Studio Walls--November 20, 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 17, 1964—Beatles release "I’m a Loser"

=Buckinghams guitarist Carl Giammerese talked to us about his band's hit-making cover of the Beatles classic.  

November 17, 1973—"Heartbeat is a Lovebeat" hits #1. 

=We interviewed the lead singer of the song, Tony Defranco 

November 18—Mickey Mouse Day. 

=In 2002, Johnny Kaempfer reviewed of Mickey’s Magical Christmas on the John Landecker show. 

November 18--Kevin Nealon birthday

=My brush with Kevin story is told in this episode. 

November 18, 1983—Christmas Story released. 

=We interviewed the kid who played Scut Farkus: Zach Ward. 

November 19, 1995—Toy Story released.

=Debbi Derryberry is the voice of the aliens. Cool story of how that came to be is told in this interview. 

November 19, 2021—Mick Rock passes away

=We interviewed the legendary rock photographer just a year or two before he passed. The link to that interview is below.

November 20, 2010—First class inducted in Chicago Literary Hall of Fame.

=CLHOF Founder Don Evans gave us minutia about some of the Hall of Famers 

November 20--Joe Walsh birthday

=My Joe Walsh story is told in this episode.  

November 20--Bo Derek birthday

=My Bo Derek story is told in this episode. 

November 21, 1985—Feud of Steve & Garry/Larry Lujack live on the air.

=Catherine Johns witnessed some of the mayhem and told us about it. 

November 21—Harold Ramis birthday

=He cut an audio ad for our AMISH Chicago Advertising firm.

November 21, 2021—Tribune profiles Ugly Buildings Tour with Mike.

=That article inspired us to interview him.  

November 21, 1931—Release date of “Frankenstein” 

=Boris Karloff's daughter Sara came on the show to tell us all about her father, the star of that film. This week also marks the birthday of both father & daughter (November 23)

November 21, 1874—Aston Villa founded 

November 21, 1885—Southampton founded

(Two more reasons to listen to this...)

November 22--Mick Rock birthday

=The late great rock photographer had some incredible stories. 

November 22--Howard Sudberry birthday

=We interviewed Howard in this episode. :

November 22—Rodney Dangerfield birthday. 

=Comedian Larry Reeb told us a memorable story about his comedy pal Rodney. 

Studio Walls--8-21-24

 

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 18--Robert Redford birthday

=I have a story about meeting the acting legend on a ski hill. 

August 18—Carmen Serano birthday

=The Breaking Bad star was a fun interview, especially went riffing against Steven Seagal. 

August 18—Elayne Boosler birthday.

=Kevin Matthews has a story about Elayne that you'll never forget.  

August 18—Patrick Swayze birthday

=His friend and co-writer Stacy Widelitz told us all about Patrick.  

August 18—Denis Leary birthday

=Sainty Nelsen worked with the great comedian, and told us a memorable story about him. 

 

August 19—Matthew Perry birthday

=One of the guest-stars of the show, Alex Kapp, talked about the late Friends star and the way the cast bonded together.  

August 19, 1969—Ken Holtzman No hitter

=We have the audio.

August 19--Brendan Sullivan birthday

=The improv legend (and co-writer of The Living Wills) was on this episode of Minutia Men.  

August 19—National Photography day.

=We've had at least five all-time great photographers on the show: Mick Rock, John Filo, Antony Penrose, Barry Butler, and Fred Winston.

 

August 20—Don King birthday

=Mark Giangreco told us a great story about how Don King once got him suspended. : 

August 20, 2023

=Nicole Zwiercan named Mrs. America. A few months later she appeared on Minutia Men Celebrity Interview.  

 

August 21--Joel Daly birthday

=One his last ever interviews. 

August 21--Carl Giammarese (The Buckinghams) birthday

=We relived the glory days with him on this episode of Minutia Men.  

August 21--John Filo birthday

=He was the photographer who took the famous Kent State Massacre photo. We had him on the show to recall the circumstances that led to that photo. :

August 21--Jim McMahon birthday

=I told my brush with Jim story in this episode.

