Garage Bands I Have Known!

A still from the new film Not Fade Away

The new movie Not Fade Away jogs my memory back to 1964 when the band The Rooks first took the stage in Crystal Lake, Illinois.  I haven't seen Not Fade Away yet--it's only playing in downtown Chicago-- but from what I've seen online, I lived that movie's story.

A couple of suburban kids decide to form a group.  They do.  The band prospers, but egos get in the way.  The band breaks up, and the musicians move to different bands and begin anew.  From 1964-1968 that was my scenario.  In fact I lived it many, many times!

So this morning when I received a "Happy New Year" wish on Facebook from former bandmate Hamilton "Tip" Hale, I was transported back to December 31, 1965, when Tip and I, along with John Baldwin, Mark Smith, and Jamie Pennebaker played at Mickey Cox's raucous New Year's Eve party on South Walkup Street in Crystal Lake.  We were the garage band called Aristotle and the Aminal Crackers, and we rocked the world that night!

I wish every New Year's Eve could be like 1965's.  Seventeen years old.  No responsibility.  Running wild and playing rock 'n roll music every blankin' day of the week.

How did I get in a garage band anyway?

Flash back further to the fall of 1964 and the delicatessen on Virginia St. in Crystal Lake, just across the street from Blanche Moan's grill.  Steve Brown worked there manning the snack counter, and I used to hang out at "the del" just so I could get away from my old man who was constantly on my ass about everything--hair, work, shitty grades, and not helping out around the house.  "The del" was only a couple of blocks away from home, and it became a place of refuge for me.  I was there all the time!

Brown, who was in the class ahead of me and who played the drums, started talking to me one day about forming a rock band.  He had already approached Mike Walkup and Tim McPike, who were both in the Class of '67, a year behind me, about playing with him.

Steve was sitting behind the yellow formica counter and started talking about his rock 'n roll plans.

"Rona, can you play guitar?" Steve asked me.

"No, but I took piano lessons in fifth and sixth grades," I told him.

"What?  You're kidding!" he said.  "Can you play the electric organ?"

"I'm not sure.  It's just like the piano isn't it?"

"Wow!  Two guitars, drums, and an organ.  That would be great!"  Steve jumped up and started excitedly pacing back and forth behind the counter.

"But I haven't played regularly in years, Steve," I told him.  "I do have a piano at home though."

"Go home and practice, and I'll bring Walkup and McPike over in a few days and we'll listen to you," Steve said.

When Brown, McPike, and Walkup came over to my parents' house to hear me, I played them "Rockin' Robin" on the piano, and they immediately asked me to join their new band, The Rooks.

My Danelectro amp.

A few weeks later, I found myself in Walkup's basement with a crappy organ that I was able to talk my parents into buying me at the music store at Meadowdale Shopping Center.  The store technician had installed microphone pick-ups in the organ, but I couldn't jack the sound up high enough to compete with the guitars because the organ would feed back through my used Danelectro amplifier.  It was a mess!

In another two weeks The Rooks played their first job at Milton College in Milton, Wisconsin, where Steve's sister went to school.  Then we were asked to play a dance in the lower gym in at Crystal Lake Community High School.  But my organ was still a problem because nobody could hear it.

My Farfisa Combo Compact

Brown, Walkup, and McPike were going to kick me out of the band unless I got a new organ.  About this time, in early 1965, Paul Revere and the Raiders had released the songs "Steppin' Out" and "Just Like Me," and the Raiders were all over television.  Paul Revere played a bright, candy apple red Farfisa Combo Compact electric organ.  So did Sam of Sam the Sham and the Pharaoahs, the group that did "Wooly Bully." The Medowdale music store had one in stock for $700.00.  Big money in late spring of 1965!  In fact, $5,100 in 2013 dollars!

Sam the Sham playing the candy apple red Farfisa organ.

Believe it or not, I was able to persuade my mother and father (mostly my mom--she was the musician in the family) to buy the Farfisa for me on credit. 

I can still see the bright red Farfisa sitting in Brown's basement the very first time I set it up in late spring of '65.  All of the sudden, I had become a valuable commodity in the band.  We had a great time playing together too!  Donna Brown's eight grade graduation party, the eighth grade dance at Lundahl Jr. High, Candy Kirchberg's birthday party behind the cart shack at Crystal Lake Country Club.  The gigs just kept on coming.

