Studio Walls--October 9, 2024

 

A weekly update/preview of my latest podcasts, and a look back at some of my previous audio work from this week in history over the past 40+ years.

October 6, 1938—Old Diz’ Last Stand

=Dizzy Dean was a bust as a Cub, except for his one last special outing in the 1938 World Series. We have the audio.

October 6—Valerio De Los Santos birthday. 

=He is the pitcher who beaned Adam Greenberg, ending his career. When we talked to Adam, he told us the follow up story. 

October 6, 1978—Release of Midnight Express (movie)

=The author of the book, Billy Hayes, has appeared as a guest on Minutia Men Celebrity Interview.  

 

October 7--Birthday of John Mellencamp

=We talked to a good friend of his from his pre-fame days, fellow musician Essra Mohawk, and she told us what he was like in those days.  

October 7--Jose Cardenal birthday

=Yes, Rick met him. Yes, it is a memorable and quirky story. 

October 7, 1935—Cubs lose Game 6 of World Series

=We have the audio of the last out.

October 7, 1981—Loverboy’s Get Lucky album released

=Loverboy lead singer Mike Reno told us the story if that album. : 

October 7, 1996—Fox News debuts. 

=We asked political writer Judd Legum if Fox News has broken America. (Spoiler alert: They did)

 

October 8, 2015—Kyle Schwarber roofs one versus Cardinals in playoffs

=We don't have audio, but we do have a photograph of Rick and son Sean there that day.

October 8--Chevy Chase birthday

=Rick has an unpleasant story about his encounter with Chevy.  

 

October 9—Birthday of John Lennon. 

=We interviewed his girlfriend from his lost weekend, May Pang 

October 9—Joe Pepitone birthday 

=His former teammate Carmen Fanzone told us a great story about Joe.  )

October 9, 2016—Ken Bone becomes famous at presidential debate. 

=Remember the guy in the red sweater? We talked to him. 

 

October 10, 1889—Brentford was founded 

=Just another excuse/reminder to tune into Free Kicks with Adam and Rick.

October 10--Bradley Whitford birthday

=Would you believe that we talked to him while he was taking a shower? It's true. 

October 10--David Lee Roth story birthday

=Don't like to brag, but very people have David Lee Roth stories as good as Rick's.  

October 10--Jeff Hoover birthday

=His former writing sidekick, Brendan Sullivan, told us a great story about a personal appearance they made together in the 1990s. It involves Nazis and Skokie. 

 

October 11, 2019—Rick appears on DestinationEatDrink podcast 

=On this episode, the discussion was about Rovinj.

October 12--Glenn Beckert birthday

=Rick's brush with the former Cubs second baseman makes this episode.  

October 12--Sam Moore birthday

=Rick's brush with Sam Moore, from the great soul duo Sam & Dave. 

October 12--Martie Maguire birthday

=The Dixie Chicks almost got the John Landecker show fired. 

October 12, 2011--Siri’s debut

=Hard to believe Siri has only been around for 13 years. We talked to the original voice of Siri, Susan Bennett 

Studio Walls--July 10, 2024

 

A weekly update/preview of my latest podcasts, and a look back at some of my previous audio work from this week in history over the past 40+ years.

Here are a few from the archives...

July 7, 1974—West Germany wins the World Cup, beating Netherlands 2-1. 

=This was the tournament that spurred my love of soccer, and eventually inspired the Free Kicks podcast

July 7, 1899—Adolph Luetgert dies

=Chicago historian Robert Loerzel wrote a book about that crazed killer. He told us all about it in this episode.

July 7—Ringo Starr birthday 

=Felix Cavaliere tells the story of playing in Ringo's All star band in this episode.  

=Bill Schnee tells the story of recording Ringo's album sessions, when all three of the other Beatles showed up.  

***

July 8, 1990—Germany wins the World Cup, beating Argentina 1-0. 

=This was the tournament that restored my love of soccer, and eventually inspired the Free Kicks podcast.

***

July 9, 2005—Adam Greenberg’s only Cub at bat

=One of the all-time great baseball stories.  

