If Its Tuesday, It Must Be Duluth

Greetings from the great white north. Too bad I got here at night, seems like a pretty city, but gritty, though. Got here at 10:45 pm. At one a.m., the local refuse company decides to empty the dumpster right below my room. At three, they decide to empty it again. I don't know how much trash you can empty out of an ALREADY EMPTY DUMPSTER!! AT 5am, the girls team of something that is staying here obviously can't sleep and now neither can I. I will check in again from Rhinelander. That's a hearty name for a town don't you think?

Charles Schwab ads

Have you seen the new ones, where there is some freaky animation, done in pastels? Stuff freaks me out, man. Whoever possessed someone to sell that campaign needs a raise. Comes from watching too much baseball.

Bad Sports Day Yesterday

I have never really been a Notre Dame fan. Yeah, I kinda liked them when I was a kid, but it had nothing to do with the school. They had one of the greastest play by play guys ever in the business. Lindsay Nelson had a voice of velvet. When I was a very young boy I would park myself down in front of the TV when Notre Dame came on...just to listen. When my stepson started looking around at colleges he said he wanted to "get as far away from the midwest as posssible." My stepson goes to Notre Dame. I am now a big Notre Dame football fan. I have had the pleasure of seeing two season openers. The experience makes me wonder why I pissed those years away. They played their hearts out yesterday against big, bad USC. They lost on a very lucky play in the waning seconds of the game. Luck is a part of it, so, way to go USC. Way to go Irish.
What's up with these guys? Man, the Redbirds MUST get going or we have already seen the last game at Busch. Time to turn it around boys. Listen to me, 50 and pleading for a sports team to get going. You can take the man out of the boy...
By the way, thanks to KTVI Channel 2 for showning the Dallas-New York game instead of The Chiefs game. I wonder how many Dallas/Giants fans are in this area compared to Chiefs fans. Bummer decision, I think it sucks, and it's my blog, dammit.

Just Visiting...

I went to the get together for my friend Abby yesterday afternoon. It was so awesome to see people you haven't seen for years. I must say, for the competitive nature of the crowd (there were people there from competing radio companies Bonneville and Emmis), we radio people can be a friendly lot. I guess it is a fraternity of sorts. I think Abby would have appreciated a nice dust up, though, that was her sense of humor. It got me thinking how we really don't get to see the ones we care about enough. My Mom would go "visiting" many nights. She would make sure our homework was done after school and after dinner would pack us (my sister and me) to go "visiting". We would go see either someone in the family or a close friend. They would sit and smoke cigarettes and drink coffee and leave us kids to figure out how to occupy our time. We would play or watch TV. She did this a lot. And on Sunday night it was either church our tagging along while my father (who was an old man) and his old man friends would bowl on a Sunday night league. They would drink heavily (what the hell are highballs, anyway?)and smoke massively. We even had little uniforms made to match Dad's. How frigging humiliating that I STILL HAVE MINE! We did this week after week, never missing a Sunday night (my mom didn't believe in babysitters). How did my mom find the energy or the time? I guess drinking all that coffee will do it. It's too bad that we can't find the time or the energy in our lives, hell, sometimes I have trouble returning emails.

Have another....Bud Lied!

The guy to the left is a liar. In 2002, The Cardinals played a playoff game against the Diamondbacks at 10pm Central Time. At that time, Bud said. "I am very sorry this has happened, these fans deserve better, that starting time will never happen again". Fast forward to 2005. The Cardinals are playing The Padres and the game time is 10pm Central Time. His response was, "I am very sorry this has happened, a team struggles all year to get the best record. I can assure the fans of St. Louis that this will never happen again." As I struggled to stay awake at midnight (watching a baseball game on TV sometimes does that to me), I fell asleep and woke up to the sight of The Cardinals celebrating a playoff series win. Ten to one, if the Yankees win tonight, the Cardinals game will be moved to Wednesday afternoon.

Stevie Wonder

I was Ipodding today and Stevie Wonder came on. I wonder how many people who are in my generation know what a genius this guy is. There are a bunch of Stevie Wonder songs that I really like, and this cat did everything from producing one of the greatest ROCK songs "Superstition" to rapping with the best. Will we ever see music done by great like this again? Or is "Rock" music already dead and gone? Too bad.
Here are MY fave Stevie Wonder songs..
1. "Superstition" (damn what a piece of funky music)
2. "Heaven Help Us All"
3. "Higher Ground"
4. "Overjoyed" (man, I loved playing this on Smooth Jazz)
5. "Place In The Sun" (very early influence on me)
6. "For Once In My Life" (great song of ANY era)
7. "Sir Duke" (genius)
8. "I Wish" (ditto)
9. "Don't You Worry Bout A Thing"
10."If You Really Love Me"
Bubbling Under the top ten...

