading Trump

Donald Trump has written eight books, and Washington Post writer Carlos Lozoda binge-read them all to get a better feeling for the real Donald. His conclusion...

Is there a single word that combines revulsion, amusement, respect and confusion? That is how it feels, sometimes by turns, often all at once, to binge on Trump’s writings. Over the course of 2,212 pages, I encountered a world where bragging is breathing and insulting is talking, where repetition and contradiction come standard, where vengefulness and insecurity erupt at random.

Read the whole piece here. It's really great.

Didn't see that coming

I missed this when it aired. Maybe you did too. Very timely...

Some Love for Landecker

John has been inundated with well-wishers and fans thanking him for all he has done. Last night he posted this on his facebook page as a way of saying thank you...

There are no words that describe the overwhelming feelings and emotions that are washing over me from reading all the posts on social media. Thank you is an understatement. In radio you spend a lot of time not knowing who is listening. Even if your number one you really don't know. Well I don't care if I'm number one or 21st. I know now. Wow . Unbelievable. THANK YOU..... now I have to pull my shit together..I have a touch tone next hour!


His last show ever on Chicago radio is tomorrow night. You won't want to miss it.

The 50 States if They Were Drinking in a Bar

This is pretty funny. Illinois' description is not far off...

Illinois is a larger gentleman, eating deep dish pizza and drinking a Goose Island. He's reminiscing about the '85 Bears and how "this is the Cubs year".

Chicago is #1 City for Pizza in America

Well duh, but it's nice that Travel Advisor also realizes the reality.

The story is here.

Some Love for Kipper

Tom Taylor's NOW column has a nice piece about Kipper McGee's new Eckhartz Press book "BRANDwidth"...

Kipper McGee’s new book “Brandwidth” is now available for shipping, from Eckhartz Press, and in it the veteran major-market PD and consultant extols the power of brands here in the year 2015. But also “How Big Broadcasting is missing the mediamorphosis” due to its “financial Armageddon.” And how “unencumbered brands” (stations or talent associated with the owners not saddled with huge debt) “can learn from their mistakes.” Not only does Kipper supply his truth in text, there are illustrations by Webby-Award-winning artist Jessica Hagy. Check out “Brandwidth” from Kipper and Jessica directly from publisher Eckhartz Press here.

The Most Powerful Man in Radio

Radio Ink has come out with their list of the 40 most powerful people in radio today. iHeart Media (the former Clear Channel) CEO Bob Pittman is #1. He leads a company that owes billions of dollars. Their industry kiss-fest is here, if you're interested.

The New Daily Show

My two older sons and I have been watching the end of the Daily Show's run with melancholy. To us, it's a sane way of making sense of an insane political world. We know the Daily Show will continue without Jon Stewart, but we've been fearing it will change dramatically.

Trevor Noah, the new host, confirmed that today. Adweek has the details.

Trump's Wrestling History

I'll admit it--I don't follow wrestling. I've never been a fan.

That's probably why I had no idea that Donald Trump is in the WWE Hall of Fame, and that he has been actively involved in wrestling for years.

It's perfect, if you think about it. He's conducting his presidential campaign exactly the same way.

What if we treated teachers like we treat athletes?

Pretty funny concept...with a great point.

Jimmy Kimmel rips Lion Killer a new one

Jimmy Kimmel rarely gets serious. I can see why this story bothered him so much...

Why the Bears will suck in 2015

Deadspin does this to every team every year, and it's usually pretty entertaining.

Here's what they say about Jay Cutler: This man plays quarterback with the same amount of urgency that Adam Sandler puts into his film roles. One day, Cutler will just amble out onto the field in cargo shorts and demand to hand the ball off to Rob Schneider. It’s coming. I can feel it. He’ll never leave Chicago. He’ll build a patio at midfield and just hang out for the next two decades, grilling burgers while the Bears lose every game by 36 points. I kinda love him. If I were that rich, I’d be that lazy.

Can't really argue with that.

More on Landecker's Sign Off

Here's the story from FMQB. (Hey fellas, it's not 40 years it's 50, but otherwise nice story)

Here is the All Access report.

Below is the report from the RAMP Newsletter...

Roll Tape... Landecker's Leaving

Cumulus Media announced that legendary personality John Records Landecker is indeed leaving Classic Hits WLS-FM/Chicago this week. His final show on the station will be this Friday, July 31 from 8-11pm. Most of Landecker's remarkable 40-year radio career has been spent in Chicago, starting in 1972 as the night jock on WLS-AM, where he ruled for nearly a decade. Other stops include WLUP, WAGO, WCKG, WJMK, WZZN and WGN. Landecker started his radio career in his hometown of Ann Arbor, MI and he's also worked in Philadelphia, Cleveland and Toronto. Further cementing his enduring legacy, Landecker is enshrined in the Radio wing of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2013 he published his autobiography, Records Truly Is My Middle Name.

Jan Jeffries, SVP, Corporate Programming for Cumulus commented, "It may be the end of an era as John Records Landecker hangs up his headphones; however his influence and legend will live forever. Working with John in the '80s in Chicago and most recently here at WLS-FM, has been a career highlight. One of the most memorable times is noted in the last chapter of John's book where the weekly ratings ranked WLS-FM nights No. 1 in key demographics. Personality plus. And yes, Records truly is his middle name."

Landecker remarked, "Why now? Hey, my biological grandfather clock is ticking and it's time to move on. That, and my wife thinks I'm a creative genius, so I definitely want to spend more time with her! My eternal gratitude to Jan Jeffries for the chance to come back and wrap it up in Chicago on WLS. I've had a great time and worked with fantastic people. Who could ask for more than that?" Following Landecker's Friday sign-off, frequent guest host Jeff Davis will cover nights on WLS-FM until a new host is named.

