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".
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For that period of time when all the stars aligned, when rock and roll and comedy and radio were all simultaneously kings (1977-1998), when the 1927 Yankees of Radio all gathered in the same hallway at the same time, the Loop created something that will never be forgotten.
Author Rick Kaempfer has gathered all the people who worked there to tell the story of that great radio station, in their own words. Among the people quoted in the book…Lee Abrams, Sparky Anderson, Vince Argento, Robin Baumgarten, Doug Bensing, Dave Benson, Jay Blackburn, Matt Bisbee, Danny Bonaduce, Jonathon Brandmeier, Jessie Bullett, Chet Coppock, Bob Coburn, Steve Cochran, Phil Collins, Alan Cox, Steve Dahl, Sky Daniels, Jimmy de Castro, Scott Dirks, Lise Dominique, Tony Fitzpatrick, Cindy Gatziolis, Mark Giangreco, Terry Gibson, Arsenio Hall, Patti Haze, Bob Heymann, Bill Holub, Jeff Hoover, Tom Hoyt, Dorothy Humphrey, Rick Kaempfer, Leslie Keiling, Artie Kennedy, Buzz Kilman, Rick Kogan, John Landecker, Jack Landreth, Stan Lawrence, Bill Leff, Carla Leonardo, Dave Logan, Spike Manton, Kevin Matthews, Scott May, Jimmy Mac McInerney, Dan McNeil, Garry Meier, Mitch Michaels, Walter Michka, Jim Modelski, Pugs Moran, Graham Nash, Paul Natkin, Tom O’Toole, Jimmy Page, David Perlmutter, Reed Pence, Jim Peterik, John Platt, Mitch Rosen, Tim Sabean, Neil Sant, Roman Sawczak, Eddie Schwartz, Jeff Schwartz, Steve Seaver, Seka, Tom Serritella, Lorelei Shark, Jack Silver, Marc Silverman, Bob Sirott, Bobby Skafish, Wendy Snyder, Greg Solk, Ringo Starr, Cheryl Raye Stout, Bob Stroud, Brendan Sullivan, John Swany Swanson, Chuck Swirsky, Harry Teinowitz, Tom Thayer, Ed Tyll, Mike Veeck, Kathy Voltmer, Larry Wert, Oprah Winfrey, Jim Wiser, Laura Witek, and Bruce Wolf.
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 Jimmy Mac McInerney. Jimmy was a producer for both Kevin Matthews and Jonathan Brandmeier. He also met his future wife at the Loop, Wendy Snyder. This interview is from 2008.
Rick: When I first met you in the early 90s, you were an intern with the Kevin Matthews show on the Loop. It was easy to tell which interns were going to make it in the business, and which interns weren't. You were one of those guys that did whatever you were asked whenever you were asked--from running the board on the Howard Stern show, to working with Kevin, and then eventually with Brandmeier. Talk about those early days and describe a typical day before Johnny hired you to come aboard his show full-time.
Jim: Something that made The Loop really cool back then was the camaraderie. There was a large group or us working there and we got to know each other really well. We all were working for the biggest names in the biz back then, and we were all very aware of it. I think we were really into what we were doing. It was very creative, and competitive. I worked on just about every show at The Loop during this time. It wasn’t uncommon for me to actually have my pillow with me because I was spending more time at the studio than at home! The demands and deadlines were always really tight, as is the nature of talk radio. It was a crazy time. We would almost come to blows over studio time…Then we would all go out to Flapjaws on Pearson for beer. Talent, management, producers, interns…We all would hang out, and sometimes even travel together. Whenever I see anyone from the old Loop, I feel like it’s a family reunion.
As for a typical day at The Loop in the early ‘90s…Was there such a thing????
Rick: You worked with Johnny B at two different radio stations (WLUP, WCKG), and I know you still have fondness for him. Everyone I know who has ever worked for him is still fiercely loyal. Why do you think that is, and how would you describe the experience of working for Brandmeier?
Jim: Johnny is a very straight up kinda guy. Always on the level. I loved the experience of working with Johnny (photo). I was an energetic and enthusiastic young dude and he was this super-intense, creative, motivated talent who just blew me away! He was an awesome role model for me because he knew how to focus his energy in a way I had never seen before – Deadly accurate. Plus, I was cocky as hell and he really knew how to put me in my place sometimes. Back in my 20s, I needed that guidance and he really was the older brother I never had. I think we clicked well, I worked with him for a long time and I even liked the whole LA to Chicago to LA arrangement. It was pretty wild and sometimes it frayed my nerves but I loved it!
