Studio Walls--February 14, 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 latest Minutia Men covers: Business card critiques, a kid in the claw, George Constanza's girlfriend, Guinness record whoopsie, and one-liners from India.

The latest Free Kicks is about: The Premier League keeps every conceivable stat, and Adam and Rick go over some of the more obscure ones.

These are from the audio archives

February 11, 2000—The Tigger Movie released

=Little Tommy Kaempfer reviews it. Audio from my days on the John Landecker show. Will we hear it this week? Hmmm.

February 12--Abe Lincoln birthday

=Eckhartz Press founder David Stern debuts on the radio, with his poem about Abraham Lincoln on WBEZ Radio (1974).  We played the audio on this episode. 

February 12--Lorne Greene birthday

=My story about Lorne Greene was told on this episode of Minutia Men.

February 12, 2019—Bohemian Rhapsody, the movie released 

=We talked to Mick Rock, the great photographer who had taken the photos of Queen album covers, and asked him to review the movie. "Not nearly gay enough" 

February 13, 1967—Buckinghams “Kind of a Drag” hits #1

=Carl Giamarese, the leader of the band, came on the show and told us about those glory days of 1967. 

February 13, 2018—Beatles in India hardcover released 

=We talked to the author Paul Saltzman, who was there with the Beatles, this week in 1968. 

February 14, 1991—Silence of the Lambs released 

=One of the actors in that Academy Award winning movie, Dan Butler, talked to us about his truly creepy scene. 

February 15—Chris Farley birthday. 

=We never got a chance to interview Chris, but we did talk to his college buddy, the Real Matt Foley 

February 15—Walter Shapiro birthday 

=The acclaimed journalist and author of Hustling Hitler was one of Dave's all-time favorite guests. 

February 15, 1985—Vision Quest released

=We interviewed the villain from the movie, Frank Jasper.  

February 15--Joseph Gannascoli birthday

=The Sopranos star (Vito) was kind enough to join us for a discussion about one of our favorite television shows ever. 

February 17, 1984--Footloose released

=Mike Reno of Loverboy wrote a hit song on that soundtrack. Naturally, he appeared on Minutia Men Celebrity Interview.

February 17, 1989--Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure is released

=We talked to one of stars of that movie, Fee Waybill.

Studio Walls--January 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.

Coming this week: Adam and I will discuss the array of Premier league games over the holidays, the Festive Fixtures in a new episode of Free Kicks. Dave and I will be back in the Minutia Men saddle with stories about 9-1-1 calls, bad parenting, and more.

From the archives...

*January 7—National Bobblehead day. We were lucky enough to interview the creator of the Bobblehead Hall of Fame in Milwaukee.  

*January 7—is also National Pass Gas Day. I wrote this ultimate tribute to the phenomenon in 1996. Recorded by Landecker & the Legends. We only played it on the air once before the management of WJMK banned it. 

*January 8—Elvis birthday. We never talked to Elvis, but we did get some Elvis stories from an actor who appeared in a movie with him; Danny Bonaduce. 

*January 8--Soupy Sales shared a birthday with Elvis. I told the story about my brush with Soupy in this early episode of Minutia Men. 

*January 8—Finally, a birthday boy who is alive. Loverboy's lead singer Mike Reno. We talked to him about four years ago. 

*January 9—Debut of show “Pivoting” starring Fizaa Dosani. I remember our interview as being generationally awkward. You can listen to it here. 

*January 9, 2011—Shameless debuts on Showtime. One of the actresses who appeared on the show, Maria Breese, also appeared on our show. You might be able to hear us struggle with talking to someone we had just seen naked.  

January 10, 1863--London Underground opened. We interviewed Emma Clarke (the Mind the Gap voice). I loved that interview because I could also use her passionate defense of Manchester United in an episode of Free Kicks.

January 10—Birthday of Donald Fagen. Record engineer Bill Schnee worked on the Steely Dan records and told us what that experience was like. 

January 10, 2016—David Bowie died. Mick Rock was a good friend of Bowie's, and the legendary rock photographer told us a few great Bowie stories.  

January 10, 1999—The Sopranos debuted. We've only had one actor from that show on the podcast, but it sure was memorable talking to Vito/Joseph Gannascoli 

January 11, 1895—Laurens Hammond born. The creator of the Hammond Organ. Ides of March keyboardist Scott May was on our show, and told us all about the great man's legacy. 

