Musings, observations, and written works from the publisher of Eckhartz Press, the media critic for the Illinois Entertainer, co-host of Minutia Men, Minutia Men Celebrity Interview and Free Kicks, and the author of "The Loop Files", "Back in the D.D.R", "EveryCubEver", "The Living Wills", "$everance," "Father Knows Nothing," "The Radio Producer's Handbook," "Records Truly Is My Middle Name", and "Gruen Weiss Vor".
I've been getting such wonderful feedback about my book The Loop Files. Over 50 Five Star reviews on Amazon & GoodReads, not to mention countless emails and notes saying how much the book means to you. I can't thank you enough.
One of the mild criticisms I've heard is that people wanted even more. The book mainly concentrates on the years 1977-1998. What about the years before that (when it was known as WSDM) or after that (The Bonneville/Emmis/Cumulus Years)? The answer is when the book started getting a little long, I made an editorial decision to concentrate on the radio station's most popular years.
On the other hand, in my role as media writer, I have interviewed many people from those before and after eras. As a special bonus for the readers who wanted more, I've accumulated them together here in one post for you to explore at your leisure. I have great respect for all of these people listed below.
A curation of news items
about the media from this past week, with a particular emphasis on Chicago
(By Rick Kaempfer)
RADIO/PODCASTS
*Sky Daniels Interview
=The March issue of Illinois Entertainer is out
and includes my interview with the legendary rock jock Sky Daniels. Some
truly great stories in this one. My favorite Sky story has to be the one about
his first day on the air in Chicago. It involves not just one gun, but two.
Worth a read.
*Kenzie K Leaves B-96
=After four years hosting middays at B-96 (WBBM-FM),
Kenzie K Kramer has left the station. Regional Audacy president Rachel
Williamson put out an internal memo with the news: “Kenzie K is no longer with Audacy. We thank her for the time
she spent on our B96 team and wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors
and upcoming nuptials.”
*Kyle Santillian Joins “The Morning Hustle”
=For seven years Kyle Santillian was part
of “The Chicago Morning Takeover” at WGCI, but this week he joined the
nationally syndicated show “The Morning Hustle”. More details are here,
courtesy of Inside Radio.
*Patrick Kane Leaves Chicago Too
=This was a bigger story on election
night in Chicago than the Mayoral race. It’s the end of an era in Chicago.
During the Stanley Cup years, Chris Duffy was the production guru at
WGN, radio home of the Blackhawks. The day after Kaner was traded, Chris posted
this audio clip of Patrick Kane’s greatest (WGN promo) hits. Fun trip
down memory lane.
*Margaret Larkin Returns to WGN Radio
=Margaret had been at WBBM NewsRadio but returns to her
former radio home. She announced the news via Twitter this week…
Glad to be back at @WGNRadio...got the tour today and chatted with friendly people I haven't seen in several years and met some really cool people as well. When I left in 2014 I was working in programming. Now I'm working in news. pic.twitter.com/wiaYPlvfrS
=Oh, and
how about fellow NBA star Paul George. He has one too.
*Former Chicago Radio Corner
=Love this Facebook post from Catherine Johns on Tuesday
after she voted in the election: Civic Duty, done. Also it appears that I’m
still Catherine Johns. One of the judges told me about a Lujack remote at Ed
Debevic’s. And another one broke into the WLS jingle.
=After Lin Brehmer passed, we heard wonderful
tributes from some of Lin’s closest friends and colleagues. The radio station
itself did a great job of remembering their long-time morning man, which
resulted in the best ratings WXRT ever had (a 6.1 share). But Lin’s impact was
also felt in ways beyond fandom and fondness. He also had a professional impact
on fellow broadcasters he barely knew, like Mike Tomano. Tomano wrote
about that on his blog.
=Here’s another upcoming Lin tribute from two guys
who knew Brehmer well.Tony Fitzpatrick and Jon Langford are
doing this April 21, 22, 23 at The Hideout.
MEDIA BIRTHDAYS/MILESTONES
*Missed a birthday last week. Happy belated to WGN-TV’s Sarah
Jindra
=Thought this bit she did this week with Paul Konrad
was pretty good.
*February 27—Mister Rogers Dies (2003)
=Hard to believe it was 20 years ago already. He was such
a good, honest, decent man. My generation and our kids owe him a debt of
gratitude forever. What a great role model.
=The late WGN morning man would have been 81 years old
this week.
