Media Notebook--11-18-22

MEDIA NOTEBOOK

A curation of news items about the media from this past week, with a particular emphasis on Chicago…

 

RADIO/PODCASTS

 

*R.I.P. Jim Bohannan

= Cancer has claimed another victim. For the past few years the nationally syndicated Radio Hall of Famer has been on WGN Radio (from Washington) hosting overnights. The news of his death wasn’t unexpected. Jim stepped down a few weeks ago for health reasons. Jim Bohannan was 78.

=Bohannan was a gifted broadcaster. I once witnessed him do an unexpected live interview with Bradley Whitford (from West Wing). Jim was interviewing John Landecker and had no idea that John’s son-in-law (Bradley) would be there, but he effortlessly brought Whitford into the conversation and had a very entertaining chat with him, despite the differences in their political opinions (Bohannan skews right, Whitford left). I was impressed.

=I should also note that when Landecker and I were working on John’s memoir Records Truly Is My Middle Name, I asked Bohannan to contribute to the book because I knew of his admiration for Landecker. He was gracious and kind and didn’t hesitate.

 

*Steve Cochran Show celebrates 100^th episode at WLS

=Steve has navigated most of the radio dial in Chicago, having worked at WCKG, WPNT, WGN, WLUP, WIND. His latest home is WLS, AM 890. This week the show celebrated its 100^th episode.

 

*Hanksgiving

=If you happen to be in Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving, you might want to turn on the radio. Tom Hanks is taking over a radio station (WYEP) and curating their music from 8am—7pm. He has been in Pittsburgh filming the movie “A Man Called Otto.” Hanks is a music lover, particularly rock and roll, and if the film “That Thing You Do” is any indication, he has a great taste in music.

*Podcast Corner

=In Chicago, the Bears are always king (even when they aren’t good). This podcast guest is perfect for the 2022 Bears season. Peggy Kusinski and Jason Kinander (The Sportscaster and Her Son) speak with the last Bears quarterback who ran more than he passed, Bobby Douglass.

=Time Magazine came out with their list of the top ten podcasts.

=Elon Musk has been in the news a lot lately (including further down in this column), but few people have the insight into Elon that journalist Kari Swisher does. Her podcast about him, entitled ‘Elon Musk: Someone I Used To Know’ is worth a listen.

=The Divided Dial is a WNYC podcast that covers one of my favorite topics: How did the political media get here? This particular episode is about talk radio and how one party managed to dominate the radio airwaves.

=When a writer has Seinfeld, Cheers, and 3^rd Rock from the Sun on his resume, I’m interested in hearing what his podcast is about. The writer is Andy Cowan, and the title of his podcast gives you a good idea: The Neurotic Vaccine.

=I’m a huge soccer fan, so these next few weeks I’ll surely catch World Cup fever. There are several podcasts to check out during the tournament, but one is a little more star-studded than the others. It’s called After the Whistle, and it will be hosted by NBC’s Rebecca Lowe and Ted Lasso’s Brendan Hunt.

=Of course, I also co-host a soccer podcast with the Illinois Youth Soccer Association’s Director of Coaching Adam Howarth called Free Kicks with Adam and Rick. Our World Cup preview special drops today.

 

*Radio Legends Returning to the Airwaves

=Steve Dale had a great interview with the legendary Fred Winston (WLS, WCFL, WFYR, WJMK, etc) this week. I missed it when it was live, so I’m so happy they posted it on the WGN Radio website.

=Garry Meier also made a few terrestrial radio stops this past week, including a visit with Sherman and Tingle at the Drive, and a return to Garry’s old stomping grounds at WGN (he was on with Dave Plier). I include this photo from Steve Bertrand’s Facebook page, because I’m calling it the Steve & Garry reunion…

 

 

MEDIA BIRTHDAYS/MILESTONES

 

*Jimmy Baron’s birthday was November 13. Baron grew up in the Chicago area, and briefly worked as a producer for Jonathan Brandmeier in the early 90s. Jimmy mainly made his mark in radio in Atlanta as a morning show co-host.

 

*Dag Juhlin’s birthday was November 14. Dag is not only a great guitarist (Poi Dog Pondering, the Slugs, and several other bands), he’s one of the co-hosts of Steve Dahl’s podcast. I got a chance to interview him last year.

