Eckhartz Everyday

 

*On this day in 2015, Kipper McGee released his Eckhartz Press book Brandwidth. It has since been re-released in a 2nd printing and remains a great analysis of the traditional media.

*On this day in 2014, Joel Daly appeared on WGN Radio with Pete McMurray and Scott Miller to promote his Eckhartz Press book The Daly News. Photos and audio available here.

Watts Tower

Eckhartz Press author Brent Petersen (Truffle Hunt) writes about the Watts Tower, and it's connection to the Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It's an interesting read.

Check it out here.

Studio Walls

     Every week I send my Minutia Men Co-Host Dave Stern a list from our audio archives for this week's Studio Walls feature. These are the possibilities for this week. Which one will he choose?

*March 28th was John Landecker's birthday. He has been on our show three different times, which you can listen to here, here, and here.

*March 28, 1855, Baird and Warner was founded. We did a radio commercial for them back in the days of our advertising agency (AUDIO)

*March 28, 1971, the final episode of The Ed Sullivan show aired. Buckinghams lead singer Carl Giammarese was on our show and told us the story of his appearance on Ed Sullivan. (Entire interview is here)

*March 29, 1996, John Landecker got his first AARP card in the mail. It inspired a song I wrote for him called "Baby Boomers" (AUDIO/Landecker and the Legends CD)

*March 29 is Eric Idle's birthday. He once did a promotional announcement for our advertising agency. (AUDIO)

*March 30 is DeWolf Hopper's birthday. His claim to fame a hundred years ago was touring the country and performing a ridiculously over-the-top version of Casey at the Bat. (We have the audio)

*March 31 is actor Jonathan Stoddard's birthday. The only half-Mexican, half Jewish person we've ever had on the show. (Listen to the entire interview here)

*April 1st is the birthday of the Empire Carpet Man, Lynn Haldren. I wrote a bit for him when the movie "The Empire Strikes Back" was re-released in the late 90s. It's called "The Empire Carpet Man Strikes Back" (AUDIO)

*April 1st is the birthday of Kevin Matthews' sidekick Jim Shorts. I interviewed him once on Kevin's show in the early 90s...in German (AUDIO)

*April 1st is National Comedian Day. We had author Sheila Moeschen on to talk about her book naming the greatest female comedians (Listen to the interview here)

Eckhartz Everyday

 *On this day in 2018 we had the launch party to end all launch parties. Cubsessions was released and we sold a record number of books and drew our biggest crowd ever at Murphy's Pub in Wrigleyville. Check out these photos from the event. 

*On this day in 2019, Ken Korber released his Eckhartz Press book Grace & Friends: A Burn Prevention/Fire Safety Activity Book. 

USA is in the World Cup

Not a great game, but it doesn't matter. It was the final match. The USA is in the 2022 World Cup!

Time to make more memories.

The USMNT are headed back to the World Cup 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/4iplM6orGC

— B/R Football (@brfootball) March 31, 2022

David Lee Roth

 For some reason, David Lee Roth posted this video. 2 1/2 hours of him dancing to the O'Jays song "Love Train"...

From the Media Writing Archives

 Today is the birthday of the great Fred Winston. I still check in with Fred occasionally. He's such a delight to talk to. The last time I interviewed him was for the Illinois Entertainer back in 2018. Here's an excerpt...

His baritone voice sounds as strong as ever, exactly like Fred Winston has sounded since he arrived in Chicago in 1971. “It still comes out of the same hole,” he points out.

Does the “R” word now apply to Fred?“ I guess I am retired,” he admits, “although I don’t feel like it’s done. I’m always reticent to say that I’m done now because I do feel like I could drop back behind the mic and with a little DW40 in the mouth, I could pick up where I left off. But I’m busier than ever these days. I have a small farm here that has enough crap going on to keep me busy every day. I’m in Berrien County which is the highest point of elevation in this region, so if it farts on Lake Michigan, I get it here. We’re currently in the throes of a major blizzard. We’ll have an additional two feet of snow in the next three days. The frustrating thing about being a gentleman farmer, as you call me, are the many tiny engines that need spark plugs and oil changes. Rather than flap my mouth, I now bang my knuckles.”

Does he miss radio at all? “I don’t really miss radio the way it was (is) when I last did it. We were told that’s the way the business has evolved. People just don’t want to hear you speak for more than eight seconds. It’s not about you. It’s about the music, man. ‘Hey, I dug that break about the Doobies, man.’ I thought ‘Aw shit, what have I gotten myself into?’”

