A Journalist Remembers
I think it's worth noting that in 1980, what we called the counterculture had only been around for about 15 years. So breaking into a Monday Night Football game with the news of the murder of John Lennon was actually a debatable decision. Hear Howard Cosell lose the off-air debate to "Dandy Don" Meredith, and … Continue reading Monday Night Football, Dec. 8, 1980
• Uriah Heep, John Belushi, the exploding lunch trick and Jesse Helms across ‘Americaland’ • A relic from another era: a petrified noon newscast • A private company launching a rocket into space? Never happen! Way, way down at the dusty bottom of that milk crate was the last cassette. Krapp’s Last Tape? No, just … Continue reading Rock it, WMET News!
• Hear, hear! . . how dull things were - already - 40 years ago • The pandemic’s silver lining: shrunken presidential nominating pageants • In 1980, everybody must have gotten stoned Summertime, every four years. The speeches, the balloon drops, the protests. The boredom. National presidential nominating conventions can’t die soon enough. I could … Continue reading R.I.P. Conventions
• I snapped. Had a near-meltdown at the Grammy Awards * Outtakes: How radio reporters make sausage, revealed • YANC explained I don’t often lose my temper and yell. I’ll get mad, alright. But sarcasm and passive-aggressive remarks under my breath are my more likely relief valves. Only one girlfriend and my ex-wife figured out … Continue reading I Am NOT Touching Your Tape Recorder!!
• 40 years ago, ballplayers saw a strike coming without being tipped off • Pete Rose, Mike Schmidt and Dallas Green talked to me about unemployment and gardening • Come the World Series and I’m unemployed The drumbeat in the spring of 1980 – louder than a Houston Astro banging on a trash can – … Continue reading A Striking Baseball Story
• From Christian Rock to Porn Rock . . . whatever that is. • Radio News: Little podcasts sent wirelessly to your AM-FM device. • Ozzy Osbourne, Blackie Lawless, Stryper, Public Enemy, Kool Moe Dee and Yoko Ono One thing I liked a lot about my broadcast career was that I spent a lot of … Continue reading Rock On Radio
• How we covered it in Philadelphia, where the promoters of the concert were based • The coincidental involvement of Harvey Weinstein . . yes, that Harvey Weinstein • A week later, the Who played Philly; I talked to Roger Daltrey about the horror It was probably the biggest – and saddest – news story … Continue reading 40 Years Ago: the Who Tragedy in Cincinnati
• I went to my father's 50th college reunion . . . and stuck my mic in everybody's business. • College life in 1934 compared to 1984 • Lionel Richie and gin & tonics vs. prohibition bootleg booze My dad was born and raised on a farm outside of Ft. Dodge, Iowa. (That's me above, … Continue reading Off to College with Dad – and Mic
• Miss Manners was no stranger to Marilyn and Paul • You’ve heard about it – now you can hear it. The naked radio interview, last aired in 1981 • For some reason, my posts about Marilyn Chambers get a lot of clicks It occurred to me today that, as far as I can recall, … Continue reading Why, You’re Welcome, Ms. Chambers, Mr. Rodgers
• Fifty years of that deaf, dumb and blind kid • And I thought I felt old at the 20th anniversary celebration • Hope I don’t die before the 60th I can’t say that “It could have been 1989 in Madison Square Garden the other night.” Because, clearly, it wasn’t. This was September 1, 2019. … Continue reading The Who’s Tommy