A rare night out

This past weekend I made the trek to Elgin to see some old friends. The co-author of my first book, John Swanson, was performing with his band The Fireballs. So, I called up a couple of my old Loop buddies and we went out to see the show. It was great seeing everyone again.

Rick and Swany before the show...



Loop producers 25 years ago...Rick, Swany, and Jimmy "Bud" Wiser...



Rick and Mike "Igor" Davis (Kevin Matthews/Steve & Garry)



A tender moment between Wiser and Swany...



Swany in action...(that's him jamming in the front of the band)

Dobie Maxwell on Mancow

I accompanied Eckhartz Press author Dobie Maxwell to this interview on Mancow's WLUP show the other morning.

You can listen to it here.

I had forgotten what an ADD free-for-all the show was. There were literally five things going on at once while he interviewed Dobie. There was a man who melted his face off. A portal to hell in Gary Indiana. A short one minute newscast of recorded headlines. A sports report. And a bit about Steve Dahl.

That may or not be your cup of tea, but it is definitely not like anything else on the radio.

Half-Time Rave Out By Pro Soccer Coach (2016 version)

For my fellow international soccer fans. A hilarious take on what it takes for a coach these days to give a half-time speech to his team...

The First Eight Presidents

Think you know who the first 8 presidents were? You don't. At least I didn't, and I'm a history dork. This is something you don't read about in the history books, but there were eight presidents between the end of the Revolutionary War in 1781 and the adoptation of the Constitution in 1789. They were 1-year presidents under the Articles of Confederation...

John Hanson (1781), Elias Boudinot (1782-83), Thomas Mifflin (1783-84), Richard Henry Lee (1784-85), John Hancock (1785-86), Nathan Gorman (1786-87), Arthur St. Clair (1787-88), and Cyrus Griffin (1788-89).

This fascinating article explains it.

Washington was just the first president under the Constitution.

Old Music is Outselling New Music

It's the first time in history this is true. Check out the details here.

There are at least three reasons old music is outselling new music. One--radio has lost its prominence. This was where new music was broken for the past half-century. Two--some of the biggest classic artists are dying and reviving interest in their music.

But the most important reason is this: New music sucks right now.

Sorry, but the truth hurts.

Helpful Hint

Thanks to "KS" for this one. This really cracked me up...

Is Trump Running As Revenge?

The New York Times has posited this theory, arguing that his humiliation at the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner so infuriated him, that he decided to run just to stick it to the president.

The woman who sat right next to him that night has a different perspective. She wrote about it in this morning's Washington Post.

Reading this article reminded me of that whole Birther fiasco that Trump was leading in 2011. I watched part of his speech last night, and he was in full-voiced "nanny nanny boo boo" bully mode against Hillary. She should study the way Obama tore Donald apart with humor in 2011. For every "she's old" or "she screams" or "she plays the woman card", Hillary should say, "Why don't you run along and bring us that Obama birth certificate bombshell you promised."

Don't Look Now, But There's a Run on Media Companies

Comcast just acquired Dreamworks for $3.8 Billion with a B.

They are doing it to compete with Disney's recent purchases of Marvel Studios & Lucas Films.

The behemoths are getting behemoth-er (new word).

I have a friend who keeps asking me to update the end of "$everance" where I list what every company owns. It has changed significantly since I wrote that book almost a decade ago. I think it might be time to do that.

Just Say No, Kids.

The NFL Draft last night was one of the strangest drafts I can remember. Just as the draft was beginning, someone hacked the account of offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil and posted a picture of him smoking pot with a gasmask on. The Ravens were going to pick him at #6 overall, and they passed on him. He dropped all the way to #13.

That very strange story is covered here at Deadspin, complete with the photo in question.

May 29, 1973

That's the last time the Cubs and White Sox both had the best records in their respective leagues.

This is going to be a fun year.

Can't wait for the crosstown classic.

WLS Wins Newscast Award

From this morning's Radio-Online...

For the third consecutive year, the Illinois Associated Press Broadcasters Association has named Cumulus Media's WLS-AM/Chicago as Best Newscast in the Large Market category. WLS-AM took top honors from a field of Illinois Large Market radio stations, including: WBBM, WBEZ, Rivet Radio and WGN. Winners of the Illinois Associated Press Broadcasters Association contest were announced Saturday, April 23 in Springfield, IL.

VP/Market Manager Peter Bowen said, "Continuing to provide great local news is a key part of our growth plan for the Big 89. I credit PD/OM Peter Bolger and News Director John Dempsey and his excellent news team for their ongoing commitment to excellence in providing our community with the very best news programming that they can count on, day after day and year after year."

WLS-AM Program Director/Operations Manager Peter Bolger added, "I've been associated with the news business for many years, and I can tell you it is very difficult to win this honor three years in a row-especially in a market as competitive and as rich with talent as Chicago. Although it's a team effort, our winning entry was anchored by Jennifer Keiper -- and this is the second year in a row that she has anchored the award winner."

As the Sumner Turns

Remember when I posted that an agreement has been reached in the Sumner Redstone case? It turns out that deal fell apart. That'll happen when millions are at stake and everyone involved in demonstrably greedy.

All of the parties hoped that this trial could be private because it involved medical issues.

A judge ruled against that yesterday. This will be a public trial.

Get some popcorn and buckle up for the freak show of the century. I know I'll be watching.

Explaining Minutia Men

OK, so yesterday I was out of the office most of the day. I accompanied Eckhartz Press author Dobie Maxwell to his appearance on Mancow's show (The Loop), and Mancow had him on the show for an hour and a half. When I find the podcast of that interview, I'll post it.

As I was leaving for the interview, I noticed that Robert Feder posted the little tidbit about my upcoming podcast with Eckhartz Press co-publisher David Stern. I didn't really have time to explain the show yesterday, so I just posted Mr. Feder's article (it's a few posts down) with promises of additional information.

This morning I have a little more time to explain it.