However, the Rooks broke up mid summer of '65 because I left to join the best band in Crystal Lake, The Jades, which was made up of Dick Lockwood, Gary Burhmann, Al Sherwood, and Mike Wienke.  The Jades played all over the county, including Vern Seaquist's famous summer party in Lakewood at Gate 21 in August of 1965.

But those guys in the Jades all got drafted that fall so that was the end of that band.  I still had another year of high school. 

The Remains:  From L-R:  Mark Smith, John Baldwin, Tim McPike, Jim Wyman, and "Tip" Hale (March 1966).

In fall of 1965, I joined Aristotle and the Aminal Crackers, which consisted of Tip Hale, Jamie Pennebaker, Mark Smith, and John Baldwin.  Baldwin and I had played Babe Ruth League baseball together.  Hale's and my mom's families were early settlers in the county, so my mom knew Tip's dad.  And Jamie Pennebaker was my neighbor on Eagle St.  We had grown up together!  Smith is another story for another day--he became a serial killer!

Jamie's mom worked nights at the Pinemoor, a neighborhood bar and pizza joint, so the band could practice, play cards, and drink beer to our hearts' content at Jamie's house without any adult interference.  Rubber Soul by the Beatles had just been released, and I remember sitting at the kitchen table playing cards and listening to "Norwegian Wood."  Aristotle and the Aminal Crackers were pretty darn good too!  Sometime that winter, Pennebaker was out of the band and Tim McPike, who I had played with in the Rooks, was in.  I don't remember how or why Jamie Pennebaker was replaced.  Aristotle and the Animal Crackers now became The Remains.

Vox Buckingham amplifier

I never made any money playing for the Remains because all the amps and the P.A. were bought on credit by Mark Smith's mom so all the money from the gigs went to pay off the interest on the loan.  I had a sweet Vox Buckingham amplifier, but had to give it back to Smith when the band broke up the summer of 1966.

Sears Silvertone amp.  Crosby, Stills, and Nash still were using one the last time I saw them in 2007.

I replaced the Buckingham with  a Silvertone amp from Sears that I got second-hand from a guy I worked with at the Terra Cotta plant.  My time in Crystal Lake was up, however, as I was off to Western Illinois University.  It was time for college!

I left my Farfisa and my amp at home when I traipsed off to WIU.  The break-up of the Remains had left a sour taste in my mouth because I had played my ass off and had made zero money.  But I was still playing music in my spare time.

I didn't know it then, but I am very caffeine-sensitive.  Every night I would drink a Coke before bed and then be unable to sleep.  So I would grab my music books and go downstairs to the Ravine Room in Lincoln-Washington Towers (Lincoln was my dorm) and play the piano at two in the morning.

There was normally no one down there, but one night these two hippy-type guys came over to the piano and started firing requests at me.  I played them all!  The two guys were Ed Fischer and Paul Cooler, who had been members of the band The Vectors during the previous school year.  Fischer and Cooler were both sophomores at WIU; I was a freshman.




The Shadows of Knight:  Joe Kelley is center in the back.

Joe Kelley, who played with the Shadows of Knight on their hit record "Gloria" had been in the Vectors the previous year at WIU with Fischer and Cooler along with Roger Vail and Buzzy Graham (townies from Macomb) so when Fischer and Cooler told me they wanted me to help them form a band, I agreed on the spot. The Shadows of Knight were legendary in the northwest suburbs, and getting the chance to play with guys who played with Joe Kelley was a lot closer to the big time than I had ever been.

I headed back to Crystal Lake that weekend with Charlie Schott in his '49 Ford, got my Farfisa and my amp, and joined the band at WIU called The Remaining Few.  Cooler was lead guitar, Fischer sang and played drums, and Buzzy Graham played the bass.



The Remaining Few, playing at a Saturday night dance in the Corbin-Olson cafeteria at Western Illinois University--fall of 1966. L-R: Jim "Rona" Wyman (organ), Ed Fischer (drums), Buzz Graham (bass), Paul Cooler (lead guitar).

 When I say the money began rolling in, I'm not exaggerating.  We played gigs every Friday and Saturday night.  Dances at the union, frat parties, high school proms and post-proms--you name it, we played it!  I was able to pay a lot of my college expenses with money I made from playing in The Remaining Few. 

The Remaining Few's first gig was at the Teen-a-Go-Go in the small town of Blandinsville, about a half-hour north of Macomb.  Buzzy Graham's girlfriend, Bev Cookson, got us the gig, and a bunch of my buddies from Crystal Lake, including Craig Knaack and Danny Treptow, came up to see us play.  Treptow had played in a competing band in high school back in Crystal Lake.