The entire interview is here.

Eckhartz Everyday

 *On this day in 2014, Chicago Writers Association President Randy Richardson released his novel Lost In the Ivy on Eckhartz Press.

*On this day in 2018, Windy City Reviews wrote a glowing review of the Eckhartz Press book Cubsessions, co-written by the same Randy Richardson.

  Read the entire review here.

Free Excerpt--Joel Daly Commentary

 

(Commentary March 29, 1977)

One of the gems contained in "The Daly News" by Joel Daly is his treasure trove of nightly commentaries. He delivered them every night on ABC-7 in Chicago. This is the one he delivered on March 29, 1977, about the DC-3 airplane. Joel was also a pilot...


Commentary - March 29, 1977

It wasn’t much of an incident, really: An old cargo plane veered off a runway at O’Hare and was destroyed. The two crewmen escaped with burns.

In the wake of the Canary Island tragedy, the story barely rated a mention, except in connection with the weather.

“A twin-engine plane,” said most experts, “propeller-driven.” Only parenthetically was it identified as a DC-3.

A DC-3. It’s not that I’m ancient. But, I suddenly realized an entire generation has grown up on big, silver airplanes that push their way through the air instead of grabbing for it with powerful propellers.

The airplane destroyed last night at O’Hare was more than a “twin-engine, propeller-driven relic.” It was one of the greatest airplanes ever built!

The DC-3 literally rescued our floundering airline industry, back in the ‘30’s. By the time production ended in 1945, the DC-3 probably represented nearly half the planes in the sky. It was still toting guns during Viet Nam.

Military pilots lovingly called it the gooney bird. One of them wrote: “It rattled, it protested, it leaked oil, it ran hot, it ran cold, and it ran rough. It staggered along on hot days, and scared you half to death. Its wings flexed and twisted in a horrifying manner. It sank back to earth with a great sigh of relief. But, it flew and flew and flew. Honest faithful and magnificent machine that it was.”

Forty years later, some 3,000 are still in the air. The DC-3 is half as old as aviation itself. And, more than any other airplane, responsible for its growth.

That’s why I felt the old gooney that burned last night deserved a better obituary. After all those years and all those hours, in all that weather, fate had to sneak up on her—on the ground—when she wasn’t looking.

Eckhartz Everyday

 

*Infamous Detroit Tigers pitcher Denny McClain was born on this day in 1944. He is featured in Chet Coppock's Eckhartz Press book, Your Dime My Dance Floor.

*On this day in 2020, Eckhartz Press author Bill Paige (Everything I Know I Learned from Rock Stars) debuted his new song about the new scary virus spreading all over the world...

Eric Litt on WGN-TV

Eric Soderholm

Former White Sox slugger Eric Soderholm with a copy of our latest book. The Foreword is written by Hall of Famer Goose Gossage. https://t.co/fAfCSQUiXh pic.twitter.com/zNiizZOet1

— Rick Kaempfer (@RickKaempfer) March 28, 2022

Chili Dog MVP Review

The start of it all?

Minutia Men--A Very Special Studio Wall

The new episode is out. You can listen to it here. 

Rick and Dave chat with Andrew Lloyd Webber lyricist Glen Slater, Grand Funk Railroad’s Mark Farner, Fee Waybill of the Tubes, Paul Michael Glaser from Starsky & Hutch, and uncover a rare 1955 interview with Ernie Banks. [Ep265]

The Slap Heard Round the World

Definitely NOT scripted. Watch the non-bleeped version that aired overseas. You can access it through this clip.

Here’s the unedited Will Smith slap of Chris Rock. This looks real. They bleeped it all out on the American version. pic.twitter.com/2fIoL05gO8

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) March 28, 2022

Eckhartz Everyday

 *Today is John Landecker's birthday. We released his book "Records Truly Is My Middle Name" on his birthday back in 2013, and he made an appearance on WGN-TV to promote the book. For some more behind the scenes photos, click here.

*Today is also the birthday of Eckhartz Press author Tom Latourette. He wrote a children's book to promote his cancer charity, Beat Tom & Bill. The book is called I Had a Runny Nose. Some additional photos from the release of that book can be seen here.

Chili Dog MVP

 Thanks to everyone who came out to Orland today to meet these two critically acclaimed authors, Dr. David Fletcher (left) and John Owens (right). Their book is flying off the Eckhartz Press and Amazon shelves. https://eckhartzpress.com/shop/chili-dog-mvp-dick-allen-the-1972-white-sox-and-a-transforming-chicago/