Studio Walls--November 13, 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 11--Jim Peterik birthday

=Jim has been on the show several times, including this one and this one. We even have photographic proof.  

November 11--Marshall Crenshaw birthday

=I told the story of my brush with Crenshaw in this episode.  

November 12--Neil Young birthday

=My brush with Neil story is here. 

November 12--Nadia Comaneci birthday

=My brush with Nadia story is here. 

November 12, 1996—Madonna stars in Evita 

=If it's the '90s, guess who wrote a song about it for Landecker and the Legends? This one is called "Don’t Cry For Me Madonna"

November 12—Sammy Sosa birthday 

=When was he a big star? That's right, the 90s. My song was called “SOSA” 

November 12, 2012—Catfish debuts on TV. 

=One of the co-stars of that show, Max Joseph, was on our show talking about it.

 

November 13, 2019—AMC series about Preppy Murder

=We talked to the Preppy Killer's girlfriend in real life, Alex Kapp 

November 13, 1896—First Porno film released in France. 

=Believe it or not, we've interviewed a porn star, Maitland Ward. 

November 14--DB Sweeney birthday

=He was a guest on Minutia Men Celebrity Interview a few years ago.  

November 14—Dag Juhlin birthday.

=We interviewed Dag for MMCI too. He and I share a Steve Dahl history (he's currently on Steve's podcast). I went out to see him perform with his band The Sunshine Boys.

November 14, 2010—Tangled released by Disney 

=We interviewed the lyricist for the film, Glenn Slater. 

November 14—Jimmy Piersall birthday. 

=We have talked to two different guests that had incredible Jimmy Piersall stories, former White Sox slugger Eric Soderholm, and former WGN-TV sportscaster Rich King. 

November 15, 1940—Niles Center changes name to Skokie, IL. 

=Brendan Sullivan was on our podcast and told us a great story about Skokie. 

November 16, 2008—Mortal Kombat released

=That marked the debut of voice actor Richard Epcar as Raiden. We talked to him about his famous role.  

Studio Walls--9-25-24

 

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...

September 22, 1994—Friends debuts

=If it happened in the 90s, I have written a parody song about it. You can hear it here. 

 

September 23, 1977: Aja Released by Steely Dan

=Bill Schnee was the recording engineer on that album and told us what is was like working with Donald Fagen and Walter Becker.  

September 23, 1986: Matlock debuts

=Voice over actor Richard Epcar worked on the show. He even remembered his lines when we interviewed him 30+ years later.

 

September 24, 1970—Patridge Family debuts 

=Danny Bonaduce was on our show.

September 24, 1993—Boy Meets World debuts

=One of the stars of that sitcom, Maitland Ward, was on our show. You'll never guess what she's doing now. She's an adult film actress. 

September 24, 2007—Big Bang Theory debuts 

=Bridget and I were on the set...(OK, it was just part of the WB tour)

September 24, 2013—The Goldbergs debuts

=One of the stars of that sitcom, Hayley Orrantia, was a delightful interview.  

 September 24--Eric Soderholm birthday

=We talked to the former White Sox slugger in this episode. He later endorsed our book Chili Dog MVP.

September 25--Michael Douglas birthday

=One of the most memorable interviews I booked for John Landecker. We have the audio from that day. I told the story in this episode. 

September 25, 2021—Arlington Park closes forever. 

-For a few glorious summers, Dave was the wacky Quinn Ela at Arlington Park. We wrote the bits together. Here's an example...

 

September 26—George Gerschwin birthday

=We wrote a radio ad for Biasco Music starring George Gerschwin. It was an award winner.

September 26, 1965—Gilligan's Island debuts

=I wrote a parody song about our morning show to the tune of this theme song. Will we play it this week?

September 26, 1969—The Brady Bunch debuts

=We had Robbie Rist (Cousin Oliver) on the show. 

=We also had NY Times Best Selling Author William Dameron on the show. In this interview, he refers to his family as The Gaydy Bunch. 

September 26, 1969—Abbey Road released

=On the same exact day as the Brady Bunch? Does not compute. My boys and I went to street crossing of Abbey Road when we were in England.