Well, the local Blandinsville girls started to dig on the college boys and began asking them to dance.  The local boys from Blandinsville objected to their girls dancing with the college boys so a big fight broke out.  We were playing "Stepping Stone" by the Monkees when the fur started flying.  Blandinsville had one cop, and he arrived to break up the fight and threw the college boys out.

The Remaining Few evolved as Buzzy was replaced by Bob Palazoa, and John "Bobo" Rosemond took over as lead singer.  Bobo, like Mark Smith, is famous today.  He is a noted child psychologist who has appeared on 60 Minutes.

The Remaining Few on the steps of Grote Hall, Western Illinois University, March 1967.  L to R:  Jim (Rona) Wyman (organ), Bob Palazoa (Zoa) (bass guitar), Paul Cooler (lead guitar), John (Bobo) Rosemond (vocals), Ed Fischer (drums) (Courier Photo by Kay Chin).

The Remaining Few played two gigs that are somewhat famous in western Illinois rock 'n roll histroy.  First, we replaced the Buckinghams as the featured band at the University Union Winter Concert in January 1967.  The Buckinghams couldn't get out of Chicago because of the famous blizzard.  I can remember seeing kids dancing for what seemed like miles as we played on that cold winter night in the University Union's Grand Ballroom.

Second, The Remaining Few opened for Saturday's Children and the Shadows of Knight in a concert at Robert Morris College in Carthage in May of 1967.  Cooler and Fischer had a happy reunion with Joe Kelley that night, and we partied long and hard with the two bands.  Both the Shadows of Knight and Saturday's Children came out of the Cellar, the most famous Chicago teen dance club in northwest suburban Arlington Heights.

Cooler and Palazoa left WIU, Fischer got married, and in the fall of 1967, I began playing with Roger Vail, who had been in the Vectors with Fischer, Cooler, and Graham.  This is my Roccoco Period in Garage Band annals.  There were just three of us in the band, Vail was the main guy, and we played the Showboat Strip Club as the house band--not a very happy time.

But during the summer of '67 I did reunite with Tim McPike, who was playing in a great band from McHenry.  We even had a chance to cut a record, but I headed back to college trying to avoid the draft.

Terry Cox

Other then jamming once in a while, my music career ended in 1968.  But I still remember giving Terry Cox, Mickey Cox's sister, a soul kiss at midnight on December 31, 1965.  That kiss wouldn't have happened without me being in a garage band.

And that kiss is a good memory to recall on January 2, 2013.  A very good memory!

Pension End Run May Happen NOW! Call Your Legislators!

Pictured above is Mike Madigan's Stooge, Representative Elaine Nekritz of Northbrook, who is leading the charge against active teachers and retirees.

I just heard on WBBM radio in Chicago tonight that the Illinois State Legislature plans to consider a pension bill on Wednesday, December 5th, the last day of the fall veto session.

According to the Associated Press, State Representative Elaine Nekritz, a Democrat from Northbook will hold a press conference Wednesday morning which will feature at least two unnamed Republican lawmakers.

Nekritz is House Speaker Mike Madigan's toad.  Madigan is of course nowhere to be found.

According to the Springfield State Journal-Register, the bill calls for the following provisions for teachers hired before January 1, 2011:

*Cost of living adjustments would apply only to the first $25,000 of a pension if the retiree does not receive Social Security and $20,000 if he or she does. This change applies to both current and future retirees.

*Pensioners would receive no COLA adjustment until they reach age 67 or five years after they retire, whichever comes first. The summary says this provision will apply to retirees already receiving COLAs. So an employee who retired at age 58 and is now 60 would not receive another COLA adjustment until age 63.

*The retirement age would increase as follows:  Retirement ages in the current statute would apply to employees 46 and older.  One year would be added to current retirement ages for employees between 40 and 45 years old.  Employees age 35 to 39 would have to wait an additional three years.  Employees 34 and younger would have to wait an additional five years to retire.

*Employee contributions to pensions would go up by 1 percentage point in fiscal year 2014 and 2 percentage points in fiscal year 2015.

*The salary that counts toward a pension would be capped at the higher of the Social Security wage base or the employees’ salary when the bill becomes law.

Once again the two teachers' unions, the IEA and the IFT, have been left completely out of negotiations.  I'm sure Laurence Msall and his rich cronies at the Civic Federation in Chicago have had their red noses right in the middle of negotiations.  The Civic Federation has spent millions in anti-pension propaganda.