Dave and I have known each other for more than 30 years. We met at the University of Illinois in the early 80s and instantly became best friends. Before we left town, Dave and I hosted a show together on the radio station there (WPGU). We mocked the powers that be at U of I (especially the Chief), and we ran for Homecoming King and Queen. We got a few job offers to do a morning show in a few markets, but Dave wanted to get his Masters Degree, so we turned them down.

I went into radio and got a bunch of jobs in Chicago. Dave moved to Chicago and went into sales. We both got married and had kids (I have three boys, he has three girls). This picture makes it look like we got married to each other, but actually we stood up for each other's weddings. I was Dave's best man (he says I was an OK man at best). When Dave calls my house and Bridget answers it, she says "Your first wife is on the phone."

We have been constant collaborators over the years. I had him appear as a character on radio shows I was working on (as a Cliff Dancer on Steve & Garry, as Bobby Bitterman on Ebony & Ivory and as a ridiculous letter writer on John Landecker's show), and we went through the Second City improv school together and created a show there. We formed an advertising agency together (AMISH Chicago Advertising), and a publishing company (Eckhartz Press). But Dave still wanted us to do a radio show (probably still feeling guilty for turning down those job offers in 1985).

The obstacle to our doing a show has always been that people in the business didn't know Dave. Over the years he has gotten to know my radio pals, and they all loved him mainly because he is a laugh riot. When we hung out at parties or restaurants or bars or golf courses, we inevitaby did the Rick and Dave show for everyone around us (with me as the straight man, essentially). For years we've been hearing..."you guys should do a show together."

Well, one time about a year and a half ago, the person who said that was Tony Lossano, and he just happened to be starting up this Radio Misfits podcast network with Ed Silha (the owner of the network). We kept putting it off, and I'll admit it was 100% my fault. I had an inkling what it took do a radio show, and I warned Dave that we didn't have the time to do it right. Podcasting required a technical expertise that neither of us possessed. We'd have to learn it, write a show, do the prep work, etc, all while doing our full time jobs (publishers of Eckhartz Press).

But I was thinking about it all wrong. I was thinking of the type of radio shows I used to produce. I was thinking of a promotional vehicle for Eckhartz Press with lots of authors coming on the show to discuss their cool new books, and fully produced comedy bits.

"That's not what we want," Tony said. "We want what you guys do when you talk to each other. That's the show."

"We don't talk about anything important," I pointed out. "It's just the sort of minitua that interests us at that moment, and stories about things that have happened to us. It's never ever something important or deep."

"That's whats so entertaining," he said.

"And," Dave noted, "we do that on the phone every day anyway. Let's just do it once a week on a podcast. We can handle that."

That's when Minutia Men was born. Tony and producer Chris Cwiak came out to my house and set up the equipment. In an afternoon they taught me how to use it (I'm essentially a technical moron), and Dave and I have done a few practice shows the past few weeks...and you know what? I think we've got something here.

A warning...the show doesn't have a defined length. We try to make it about 30 minutes, but it can be more or less than that depending on the many tangents. The subject matter varies, but it's never political. We share some of our favorite minutia stories we've discovered that week. We talk about things like parenting, the Cubs, balding, and rock and roll. Dave asks me to share some of my brushes-with-celebrities stories. In other words, we do a podcast version of what I post here on this blog.

That's the show. If you enjoy this blog, you'll enjoy the show.

Even if you don't, you'll enjoy Dave.

But if you're looking for a slickly produced comedy show, or a deep serious discussion about anything at all, Minutia Men is not for you.

This is the link to where the show can be found every Thursday. As long as people enjoy it, we'll continue to do it as a podcast. If people don't enjoy it, we'll continue to do it on the phone.

Twenty years from now, God willing, we'll be those two old men sitting in a booth at a diner comparing our medical maladies. There's still a chance if you tune in between now and then, you'll still get some humorous non-medical talk.

That's all we can promise.

Rogers Hornsby

Another day, another Cubs Hall of Famer celebrating a birthday. Here's his write-up from Just One Bad Century's EVERY CUB EVER feature...

~Rogers Hornsby 1897 (Cubs 1929-1932)
It’s hard to imagine that one of the greatest players in history was not popular in Chicago–but Hornsby clearly was not. Hornsby had one great season for the Cubs, their World Series year of 1929, and he became the manager at the very end of the following year. Despite managing a notoriously rowdy team, he ruled with an iron fist. He didn’t just ban drinking (which, of course, was illegal at the time), he banned reading, movies, soda pop, smoking, and eating in the club house. He was so hated by his players that when the 1932 team won the pennant (after he was fired), the players voted to give him zero cents of a playoff share, even though he had been with the team for 4 months.

Their hatred of him went much deeper than his strict rules. He was in deep debt to many of the players on the team. The Commissioner of Baseball, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, became so alarmed by the reports he was getting about Hornsby, that he sent letters warning the team and the players about him. He also sent one to the NL President demanding any and all information he had about Hornsby’s gambling. Hornsby was defiant about it until the very end: “Gambling’s legal,” he would say. He never bet on baseball, only the horses. Probably influenced by Hornsby’s star power, Landis chose not to punish him. But his letters to the club led to an internal Cubs investigation. Team owner William Wrigley and team president William Veeck discovered that Hornsby had borrowed $11,000 from his own players. That’s when they fired him and replaced him with Charlie Grimm. Grimm led the 1932 team to the World Series. Hornsby never experienced the playoffs again.

Later in life he was hired by Wrigley’s son Phillip to become the teams first minor league batting instructor. The same prickly personality and inability to understand why people couldn’t naturally hit as well as he did, however, made him as lousy at that job as he was as a manager. As a player Rogers Hornsby had very few peers. His lifetime batting average is .358. He hit .400 three different times. He narrowly missed it a fourth time (.397). He won two MVP awards, two triple crowns, and seven batting titles. And he did all that while gambling away nearly every dime he earned.