*Jimmy Piersall was born on November 14. The late White Sox broadcaster is still fondly remembered. It seems everyone who knew him has a story about Jimmy. I’ve been told a few great ones, including Jimmy’s challenge to race former White Sox slugger Eric Soderholm, and a Central Park challenge Jimmy issued to his White Sox radio-booth mate Rich King. My own personal story about Jimmy involves such an over-the-top expletive-filled tirade when I asked him to appear on a show I was producing that it actually made me laugh out loud. (Needless to say, he didn't do the show)

 

*This week in 1977, an agreement was reached regarding the classical station WEFM. Lee Abrams had big plans to turn it into a Top 40 Rock station. His story about the greatest station that never was, is a fascinating read. You’ll recognize a few of the names involved. WEFM, by the way, is now US-99 (and has been since 1982).

*Former WLUP program director Rick Balis’ birthday is today (November 18). Balis made his mark as a programmer in St. Louis guiding the legendary rock station KSHE for many years.

 

*WBEZ’s Mary Dixon’s birthday is November 19. I interviewed Mary for Illinois Entertainer back in her WXRT days, when she was the news anchor on Lin Brehmer’s show.

 

*Radio and Television host David Kaplan (ESPN Radio/See below for his TV news) also has a November 19 birthday. This interview with David for Chicago Radio Spotlight dates back to 2011.

 

*And finally, the late Larry King was born on November 19. I never had the chance to interview Larry myself, but I do have an entertaining story about my brush with the former CNN host. It involves Ross Perot, Al Gore, and an angry radio general manager.

 

 

TV/STREAMING

 

 

*David Kaplan leaving NBC Sports Chicago

=He announced the news via YouTube last night...

*WCIU Airing High School Football Championships

= There’s nothing quite like a high school football game. WCIU-TV (Channel 26 in Chicago) has the rights to air the championship games at every level this year. The 1A, 2A, 3A, and 4A games will air next Friday (November 25) beginning at 10am. The 5A, 6A, 7A, and 8A games will air on Saturday (November 26), also beginning at 10am.

 

*Good Morning America in Chicago

=At least for a segment on Thursday. They were doing a contest called “The United States of Pie.” The local Chicago judges for this feature were ABC-7 Chicago meteorologist Greg Dutra, Top Chef winner Joe Flamm, and WGCI’s Kendra G.

 

*The Last Grown Up in Washington Journalism

=That’s the title that has been bestowed upon Judy Woodruff, who is stepping down at PBS after a distinguished career in television journalism. The New York Times has a nice profile of the PBS Newshour host during her final days on the air. The new hosts, by the way, will be Geoff Bennett and Amna Nawaz.

 

*Streaming Corner

=The modern-day western, Yellowstone, returned for a 5^th season this past week (on Paramount) and scored big numbers. Variety has the full story.

*R.I.P Robert Clary

=The Hogan's Heroes star died this week at the age of 96. Me-TV is going to pay tribute to him by playing some of his classic Hogan's Heroes episodes on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of next week, from 9:00-10pm each night.

 

 

SOCIAL MEDIA/DIGITAL

 

*Teen Life on Social Media

=The Pew Research Center just released a survey of teens about their usage of and feelings about social media. The results are here. The majority of teens say that social media strengthens their friendships and offers support. However, they are also very aware of the potential pitfalls. As the parent of three young social media aficionados, I found this survey oddly comforting.

 

*Elon Musk’s $44 Billion Implosion

=The L.A. Times has this headline: Is the World’s Richest Man the World’s Worst Boss?

=The Washington Post got a copy of his e-mail to employees, and boy oh boy: “We will need to be extremely hardcore…this will mean working long hours under high intensity…only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade.”

=Did you catch the story about him firing his employee on Twitter? NBC News has the details.

=The New York Times has this headline: If you want to understand how dangerous Musk is, look outside of America.

=And all of that was before this news last night...

NEW: Twitter just alerted employees that effective immediately, all office buildings are temporarily closed and badge access is suspended. No details given as to why.

— Zoë Schiffer (@ZoeSchiffer) November 17, 2022

=And by the end of the night, this was happening. 