And these Civic Federation jokers will not pay a dime if this bill passes.  The burden will be placed on the backs of teachers, and the rich Civic Federation members will wallow in their tax breaks provided by the State of Illinois.

I'm bitching and moaning when I should be calling--and so should you! Call now and leave a message in Springfield for your state legislator.  Tell him or her to vote "NO" on this unconstitutional bill.

If you get no answer in Springfield, call the local office and leave a message there.

Don't let the legislature pass this bill on Wednesday!

Chicago: The New Capitol of Golf Misogyny

The misogynists at Butler National Golf Club in Oak Brook are celebrating today after voting not to admit women members.  The all-male country club is teetering on the brink of financial ruin and would most likely host a major PGA tournament if women did become members, but the good old boys said "NO!”

Butler National hosted the prestigious Western Open from 1974-1990, and that tournament has now disappeared from the local golf radar screen.  Sadly, Chicago is not hosting an annual PGA event, which is a shame because our area boasts some of the finest golf courses in the world, and Chicago golf fans are some of the most rabid--note the huge crowds at Medinah for the Ryder Cup last fall.

But Chicago is also a bastion of misogyny, with  Bob O’Link and Old Elm golf clubs in Highland Park and  Black Sheep Golf Club in Sugar Grove all banning women.  Bob O'Link, which boasts former Bears coach Mike Ditka as a member, supposedly paid $250,000 to move its gas meter outside of the country club gates.  Apparently NICOR's meter reader was a woman and was entering the grounds to read the meter located next to the club house.  These jerk weeds didn't want any woman anywhere near their circle-jerk clubhouse so they paid the $250,000 to put the meter outside of the gate because no women are allowed on Bob O'Link grounds.

To quote the Doors Jim Morrison, "I wonder what they do in there?"

Do these Bob O'Link members have wives?  What do the wives say about Dad going to Butler every weekend? I know Ditka once said that he could get a wife anytime.  That seems to be the prevailing attitude of these jokers!

The two country clubs I have been associated with, Soangetaha and Crystal Lake, are family clubs where mom, dad, and the kids can go and enjoy the golf course, pool, tennis courts, card room, and restaurant.

But Butler National, even in the face of falling off of a fiscal cliff, refuses to change its no-woman policy.  Heck, even Augusta National has two women members now, Condi Rice and Darla Moore.  If the racists and misogynists at Augusta can admit women, you'd think that sophisticated Chicago business executives would right this extreme wrong at Butler National.

But nooooooo!

However, even the so-called family country clubs still have antiquated anti-women policies.  The wife and I were playing at Illini Country Club in Springfield a few years ago, and we wandered into the club's basement grill room.  "Can we get some lunch?" the wife asked the male bartender.  "Your husband can, but you can't" he replied.  "This room is for men only.  Our members like to come in here wearing a towel after their showers and have a drink.  Women are not allowed."

I had to get the wife out of there pronto before she caused a scene so we walked upstairs and had lunch in the country club's restaurant.  But the wife still seethes when I bring up our Illini grill room experience. 

And isn't the whole concept of male-only clubs antiquated?  Most public and private golf courses have ladies' days so there is never a problem with male golfers having to wait for women playing in front of them.  At Soangetaha the women play on Tuesday nights, Thursday mornings, and early on Saturdays.  No one complains because the schedule has existed forever.

If women are playing bridge in the Soangetaha grill room, the waitress closes the door so no one is disturbed in the other part of the restaurant. Men and women co-exist in peace.

Surely, there must be women corporate executives in Chicago who can afford the six-figure Butler National initiation fee.  And surely these women would be an asset to this very exclusive country club.

I just want the Western Open to return to Butler.  Former TV analyst and former U.S. Open champion Ken Venturi once called the Western Open "Golf's fifth major."  Let's hope the Butler members have a change of heart and let women  join and then persuade the PGA to bring back the Western.

Chicago deserves a yearly PGA event.

Basketball, Home Town Boys, and Full-Time Teaching



Evan Massey at the end of Galesburg's loss to Springfield Sacred Heart Griffin in December of 2007.

The Galesburg High School girls basketball team is hosting its annual Thanksgiving Tournament at Thiel Gym in Galesburg, and I'm not going to be there.  I was supposed to be broadcasting the games on WAIK this year, but after repeatedly asking for better remote broadcast equipment and not getting it, I gave up.  WAIK uses a cell phone (and if you've listened to the broadcasts, you already know this), which sounds like the announcers are coming out of a barrel.  So best of luck to Coach Evan Massey and the girls, and best of luck to my broadcast partner, Jimmie Carr.  Have a great season!  I'll really miss calling all the games!