Minutia Men

Thanks so much to Robert Feder for the nice mention of my upcoming podcast "Minutia Men"...

Rick Kaempfer, author, blogger, media critic, longtime Chicago radio producer and publisher of Eckhartz Press, is adding podcaster to his credits. Starting May 5, Kaempfer and co-publisher David Stern will co-host “Minutia Men,” a weekly podcast for the Radio Misfits network at radiomisfits.com. Produced by Tony Lossano’s Oppih Productions, it’ll feature Kaempfer and Stern sharing stories and drawing on their vast treasures of worthless information (hence the title).

More info to come soon. I'll be on Lossano and Friends! on Saturday explaining the show a bit more, and then we debut next week.

Heading out of the office this morning. I'll be with "Monkey in the Middle" author Dobie Maxwell at Mancow's show.

Brilliant

Just found this guy on Twitter...

He was very careful during bondage sessions. He always used a safe word that contained upper and lower case letters and at least one number.

— 50 Nerds of Grey (@50NerdsofGrey) September 9, 2015

'I've been a very bad girl,' she said, biting her lip. 'I need to be punished.'
'Very well,' he said and installed Windows 10 on her laptop.

— 50 Nerds of Grey (@50NerdsofGrey) September 7, 2015

'Do you want a happy ending?' she asked, massaging his back.
'Yes please' he replied.
'OK' she said 'Jon Snow's still alive.'#GameofThrones

— 50 Nerds of Grey (@50NerdsofGrey) April 24, 2016

She squirmed excitedly as he leaned over and whispered softly in her ear, 'Asdfg . . hjkl . . uiop.'
She loved it when he talked Qwerty.

— 50 Nerds of Grey (@50NerdsofGrey) April 22, 2016

Over/Under Craziness

A Las Vegas oddsmaker puts the over/under on Cubs victories this year at 116.5

This is crazy. I'm thinking the odds are driven by optimistic Cub fans betting on their favorite team, but the over/under on wins this year is the all-time record? Let's not get ahead of ourselves here.

Happy Birthday Hack

~Hack Wilson 1900 (Cubs 1926-1931)
Hack led the league in homers four of his six seasons in Chicago (Photo: 1928 Baseball Card), and is still remembered for his record 1930 season when he drove in 191 runs. That year he was so fearsome at the plate, he inspired this poem in The Sporting News. (author unknown)

“How do you pitch to Wilson?”
Asked the rookie up from the sticks,
“I’m up to learn the hitters,
And know their little tricks.”
“I’ll tell ya,” said the veteran,
who had pitched for many years,
“When ya dish up Hack yer fast one,
You’d better watch your ears.
“He’ll drive that agate at ya,
Like ya never seen before
He’ll learn ya in a jiffy,
Not to show him speed no more.
“N’then y’ll try to curve him,
N’he’ll crash one off yer shins:
If ya keep on throwin hookers,
He’ll tear off both yer pins.
“N’then ya’ use year change of pace,
He might strike out on that;
N’perhaps he’ll ride the ball so far,
You don’t know where it’s at.
“I’ll tell ya son,” the veteran said,
“When ya see that sawed-off squirt,
Just flip one towards the platter,
N’take care ya’ don’t get hurt.”

But during his Cubs days Hack was known for more than just slugging the baseball. He was known as a notorious hellraiser. Wilson had several run-ins with the law, his teammates, opposing players, and even fans. For instance…

*In his first season with the Cubs (1926), Hack Wilson was arrested and charged with drinking beer in violation of the Prohibition Act. Four cops arrived at his friend’s house, and he tried to escape out the side door. While he was attempting to escape, his friend (a woman named Lottie Frain) threw a bookend at the cops. Wilson was caught and arrested.

*One night Wilson and his teammate Pat Malone were walking down the hallway of their hotel, and Wilson laughed. Someone in a hotel room mimicked his laugh. Wilson and Malone broke into the room and beat the hell out of four men, until all of them were out cold. One of the men was still standing and Malone kept punching. Wilson pointed out that he was already knocked out. “Move the lamp and he’ll fall.” Malone moved the lamp, and the man fell to the ground.

*In 1928, Wilson charged into the stands to fight a milkman who had been heckling him throughout the game. 5000 fans stormed the field during the melee. Gabby Hartnett and Joe Kelly had to physically pull Wilson off the milkman. Hack was fined $100 for that.

*In 1929, Wilson got into two fistfights with players on the Reds, and was suspended for three games. In the first fight, he charged into the Red’s dugout to punch Red’s pitcher Ray Kolp…after he had just gotten a single. He was tagged out in the dugout. The second fight happened that same night at the train station with Red’s pitcher Pete Donohue—who was trying to stop Wilson from attacking Kolp again. Hack punched Donohue in the face twice.

*Joe McCarthy knew how to handle Hack Wilson and keep him functioning. He once took a worm and dropped it in a glass of whiskey. The worm quickly died. “Now what does that prove?” asked Joe. Wilson thought about it for a while and replied, “It proves that if you drink whiskey, you won’t get worms!”

Near the end of his Wilson’s life he appeared on a network radio show where he spoke about the effects of “Demon Rum.” This was just a few months before his death from an internal hemorrhage on November 23, 1948. He was only 48. His body was unclaimed for three days before National League president Ford Frick paid for the funeral.

Monty Python in Chicago 1975

Great WTTW promos in Chicago by the Monty Python folks...

Twin Peaks Cast List

I was a huge fan of the original Twin Peaks and am eagerly awaiting the revival...even more so now that I see the cast list. The ones with an asterisk are returning cast members. The others include a pretty eclectic array of actors and artists, everyone from Richard Chamberlain to Eddie Vedder.

Mike Tirico Leaves ESPN

This is big news in the sports broadcasting world. Tirico has been play by play man on ESPN's Monday Night Football for many years, and is moving to NBC to host their Thursday Night Football broadcasts.

Variety has the details.

Not from North Carolina

Thanks to MT for sending this one along...