"I Was Made To Love Her","Signed Sealed Delivered","Living For The City","Boogie On Reggae Woman","My Cherie Amour"
Thanks, Stevie.

Stop It!

I heard both of these terms on the radio this week...stop using them!
"Hot Water Heater"
"ATM Machine"
Just my two cents though.

My Philosophy

I love this quote and to it, I say Amen!
"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, Cuervo in one hand, Mexican food in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming "WOO HOO, What a Ride!"

My brother

Yesterday would have been my brothers 57th birthday. I miss you, bro, more than anyone will ever know. Life has just not been the same since you left that Saturday morning. I will see you soon.
William G. Raley October 5th 1948-October 9th 1993

Thanks, John Densmore

Apparently, Cadillac has offered the surviving members of The Doors $15 million for the rights to "Break On Through" to use on a car commercial. Ray Manzerek said...yes, Robbie Krieger said....yes, and John Densmore said....no. God bless ya, John for standing up for something anyway. The advertising company exec said something to the effect that members of my generation don't mind the use of classic rock songs in advertising. That member of the ad company must not be a member of my generation. Bugs the hell out of me. Wow, someone who DOES have principals. Paybacks are a bitch huh Ray and Robbie?

Guardian Angels

I have one and I know who he is. It's not my late brother (he died too late in my life to be a guardian angel). It is a guy that I lived across the street from when I was an infant. His name was Bobby Lee Moore. Lee is my middle name. Bobby was the son of Buck and Dorothy Moore. Dorothy basically raised me when I was little when my mom worked. Bobby was her eldest of three sons and twenty years older than me but, from what I hear, carried me everywhere. I can, still yet, remember washing the wheels of his car when I was about 4, just one of those things that you don't ever forget. Bobby drowned on his 24th birthday which also happened to be his wedding day. His wife was pregnant...oh my God, man, this was 1960!! How devastating for Buck and Dorothy this must have been. I, for what I have been told, walked around for days in the middle of the street, wondering where Bobby was. I know now. Considering the life I have led, I could've...should've been dead a couple of times over. I just want to shake his hand when I get to the dinner table. His wife remarried and his daughter (Bobbie Lee Moore now something else) has lived in the house that my family lived in when I went to high school. Some things we know, some we feel. I know Bobby's been there...don't ask me how, though.

Metaphysical Bullshit

I sometimes wonder if I have ever met myself before. I wonder that at 7 or 8, young Randy saw a glimpse of himself 40 years later. Or, have I, at this ripe age run into young Randy yet? I saw a kid outside a church school in Ottumwa that looked a lot like me. I wonder if it was. Does God, at some time decide to throw you back into the human race when you die? Maybe I am going to be younger than I was old someday...hopefully, not too soon.

My friend Abby

What the heck is the deal? I lost another friend today. A very good friend of mine didn't show up for work today, they went looking for her and...you can guess the rest. When I moved to St. Louis to work for the mighty KSHE95, one of the people who went out of their way to make me feel at home was Abby. We understood that we were a part of rock history in St. Louis. At the time, she worked for Irv Zuckerman at Contemporary Productions, the people who booked all of the rock shows, and since we were the ONLY rock station, we saw each other a lot. When the assistant promotion directors's job opened at KSHE, she was perfect. She is also responsible for sneaking me in the back door of KSHE the last go around. Fun, creative, excited, and a damn fine person, I am glad to be called one of her friends. If it is true you are judged by the company you keep, I am a blessed man. Thanks, Jim Marchyshyn for bringing her to KSHE, thanks Al, for the phone call (I think).RIP, Abby, gone at 45. Done too soon.

On The Road...

