Music Is The Universal Language

The one thing as humans we all share is the love of music. This video eloquently demonstrates that fact.
Thanks Jeanne

This Weekend

Wow, busy from the get go. I had a list of stuff to do that was a mile long, but got 95% finished. Mowed the yard, trimmed the hedges, shoveled up the tomato patch, got said tomatoes and planted them, cleaned out half the garage...yadda yadda. Still waiting for the genius to write an op-ed piece in the Springfield paper. I know exactly what I want to say but need to set it up and deliver in the correct manner. I figure that it will hit me at once, it always does.
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Sorry to hear the news about Bea Arthur. She was 86 and pretty much finished her life doing what she wanted. "CBS Sunday Morning" featured a piece they did on her in 2001, when she did a one woman show all over the country. They way I look at it...if you are doing what you want at the age of 78 and getting paid well for it, then you rule the world. Simple as that.
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Draft day come and gone. Just a way for a 24 hour sports channel to fill up live programming. Seems folks are happy with the Rams, some most folks aren't with the Chiefs. I've no idea either way but Kirkwood boy Jeremy Maclin goes to the Eagles. Good for him. Seeing men with perfectly coiffed hair get excited over young men scares me a bit but I guess it's their job.
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It seems the Cardinals get hammered on Sundays. I don't know the history, but it seems to me that the boys get a licking on Sunday.

Workin For The Weekend

I saw a story on the local news here tonight where they reported the average family credit card debt is $11,000. Can that be right? Since I have none, that means that means that someone has racked up $22,000 on their card. How can you do that? $2,200? I could see that. No wonder this country is so screwed up right now. My parents are spinning. We NEVER bought anything on credit. Ever.
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The trailer for "Star Trek" looks great. From what I have seen and heard, that may have the first blockbuster of the summer. Talk about being kid again. I was ten when it came on TV. Living in Ava, there was only station we got from Springfield very well. KY 3 played "Star Trek" then wrestling at 10:30 on Saturday night. At 12:30am, it was time for bed. Damn, I wish I could stay up that late now.
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I found a cool walking trail behind the place that is just about a mile long. Perfect. Since I hurt my ankle, I haven't been getting nearly as much exercise as I should . Getting rotund. This will help me chart my progress. Playing bball once a week won't cut it. I am going to have to run although it harkens me back to bball practice as running was used as punishment. It is still punishment.
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On ESPN tonight when I got home from work (6:15), there was a video game competition on one of their channels (?)and a "This Is Your Life" with John Elway called "Homecoming" on the other. I guess when you have to fill 24/7 with sports, you get the dregs every now and then. Speaking of sports, thanks Tony Gonzalez, too bad you never won a ring. Never got close really. You may be a Falcon now, but you'll always be a Chief to me. Class, style and grace, you had the whole package. Like Derrick Thomas, one of the best players ever not to even get close.
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Ipod jukebox:
"Roundabout"-Yes (Bill Bruford's masterpiece)
"Shambala"-3 Dog Night
"Another Record"-Genesis
"Love Is Here"-Jim Messina
"Mistress of Mine"-Little River Band
"Madman"-The Jayhawks
"Missing Train"-Richie Havens
"Mighty Love (pt. 1)-Spinners
"Monkey Man"-Rolling Stones
"Indian Summer"-Poco
"May Be Wrong"-Savoy Brown
"Roundabout"(rough mix)-Yes....nice, full circle.

KSTT Radio

I wish I could enlarge the pictures more than I can. Maybe I don't know how, I am not sure. The picture on the left is pretty self explanatory. This was the KSTT staff right after I left the building. Right before then, I did overnights at KSTT and middays at 97X. Mike Keneally was one of the funniest jocks ever and I'd like to find him again. Jay Gregory recently passed, he drove in from Sterling Il every day (about 60 miles). Another great underrated jock and a better guy. Jay was a very funny, animated, gregarious guy who shaped my sound a lot. Jim Ohara is still there. Michelle is somewhere and of course, that's Spike Odell, who just retired at the age of 55 after doing about 20 years at WGN in Chicago. Good for him. I have known Spike since high school. His dad was the police chief of the East Moline Police Department. His wife was my favorite bank teller.

The picture up on the right is a KSTT "survey" from July 14-24th 1972. (If you look closely, you can almost make out the print). The summer of my 16th year.
Here was the top five:
1. "Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast"-Wayne Newton
2. "Happiest Girl in the Whole USA-Donna Fargo (up from 11 the week before)
3. "Brandy"-Looking Glass
4. "Sealed With a Kiss"-Bobby Vinton
5. "Hold Her Tight"-The Osmonds.

Ick. But, here are some other songs they were playing:
14. "Couldn't I Just Tell You"-Todd Rundgren
21. "Happy"-Rolling Stones
31. "Good Feeling To Know"(!?)-Poco
33. "Immigration Man"-Crosby and Nash
34. "Lady Elenore"-Lindisfarne (great song)
38. "Join Together"-The Who

There are three songs by bands that even I don't know
"Music's Calling Me" by Griffin
"It's Alright (I Don't Mind)" by Robey, Falk and Bod
"Waitin' Line" by Spyder's Gang
I honestly don't remember ever hearing those songs on the radio. I'm sure I did.

