And the answer ain't "more guns"

Americans account for 82 percent of all gun deaths among 23 high-income countries. https://t.co/ee38IyQPcm pic.twitter.com/JehA6nr2oq

— ProPublica (@ProPublica) March 9, 2016

Hillary's E-mails

I think this opening paragraph in the Washington Post article about Hillary's e-mails (written by Ruth Marcus) is a grabber...

For those of you salivating — or trembling — at the thought of Hillary Clinton being clapped in handcuffs as she prepares to deliver her acceptance speech at the Democratic convention this summer: deep, cleansing breath. Based on the available facts and the relevant precedents, criminal prosecution of Clinton for mishandling classified information in her emails is extraordinarily unlikely.

The whole article is a pretty sane (and fair) analysis of the situation. Basically the conclusion is that the use of the e-mail server was stupid, but not criminal.

iHeart is about to iMplode

The biggest radio company in the world, iHeart media--formerly Clear Channel, is on the verge of disaster. I've written previously about their ridiculous debt. I've always warned that one day the chicken has to come home to roost. That day may be coming VERY soon according to this morning's Tom Taylor NOW column...

iHeart can’t kick the can down the road any more – It owes too much. Some bondholders claim the company recently violated some covenants and triggered an “event of default.” That was Monday, and iHeart dashed to State District Court in San Antonio and sued the bondholders. It’s asking for a declaratory judgment that it’s not in default, and requesting temporary and permanent injunctions “to fully protect our rights.” Will that work, though? By selling off some assets (broadcast towers, some outdoor assets) and exchanging some debt for new high-interest notes, the company thought it had bought enough time to get to 2018, when there’s a real crunch - like over $1 billion due in 2018 and another $8.3 billion in 2019. This year only about $193 million worth of notes mature. But the company’s recent trick of contributing 100 million shares of Class B stock of its Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings subsidiary to a new subsidiary named “Broader Media” (February 4 NOW) ticked off some bondholders. Collectively, they own more than 25% of iHeart’s priority guarantee notes, and they’re the ones who filed Notices of Default.

RIP George Martin

He really was the 5th Beatle; as important to the band as any other member. RIP George Martin, gone at the age of 90. Ringo tweeted this last night...

Thank you for all your love and kindness George peace and love xx😎✌️🌟💖 pic.twitter.com/um2hRFB7qF

— #RingoStarr (@ringostarrmusic) March 9, 2016

Paul McCartney tweeted this...

"The world has lost a truly great man..." Paul McCartney on George Martin: https://t.co/M2ySCKfisO pic.twitter.com/dDE5cm2F0a

— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) March 9, 2016

He wrote this in tribute to him at Paulmccartney.com...

I’m so sad to hear the news of the passing of dear George Martin. I have so many wonderful memories of this great man that will be with me forever. He was a true gentleman and like a second father to me. He guided the career of The Beatles with such skill and good humour that he became a true friend to me and my family. If anyone earned the title of the fifth Beatle it was George. From the day that he gave The Beatles our first recording contract, to the last time I saw him, he was the most generous, intelligent and musical person I’ve ever had the pleasure to know.

It’s hard to choose favourite memories of my time with George, there are so many but one that comes to mind was the time I brought the song 'Yesterday’ to a recording session and the guys in the band suggested that I sang it solo and accompany myself on guitar. After I had done this George Martin said to me, "Paul I have an idea of putting a string quartet on the record". I said, “Oh no George, we are a rock and roll band and I don’t think it’s a good idea”. With the gentle bedside manner of a great producer he said to me, "Let us try it and if it doesn’t work we won’t use it and we’ll go with your solo version". I agreed to this and went round to his house the next day to work on the arrangement.

He took my chords that I showed him and spread the notes out across the piano, putting the cello in the low octave and the first violin in a high octave and gave me my first lesson in how strings were voiced for a quartet. When we recorded the string quartet at Abbey Road, it was so thrilling to know his idea was so correct that I went round telling people about it for weeks. His idea obviously worked because the song subsequently became one of the most recorded songs ever with versions by Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye and thousands more.

