Blogpost #19

Welcome back, friends! Last week, we were all just a little too depressed to enjoy celebrating Apollo 11's 40th anniversary. Now that Walter Cronkite has been laid to rest, we can take the time to properly reflect on this historic occasion.

As a child, I collected souvenir LP records of the Apollo moon mission and even taped the live TV coverage on cassette. Those tapes were amateurishly recorded, so of course you'll probably never hear them played on my show.

There were dozens, if not hundreds, of Apollo 11 souvenir LPs released in the weeks and months after the astronauts returned to earth. To my knowledge, none of them ever made the Billboard album charts, despite being released on well-known labels such as Capitol and RCA. A few came from small regional labels, and one came from a Chicago radio station. It was titled "Man And The Moon", and it was produced for WBBM Newsradio 78.

Shortly after WBBM first signed on as an all-news station in 1968, station management began assigning their staffers to produce documentaries for LP release. Four LPs were released by WBBM between 1969 and 1971, and they were all offered as promotional items through various Chicago-based banks. John Hultman was responsible for the well-produced "Prelude To The Seventies" LP, a year-end wrap-up of the news events of 1969. Incidentally, he's still anchoring on the air at WBBM four decades later.

Tom Clark was one of the original news anchors at WBBM, starting in May 1968 as midday anchor. In 1969, he was assigned to produce an album about the upcoming Apollo 11 moon mission. The finished product remains fascinating listening today. Unlike other producers, he didn't rely heavily on the astronauts' radio transmissions to fill out the album. Instead, he did extensive research and conducted exclusive interviews. My only major fault with the documentary is that it ends abruptly without covering the astronauts' return to Earth. I can't confirm it, but I suspect that the album was completed before the moon mission was.

The album has been out of print for decades, but copies are available from various rare record dealers on the web, and I managed to track down a copy at Reckless Records in Chicago. If you'd like to add it to your collection, visit reckless.com and type MAN & MOON into their search engine. Their reviewer describes it as a "great record" with "some really cheezy (sp) poems". If you're listening up on Chicago's North Side near our WLUW studios, call their Broadway store at 773-404-5079 to see if it's still in stock. Ask them to check in the Spoken Word bin, and be sure to mention this blog if you decide to buy it.

Next week: a birthday salute to master satirist and comedian Stan Freberg. We'll hear his classic singles from the fifties performed live before a studio audience with the original cast, including an extended version of his classic Lawrence Welk parody.

Blogpost #18

R.I.P., Walter Cronkite.

He was the most admired and respected newsman in the history of television.

We trusted him because he was hardworking, mature and responsible.

He defined the role of news anchor for two generations of broadcasters.

He trusted his instincts and took a stand on the issues that were important to him.

His influence as a journalist continued for decades after his retirement.

He will never be forgotten.

It will be noted that he died just as America was preparing to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

This week's program honors his memory with an excerpt from his rare 1969 documentary LP "Man On The Moon".

The LP was briefly available from a collector on Ebay, and other copies may be found on the Internet in the future.

As a child, I did not dream of being an astronaut on the moon; instead, I dreamed of covering it live like Walter Cronkite.

This week's program is my attempt at covering the Apollo 11 launch live from Cape Kennedy, even if it comes 40 years too late.

To make this recreation as accurate as possible, I used my own collection of Apollo 11 news clippings from 1969.

The liftoff takes place at exactly 32 minutes past the hour, just as it did back on that early July morning in 1969.

The launch is followed by a specially-edited montage of clips from the original NASA radio conversations with the astronauts.

This week's show ends with the landing on Tranquility Base on July 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong announced "The Eagle has landed."

I invite you to tune in again next week for part two, which will include the first moonwalk and the return trip to Earth. I hope you don't mind having to wait a whole week for the ending.