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.
Wednesday, November 16, 2022
Tuesday, November 15, 2022
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
Q&A with “Leaving Glory for Greatness” author Lou Macaluso
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.
Monday, November 14, 2022
How Cool Is This?
It’s Amazing who you run into in an airport Lounge! None other than Uncle Paul….
— Julian Lennon (@JulianLennon) November 12, 2022
So, so lovely, and what are the chances…
Thankful…. ❤️🙏🏻😘 pic.twitter.com/OR2glVe7Gl
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
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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.
Saturday, November 12, 2022
Free Kicks – Champions League Draw
*Our latest episode has dropped. You can listen to it here.
Some very tough matchups are coming soon to the Champions League. Rick and Adam discuss. [Ep168]
Friday, November 11, 2022
Media Notebook--11-11-22
MEDIA NOTEBOOK
A curation of news items about the media from this past week, with a particular emphasis on Chicago…
RADIO/PODCASTS
*Podcast Ratings
=Podtrac
ranks the podcasts based on their popularity, and during the month of October
here were the top ten rated podcasts in America…
*NASCAR on the radio
=WLS-AM (890) announced this week that they have signed a three-year agreement to air NASCAR races,
including the first ever Chicago Street Race. The Chicago Street Race agreement
between NASCAR/City of Chicago also runs three years.
*Bruce DuMont Steps Down
from Beyond the Beltway
=DuMont has been hosting
the show since 1980, but he told Axios-Chicago this week that a recent health
scare has caused him to take an indefinite hiatus. The nationally syndicated
show will now be hosted by Jeanne Ives and Eric Kohn.
*The Chuck Swirsky Media
Tour
=The Bulls radio play by play man has been making the rounds promoting a book my publishing company Eckhartz Press released: Always a Pleasure. He was on WGN-TV morning news, Steve Rosenbloom’s show on WSCR (the Score), and podcasts like Minutia Men Celebrity Interview (yes, hosted by me) and EDF Sports.
*Podcast Corner
=It seems like the Saturday Night Live world has gotten the memo that podcasts are now the thing to do. Another SNL alum entered the fray this week. Chris Parnell is hosting a new show about jobs that no longer exist, called This Job Is History
=Dana Carvey and David
Spade also co-host a podcast called Fly on the Wall, which is about
SNL. Every week they interview former cast members, hosts, or musical guests.
The stories are all pretty similar, but oddly engaging. It’s in my weekly
podcast library.
=There are so many more SNL-related podcasts. Here are ten of them.
=This one isn’t SNL related, but Mark Caro’s Caropop podcast scored a great guest this week too: Stevie Van Zandt. I previously wrote about Mark’s podcast in Illinois Entertainer.
*RIP MegaPros Joe
=He wasn’t technically a radio personality himself, but Joe Hogel, known on the air as MegaPros Joe, was a frequent on-air presence on WGN Radio. The station noted his passing on their website.
MEDIA
MILESTONES/BIRTHDAYS
*Herb Lawrence
celebrated his birthday on November 6th. You may know Herb as the
host of CHGO White Sox and Locked-On White Sox podcasts, or the producer of the
Joe Ostrowski show on the Score. He’s also a great follow on Twitter.
*November 7th was WGN-TV Morning News Co-Anchor Robin Baumgarten’s birthday. Robin is one of the biggest local television stars in Chicago. I’ve interviewed her a few times, including this piece going all the way back to 2009.
*Louisa Chu, food
critic for the Chicago Tribune, and former WLUP/WBEZ contributor celebrated her
birthday on November 8th.
*On November 8, 1957, WGN
Television started broadcasting select shows in color for the first time
(mainly just the syndicated programs that were available in color)
*November 9, 2013, former
Q-101, Loop, and Drive jock Carla Leonardo passed away. I was lucky enough to interview her the year before she passed away.
*November 9 was the
birthday of former Vince & Stony co-host (WLUP) Tony Frothingham.
Tony also worked as a radio producer but has since returned to his native
Massachusetts and now works in the wine business.
*WIMS/WHFB Partner/General Manager Ric Federighi’s birthday was November 10th. Ric enjoyed a long and successful career as a traffic reporter in Chicago before entering the world of radio ownership in Michigan City, Indiana. Iinterviewed Ric back in 2008 for Shore Magazine.
*Lou Brutus,
former afternoon man on Rock 103.5, and current nationally syndicated host,
also celebrated a birthday on November 10th. His heyday in Chicago
was the mid-90s.
*Today is Veteran’s Day,
and former Chicago newscaster Dave McBride posted this to honor the day.
Thanks to all the veterans out there who served our country.
TELEVISION/STREAMING
*RIP Louise Monger
=Tragic news this week.Former Windy City Live contributor Louise Monger was found in her
Westmont home with a gunshot wound in her chest. According to police, it
appears the gunshot wound was self-inflicted. Monger was only 40 years old.
*Howard Sudberry on
Chicago Fire
=If you did a double take
during this week’s episode of Chicago Fire, no, you were not seeing things.
That really was former Channel 2 sportscaster Howard Sudberry portraying a
truck driver who had just gotten into an accident. It was a speaking role for
Howard, who is trying his hand at acting these days.
*Election Coverage
=The national television ratings are in for election night. For the all-news channels, Fox News was far
and away the winner, beating both CNN and MSNBC combined. That’s nothing new.
The one wrinkle this year is that MSNBC beat CNN.
=As for national network
news ratings, ABC eked out a win over NBC and CBS.
*Dawn DeSart
=The former NBC-5 feature
and traffic reporter was also in the local news on election night. She was the
leading vote getter to DuPage County Board in the 5th district and
has been re-elected.