NGL I love twitter employees 😭😭😭 they roasting this fool #RIPTwitter pic.twitter.com/nOEuSxtHcv

— 𝒮𝒸🅾☯️ter🐐 (@IanScottie4) November 18, 2022

 

*Amazon to lay off 10,000 employees

=The tech sector seems to be alerting us to a coming downturn. This Amazon news is coming on the heels of the layoffs at Meta and Twitter. On the other hand, Jeff Bezos also announced this week that he would give away the bulk of his $100+ billion fortune. (Just not to his employees, apparently.)

 

 

PRINT MEDIA

 

*Jonathan Swan Moves to the New York Times

=He’s one of the best interviewers around. Swan moves over from Axios.

*R.I.P Michael Gershon

=This is sad news. Gershon was a Washington Post opinion columnist, and former speechwriter for George W. Bush. As a columnist, he was fair, and consistent. He passed away this week at the way too young age of 58. His colleague Karen Tumulty has written a fitting tribute to him in today’sWashington Post.

 

 

*Washington Post Managing Editor Leaves                                                                                 

=Steven Ginsberg has chosen to leave his post at the Washington Post to run the Athletic. The Athletic is a sports-news outlet owned by the New York Times parent company. Ginsberg had recently been passed over for the top job at the Post. 

 

 

*As the Rupert Turns

=Major slam of Donald Trump sent out this week by Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post. Check out the ‘bottom of the front-page afterthought’ the morning after Trump’s presidential announcement. It says “Florida Man Makes Announcement” and directs readers to page 26. Isn’t it something when a media mogul billionaire acts like a kid on a playground because he knows it will tick off the other billionaire kid on the playground?

 

OTHER MEDIA

 

*2022 Grammy Nominees Announced

=Got a few Chicago names in this batch, including J. Ivey, Justin Roberts, and the immortal Buddy Guy.

 

*Salt Shed Lineup for 2023

=The new local concert venue has announced their schedule for next year. Some big names on this list like Iggy Pop, the Roots, and Third Eye Blind.

FYI: There will be no media notebook next week. I'll be back on December 2.

If you have any media stories (Chicago or national) that you think I might like to share in future columns, feel free to drop me a line at rick@eckhartzpress.com or amishrick@yahoo.com

Back in the D.D.R

Eckhartz Everyday

 Two Eckhartz Press books held star studded book launch parties on this day. 

*In 2013, it was Chuck Quinzio, and his book Life Behind the Camera. Here are a photos from that day...

A special signing pen was very busy on Saturday night

CBS’ Derrick Blakely, Chuck, and former NBC cameraman James Strickland

Chuck and Fox’s Dane Placko

WCPT’s Dick Kay and Chuck

Fox Chicago’s Joanie Lum gets a book signed by Chuck

Chuck with ABC’s Paul Meinke

NBC’s Phil Rodgers and Chuck

The author and his proud wife Nancy

“Life Behind the Camera” is available right here at Eckhartz Press.

*On this day in 2021, Randy Merkin had his book launch party for Behind the Glass. Here are a few photos...

Minutia Men Celebrity Interview--Maitland Ward

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

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

Back in the D.D.R

Eckhartz Everyday

 *On this day in 2021, Robert Feder reported the following news in the Daily Herald...

A new book about the late Chicago White Sox legend Dick Allen has just been optioned for a documentary film. Chili Dog MVP: Dick Allen, The 1972 White Sox and a Transforming Chicago, soon to be published by Chicago-based Eckhartz Press, was written by John Owens and Dr. David Fletcher and edited by veteran sportswriter, baseball historian and author George Castle. (Here is the link to order.) “We look back at this unique time in Chicago history, when the arrival of a controversial slugger lifted the Sox out of a daunting hole and united a fractious fan base during a time when Chicago was going through tremendous changes,” said Owens, a longtime producer and president of the Chicago/Midwest chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Allen, who missed induction to Cooperstown by one vote in 2014, is on the 10-person National Baseball Hall of Fame’s Golden Days Era Committee ballot. Andy Billman, the former ESPN producer who directed episodes of the “30 For 30” series, optioned the book and will be with Allen’s family in Orlando for the Hall of Fame vote December 5. A portion of the book’s proceeds will be donated to Gilda’s Club Chicago. 

 *On this day in 2016, Bobby Skafish appeared at Lone Star Steak House to promote his book We Have Company.

*On this day in 2018, I attended the gut-wrenching farewell party to my long time friend and Eckhartz Press author, Mark Gelinas. You can see some photos and read the piece I wrote about the party, right here.