By the way, his actual last show is Friday night and he's going to be given some freedom for once. I'll be checking it out.

BRANDwidth now available at Eckhartz Press & Amazon

Kipper McGee put a lot of time and energy into writing this wonderful book, and that hard work has been rewarded with the official release of “BRANDwidth”. Kipper got the first copies of his book today, and the following press release has been dispersed. Congratulations to Kipper, and suffice it to say, BRANDwidth is available right here at Eckhartz Press…

BUY THE PAPERBACK VERSION

DOWNLOAD THE KINDLE VERSION




PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

Broadcasting veteran and New Media expert releases groundbreaking book via Eckhartz Press

Will broadcasting exist in 2025? How about YOUR brand?

Rapidly evolving technologies are bound to produce winners and losers. The question: WHO will they be?

In BrandWIDTH: How Big Broadcasting is Missing the MEDIAmorphosis, veteran broadcaster and new media pioneer Kipper McGee explores why the top broadcast players are facing financial Armageddon and what unencumbered brands (whether broadcast groups, stations, talent or any business) can learn from their mistakes.

###

Kipper McGee is an RAB Certified Digital Marketing Consultant, whose client list ranges from Fortune 500 companies like Nokia and Delta Airlines, to internet startups, broadcast networks, groups and stations. Since 2013 he has also been involved in talent management and representation. Kipper has managed and programmed such legendary, successful and award-winning radio stations as WLS/Chicago, WDBO/Orlando , KTRS/St. Louis. WMIL/Milwaukee and KBEST95/San Diego. Now as Chief Brandwidth Strategist at Kipper McGee LLC, he is a frequent speaker, panelist and presenter at national broadcast conventions and numerous group and corporate meetings. His comments, columns and articles have been published in America’s leading trade publications. He is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

###

Kipper’s marketing and media tips are accompanied by illustrations from artist/writer Jessica Hagy, known for her Webby-award winning blog (www.thisisindexed.com)

###
The trade paperback of “BRANDwith” is available at www.eckhartzpress.com. The e-book is available at amazon. To arrange a book signing or interview with the author, contact Eckhartz Press co-publishers, Rick Kaempfer or David Stern.

Contact:
Rick Kaempfer/rick@eckhartzpress.com/847-508-8867
David Stern/david@eckhartzpress.com/773-507-8907

Trump's Lawyer

When the Daily Beast wrote an article about Trump which included details about Trump's first divorce (and an implied charge of rape by his first ex-wife Ivana in her own words directly from the deposition), Trump's lawyer responded thusly to the writer of the piece...

“I will make sure that you and I meet one day while we’re in the courthouse. And I will take you for every penny you still don’t have. And I will come after your Daily Beast and everybody else that you possibly know. So I’m warning you, tread very f*****g lightly, because what I’m going to do to you is going to be f*****g disgusting. You understand me?”

And no, his lawyer isn't named Tony Soprano.

What a Ride! 50 years of broadcasting--John Records Landecker

Last night John Records Landecker said goodbye to WLS. He announced that his final show on the air will be this Friday night. As we put together his book "Records Truly Is My Middle Name" in 2013, we went through his treasure trove of pictures. Here are just a few from the incredible ride chronicled in such vivid detail in the book...

Thanks for the Memories, John!

Last night around 8:15pm, John Records Landecker announced on the radio that he was hanging up his headphones and leaving WLS Radio. After 50 years on the radio, John has decided to call it a career. Radio will definitely miss one of the all-time greats.

Robert Feder has all the details in his blog today.

One of the greatest privileges of my life was my ten years producing the show of the supremely talented John Landecker. It was only one fifth of his hall of fame career. Best disc jockey in history. Enjoy retirement friend!

Obviously, John is also a key member of the Eckhartz Press family. We'll always be thankful to him for taking a chance on this little upstart press, and allowing us to publish his incredible memoirs. Thanks for the memories, JRL, and thanks for the incredible book "Records Truly Is My Middle Name".

Facebook Manners & You

Ric Lippincott

He was at WLS back in the Big 89s heyday, but now he is struggling with a very scary form of cancer. From this morning's RAMP newsletter...

Ric Lippincott is currently battling pancreatic cancer. As you know, Lippincott stepped away from the radio industry several years ago and has been working for Chicago Title & Escrow Company in Los Angeles while indulging his love of flying as a Captain with jet charter firm Chrysler Aviation. While his career may have changed, his tightknit network of radio and record industry friends remains strong. To help those friends stay in communication with him during this challenging journey, Ric's family (his strongest support system) has set up a page for him at MyLifeline.org so he can update us and interact with everyone.

I know a lot of readers of this blog know Ric. Thought you would like to know about this.

Happy 75th birthday Bugs Bunny

This is his first appearance on July 27, 1940...

Joke for a Monday Morning

I enjoyed this one. Thanks to EB for sending it...

"What did the cowboy say at the German auto show?"

"Audi"

New York Magazine Takes on Cosby

Even the cover is pretty powerful.

Van Halen Review

I'm glad I didn't get tickets to the Van Halen show. Check out this review in the Kansas City Star...

David Lee Roth’s presence displeased a portion of Wednesday’s audience of more than 10,000. A few disappointed fans exiting the Bonner Springs venue at the conclusion of the concert initiated a chant of “Sammy Hagar.”

While Roth is in tremendous physical condition and can still twirl a microphone stand like a standout member of a high school drill team, Roth has lost his voice. He’s also a shameless ham. Roth seemed to channel Jerry Lewis’ antics in the 1963 comedy “The Nutty Professor” during Van Halen’s two-hour outing.

David Lee Roth's Van Halen is the band I grew up loving, but let's face it. Sammy Hagar is better.