CURSE YOU VILE MOUSE!

Today I am the Mouse Terminator! I was running the work vac around the basement and there he was, the little bastard I've heard scrabbling around the ceiling tiles above and to the right of my desk. Instinctively, I sucked up Mr. Mouse and ran the shop vac out to the street. The critter was already dead, so we held a brief service before setting him adrift in the depths of the Robo-Can.

Boy, are my Sundays exciting.

WNEW Gets One Right For A Change

When last we left WNEW, the FM talk station had fired its potty mouth PM Drive team and sent its AM Drive jock talker packing. They have now begun to rebuild by making a logical move. Infinity Broadcasting owns both WNEW and WFAN, so why not co-brand the WNEW morning show as a WFAN show, particularly since WFAN doesn't have sports in the morning (opting instead for Don Imus). They have brought in Richard Neer to host this show, and there are several reasons why this works.

• Neer is a throwback to WNEW-FM's classic rock days
• Neer has been with WFAN for 14 years
• Neer is a very intelligent and informed sports talk host and now hosts pre- and post-game shows for New York Giants football games

Good move, WNEW!

Royal Crown Revue - Kings Of Swing!

Friday the 13th is as good a time as any to plug an album that, four years after its release and maybe three years after the "swing craze" of 1997-1998 died down, still occupies space in the various CD players in my house. The Contender is from Royal Crown Revue, one of the groups that sort of bubbled under the radar of more renown groups such as the Brian Setzer Orchestra and The Cherry Poppin' Daddies (remember "Zoot Suit Riot"?) Featuring the vocals of Eddie Nichols and a group of solid instrumentalists - guitarist James Achor, bassist Veikko Lepisto, drummer Danny Glass, saxes Mando Dorame and Bill Ungerman, and trumpeter Scott Steen. The level of musicanship on this album is unmatched. In fact, RCR's subsequent release, "Walk On Fire", was a major disappointment. So I keep going back to this album.

The songs are top notch. The title track, "The Contender" opens the album with a burst of energy. There's a remake of "Zip Gun Bop", yet another cover of "Stormy Weather" (a tune which RCR revisited several times), the ponderous "Port Au Prince (Travels With Bettie Page)", the stunning "Everyone Knows You're Crazy", and the whimsical "Friday The 13th", which brings us back around to the reason I'm talking about this in the first place.

Black cats, they don't bother me,
I smile in bad company
I'm cool as the day is long

© 1998 Sharp Eleven Music/Zip Gun Music/Black Bozo Music

Find this album. Buy it. Play it. You'll be glad you did.

Lionel Hampton Dead

I have a picture hanging in my office which I'll scan and post on my music page later (see left). I see this picture every day and it helps in those rare cases when I need of a reminder of why I've made music a big part of my life. It's a picture taken of me and Lionel Hampton, circa 1980, after a performance at Brick Memorial High School that will go down as one of the most unforgettable performances I ever saw. Hampton must have been in his 70's at that time, and there was no stopping this man even at that age. He led a swinging big band and he was everything I had read and seen about the man - the big smile, the joy of making music, his kinetic stage manner, and the way he played those vibes. As a neophyte musician who had been struggling with trying to play swinging music, it was a revelation to see and hear it done live. Hamp was a very gregarious performer, even at that age....

...fast forward to the year 2000. At Atlantic City's annual music festival, Hampton and his combo perform a free outdoor concert at Brighton Park, the courtyard which is surrounded by the Bally's, Claridge and Sands casinos. Hampton is clearly hobbled by age. No longer playing standing, and not playing very much. Maybe a note here or there, or maybe three or four at a time if we were lucky. His wheelchair awaited at the edge of the stage, and he needed a lot of help getting places. But just being there was probably a huge accomplishment for Hampton, who in his lifetime had enough accomplishments for three or four men, including being a part of one of the first racially-integrated music ensembles ever, the Benny Goodman Quartet (which also included another African-American, Teddy Wilson, on piano, besides the Caucasian Goodman on clarinet and Gene Krupa on drums), leading his own big band after 1940, authoring the symphonic composition "King David Suite", touring the world as an ambassador of music, and becoming the recipient of many awards and accolades, culminating in the National Medal Of The Arts bestowed by President Clinton (himself a musician) in 1997. And suddenly it didn't seem quite so intrusive that we were witness to this man's weaknesses in his latter years.

