Studio Walls--October 23, 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 20, 2011 

=Tristin Wade won the World Series of Poker Europe. We talked to him about that.  

October 20—National Ass Day. 

=Yes, it's a real thing. We interviewed a very funny comedian, Ismo, who has a whole comedy routine about asses.

 

October 21—Patti Davis birthday 

=Tommy Chong told us a great story about President Reagan's daughter.  

 

October 22--Deepak Chopra birthday

=My brush with Deepak is discussed in this episode of the show. 

October 22, 1890—Joseph Nye Welch born. 

=The man who stood up to Senator McCarthy. He's also Amy Landecker's great grandfather. She told us all about it.

October 22, 1972—Nixon visits China. 

=Catherine Johns is a student of China. She told us a story about Feng Shui almost ruined her life.  

 

October 23--Mike Tomczak birthday

=I knew the former Bears quarterback well back in the day. That story is in this episode. 

 

October 24—May Pang birthday 

=John Lennon's girlfriend was actually on the show. Great interview. 

October 24, 1975—Roxy Music releases Siren. 

=James Finn Garner argues with me about the album. 

 October 24, 1857—Founding of Sheffield FC

=First English soccer club. Oh yeah, that reminds me of this podcast...

October 25--Marion Ross birthday

=My brush with Mrs. C. is discussed in this episode. 

October 25—Pablo Picasso birthday 

=We talked to someone who knew him, Antony Penrose. He not only knew him, he bit him.  

October 25, 1995—Poi Dog Pondering releases first Chicago album Pomegranate 

=Guitarist Dag Juhlin was on the show.

October 25—Bobby Knight birthday. 

=Paul Banks told us about the day he was abused by Knight. : 

Studio Walls--8-28-24

 

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...

August 25—Birthday of Gene Simmons

=Loverboy’s Doug Johnson told us a story about opening for KISS at their very first gig.  

August 25, 1994—Natural Born Killers released. 

=Duane Scott Cerny told us a story about his dealings with Oliver Stone during the making of that film.  

 

August 26, 1972—Summer Olympics begin in Munich

=Dwight Stones represented America and reminded us what it was like at that memorable Olympic games. 

August 26, 1817—University of Michigan founded.

=Chuck Swirsky was the broadcaster for their basketball games for a few years. It wasn't exactly a first-class operation at the time, which he told us all about in this episode.  

 

August 27--Dave Sinker birthday

=We had the comedian on the show a few years ago.  

 

August 28, 2015—“We are your friends” debuts

=Max Joseph was the director. He told us all about it. 

 

August 29—Michael Jackson birthday

=We've been told two great Michael Jackson stories. One by record producer/engineer Bill Schnee, and one by the one time teen idol Tony DeFranco. 

August 29--James Finn Garner birthday

=The NY Times Best Selling Author was on this episode of Minutia Men Celebrity Interview. 

August 29--Elliott Gould birthday

=My brush with Elliott was told in this episode. 

August 29--Mr. Blackwell birthday

=My brush with the famous clothing designer was told in this episode.  

August 29—Jerry Seinfeld birthday. 

=Kevin Matthews once invited Jerry to perform in his comedy jam. Jerry sniffed out the audience pretty quickly.  

August 30--Carmen Fanzone birthday

=We talked to the former Cubs player in this episode.  

 

August 31--Zack Ward birthday

=Who is Zack? He played the bully in Christmas Story (Scut Farkus). He also bullied us a bit. Only guest we ever called a dick live on the air. 

Studio Walls--7-24-24

 

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 21--Spike Manton birthday

=We talked to the razor-tongued devil in this episode.  

 

July 22—National Cowboy Day. 

=One of the cowboys from the show 1883, Eric Nelsen, appeared on our show.  

July 22--Bobby Sherman birthday

=Yes, I have a Bobby Sherman story. I told it in this episode. 

July 22--Governor Jim Edgar birthday

=You won't believe this story.  He once offered me a job.

July 22—Alan Menken birthday. 

=His lyricist Glenn Slater explained the genius behind the man. 

July 22, 2022—Rick appears on Destination Eat Drink podcast 

=On this particular episode I was talking about Ireland. 

July 22, 2023—Pat Hughes inducted in Hall of Fame

=You can see his speech here. 

 

July 23—World Ant Day

=Coyote Peterson told us how painful it was being stung by certain ants.  

July 23—Slash birthday

=Yes, I have a Slash story. It's here. 

July 23--Ray Rayner birthday

=My one and only brush with the Chicago children's TV star of the 60s & 70s.  

July 23, 1965—Moody Blues release debut album. 

=Allan Hewitt was in the Moody Blues, and we talked to him about it. : 

July 23—Monica Lewinsky birthday 

=Max Joseph worked with her, and told us this story.  

 

July 24, 1970—I’m Your Captain released by Grand Funk Railroad

=Would you believe it came to Mark Farner in a dream? That's what he told us.  

 

July 25—Walter Payton birthday

=We have audio of Walter on John Landecker's show. It's on this show.

=Jim McMahon also told us a story about him. 

July 25—Mitzie Shore birthday

=Ross Bennett story about Mitzie told him ‘you’re not funny’ 

 

July 26--Darlene Love birthday

=My personal story about her was told in this episode.  