This is just one of the many memories I have of George who went on to help me with arrangements on 'Eleanor Rigby', 'Live and Let Die' and many other songs of mine.

I am proud to have known such a fine gentleman with such a keen sense of humour, who had the ability to poke fun at himself. Even when he was Knighted by the Queen there was never the slightest trace of snobbery about him.

My family and I, to whom he was a dear friend, will miss him greatly and send our love to his wife Judy and their kids Giles and Lucy, and the grandkids.

The world has lost a truly great man who left an indelible mark on my soul and the history of British music.

God bless you George and all who sail in you!

Paul

You can hear the string quartet in Eleanor Rigby below...



George also added/improvised the keyboard solo in the middle one of my favorite Beatles songs, "In My Life"...



Huge, huge loss to the musical world.

RIP Sir George.

Free Excerpt from The Daly News: Commentary March 8, 1972

Some of the treasures in Joel Daly's book "The Daly News" are the television commentaries he sprinkled throughout the book. Joel delivered nightly commentaries on Channel 7 News for a decade, and it just happened to be the most tumultuous decade of all-time. This is his commentary from March 8, 1972; a time when bombings were becoming commonplace worldwide--including Chicago. This particular commentary led to death threats that were so specific, Joel checked his car for bombs every night before driving home.


Commentary - March 8, 1972

Some powder, a fuse and a spark…such are the basics of a bomb. But of what is the bomber made?

Without courage or compassion, without feeling or concern, the bomber is foremost and first…the worst kind of coward!

With his pliers and wires and cheap little clocks, he’s a shadow of a man with “little boy” thoughts.

Playing hide-and-seek with people’s lives, he’s less likely to be feared than despised.

Some powder, a fuse and a spark…how simple to build a bomb…how difficult to understand the bomber.

He knows not his victims; how many or why. They may be innocent, unsuspecting, but still they may die.

Coward! Coward! Who would kill without cause: shoppers in Belfast; passengers in tourist-class.

Coward! And cursed, that person who would threaten, extort and indiscriminately destroy for money, vainglory, a red glow in the sky.

Sick minds, it’s true, feed on headlines, drool at the damage and laugh at the frightened. But, we cannot ignore nor defer the fact that madmen walk our streets; the worst of assassins, paranoid and plotting.

Some powder, a fuse and a spark. These are the basics of a bomb, but of what is the bomber made?

He is hollow, without soul, an empty shell. The bomber is humanity’s “dud”.

International Woman's Day

Today is "International Woman's Day". Obviously, it's the perfect day to feature Charo.

Ted Cruz: Bad Lip Reading

A few laugh out loud moments here...

Another Farewell

Rick: I'm not going to another Who farewell show. I've been to five of them over the past few decades. I read Pete's book. He admits they are just a money grab. He uses that money to buy nicer boats.

(Sfx: Phone buzzes)

There's a facebook message from an old friend. "Rick, I have an extra ticket to the Who on Thursday night. Are you up for it?"

Rick: Yes.

I hope Pete enjoys his new boat.

Q&A with Dobie Maxwell

Chicago Now talks to Eckhartz Press author Dobie Maxwell about his career and his book "Monkey in the Middle"

You can read it here.

I Pledge to Trump

Funny. Thanks so much to "KB" for this one...

Driving with a Tree

I've been drunk before. But I've never been this drunk...

More Lou

Lou Manfredini's contract at WGN has been extended. From Radio Ink this morning...

The new deal with Lou Manfredini runs through December 31, 2020. Manfredini began his career at WGN in 1995 as a guest on the Bob Collins Show when he was given the nickname “Mr. Fix It.” He continues to answer listeners’ home improvement questions on The Mr. Fix-It Show, which is the #1 Saturday morning radio program in Chicago.

Podcasting

From Tom Taylor's NOW Column...

1 in 5 Americans is into podcasting...and Edison’s Tom Webster says podcasting “is growing, and growing fast. The percentage of Americans 12+ who say they have listened to a podcast in the last month is 21%, up from 17% last year.” Webster says “That increase is some of the largest growth for the medium that we have observed in more than a decade of our podcast research, and represents an estimated 57 million Americans.”

