Studio Walls--November 6, 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 3, 1995—Toronto Raptors first game ever.

=Chuck Swirsky was their play-by-play man on TV. He told us all about that in this episode of Minutia Men Celebrity Interview.  

November 3—Michael Dukakis birthday

=The day Dukakis lost to George H.W. Bush was a dark day for comedian Dave Sinker. He just happened to do the best Dukakis impersonation in the country. 

November 3--The Cubs Win the World Series

=Because it happened after midnight in Cleveland, this is the actual correct anniversary (not November 2). My reaction to that day.   Author (and Cub fan) Scott Turow's reaction to that day. 

November 3--Catherine Johns birthday

=The former talk show host/newscaster was on our show a few years ago. Such a nice lady.  

November 4, 2014--Father Knows Nothing 

=In the days leading up to the release of the book, we released these bonus audio tracks

November 4—Take Your Parents to Work Day

=In 2002, John Landecker's dad had just passed away, so John brought his ashes to work on Take Your Parents to Work Day. It was a memorably hilarious moment.  

 

November 5—Art Garfunkel’s birthday. 

=Tommy Chong told us a great Garfunkel story in this interview. 

November 5, 1996—Clinton beats Dole in election

=If it happened in the 90s, I wrote a parody song about it. Our Landecker and the Legends song that election was called "Big Macarena." Will we play it on this week's show? 

 

November 6, 2001—Mickey’s Magical Christmas released 

=Johnny Kaempfer (age 3) memorably reviewed the film on the air. Will we play it on this week's show?

 

November 8, 2006—First Chick Fil A opens in San Diego. 

=Just another excuse to highlight our San Diego Chicken interview. 

November 9, 1989--Berlin Wall falls

=Author Lou Macaluso appeared on our podcast to discuss it.  

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--August 7, 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.

Here are a few from the archives...

August 4—Barack Obama birthday

=Jazz singer Kurt Elling was on our show and told a great story about our former president.  

August 4—Scott May birthday

=The keyboardist from Ides of March was a fun guest last year. You can listen to it here.  

 

August 5, 1921—First baseball game broadcast on radio. 

=The announcer was Harold Arlin in Pittsburgh. We have AUDIO of early Cubs announcers from the 1920s and 1930s. Will we play it this week?

August 5, 1983—Risky Business debuts. 

=Harry Teinowitz was in that movie, and told us all about it.  

August 5, 1994—Harry Caray appears on Landecker show

=And he won’t tell JRL the Elvis story that he was booked to tell. We have the audio of his odd on-air refusal. Will we play it this week?

August 5, 1996—Harry and Jack Brickhouse sing together

=The old rivals made up for one day at Wrigley Field. We have the audio

August 5--Maureen McCormick birthday

=Yes, I have a Maureen McCormick (Marcia from the Brady Bunch) story, and I told it in this episode of Minutia Men. 

 

August 6—Cheech and Chong’s Los Cochinitos was released 

=It features their hit Basketball Jones. We talked to Tommy Chong about that in this episode of Minutia Men Celebrity Interview. 

August 6—Andy Warhol birthday. 

=Stan Lawrence tells us a story about Andy, that involves the Playboy Mansion and heroin. 

August 6, 2012—Rock Bottom Remainders appear on Craig Ferguson show. 

=One of the members of that band was best selling author Scott Turow and he talked about that band performance. 

 

August 8, 1977—Ernie Banks inducted in HOF 

=We have the audio.

August 8, 2019—WPGU Reunion

=A very special episode of Minutia Men featured some of our WPGU alumni, including TV reporters Dane Placko and Jay Shatz.

 

August 9, 2009—Shark Tank debuts

=Everything was going great during our Mark Cuban interview, until Dave brought up Shark Tank.  

 

August 10, 2003—Manchester City’s stadium opens.

=It was originally known as City of Manchester Stadium, now known the Etihad. Yes, it's another excuse to remind you that Free Kicks with Adam and Rick will be returning for our seventh season this month.

August 10—Justin Theroux birthday. 