Lionel Hampton died at 6:15 a.m. this morning, not three hours ago as I write this. (Officially, his age at death was listed at 94, but there have been reports that he was as old as 100.) His influence on the world, present company included, will never be forgotten.

Schoolhouse Rock!

I cannot go out of my way enough to recommend the new Schoolhouse Rock DVD just released by Walt Disney Home Video. You get all the Schoolhouse Rock ever done on two disks with bonus goodies. I haven't checked out the bonus stuff yet because I haven't gotten through all of Disk 1 yet, which has the 46 original shorts (minus the Weather Show and the three Scooter Computer segments, which somehow are on Disk 2). For about $20 street price (I paid $19.99 at Boscov's because I was in there buying yet another VCR) you cannot go wrong.

More Money To Eddie Murphy's Deficit

We add another couple of hundred thousand dollars to the Eddie Murphy Relief Fund... and now, the total deficit stands at $16,183,428 sirignanos. I don't see this movie ("The Adventures Of Pluto Nash") making any more than, say, $4.5 million total, making this a box office bomb of "Ishtar" proportions.

Bloodbath At WNEW

Fire up the turntables for the fall book?

WNEW is continuing to have fallout from the problems with Opie and Anthony (see story below). In the wake of the allegedly obscene broadcasts that caused O&A, their producer, the station's general manager and program director all to lose their jobs, word came today that morning man Scott Ferrall has been handed his walking papers and told to go do sports elsewhere. (Ferrall previously did hockey play-by-play for the Pittsburgh Penguins and a syndicated show called "Ferrall On The Bench".) The midday talkers, Ron and Fez, have moved their live show to afternoon drive and offer reruns in their old midday time slot. NEW brings other talk shows in off the bird like Tom Leykis. But this is a station that is clearly in maintenance mode, rather than trying to build a team.

The rumor mill is now beginning to churn. In ten days, the fall 2002 ratings book begins. Could WNEW be eyeing a return back to the classic rock that made the station's name in the 1970's and 1980's? One can only hope.

Good Bye, Opie And Anthony

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you... Opie and Anthony.



At least these two guys won't insult the morals of radio listeners as their namesakes have. As a radio guy from way back, it really depresses me that some of these guys like Opie and Anthony and the Greaseman fritter away whatever talent they have in order to broadcast from the sewer. The final straw for O&A, as you know, was their broadcast of a play-by-play of a couple having sex in St. Patrick's Cathedral, one of the world's most sacred places and one of the most beautiful churches in the world. Infinity Broadcasting initially suspended the boys, then yesterday announced that their show was cancelled and Opie and Anthony were out of a job.

Hopefully, the rest of the radio industry will get the message about this sort of radio "entertainment" and band together to ensure that Opie and Anthony no longer have the opportunity to defecate all over the medium that once brought us Fibber McGee & Molly, Jack Benny, Fred Allen, and Bob Hope.

THANKS A 30,000

Hey, I just noticed we made our 30,000th page view this week. And it only took six years. Thank you all.

Presenting the Eddie Murphy Scoreboard

It will show how much more money the film "The Adventures Of Pluto Nash" has to make before his overinflated $20,000,000 salary can be paid off. The current tote board is....

$17,817,100

And, of course, since the movie made about $2.1 million this weekend, that means that Murphy's chit will be roughly paid off in about 132 years. Of course, there is roughly another $80,000,000 of the production to be paid off. Perhaps it can be booked into that same theatre in Borneo or wherever that's been running "Me Tarzan You Jane" continuously since 1932. Or perhaps WB can siphon off some of those "Harry Potter" dollars later this year.

WHERE'S MY CELL PHONE?

If anyone in the vicinity of the Lido Diner in Springfield, NJ found a cell phone anytime after 11 p.m. on Wednesday, August 14, please contact me via e-mail. There is a nice reward for the return of my cell phone. It is very likely the cell phone fell out of the car somewhere between the Brass Tacks gig on Wednesday night at Echo Lake Park and there. (The phone has been disabled so don't try using it.)

Site Updates

We have an updated Brass Tacks schedule (including information on tonight's performance at Echo Lake Park in Northern NJ - come on out!) on the Music page and in the Animation area, information on the new Schoolhouse Rock DVD being released in two weeks.

Counting The Days

24 days until the start of school. My vacation will end sort of early, because the week before school starts, I have all sorts of orientation meetings, in spite of the fact that I've been teaching in these schools (three of them) since last February. I am really anxious to start this school year. It's exciting to start fresh with a semi-new, semi-familiar group of kids. I got advance class lists so I pretty much know who I've got coming back.