January 11, 1980--The only hit by The Kings--The Beat Goes On/Switchin to Glide peaked in Chicago on the WLS charts at #9. We still love that song so much, we talked to Mr. Zero from The Kings. If memory serves we learned that nothing matters but the weekend from a Tuesday point of view.  

January 12, 1928: Andy Frain pitches Wrigley for the job of providing security at the ballpark. His company did that for over 50 years. When we interviewed author Don Evans he told us a story about the Andy Frains using kids like him as child labor after the games.

January 12, 1969—Led Zeppelin’s first album was released. We haven't interviewed any of those guys, but we did interview Jim Peterik who toured with them. He told us a Led Zeppelin debauchery tale for the ages. 

January 12--Maharishi's birthday. We interviewed someone who studied with him in India...while the Beatles were there too. Paul Saltzman. 

Minutia Men Celebrity Interview Classic: Joseph Gannascoli

 

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. Joseph Gannascoli is famous for portraying Vito in the show The Sopranos. We talked to him about that role, how the story line of Vito's homosexuality was introduced, his background as a chef, and his love of the Viagra triangle in Chicago. 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?

*February 13, 1967, the Buckinghams hit #1 with Kind of a Drag". We spoke to the guitarist of the band Carl Giammarese about that song, and the incredible success the band achieved in 1967. (You can listenn to the entire interview here) 

*February 14, 1991, the movie "Silence of the Lambs" was released. We talked to one of the actors from that film, Dan Butler, about his memorable scene involving bugs. (The entire interview is here.)

*February 15 is Joseph Gannascoli's birthday. The man who played Vito on the Sopranos was a guest on our podcast. (You can listen to his entire interview here)

*February 16, 2014, Dave released the video to his promotional song "Cueball Wizard". (We have the video here)

*February 16 is John McEnroe's birthday. Randy Merkin told us a story about encountering the tennis great on our podcast earlier this year. (Listen to the podcast here.)

*Feburay 16, 1968, the Beatles arrive in India to study with the Maharishi. Paul Salzman was there when it happened, and told us all about it. (Listen to the entire interview here)

*February 17, 1984, the film Footloose came out. Mike Reno of Loverboy had a song on that soundtrack and told us the story behind the song. (Listen to the entire interview here)

*Feburary 17, 1989, the movie Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure came out. Tubes lead singer Fee Waybill was in that movie and explained how it all came to be. (Listen to the entire interview here)

*February 18, 1998, Harry Caray died. We have audio of Harry talking about how he'd like to be remembered. We also have a song that I wrote about Harry's passing for the John Landecker show (Audio is on Landecker & The Legends, Volume 5)

*February 19, 2016, Rich King visited the White House along with the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks. Rich told us that story when we interviewed him last year (Listen to the entire interview 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?

*This week in 1863, the London Underground opened. Emma Clark (voice of London Underground) story about getting the Mind The Gap gig (Listen to entire interview here)

*Donald Fagen's birthday is January 10. Recording engineer Bill Schnee tells story of working on Stealy Dan's Aja album. (Listen to entire interview here)

*David Bowie died on January 10, 2016. Photographer Mick Rock tells his David Bowie story (Listen to entire interview here)

*The Sopranos debuted on January 10, 1999. Actor Joseph (Vito) Gannascoli tells story about working on the show (Listen to entire interview here)

*The Kings song "The Beat Goes On/Switching to Glide" hit it's top chart position on the WLS Radio charts in Chicago January 11, 1980 (#9). Mr. Zero from the Kings talks about the song. (Listen to the entire interview here)

*Andy Frain is hired to provide security at Wrigley Field, January 12, 1928. Chicago Literary Hall of Fame president Don Evans tells childhood story about helping out Andy Frain ushers. (Listen to the entire interview here)

*Led Zeppelin releases their first album January 12, 1969. Jim Peterik tells the story of when his band the Ides of March toured with Zeppelin and were invited to a Led Zep party. (Listen to the entire inverview here)

*The Maharishi was born on January 12th. Filmmaker Paul Salzman was there when the Beatles visited him in India. (Listen to the entire interview here)