Blogpost #11

Welcome, Trekkers and Trekkies alike! In the wake of the newly reimagined version of the classic TV series, this week's show is an hour-long documentary written and narrated by the late Gene Roddenberry back in 1976. You'll hear Gene's insightful conversations with original cast members William Shatner and DeForest Kelley as well as the father of modern science fiction, Issac Asimov. Above is the cover for the original 1976 Inside Star Trek LP. My copy is a rare promotional release with white record labels instead of orange, and it also comes with an insert guaranteed to "self-destruct in ten minutes". No, it's not for sale... yet.

I was not a Trekkie back in 1976 when I first heard this record, but I still found it fascinating, especially the part where Shatner returns to the bridge of the Enterprise to become Captain Kirk once again for a few moments. The record features numerous excerpts from Gene Roddenberry's May 1976 lecture at New York's Rochester Institute of Technology, where he humorously recounts his legendary battles with network censors. There's also a scene featuring Spock's Vulcan father Ambassador Sarek (played again by Mark Lenard) in which he reveals the unknown details of Spock's miraculous birth and his traumatic childhood. Gene himself reveals that he had a difficult childhood as well, and it's possible that it influenced him when he created Spock's backstory.

The 1976 LP has been expanded and revised for CD release, and is still available as part of a package that features the 1979 soundtrack music for the first Star Trek film. It's available for purchase or download from Amazon.com. Next week's show will delve into the history of Radio's Golden Era, but not in a way you've ever heard before. I'm going to focus on the scandalous and shameful moments of early broadcasting, covering everything from Orson Welles' Martian Invasion scare in 1938 to William Conrad's never-aired 'Dirty Saturday' rehearsals for Gunsmoke in the late fifties. Remember, A Time To Remember is for mature adults only. Always was. Always will be.

Blogpost #10

Welcome back, Dick Biondi fans! To celebrate our three-day memorial weekend, this week's show is a rebroadcast of a complete hour with Mr. Biondi from May 16, 1969 as heard at the start of WCFL's three-day "Golden Weekend". The photo on the left was taken at WCFL during his 1967-72 stint there. The show is available in its entirety on CD from Ebay's Rockit Radio store.

You say you're on a budget and can't afford to be spending money on WCFL airchecks? You can find them on YouTube, although there's no accompanying video. Start with this 1966 Jimmy P. Stagg aircheck from 1966, and they'll give you a list of related videos, including some with Dick Biondi.

Next week: a documentary about the original Star Trek TV series featuring interviews with cast members. Live long and prosper.

Blogpost #9

Welcome, Bill Cosby Fans! Betcha never saw him dressed like this before, huh? This is the cover from his rare 1977 musical comedy LP "Disco Bill".

Last week, I featured a memorial tribute to the late great 'Chicago' Eddie Schwartz, and this week I'm bringing him back for a rare unedited 1978 Bill Cosby radio interview as heard on WIND, Chicago. It was a rare live in-studio interview, and Eddie made the most of it by not interrupting him once for a commercial.

After Bill's visit, Eddie played "A Simple Love Affair" from the LP above. It's a slow, romantic spoken-word love ballad from a handsome, sexy man to a beautiful woman who just tried to kill him. Imagine Barry White's worst nightmare: trying to smooth-talk his way out of a relationship with a pistol packin' mama.

I didn't have time to feature any of the tracks from the LP in the broadcast, but there's a blog where you can hear the LP in its entirety or any individual track. It's called I'm Learning To Share, and you can visit by clicking here.

Next week is a treat for Dick Biondi fans: an uncut hour-long broadcast from 1969 on Chicago's WCFL. You'll hear every song, every jingle, every commercial, and every newscast.

Blogpost #8

Happy Mommy Day to you and your mommy, wherever she is today.

In honor of my mom, I'm playing an hour of classic radio clips featuring her second favorite radio announcer, the late 'Chicago' Eddie Schwartz. He passed away after a long illness this past February, and the Chicago Tribune's Trevor Jensen interviewed his old colleagues for his obituary.

My mom started listening to him in 1977. Ed Schwartz was always good company when her insomnia kept her awake. She bought a cassette recorder from Radio Shack just so she could tape his radio shows for me. During the summer months, we'd stay up till 5 am together listening, laughing, and rolling tape. Over the next five years, we managed to save over 200 hours of Ed on cassette.

This hour of clips is not only a tribute to Ed, but also to my mom. She kept the tapes hidden away from me for years because she knew I would've erased them to use them over again. She made this tribute possible, and I only wish that I had thought of sharing these tapes with Ed before he died. He gave one final live phone interview on January 4, 2009 to WIND Radio's Geoff Pinkus, and you can hear an edited version of it on YouTube.

One of the funniest moments on my Ed Schwartz tribute is a clip from a 1976 show featuring a schoolteacher named Charlie who plays harmonica with his nose! You can listen to that show online at talkzone.com along with Ed's interviews with veteran radio entertainers Arthur Godfrey and Mel Blanc. This is the only place on the web to find full-length Ed Schwartz airchecks, and there's more coming up in the months ahead.

If you'd like to hear even more from Ed Schwartz, tune in next week for a rebroadcast of his live 1978 studio interview with Bill Cosby on WIND Radio. There's a sneak preview from the interview in the tribute show.

Blogpost #7

Welcome, Dick Biondi fans!

Chicago's WLS radio just celebrated a major anniversary. It was on May 2, 1960 that the station switched to their highly successful Top 40 format that lasted for over a quarter of a century.

The first deejay at WLS that day was Mort Crowley, and the first tune he played was the Hollywood Argyles' "Alley-Oop", a hipster's affectionate tribute to the caveman comic strip character.

In honor of this anniversary, my show this week is a collection of early recordings featuring Dick Biondi, the only original WLS deejay still on the air today, and still proudly playing "Alley-Oop" after nearly half a century.

You can read all about the history of WLS from its debut in 1924 to the present on Scott Childers' website. For more info on the clips featuring Mr. Biondi, scroll down to Blogpost #4.

Next week's show is a rebroadcast of my heartfelt tribute to the late Chicago Eddie Schwartz, who became the most popular all-night radio host in Chicago history. You'll hear vintage clips from his late-seventies broadcasts on WIND, plus his original theme song from WGN.

Before I forget... a happy 99th birthday to radio legend Norman Corwin, the greatest living writer in the history of radio. Check out his website.