This week started with a 10 hour drive from St. Louis to Menomonee WI (that is about 40 miles east of St. Paul). My first appointment was in Luck, WI and the guy I met turned out to have worked on radio in the Quad Cities in the early to mid 60s. I am absolutely sure I heard him on the local radio station. It was a very good meeting considering how the relationship was when I got there. I left there and travelled Highway 8 across upper Wisconsin to Wausau. Stopping in Rice Lake, Ladysmith and Tomahawk. I really like Wausau, seems like a nice friendly place to be. I left Wausau in a driving rain storm and drove from Wausau to Antigo and then through the Menomonee Indian Reservation and National Forest to Shawano. How friggin' beautiful! The leaves are turning colors and the ride was mellow. I ended up in Milwaukee and had dinner with an old comrade of mine Bob Bateman, who does afternoons on the country station there. Had dinner at the Victory Inn where they had wings for $.35. I'll have ten, please. Bob was great to talk to, one of the great sounding guys after all these years. While I was in Milwaukee, I heard my friend Jay Philpott doing afternoons on "The Hog" (Milwaukee is the home of Harley-Davidson). I had breakfast with Jay and he gave me the tour of the Saga cluster there. What a very great company Saga is. The vibe from the cluster was very good. Beautiful building in the middle of town. As I was leaving Milwaukee to head to Burlington Iowa, I heard that the Brewers game was going to be free yesterday and if I didn't have commitments, that would be cool. I don't think Learfield would appreciate me going to a game on their time, so I passed. For the first time ever, I believe, I put !!!$50!!! in the gas tank of my rental car (Ford Taurus). This was in Lyndon Il. I made it to Burlington with 15 minutes to spare but the people I was going to meet must have left the station early (the sign said Business hours 8-4:30 and I got there at 4.) That is where I am now and I will meet with the folks and head home. What a cool job, in western Wisconsin one day, Iowa the next, who knows next week.

Two Hot Women (September 2005)

OK, OK, the list changes a whole lot, although I did see Elizabeth Vargas on TV last night. Love the hair, Liz. For right now, the two women who get me hooked into something whenever they are on TV or in a movie are...
a better picture..

Marrisa Tomei. She has been hot for years. I just think she has it all going on.
And now for my next babe..I nominate David Ducovny as luckiest man on Earth because he gets to wake up next to this...
Tea Leoni..She was absolutely, insanely hot as Nicholas Cage's wife in "Family Man"
How would you like to have her on your arm?
Huh, David..David are YOU listening to me..I will NOT be ignored..oh sorry.

The Wisdom Of Silvio Dante

Many thanks to my friend (and legendary) Johnnie King, for sharing this with me. The question is...is anyone listening?

LITTLE STEVEN'S KEYNOTE ADDRESS RADIO & RECORDS CONVENTION 2005
- JACOBS MEDIA SUMMIT

Date: Thursday, July 23, 2005
Place: Renaissance Hotel, Cleveland, Ohio
Audience: 250 Program Directors

Fred Jacobs introduces 4-minute video bio. At its conclusion the Dovells' "You Can't Sit Down" explodes from the speakers as 5 Go-Go girls come out of the wings surrounding Fred, much to his discomfort. Little Steven enters to thunderous applause. He cuts off the music with a wave of his hand, leans into the microphone and says "Ladies and Gentlemen, Fred Jacobs."
The music returns as the girls exit. A stunned audience applauds wildly as Fred, very uncharacteristically, dances off with them.

Little Steven: Well that was worth the price of admission alone.

(more applause and laughter, paces with the hand held mic for a minute, and then . . . )

I Love Radio!

(applause once again erupts)

And I feel nothing but love in this room because as I look around, I see only two kinds of people. Our beloved affiliates . . . and future affiliates.

(laughter)

So now matter what happens in this next half hour, remember what I just said. It's just family talking. And without any further disclaimers let me ask the only important question that is on my mind, and I'm sure you've been thinking about it also, especially lately.

(pause)

WHEN DID THE farking p*****s TAKE OVER?

(applause and laughter)

When? Don't you look forward to the day when your grandson is on your knee and he looks up and says, "Grampa weren't you in radio once?"
"Yes, Grandson," you'll reply.
"Could I ask you something," he'll say.
"Of course, my love, anything," you'll say.
"Grampa where were you WHEN THE farking p*****s TOOK OVER?"

(more laughter)

Where were we? What happened? Things are out of line and we're not leaving here today until we straighten it out.

(applause and laughter)

Now I was going to wait for this but we might as well get right to it since it is all everybody's talking about. I have come to praise JACK not to bury him.

(laughter - uncertain applause)

The guys at Infinity are friends of ours, as is everybody else, we got nothing but friends you all know that. And I've gotta say I'm proud of these guys for having the balls to shake things up. Things needed shaking up. And history will remember them in a very positive way when looking back at this world changing moment. Having said that . . .

