Studio Walls--December 18, 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.

December 15, 1955—Eisenhower expressway opened. 

=Shermann Dilla Thomas explains why his dad wouldn’t ride on it. 

 

December 16, 1993—Molly Hagan’s episode of Seinfeld airs

=She played Kramer's girlfriend. She told us all about it when she appeared on Minutia Men Celebrity Interview.  

December 16--Billy Gibbons birthday

=My brush with ZZ Top.

=Doug Johnson of Loverboy tells us about the day he taught Billy Gibbons how to play keyboards.

December 16, 1895—West Ham plays first ever night match 

=That reminds me...

December 17, 1984—Christmas Carol with George C. Scott released

=Eric Litt talks about why he loves that film on this episode. 

 

December 18, 1997—Chris Farley dies

=We had his college friend on the show. The Real Matt Foley. 

December 18—Keith Richards birthday 

=Bill Kurtis told us a story about being backstage at a Stones show. 

December 18, 1966—The Grinch debuts. 

=Sara Karloff told us about her father Boris calling her to recommend watching it. The only time he ever did that.  

December 18—Brad Pitt birthday 

=Dan Frischman met a very young Brad Pitt on the set of Head of the Class.  

 

December 19--Robert Urich birthday

=My brush with Urich.  

December 19—Doug Johnson birthday

=Keyboardist for Loverboy did an entire episode with us.  

December 19—Tim Reid birthday

=Tom Dreesen told us all about his old comedy partner. 

December 19, 2021—1883 debuts 

=We talked to one of the young stars of that show, Eric Nelsen.  

 

December 20, 1995—Landecker Live show in Oak Lawn

=Baby Tommy Kaempfer made his public debut.

December 20—Chris Robinson birthday

=Legendary DJ Bob Stroud told us his story about interviewing the unpleasant Black Crowes lead singer.  

Studio Walls--November 27, 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.

November 24--Pete Best birthday. 

=This is my story about the forgotten Beatle. 

November 24, 2021—When Harry Met Rehab opens in Chicago. 

=Harry Teinowitz was on MMCI telling us all about it. 

November 24, 1887—16 inch softball invented in Chicago. 

=Shermann Dilla Thomas discusses the history with us.

 

November 25--John Lehr birthday

=Who is John Lehr, you ask? The Geico Caveman. One of our favorite guests. 

November 25—Garnet Grimm birthday

=He's the drummer for Savoy Brown, and a one-time Minutia Men guest.  

November 26—Jeff Torborg birthday. 

=Mark Giangreco told us a great story about the ex-White Sox manager. It involves Jim Shorts from the Kevin Matthews show. 

November 26, 2019—Rick and Adam go to Chelsea for Free Kicks podcast.

=Has it already been five years? Here are a few photos from that great trip.

 

November 27—Robin Givens birthday

=Dan Frischman was her castmate on Head of the Class and has a memorable story about Robin and her one-time husband Mike Tyson.  

November 27—Jet Jurgensmeyer birthday

=The current teen hearthrob was on our show this year. 

 

November 28--Berry Gordy birthday

=My brush with the Motown legend is told in this episode.  

November 28, 1925—Grand ol Opry founded. 

=How hard is it to write a country song? John Landecker and I did it during a commercial break one day. The audio might be featured on this week's show. 

November 28, 1974—"Whatever Gets You Through The Night" released. 

=John Lennon performs it on stage at Madison Square Garden with Elton John. His last time ever on stage. May Pang was there and told us all about it.  

 

November 29—Minnie Minoso birthday 

=We had the HOFer on the Landecker show several times. He famously never quite picked up the English language, so we had him do a simple bit for us. Same bit every time. Maybe we'll play it this week on the show.

November 29—Don Cheadle birthday 

=Amy Landecker has an incredible story about working with Don. She told it to us in this episode.

November 29, 1972—Pong released. 

=Twin Peaks actress Amy Shiels was impressed by Dave’s video game prowess. Hear the exchange in this episode.  

Studio Walls--July 3, 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...

June 30, 1959—Two balls in play at once at Cubs game

=We have the audio of that totally confusing play-by-play

June 30—Mike Tyson birthday

=Dan Frischman of the show Head of the Class has a great story about his brush with Mike Tyson. He told it to us in this episode of Minutia Men.

***

July 1—Release of the New York Times bestseller The Lie by William Dameron

=He appeared in this episode of Minutia Men Celebrity Interview.  

July 1—Canada Day

=Mr. Zero, one of the leaders of the Canadian Band The Kings appeared on Minutia Men. 

=Felix Cavaliere from the Rascals talked to us about his inexplicable popularity in Canada. 

=Canadian journalist Paul Saltzman told us a story about Beatles making fun of Canada. 

***

July 3--Tom Cruise birthday

=I told my Tom Cruise story in this episode of Minutia Men.  

July 3, 1971—Don Kessinger hits an inside the park homer 

=We have the audio. 

July 3, 2020—Rick appears on Phil Manicki show on WGN 

=We talked about the media business, including our show Minutia Men. You can hear it here.

***

July 4, 1954—West Germany beats Hungary 3-2 to win the World Cup

=Just another reminder to listen to Free Kicks.