*February 28, 1983—The final episode of M*A*S*H
airs
=How big was this final episode of M*A*S*H?
Joel Daly was on Channel 7 News, and the final episode of M*A*S*H
was on Channel 2, yet he still filed this report on the competitor’s big night.
*February 28—KC White birthday
=KC was part of the WGCI morning show about twenty years
ago. When he returned to town as an actor in 2008, I interviewed him for Chicago Radio Spotlight. His real name, by the way, is KC Lupp.
=Technically
Chuck didn’t have a birthday this week. He was born on Leap Day, which we leapt
over this year. I spoke to the former Big 89 jock back in 2010 for Chicago Radio Spotlight. (I finally met him in person last year when he came to town
for the Rock Radio event the Museum of Broadcasting put on at the Des Plaines
Theater.)
*March 1—Don Lemon birthday
=He’s currently the morning co-anchor on CNN, but who
could forget his time here in Chicago at NBC-5 (2003-2006)?
*March 1—Harry Caray birthday
=This will always be my favorite Harry Caray
moment…
*March 3—Ian Punnett birthday
=Ian Punnett grew up in Chicagoland and has had a
long and prosperous radio career. Only a brief portion of that was here in
Chicago, in the early 90s when WGN decided it needed to go younger. It didn’t
work out for Ian in his hometown (although he later appeared on WLS as well),
but he had lots of success in Minneapolis. I got a chance to interview him in 2007 for Chicago Radio Spotlight.
*March 4—Jesse Rogers birthday
=Rogers was part of that original crew at the Score as a
producer and has gone on to become a respected reporter for ESPN.
*March 4—Laura Witek birthday
=Laura was a radio news anchor in Chicago, first at WMAQ,
and later at AM 1000 and WCKG. Not an easy task, by the way, retaining news
credibility while also trying to navigate the crazy worlds of Kevin Matthews
and Steve and Garry. She’s living out west these days, but fondly
remembers her time here in this Chicago Radio Spotlight interview from 2007.
*March 4—Tim Weigel birthday
=Weigel would have been 78 years old this week. I was
lucky enough to work with Tim in his Channel 2 days, providing him clips for
his Weigel Wieners segment. This photo is from a John Landecker
mini-golf tournament in the 1990s. A few others from this picture are gone now
too, including Larry Lujack and Minnie Minoso.
TV/STREAMING
*Election Coverage in Chicago
=I was worried that there wouldn’t be good coverage of
the Mayoral election after the massive exodus of reporting talent the last few
years, but I watched the live coverage of election night on WGN-TV, and also
streamed it online, via NBC-5, ABC-7, The Sun Times/WBEZ and the Chicago Tribune. Gave me everything I needed.
*Geoffrey Baer is Back With Another Chicago TV Tour
=I live here, and I still can't get enough of Geoffrey's tours. "The Most Beautiful Places in Chicago" premieres on March 7th at 7pm on WTTW-Channel 11. I also like Rick Kogan's opening line about this new special: This being a newspaper, here's some news. The city is still here.
*Warner Brothers Wants Out of the Regional Sports Network
Business
=Not a good omen for Chicago, even though this doesn’t
technically impact our regional sports networks yet. It does feel like a
warning of things to come.
BREAKING: Warner Bros Discovery tells teams it wants out of the regional sports network business.
=Fox News is ignoring (on the air) the damning
revelations about themselves laid bare in the Dominion lawsuit. The only time
it’s been mentioned was on the MediaBuzz program hosted by Howard Kurtz, and he
only mentioned it to say he wouldn’t be mentioning it. The exact quote was: “Some of you have been asking why I’m not covering the
Dominion voting machines lawsuit against Fox involving the unproven claims of
election fraud in 2020, and it’s absolutely a fair question. I believe I should
be covering it. It’s a major media story, given my role here at Fox. But the
company has decided that as part of the organization being sued, I can’t talk
about it or write about it, at least for now.”
=One of the best shows on television, HBO’s Succession,
is returning for its final season on March 26th. Creator Jesse
Armstrong announced this week that he is pulling the plug on the show to avoid “overstaying
our welcome.” He did however hint there might be a spin-off show in the future.
These characters are marvelously detestable. Any one of them could be an
interesting main character for a spinoff. My vote is for Cousin Greg.