Replacing 33 year old New York oldies institution CBS-FM with JACK is like replacing the Statue of Liberty with a blow-up doll.

(eruptions of laughter and applause)

But again, change is good. And necessary. With a little bit of luck JACK will last 10 or 12 months because it is obvious people want something different, they are hungry for something, anything. So it could be 6 months before anybody actually listens to JACK.

Once they do it is doomed for 3 obvious reasons. At the moment it is replacing oldies formats but it is not an oldies format in the true sense of the word. It's mostly 80's, some 70's, some 90's. Now it must be said that the oldies format is vulnerable because over the last 5-10 years it has, in a word, sucked.

It has sucked for a very simple reason, somebody had the brilliant idea to eliminate the 50's and replace it with the 70's. This was done by somebody uniquely stupid and deaf and ignorant and a bad businessman on top of it all. So naturally, everybody copied it and the 50's disappeared virtually overnight.

Now let's digress and examine this oldies thing for a minute. Assuming you accept the fact that those overseeing the oldies format these last 5 years - 10 years - are, in fact, stupid, deaf, ignorant, and bad businessmen, let's deal with it.

As far as stupid, deaf, and ignorant, when it comes to decades that matter, that matter historically, in terms of influence, importance, and never-to-be-heard-again-quality - that is the 50's and 60's. Everything we do, everything we are comes from those two decades.

You're gonna throw one away? You're gonna replace Elvis, Little Richard, Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, Johnny Burnette, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Buddy Holly, Lloyd Price, and Fats Domino with, all due respect, Donna Summer and the Bee Gees? You're gonna replace primal, vital, timeless, forever cool rock and roll pioneers with disco? Disco?

You wanna know what disco is good for? Disco is for when you're drunk at a wedding with your old lady and you want to act like an idiot and be John Travolta for an hour or two. That's where it belongs. Not on radio.

And to the issue of oldies being bad business - all you hear - I'm assuming from sales people - is we must lower our demo's.The oldies demographic are getting too old - that's the rationale for replacing the 50's with the 70's.

Now if all there was to sell in the world were Fruit Loops, Play Stations,and sneakers - they might have a point. But I got a little secret to share. You know that age group - 35 to 65 - that nobody in sales seems to care about?

THAT'S WHERE ALL THE farking MONEY IS!

(laughter, applause)

I mean ALL the farking money.

35 to 65.

Memo to sales team - SELL THEM SOMETHING!

And, by the way, if you want younger people listening, you can get that done. And I mean kids, if you want them.

Who is cooler? Early Elvis or Elton John?

What appeals more to kids, Gene Vincent's black leather attitude, Eddie Cochran's teenage frustration, Little Richard's cry of liberation, and Dion's total Soprano's coolness - or the Eagles?

You want wild? Put together the Sex Pistols, Audioslave, and the Wu-Tang Clan - they aren't as wild as Jerry Lee Lewis in his prime.

But you have to explain that. Show it, illustrate, educate, sell it.

Alright - digression over - so JACK isn't oldies so it must be some kind of classic rock/pop hybrid. But JACK doesn't address the two biggest problems of classic rock. 15 years ago I said we're chasing all the personality out of rock radio and into talk and sports. And the ratings went with it.

We need more personality, not less, and JACK has none. No DJ's means no personal relationship with the audience. Eventual apathy is inevitable.

The other big issue classic rock must consider is it must start playing new music again.

I've suggested it to my own affiliates and I'll keep saying it every change I get. We've got a big problem. Look around. Pearl Jam does some business. Dave Matthews - if he's rock at all - does well. Maybe Oasis breaks this year in the U.S. Maybe Coldplay - if they're considered rock.

But in a real sense, the last big band through the door was U2. That's 25 years ago.

Has anybody stopped to consider that? Basically when our generation stops touring, it's over. That's one reason why we started the Underground Garage format. New Hard Rock, Hip Hop, and Pop can be heard in various places, new Rock and Roll had nowhere to go.

We have played more new bands in 3 years than anybody since the 60's. We average 30 new bands a year. That's how many are out there. And we are very picky out of respect to our classic rock affiliates, we know we need to keep the quality level high and we do.

But we can't sell records with 2 hours a week.

Someday somebody will have the balls to put the Underground Garage format on 24-7 on broadcast radio but until then, we only have 2 hours a week.