September 26, 1975—Rocky Horror Picture Show released. 

=Fee Waybill starred in it. He told us all about it.  

 

September 27, 1992—Dr. Demento plays Ebony & Ivory song “Oktoberfest ist here”

=Don't believe me? Here's the show list for that day. 

September 27—Debi Derryberry birthday

=We interviewed the voice of Jimmy Neutron on this episode. 

September 27—Wilford Brimley birthday

=Mark Giangreco told us a story about how he once got in a trouble for making a Wilford Brimley joke.  

September 27—The Inheritance debuts on Broadway. 

=We talked to the producer of that show, Eric Nelsen. 

 

September 28, 1938—The Homer in the Gloamin

=We have the audio of Gabby Hartnett's famous homer--probably the second most famous homer in Wrigley Field history.

 

Studio Walls--June 12, 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 podcast has been posted. We named the episode after the famous bit by Cheech and Chong, Sister Mary Elephant. Also discussed: a rogue Irish priest, a woman declared alive, internet in the amazon, a German rap sensation, and a touch from Keanu Reeves. Listen to it here.

Here are a few from the archives...

June 9, 1954—Joseph Nye Welch made history when he chastised Senator Joe McCarthy during the McCarthy hearings. 

=His great-granddaughter, Amy Landecker, was on the show to talk about that and her thriving Hollywood career. . Amy story: 

 

June 10--Neil Steinberg birthday

=The Sun-Times columnist was a guest on this episode of Minutia Men.  

June 10, 1896—Congress authorizes federal penitentiary at Leavenworth. 

=Actor/Artist Dave Vescio was a guest on Minutia Celebrity Interview, and told us about serving time in that notorious prison.  

June 10, 1991—Final episode of Twin Peaks is released. 

=During the Bob Stroud interview, I revealed an embarrassing incident that happened to me while I was at Stroud's house watching that episode. 

June 10, 2022—Vintage Confidential by Duane Scott Cerny released.

=Duane is a character, and he told us some great stories from that book in this episode of the  show.  

 

June 11, 1986—Ferris Bueller opens

=Everybody from our generation loves that movie. Everybody that is, except for Nick Digilio & me. We both hate it, and bonded over that hate in this episode. 

June 11, 1952—Hank Sauer hits 3 HRs 

=We have the classic audio of that day. Will we play it this week?

June 11--Frank Beard birthday

=My ZZ Top story also includes the one ZZ Top member (Beard) who didn't actually have a beard.  

June 12, 1991—Bulls win first NBA title. 

=Chuck Swirsky was there, and told us all about it. 

June 12, 2018—Block Club Chicago founded.

=We talked to one of the founders, Shamus Toomey. 

June 12, 1972—Deep Throat released. 

=We never actually talked to anyone from that X-rated "classic" but we did interview adult film actress Maitland Ward. We never more thoroughly researched an interviewee. 

June 12, 1972—The famous Dick Allen Sports Illustrated cover released

=Chili Dog MVP author Dr. Fletcher explained the significance of that cover to us.  

June 13--Tim Allen birthday

=My brush with Tim Allen story is told in this episode of Minutia Men. 

June 13—Pigeon Appreciation Day. 

=We actually did an interview with a Chicago alderman about pigeon poop. It's in this episode of the show. 

 

June 14--Alan White birthday

=The late drummer of Yes was one of our favorite guests. You can listen to it here. He's watching the Price is Right in the background. (Yes): 

June 14, 2021—Minutia Men climbs to top 1% of world’s podcasts

=Just five years after our debut, we reached this still-hard-to-believe height.  

June 14--Lauren LoDiguice birthday

=Our favorite Melania Trump impersonator did this entire interview with us as Melania. 

June 15—Sam Giancana birthday 

=Mob Adjacent author Jeff Gentile actually knew him. It's part of this interview.  

June 15—Billy Williams birthday

=Author Fred Mitchell wrote a whole book about Billy, and tells us what the Hall of Famer is really like. (Spoiler alert: He's very nice) : 

June 15, 1988—Bull Durham released

=We have some classic audio from that film. Will we share it this week?

Studio Walls--March 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.