Barber Cuts Two Inches Off Boy

This is my son Johnny awaiting his haircut yesterday afternoon. (Not photoshopped)



This is what he looked like after his haircut.



The second one should be a little more appropriate for his graduation and Eagle Scout ceremony.

Rick Monday

40 years ago today @Cubs Rick Monday made the greatest play in baseball history. @Dodgers @VinScullyTweet 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/Ui8S3HIh8o

— Baseball Photos (@Baseball_Photos) April 25, 2016

Top that, fellas

Here's the headline: FIREFIGHTER PROPOSES TO GIRLFRIEND WHILE DANGLING FROM ROOF

First of all, he's a firefighter--the stuff of every girl's dreams.

Then he's a romantic firefighter--proposing in a dangerous and novel way.

All he needs is a secret fortune, and the romance novel is complete.

"Transparent" Wins a Peabody

I've always considered the Peabody Awards to be among the most prestigious awards for creatives.

"Transparent" was one of this year's winners, continuing the roll that show has been on.

Happy for Amy Landecker, one of the stars of the show.

Milwaukee Journal Reviews "Monkey in the Middle"

Milwaukee's paper of record, the Milwaukee Journal, reviews Dobie Maxwell's "Monkey in the Middle" in their Sunday April 24th edition.

You can read the full review by columnist Jim Stingl here.

The article is mostly about the bank robberies at the heart of the book, complete with facts from the orignal Milwaukee Journal coverage, but here's an additional excerpt...

There has been talk of turning "Monkey in the Middle" into a movie. The book opens with Maxwell sharing his rough start in life, which included having a drug addict mother who abandoned him and his siblings, and a father who was in a motorcycle gang. Maxwell was separated from his siblings — they have since reunited — and raised from age 5 months by his grandparents near 20th and Hampton.

Maxwell calls himself a dented can and, sarcastically, Mr. Lucky. But he has made a life working on the radio in Milwaukee, Chicago, Reno and Los Angeles, and in stand-up comedy, now mostly as a regular at Zanies clubs in the Chicago area. He also teaches comedy.

Maxwell's humorous approach to life comes through often in the book, even in his exchanges with federal agents and prosecutors. "I realize you're a comedian, but this is damn serious," one of them warns him.

Monkey in the Middle is available right here at Eckhartz Press.

The Ron Magers Ad Controversy

Don't know if you caught this little story about Ron Magers that exploded over the weekend. The timeline, as far as I can tell is this...

1) Ron Magers appears on Tony Lossano's podcast (Lossano and Friends), and says something nice about the WGN-TV Morning News when asked about it.

2) WGN runs an ad in the Tribune, displaying that quote.

3) Ron Magers gets very upset about them using his words without asking for permission...something he says he wouldn't have granted.

And now everybody is mad at each other.

The whole thing is a bummer for me, because I'm going to be appearing on this coming weekend's Lossano and Friends (true story), and I have no news to break.

Actually...wait a minute. I do have some news to break. It's the reason I'm appearing on the show.

I guess you'll have to tune in to find out what it is.

RIP Billy Paul

From rock historian Ron Smith...

Billy Paul, the Philadelphia soul singer who took “Me And Mrs. Jones” to #1 in 1972, died Sunday at a hospital in his home town just one week after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He was 81. Born Paul Williams, he began his career at the age of 11 singing on a local radio station. From the West Philadelphia Music School, he graduated to the Granoff School of Music. Soon he was performing as the opening act for some of the biggest acts in music under his new name. In 1952 he recorded his first singles, but his early career took a detour when he was drafted by the Army, where he served with Elvis Presley in Germany. Upon his release he continued to record (mostly jazz) to little success. It was in 1968, though, that he met producer Kenny Gamble. Signed to the fledgling Gamble label, he also recorded for Kenny (now with co-producer Leon Huff) on their Neptune label. But success was still elusive until the producers formed Philadelphia International, which was distributed by CBS. “Me And Mrs. Jones” became his only gold record and won Billy a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. But it proved to be his only top 40 hit, due mainly to controversial follow-up records like “Am I Black Enough For You” and “Let’s Make A Baby.” He did appear 12 more times on the R&B charts, but “Thanks For Saving My Life” (#9-1974) was his only other appearance in the R&B top ten. Billy officially “retired” in 1989 but continued to perform in concert and even released a live album in 2000.



Wrote a parody of this song during the Paula Jones controversy. Kind of a no-brainer.

How Bad Are Trump & Cruz?

Charles Koch, of Koch Brothers fame, told ABC News that Hillary might be a better president than either Trump or Cruz.

Hillary.

The Republican's personification of Satan might be a better president, according to one of the guys who bankrolled the campaign to destroy her husband.

That's how bad Trump and Cruz are

Gonna be a fun election, isn't it?

Radio Comes Out For Prince

From coast to coast, radio stations dropped their formats yesterday to pay tribute to Prince. From this morning's RAMP newsletter...

To pay proper tribute to an artist that has contributed a sizeable chunk to the soundtrack of our lives, hundreds of radio stations from coast to coast -- frankly, far too many to single out in this limited space -- broke from normal programming, updated their websites and billboards and cranked up nothing but Prince. And it sounded awesome. By last night, Prince's catalog had exploded on iTunes, occupying all ten of the Top Songs chart and nine of the Top Albums chart with "Purple Rain" at No. 1 on both

What Prince songs charted in Chicago? Courtesy of historian Ron Smith...