July 9, 2006—Men in Blazers stars Roger Bennett and Michael Davies meet at a wedding reception in New York.

=Roger Bennett told us that story in this episode.

July 9, 2019—Chance the Snapper found. 

=Block Club Chicago Editor-in-Chief Shamus Toomey told us the story of the alligator that put his Chicago website on the map.  

July 9, 1971—Grand Funk at Shea Stadium. 

=They sold more tickets in a shorter amount of time than the Beatles did six years earlier. Mark Farner told us more. 

 

***

July 10--Fred Mitchell birthday

=The legendary sportswriter appeared on this episode of Minutia Men Celebrity Interview.

 

***

July 11, 1996—5:30 Club

=This is a video of the John Landecker show's opening segment every morning on WJMK--The 5:30 Club. My age and shape are mentioned. 

July 11, 1960—To Kill a Mockingbird is published. 

=And now it's banned in Florida. Scott Turow talked to us about his thoughts regarding its banning. 

***

July 12, 1979--Disco Demoilition

=This video from that night does a pretty good of explaining the hype.

***

July 13, 2014—Germany wins the World Cup, beating Argentina 1-0. 

=Pretty good week in history for Germany, eh?

July 13—Cheech Marin birthday 

=We interviewed Tommy Chong, who told us all about his ex-comedy partner Cheech.  

Studio Walls--February 21, 2024

 

A weekly update/preview of my latest podcasts, and a look back at some of my previous audio work from this week in history over the past 40+ years.

The most recent episode of Minutia Men is called A Chipmunk's Impeachment. You can listen to it here. 

The most recent Minutia Men Celebrity Interview is with notorious undecided voter Ken Bone.

The most recent episode of Free Kicks is called Blue Cards and Studio Hijinks

Here are some others from the archives

*February 18--Dennis DeYoung birthday

=I told the story of my brush with Dennis in this episode of Minutia Men.  

*February 18, 1998—Harry Caray dies

=I shared my favorite Harry Caray moment on YouTube a few years ago, and it has over 1.3 million views.  

*February 18-- John Travolta birthday

=My brush with Travolta is recounted on this episode of Minutia Men.  

*February 18—Yoko Ono birthday 

=Yes I met Yoko. Yes I have audio. Haven't shared that story yet. Will it be on this week's episode? Hmmm.

*February 18—Dr. Dre birthday 

=Tommy Chong was on our podcast and told us a memorable story about his interaction with Dr. Dre.

*February 19, 2016—Rich King visits the White House with the Blackhawks

=He told us that story on this episode of Minutia Men Celebrity Interview.

*February 19--Lou Christie birthday

=Lou wrote the song "Lightning Strikes" in the 60s. He also had a memorable encounter with yours truly at an Oldies show in the 90s. You can hear that story here.

 

*February 19, 1980—Survivor releases “Rebel Girl” as a single. 

=When I told the man who wrote it, Jim Peterik, how much I loved the song, he played it for me.

*February 19, 1996—Rick and Bridget 's first night away from baby Tommy

=John Landecker played a game on the air called: Rick & Bridget Hi-Low/How many times did they call to check on Tommy. I haven't played the audio of that on Minutia Men yet. Will this be the week? Hmmm. 

*February 19, 1910—Old Trafford opens 

It's the home stadium of Manchester United, a stadium discussed frequently on Free Kicks.

*February 20, 1992—Premier League founded

=This is what Free Kicks is all about.

*February 20—Louanne Stephens birthday. 

=We spoke to the star of Friday Night Lights on this episode of Minutia Men Celebrity Interview. 

*February 21—William Petersen birthday

=I told the story of my brush with the great Chicago actor on this episode of Minutia Men. 

*February 21—Amy Shiels birthday

=The star of Twin Peaks appeared on Minutia Men Celebrity interview last year.

*February 21--Ross Bennett birthday

=A very funny comedian. He shared his prostate material with us. 

*February 21--Adam Greenberg birthday

=One of the most memorable Cubs stories in Cubs history. He tells it quite dramatically. 