*Today is author Robert Walker's birthday. Walker is not an Eckhartz Press author, but he is an Eckhartz Press blurber. Here's what he said about Randy Richardson's first book with us, Cheeseland...

• Cheeseland’ is a novel that touches the reader; a novel about life, death, and how we choose to live our lives…how we want the dash between the dates on our tombstone to resonate.

  --Robert Walker, author of "Titanic 2012", "Bismark 2013", and "Children of Salem"

Renewing My Vows

 Today is my anniversary. My 31st anniversary. Back in 2001, on my 10th anniversary, we renewed our vows. I wrote about this in my book The Radio Producer's Handbook....

Renewing My Vows

November 16, 2001, Bridget and I renewed our wedding vows live on the air. I described it in this short section of my book..."The Radio Producer's Handbook." The photos are a bonus for the blog readers.



The John Landecker show did a week of live broadcasts from the Dominican Republic. Every morning there were huge technical issues to overcome, but the shows were quite memorable. Rick Kaempfer and his wife renewed their vows live on the air (for their tenth anniversary). The ceremony was perfect for the radio. It was a surprise for Rick’s wife, but every element of it was pre-approved by Rick and John.






There were visual elements (the bride arrived on horseback, the groom arrived on burro) and audio elements (music, crowd reaction, and an audio play by play provided by John), plus it was all captured by the digital camera and instantaneously placed on the station’s Web site.







The live audience felt like they were involved in something special. The show ended with Rick and Bridget, each holding one of their young sons, slow dancing to their wedding song. There wasn’t a dry eye in the audience, and the listeners at home got to listen to the song, and see the pictures on the Web site—a truly multi-media experience.





























The only problem with this wonderful moment, of course, is that anything I do for our anniversaries now pales in comparison.

I usually just get her a card.

Eckhartz Everyday

 On this day in 2021, Jim Baumann appeared on John Landecker's show on WGN discussing his book Grammar Moses. You can listen to it here.

Grammy Nominations

 The full list is here. These are the only categories I know (or care) about..

Best Rock Performance

“So Happy It Hurts,” Bryan Adams
“Old Man,” Beck
“Wild Child,” The Black Keys
“Broken Horses,” Brandi Carlile
“Crawl!,” Idles
“Patient Number 9,” Ozzy Osbourne featuring Jeff Beck
“Holiday,” Turnstile

Best Rock Song

“Black Summer,” Flea, John Frusciante, Anthony Kiedis and Chad Smith, songwriters (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

“Blackout,” Brady Ebert, Daniel Fang, Franz Lyons, Pat McCrory and Brendan Yates, songwriters (Turnstile)

“Broken Horses,” Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth and Tim Hanseroth, songwriters (Brandi Carlile)

“Harmonia’s Dream,” Robbie Bennett and Adam Granduciel, songwriters (The War on Drugs)

“Patient Number 9,” John Osbourne, Chad Smith, Ali Tamposi, Robert Trujillo and Andrew Wotman, songwriters (Ozzy Osbourne featuring Jeff Beck)

Best Rock Album

“Dropout Boogie,” The Black Keys
“The Boy Named If,” Elvis Costello & the Imposters
“Crawler,” Idles
“Mainstream Sellout,” Machine Gun Kelly
“Patient Number 9,” Ozzy Osbourne
“Lucifer on the Sofa,” Spoon

Best Alternative Music Performance

“There’d Better Be a Mirrorball,” Arctic Monkeys
“Certainty,” Big Thief
“King,” Florence + the Machine
“Chaise Longue,” Wet Leg
“Spitting Off the Edge of the World,” Yeah Yeah Yeahs featuring Perfume Genius

Best Alternative Music Album

“We,” Arcade Fire
“Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You,” Big Thief
“Fossora,” Björk
“Wet Leg,” Wet Leg
“Cool It Down,” Yeah Yeah Yeahs

 

Q&A with “Leaving Glory for Greatness” author Lou Macaluso

Posted on Nov. 15, 2022

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Leaving Glory for Greatness is our newest book at Eckhartz Press. Lou Macaluso is our newest author. We got a chance this week to sit down with Lou and discuss this exciting new book…

EP: “Leaving Greatness for Glory” is the life story of LaMarr Thomas. First of all, tell us a little bit about who this man was.