Prince's chart appearances in Chicago on WLS/WYTZ (alphabetically).
(Peak date, Peak position, Title)

9/10/1983 - 6 - 1999
7/2/1988 - 11 - Alphabet St.
11/24/1984 - 46 - Darling Nikki
11/12/1983 - 10 - Delirious
1/23/1988 - 10 - I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man
3/1/1980 - 21 - I Wanna Be Your Lover
1/19/1985 - 5 - I Would Die 4 U
4/19/1986 - 1-3 wks - Kiss
9/22/1984 - 3 - Let's Go Crazy
6/25/1983 - 4 - Little Red Corvette
6/28/1986 - 15 - Mountains
8/31/1985 - 11 - Pop Life
11/3/1984 - 2 - Purple Rain
7/20/1985 - 4 - Raspberry Beret
5/2/1987 - 17 - Sign 'O' The Times
3/23/1985 - 31 - Take Me With U
10/17/1987 - 1-2 wks - U Got The Look
8/20/1988 - 22 - When 2 R In Love
7/7/1984 - 1-4 wks - When Doves Cry

Remember when Prince played at the Super Bowl? That was the last time the Bears were in the big game, but nobody remembers that. They only remember this...



As for how television handled his death, after a rocky start, both CNN and MSNBC did well. And MTV went all-Prince. Although as Screengrabber reports, that wasn't without a hiccup...

MTV suspended all scheduled programming today to air an all-day Prince marathon in wake of the musician’s passing, but it looks like searching for “prince” in the network’s video database didn’t work so well. Sandwiched between videos for “New Power Generation” and “Controversy” turned up “Girls Ain’t Nothing But Trouble” by Fresh Prince & D.J. Jazzy Jeff.

Whoopsie Daisy.

One more Prince tidbit. I really enjoyed this interview with his bus driver in Billboard Magazine.

Great Sports Night in Chicago

First this incredible Jake Arrieta pitching performance. He threw his second no-hitter in his last eleven regular season starts. Oh, and by the way, the Cubs also scored 16 runs.

Jake Arrieta's no-hitter was the latest in a long string of dominant startshttps://t.co/oXS9l1Y1f5

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) April 22, 2016

Then, in a game that probably should have been won by the St. Louis Blues (they were the better team for most of the night), the Blackhawks stayed alive in a double overtime game. Guess who scored the game winner with an amazing individual play?

#Showtime! Patrick Kane scores the @Volkswagen 2OT Winner to save the Blackhawks from elimination. #TeamTiguanhttps://t.co/iCPXGODQQi

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 22, 2016

RIP Lonnie Mack

The whole world mourned the loss of Prince yesterday (including me), but we lost another great guitarist yesterday. Rock historian Ron Smith posted this on his facebook page...

Guitarist Lonnie Mack, best remembered for the 1963 instrumentals “Memphis” (#5) and “Wham!” (#14), died Thursday at a medical center near his home in Smithville, Tennessee. The Harrison, Indiana native (born Lonnie McIntosh) was 71. Known for his pioneering style (helped by the tremelo bar on his instrument), he not ony charted seven times on his own, but played on sessions for such music royalty as James Brown, Freddie King, Hank Ballard and-- most notably on the Doors’ “Morrison Hotel” (where Jim Morrison can be heard yelling, “Do it, Lonnie!”) He retired from 1971 to 1985 before being rediscovered by a new generation of musicians and fans, including Stevie Ray Vaughn. Lonnie was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 2005 and the International Guitar Hall of Fame in 2001.

RIP Prince

Shocking news. Big loss. Prince is dead. He was only 57.

He was one of the true giants of the music business.

Joe Walsh at the Republican Convention?

I heard that Joe Walsh was appearing at the Republican Convention in Cleveland, but assumed it was the blowhard former Congressman turned radio host Joe Walsh. I was mistaken. The real Joe Walsh (the guitarist) was actually booked for the kickoff concert. The only problem was that Joe was told it was a non-partisan concert for veterans.

When he found out the truth, he immediately pulled out, and released this statement...

"I am very concerned about the rampant vitriol, fear-mongering and bullying coming from the current Republican campaigns. It is both isolationist and spiteful. I cannot in good conscience endorse the Republican party in any way. I will look at doing a veteran related benefit concert later this year."

That sounds more like the Joe I know.

Around the Publishing World (April 21)

At Chicago Author Solutions (a division of Eckhartz Press), we stay on top of happenings/trends in the publishing world to help out busy writers who are spending their time doing what they should be doing: writing.


1. Tips from author Jennifer Brown
Who is Jennifer Brown? She's the author of the book "Modern Girls", a novel set in 1935. This is a great Q&A with her. We especially recommend you read the portion about researching.

2. How to promote your book politely
There are some very good Dos in this piece, but even better Don'ts. Take this advice seriously. As soon as you become a pain in the butt to people, they won't pay attention to a thing you say.

3. Writing Tips from Famous Authors
As a non-famous author, I'm always interested in what those who made it big have to say. I especially like this quote from Kurt Vonnegut: “The most damning revelation you can make about yourself is that you do not know what is interesting and what is not. Don’t you yourself like or dislike writers mainly for what they choose to show or make you think about? Did you ever admire an empty-headed writer for his or her mastery of the language? No.”

4. Kurt Vonnegut's Writing Tip
Speaking of Kurt Vonnegut...

Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you've been to college

— Kurt Vonnegut (@Kurt_Vonnegut) April 18, 2016

5. 20 tips for writing a captivating short story
Well thought out and presented. We present it for you in two parts...
Part 1
Part 2

6. The newest book from Eckhartz Press: Ranting of a Bitter Childless Woman
This book is available for pre-order now. Here's the description: Kids sucking on restaurant salt shakers—and parents nonchalantly putting them back on the table. Pregnant women driving alone in the carpool lane. Overtly sexy Halloween costumes for third-graders. Random strangers making unsolicited judgements about her reproductive status. These are just a handful of the situations Chicago native Jeanne Bellezzo comically explores in Rantings of a Bitter Childless Woman. Written from the witty, unapologetic perspective of a childless (and far from bitter) woman in a fiercely child-centric society, this collection of entertaining essays will have readers with and without children laughing, nodding, cringing — or throwing a tantrum.