=His Mosquito Coast co-star Gene Silver talks about him in this episode of Minutia Men Celebrity Interview. 

 

 

Studio Walls--June 26, 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.

Here are a few from the archives...

June 23, 1939—Siam changes name to Thailand. 

=How many podcasts have had guests on live from Thailand? We did. Author Bill Paige was living in Thailand when he talked to us about his book Everything I Know I Learned From Rock Stars

June 23, 1993--John Wayne Bobbitt gets his penis cut off by his wife Lorena

=Yes, of course we wrote a song about that for Landecker and the Legends. I told that story in this episode of Minutia Men. If you want to read the lyrics, they are here.

June 23, 1995—Pocahontas released by Disney

=Yes, we wrote a song about that too. "The Polka-hontas Polka" was on Landecker & the Legends Volume II, and just might be heard again in a future episode of Minutia Men.

June 24, 1901—Brighton & Hove Albion founded 

=Just another reminder to listen to the Free Kicks podcast with Adam and Rick. Brighton & Hove Albion is mentioned quite frequently.

June 24—Dave Vescio birthday

=Dave is an actor and an artist and a memorable guest  on Minutia Men Celebrity Interview

June 24--Roger Badesch birthday

=We talked to the former newsman/political flak/teacher & author of The Unplanned Life on this episode of Minutia Men

 

June 25—Carly Simon birthday

=Record producer and engineer Bill Schnee told us a story about what it was like to work with her.  You can hear it on this episode of Minutia Men Celebrity Interview.

 

June 26—Vick’s Vapo Rub debuts 1905. 

=We did a radio ad for them when we owned our advertising agency. Would you like to hear it? It stars Dave. We'll play it on a future episode of the show.

June 26, 2023—Dick Biondi death

=I worked with Dick for ten years at WJMK, but only appeared on one show with him--when he was on Tony Lossano's podcast. Here's a photo from that day.

June 26, 1981—Stripes premieres 

=Did you know that Bill Murray and Harold Ramis were not the original choices for the lead characters in that film? Tommy Chong revealed to us that Cheech and Chong were offered the movie first.

June 26--Bobby Holland Hanton birthday

=The stuntman who has worked in virtually all of the Marvel films appeared on our show to explain the stunts. You can hear that here.

June 26—Eric Nelsen birthday

=The star of the Yellowstone prequel 1884 was a fun guest. Here he is on Minutia Men Celebrity Interview

June 27, 1994—Caning in Singapore

=The story of the American kid who was sentenced to caning in Singapore was the top story in the news here. Scott May told us a great story about how the Kevin Matthews show and the Danny Bonaduce show on the Loop helped celebrate the story.  Listen here.

June 27—Adam Howarth birthday

=Adam is my co-host on Free Kicks. Free Kicks returns at the end of August for the new Premier League season.

June 27—James Breakwell birthday

=The NY Times best selling author appeared on Minutia Men Celebrity Interview

June 28—Mel Brooks birthday

=Mel is 98 years old this week. We talked to actor Eric Allan Kramer (Little John in "Robin Hood: Men in Tights") about what it was like working with comedy's greatest legend. 

June 28--John Cusack birthday

=I told the story of my brush with John Cusack in  this episode of Minutia Men.

June 28, 1997—Mike Tyson bites Holyfield’s ear 

=Was it a huge story in the 1990s? You bet. Did Landecker & the Legends record a song about it? What do you think? It's on our fourth CD "Live Long and Perspire"

June 28, 1970—Gay Pride Day established

=It's expanded into a whole month now. We interviewed actor Dan Butler (Bulldog on Frasier) about his activism for the LBGT community in this episode of Minutia Men Celebrity Interview

Studio Walls--June 5, 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 most recent episodes...

Here are a few from the archives...

June 2--Arlo White's birthday

=The slightly pathetic story behind this photo of Rick and NBC Sports announcer Arlo White is told in this episode of Minutia Men.

June 2, 1972—Cheech and Chong release Big Bamboo

=Tommy Chong tells us the story of the breakout hit from that album, Sister Mary Elephant. 