 

August 22--Valerie Harper birthday

=The late great actress helped us pull a stunt on her old friend Mary Tyler Moore. The audio of that event was played on this episode of Minutia Men. 

August 22, 1995—Mel Reynolds convicted.

=Was it a news story in the 1990s? Then naturally there's a Landecker and the Legends song. 

August 23--Mark Hudson birthday

=He was one of our guests when we filled in at WLS. There's both audio and video of that day. Also photographic evidence (below)

August 23, 1992—Dr. Demento plays Ebony & Ivory song “The Hayfever Song”

=My first ever parody song. Here's the show rundown from that day. 

August 23—Keith Moon birthday

=Carl Giammarese told us a story about Keith involving a hotel television set. 

August 23, 2021—Covid vaccine officially approved by CDC: 

=Rave-out essay about people who refused to take it. 

August 23, 1998—That 70s show debuts 

=Tommy Chong told us what it was like to work on that show.

 

August 24, 1992—Georgia Dome opens

=Jim McMahon buys a pizza.  He was in uniform at the time.

Studio Walls--April 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.

April 7, 2017—Release of Mick Rock Documentary Shots

=We interviewed the great photographer shortly after the movie came out. 

April 7, 1993—Release of The Sandlot

=We talked to one of the stars of that movie, Shane Obedzinski  

April 7, 1976—Release of The Bad News Bears 

=We talked to one of the stars of that movie, David Pollock 

April 8--Julian Lennon birthday

=We haven't yet talked to Julian, but we did chat with a woman who spent a lot of time with him, John Lennon's old girlfriend, May Pang 

April 9—National Antique Day. 

=We talked to the king of the antique world, author/shop owner Duane Scott Cerny 

April 9—Mark Pellegrino birthday

=He was in The Great Lebowski, a subject that naturally came up in this interview. 

April 9, 2021—Them episode featuring Gene Silvers airs

=We talked to the actor who played a terrifying role in the show. 

April 10, 1972—Fred Karger crashes the Oscars

=He actually did it twice. He told us about both times.  

April 10—Steven Seagal birthday

=Actress Carmen Serano (Breaking Bad) worked with Seagal in a movie, and trust us, it's a memorable story. 

April 11, 1976—Tubes song “Don’t Touch Me There” released

="The smell of burning leather" is a line in the song. Fee Waybill explains it to us. 

April 12—Scott Turow birthday

=Ho Hum, just a worldwide best-selling author shooting the shit with Rick and Dave.  

April 12—David Letterman birthday. 

=Tom Dreesen told us the backstory of his life-long friendship with Dave. 

April 12—David Cassidy birthday

=Danny Bonaduce told us about his former co-star. 

April 13, 1990—Rico Suave peaks at #7

=Gerardo talked to us about those heady days.  

April 13—Scrabble Day 

=Who better to interview than Scrablyon director Scott Petersen? 

April 13—Bob Stroud birthday

=On the eve of his radio retirement, we talked to him about his outstanding career. 

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.

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. 

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 14--Actor DB Sweeney's birthday. (Listen to our interview here)  

November 14, 2014—Jane Byrne passed away. Landecker & The Legends did two different songs about her. (AUDIO)

November 14, 2010—Tangled released by Disney. We interviewed the lyricist of that film, Glenn Slater.  (Listen here)

November 14—Jimmy Piersall birthday. The late Chicago White Sox announcer was a colorful guy. Two different guests on Minutia Men told us great stories about Jimmy. Eric Soderholm and Rich King 

November 15, 1989—Comedy Central debuted. Ryan Beck was a long-time contributor, and we spoke to him on our show.  

November 15, 1940—The town of Niles Center changed it's name to Skokie, IL. Brendan Sullivan told us a great Skokie story

November 16, 2008—Mortal Kombat released, debut of Richard Epcar as Raiden. He told us all about it.

November 17, 1964—Beatles release "I’m a Loser". Carl Giammerese of the Buckinghams told us the story of their cover version of the Beatles song. 