KSTT was also playing album cuts like:
"Rock and Roll Crazies"-Manassas
"Stairway to Heaven" yes!
"Mona Lisas and Mat Hatters"-Elton
"You're Still A Young Man"-Tower of Power
"Blue Sky"-Allman Bros
"Them Changes"-Santana and Miles
"I Just Want to Make Love to You"-Foghat

Within minutes of each other, you could hear Donna Fargo and Led Zeppelin, Bobby Vinton and Tower of Power, The Osmonds and Foghat, and Mac Davis and The Allman Brothers. Now, THAT's a great radio station and one of the biggest contibutors on the soundtrack of my life! Especially during the time when music meant so much to me and my friends. On AM, kids. How much that station influenced cannot be stated in words. Literally, the soundtrack of my adolescence.





I got this from the still cruisin usa website:

Radio station KSTT was a large part of the lives of baby boomers in the Quad Cities years ago. KSTT AM 1170 was on the air from 1946 until the late 80's. The station was located on east river drive in Davenport, across from Hostess Bakeries. The studio had a large window in the northwest corner where listeners could watch their favorite on air jock spin records. KSTT was "The Big #1", rated the #1 station in the Quad Cities for over 3 decades. No one else even came close during their record run at the top. . People who listened to the station would remember such jocks as Spike O'Dell, Lou Gutenberger, Lee Shannon, Jay Gregory, Mark Stevens, Bobby Rich, Ruth and Fred, and Jim O'Hara, each of them spinning top 40 hits in their own style. Booty Bottles, Top 40 surveys, Chicken Man and Big Red were also part of "the station you've grown up with". KSTT listeners participated in many on air contests, calling in on the Ruth and Fred show, calling in song requests, and phoning in news tips. KSTT sponsored hootenannys and hops, ballgames, Good Guy a Go Go dances, picnics, and had listeners search for "Bootie Bottles, filled with gift certificates, and keys to motorcycles. Quad City area seviceman had tapes sent to them in Vietnam. Dick Orkins famous "Chickenman show and Toothfairy episodes were heard daily. As fm radio began to gain popularity in the seventies, KSTT's audience began to shrink. People were now listening to KIIK 104 fm. by the eighties, KSTT was simulcasting with its sister station WXLP fm 97X. By 1992 they had switched their call letters to KJOC and had become an all sports talk station. The KSTT building at 1111 East river drive is now a law firm. But out of respect for the radio station, it is named KSTT Place. The interior still has the KSTT station memorabilia hanging on the walls. The picture window the jocks spun records in is still there. Former KSTT newsman Jim Orr summed it up "The radio station was a really special thing. We've been a lot of places. But nothing compares to KSTT."

Coronas and Miss California and More

Hey Jesse,
I love you. Please, though. I am not old enough to have three grandkids. Stop. Three darling, beautiful girls. All born with three weeks of the another on the calendar, right? I am really happy for you. And me. And Aspen. And Amelia.
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I am not much of a beer guy. Give me tequila or rum anyday. I do think that the best tasting beer bar none is Corona. Could it be the water, brewing process or "something else?". I am enjoying an "iced" one while typing. Nectar of the Gods.
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So, Miss California tells the truth about how she feels and "Perez Hilton" is offended. One question...who is Perez Hilton and why does anyone give a shit about what he thinks? I had to Google this clown to find out he has some website where he draws pictures on photos of the stars. Shut up. This is a free society with free speech. You are going to be offended at some point in your life. Develop a thick skin. Grow up. You won't always win the race. Everyone will not always agree with you. You will not always agree with everyone. She is who she is and she has guts for standing up for what she believes. Whether you or I agree with her is irrelevant. It's her opinion. It's a free country. Perez Hilton is not someone I would even consider to be mildly important. Now she's famous.
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Albert Pujols may go down as the best player I have ever seen. He's approaching Brett and Gibson. I never saw Stan Musial, he was my mom and grandfather's favorite, they were Cardinals fans from the forties.
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Ipod Jukebox:

"Give It To Me"-J. Geils Band
"Just As If You Were Here"-Frank Sinatra (shaddapp!)
"Eventually"-Carole King
"Smile Away"-Paul McCartney
"Shock The Monkey"-Peter Gabriel
"Rocket Man"-Elton John
"Angel From Montgomery"-Bonnie Raitt (this has been top ten on my list since 1978)
"The Letter"-Joe Cocker
"So Unkind"-Love Sculpture

Mondays Mental Meltdown...

Not really.
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I have just found "low fat oatmeal raisin cookie ice cream". It's great to be an American. Yes, it tastes just like it sounds. Woof!
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I don't know why, but I am bummed that Todd Rundgren sold "Hello It's Me" to Tums. Tums is a great St. Louis company, but I'm not sure what the song has to do with antacid.
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Thought I got away from this but someone was stabbed about 1/4 mile from here in a domestic dispute. Hope it's not a pattern. Just found a nice place to run not far from here. The Y is so expensive, but man, that sauna and steam room sure feel good.
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Last night, minced fish (fish sticks), tonight shaved chicken heated on a George Forman grill with cheap Chardonnay out of a plastic cup. Trendsetter me.
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This just about the time I start caring about the NBA. Intervention and Operation Repo are repeats, so it's the NBA for me. Still like the Spurs, but the loss of Ginobli is going to kill them. Intervention reminds me that no matter how bad my life gets...
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The Ipod tunes...
"I'm On Fire"-Bruce Springsteen
"Rock and Roll Dreams Come True"-Jim Steinman
"It's Your Thing"-Isley Brothers
"We Got Married"-Paul McCartney
"Silent House"-Dixie Chicks
"Through It All There's You"-Robert Plamer
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On Facebook, John "Records" Landecker is now my friend. I got on "Boogie Check" once in about 1973 or so. He hung up on me. I was never so flattered. I am sure that's what got me in. Crack for big kids.
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This 420 tidbit...the length of "Smokin'" by Boston is 4:20. The 420 thing wasn't popular that long ago, pretty clever and ahead of their time if you ask me.