 

June 3, 2012—Longmire Debuts

=We interviewed one of the stars of that show, Louanne Stephens in this episode of Minutia Men Celebrity Interview.  

June 3—Tony Curtis birthday

=I met him, and told that rather odd story in this episode. 

June 3, 1892--Liverpool Football Club was founded. 

=The season finale episode of Free Kicks (above) includes my tribute to Liverpool.

 

June 4--Dr. Ruth Westheimer birthday

=My story of meeting with Dr. Ruth is told here. It happened 40 years ago.

June 4, 1996—Princess Diana visits Chicago 

=I wrote a song about that visit for Landecker & the Legends. Will we play it this week?

 

June 5, 1970—Vehicle by Ides of March released. 

=The man who wrote that song, Jim Peterik, and Rick played it live on this episode of Minutia Men Celebrity Interviw. 

 

June 6--Larry Lujack birthday

=Larry and his longtime Animal Stories sidekick Snot Nosed Little Tommy called in to John Landecker's show in the mid-90s, and it was a memorable appearance. Will we play the audio this week?

June 6, 2008--Debut of We Can Wait 100 Years

=My song about the Cubs 100-year drought.

June 6—Insect Appreciation Day 

=Dave and I once wrote a Quick Kill Pest Control ad together. It's actually pretty good. 

 

June 7, 2001—Johnny Kaempfer recording session

=What did Johnny record when this picture was taken? You might find out this week.

June 7, 1922 (State Farm founded)

=Nicole Butler is the actress who plays She Shed Sheryl in the State Farm television commercials. She was a surprisingly good guest on this episode of Minutia Men. 

 

June 8--Aaron Freeman birthday

=The NPR star is also the star of this episode of Minutia Men Celebrity Interview.  

June 8, 1966—Twister in Kansas. 

=Bill Kurtis was a college student doing his first TV gig when he announced: “For God’s Sake Take Cover”. It helped launch a legendary TV career. He told us about it in this episode.  

Studio Walls--May 22, 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.

 

May 19—Pete Townshend’s birthday. 

=Will Wagner wrote a book about his guitar from the Woodstock festival. We talked to Will about his great book.

May 19--Curly Neal birthday

=I told the story of my brush with the Harlem Globetrotters in this episode of Minutia Men. 

May 19--Dusty Hill birthday

=I told the story of my brush with the ZZ Top great in this episode of Minutia Men. 

May 20—Sainty Nelsen birthday

=We interviewed the actress/producer/voice over artist. She was a delight.  

May 20, 1997—Packers meet President Clinton. 

=Jim McMahon was a member of that Packers Super Bowl team. He legendarily wears a Bears jersey. He told us all about that in this interview.  

May 21--Jay Shatz birthday

=You may not know Jay's name, but he went to college with Dave and I and became a famous television personality in Cincinnati. One day he came into the studio with us to reminisce. 

May 21--Mr. T birthday

=I pity the fool that doesn't listen to my brush with Mr. T. story. I told it in this episode of Minutia Men.

May 22, 2007—Severance radio ads debut 

=Severance is the name of my first novel. Will we play one of them on the show this week?

May 23--Tom Ricketts birthday

=My brush with Tom Ricketts story in this episode of Minutia Men. 

May 23--Joan Collins birthday

=My story about meeting her is a memorable one.  

May 23, 1946—First Chick Fil A opens in Hapeville GA. 

=Our chicken related interview with the San Diego Chicken: 

May 23—World Wrestling day. 

=We interviewed the wrestling legend Jake the Snake Roberts. 

May 24--Mike Toomey birthday

=The WGN-TV comic was on our show a few years ago. He's hilarious.  

May 24—Tommy Chong birthday

=The legendary comedian spent nearly an hour with us just shooting the shit.  

May 24—Rick reads Man with the World’s Longest Name

=You can read it on last week's blog. Or you can hear it here. 

May 25--Mike Myers birthday

=My brush with the Wayne's World star is revealed in this episode.  