We need your help.

Rock and Roll is not just that museum down the street. It's a living, breathing animal that needs to be fed. With new blood. And I'm not saying you need to do as much as we do, we're about 40% new and the rest from the entire 50 years of history.

And by the way everybody told us you can't combine old with new but of course you can. As long as you're making your decisions based on musical experience, good taste, and an effective, coherent emotional communication. As opposed to your Ipod on shuffle.

(laughter, applause)

When you properly combine old and new the old records give the new ones a sense of depth, of belonging to an eternal continuum, carrying the flag forward. The new records give the old ones relevance, keeps them vital, connected to the next generation.

And all testing and computer analysis and surveys don't tell you that.

It's all bulls**t. When are we going to learn that?

(applause)

All that s**t tells you is what people think they want right now. Well that's not the way great radio happens, or great anything. You don't do a survey before you write a song, or make a record. We are drowning in an ocean of mediocrity because sometimes you gotta have enough historical perspective, and vision, and balls to say we have to combine short term want with long term need.

And yeah you gotta sell it.

If you're playing cool stuff make sure the audience hears it right – in the right context. That is everything.

If to a punky consciousness the Ramones are sugar and the Ronettes are broccoli you play the Ramones into the Ronettes and, because Joey learned to sing from Ronnie and you can hear it, the Ramones become hollandaise and it works.

(laughter, applause)

There is an art to this s**t. You know that. It's the corporate bosses that forget that fact. But it's not just music - we have this problem plaguing every aspect of our culture.

Yes content needs work, yes marketing needs work, but it is the sales teams that need to be re-educated and motivated and inspired and creative. And it's not happening because they are being led by business oversight guys.

Content guys should be running companies, marketing guys should be running companies, who put business oversight guys in charge?

(applause)

Wall Street that's who.

Wall Street continues to love and reward and worship short term success for some reason. As the culture and the economy and all our fathers' and grandfathers' and hundreds of years of hard work get trashed in a generation or two. The tail is wagging the dog. Wall Street should not be calling the shots.

When did Wall Street ever write a song? Paint a picture? Make a movie? Play a song on the radio that changed somebody's life?

(applause)

Where are the music people?

I see lawyers, accountants, test marketers running the world. Where is the emotional connection? Where is the passion? This ain't about JACK or BOB or Moe or Larry or Curly. It's about you. Everybody in this room. You are here because you are connected emotionally.

This ain't Harvard Business School. It's farking Rock and Roll!

(applause)

These Wall Street cats couldn't have gotten us here. They react – they don't create.

They didn't build this industry.

We did it.

And you're not here because it was a smart business decision.

I know what you make.

(laughter)

(pauses - slows down)

You're here because you loved it once. And we've got to find a way to love it again. And communicate that love to our audience. I am determined - together we will find a way. The Revolution is on.

Thank you.

(standing ovation - thunderous applause)
Amen.

Van Halen

I ran into a good friend of mine and he said he loved the blog, but I didn't post enough stuff about music...shit, I thought that's all I was doing. So, with that in mind...I interviewed Van HalenI in Kansas City on the 1984 tour. Well, actually, it was Micheal Anthony and Alex Van Halen who stopped by(Dave and Eddie must have been busy). The interview commenced at about 5:45 with Alex bringing a six pack of Schlitz Malt Liquor and Micheal hanging on to a fifth of Jack. I was at the top of my game back then, but I lost total control of the interview within 2 minutes. Man, were they hammered when it was over at 6:15 or so. Then they had to go play the show? Unbelievable! Sammy Hagar is one of the nicest, coolest guys in the business. He also has the whitest teeth I have ever seen. I have a collectable on my wall that features the autographed "Nine on a Ten Scale" with a picture that is framed. He has been in my collection since "Montrose" and when I told him that, he seemed genuinely humbled by it.
With that in mind...my 5 or 6 favorite Van Halen songs in somehwat of an order, but not really...

1. "Little Guitars" should be on every classic rock playlist
2. "Meanstreets" Eddie kicks ass on this
3. "Mine All Mine" from OU812 oww, man I would have love to have been there
4. "Light Up The Sky" why was this never played on the radio?
5. "Dreams" summer of 1986, how well i remember
6. "Ain't Talkin Bout Love" early days in radio..thought i was hot shit.
There ya go, thanks for taking our tour and please stop by again...