In Praise of Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam)

I was flipping around the channels the other day and came across a show hosted by Chris Isaak. His guest Yusuf Islam. Cat Stevens. Stephen Dimitri Georgio. Called by Carly Simon (his old girlfriend) as the most gentle, kindest, sweetest man she has ever went out with. The song "Anticipation" is about him. At one time he spoke to me and through me, knowing my life better than I did. From 1972-1974, he owned a spot on the soundtrack to my life. He resides in the top five during that time, I am sure. When a song like "Father and Son" finds it's way on to the turntable at the age of sixteen, you know that he knows. "On The Road To Find Out", "Wild World","Miles From Friggin Nowhere". Then, right after I discovered "TFTT", "Teaser and the Firecat" was released and "Peace Train" and "The Wind" and "Changes IV". He wasn't kidding. While "Catch Bull at Four" was fine, with "Foreigner", "Buddha and the Chocolate Box" and "Izitso", he was clearly trying too hard. As he told Chris the other night, he went on the road to find out and found it through the Muslim religion. He just disappeared. Through teh years, you'd hear something very infrequently about him. Not too long ago, he was denied entry into the US because he was on a list of potentail terrorists. A guy that penned "Peace Train" was on the same list as people who wanted to kill us. He has been much more accessable lately. I'm glad, while he was on the show, he pulled out the guitar and played with Gunnar Nelson (?) backing him. They were great! Gunnar has some chops to show taht I haven't seen. He and Yusuf harmonized perfectly.



With that in mind (if I can) I'll come up with my ten favorite Cat Stevens songs. There will be so many that are missed.

1. "Miles From Nowhere"I always seem to be miles from nowhere.




2."Father and Son"Damn it, it made me cry. Still does sometimes.


3."The Wind""Where I'll end up, where I'll go, only God really knows..."


4."Wild World"The first thing I heard by him. How to let go.


5."MoonshadowI mean, come on, it's Moonshadow.


6."On The Road To Find Out" I was on the road not too long later



7."Peace Train" Couple this with "Love Train" by the OJays and I wonder what happened.


8."If You Want to Sing Out"Harold and Maude was a killer.



9."Sitting" "I feel the power coming from my hair" Nuff said.



10. "Can't Keep It In"I gotta sing it out!


10.(tie) "18th Avenue"I've been on 18th avenue in Kansas City.

The Ipod Shuffle

Hit the treadmill today at the Y. Sat in the steam/sauna for about an hour. It was a great ending to a Saturday afternoon, almost made me want to take advantage of this coupon from Papa Johns. Errr, probably wouldn't help much. While on the old treadmill, here's what the Ipod spit out:

"Phoenix"-Dan Fogelberg
"I Just Keep Falling In Love"-Steve Goodman
"Sinful Love"-Blue Oyster Cult
"One More Tomorrow"-Henry Gross
"Talk To The Lawyer"-David Lindley
"Loverboy"-Supertramp
"Empty Table"-Frank Sinatra (shaddup!)
"Theme In "A"-Cat Mother and the All Night Newsboys
"Heavy Music"-Bob Seger
"When My Heart Beats Like A Hammer"-Eric Clapton and B.B. King

Nice mix, wouldn't you say?

Finally!

Internet access at home. I will be posting a lot this weekend. Stand by.....

Let's Go Blues

I don't think that you could call me a hockey fanatic and be correct. I like the game and had much more passion for it in the 80's than I do now. There was something about seeing a game at the Arena and watching it from around the rafters. The Arena was built with seats that hung over each other rather than a bleacher style. When you were in the upper deck, it felt like you were leaning over the ice from three stories up. I saw the Monday Night Miracle there. I really did like watching the games from high up in the stands. You could see the plays either take form and work or disappate within a few seconds. The Blues at one time were a huge draw in St. Louis, constantly filling the old Arena and the new Kiel..er uh...Savvis..er uh Scottrade Center. Hockey hasn't been very good for awhile, here. The strike comes along and then the Blues owner sells or trades away the heart and soul of the team. Chris Pronger was dealt and the team stripped. In walk David Checketts and John Davidson (a play by play guy who is now the team President). They manipulate good draft choices, add some veterans and for the first time in a bunch of years, the Blues find themselves in the freakin playoffs as the 6th seed. 29 sell outs this year and from the GM to the public address announcer, they have rejuvenized the team and the city with style and class. To be where they were and to now be where they are, it's nothing short of a great sports story. Good guys who have drafted good players who give back to the community and actually meet and greet the fans. I met Andy Maurray a couple of times in the halls of KMOX and he has been nothing short of what he and the team preach. Be a professional. Let's Go Blues indeed. They may be one and done this year but nothing can take away from what they have accomplished.

I Know, I Know...

I'll be back soon. Still having some trouble getting a wireless signal that works. Later this week I'll post more. That's what you get when you move...
Until then...separated at birth?