July 4—Bill Schnee birthday

=The famous recording engineer/producer has some incredible rock and roll stories. A great sampling of them are in this interview. 

***

July 5, 1970—Leo Durocher starts a brawl 

=We have the play-by-play audio.

 

***

July 6, 1970—Ron Santo hits 3 homers 

=We play the play-by-play audio.

July 6--Robert Loerzel birthday

=The Chicago historian tells us all about the 1919 race riots in Chicago. 

July 6—Burt Ward birthday

=Mike Toomey has a story about dealing with Robin. 

July 6—Nick Digilio birthday 

=Nick came on the Minutia Men show shortly before debuting his Radio Misfits podcast.

Studio Walls--April 24, 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...

April 21, 1978—I Wanna Hold Your Hand movie opens. 

=We had Nick DiGilio on the show, and we discussed this gem of a film.  

April 22—Avengers Endgame premieres. 

=Bobby Holland Hanton was a stuntman in this film, and told us a few good stories about the making of one of the most successful box office movies in history.

April 22, 1932—Cubs vs. Reds at Wrigley. 

=Would you believe I have the audio of Pat Pieper stating the Cubs lineup from that day? Will we play it on this week's show?

April 23—Dan Frischman birthday

=One of the stars of Head of the Class was on our show a few years ago. 

April 23, 1999—The Movie Election premieres. 

=One of the stars of that film, Molly Hagan, was on the show a few years ago as well. 

April 23--Essra Mohawk birthday

=We knew her as one of the singers of Schoolhouse Rock, but discovered during the interview that she also was at Woodstock.  

April 23—Lee Miller birthday 

=The famous war correspondent's son Antony Penrose was on the show and told us one of the most memorable stories we've ever heard. It involves Hitler on the day of his suicide.  

April 23—John Oliver birthday.

=We've had two people on the show who have worked with John Oliver. Summer Crockett Moore and Josh Gondelman 

April 24--Richard M. Daley birthday

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

Studio Walls--February 28, 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.

This week's Minutia Men is called Jenkins in the newsroom, and features a story about a truly massive whoopsie on a TV newscast in Oregon.

This week's Minutia Men Celebrity Interview is with retiring Channel 9 meteorologist Tom Skilling.

February 25--George Harrison's birthday. 

=We had record producer Bill Schnee on the show and he told us a few incredible George stories, including one about the maze beneath George's castle.

February 25--Sean Astin's birthday. 

=DB Sweeney wrote and produced a comedy show with Sean, and told us all about it. 

February 26--The late Sun Times columnist Robert Novak's birthday. 

=I met him once and it was a truly memorable encounter. You can hear that story in this episode.

February 27--The late actor Howard Hesseman's birthday. 

=Would you believe we've had two different celebrities on our show with great Howard Hesseman (Johnny Fever) stories? Tommy Chong has a hilarious tale about their comedy feud. Howard's Head of the Class co-star Dan Frischman has a similar tale.

March 1-- Harry Caray's birthday

=I told the stories about my multiple brushes with Harry in this episode of Minutia Men. Rich King has even better Harry Caray stories. He tells a few of them to us in this interview. 

March 1, 1996—Carl Giammarese appears at live Landecker broadcast 

=I handed him new lyrics to one of his songs, and he performed it live at Union Station in Chicago at 8:00 in the morning. You can hear it in this episode of Minutia Men. 

March 1—Roger Daltrey's birthday

=The Who's keyboardist Loren Gold told us several funny stories about what it is like working with Roger.  

March 2--Lou Reed's birthday

=Famed rock photographer Mick Rock hung out extensively with Lou, and told us about a four day binge they went on together.

Minutia Men Celebrity Interview Classic: Dan Frischman

 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. Dan Frischman played Arvid on the hit sitcom "Head of the Class" and told us great stories about his days on the show, including stories about Howard Hesseman, Brad Pitt, Mike Tyson, and Robin Givens. Definitely worth a re-listen.

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?

November 26—Jeff Torborg birthday. Mark Giangreco told us a great story about the former White Sox skipper.

November 27—Robin Givens birthday: Dan Frischman told us a memorable story about her days on the show Head of the Class. : 

November 28, 1925—Grand ol Opry founded. John Landecker and Rick believed that anyone could write a country music song. To prove it, they did it during a commercial break. (Landecker AUDIO)

November 29--Release of “The Balding Handbook” (2012). Cueball Wizard was our promotional song. 

November 29—Felix Cavaliere birthday. We did a very entertaining interview with the Rascals lead singer on Minutia Men Celebrity.

November 29—Minnie Minoso birthday. We have audio of the annual interview we did with Minnie at the Landecker Mini Golf tournament.

November 29—Don Cheadle birthday. Amy Landecker told us a truly great story about her encounter with Don. 

November 30, 2016--Father Knows Nothing came out. The Twelve Teen Days of Christmas debuted shortly thereafter. It's a promotional song for the book Father Knows Nothing.  

December 2—Dan Butler birthday. Dan played Bulldog on the show Frasier. He also appeared on the show Minutia Men Celebrity Interview.  

December 3, 2014—Rick on WLS Radio with Bruce Wolf for Father Knows Nothing