Post 71.."Standing In the Shadows Of Motown"

In an upcoming post, I will list the top ten movies that I cannot stop watching once I get into them. This one deserves a special mention...

It's the story of the Funk Brothers, the anonymous band that played on just about every song that came out of that era...and the fact that NO ONE knew who they were. One of my favorite parts is when the living Funk Brothers back up current artists doin those great songs. Joan Osbourne, Ben Harper and Gerald Levert sing their asses off. What A great great movie.
A good one to rent on a Saturday night.
"Standing In The Shadows of Motown"

I Love A Parade

One of the duties that my daughter has as a "pommie" is that she gets to perform in the annual Greentree festival parade here in beautiful downtown, suburban Kirkwood. I love my little city nestled in the southwest corner of St. Louis county. Greentree is an annual even held in Septemeber at the Kirkwood park where everyone gets together and drink, eat, see crafts and shows and basically hang out together. The parade was very well attended and I got to see my daughter twice. First at the beginning of the parade standing at the corner of Geyer and Essex, then after she passed, I figured I could catch up with the parade again at St. Peter Church. I was right. Even though, I am sure she was hot from performing, each time I saw her she was smiling and looked into it. I HAVE to get that camera fixed. I have very good kids, for which I am blessed.

Football Friday Night

This is a very neat time for us right now. My daughter is a "pommie" for the high school so she gets to go and perform every home game. There was a hair of a chill in the air tonight. I got a Pepsi and some popcorn. Kirkwood was winning 61-6 we I left. I think they can take it from here....

Yummm..

I grew up on a farm. I used to really enjoy a great meal that maybe others might not think would be so hot. Saturday mornings were met with stacks of bacon, sausage, beans,eggs, potatoes and other great edibles. I am not sure I could eat this however, when I lived in Kansas City, I had a house at 74th and Holmes. At 75th and Holmes was a mom and pop restaurant, called appropriately enough..."Joe's". I would walk there every morning with the paper and get two eggs (over easy) with hash browns and toast. Every once in a while I would order the "poorboy", which was a double cheeseburger with a couple of fried eggs(over easy). Yum. With fries to boot and I didn't gain a pound. Ah...those WERE the days.

Musings..

Road trip yesterday. Went from St. Louis to Mason City, Iowa. Distance about 400 miles. It was a mellow, fine trip. I had business to take care of in Mason City that was cool. I hope we get that station on, they have a great news department and a fine management staff.

While driving, I listened to about 45 songs on the Ipod. The highlights..it started sweet with "Carolina In The Pines" by Micheal Murphy. Top ten song of all time, for sure. One of THE best guitar solos...David Gilmour's full 2:35 workout in "Money". "My Blue World" by the Moodies was sublime. "Life For The Taking" by Eddie Money was a good highway jam. "Sir Duke" sounded great and "Chest Fever by the band just hit the spot, hell I could almost be a radio programmer...nah! Nice cruise.

I was watching a show in the restaurant of my hotel in Iowa City. It was hosted by a cat named Steven A. Smith who is also is sportswriter (whatever happened to having broadcasters host broadcasted shows), anyhow, he kept bitching about how unfair it was that college athletes weren't paid. Hold on, now..as a guy who is putting one kid through college at Notre Dame, and soon will help with another, give my kid just ONE chance to get a scholarship, and I promise you that kid will ask for nothing else for four years. I'll take THAT deal anyway, anyday. Steven A. Smith is a clown.

Chris Schenkel

Chris Schenkel passed away earlier this week at the age of 82. Boy, you talk about the voices of your past, this guy has a whole chapter. The first guy to do live play by play from the Olympics (1968) and he was the voice of the Pro Bowlers Tour forever. My father would spend his Saturdays when he wasn't working watching bowling. Vicariously, I knew that voice immediately. RIP, Chris, you meant so much to people you never even knew. He joins the growing list of broadcasting greats that have passed. Lindsey Nelson (the voice of Notre Dame football),
Ray Scott (the voice of the Packers) and others, whose voices take me back to my childhood.

My favorite smells

The olfactory sense is the most powerful they say, one smell of something can send you so far back in time that you don't return until the daydream is over...
Here are some of my favorites...
1. Freshly mowed grass (reminds me of spring)
2. White Shoulders perfume (everytime I smell it, I look around to see if she's there...she's not and never will be)
3. When I go to Schnucks, sometimes I can smell the fried chicken cooking, takes me back to high school when I fried chicken for a living.
4. Lilacs (reminds me of my mom).
5. A wood stove on a winter morning...
how about you?