Lou: In 1966, LaMarr was an All-State football and Basketball star, High School All-American at Thornton Township High School in Harvey, Illinois, and Honor Student. He went on to Michigan State University where he became the Spartans’ lead rusher and 8th leading rusher in the Big 10 Conference for legendary Coach Duffy Daugherty in 1967. During the offseason, he challenged the MSU Athletic Department with race discrimination that led to an all-school black athlete boycott when the Athletic Director scoffed at their demands. The boycott generated national attention. The A.D. caved on the demands, and LaMarr ended the boycott; however, when he returned to football practice, a knee injury (possibly retribution from disgruntled teammates) ended his participation for the 1968 season. While recuperating he decided to end his collegiate and possibly NFL football career to become a scholar and to fight for the civil rights of all Americans. He protested for human rights all over the country, wrote scholarly papers and books, worked for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and saved his alma mater, Thornton High School, from extinction by raising millions of dollars for educational programs—all while fighting a rare form of cancer that took his life in 2019.

EP: It’s a fascinating story, but what was it about LaMarr that made you decide to write this book?

Lou: I, too, attended Thornton Township High School when LaMarr attended. I’ve never known anyone with his talent and charisma that so humbly served others and asked for nothing in return. I think everyone can learn from this book, as I did, how we should all be living our lives.

EP: Not all of Chicagoland remembers LaMarr, but there is one place that has never forgotten him. Tell us about his connection to his high school alma mater, and how important they have been in the creation of the book.

Lou: Simply put, Thornton Township High School was the number one high school in the state for decades because of the huge tax base in Harvey, Illinois due to the dozens of factories. Those factories moved away, and it became the poorest city in Illinois. When the school was set to close in 2002, LaMarr helped organize the Thornton Alumni Legacy Fund that raised millions of dollars not only to save the school but to restore it to its former status. Thornton has is helping to market Leaving Glory for Greatness. All author residuals will go to Thornton High School.

EP: LaMarr’s path crossed some big names in two different worlds, in the sports world, and in the civil rights community. Give us a few names from both worlds that found their way into the pages of your book.

Lou: Of course, Duffy Daugherty, actor/NFL star Bubba Smith, Gale Sayers, NBA star Jim Ard to name a few. Several civil rights figures are mentioned, but most prominent is Martin Luther King, Jr.

EP: Comedian Tom Dreesen has blurbed the book. Why did he decide to jump in to help promote it?

Lou: Tommy attended Thornton and loves the school and Harvey, Illinois as much as LaMarr and the author. Moreover, LaMarr and Tom formed a close bond toward the end of LaMarr’s life. Tom was one of the last persons that LaMarr called when LaMarr lay dying. It’s difficult not to tear up when one reads Tom’s recollection of that conversation.

EP: This is your first book for Eckhartz Press, but it’s not your first book. Talk a bit about some of the previous stories you’ve chronicled.

Lou: My first book, Clown Town, is an autobiographical account of my struggle with an eye affliction and my fear of death while growing up in a Chicago south suburb. The Warming Sicilian Son (no misspelling) intertwines a trip my wife and I took to Sicily with my grandfather’s immigration to America; it’s a novella. My next two books, In Search of Sal and Déjà vu, Italian Style, are murder mysteries based on true stories. Respectively, “Sal” was inspired by the death of another Thornton alumnus, Stanley DeSantis-a Hollywood movie character actor, and “Déjà vu” was inspired by the corruption in Chicago during the extension of the Blue Line Elevator Train construction during the Jane Byrne era. My most recent book before “Leaving Glory” was The Greatest Escape, based on the true story of a group of senior citizens who escaped from East to West Berlin during the Cold War—optioned for a movie and perhaps my most ambitious project, taking almost 20 years in the research and writing.

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. 

Eckhartz Everyday

 “Death of the Angels” tells the tale of one of Chicago’s most tragic events–the fire that took the lives of so many children at the Our Lady of the Angels school in 1958. Those that have been touched by this tragedy were altered forever. Former reporter (WGN, WLS) Alex Burkholder had been interviewing people that were there that day for the past several decades. He finally put this all together into a book form, which was officially released on the 60th anniversary of the fire. This Q&A took place on this day in 2018.

EP: Alex, you have a long and distinguished journalism background. Where and when did you work in Chicago?