Rick: It's difficult to sum up a decade, but what are a few of your favorite memories during the Brandmeier years?
Jim: We made a few trips to Upper Wisconsin to blow off some steam and those were really wild times! There were some other trips we made – Munich, Germany being a biggie - and big events like Loopstock in ’96, but nothing can compare with my memories of those trips to Wisconsin. Cold brew, pontoon boats, Wave-Runners, and a 12-gauge or two. I hung out with his dad and some other characters from his Wisconsin roots. We even dragged Piranha Man up there once! Talk about a walleye outta the water!!!
We did some wild stuff on the show as well and I felt we were really pushing the envelope with some of the audio production. We did some great phone scams. One time, I had a girl totally believing I was Jimmy Page! I created a ton of “Wacky Mac Edits” in which I would take sound-bytes of politicians, actors, whoever…And edit it waaaaay out of context. I loved putting those together. Back then, there was no internet or YouTube to find sounds. It was all done by creating your own collections. If you wanted audio from “Goodfellas” for example, you would have to get it from the film itself. In those days, I couldn’t just sit and watch a movie or tv. I was constantly stopping and starting it to grab sounds. And, I was babysitting about a hundred VCRs! But it was a blast and Johnny would always push me to do more.
Rick: You started as an intern for Kevin Matthews, and then when he came to WCKG, you produced his show there. I've always said that in order to produce a show you have to be able to get into the head of the host so you can anticipate what he or she will need next. That must have been impossible with Kevin. Am I right or wrong?
Jim: I was always very much a fan of The Loop for music but when I returned home from college one summer, a friend recommended I listen to Kev (photo) because “he did a lot of funny Chicago shit...A lot of inside stuff”. I finally flipped over to AM1000 and sure enough, the guy was doing a lot of funny, inside-Chicago humor, but it was the crew of characters and bits that sucked me in. I was a big time Kev Head and I wanted to come to The Loop because of him. I got my foot in the door as a music intern, filing away the vinyl. It didn’t take me long to find my way around the station and talk my way onto his show staff. Fun times. His show was so spontaneous and you never knew which direction he would go in. Ideas would hit him at lightning speed and voices would start flying outta him like a possessed man. Quite honestly, Kevin doesn’t need a producer…He needs an exorcist.
Rick: I know one of the highlights of your radio career was meeting your lovely wife Wendy Snyder. Tell the story of how you two met.
Jim: I remember the first time I met Wendy. I was in the infamous “Jock Lounge” at The Loop in the Hancock building. I was hanging with Stan Lawrence and some other guys when Wendy walked in. Stan said something along the lines of “Hey China White, you and Jimmy Mac need to throw down on the flip, flop and fly.” Or something like that. It was a cool introduction to the future mother of my children.
Funny thing about dating a co-worker is when you decide to go public with your relationship. You worry so much about how people will react. But in our situation, everyone was like “Yeah, of course!”
Rick: At one point you were even producing her show (The Buzz and Wendy show). What was that like producing your wife's show?
Jim: Again, it all seemed very natural. I like working with Wendy on radio stuff. She’s passionate and she knows what she wants. But, she listens to me and I listen to her and we make a great team. That being said, there were occasionally “those days” here and there. I won’t lie to you. Sometimes our family lives would intrude on our work lives a little too much. I believe it’s what George Costanza would refer to as “worlds colliding”. But we both really loved working on that show with Buzz because he is our idol, our mentor, and our personal restaurant critic. That was a true radio family experience, but this time, our radio family extended to thousands of listeners!
A curation of news items
about the media from this past week, with a particular emphasis on Chicago
(By Rick Kaempfer)
RADIO/PODCASTS
*Mitch Rosen Interview
=Over the weekend my interview with the Score’s Brand
Manager, Mitch Rosen, will be posted at Illinois Entertainer.
It’s another good one. Mitch has seen and done it all in his 30-year radio
career. I’ll post a link to it here next week but keep a look out for it in the
meantime.
=Zehme was an acclaimed author, famous for his books
about Frank Sinatra (The Way You Wear Your Hat), Andy Kaufman
(Lost in the Funhouse) and more, but he always remained a Chicago guy.
He passed away this week at the age of 64. Big loss for the entire Chicago
media community.
=Zehme fans will want to tune in tonight (Friday) to Dave Plier's show on WGN. Garry Meier will join him live at 7pm to talk about Zehme. Garry & Zehme were close. So close, Garry asked Bill to be his daughter's godfather. Also, Plier is planning on replaying his own interview with Zehme.
=Zehme was a big fan of Chicago radio. When he was a kid,
he was smitten with the jocks on the Big 89, Music Radio WLS. That’s why when John
Landecker was writing his memoir Records Truly Is My Middle Name in
2013, I asked Zehme if he would be willing to contribute to it. This is what he
sent me, and it made it into the final version of the book…
“I think of my
time spent staring at Landecker doing his job (Can you imagine? Staring
at a man doing his job?) from the glassed-off safety of that little WLS viewing
room, wherein all DJs resembled captive zoo creatures with the most powerful
microphones controlling the lives of us 70s chilluns; the ones who ran to
Sears to get the Big '89 Surveys each week to see where the hits were charting
as though life depended on it.
Landecker
(and to lesser degrees Sirott and J.J. Jeffrey) -- these voices became actual
men (with the Best Jobs Ever!). True, they were also guys clearly
uncomfortable being stared at by punks like me, but here is why Landecker
was my favorite. Like Johnny
Carson later at night (who always
patiently waited a half hour for Landecker's 6-10pm shift
to end), I learned the seductive if inscrutable power of the vaguely
naughty double entendre. But moreover, whenever I came downtown to stare
at him-- he always, always, always stepped out to say hello, like he knew what
his voice meant to us and, humble though he was, he did not want to disappoint.
I ended
up in media, you know. Became a writer guy who's done a lot of books and
magazine work and TV and radio (thrillingly even a few guest turns with the
Great Landecker himself!). But I tell only truth when I say that he was
the first media hero who presented himself to me as a fine and funny and decent
fellow with at least two dimensions, if not the full three.
All I've ever done is remember that, and try to emulate it, even
though I personally would never stand for being caged in a viewing room.
Plus, who could look cooler than John anyway?”
*Dave Fogel Health Update
=WLS-FM morning man Dave Fogel shared some good
news this week…
=Audacy hasn’t been NYSE compliant for a while now
(meaning their stock is below $1 a share), so this week they announced they
would be doing a reverse stock split. I can’t say I totally understand what
this means, even after reading this article, but I’m assuming you are smarter
than I am.
=I hope this works out better than their attempted sale
of radio.com, which got zero bids.
=Next time you think of calling the Cubs or White Sox cheap,
thank your lucky stars you aren’t fans of the Angels. This is really hard to
believe in this day and age…
Angels radio broadcasts will once again call games remotely this season.
Arte Moreno said airing in-person doesn't justify the cost.
But other broadcasters & other experts disagree. As do 28 MLB teams.
=In a twist that fans of the podcast Serial probably
didn’t see coming, Adnan Syed’s murder charge was reinstated on Tuesday.
More details are here, via the AP.
=Saw lots of photos from the WMVP 25th
reunion. I wanted to stop by, but was attending a writers conference a few
blocks away. These are from Dave Juday’s Facebook page…
=Marc Silverman also posted some great ones. Go to
his Facebook page for more. Looks like it was a home run event, despite occasional technical difficulties. Congrats to the WMVP
crowd.
*Chicago Writes
=As I mentioned, I was speaking at a writers conference
this weekend. One of the delights of being there was hearing the presentation
by Catherine Johns. The former WLS talk show host and newscaster is a
force of nature when she gets in front of a crowd. In this case, she was doing
a non-fiction panel and talking about her book, Show up and Shine.
That’s her in the photo below along with New York Times best-selling author Jonathan
Eig.
=Shane is executive producer, and content and
operations manager for the Score. He also sports a mighty impressive beard.
*March 28—John Records Landecker
birthday
=Why did John Landecker call his memoir
Records Truly Is My Middle Name? Because it truly is. Nobody believes
this when he tells them, but it’s true. His mother’s maiden name was Records,
and she gave it to him as a middle name. His Radio Hall of Fame career was
destiny. (He’s also in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the National Association
of Broadcasters Hall of Fame, and the Illinois Rock and Roll Hall of Fame). I
was honored to speak at his ceremony in Indiana a few years ago when the
Governor awarded him with the state’s highest honor. Of course, John is still on
the air most weeknights on WGN-Radio.