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Erik Gibson and John Pepmeyer

The recent Knox County state's attorney election in Galesburg reminded me how golden home town boys can be.  I grew up with a home town boy named Itchie, who played sports in high school and went on to become a lawyer and an important member of the country club in my home town.  I played with Itchie on the high school golf team for two years (until I got kicked off), and he was friendly.  We were neighbors, and our moms went to the same college so he probably had to be nice to me when we were kids. 

But in 2005, when I went back to the country club with a former student of mine and his dad (The dad was a country club member), Itchie wouldn't even acknowledge my presence.  He completely ignored me in the grill room while we were having lunch.  When Itchie's dad died and I sent him $25.00 for the memorial, Itchie ignored that too--no thank you note was forthcoming.  But whenever Itchie's name comes up among my friends back in my hometown, he is spoken about with reverence.  Itchie is a golden home town boy!

That's why I wasn't surprised when John Pepmeyer beat Erik Gibson in the state's attorney's election on November 6th.  Home town boys like Pepmeyer are teflon, and during the campaign Pepmeyer never missed an opportunity to brag to the voters that he grew up in Galesburg, and that Gibson did not.

Gibson is a bulldog, and he ran hard.  Erik and I did lots of girls basketball games together on the radio and rode many bumpy roads to places like Quincy, Peoria Central, and Bradford.  Gibson would never say specifically what was going on in the state's attorney's office, but enough was said to tell me that problems indeed existed.

But John Pepmeyer ("Peppie") is a home town boy, and everyone in town knows that the alleged shenanagins that occurred  in his office are probably true.  Two of the women who Pepmeyer allegedly sexually harassed have settled their law suits out of court, and the other is still suing.  No criminal charges were filed against Pepmeyer by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.  But the county has paid out money in settlements to the former employees; however, no one will say how much.

Gibson would have been a great state's attorney, and I'm not sure what the future holds for the "Peotone Flash."  But I'd have to bet that Gibson's days in the state's attorney's office are numbered.

I asked one of my neighbors the other day what it would take for him to jump off Peppie's ship and vote for Gibson.  "Those women who sued John were from Mangieri's administration [the former state's attorney]," my neighbor said.  "The gals ran the office, and they didn't like John.  He was only trying to right the ship."  Yeah, sure!

Now if that was me or you allegedly playing grab-ass in the office, we'd be out on our ears.  But a home town boy lives a charmed life, and to be honest, I'm jealous.  When I go back to my home town, people remember me from what I was doing the last time I lived there--1970 at age 22.  You can only imagine what was going on then!

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There haven't been many postings on this blog since summer because I'm back working full-time for the first time since June of 2009.  I'm loving it!  I travel to Dominican University three days a week and to Joliet Junior College five days a week.  The big problem with retirement was the lack of interaction with the students and the other teachers.  I'm still working on getting to know the teachers, but the students are great. 

Some things I've learned this fall:

I had gained about 40 lbs. since I retired from full-time teaching, and I could barely walk around the Joliet Junior College campus because I was so fat.  I've lost 20 lbs. since the end of September and only have 80 more to go.  Hmmmmmm.

The Hispanic enrollment in Chicago Public Schools is now at 46%.  Dominican U. is actively recruiting from Chicago so about 80% of the students in my two composition classes are Hispanic.  I'm having some problems relating to them--I can only tell my getting stopped by the cops in Mazatlan story so many times--but I've learned that diversity in the classroom is a big plus compared to the lily white classes I had while teaching at Fremd.

Some students should not go to college.  I have some students in my developmental English classes at JJC who literally squirm in their seats because they hate college so much.  As one who quit college and went back--twice, I can sympathize.  One of my squirmers told me the other day that he was going to college because he couldn't get a job, and his parents told him that they wouldn't give him any money unless he enrolled at JJC.  He's a competent writer, but I'm not hopeful about his future in college--at least at this time.

60's Music: Gone from Chicago's Radio Stations

"The Wandering Adjunct Mobile"

Since the end of August, I've spent lots of time back in the automobile driving from Sandwich to River Forest to Joliet.  I call my 2002 Prizm the "Wandering Adjunct Mobile," because I'm teaching this year at both Dominican University and at Joliet Junior College.  The Prizm only has an AM-FM radio with a CD player--no satellite radio.  So I've had the opportunity to listen to Chicago's radio stations once again like I did when I drove from Sandwich to Palatine for 26 years while teaching at Fremd.