A new podcast will be arriving on the landscape in the coming weeks. My Eckhartz Press co-publisher David Stern and I have been signed to do one (not a joke). Details will be announced soon. They are coming to set up the equipment in my house tomorrow.

Randy Meisner's Wife Shot

From the website Ultimateclassicrock.com, this news about former Eagles member Randy Meisner's wife...

The wife of founding Eagles member Randy Meisner has been found shot to death at the couple’s home, according to multiple news sources. It’s unclear how Lana Rae Meisner was killed on Sunday (March 6) in Studio City, Calif. An investigation is on-going.

Randy Meisner, 69, told police that his wife was shot by accident as she searched for something in the closet, according to RadarOnline. Still unconfirmed is whether he has been arrested in connection with the death. Page Six reported that a suspect was taken into custody, though the individual has not yet been identified.

Read the whole article here. It doesn't sound good for Meisner. There were lots of domestic issues there.

UPDATE: The New York Daily News is now saying police confirm it was an accident.

Book Release Party

Come on out next Monday and join us!

Happy Pulaski Day

Today is Kasimir Pulaski day, which is a big deal to Chicago’s large Polish population. There have been exactly five players in big league history who were born in Poland, and one of them played for the Cubs.

His EVERY CUB EVER entry from Just One Bad Century is listed below…

~Moe Drabowsky 1935 (Cubs 1956-1960)
Moe was born in Poland, and was a hot young gun pitcher for the Cubs in the late 50s. His best season with the Cubs was probably 1957, when he won 13 games as a 22-year-old for a very bad Cubs team. He never lived up to that in the proceeding years, so the Cubs eventually gave up on him. He later pitched for the Braves, Athletics, and Reds in the early 60s, but really found a home in Baltimore. Moe became a key part of the bullpen for two World Series champions Orioles teams in 1966 and 1970. He beat Don Drysdale to win Game 1 of the 1966 World Series. Moe ended up pitching 17 years in the big leagues. (Photo: Topps 1961 Baseball Card)



The other 4 Polish-born players were Elmo Valo (who played 20 seasons in the big leagues, mostly with the A’s), Nap Kloza who played for the Browns, and Henry Peploski and Johnny Reder, who both played one season in Boston.

Life Behind the Camera

The new website of Eckhartz Press author Chuck Quinzio for his book "Life Behind the Camera" is up and running.

I think this book is our most unappreciated gem...a truly memorable recounting of Chuck's 30 plus years as a local news cameraman.

Check it out here.

Lovie Smith at Illinois?

The University of Illinois fired their head football coach over the weekend (the first move by the new athletic director), and word is that former Bears coach Lovie Smith has been hired to take his place. Not sure how I feel about this one. On the one hand, Lovie is a twice-failed NFL coach. On the other hand, Illinois hasn't been able to recruit legitimate coaches there in the past twenty years.

Barry Rozner of the Daily Herald put it this way in his column this morning...

It takes most college coaches several years to put a system in place and bring in the talent necessary to be successful. If Smith sticks around that long, he might just elevate Illinois football to a place that is something less than a campus humiliation.

In the meantime, Illinois football is no longer irrelevant.

That's something, anyway.

UPDATE: They have been moving fast in Champaign. Here's the new banner ad...

Historic Presidency

Thanks to "JD" for this one...

John Rook 1969

This incredible video is from 1969. It's a sales-tool used by WLS Radio in those days to explain to advertisers the theory and appeal behind WLS. Fascinating in retrospect. Also makes me think that working for John Rook (who passed away last week) would have been a little scary. Sounds a bit like a control freak. (On the other hand, Larry Lujack said Rook was the best program director he ever worked for, so I suppose if Larry could handle him, he couldn't have been too bad.)

The film is voiced by Clark Weber. (H/t to Robert Feder who posted this video in his column this morning)



P.S. The music absolutely blows, too. Think of the great music that was out in 1969, and then listen to the music in this video. Yikes.