Khalil Greene Jeff Spocoli

Time Out

Man, I need my stuff. I have been sleeping on an air mattress and thriving without plates or anything other than a TV for the last couple of days. Minimalistic to be sure, but tomorrow, it's UHaul time. I'll have my stuff including a computer and a place for my stuff. I don't have lots of stuff, but it's MY stuff, you know, so go stuff it. Next week, I'll write more stuff about stuff.
Here is one of my favorite Carlin bits:

KY 102 History

Left to right: The one and only Stan Andrews (on air, sales guy from 1974-84?), Bob Garrett General Manager in the day, Laure Lyon (she followed me on the air and I adored her)1977-81(?) and one of my best friends Jon Hart (KTBG FM grand poobah) 1975-91(?).
The dates are probably not accurate, but I think they are close.
When I saw Bob in KC at Shooting Star, we talked about how KY would help fill 60,000 for Peter Frampton or Fleetwood Mac at Arrowhead in the late 70's. "That's what we did," he said. How true. That's exactly what we did. It was no big deal. Things have certainly changed. How privileged I have been to fill a stadium with 50,000 and then greet them from the stage as a representative of your station. THE rock station in a city as cool as KC. Thanks, Bob for the whole thing. Without you and Max, I am not sure where this train would have went. To be at KY from 1979-1985 was as good of a time as a man could have.

Missed This.....

It was MARCH 31st, 1949 when the very first 45rpm single was released. The 45 turned 60-years old yesterday and the very first one was from none other then the great EDDY ARNOLD with 'Texarkana Baby." The B-side was "Boquet of Roses," both recorded in NASHVILLE. The single was released on bright green vinyl. Why you ask? They were color-coded. Green was for Polka and Country, red for classical, yellow for children's, blue for international, cerise for rhythm'n'blues. The two formats at the time were singles and four-track EPs. The second single followed soon after with ARTHUR CRUDUP's "That's All Right/"Crudup After Hours," on cerise vinyl.

Latest Arbitron Ratings for Nashville:

#44 Nashville, TN
Updated 4/2/2009
Winter '08-09 ARBITRENDS (December, January, February) 12+ Mon-Sun, 6a-12mid
Pop: 1,182,900
Black: 183,700 (16%) Hispanic: 59,400 (5%) Asian: 0 (0%)
Station Format Owner Win 08 Spr 08 Sum 08 Fall 08 N/D/J 09 D/J/F 09
WJXA-FM AC South Central 8.0 8.8 6.5 7.0 7.8 7.9
WUBT-FM Urban Clear Channel 7.3 8.4 6.5 7.9 6.7 6.2
WQQK-FM Urban AC Cumulus Media 5.4 5.4 5.5 6.3 6.8 6.0
WRVW-FM Top 40/M Clear Channel 6.7 6.6 6.2 7.1 6.3 6.0
WNRQ-FM Classic Rock Clear Channel 4.8 5.3 5.7 4.8 4.5 5.4
WSIX-FM Country Clear Channel 5.9 4.8 4.8 5.8 5.6 5.2
WSM-FM Country Cumulus Media 4.8 4.5 4.9 3.5 3.9 4.7
WKDF-FM Country Citadel 4.3 4.2 4.5 4.8 4.6 4.4
WWTN-FM Talk Cumulus Media 3.9 3.9 4.4 5.7 4.8 4.3
WCJK-FM Adult Hits South Central 4.0 5.3 4.9 3.3 3.3 4.1
WGFX-FM Sports Citadel 3.3 3.2 3.3 4.2 4.4 3.9
WFFH-FM Christian Cont. Salem 2.0 3.1 2.5 2.1 3.0 3.6
WLAC-AM N/T Clear Channel 3.3 3.1 3.6 4.2 3.9 3.2
WBUZ-FM Active Rock Cromwell 3.6 3.1 3.5 3.5 2.8 2.5
WSM-AM Classic Country Gaylord 2.4 2.3 2.6 1.6 2.2 2.5
WPRT-FM Top 40/M Cromwell 1.5 1.0 1.6 1.3 1.3 1.5
WRLT-FM AAA Tuned In 1.4 1.6 1.5 1.3 1.2 1.3
WNVL-AM Spanish Davidson -- -- -- -- 1.0 1.1
WMDB-AM Gospel Davidson 1.1 1.6 1.3 1.3 0.8 0.9
WVOL-AM Urban AC Heidelberg 0.4 0.5 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.8
WRQQ-FM Rock Cumulus Media 2.0 2.1 1.8 1.7 1.4 0.7
WNFN-FM Sports Cumulus Media 0.9 0.9 0.6 1.0 1.1 0.6
WAMB-AM Adult Standards Great Southern 0.5 -- -- -- -- 0.5
WGNS-AM N/T Rutherford -- -- -- 0.6 -- 0.5

Yes, THAT's my old station. I left it at a 2.7. Ick. They have lost more than two thirds of their listeners, but Al Brock and I didn't know what we were doing. Riiigggghhhht!!!