Jeanne Bellezzo began writing Rantings of a Bitter Childless Woman as a blog and was surprised to find many like-minded fans across the country, including numerous parents. A Chicago native who relocated to Southern California because she was cold, Jeanne is a successful writer and editor who has co-authored several non-fiction books. She lives in northern San Diego County with her significant other, Joe, and two cats, Jake and Elwood. When she is not writing, Jeanne can be found in or near the ocean with friends (and sometimes even with their children).

And please keep your kids off her lawn.

Bill Faul and Joe McCarthy

Two of the more interesting characters in Cubs history are celebrating birthdays today. Here are their entries from our Every Cub Ever feature at Just One Bad Century...

~Bill Faul 1940 (Cubs 1965-1966)
Some players are known as characters. Some are known as eccentrics. Still others seem to have come from another planet. Bill Faul was one of those guys…and he wasn’t even a lefty…or a Californian. Faul pitched for the Cubs in 1965 and 1966. It’s safe to say that he had a quirk or two. For instance…

*He hypnotized himself before games and talked to his arm. Opposing players would make fun of him by swinging watches and saying ‘tick tock tick tock’ while he was pitching.

*He used to rip the heads off parakeets with his teeth (according to Bill Lee).

*He swallowed live toads, claiming they put “extra hop” on his fastballs.

*He liked to hold guys off the third or fourth floor hotel balcony by their ankles…upside down.

*His jersey number was — you guessed it — 13.

Former Detroit Tigers manager Chuck Dressen once said: “You watch him for a while, watch how he acts, talk to him, spend some time with him, and you figure either he’s the dumbest guy in the world or the smartest one you’ve ever met.” As wild and unpredictable as Faul was, he was cool as a cucumber on the field. He had to be awakened in the clubhouse only thirty minutes before his first major league start. Faul shook out the cobwebs, grabbed the ball, warmed up, and pitched a three-hitter. Faul always seemed to be in the middle of a lot of excitement. He was one of only a handful of pitchers to be involved in fielding a triple play, and one of only two major league pitchers in history to have three triple plays in one season while he was on the mound. He claimed the secret to his success was his hypnosis therapy, his background as a karate instructor in the Air Force (his hands and feet were both registered as dangerous weapons), and his spiritual consciousness (he was a Doctor of Divinity for the Universal Life Church). Unfortunately for Faul, the league figured him out in 1966. When his ERA climbed over 5, he was sent down to the minors and never returned to the Cubs. He kicked around the minor leagues for a few seasons before turning up for a cup of coffee with the Giants in 1970. Bill Faul died in 2002, at the age of 62. (Photo: Topps 1965 Baseball Card)

~Joe McCarthy 1887 (Cubs Manager 1926-1930)
Joe McCarthy was given the nickname of “Marse Joe” by sportswriters. “Marse” is a Southern English rendition of the word “master,” and from the moment he took over the Cubs in 1926, Marse Joe let it be known that he was in charge. He led them to the National League pennant in 1929, and never had a losing season as Cubs manager, but they fired him after the 1930 season because they didn’t think he had what it took to get to the next level. Unfortunately for the Cubs, they never got to that next level without him, and he got to the next level with Yankees seven times. Two of those times he beat the Cubs. Marse Joe is in baseball’s Hall of Fame.

Maybe the Sky Really Isn't Falling?

From this morning's Daily Beast...

The number of Americans filing for first-time state unemployment benefits last week dropped to the lowest point on record since the Nixon administration. Labor Department data released Tuesday show claims for the week of April 16 fell 6,000 to an unexpectedly small 247,000—a level not matched since late November 1973. Analysts say the drop reflects an increasingly strong job market and a relative lack of layoffs, despite broader worries about the strength of the U.S. economy.

RIP Chyna

The former wrestling star known as Chyna (Joanie Laurer) has passed away at the way too young age of 45. No word on the cause of death, but it should be noted that she once appeared on the television show "Celebrity Rehab".

Country Nirvana

Very odd cover of Nirvana's "In Bloom" done by Sturgill Simpson on the Daily Show last night...

Rich King on WLS

Yesterday morning Eckhartz Press author Rich King made an appearance on the Big John Howell Show on WLS.

You can listen to it here.

ESPN Fires Curt Schilling

They fired him for a social media post about transgender bathrooms.

I'm torn on this one. I think Schilling is a tool, and I disagree with his politics. Also, he was previously suspended for a different social media post (about Muslims), so it's not like he didn't know this was going to happen.

On the other hand, I don't think someone should be fired because of their politics. I know ESPN says that's not the reason he was fired, but it sure smells like it.

Should he have posted what he did? Of course not. Does this have anything to do with analyzing baseball (which is his job)? No. He's still pretty good at that job, by the way. And politics never comes up.

Michael Strahan & Kelly Ripa

I've always marveled at the quick and easy chemistry that Michael Strahan and Kelly Ripa shared on their morning chat show. But, apparently, that has been tested by Strahan's announcement that he is leaving the show to join Good Morning America full-time.

According to this piece, Kelly wasn't notified until a few minutes before the official announcement.

She hasn't been on the air with Michael since, and isn't on the schedule for the rest of the week.

RizzOs cereal a big hit

The Daily Herald has a story about the suprising success of Rizzo's cereal today. Several local Jewels have sold out.

I admit I bought a box for Sean. He hasn't tried it yet. Just wanted the box.

Channel 5 Wins a Peabody

From TV Spy...

NBC-owned WMAQ began its probe of the Chicago Police six months before an officer was charged with first-degree murder in the McDonald case. The judges said “WMAQ’s relentless, unrivaled reporting brought to light a host of police procedural infractions, official disinformation and outright lies, and contributed to a police department shake-up.”

RIP Milt Pappas

Former Cubs pitcher Milt Pappas was found dead in his home in Beecher, Illinois yesterday. RIP Milt. He was a very good pitcher and a very complicated man. The following is Milt's entry in our EVERY CUB EVER feature at Just One Bad Century...