The listening results have been disappointing!

Believe it or not, the songs from the 1960's have all but disappeared from Chicago radio.  Oh, yeah, you'll hear a 60's song once in a while, but most of the so called "oldies" or "classic rock" stations ignore what is the best rock music ever produced--the music from 1964-74.

Cream:  Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce, and Eric Clapton

If I hear Eric Clapton on the radio, it's the acoustic version of "Layla" or worse yet that horrible "Wonderful Tonight."  "Sunshine of Your Love" is gone, as are "White Room" and "Crossroads."  And if an Animals' song is played, it'll be "House of the Rising Sun"; "We Gotta Get Out of This Place," "It's My Life," and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" are missing in action from Chicago radio stations.  "Sky Pilot"?  You gotta be kidding!

What about the group that started it all?  The Beatles!  The corporate radio programmers have ash canned them too, except for the nominal "Breakfast with the Beatles" shows on Sunday morning.  Who listens to WXRT (FM-93.1) on Sunday morning with Terry Hemorrriod anyway? I'm racked out!

What you do hear on Chicago stations are a smattering of 1970's Rolling Stones songs, "Start Me Up" for example, and lots of Elton John music.  All that crappy late 70's music is holding sway.

Look at this gem!  Rod Stewart in his disco togs.

Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac, Rod Stewart (I'm puking now!), Supertramp, Eagles, Foreigner, Heart, Toto.  God, please kill me.  When I looked at the playlist for the the last 24 hours at WLS (FM-94.7) this morning, there was not one Beatles song played yesterday, not one.

Ask yourself when was the last time you heard "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "She Loves You," or "Please Please Me" on the radio in Chicago during morning or afternoon drive time?  Maybe, just maybe a station will play "Hey Jude" or "Something" by the Beatles, but I'm so sick of those songs I hit the button when I hear them.  How about "Nowhere Man"?  Heard that lately?  Or "Eight Days a Week"?

You haven't heard these songs because they aren't there.

Bon Jovi in the 1980's

The biggest disappointment is "The Drive," WDRV (FM-97.1), which USED to play 60's and early 70's songs.  When I heard Bob Stroud play Bon Jovi the other day, I swore that "The Drive's" push-button on my radio was going to be changed.  But what can I change it to?  Country music.  Nah, that stuff is worse than listening to WGN's Milt Rosenberg purposely mispronounce President Obama's first name every night on Extension 720.

The irony of the situation is that we aging Baby Boomers who turned 17 in 1965 and 21 in 1969 (Thanks for remembering us Jackson Browne, but you're songs are gone too) have more disposable income that any other radio listening demographic group.  You'd think that the radio programmers would be falling all over themselves putting stations on the air that cater to Baby Boomers' musical tastes.

So what if the stations have to advertise Viagra, nursing homes, no-fall bath tubs, or Depends.  Money is money!

But these assholes are too busy looking at the 35-54 age demographic.  That's why you're hearing Steely Dan and Foreigner so much.  The programmers have completely forgotten us.

The company I used to work for, Nelson Multimedia, has an AM station WSQR (AM-1180) in Sycamore, Illinois.  For a while, the station played classic 60's hits (It's now gone to a "Music of Your Life" format.).  Two years ago while working for the station at the Sandwich Fair, I shook hands with hundreds of listeners from Elgin, Joliet, Rochelle, Rockford, Woodstock, DeKalb, and Mendota who were devoted to the radio station and who loved the music.  "Keep that music coming," a typical listener would say.  "We can't find that music anywhere else!"

The other problem is that the same jerks who ran the Chicago radio stations in the 1970's are still around as are some of the same DJ's.  When I heard Fred Winston last week back on the air at WLS (FM-94.7), I almost drove off the road.  But Winston is not playing the Supremes or the Zombies in his latest radio gig.  He's playing some late 70's or early 80's crap.  Fred, you're a whore!

Pam and Larry Nelson

Some day someone like Larry and Pam Nelson, the owners of Nelson Multimedia, are going to wake up and realize that there is lots of money to be made programming the music of the 1960's and early 70's.

Until that day, I'll make a point to listen to North Central College's radio station, WONC (FM-89.1).  From 10:00-midnight every night, WONC plays the best of the best in 60's music.