Bye For Now

See ya on the other side. I won't have internet access on the farm in Willard for awhile, I will be pretty busy at KSGF and wouldn't even think about taking time off from work to post. I'll be back this weekend with news of my niece's wedding. Pictures for all.
Good luck storming the castle!*

*Inside joke from "The Princess Bride"

Man's Humanity to Man

from the associated press
FARGO, N.D. – One family offered their home to anyone left homeless by flooding, even sharing their security entry code. When another couple lost their house, total strangers showed up at their hotel with chicken dinners, brownies and quilts. In the neighborly spirit synonymous with North Dakota, some people have given out their phone numbers on radio talk shows, offering shelter to any listeners in need. The generosity is so common that even as thousands of people are driven out of their homes by the overflowing Red River, most storm shelters are virtually empty.
"There is a different flavor up here — the type of hardworking ethic and the people helping each other up here that you don't see in a lot of cities," said Tom Hlady, who signed up through his church to take as many as nine people into his five-bedroom home.
On Monday, weary residents were grateful to see the Red River retreating after its steady, threatening climb last week. But they faced a new threat: an approaching snowstorm expected to kick up wind-whipped waves that could threaten the sandbag levees. The storm was expected to arrive Monday afternoon and persist through Tuesday evening. Locals don't consider the outpouring of kindness at all unusual.
Their 138-year-old city was ravaged by a fire more than a century ago and tested often over the years by the Red River. Fargo, they say, is a survivor, and one neighbor watching another's back is a way of life. Hlady and his wife are leaving this week for a vacation in Phoenix. They planned to give their home's keypad security code to the church for anyone who needs a place to stay.
"People can go in, use our food, our beds and do whatever they need to do," Pam Hlady said.Red Cross spokeswoman Courtney Johnson said emergency shelters are being used by a relatively small number of flood victims.
On Sunday night, three shelters in Fargo, Grand Forks and Moorhead, Minn., hosted just 257 people, including about 30 firefighters. That, Johnson said, suggests that most families found other places to stay.
The spirit of outreach is all over news radio.
When sandbaggers were needed urgently in nearby Hendrum, Minn., broadcasters repeatedly gave driving directions to volunteers, and hundreds of people turned out to save the town. When someone requested a windshield for emergency airboats, a listener volunteered to make one.
One caller to WDAY said he had delivered a bunch of pizzas to the Fargodome stadium, where the sandbagging effort was based. Then he called back to say he would fetch a bunch of crayons, coloring books and puzzles.
"Where do kids need them?" he asked.
Sarah Sebranek, a social studies teacher at Fargo North High School, has seen it at every turn.
Last Tuesday, when the sandbagging effort intensified, more than half of her students did not show up for classes. When her church offered free day care so parents could help fight the floodwaters, the Red Cross showed up unannounced with peanut butter and jelly, snack chips and pint-sized cartons of milk.
Some parents who were not members of the church came by to help watch the kids. Women there had sandwich-making parties, helping feed National Guardsmen and other sandbaggers.
"We're not heroes," Sebranek said. "We just rise to the occasion."
MacKenzie Blume, a 28-year-old mother of a toddler, joined the Hladys in signing up to share her home. Her preference: Someone with a child who might enjoy her son's toys. "I guess we do unto others as we would want done unto us, the Golden Rule thing," she said. Jim and Bonnie Myers saw the love firsthand on Friday, after their home just north of Moorhead burned to the ground because firefighters could not get past floodwaters. The couple, both 73, fled to a Fargo hotel, where strangers showed up with roasted chicken, cole slaw, brownies and clothing. A woman even dropped off some homemade quilts and, for the diabetic Jim, a blood-sugar monitor.
"I find it very touching, very giving," said Jim, a retired trucker. He said the charity often comes from "people who still have to fight their own fight" to save their homes.
Jay Thomas, a WDAY radio personality who has helped orchestrate the gestures of kindness, says what's happening is not out of the ordinary.
"Up here, it's the way we do things," he said.
At the Hladys' church, senior pastor Bob Ona said he feels blessed to live in such a tight-knit place.
"This will be one of those markers that we will all talk about for the rest of our lives — how people helped each other out," he said. "I think it really makes the place attractive."
"It's good, and it's probably going to stay that way for a long, long while."

as a side note...THIS is what radio can do when allowed to do it. Live, local and informative, it will win everytime. Congrats to Mr. Thomas and the rest of the staff at WDAY, keeping the hope alive for all of us radio guys.

Dan Seals 1948-2009

Here is a great story about a very interesting guy from The Nashville Tennesseean (a fine newspaper)....
Peter Cooper The Tenneesseean 3/27/09

Dan Seals wasn't particularly interested in being correct.
The singer-songwriter, who died on Wednesday evening at age 61, played a 12-string guitar that had only eight strings. It was a right-handed guitar, and he played it left-handed. "Upside down, and backwards," as he used to say.

Texas born and raised, he called himself "England Dan" when he was in a duo that recorded hit pop songs like "I'd Really Love To See You Tonight" in a Hendersonville studio. His first solo No. 1 hit was a country song about be-bop dancing, and he followed that with a five-minute ballad about a rodeo sweetheart. He was hilarious offstage, and somber on it.

"He could do anything he wanted to do," said keyboard player Shane Keister, who recorded and performed with Mr. Seals for decades. "That's the mark of a true artist: They find where their path leads."

Mr. Seals' path lead through halcyon days in the 1970s, when he and duo partner John Ford Coley scored with smooth pop hits such as "I'd Really Love To See You Tonight" and "We'll Never Have To Say Goodbye Again." And then it led through Nashville. Here, he began the 1980s broke and sleeping under a friend's piano and ended the decade having scored nine No. 1 Billboard country hits, including "Bop," "Everything That Glitters (Is Not Gold)," "Three Time Loser" and "Addicted."