*March 28—Jimmy “Mac” McInerny birthday
=Jimmy was one of the producers for Jonathon
Brandmeier’s show for many years, and also worked as a producer and
production guru for Kevin Matthews back in the day. His podcast Rebel
Force Radiois a huge hit and a must listen for Star Wars fans. Jimmy
Mac is married to Wendy Snyder.
*March 28, 1971—Final Ed Sullivan Show
=Ed Sullivan took the stage at the Ed Sullivan Theater
for the very last time this week in 1971. The rerun of the show aired in June. The
last musical guests to appear were Gladys Knight and the Pips.
*March 30—Fred Winston birthday
=Fred is one of the all-time great DJs in Chicago radio
history. He worked at WLS, WCFL, WFYR, WJMK, and more. I interviewed Fred
several times over the years, most recently in 2018 for Illinois Entertainer.
=Jock was a producer at WGN (Bob Sirott) and WLS (Roe
Conn), and later produced for the Rosie Show at Harpo and the Steve Harvey
Show during his time in Chicago. He is now the executive director of the Macomb
Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.
*March 31, 2008—CBS 2 Announces 17 Departures
=It was a bloodbath in the CBS 2 newsroom this week in
2008. Mary Ann Childers, Diann Burns, Mark Malone and 15 others were let
go on the same day.
*April 1—Rob Johnson birthday
=Rob is also a former Channel 2 veteran. He was an anchor
at WBBM-TV for 13 years, ending in 2019. Rob is active in many charities
including the Special Olympics, and currently runs his own media consulting
firm.
=This is the listed birthday of the Kevin Matthews
show sportscaster. How many of you have interviewed an imaginary character in a
foreign language? One of the oddest moments of my career. The English translation of that interview is here.
*April 1—Penny Lane birthday
=Penny Lane was in your ears and in your eyes in the
1970s as one of the gals on WSDM (a station with all female jocks), which later
became the Loop. She was also a very prominent commercial voice-over artist for
many years, and was married to the great Wayne Juhlin (WFYR). I interviewed her in 2011 about her memorable career
*April 1—Eddie Volkman
birthday.
=Eddie is best remembered for his days with Jobo on B-96,
but he currently holds down the fort afternoons on the Star network in Chicago’s
suburbs. (Photo of Eddie & me taken back in his podcasting days)
TV/STREAMING
*The Home Stretch for Chicago Mayoral Election
=It can go either way still, but I agree with Brandon
Pope about the work of the moderators for this last debate.
=With the new baseball season upon us, this news got some
attention this week. Former White Sox broadcaster Hawk Harrelson is now saying
that he didn’t retire, he “got retired”. Awful Announcing has more on thesubject.
*Opening Day and EveryCubEver
=I made the media rounds yesterday too. It was Opening Day for the Cubs, and the 5th Edition of my book EveryCubEver came out yesterday...
Opening day and EveryCubEver. Thanks to Brad Edwards for having me on. https://t.co/zH0SJrJJ5z
=Remember that Fox News producer who sued her bosses for
turning her into a patsy in the Dominion Lawsuit scandal? She was fired by Fox News this week. Fox News apparently enjoys being in court.
=Oh,
and the list of Fox News people that may have to testify in the trial has to be
causing agita in the Fox News hallways: Fox News chief executive Suzanne Scott; Fox News President Jay
Wallace; hosts Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Maria
Bartiromo, Laura Ingraham, and Bret Baier; and former
executive Bill Sammon, politics editor Chris Stirewalt, and the Fox News
producer who filed lawsuits against the network last week that alleged network
lawyers coerced her into providing misleading testimony.
=And finally, the Society of
Professional Journalists released a statement about this Fox News scandal. It
was pretty harsh. “No responsible journalist
can accept or excuse this behavior.” And
just for the record, they are talking about Fox News, not Dominion.
*Death of Woodstock Cover Girl
=Her name was Bobbi Ercoline, but she is best known as
the girl on the front cover of the Woodstock album, covered in a blanket, and
hugging her boyfriend. She passed away this week at the age of 73.
*Ireland Pays Their Artists
=This is an interesting experiment being conducted by the
Republic of Ireland. They honor their artists so much, that they are paying
them a weekly fee to stay with it. The New York Times has the details.
SOCIAL MEDIA
*Twitter says part of their source code was leaked
=Tom Jones at The Poynter Institute asked that
excellent question in his column this week. As of yesterday, 168 American news outlets
have TikTok presences.
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...
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