*Behind the Scenes at
Meet the Press
=Poynter’s media columnist Tom Jones was given great access and hung out at Meet the Press during a recent show. An interesting read.
*RIP Fred Hickman
=The former CNN
sportscaster was a big star back in the pre-internet days, along with his
colleague Nick Charles. Hickman passed away this week at the age of 66.
*Jimmy Kimmel to host the
Oscars
=It’s not Jimmy’s first time hosting the show, but it is the first time he’ll be hosting since he had to go on stage and let everyone know the wrong name had been read for Best Picture. Hopefully this one goes a little smoother. (It wasn’t Jimmy’s fault)
*Cable News Corner
=MSNBC cuts ties with Tiffany Cross.
=Speaking of cutting,
CNN’s new boss Chris Licht has been ordered to cut $100 million from the budget. I suspect we won’t be seeing another Stanley Tucci does Italy
show.
SOCIAL MEDIA
*Elon Musk’s Troubles Not
Abating.
=Read this piece in Reuters and tell me that Musk is not a man-baby. According to this article, marketers are being blocked. This piece talks about the failed rollout of his blue-checkmark plan. The mass exodus of executives has gotten the attention ofthe SEC. Musk also tweeted at the Security and Exchange Commission. That’s never good. And yesterday he told his employees that bankruptcy was possible. Remember the good old days (last year) when Time Magazine named him Man of the Year?
*Not Going Much Better at
Facebook
=Mark Zuckerberg
announced he is laying off over 10,000 Meta employees. He said it was all his
fault, which I’m sure will make the fired employees feel much better.
*Meet the new owner of
Politico
=He’s 6’7. He’s German.
And he’s a combination of Rupert Murdoch and Elon Musk. This profile will give
you a better picture of Mathias Doepfner.
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
Eckhartz Everyday
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*On this day in 2018, the Eckhartz Press book Death of the Angels was released. The book is about the tragic 1958 fire at Our Lady of the Angels school.
*On this day in 2017, Bridget and I went down to Atlanta to march in the Purple Stride 5K for pancreatic cancer research. We were there in honor of our friend, Eckhartz Press author Mark Gelinas.
Thursday, November 10, 2022
Eckhartz Everyday
*Today would have been Greg Lake's birthday. He is featured in Bobby Skafish's book We Have Company. Lake passed away only a few months after the book came out.
Wednesday, November 09, 2022
Minutia Men Celebrity Interview--Chuck Swirsky
This week's celebrity guest is Bulls Play-by-Play man Chuck Swirsky. Fun chat with a Chicago legend.
Back in the DDR--Free Excerpt
On this day in 1989, the Berlin Wall came down after 27 years. I was there before and after the Wall came down. Here are my personal pictures from 1976 and 1990.
Needless to say, the Berlin Wall plays a part in my new book "Back in the DDR". Here's a short excerpt from the book...
***
We took a taxi to our appointment.
Dad asked the cab driver to drop us a few blocks away so that we could walk and
see the sights. I could see Checkpoint Charlie from where we were, but Dad
brought me to a platform in front of the wall, about a hundred yards away. We
climbed up the stairs to the platform, and from that point we could see over
the wall into East Germany. I felt a chill up my spine as Dad described what I
was seeing.
“The
guards there walking back and forth are on duty. See them in front of that
building over there? 24 hours a day they have guards walking back and forth,
scanning the area, making sure no-one makes a run for it here. Not that
anything is likely to happen right here, anyway. People who try to escape have
learned not to do it at the checkpoints. Checkpoint Charlie is amongst the most
heavily fortified places anywhere along the wall.”
He
pointed to the space in front of the guards.
“The
grass field there looks pretty innocuous, doesn’t it? But the hundred yards or
so between the buildings in the East and the Wall is loaded with landmines.
Everyone knows it, and no one dares go near it.”
It looked like a soccer field with a few
giant white stone markers placed about twenty meters apart.
“But let’s say you make it magically past
the guards and the landmines and get to the wall. That tower over there,” he
said. “Can you see those men in there with binoculars? Those are the snipers
that Major Dacey was telling us about. They have incredibly powerful
searchlights that scan the Wall all night long. The tower is within rifle range
of the wall. Anyone who gets to the wall can be shot down before they climb it.
There are towers like this up and down the wall. Down the river a way, there
are even a few stories about snipers shooting people after they get into
West Berlin.”
I could see the binoculars trained on us.
They were watching us.
“But let’s say by some miracle you make it
all this way and they haven’t seen you and you’ve somehow gotten a ladder or
some way to climb up the wall. Look at the top of the wall itself.”
We could see it perfectly from this perch.
It was only a few yards away from us. The top of the wall was covered with
shards of glass.
“That’s why almost no-one tries to get over
the wall,” he said. “They try other things. They strap themselves to the
undercarriage of cars heading back into the West. They build secret
compartments into trucks or trains bringing goods back and forth from East to
West. They build tunnels to get underneath the wall…”
I looked at Dad. Dad nodded. We didn’t need
to rehash the obvious tunnel-blunder moment.
“But here’s the important thing to remember
about all this, Rudi,” he said. “A country that needs to build a wall to keep
their own people from leaving is not a country at all. It’s a prison. Keep that
in mind when you hear them tell you about the utopia of their socialist state.
I’ve heard it all a million times, and we’ll hear it again today. Don’t say anything
to dispute them. We are under orders not to engage in anyway. We’re just going
to give Onkel Otto these family pictures in my rucksack, tell him stories about
his family, shake his hand and return to safety. Do you understand?”
I
nodded.
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