The path, or at least the part of it that can be known by the living, ended Wednesday in Nashville after a lengthy battle with cancer. Seals and his friend and manager, Tony Gottlieb, had talked about the musician's impending death as if it were a particularly important gig to be played.

"That was the metaphor for him passing," Gottlieb said. "He died right at 8:30 p.m. Showtime."

Mr. Seals' life in music began when he stood on an apple crate and played stand-up bass in the family band. Not knowing that guitars could be strung in reverse to be played left-handed, he learned to play the instrument in a manner that was never taught by music teachers. He played in bands in high school, and in 1965 came to Nashville and recorded at RCA Studio B as The Shimmerers.

That group ultimately became rock band Southwest F.O.B. (short for "Freight On Board"), which featured Mr. Seals and friend John Ford Colley — that name was later altered to Coley — and Southwest F.O.B. wound up opening shows for acts including Led Zeppelin.

"Dan had one of the finest voices I've ever heard, and he could do so many things with it," Coley said. "He could sing R&B, sing the rock things when we opened for Zeppelin, and sing soft ballads, always with his own style. He played sax in the F.O.B., and he was a phenomenal sax player. And when he played guitar, he played it upside down and could make chords I couldn't begin to make."

The F.O.B. became England Dan (he loved The Beatles and sometimes sang in a British accent) and John Ford Coley, a duo that took off for California because older brother Jim Seals was having pop success as half of duo Seals & Croft on A&M Records.

Connections were made, bargains were struck, and by 1972 Mr. Seals and Coley had a hit in Japan with "Simone." In America, though, they struggled.

"We were poor, and working on that rock musician 'emaciated' look," Coley said. "We'd take guitar strings off and boil them to try to extend their lives. Dan had a 12-string guitar, and he strummed it when he'd taken four of the strings off and it sounded really rich. We figured that if he only needed eight strings, that was four less that he had to buy."

The A&M deal didn't work out, and Mr. Seals and Coley wound up in Hendersonville, at Lee Hazen's Studio By The Pond, working with producer Kyle Lehning. Mr. Seals walked in, told Lehning that what he really wanted to do was make a country record, and then sang "I'd Really Love To See You Tonight." Doug Morris of Big Three Records heard the song and signed the band.

England Dan and John Ford Coley charted six top 10 adult contemporary singles between 1976 and 1979. When the duo broke up, Mr. Seals inherited lawsuits and debts, and he wound up bankrupt. Solo pop projects Stones and Harbinger produced no hits, and Seals became busted in Nashville. The Internal Revenue Service seized most of his assets. He told The Tennessean that the IRS left him with his Karmann Ghia automobile, " 'cause it was worthless." He slept at friends' houses, or under a piano at Gottlieb's Morningstar studio in Hendersonville.

"Under a piano, as long as it doesn't fall on you, is a nice place to sleep, because you don't hear a lot of noise under there, ringing phones and stuff," he told The Tennessean in 1987.

But Liberty Records offered a deal and stuck with Mr. Seals through three low-charting singles in 1983. In 1984, "God Must Be A Cowboy" broke into the top 10, and Mr. Seals' career had new life. With Lehning producing, Mr. Seals went on a remarkable run of hits of a layered and literary nature that would seem at odds with commercial success.

"The song had to stir him emotionally," Gottlieb said. "If it didn't raise the hair up on the back of his neck, it wasn't in consideration."

Lehning said, "He pushed excellence in every aspect of the recording process. In the studio, he had a constant, light-hearted seriousness. Everything had to pass muster."

Mr. Seals' 1985 duet with Marie Osmond, "Meet Me In Montana," was his first country No. 1. He and Osmond won the CMA's top vocal duo prize, and solo hit "Bop" became the CMA's single of the year in 1986. The run continued with seven more No. 1 hits, then a No. 5 with "They Rage On," then two more No. 1's in 1990.

"He enjoyed his success, but it didn't rule him," Lehning said. "He loved fly fishing as much as being onstage and singing, and he wasn't consumed by the business."

The run ended later in 1990, and Mr. Seals never scored another top 10 hit. The record company hierarchy changed, and Mr. Seals left for Warner Bros. to little success. He carried on as a touring act. In later years, he and brother Jim toured as Seals & Seals. And then he was diagnosed with something called mantle cell lymphoma.

"I was really proud of Dan because he went off and made a career of his own in country music," Coley said. "I told him that many times. I knew he was destined for other things, that England Dan and John Ford Coley wouldn't be the end for him. We talked before he passed away. We were able to tell one another that we loved each other."

A public memorial service will be held 1-3 p.m. Saturday at the Baha'I Center, 1556 Bell Road in Antioch.

Ken and Me

I forgot to post this earlier.
On my trip to KC to see the Shooting Star boys, I had lunch with my buddy Ken Dillon. "The mayor" of Clinton, Mo.
Nice TShirt, huh?
Ken and his lovely are best buds and people I am glad to know.
That's about all we need these days.
Simple pleasures.

Problems Are Solved

Dear Mr. President,

Patriotic retirement:

There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force;
pay them $1 million apiece severance with three stipulations:
1) They leave their jobs. Forty million job openings - Unemployment fixed.
2) They buy NEW American cars. Forty million cars ordered - Auto
Industry fixed.
3) They either buy a house or pay off their mortgage- Housing
Crisis fixed.

