I just saw on the 'net where Mr. Roarke moved on to the real "Fantasy Island" today at age 88. I always thought Montalban made a pretty good villain as Khan in Star Trek II-The Wrath of Khan. One wonders if his casket will be lined with rich Corinthian leather...
A SHOUT-OUT…
…to our good friend Randy Raley, whose radio gig in north central Illinois came to an abrupt end last week, apparently for no good reason. One of the biggest reasons I got out of the radio industry was the sheer instability of it, and I could also never get past the sad fact that one can do a kick-ass job at any radio station, and yet still be unceremoniously fired at the drop of a hat. And that was 20 years ago—I can’t imagine trying to function in today’s cut-throat environment in the radio biz. I also didn’t love radio enough to keep banging my head against the proverbial wall and bouncing from station to station and town to town. My brief radio career was fun while it lasted, but I honestly don’t miss it all that much now—I much prefer having a steady job.
As for you, Randy, you’re one of a dying breed whose heart and soul is in the radio biz (no matter how corporate it’s become), and I respect and admire your propensity for sticking with it. You also seem pretty resilient, so I’m confident something new will work out for you, hopefully soon. Hang in there, dude—you’re a damn fine human being and a credit to your profession.
THE BOULEVARD GETS DETOURED
Speaking of corporate radio FUBARs, barely a year into its existence, the much-ballyhooed 99.7 The Boulevard (which replaced K.C. Album Rock legend 99.7 KY) is changing formats again. According to Entercom, the revamped station will offer Kansas City women "a blend of starpower, celebrity access, pop culture and today's hit music," and it will be built around the syndicated "On Air with Ryan Seacrest". I think I'd rather jab ice picks in my eyes than listen to that no-talent wanker...
While I'm not shedding any tears over the Boulevard's demise, I'm sure at this very moment, a few distraught Jackson Browne fans are chaining themselves to the station's studios in protest. Even though they did play some great album tracks now and then like Pete Townshend's "Slit Skirts" and Elton John's "Burn Down The Mission", the Blvd. was your basic bore and wasn't destined to last anyway. Ironically, 102 The Zone, which replaced the original KY-102, also only lasted a year before changing formats again. And the band played on...
HOLY MOLY, IT’S PIOLI!
I was beginning to worry that the Chefs would screw around and miss out on snagging Scott Pioli as their new GM, but yesterday owner Clark Hunt bagged the big fish he was looking for after all. Based on his track record with the Patriots, this man should be light years better than Carl Peterson ever was at evaluating talent and making smart draft choices/free agent acquisitions. This apparently will also be the end of Herm Edwards’ term as head coach, and although I like Herm for the most part, I think it’s time to make a clean break and bring in someone new with no previous ties to the team, which is pretty much what the Chefs have done for the last 12 years or so—Marty Schottenheimer was replaced by defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham, who was replaced by Dick Vermeil (a crony of Peterson’s), who was replaced by Edwards (a crony of Vermeil's), who previously was also an assistant here. Other than Bill Cowher, I don’t want to see any former Chiefs assistants on the new coaching staff—let’s start over and see what happens. By the way, interesting irony/coincidence that the Bush Administration and Carl Peterson era here are ending at almost the same time. In both cases, nowhere to go but up…
WELCOME TO "CELEBRITY PITY-PARTY"
This week’s special guest star, Sarah Palin! Yes, Ms. Winky-Dink was back in the spotlight this week whining that the big bad news media was mean to her during the campaign. She also complained that Caroline Kennedy isn’t being taken to task for her lack of experience in the same way that Palin was. Beg to differ, Winky, but I don’t exactly see the media warming up to the idea of "Senator Caroline" any more than they did to "VP Palin". Boy, for someone who claims to be a maverick lipstick-wearing, moose-dressing pit bull of a hockey mom, she sure can’t take criticism worth a damn. Uhhh, you’re a politician, sweetheart—it comes with the territory.
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT…
I was watching an old "Quincy, M.E." rerun on DVD last week, and in one scene set at a cheesy casino nightclub/lounge, the house band featured not one, but TWO bass players. Two bass players, Gracie?!? I’ve seen bands with two drummers before, but never two bassists. Even funnier, one of them was right-handed and the other was left-handed, both playing Fender basses. And the lefty evidently attended the Danny Bonaduce School of Bass Playing, because there he was just a-strummin’ away on his four-string axe, instead of plucking it. Can you just imagine what it woulda sounded like if the bloody thing was actually plugged in to an amp?
THESE AREN’T YOUR FATHER’S MARCHING BANDS
Back when I was a kid, college marching bands always played show tunes and such during halftime shows. Nowadays, it’s downright disconcerting to hear them play heavy metal, as with the U. of Texas and their tribute to Led Zeppelin last week at the Fiesta Bowl. I couldn’t believe I was hearing "Black Dog" from a brass band, as well as "Kashmir" and "Stairway To Heaven". Oklahoma’s band also played a tune during their halftime show last week that it took me about 30 seconds before I recognized it—The Who’s "Pinball Wizard"! Now if I hear Motorhead coming from a marching band, you might wanna get the rubber truck ready for me…
AND NOW, THE END IS NEAR…
…for what was my favorite movie theater of all-time, the Blue Ridge 5 Cinema at 40 Hiway and I-70 in Independence. Even though I worked right across the parking lot from a 6-screen movie house at the Brywood Shopping Center for several years in the ‘80s, I much preferred to drive a little further over to Independence to see new flicks because Blue Ridge was so much nicer and the sound was excellent, especially in the big auditorium they added in the ‘80s to house blockbusters like, E.T., the Star Wars sequels, Back To The Future, etc. Sadly, the Blue Ridge 5 fell victim to the soulless 20-screen AMC stadium-seating clusterfuck mega-plex located nearby, as well as the decline of the Blue Ridge Mall just across the highway. The theater couldn’t even survive as a "dollar house" and closed for good in the late ‘90s, and its demolition is imminent in the next couple months, according to the paper. Hate to see it go, but it’s better than watching the place decay and rot like it has for the last ten years. Another chunk of my past bites the dust…CLASSIC OVERUSED TV/MOVIE CLICHÉ #4
Ever notice how when someone on TV or in a movie walks into a bar and orders up a beer, they never specify what brand they want? It’s always, "Gimme a beer," or "Can we get a round of beers?" And nine times out of ten, they hardly even drink any of it once they get it!
"NO, I DON’T GOT ANY BLUE ÖYSTER CULT…"
Even ol’ Mike Damone from Fast Times At Ridgemont High couldn’t scalp tickets to this show. I saw this ad in the paper and it made me chuckle—yes, kids, there’s no concert, but plenty of good seats are apparently still available starting at $25!
1 comment:
Early 90's Brit-rockers Ned's Atomic Dustbin featured two bass players, Alex Griffin and Matt Cheslin. Griffin would play melody lines on the high end of his bass, while Cheslin played the regular bass lines. It sounds like on Quincy that the props department couldn't find a six-string for the lefty, so they handed him a bass and told him nobody would notice.
You probably noticed that on Cheers nobody drank much of their beer either. According to George Wendt, they didn't use real beer - the Cheers patrons drank colored water because there are laws restricting the actual consumption of alcohol while filming TV and movies. Wendt said they never took more than a sip or two because the colored water tasted awful.
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