This week's Free Kicks is a preview of the FA Cup Semi-Finals, and the Europa and Champions League quarter-finals. It's called "Cup Previews"

This week's Minutia Men Celebrity Interview is with Chip Monck, the Emcee and Lighting Director at Woodstock.

This week's Minutia Men episode is called "Paging Dr. Freud".

Some other audio moments from the archives...

March 24--Lara Flynn Boyle birthday. I told the story of my brush with her on this episode of Minutia Men.  

March 24, 1975--Grand Funk Railroad released "Bad Time". Mark Farner told us the sad story behind the lyrics to that song in this interview.

March 25—Elton John birthday. Jim Peterik told us the story of the first time he heard Elton on the radio and how it changed his life. May Pang told us about Elton & John Lennon appearing together at Madison Square Garden.

March 25--Paul Michael Glaser birthday. We had the original Starsky on the show and geeked out on our adolescent love of his show. 

March 25, 1976—Tubes released “Don’t Touch Me There”. Fee Waybill told us the story behind that naughty song.  

March 27, 1973—Fred Karger crashes the Oscars…again! He told us how he pulled it off.

March 27, 1987--The Bold & the Beautiful debuted. Maitland Ward, now an adult film star, got her acting start on the soap opera. Dave and I have never researched an interview more than this one with Maitland. 

March 28--John Landecker birthday. He's been on our show at least three times. Part One. Part Two. Part Three. 

March 28, 1971—Final Ed Sullivan show airs. Carl Giammarese’s Ed Sullivan story

March 29, 1996—Debut of “Baby Boomer”. I wrote this song for Landecker & the Legends the day John Landecker received his first AARP card. Will we play it on this week's show?

March 30, 2023—Cubs Flicks debuts on Marquee. It was opening day, and "Writer Rick Kaempfer" was introduced by Pat Hughes in this documentary to tell stories about Cubs history.  

March 30--Fred Winston birthday. We had the WLS great on the show to talk about his impressive career.  

Studio Walls--1-31-24

 

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.

Two of the podcasts returned last week. The latest Minutia Men is called My Husband Forces Me To Listen to Your Podcast and the latest Free Kicks is titled Sanctions-Palooza.

Here are some other options from this week in history...

*January 28, 2023

=This week last year, Minutia Men aired our 300th episode. You know the Rick and Dave dancers were there. Listen to it here. 

*January 29--Dane Placko birthday

=The local Chicago news treasure has been on the show multiple times. Here are a few examples...

Dane Placko Part 1 

Dane Placko (Part 2) 

*January 30—Chuck Swirsky birthday

=I got a chance to interview the Bulls announcer shortly after his book came out. For some reason, Dave wasn't a part of it.

*January 30--Dwier Brown birthday

=The Field of Dreams star was our first ever official Minutia Men Celebrity Interview. "Dad, you wanna have a catch?"

*January 31—Nolan Ryan birthday

=What is it like facing one of the greatest flamethrowers in baseball history? Former White Sox slugger Eric Soderholm described it to us. 

*January 31, 1933

=The Lone Ranger debuted on the radio. Approximately 90 years later, The Lone Rogainger debuted on Minutia Men.

*January 31—Ernie Banks birthday. 

=The Cubs great would have been 93 this week. We uncovered an old 1955 interview with Ernie that we played on this episode of Minutia Men. 

*February 2—Nicole Zwiercan birthday

=Who is Nicole? Only Mrs. America. We chatted with her last year. 

*February 2—Graham Nash birthday

=Comedian Mike Toomey opened for Crosby Stills and Nash and told us what it was like performing comedy in front of that famously mellow crowd. Listen to his story here 

*February 3—Maitland Ward birthday

=She started her career as a sitcom star (Boy Meets World). She is now an adult film actress. Dave and I did more research before this interview than any other.  

Minutia Men Celebrity Interview--Maitland Ward

 Our latest episode just dropped. You can listen to it here.

Maitland Ward was a soap opera star (Bold & the Beautiful), a wholesome family sitcom star (Boy Meets World), and is now an adult film actress. Rick and Dave talk to Ward about that transition and the reasons for it.