All National financial problems fixed!!!

Sincerely,

A Fellow American

thanks KK

Holy Cow!

This is THE only reason Lebron James is better than me. Well, OK, then maybe not the only one...

Top 100-Roxy Music

1983 was a very strange year for me.

I was in then out then in a relationship with someone who I will consider one of the true loves of my life. I don't think there has been finer, more decent, more beautiful person I have ever met than her. When we loved, we loved and when we didn't get along, we wouldn't see each other for weeks at time. You see, I was 27, she was 23 and still needed a chance to explore who she was. I got it and was willing to wade through all that to receive the rewards that waited on the other side. While I was trying to figure out what was happening while she was away, I wanted to play. I must admit to being someone who would take advantage of my profession, I met women everywhere.

This was the record I would seduce them with. From beginning to end, this album is all about one thing. While I am not an expert on this, I would probably think this and some Gino Vanelli would be about suited for any job. For that reason, this release has reached my top ten. The songs are mellow magic and if you listen to the whole thing in one setting, (as I did), right about the time "To Turn You On" hits the speakers, the party is in full bloom (so to speak). This is the sex manual. Roxy was getting ready to break up, having been a band for awhile, they were approaching a time where they couldn't stand each other. Brian Ferry was getting into his solo (and Jerry Hall) thing and guys like Phil Manzenera (who is one of the most underrated guys in the business) probably got tired of being told what to do.

"More Than This" kicks it off well as a great prelude to the body of work. My favorite is "Avalon" and it juts catches me somewhere around the heart. "While My Heart Is Still Beating" as almost a perfect song. Great music, excellent lyrics and a sweet vibe. This was released in 1982. While a had a passing fancy toward the band and mostly liked what I heard, I had no idea they had this in them. This is pretty close to my "Dark Side of the Moon" "The Main Thing" is about half way through the album and once again, pretty much nails where you should be at this time. A funky, chunky tune that rolls along. Every time I hear this, I get thrown back about 26 years to nameless, faces people that I really don't remember much. The neighbor, what was her name? "Take A Chance With Me" slows the tempo down a bit, more of a slow groove. Perfect. Phil Manzenera shows his mellow chops on this one. Could have been a hit single, I think. "Hey Angie, can you come out and play? Yeah, I know it's 2am. Thanks. " "To Turn You On" is the orgasm of the record. Damn, I hate to say it, but it is. I don't know if he's ever done a better piece of work. The only member on it was Bryan Ferry. Paul Carrack played piano. This was a clue is to what was to come with them. They were done after this record. Too bad, like Michael Jordan retiring with only one ring. "True to Life" rounds it out very sweetly, it sounds like the sun coming up, after a short instrumental coda we'll have breakfast and I'll call you, I promise.

The thing was, it was fun but it didn't mean much, the only time it meant anything that year was with her, but she was a bitch sometimes and I was an ass sometimes because I couldn't hold on, I got hurt too much. I had to get away and two years later, while still in this off again, on again deal, I get the call to come to St. Louis. That was the deal breaker.

See? See what happens when I listen to this record?

It all comes back. Isn't that what those classic recordings do? If I was to give this a ranking in my life, it would be about number 7.

Powerful, meaningful stuff. For me, anyway.

A Lifelong Crush

Man, I've had it bad for her since "One Day At A Time". Then Eddie got a hold of her and almost ruined it. She got big (she was still hot in my book) and now she's not. Posing in a bikini at 48? You go, young woman. Whoever has you is a very lucky man.
Woof!

New Stooges Movie

Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk.

MGM and the Farrelly brothers are finally slapping together their high-profile cast for "The Three Stooges," a comedy project the filmmakers have been developing for years. Sean Penn is set to play Larry, and Jim Carrey is in negotiations to play Curly. Benicio del Toro is a rumored possibility for the brothers' taciturn leader, Moe.

The studio is looking to start production in the fall for a 2010 release slot.

The project was originally set up at Columbia, which produced the 1930s Stooges shorts. C3 Entertainment Inc., which holds the licensing rights to the Stooges brand, then sold the feature rights to Warner Bros. in 2001 for the Farrellys to write and produce the movie. Eventually, Warner Bros. let the rights lapse and MGM's Mary Parent scooped them up along with the Farrellys' continuing participation.

Peter and Bobby Farrelly wrote the script, which Bobby has referenced as "Dumb, Dumber & Dumbest," and will produce with Bradley Thomas and Charlie Wessler. Earl and Robert Benjamin of C3 will executive produce.

The film is not a biopic but a fictional treatment that maintains the Stooges' gleeful slap schtick updated for a modern milieu.

Originally constructed as four separate shorts, the feature screenplay has since been streamlined into a single narrative. Included in the story line is an opening that shows the Stooges as kids in an orphanage, a device that will require some "Benjamin Button"-style visual trickery to place the adult actors' heads on child actors' bodies.

The Stooges maintain remarkably global brand recognition, and their shorts, films and cartoons are still broadcast in 30 countries. The Farrelly brothers' latest comedy "The Heartbreak Kid" grossed $124 million worldwide.

from Yahoo.com

I just hope they have some kind of disclaimer so I can tell between the new version and the old one. If they don’t, I’ll just have to remember that in the old version, it was Larry who was Puerto Rican and mumbled incoherently, and Moe was the middle-aged one who was super angry and took human growth hormones. In the movie version, it’s the opposite.