*LIV Golf Ratings
=Not an encouraging start for the Saudi-financed golf
league…
For context another CW program, World’s Funniest Animals, outdrew LIV Golf https://t.co/txrkMNW1nq
=I've said it before. When both political parties want you out, it doesn't bode well for your organization.
New: The House Foreign Affairs Cmte will mark up a bill tomorrow that would allow the president to ban TikTok in the United States. Bill is being offered by @RepMcCaul, HFAC chair
As always, if you have any media story you’d like to share or think that I might be interested in sharing, drop me a line at rick@eckhartzpress.com or amishrick@yahoo.com. If you're in Chicago media and wondering why I didn't mention your birthday, it's probably because I don't know it. Drop me a line and let me know and I'll put you on my calendar.
If you're interested in some of my other projects from this week...
I'm working on a special project this year about a certain radio station, so I've been going back into my files and pulling out some old interviews with former Loop colleagues and pals. I'll feature one a week here on the blog. This week, it's Cara Carriveau. Cara started at the Loop during the station's second heyday during the 90s, doing traffic and news for Kevin Matthews show. She later was given her own DJ shift during the return to the black T-shirt Loop rock and roll era, and stayed there until she wrote a letter to Robert Feder in 2006 lamenting the unemployment of a few disc jockey greats. That wasn't appreciated by her bosses, and she was shown the door. Cara later re-emerged at several other stations on the dial. This is my chat with her for Chicago Radio Spotlight about her Loop days in 2007, shortly after the controversy.
Rick: Recently you were in the middle of a media controversy because of a letter you sent to Chicago Sun-Times columnist Robert Feder lamenting the unemployment of great radio stars. The Loop fired you for writing that letter. What did you learn about yourself and/or the business from that experience?
Cara: I lamented the unemployment of radio personalities even more when I suddenly became one! The first thing I learned was how printed words can easily be misinterpreted. It's another reason I love radio, because being able to add inflection certainly helps convey your intended message much more clearly. I also learned that what I wrote couldn't be any more true. My letter and subsequent termination got national coverage and I received several hundred messages from radio listeners & non-listeners, friends, colleagues and even radio industry employees I've never met. The letter certainly struck a chord with many disenchanted radio listeners. The vast outpouring of support was touching and the opinions expressed to me could very well be priceless information for Program Directors who want to know what's going on inside peoples head's regarding their relationship to the voices they hear on the radio. And I learned that it's important not to define myself by my job. My family is so much more important to me than any gig and having the opportunity to spend more time with my young son has been a blessing...even if it wasn't by choice.
Rick: You have been a Chicago radio fixture for years now. Looking back on all those years, what are some of the moments that you remember most fondly?
Cara: It was a honor working with the legendary Jonathon Brandmeier. That was my radio dream since I first heard The Loop in 1986: Working there, middays after Brandmeier. Actually living that dream was awesome. I admire a lot of great radio personalities I have worked with over the years - but I'm not going to list any more names since I'll probably inadvertently miss somebody. Meeting John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page was a thrill of a lifetime for me since I am a huge Zep fan.
A very surreal moment occurred at a record store appearance a couple of years ago with Styx, when tons of people asked Tommy Shaw, JY and the rest of the band for their autograph and then asked me for mine...that was just plain weird! Speaking of Styx, Dennis DeYoung once sat in on the "Rock & Roll Diner" with me and I had the most amazing experience of being alone in a room with him while he sang "Come Sail Away" live on the air.
Also, becoming a fan of Chicago's Marty Casey on Rockstar INXS and eventually striking up a friendship with him and (his band) The Lovehammers is very cool. Best of all, I've truly enjoyed every job I have ever had which is not something a lot of people can say. I also have amazing listeners who have followed me around for a long time (some for decades) - every time I'm on the air I get several "not-so-Loyal-Loopers" checking in.
Rick: Not many people know that your brother runs the Rosemont Theater. There must have been a few perks over the years. What are some of the most memorable?
Cara: I took my daughter to see Roger Waters at The Rosemont Theater when she was just three years old. She was the only kid there, dancing in the isles to the amusement of everybody around us. I was backstage at a Sammy Hagar show and got to see the frightening sight of one of his "hot waitresses" from his concert take off her wig and makeup...it was an unbelievably scary transformation. My brother Ron also works on other big shows like Farm Aid - I've got lots of fond memories from several Farm Aids, like the time Roger Clinton (the former President's brother) told me a bunch of really funny dirty jokes backstage. I kept thinking, "your brother is the president - maybe you should watch your mouth!".