My compatriots in the Band department are starting Band Camp tomorrow. So on the first day of school, the band kids will already have had a head start, where with Orchestra, Day One is the first day of school. I anticipate starting rehearsals that Friday, with a couple of days of getting acquainted lectures including my expectations for smooth running rehearsals and assignment of instruments. There WILL be a Blog on the Orchestra pages, so look for up to date messages there. I hope to have the Orchestra pages up no later than the first day of school.

Martha's Going Down!

Now that one of the higher-ups at Imclone has been indicted on charges of bank fraud and obstruction of justice, I can almost smell the sweet aroma of cold steel handcuffs encircling Martha Stewart's wrists.

And that's a good thing.

Eew! Anna Nicole Smith!

I am now firmly convinced that if you put anything on TV that even smacks of bizarre, people will flock to it. We just learned here that E's sorry debacle of reality TV, "The Anna Nicole Show", was the highest rated program of the week, even beating the ubiquitous WWE Wrestling and Spongebob.

28 days to the start of school, kids....

Chick Hearn, LA Laker Voice, Dead

Chick Hearn died at 6:30 p.m. PDT tonight. (See item below)

Dylan Returns To Newport

That's Bob Dylan on the right, at this past weekend's Newport Folk Festival. The man playing the bass is former SNL Band bass player Tony Garnier, who I once ran into at an animation art show looking over some Tom & Jerry original art. Dylan showed up at Newport this year for the first time since he "plugged in" in 1965 and was booed mercilessly (but was very warmly received this year, in stark contrast).

Chick Hearn Is Checking Out

I grew up on the wrong coast to be able to fully appreciate Chick Hearn's gifts as a basketball play by play announcer, but I am no less aggrieved that he now lies in a hospital in Los Angeles, near death. His condition has worsened this morning since a Friday fall that led to a couple of emergency brain surgeries that didn't do quite enough to stave off further injury. Hearn is on life support and comatose. I can't think of any other announcers in basketball who were so identified with their hometown team - maybe Johnny Most of the Boston Celtics, he of the famous "Havlichek stole the ball!" call, or even Marv Albert with the New York Knicks, however diluted his national duties made him when NBC and TNT had the NBA national games (moving to ESPN and ABC this season).

Clearly, the Maker has called him, and we pray that Hearn leaves this earth in peace and without further pain for his appointment.

"Millionaire" Dreams

Well, in case you haven't read my posts to alt.tv.game-shows, I will reveal to you that I scored quite well on the "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" audition test. I don't know exactly how many of the 30 questions I answered correctly before the expiration of the 12-minute time limit, but I got in. Robair, unfortunately, didn't score as well on the quiz. So I am now a solo player. A post card, a phone call, a limo ride to NYC, and 15 questions are all that stands between me and $1,000,000. I think I'm up to the challenge.

"Millionaire" Sees Double

Since the show began a little more than three years ago, I have tried many fruitless times to become a contestant on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire." With the primetime show now history, the show is actively soliciting contestants for its new daytime syndicated version, which will be hosted by Meredith Vieira. I am going to be trying out with my brother Robair in tow for the Twins Week competition. Of course, if either one of us tanks, the other can go on and become a single player. The auditions are tomorrow at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York. The show is also hitting the road with a bus tour (I hope this show actually has a Real Bus, not a motorhome like "Jeopardy!"'s so-called "Brain Bus") which will end in New York for yet another round of auditions in September.

Actually, trying out for the syndicated version seems to be more advantageous. The show has abolished the Fastest Finger (which is actually called Fastest Finger First in the show's country of origin) qualifying round, meaning that anyone who makes the show will actually get on. (Because Fastest Finger is gone, there's no need for the FF-like Phone Game.) Plus there are going to be more shows because this Millionaire will be on five days a week. The show will tape in the afternoon several days a week to accomodate Meredith Vieira's commitment to host "The View" live from 11am-12pm most mornings. (Either "Millionaire" or "View" will need a new director, since it seems impossible for Mark Gentile to do both in the same day. Directing a TV show is tough work, and I can't imagine Gentile being able to go from one to the other at the drop of a hat.)

One of the last things I told my mother when she still had all her faculties before she passed away was that I was someday going to conquer the 15 questions and take home the million. Hopefully, with the Twins Edition, Robair and I can put our estimable brains together and walk away with the prize. We will keep you posted.