~Milt Pappas 1939 (Cubs 1970-1973)
Pappas had some of his best seasons as a big league pitcher with the Cubs at the tail end of his career. In 1971 he became one of only ten pitchers in big league history to strike out the side on nine pitches. In 1972 he came just one out away from pitching a perfect game (and still hasn't forgiven the umpire for calling ball four on the 27th batter). He did pitch a no-hitter in that game. One of his other claims to fame is that he pitched the last day Elvis Presley ever appeared in Chicago. Though he was a two-time all-star and won more than 200 games in his career, Pappas was often embroiled in controversy. While he was with the Orioles, he admitted to grooving one to Roger Maris during his quest for 61 homers. He was traded to the Reds for Frank Robinson--who went on to win the triple crown for the Orioles. Milt got into a fight with Reds teammate Joe Nuxhall and was traded to the Braves. His Cubs career wasn't without controversy either. He was in the middle of the fight that may have led to Leo Durocher losing his team once and for all. The date was August 23, 1971. The Cubs were in the clubhouse before a game against the Cincinnati Reds. They were 11 games over .500 and only 4 1/2 games behind the first place Pittsburgh Pirates, but Leo was still upset with Milt. The previous game he had allowed the winning run in a 4-3 loss when Doug Radar hit an 0-2 pitch for a double. He called a club meeting and ripped Pappas for his stupidity. After his little speech he opened the floor for comments. Joe Pepitone was the first one to defend Milt. He said: "He didn't want to do it. Why are you always blaming people?" Ken Holtzman and Pappas also spoke out, ripping Durocher. That's when Leo lost it. He tore into every player on the team in a legendary expletive filled tirade. Among those he ripped was team captain Ron Santo. He said that Santo was a malingerer who played politics with the front office. Santo had to be physically restrained by his teammates. The Cubs somehow went out and won the game, but afterwards they spiraled into a deep losing streak. They lost 16 of their next 21 games. Durocher had lost the club forever. (Photo: Topps 1972 Baseball Card)

Umpire Bruce Froemming discussing Milt and that no-hitter...

Werner Landecker

Love this headline in the Laporte News: Before Landecker spun stacks of wax, his dad typed historic links of ink.

Of course this story is told in the pages of John's book "Records Truly Is My Middle Name", but it's still worth a read.

Mel Brooks Coming to Chicago for Blazing Saddles Q&A

This sounds like something you don't want to miss. The event is June 12th and the tickets ($70) go on sale on April 25th...

Geezer Fest

The biggest stars in rock and roll history are appearing at a music festival together October 7-9 in California. Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Roger Waters are all supposed to be on the bill. (Count me in)

The WXRT website has the scoop.

Best Fans in Baseball?

According to this piece in the New York Daily News, Cardinal fans were yelling the N-word at Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward last night during the Cubs victory.

Every city has morons (and racists)

But not every city claims to have "the best fans in baseball"

The Strangest Place You've Ever Made Whoopie

That was and probably still is a staple question on the Newlywed Game. Timeout Chicago decided to ask it in a rather different way. They asked people to confess via sticky notes.

Among the locations listed...

*UIC Men's public bathroom
*A stairwell at the Merchandise Mart
*Adler Planetarium
*On the Metra Train tracks
*On the red line during rush hour
*On a college football field (in the endzone)

And the most shocking...

*During Sunday Mass

Trump is Honored to Vote for Himself

When asked "What was it like to vote for yourself?" in NY primary, Trump says "It was a great honor." https://t.co/zm44BJ6eca

— ABC News (@ABC) April 19, 2016

Ten Years of Blogging: The Eric & Kathy Show Interviews

This is my tenth year of blogging and I've been going through the old archives of 30,000+ posts to highlight a few of my favorites. One of the best parts of this gig has been the chance to interview some of Chicago's radio pros. The top-rated personality radio show in Chicago for the past decade has been the Eric & Kathy show. I've interviewed everyone on that show mulitple times, and here are a few highlights...


The stars of the show...

Eric Ferguson: I’ve always believed that you should find out what people are good at, and then get out of their way and allow them to do it. That’s how we approach the show. We’re actually, believe it or not, one of the least structured shows out there, in terms of everyone knowing what is coming up next. I do the lion’s share of the show prep, Swany has a lot of organizational duties, and Kathy does too—she’s got a good eye for it. But once the show starts, somebody has to be driving the bus, and that’s my role. I like it that I’m getting real reactions from people that way, and I think it’s one of the reasons the show sounds so authentic and unscripted. It took awhile for everyone to buy into this approach because they’ve all been taught not to do it this way, but it’s the way I’ve always done it. Kathy had a hard time with it at first, but if you’re too prepared, you sound too prepared. I pointed out to her how great she was at reacting when she was just having a conversation. “Do you realize when you talk with your friends you don’t prep?” This is the same thing. We’re friends talking to each other on the radio.

Kathy Hart: The program director fired the morning show (Patterson and Faulkenberry) while I was doing PT/vacation fill-in. They put me in mornings while they looked for a replacement. They decided I “would do” in the meantime, but eventually I asked for a partner. I got into radio because it wasn’t a lot of work. Doing mornings by myself, I was waking up at 2:50am. That’s STUPID early. I was thrilled when Eric came on board because it meant less work for me and he grew up in Chicago. Bringing on a local boy meant not having to ‘explain’ Chicago to him. As much as I would like to take credit for our talent being the reason for our success, I believe our early success was a result of good timing. When we were finding our groove, Brandmeier and Wendy & Bill left the airwaves. It seems we got a few listeners ‘by default’ early on but eventually it was our incredible talent that kept them around. (Laughs) The sarcasm doesn’t translate on paper, does it?! In all seriousness, I believe it was as simple as our ability to relate to the audience and include them in the show.

Melissa does the traffic on the show...

Melissa McGurren: The Chicagoland area, which includes Northwest Indiana, has the most dedicated listening audience, which keeps me employed. Thank you, everyone!! I grew up in the Portage and Valparaiso area. Now I get to come to work and embarrass my friends and family from these cities by talking about them on the air. That means many people in the region walk around knowing I’ve shared some of their private moments. Okay, okay, so I haven’t been that bad. I at least ask before I tell! I’ve found everyone has a funny story.