I Was Born In A Small Town...

As I was driving from Ottumwa Iowa to Washington Iowa (through a driving rainstorm), I passed through and around a number of "wide spots in the road" as my Dad used to call them. It got me thinking...What do people who live in places like Hedrick Iowa and Fremont and Delta, Ollie, Richland, Packwood, Eddyville do for a living? How do these really small towns survive? Do they find meaningful employment there or do they commute to somewhere else? Too much time on my hands...

Segue from hell

I heard this disastrous segue on a station in Des Moines just the other day. They went from "Dance With My Father" by Luther Vandross into "Mony Mony" by Billy Idol with no interruption. I thought my bag of Sun Chips and Diet Mountain Dew was going to come back up my nose. The radio station was called "My 95"..My God!

A Rite of Passage

My daughter got her drivers' license on the first try. Of course, Dad now looks somewhat like this...




...Man, what happened to the time? She was a little girl just yesterday and now..She has a great instructor so, I am proud of her and terrified at the same time.

New Orleans

I have never been there. I applied for a job there once, but nothing ever happened. As The Pretenders would say...my city is gone. Unbelievable and heartbreaking. The song "Heart of The Night" by Poco keeps running through my mind..

In the heart of the night
In the cool southern rain
There's a full moon in sight
Shining down on the Pontchartrain

And the river she rises
Like she used to do
She's so full of surprises
She reminds me of you
In the heart of the night

There's a nightbird singing
Right on through till the dawn
And the streets are still ringing
With people carrying on

It's been so long waiting
Just to be here again
Anticipating
All the time I could spend
In the heart of the night down in
New Orleans
In the heart of the night down in
New Orleans

And I trust in your love never
falling down
And I trust in your love
Just like I do in this town
never falling down

And I'm so glad to be back in
New Orleans
Please don't wake me, don't
shake me,
If this is only just a dream
It's the only place I can face
that feels so right
Below that Dixie moon and loving
you

In the Heart of the Night

From the "Legend" CD, which has been since 1979, one of my favorites. I am also reminded of "The City of New Orleans" written by Steve Goodman and Fats Domino's "Walkin To New Orleans" And the song that Aaron Neville sang on "Good Morning America" is called "Louisiana 1927" and it was written by Randy Newman.
God love these people, they will never get their city back. Gutwrenching to say the least.

This is funny..

I can always count on my friend Jay Philpott to come up with cool stuff, this is no exeption. I found this very amusing:

Rock and Roll Thesaurusized by Christopher J. Falvey
ROCK & ROLL BY LED ZEPPELIN
It has come to pass an extended era from the time when I swayed and revolved,
It has come to pass an extended era from the time when I performed the leisurely walk.
Ooh, allow me to obtain it in return, allow me to obtain it in return,
Allow me to obtain it in return, little one, where I approach from.
It has come to pass an extended era, come to pass an extended era,
Ensued an extended isolated, isolated, isolated, isolated, isolated occasion. Agreed it has.

"Yesterday"
BY THE BEATLES
In the recent past, every one of my dilemmas gave the impression of being so distantly absent.
At the present, it seems as though they're at this time to hang about.
Oh, I accept as true the recent past.
Abruptly, I'm not partially the gentleman I used to exist as.
There's a silhouette suspended on top of me.
Oh, the recent past approached abruptly.

"My Generation"
BY THE WHO
The populace attempts to place us behind
(Discussing on the subject of my age group)
Simply since we become known
(Discussing on the subject of my age group)
Belongings they do give the impression of being dreadfully chilly
(Discussing on the subject of my age group)
I anticipate I will expire previous to when I become aged
(Discussing on the subject of my age group)
This is my age group
This is my age group, infant

"Purple Haze"
BY JIMI HENDRIX
Violet mist completely in my intellect
Recently, effects simply don't give the impression of being identical
Carrying on humorously; however, I am not acquainted with the reason
Pardon me at the same time as I make out with the atmosphere
Violet mist altogether in the region of
Don't recognize if I'm approaching happy or depressed
Am I content or in desolation?
Suchlike it is, that lass placed a magic charm on top of me
Assist me
Assist me
Oh, no, no

David Brooks nails it.."A Hard Rains Gonna Fall"

David Brooks (a conservative columnist) nails it on the head with this coomentary.
"A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall"