Blogpost #36

Say, kids, what time is it? It's Howdy Doody Time! December 27, 1941 is Howdy's birthday, according to the Howdy Doody fan club. The truth is that Howdy originated as a voice on Bob Smith's radio show around 1947. He character was originally named Elmer, but his annoying habit of saying "Howddeee-dooodeee" gave him his famous nickname.

This week's show features rare children's records from the mid 50's, including the one above. The cover shows Howdy playing all the instruments in his one-man band. There's a copy of this record available at Reckless Records on Broadway in Chicago.

This week's show also features an abridged version of an interesting LP from 1972 that mixes clips from Howdy's radio show with sound bites from 1950's newsmakers. It's titled "The World: Original Cast starring Howdy Doody". For free audio downloads of Howdy's radio and TV shows from the 50's, visit the Internet Archive at archive.org.

Next week's show will usher in a new era for this program. The current format is dedicated to one topic per week, which I believe alienates a number of our listeners because they have no interest in the topic. Stating next week, this show launches a new format based on the notable historic events of the coming week. Instead of one topic for the entire show, there'll be dozens of topics to hold your interest.

We'll start each show by focusing on the birthdays and anniversaries for that Sunday, and we'll progress through the days of the week until we get to Saturday (or until I run out of time). For a sneak preview of the events I'll be using for the first show, visit CalendarHome.com for links to all the best online archives.

A final note for 2009: This blog was created for the purpose of keeping you informed about my upcoming shows as well as providing a forum for your feedback. Sadly, due to lack of response from my listeners, I have decided to retire this blog.

I thank you for all your support these past eight months, and I invite you to visit wluw.org every Sunday morning (or any time during the week) to read a brief description of my upcoming show. Click on the Sunday link if it's not Sunday, and look for the link to the page for A Time To Remember. It will be updated weekly.

Thanks for listening, and remember to call in next week with your comments about the show. Sunday morning at ten in Chicago is still A Time To Remember.

Blogpost #35

Welcome to Chicago, home of the Second City! This week marked the 50th anniversary of the theatre's first production, and hundreds of alumni flew in to reunite and reminisce. They were also here to support the alumni fund with a series of live benefit performances and panel discussions.

We're celebrating this historic occasion with a two-part show featuring Second City's greatest discoveries, captured live on tape at the beginning of their careers. You'll hear them performing the original sketches and blackouts they created and made famous.

The first hour airs December 13 and covers the years 1959 to 1979. It starts with Barbara Harris performing on opening night, December 16, 1959, and goes through to the 20th anniversary show in 1979. Listen for Oscar-winning actor Alan Arkin as a University of Illinois student in "Football 202". Other highlights: Joan Rivers kvetches about "Unwanted Guests"; Avery Schreiber takes Jack Burns for a "Cab Ride"; Robert Klein tries to get into "Ripley's Believe It Or Not"; John Belushi tries to bluff his way through an "Oral Exam"; John Candy rebels against his father Dan Ackroyd in a "Canadian Play"; Jim Belushi visits the "White Horse Tavern"; Bill Murray hosts a political discussion on "Issues and Alibis"; and Martin Short asks "Why Are Jews So Funny?"

The second hour airs December 20 and covers the years 1979 to 1999. Listen for a montage of clips from "SCTV", including Count Floyd's favorite scary movie, "Dr. Tongue's 3-D House of Stewardesses". Other highlights: George Wendt tries to board a flight on "Segregated Airlines"; Mike Myers closes off Canada to American visitors as a "Canadian Border Guard"; Bonnie Hunt sings to strangers on the phone as an "On-Hold Entertainer"; Tina Fey and Rachel Dratch argue as "Mother and Daughter"; and Chris Farley debuts his character "Matt Foley, Motivational Speaker".

All of the sketches are available uncensored on CD in Sheldon Patinkin's memoir of Second City, which includes full color photos and fond recollections from former cast members. It's available from Amazon, and used copies are going cheap.

December 27 marks the birthday of kiddie TV icon Howdy Doody, and I'll be hosting an hour-long tribute featuring some of his rarest recordings from my collection. Happy holidays!

Blogpost #34

Happy holidays, everyone! This week's show pays tribute to TV's longest-running cartoon special, "A Charlie Brown Christmas". Even though it was first broadcast on December 9, 1965, it has not become dated at all. Its enduring message of religious faith has given it a timeless quality that makes it required viewing for most every family, and the charming musical score by the late Vince Guaraldi has become one of the best-selling albums in jazz history.

On this week's show, you'll hear a slightly revised version of the TV soundtrack as released on a 1977 read-along record on the Charlie Brown label and distributed by Walt Disney's Buena Vista company. Since the LP runs 21 minutes in its entirety, the rest of the hour will be filled with rare outtakes from the 1965 recording sessions with Vince Guaraldi and his trio. Music critic Michelle Mercer's insightful review of the album is available on npr.org.

This past week, the Charlie Brown Christmas special became a center of controversy. A Tennessee Republican posted a comment on his Facebook page implying that President Obama hated the show's Christian message. His sole proof was the fact that Obama had scheduled his American troop deployment announcement on the same night as the special. If you want to read up on this story, start with this Associated Press page and follow the links.

Regardless of your personal views about Obama or the politician, there is an important underlying issue here: Don't you get a little upset when your favorite show gets preempted? Don't you feel helpless when it happens? Here at WLUW, we hear from you listeners every time a scheduled program is replaced by a Loyola Ramblers game. My question to you is: do we, as listeners, have the right to complain about it? Are we being ungrateful for the surplus of free programming? Or does the broadcast media give too much priority to news, sports and weather?

If you have an opinion on this, please comment below. In the meantime, join me next week for the first part of our two-part salute to Chicago's Second City narrated by Robert Klein. Thanks for listening!

Blogpost #33

Welcome back, rock 'n' rollers! December 4 marks the anniversary of the first and only recording session of the Million Dollar Quartet at Sun Recording Studios in Memphis in 1956. The photo shows Jerry Lee Lewis on the left, Carl Perkins on the guitar, Johnny Cash on the right, Elvis Presley at the piano, and Elvis' girlfriend Marilyn Evans on the piano.

This week's show features selected highlights from the surviving tapes, including studio chatter. Elvis imitates Jackie Wilson's version of "Don't Be Cruel", then struggles to remember all the verses of Chuck Berry's "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man". Jerry Lee Lewis duets with Elvis on a rousing version of "Down By The Riverside", then sings "End Of The Road" at the request of Marilyn Evans. Carl Perkins performs "Keeper Of The Key" on a borrowed guitar. Johnny Cash is nowhere to be heard on the existing tapes, although he insisted that he sang harmonies with the others from start to finish.

Wikipedia has a fairly accurate article on the session along with links to the stage musical now playing at Chicago's Apollo theatre. I have not seen it, but a friend of mine saw it and gave it a rave review. The play hits Broadway in March. First nighters should buy their tickets now.

There are numerous versions of the session available on LP and CD, but the longest available version is "The Complete Million Dollar Quartet" which adds newly discovered instrumental tracks and a version of "Reconsider Baby". It's available online at Amazon.

Next week is my tribute to "A Charlie Brown Christmas". You'll hear outtakes from Vince Guaraldi's million-selling soundtrack album, plus a remixed version of the TV soundtrack as released on a rare 1977 LP. Thanks for listening, and remember: "Christmas is not only getting too commercial, it's getting too dangerous!"

Blogpost #32

Welcome back, Beatle people! November 24 marks the birthday of Pete Best, born 1941 and still remembered as the unlucky soul who was "drummed out" of the Beatles just before the start of Beatlemania. This week's show features my biography of Pete, including the true reason he was dismissed from the group.

Pete made his American TV debut on March 30, 1964 as a mystery guest on the game show "I've Got A Secret" with Garry Moore as host. A clip from that show is on YouTube.

In March 1982, Pete gave an in-depth interview about his life to Los Angeles FM deejay Jim Ladd, who released an edited version on an LP titled "Like Dreamers Do" that also featured ten tracks from the Beatles' Decca studio sessions. It's currently available on eBay from a collector who wants $120 for a sealed copy. If you're only interested in the interview, it's available on video for only ten bucks from Robert York at eskimo.com.

If you're interested in Pete's life story, he's written three autobiographies, including a 1985 book that completely ignores Neil Aspinall's relationship with Pete's mom. Next week we'll feature highlights from the Million Dollar Quartet sessions from 1956 that inspired the stage musical. Thanks for listening!

Blogpost #31

Welcome back, radio historians! Today is the 83rd birthday of the National Broadcasting Company. NBC signed on the air November 15, 1926 with a four-hour program of music from various dance bands, comedy from Will Rogers, and numerous speeches from company executives. The program cost $50,000 to produce and was heard as far west as Kansas City via a "chain" of 25 stations.

Today, we celebrate NBC's birthday with an hour of excerpts from a 1966 radio special produced for NBC's 40th anniversary. The special was hosted by ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his dummy Charlie McCarthy. It was heard over the NBC radio network on November 13, 1966 and was later issued as a two-LP set.

I had considered playing the show in its entirety over two weeks, but there were too many things that needed to be edited out. You probably won't miss the commercials for Chase and Sanborn coffee or the annoying laugh tracks, but just in case you'd like to hear the unedited version, it's available for free download at archive.com. I also decided to delete the performances by Al Jolson and Amos 'n' Andy, who represent a style of humor that has no place in the 21st century. If there's a Museum of Outdated Stereotypes, you'll find them there.

Next week, it's another Beatle birthday tribute. This time we're remembering Pete Best, who famously got the sack just days before the group was to make their TV debut. You'll hear a 1982 in-depth interview, plus rare recordings from his two years as a Beatle. There's also a clip from a 1964 TV quiz show where a celebrity panel tries to guess his identity. Thanks for listening!

Blogpost #30

Welcome back, friends! This week's show is a special Veteran's Day tribute. We'll be saluting all our fighting men and women of past wars by presenting a rare documentary LP from 1966 titled Historic Music and Voices From World War II. The LP was produced by American Heritage Publishing and was narrated by actor Luis Van Rooten. The LP lasts just under an hour, and we'll hear it in its entirety. Unfortunately, little information could be found about the LP on the web. There is a used copy available on eBay, but not for much longer.

Highlights of the documentary include these historic recordings:

Adolph Hitler addresses Nazi Congress at Nuremberg, 1934
Senator Henry Cabot Lodge criticizes League of Nations, 1919
Franklin Roosevelt supports joining the League of Nations, 1920
Emperor Haile Selassie speaks at the League of Nations, 1936
Neville Chamberlain announces peace treaty with Hitler, 1938
Nazi troops terrorize Jews on Night of Broken Glass, 1938
Kate Smith debuts God Bless America on Armistice Day, 1938
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Masaryk appeals to America, 1939
Neville Chamberlain declares war on Germany, 1939
Winston Churchill becomes British Prime Minister, 1940
Benito Mussolini declares war on England and France, 1940
Winston Churchill delivers England's Finest Hour speech, 1940
France is occupied and controlled by Nazi Germany, 1940
German air fighters drop bombs over English Channel, 1940
Princess Elizabeth speaks to evacuated British children, 1940
President Roosevelt announces first draft number drawn, 1940
Joseph Stalin announces Nazi invasion of Western Russia, 1941
Japan massacres American troops at Pearl Harbor, 1941
President Roosevelt delivers Day of Infamy speech, 1941
American troops surrender to Japan in the Philippines, 1942
Sir Harry Lauder sings for Scottish troops at Christmas, 1942
German radio announces British bombing raid on Berlin, 1943
Allied troops announce D-Day landing on French coast, 1944
NBC reporter Tom Traynor describes D-Day landing, 1944
French radio announces liberation of Paris from Nazis, 1944
Charles DeGaulle attacked by snipers at Notre Dame, 1944
General Douglas MacArthur returns to the Philippines, 1944
Allied forces capture Japanese airfields on Iwo Jima, 1945
BBC radio reports discovery of Nazi death camps, 1945
Death camp survivor plays tribute song on Nazi piano, 1945
Prosecutor reveals Nazi horrors at Nuremberg trials, 1946
German radio announces death of Adolph Hitler, 1945
British cathedral bells ring to celebrate V-E Day, 1945
Jesuit priest describes survivors of Hiroshima bomb, 1945
Robert Montgomery honors Roosevelt on V-J Day, 1945

The LP was compiled from thousands of hours of audio saved by archivists in Japan, Germany, France, Russia, and England as well as America. I couldn't think of a better tribute to our troops for this coming Veteran's Day. I hope you'll take the time to visit the grave of a veteran in your family to pay your respects and maybe spruce up the grave site, just we do every year.

Next week marks NBC's 83rd birthday. Once again, we'll pay tribute with lots of clips from NBC's early years of radio broadcasting. Thanks for listening!