Alex: Born and raised in Chicago. In 1962 while still at Northwestern University worked for Lerner Newspapers (Skokie Life) covering various village board meetings. 1963 to WGN Radio and TV. 1984 moved to ABC7 with John Drury. Retired in 2008 after a total of 46 years.

EP: You’ve obviously taken that journalistic approach to this book. What was it about this fire that initially captured your imagination?

Alex: Just hearing the terrible stories that day as a high school senior and fire buff I wanted to know more about the tragedy and curiosity increased over the years.

EP: A lot of the interviews were conducted many years ago. How long have you been working on this project?

Alex: There was a great deal accomplished with the interviews done in the 1970s. I’ve collected more information over the ensuing years and decided in the summer of 2017 that it was time to give the public a fresh look at something that never should have happened.

EP: Is there anyone involved in the fire that you wish you could have interviewed but didn’t?

Alex: Two people: 18th Battalion Chief Miles Devine for more information about his first minutes on the scene of the fire, and Family Court Judge Alfred Cilella, who in 1962 ignored evidence the fire might have been set. Cilella died of a heart attack in 1964.

EP: The book does a great job of painting a picture of what happened that day–complete with room maps, photographs, and interviews with survivors. Did you have a hard time tracking all of this information down?

Alex: No, there was a lot of information out there including new revelations from those interviews and excellent photos from the newspapers and the Chicago Fire Department.

EP: What do you think is the lesson to learn from this tragic event?

Alex: Don’t ignore fire hazards, correct them immediately. If fire doors had been placed on the east end of the school’s second-floor hallway we would not be doing this today.

How Cool Is This?

It’s Amazing who you run into in an airport Lounge! None other than Uncle Paul….
So, so lovely, and what are the chances…

Thankful…. ❤️🙏🏻😘 pic.twitter.com/OR2glVe7Gl

— Julian Lennon (@JulianLennon) November 12, 2022

Minutia Men--KFC, WTF?

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

What not to do on an airplane, the worst employee screw-up of all-time by KFC, the Broadway museum, nurse taxidermy, Rick plays guitar for Jim Peterik, and a listener story about one of the biggest celebrities in the world. [Ep292]

Eckhartz Everyday

 

Former Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne passed away on this day in 2014, at the age of 80. John Landecker met her several times over the years, and has a story about her in the book “Records Truly Is My Middle Name“.

A momentous political event happened in Chicago. The city elected its first female mayor, Jane Byrne. By a strange twist of fate, Byrne became the Mayor of Chicago around the same time the song “Jane” by Jefferson Starship became a hit.

I had the idea to do a parody song about our mayor to the tune of that song. This is another story about the power of WLS. Because of who we were, and the number of listeners WLS had, someone actually managed to get Jefferson Starship to send me a mix of the song, recorded by the actual band, without any lead vocal on it.

I decided, in my grandiosity, that this wasn’t big enough. Now that I’m looking back at this, I can’t even begin to understand how in the world I pulled this off, but I did. I flew down to Dallas where Jefferson Starship was performing, and the record company flew in Jefferson Starship’s producer Ron Nevison with the original tracks to the song. Even though I was all fucked up on coke and couldn’t sing for shit, with the use of technical wizardry, Nevison somehow managed to put together a passable version of the song.

The hotel that night was wild. Just imagine, all of these people were staying there at the same time: Jefferson Starship, Molly Hatchet, Michelle Phillips from the Mamas and the Papas, and a former member of the Brady Bunch. It was quite the scene. The day after the recording, Paul Kantner, Nevison, Paula and I drove into Dallas. Kantner had some pot and lit up a joint in the car, but before passing it he warned me: “It’s really strong stuff.”

Paul was right.

He also said that Grace Slick told him that the shopping center we were going to reminded her of Oz. OK, Grace, if you say so.

My parody of “Jane” got a good reaction on the air, but it wasn’t the only song I wrote about Jane Byrne. Around this time, I hung out with a band called The Kind. After I got off the air, I would go out and see these guys, get drunk, go up on stage, and sing “Gloria” with them. Eventually I got The Kind to back me on another parody song about Jane Byrne called “Cabrini Green” which was done to the AC/DC song “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.” It was about her controversial and bizarre decision to move into the Cabrini Green housing projects to prove that they really were safe.