November 18—Mickey Mouse Day. 3-year-old Johnny Kaempfer reviewed Mickey’s Magical Christmas. (AUDIO)

November 18, 1983—The original version of the movie Christmas Story was released. Zach Ward, the actor who played bully Scut Farkus, appeared on our show. 

November 19, 1995—Toy Story was released. Debbi Derryberry told us the story of how she came up with the voice of the Aliens from that film.

November 19, 2021—Mick Rock passed away. We were lucky enough to talk to the famed rock photographer a few years ago. 

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?

*April 3 is Billy Hayes birthday. Billy wrote the incredible Midnight Express, and was a guest on Minutia Men Celebrity Interview a few years ago. (Listen to the entire interview here)

*April 3, 1983, the Tubes released their biggest hit, She's a Beauty. Fee Waybill told us the story about the creation of that song with famed producer David Foster Wallace. (Listen to the entire interview here)

*April 5 is Jane Ashcr's birthday. Author Paul Salzman was in India with her and Paul McCartney in 1968 and told the story of meeting her there, and then again in London. (Listen to the entire interview here)

*April 6 is Marilu Henner's birthday. We have the audio of her most memorable appearance on the John Records Landecker show (AUDIO)

*April 7, 2017, the Mick Rock documentary was released on Netflix. Mick told us all about that film during our interview. (Listen to the entire interview here)

*April 7, 1993, the classic baseball film The Sandlot was released. We talked to one of the stars of that film, Shane Obedzinski. (Listen to the entire interview here)

*April 7, 1976, another classic baseball film, The Bad News Bears, was released. We spoke to one of the stars of that film, David Pollock (Listen to the entire interview here)

*April 8, 1969, Willie Smith hit a walk off homer on Opening Day to spark one of the most memorable seasons in Cubs history. (AUDIO of Cubs play by play)

*April 9, Mark Pellegrino birthday. We spoke to him about one of his pet causes, anti-bullying. (Entire interview is here)

*April 9 also would have been Mutual of Omaha's Jim Fowler's birthday. He did a nice promo for our advertising agency back in the day (AUDIO)

*April 9, 2021, the Steven King series Them featured actor Gene Silvers in a terrifying role. We spoke to Gene about that (Entire interview is 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?

*February 27 would have been Howard Hesseman's birthday. He sadly passed away a few weeks ago. We had Tommy Chong on the show a few years ago, and he told us the story of his feud with Howard. (Listen to the entire interview here)

*February 28, 2008, I was on the radio with John Landecker and Turi Ryder discussing my brand new venture, Just One Bad Century. (AUDIO)

*March 1 was Harry Caray's birthday. I wrote a tribute to Harry when he passed away, called Hats Off To Harry, which appeared on Landecker and the Legends, Volume 5.

*March 1, 1996, Buckinghams lead singer Carl Giammarese appears on the John Landecker show, and I hand him a parody song I've written to one of his songs. This one is about the Girl Scouts (we were selling girl scout cookies at the time). Carl told us about that day when we interviewed him for Minutia Men. (Listen to that entire interview/song here)

*March 1 is Roger Daltrey's birthday. We interviewed the keyboardist from the Who, Loren Gold, and he told us some great Roger Daltrey stories. (That interview is here)

*March 2 was Lou Reed's birthday. One of his running buddies in the early 70s was the late great photographer Mick Rock. He told us an unbelievably great Lou Reed story. (The entire interview is here)

*March 3, 1978, Bill Kurtis broke the biggest story of his journalism career. It was about Agent Orange in Vietnam. When we interviewed him, he told us all about it. (The whole interview is here.)

*March 4 is World Grammar Day. We had the great grammar author, Jim Baumann, on the show to discuss his book Grammar Moses. (Listen to the entire interview here)

*March 4, 1992, Jim Peterik debuted his song "Spirit of Chicago". He told us about it, and played it for us on the podcast (Listen to entire interview here)

*March 4, 1837 is Chicago's birthday. We had famed Chicago historian Robert Loerzel on the show, and he told us some great stories about this city's history. (Listen to entire interview here)

*March 4 was also Tim Weigel's birthday. Tim was a friend of ours and cut a promo for our advertising agency, AMISH Chicago Advertising. (AUDIO)