May 25--Brian Urlacher birthday

=And my brush with the Chicago Bears Hall of Famer is in this episode.

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.

Minutia Men Celebrity Interview Classic: Tommy Chong

 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. This may be one of our favorite interviews ever. Tommy Chong, of Cheech & Chong fame, was one of the voices of our youth. We talked to him about some of those great classic albums, and the trajectory of how Cheech & Chong became the rock star comedians of the 1970s. Tommy came to play. He has some great celebrity stories, wasn't afraid to name names, and took the conversation in directions we never could have anticipated.

Listen to the 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?

*August 21 would have been Joel Daly's birthday. We talked to the late-great newscaster on one of our earlier shows. (Listen to interview here)

*August 21 is Carl Giamarese's birthday. The Buckinghams lead singer was on the show a few years ago. (Listen to the interview here)

*August 22, 1995, Congressman Mel Reynolds was convicted and sentenced to prison. I wrote a song about him for the John Landecker show on WJMK. (Listen to the song here)

*August 23 is Mark Hudson's birthday. We interviewed Mark when we filled in on WLS Radio. (Audio)

*August 23, 1992, I made my debut on the Dr. Demento show with "The Hayfever Song" (Audio)

*August 23, 1998, That 70s Show debut. We had one of the stars of that show, Tommy Chong, on the show and he told us several tales about his time on the show (Listen to that interview here)

*August 25 is Gene Simmons birthday. We interviewed Doug Johnson from Loverboy, who told us about their first gig ever...opening for Kiss. (Full interview here)

*August 26, 1972, the Munich Olympics began. We talked to one of the American Olympians from that year, Dwight Stones, and he told us all about it. (Listen to the interview here)

*August 27 is Dave Sinker's birthday. We talked to the former Second City star about his unlucky experience as a Michael Dukakis impersonator. (Full 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?

*Legendary Chicago sportswriter Fred Mitchell's birthday is July 10th. He appeared on our podcast a few years ago (Listen to the entire interview here)

*Disco Demolition happened on July 12, 1979. Former Loop disc jockey Mitch Michaels was there, and he told us all about it. (Full interview is here)

*Cheech Marin's birthday is July 13. We talked to his old partner Tommy Chong, and he told us some great stories about their early days together as Cheech and Chong. (Listen to entire interview here)

*July 15 is Dr. Ian Smith's birthday. We had the famous television doctor on our podcast at the beginning of the epidemic. (Full interview is here)

*July 16 is Shoeless Joe Jackson's birthday. We had the actor who played the part of Shoeless Joe in the movie Eight Men Out, DB Sweeney, on the show a few years ago and he told us all about what it was like to play that part. (Listen to 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. We missed last week because Dave contracted Covid. If he's well enough to do it this week, these are the possibilities. Which one will he choose?

*June 26, 1981, the movie Stripes debuts. We talked to Tommy Chong about that movie. He and Cheech had it offered to them first. (Listen to the entire interview here). We also have audio from the man who eventually did co-star in it, Harold Ramis. He did a promo for our ad agency. (AUDIO)

*June 26 is Bobby Holland Hatton's birthday. We talked to the busiest stuntman in the world a few years ago. (Click here for entire interview)

*June 27 is author/humorist/parent James Breakwell's birthday. We talked to him about his best-selling book X-ploding Unicorn a few years ago. (Listen to it here)

*June 28, 1997, Mike Tyson bit off Evander Holyfield's ear. Naturally, I wrote a parody song about that for the John Landecker show (AUDIO)

*June 28, 1970 was the first official Gay Pride Day. I spoke to actor Dan Butler (Frasier) about that and his activism for LGBTQ causes. (Full interview is here)

*June 30, 1959, the Cubs had one of the strangest plays in baseball history when two balls were in play at the same time. (We have the audio of the PBP)

*July 1, 2019, William Dameron released his best selling book "The Lie". We had him on the podcast to talk about it. (Listen to that interview here)

*July 1 is Canada Day. We talked to Zero from The Kings about their Canadian smash hit The Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide. (You can 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?

*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)