Leave it to college kids to recognize the best music!

The Sad State of American Journalism



NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell

 NFL Commissioner Roger Goddell comes to Bears camp last August, and the Chicago Sun-Times does a two page spread on how the Bears players hate him and how they think he's a dictator.  The Chicago Tribune runs one short paragraph under "Bears Bits," which just says Goddell was present at the camp.  Nothing is said in the Tribune about the Bears players' opinions of Goodell.  Of course, the Tribune has become famous as an anti-labor newspaper.

The Tribune also runs a series of stories on the Illinois pension crisis, highlighting abuses of double dipping in the system.  The stories reek of bias against the pension systems.  After the series, the Tribune runs editorials demanding pension reform and calling for retired public employees to give up their cost of living adjustments or their medical insurance.  The Trib's editorial bias against pensions, teachers, and public education moved onto the front page into what should be non-biased news stories.



Channel 7's Mike Adamle

 Channel Five's Mike Adamle leads his nightly sportscast with the fact that the Cubs brought up two rookies for a Sunday game.  The first-place White Sox taking two of three from division leading Texas is relegated to the second slot. in the sports segment  The Cubs are in last place, 25 games under .500 at the time!

WGN Radio always leads its sportscasts off with a Cubs or Blackhawks story because both teams' radio broadcasts are on the station.



NBC Nightly News Anchor Brian Williams

 NBC news anchor Brian Williams asked Texas Governor Rick Perry the following question during last September's Republican Presidential Debates:  "Governor Perry, a question about Texas. Your state has executed 234 death row inmates more than any other governor in modern times. Have you struggled to sleep at night?"

Wow!  The journalism that Ray Vanderburg, Reef Waldrep, and some guy named Larry (I can't remember his last name, but he DID give me a "D" in Public Relations.) taught me at Western Illinois University seems to have gone by the wayside.  There is no attempt to judge stories for news value any longer.  The Cubs get the top slot because WGN carries the games, no matter what the White Sox or Bears do.  The Tribune is anti-union so the heck with what the Bears players say about Roger Goodell.

Brian Williams makes no effort to be non-biased in his questioning of Rick Perry.  Williams lets it be known that he is against capital punishment, and damn it, Perry better be against it too.  Did we ever know the politics of Chet Huntley, David Brinkley, Walter Cronkite, Edward R. Murrow, or Howard K. Smith when they were on the air?

I don't think I did! 

And now every night when I see Williams sitting behind the same anchor desk where Tom Brokaw used to sit, I wonder if the news that night will be filtered through Williams' liberal bias.

Fox News' Roger Ailes


Fox News is worse.  Under one time Republican campaign manager Roger Ailes, Fox makes a habit of airing the conservative side of each issue and leaving the other side unspoken.  Sean Hannity's interview of George Zimmerman, who is accused of killing Black teenager Travon Martin in Florida told America where Fox News stood.   Hannity kissed Zimmerman's butt for the entire interview.

Voters have a harder time making up their minds who to vote for because the media outlets that should be weighing candidates' positions on key issues are too busy spinning the news to promote the candidates of their choice.



Larry King

 Media experts used to complain about Larry King's show on CNN and claim that King just lobbed softball questions at his guests.  But I always found King to be thorough and probing.  He wasn't looking for a "gotcha moment."  King was looking to have his guests comment on the key issues of the day, and no one ever knew where King stood politically.  When I watch Hannity doing an interview on Fox News or Lawrence O'Donnell interviewing a public figure on MSNBC, I have to sift through the bias in order to get to the real story.  And sometimes the real story never emerges.

Our local radio station, WSPY-FM in Plano, sent its news director, Ryan Morton, to the Republican National Convention last summer.  For the entire week, Morton sent back puff piece interviews of local Kendall County Republicans giving their take on the convention.  When I sent Morton a message on Facebook telling him how I was looking forward to his coverage of the Democratic Convention the next week, he sent me a message back telling me he wasn't going to Charlotte.

I told him that WSPY's news coverage was the best argument I'd seen for the reinstatement of the equal time rule which used to force radio and television stations to air opposing views. I never thought I'd want the equal time rule back (It was a pain in the rear dealing with it), but after listening to Morton, Williams, Hannity, and O'Donnell, I'm not so sure any more.

The station I used to work for in Galesburg, WGIL-AM, runs Glenn Beck in the morning, Rush Limbaugh in the afternoon, and Dennis Miller at night--all conservative commentators.  And now WGIL owner John Pritchard is running for mayor of Galesburg.  I guess we know where he stands politically!

