(Above: Was hoping for a photo of Ariel, but OK.) Way on the far south side of Chicago, there was a song that WLS played a lot.... The summer of 1977 is one that I always look back upon fondly. There was nothing more complicated in life at time than getting up, riding our bikes … Continue reading Great lost hit: Dean Friedman, “Ariel” (1977)
WLS
Ten Albums: The Who, Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy (1971)
Ordinarily. I wouldn't allow a Greatest Hits compilation on a list like this. This isn't an ordinary LP, though, nor is the story of how it got here. #5. The Who - Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy (1971) There were several groups that I'd call myself "late to the party" in discovering. Led Zeppelin was … Continue reading Ten Albums: The Who, Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy (1971)
Mixtape review: “WJTW Backs Of the Racks” (1989)
(Above: You really shouldn't store your cassettes in the middle like that, especially not for almost thirty years.) I was digging through a box of cassettes at home this week and found a cassette that I have alluded to in the past, said that "I should write about," and never did - until now. … Continue reading Mixtape review: “WJTW Backs Of the Racks” (1989)
A letter from camp: WLS Top Forty-Fives, June 27, 1981
(Above: The author at Student Council camp, June 1981. This does not look like camping.) "Is the baseball strike over?" That was the first question I had for my parents when I saw them on June 27, 1981. They had come to pick me up from a week away at camp - the only such … Continue reading A letter from camp: WLS Top Forty-Fives, June 27, 1981
Congratulations to Johnny B! Johnny and the Leisure Suits, “Just Havin’ Fun” (1981)
(Above: In the early 90s, in Chicago, you had this CD. It was the law.) The Hyper Rooster is in the Hall. For the second year in a row a local Chicago radio legend has gotten the call for the Radio Hall of Fame. Jonathon Brandmeier, who held down mornings at WLUP in Chicago through … Continue reading Congratulations to Johnny B! Johnny and the Leisure Suits, “Just Havin’ Fun” (1981)
An appreciation of Dick Biondi: “The Pizza Song”
(Above: "The Pizza Song" had a picture sleeve, which my copy is missing.) I never imagined radio without Dick Biondi on it somewhere. Don't get me wrong: I'm nothing if not something of a realist. No one lives forever, nor works forever, nor should they. And, hell - years ago I didn't imagine a world … Continue reading An appreciation of Dick Biondi: “The Pizza Song”
So you wanna be a rock and roll star: Dora Hall, “Did He Call Today, Mama” (1965)
(Above: Gift with purchase.) A few years ago music fans were subjected to Rebecca Black's "Friday," a song that, while not fantastic, also wasn't as purely terrible as people claimed that it was. (I mean, the poor girl got threats over it. What's wrong with people?) What we learned from the process of "Friday" becoming … Continue reading So you wanna be a rock and roll star: Dora Hall, “Did He Call Today, Mama” (1965)
Forty years ago in Chicago: The WLS Top 45s, April 1, 1978
(Above: No one has ever doubted this claim.) April Fool's Day 1978 would have been at the end of fourth grade for me. By this time I was starting to add my own records into the pile of vinyl that I had inherited from my parents (written about variously here and here, among other places). … Continue reading Forty years ago in Chicago: The WLS Top 45s, April 1, 1978
Rockin’ the suburbs: The Billboard Top Rock Tracks, February 12, 1983
Yesterday's post about the songs likely played at the school dances right around this time was a bit of a bummer. It's not because school dances themselves are sad - certainly not so many years later - but because the songs on the list were, frankly, a downer. They're also not the things I would … Continue reading Rockin’ the suburbs: The Billboard Top Rock Tracks, February 12, 1983
Forty years ago in Chicago: The WLS Survey, January 28, 1978
(Of course he does.) The last week of January, 1978 saw me as a fourth-grader at Helen Keller School in Tinley Park, Illinois. I was still about a year and a half away from "playing radio" in Mr. Johnston's sixth-grade class. I would have been about two months away from receiving my first stereo system … Continue reading Forty years ago in Chicago: The WLS Survey, January 28, 1978
45 Ruminations Per Megabyte 