July 26—Mick Jagger’s birthday

=James Finn Garner and I argued about the Beatles vs. the Stones. 

=Lighting director Chip Monck told us a great Mick Jagger story.  

July 26--Shane Obedzinski birthday

=The star of The Sandlot was on our show a few years ago. 

July 26, 2000—Thomas and the Magic Railroad debuts

=Little Tommy Kaempfer reviewed it. We have the audio.

 

July 27, 1919—Chicago race riots.

=Chicago historian Robert Loerzel explained the story

July 27, 1990—Presumed Innocent (the movie) opens. 

=The writer of the book, Scott Turow, told us all about the film. 

 

Minutia Men Celebrity Interview Classic: James Finn Garner

 

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. James Finn Garner is a NY Times Best Selling author. His book "Politically Correct Bedtime Stories" has sold millions of copies. And he has appeared on our podcast. We talked to him about fairy tales, his Rex Koko book series, and we had a spirited Beatles vs. Stones debate. He also told me what a moron I am for liking Roxy Music's "Love is hte Drug". 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?

*October 24, 1975, Roxy Music releases their album Siren. You may or may not realize that this was a controversial album for Roxy die-hards. Best selling author James Finn Garner has some very strong feelings about this, and got into an argument with me about it during his Minutia Men interview.

*October 25, 1995, Poi Dog Pondering released their first Chicago album Pomegranate. We had guitarist Dag Juhlin on the show to talk about his time in the band.

*October 25 is also Bobby Knight's birthday. Paul M. Banks appeared on our show to talk about his book, and he has a story about being bullied by Bobby Knight.

*October 27, 2018, there was a terrible shooting in a synagogue in Pittsburgh. We had Mark Cuban on the show shortly after that shooting, and he revealed that he had friends who perished in that shooting.

*October 28 is actor Adam Bitterman's birthday. We had him on our show a few years ago, and he revealed that he was in Hebrew School with Dave when they were young.

*October 29 would have been Quiet Riot lead singer Kevin DuBrow's birthday. We had Loverboy's Doug Johnson on the show, and he told some stories about the legendary partying of DuBrow.

*October 29 is Denny Laine's birthday. We interviewed Denny when we filled in on WLS Radio a few years ago. (photo: Mark Hudson and Neil Innes also in the photo)

Eckhartz Everyday

 *On this day in 2014, these four knuckleheads attended a Cubs game together in the midst of a monsoon. From L-R, Randy Richardson, Don Evans, me, and James Finn Garner. Randy has written three books for Eckhartz Press (Lost in the Ivy, Cheeseland, and Cubsessions), Don has written one (An Off-White Christmas), and Jim has contributed to one as well. 

But on that one day, we got soaked.

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?

*August 29 would have been Michael Jackson's birthday. We had record producer Bill Schnee on the show, and he told us his story about dealing with Michael when Jackson was only 10 years old. (Listen to entire interview here)

*August 29 is best selling author James Finn Garner's birthday. He was kind enough to appear as a guest on our show several years ago. (Listen to that here)

*August 29 is also Jerry Seinfeld's birthday. Jerry came to Chicago to star in a Kevin Matthews Comedy Jam once, and Kevin told us all about that memorable night. (Full interview here)

*August 30 is Carmen Fanzone's birthday. We talked to the ex-Cub a few years ago and he had some great stories about his playing days. (Listen to that here)

*August 31 is Zach Ward's birthday. He played the bully Scut Farkus in A Christmas Story. We talked to him about his bully tendencies, and he bullied us. (Full interview here)

*September 2, 2021. I appeared on WGN radio with John Landecker to discuss the worst Cubs teams of all-time. (Full interview here)

*September 3, 1980. The Pekin Chinks officially drop their team mascot and nickname. Howard Sudberry was a Pekin High grad, and talked about that. (Listen to that 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?

*July 25 is famous comedy club owner Mitzie Shore's birthday. Comedian Ross Bennett told us what it was like to perform in front of this comedy icon. (Full interview is here)

*July 25 would have been Walter Payton's birthday. He once had a very memorable appearance on John Landecker's show (AUDIO)

*July 26 is Mick Jagger's birthday. Best Selling author James Finn Garner once appeared on the show and had a heated argument with Rick about Beatles vs. Stones. (Full interview here)

*July 26 is also Shane Obedzinski's birthday. Shane was one of the kid actors in the classic baseball movie The Sandlot, and appeared on our show to talk about it. (Full interview here)

*July 27, 2000, the movie Thomas and the Magic Railroad was released. Little Tommy Kaempfer reviewed the film for the John Landecker show (AUDIO)

*July 27, 1919, Chicago was embroiled in a full-out race riot. Author Robert Loerzel came on the show to discuss that horrible day in Chicago history. (Full interview here)

*July 27th would have Leo Durocher's birthday. We have some very salty outtakes from his old radio show with Lou Boudreau. (AUDIO)

*July 29, 1981, Disney on Ice premiers. Little Tommy Kaempfer once reviewed the film Toy Story on Ice for the John Landecker show (AUDIO)