*February 21—Hayley Orrantia birthday

=She stars on The Goldbergs and has a thriving musical career. She tells us about both in this episode of Minutia Men Celebrity Interview.

*February 21, 1966—"Good Lovin" released by the Rascals

=We talked to their lead singer, Felix Cavalieri about that song and the other great hits by the Rascals on Minutia Men Celebrity Interview.

*February 21, 2022—Minutia Men debuts Instagram account

=Dave and I try to navigate this brave new world on this episode. We still have less than 400 followers. Not where our people hang out.

*February 22--Jeri Ryan birthday

=The Star Trek Voyager star had a memorable role in my radio career. I told that story in this episode.

February 22—Jonathan Demme birthday. 

=Dan Butler was in his masterpiece film, Silence of the Lambs. He told us all about it in this episode.  

February 24—Steve Jobs birthday

=We talked to one of his original business partners, Ronald Wayne.  

February 24—Steve Moore birthday

=Who is he? He's known as the Mad Drummer. Want to know why? Listen to this. 

Minutia Men Celebrity Interview Classic: Adam Greenberg

 We have now done over 200 interviews on our various Minutia Men podcasts, and this year we're going to revisit some of the best. A few years ago we interviewed former Cub player Adam Greenberg. Adam had one of the most memorable baseball careers of all time. He faced exactly one pitch, and it hit him in the head, ending his career. We talked to him about that and the story is even more interesting than it sounds.

Listen to it 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?

*October 2, 1938, Dizzy Dean's last stand as a big leaguer. His final World Series game. The Cubs fight valiantly but lose to the Yankees (AUDIO)

*October 2nd is actor Eric Fellows birthday. He appeared as our guest a few years ago.

*October 3 is jazz great Von Freeman's brithday. Jazz vocalist Kurt Elling told us a great story about Von, and the advice he gave him about drinking.

*October 3, 1995, OJ Simpson was acquitted. The John Landecker show did a number of songs about that trial, including "YDNA", "Johnny Cochran" and "OJ Walked" (AUDIO)

*October 4, 2011, Siri debuted. We had the first voice of Siri on the show to discuss the unusual way they recorded her voice.

*October 4 is songwriter John Denicola's birthday. The Dirty Dancing songwriter appeared on our show to talk about the making of that movie.

*October 4, 1990 was the debut of the television show Beverly Hills 90210. The first theme song to that show was written by Stacey Widelitz, and he told us the unusual reason that theme song was dropped in favor of another.

*October 6 is the birthday of former MLB pitcher Valerio De Los Santos. His claim to fame was beaning Cubs batter Adam Greenberg in the only at bat of his career. Adam told us all about that.

*October 6, 1978, the film Midnight Express was released. We interviewed the author of that book, Billy Hayes.

*October 7 is John Mellencamp's birthday. He was friends with Essra Mohawk early in his career, and she told us about their early struggles and the way he repaid her friendship.

*October 7, 1981, Loverboy's biggest hit album Get Lucky was released. Loverboy's lead singer Mike Reno told us how that album changed his life.

*October 7, 1996, Fox News debuted. Journalist Judd Legum came on our show and we asked him how much Fox News is responsible for breaking our country.

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?

*February 20, 1980, Survivor releases the song "Rebel Girl". Jim Peterik (who wrote the song) appeared on our show and played "Rebel Girl" for us live in the studio. (Listen to the entire interview here)

*February 20, 1996, Bridget and Rick had their first weekend away from their brand new baby Tommy. John Landecker did a recap of the weekend, with a little game called "How many times did Rick and Bridget Call Home Hi-Low" (Landecker Audio)

*February 21st is comedian Ross Bennett's birthday. He appeared on the show and told us a hilarious story about getting a colonoscopy. (Listen to the entire interview here)

*February 21st is also Adam Greenberg's birthday. Adam has one of the most memorable stories in Chicago Cubs history, and he appeared on our show to talk about it. (Listen to the entire interview here)

*February 22nd is Jonathan Demme's birthday. We've interviewed a few people who worked with the Academy Award winning director, including actor Dan Butler. (Listen to the entire interview here)