R.I.P. Uriel Jones

URIEL JONES, a drummer with the MOTOWN studio band THE FUNK BROTHERS, has died. He was 74, reports THE DETROIT FREE PRESS. AUDLEY SMITH, the Chief Operating Officer at the MOTOWN MUSEUM said he heard of JONES' passing but did not have more details. "We (the MOTOWN MUSEUM) will do something," SMITH said. "We'll have to sit down and think how best we remember and honor URIEL JONES and we have those details later in the day..." JONES was a member of the loose-knit group of musicians known as THE FUNK BROTHERS, a revolving group of players who performed the backing tracks on MOTOWN tunes recorded at the famed studio on WEST GRAND BOULEVARD in DETROIT. JONES, who played on tunes like THE TEMPTATIONS’ "Ain’t Too Proud to Beg" and MARVIN GAYE’s "I Heard it Through the Grapevine," was one of three primary FUNK BROTHERS drummers. The others were BENNY BENJAMIN, who died in 1969, and RICHARD (PISTOL) ALLEN who passed away in 2002.

Here is one of the most famous drum fills ever. Just listen to the beginning. It's classic and pure Uriel. One of the guys who got me into drumming. Funky as can be and not ever to be topped.

Here's Uriel on "Heard Ot Through The Grapevine" just in case you don't remember. Strong, strong.

Past Posts

Jeebus, I spent an hour perusing through some posts from 2005 when I started this damn thing 1,470 posts ago. If you want to know how we got here, go to the bottom of the page and click on the year you want to visit. What a long, strange trip it's been. Thanks to Steve Mays who got me started. This whole thing would make an interesting damn book, wouldn't it? We just keep on truckin along...

Natasha Richardson and skiing

She just looks like she would be fun to hang with, doesn't she? In every picture or film I have seen her in, she looks like a fun, vivicious, gregarious woman. Married to Liam Neeson for many years, of course, everyone knows by now she died while skiing. This was not a Sonny Bono accident where she was blasting down the slopes and hit a tree. She was receiving lessons on a beginner's slope when she fell and hit her head. A number of people have asked why she wasn't wearing a helmet. As a huge fan of skiing (and the incredible feeling of being so high you can literally hear the silence), I would never even think of wearing a helmet. I have been snow skiing more than fifty times. The incredible rush of flying down the mountain on your skis would somehow be compromised with a helmet. Yes, I know, better to be safe than sorry but it has NEVER dawned on me to wear one. If you fall, you are trained to fall in a certain way where your body, being relaxed, takes the brunt of the blow. I have fell with the best of them and have hurt my back a couple of times, but have never landed on my head. I can't wait till I get back to Colorado and visit Dillon, A Basin or Mary Jane again. I very rarely go on a blue slope, never on a black one, and always on the green (beginner) slopes. There is something special about taking the lift to the very top of the mountain, taking twenty to thirty minutes to ski back down, thighs hurting so bad you are crying like a baby and then doing it all over again. True bliss and one journey I would never think of putting a helmet on to enjoy.

Here is a map of Winter Park. I always took the lift to Mary Jane, which is the at the top of the runs, on top of Winter Park. What fun!

Boycott Peppermint Pattys

Last month Hershey closed it's American Peppermint Patty plant and shipped those 300 jobs off to Mexico. Teamster's President Jimmy Hoffa said..."That plant stood for decades in Reading, providing countless families with good wages and job security. Members of this community helped build that company and this is how they are repaid. Hershey's actions are unconscionable in this economic climate. Pennsylvania lost nearly 60,000 jobs in the last quarter of 2008 and the estimate for the month was well over 30,000 jobs lost. When are we going to tell companies like Hershey that enough is enough?"

Well said, when indeed? I know that I am only one voice but every once in a while , in the grocery check out line, I would indeed treat myself to that luscious cream filled delight.

No more. I will never eat a Peppermint Patty again and I am almost of a mind to boycott Hershey's altogether. Their new advertsining campaign (which has been all over the basketball tournament) is very well done. But, now, I'm done. No more Peanut Butter Cups, Kit Kats, nothing. Hey, I might save a few pounds in the meantime.

Tournament Time

The first round is done. the Big 12 is 6-0. The Big East isn't and the ACC has been exposed. Hey, Jay Bilas, how's your beloved ACC doing? Yeah, that's what I thought. Hey, Seth Davis, how's your beloved Big East doing? Yeah, that's what I thought. Hey Digger? How's your..wait, will someone please wake Digger up? Go Siena. and Cleveland State. and Western Kentucky. I must say Mizzou looked good handling a scrappy, gritty, gutty Cornell team. Love this time of year...baseball on the horizon. Spring has sprung.

Charlie, We Hardly Knew Ye

This guy used to creep me out. Now, he's a sad, pathetic old man.
The Manson murders happened the summer of my 13th year. It pretty much consumed me and almost made me want to be like Vincent Bugliosi, who put him in jail forever. Was no way I could afford law school, however. Soon we'll be saying bye bye to Charlie. As my mom would say, he'll have a one way free pass to hell.

Tom Petty Rings True

The waiting is the hardest part, every day you see one more card. You take it on faith, you take it from the heart...the waiting is the hardest part.