Will journalism in America ever return to its glory days?  Could there be a Woodward and Berstein today? 

The answer, my friends, is blowing in the wind!

Noisy Bear Fans Not Alone When It Comes to Boorish Behavior in Chicago!



Bears quarterback Jay Cutler now knows what those of us who have been going to sports events and concerts in Chicago have known for a long time.  Chicago audiences are there to see and be seen, not to watch the game!


I had to laugh during Sunday's Bears game against the Colts when Bears quarterback Jay Cutler was forced to call time-out in the Red Zone because the fans in the north end zone at Soldier Field wouldn't shut up.  Cutler wanted to change the play at the line of scrimmage, and his teammates couldn't hear him because of the noisy fans screaming their heads off.

Cutler now knows what many of us have known for a long time.  Bears fans (and Chicago fans in general) are mostly at the games to see and be seen.  They really aren't there to watch football.  In fact most of these newer Bears fans could care less about the games.  Going to a Bears game for these North Shore yuppies consists of four hours of tailgating, smuggling some exoctic liquor into the stadium, and being in their cars and gone before the fourth quarter is half over.

It didn't used to be that way!

You still hear national sports commentators talk about how knowledgeable Chicago Bears football fans are.  That was once true, but it's not the case any longer.  A knowledgeable Bears fan would never scream and yell when the Bears are on offense in the Red Zone.  A knowledgeable Bears fan would shut up and wait until the team scores, then let loose.

When the Bears moved into the new Soldier Field in 2003, the organization jacked up ticket prices and made season ticket holders buy expensive seat licenses before they were even allowed to buy their season tickets.  Old time Bears season ticket holders left the team in droves.

Make way for the North Shore yuppies, ladies and gentlemen!

When the yuppies came in with all their money, they made going to a Bears game an exercise in showing off.  "Here I am!  I'm dressed in my brand new designer Bears gear.  I'm good and lubricated too!  I'm ready to watch some football.  No, wait a minute.  I don't know anything about football.  I just want to be seen and get myself sloshed. Then I can drive back to Winnetka and get ready to go to the office in the morning and tell everyone I was at the game.  Oooooh!  What will my co-workers think of me?"

God help us!

And these idiots have been calling up Chicago sports-talk radio stations all week defending themselves from Cutler's complaint:  "If I buy my ticket, I can cheer whenever I want!" they say on The Score and on WMVP.

Jeeeeeeez!

I've quit going to games and concerts in Chicago because of this crap.  When the wife and I went to a Simon and Garfunkel concert at the United Center a few years back, I was able to get prime seats on the side with a great eye-level view of the stage.  It was perfect--until these  four thirty-something jerks in front of us commenced to talking to each other about their jobs and then talked on their cell phones during the entire concert.

Artie Garfunkel sang, "When you're down and out./ When your're on the street . . ." and all I heard was.  "That was something that Jay-Bird screwed that account up and had to eat the results."

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Then when the daughter and I followed Bruce Springsteen's Devils and Dust and Seeger Sessions tours around the Midwest in 2005 and 2006, I discovered that audiences in Madison, St. Louis, Des Moines, and Milwaukee did not scream out song titles or call out "Bruuuuuuuuuce" between songs like the idiots in Chicago did.  Just before Springsteen took the stage at each concert, Allison Krause's "Down to the River to Pray" would play.  In Chicago a woman behind me excitedly asked her friend, "Is that Celine Dion singing?"  My daughter and I rolled in the aisle laughing.  Celine Dion?  She sunk with the Titanic, honey!

But maybe the worst place to watch a game in Chicago is Wrigley Field.  The place is crawling with North Shore 20 and 30 something junior yuppies talking and walking round the ballpark throughout the entire game.  And none of their talk is about baseball.  I tried to keep score (I know, I'm a relic!) at my last Cubs game, and I made it to the bottom of the second inning before I gave up.  The people around me were distracting me with their inane talk to the point of insanity.

So now I only go to electric concerts in Chicago.  Paul McCartney was so loud at Wrigley Field that the yuppies could have talked about their jobs all night and I wouldn't have heard them.  I was grooving to Paul singing "The Night Before" and "Paperback Writer" (I still can't believe he did "The Night Before"!).

So I hope that the fans at Soldier Field will be silent the next time Jay Cutler leads the Bears offensive inside the 20 yard line.  But I sure ain't betting on it!