Swany is the show's Executive Producer (and yes, the co-author of the Radio Producer's Handbook)

John "Swany" Swanson: I love all of our shows in front of live audiences. We've had some incredible ones. I totally dig meeting the people that listen to the show. That's the best. Probably the most memorable moment for me, though, was the time we appeared on the Today Show. They were doing a segment about "work spouses"--people who are together so much at work that they actually spend more time together than they do with their spouses. It was great exposure--Matt Lauer interviewed Eric and Kathy live on the air. Overall though, I have to say that building a morning show from the ground up, bringing it to the top, and keeping it there has been the greatest highlight of my career. Now, I just hope I can keep doing it so Eric & Kathy can make enough money in this business to retire.

Whip is the current newsman on the show...

Brian "Whip" Paruch: I really just try to write the news the way I speak, and try to think in terms of what our listeners would care about when I select stories. When there's an obvious lead story, like the elections, for example, I'll do that; but on other days, I'm not afraid to lead with, say, Charlie Sheen....while giving the "important" stuff its due, too.

Barry was the newsman on the show for the first decade. He sadly passed away last year...

Barry Keefe: I told our then-PD Barry James on the Friday of Eric’s first week that this thing was going to blast off. I still remember walking into the traffic office and seeing him and making sure he knew that. When Eric arrived, he and Kathy ignited the phones. And the targeting of women over and above what people had ever imagined before! What the hell did your average radio programmer out there THINK women talked about everyday? Purses, lipstick, cosmetic surgery, celebs and goofy domestic stuff. That’s especially true pre-parenting.

Mark Suppelsa did the news for a few years while also doing television news. It finally became too much for him, but he still appears on the show often...

Mark Suppelsa: My favorite part of the job is uncovering new information for a story you’re working. The chase is the challenge. The least favorite is the concept developed by consultants of selecting news story topics that supposedly attract a particular audience demographic. I’ve always felt, a good story, told well, will attract anyone.

Barry James is the man who put the show together, and served as the program director as it grew...

Barry James: A half-dozen people can take some credit for Eric & Kathy? So, that's where my share of the kitty went! I was their PD or Station Manager for their first 8 or so years. I've been asked a number of times about their success. My answer remains true to this day; they are where they are first and foremost because of their talent. My part in the process was to (a) identify talent, (b) nurture that talent through support and guidance and (c) step back and watch it grow. "C" is the hard part. Most program directors can't do that. It was the most difficult aspect of the process, but the one that reaped the greatest rewards.

Todd Cavanah

Just arrived in my e-mail box. CBS Radio in Chicago has a new programming boss...

Todd Cavanah has been named Vice President of programming for CBS RADIO Chicago, it was announced today by Tim Pohlman, Senior Vice President and Market Manager, CBS RADIO Chicago. In this new role, Cavanah will work closely with the market’s six brands including WBBM-FM (Top 40), WJMK-FM (Classic Hits), WUSN-FM (Country), WXRT-FM (Adult Alternative), WBBM-AM/WCFS-FM (News), and WSCR-AM (Sports). Cavanah will focus on long-term programming strategy and identifying opportunities that will continue to drive station ratings for the CBS RADIO Chicago stations.

Cavanah has been the PD of at least two of those stations (WBBM & WJMK), so he does seem like a natural choice.

RIP Doris Roberts

She was best known as the mom on Everybody Loves Raymond, a show I consider one of the top five comedies of all-time. She passed away yesterday at the age of 90.

I had one encounter with Doris during my radio days. My writing partner Dave and I wrote a script for Everybody Loves Raymond, and during a CBS media tour in Los Angeles, tried to give it to her to see what she thought. She reacted like she was being given something radioactive. That's when I learned the Hollywood rule about scripts. No one will take an unsolicited script like that for fear of being sued if they came up with something similar. (I still have that script somewhere...I should dig it out and post a scene or two. It obviously doesn't matter anymore--the show has been off the air for more than a decade.)

Other than the radioactive horror, she was actually very nice. And quite funny. Her character in the show was simply tremendous...

The 2016 Pulitzers

Here's the whole list...The 2016 Pulitzer Prize Winners

JOURNALISM

Public Service - Associated Press

Breaking News Reporting - Los Angeles Times Staff

Investigative Reporting - Leonora LaPeter Anton and Anthony Cormier of the Tampa Bay Times and Michael Braga of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Explanatory Reporting - T. Christian Miller of ProPublica and Ken Armstrong of The Marshall Project

Local Reporting - Michael LaForgia, Cara Fitzpatrick and Lisa Gartner of the Tampa Bay Times

National Reporting - The Washington Post Staff

International Reporting - Alissa J. Rubin of The New York Times

Feature Writing - Kathryn Schulz of The New Yorker

Commentary - Farah Stockman of The Boston Globe

Criticism - Emily Nussbaum of The New Yorker

Editorial Writing - John Hackworth of Sun Newspapers, Charlotte Harbor, FL

Editorial Cartooning - Jack Ohman The Sacramento Bee

Breaking News Photography - Mauricio Lima, Sergey Ponomarev, Tyler Hicks and Daniel Etter of The New York Times

and

Photography Staff of Thomson Reuters

Feature Photography - Jessica Rinaldi of The Boston Globe


LETTERS DRAMA AND MUSIC

Fiction - The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Grove Press)

Drama - Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda

History - Custer's Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America by T.J. Stiles (Alfred A. Knopf)

Biography - Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan (Penguin Press)

Poetry - Ozone Journal by Peter Balakian (University of Chicago Press)

Nonfiction - Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS by Joby Warrick (Doubleday)

Music - In for a Penny, In for a Pound by Henry Threadgill (Pi Recordings)

Chicago 1975

This is B-roll and street scenes from a WGN report in 1975. Dig the old movie theaters showing the trashy films, including X-rated fare.