Columns
Q&A and Live Review: Rick Wakeman at Arcada Theatre
Rick Wakeman Arcada Theatre (St. Charles, IL) October 4, 2019 Celebrated prog-rock keyboardist and raconteur Rick Wakeman visited the Arcada Theatre on Friday night, performing a set of classically oriented solo piano pieces. The songs performed as part of Wakeman’s Grumpy Old Rock Star tour are connected by stories that were equally poignant and ludicrous. […]
Studiophile: September 2019
Chicago indie rockers Signal The Launch were at ELECTRICAL AUDIO in Chicago with acclaimed producer/engineer Steve Albini recording two tracks for their EP Dance Like a Vampire. The “Vampire” track has been a fan favorite since 2018, and the band has also shot an engaging F. W. Murnau inspired 1920’s horror-inspired music video conceived […]
Media: September 2019
Tim Virgin first hit the airwaves in Chicago over twenty years ago. “(Loop program director) Greg Solk hired me in 1996. At that time, they were thinking of turning the Loop into an XRT-ish type format, the best music on the planet, and he needed an alternative guy, and that was me. When they went […]
Media: August 2019
Twenty years ago this summer Phil Manicki started working for the radio company Bonneville International. At the time they also owned The Loop (WLUP), and just a few years later would create a brand new radio station called The Drive (WDRV). Manicki became part of the on-air lineup on that very first day and has […]
Media: July 2019
On July 12th the Chicago White Sox will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of one of the most famous stunts in radio history. On that day in 1979, WLUP radio morning personalities Steve Dahl & Garry Meier went onto the field of Comiskey Park between games of a White Sox doubleheader with the Detroit Tigers […]
Media: June 2019
No one in this town has been a part of the Chicago media scene longer than WGN-Radio’s (and The Chicago Tribune’s) Rick Kogan. He was literally born into it. His parents, Herman and Marilew, were both fixtures in the heyday of Chicago’s print media. They lived the life. They hung out with Chicago’s glitterati. […]
Media: May 2018
Jim O’Donnell has been off and on the media beat for Chicago area newspapers for four decades. As of a few months ago, he’s back on, and he’s landed at a familiar place, The Daily Herald. “That’s where my career started,” he says, “and now I’m doing a sports and media column thanks to a […]
Media: April 2019
If you listen to the veterans of the radio world, you begin to hear a few common themes. One is that there is a dearth of young talent. Another is that the young talent that has emerged doesn’t know and appreciate radio history, and are therefore unappreciative of what radio was and what it can […]
Media: March 2019
When WDRV’s Sherman and Tingle were first put together as a team more than a decade ago, it wasn’t exactly considered a long term plan. “I came here from Phoenix to be a part of a show called The Morning Fix which is the show that replaced Mancow on Q-101,” Steve Tingle explains. “After […]
Hello My Name Is…Dave Meniketti of Y&T
Some artists hem and haw when trying to pinpoint the reason for their longevity. Not Dave Meniketti. He’s as surprised as the next guy about the four-decade career longevity of his Bay Area metal outfit Y&T, nee Yesterday and Today. They’ve survived because they’ve deserved to, a modern exercise in Darwinian natural selection. “We’ve honestly […]
Media: February 2019
Bill Turck’s road to his current location, co-hosting Playtime with Bill Turck and Kerri Kendall on Sunday afternoons (1-3pm) on WGCO is one of the most interesting non-traditional radio roads ever traveled. Twenty plus years ago, he was literally in the most dangerous place in the world. “I arrived in Sarajevo just after Susan Sontag […]
Media: January 2019
Dave Fogel has now been in the saddle as the morning man at WLS for a year. The return to his former station seemed to be destined. “I was doing mornings at WJMK, and CBS sold to Entercom out of the blue, a total surprise, and they changed the format overnight. I was out of […]
Media: December 2018
As 2018 comes to an end and a new year begins, it’s time once again to pay tribute to the people who passed away this year. Once again, we lost some of the all-time Chicago greats. Among them, the long-time anchor and reporter Warner Saunders. Saunders’ award-winning 29-year stint at NBC-5 in Chicago touched countless […]
Media: November 2018
When Eric Ferguson started working at WTMX (The Mix), the studios had just moved from Skokie to downtown, and they were considered state of the art for their time. That time, unfortunately, was the 90s. Now, he is working in state of the art facilities again–brand new studios that are still under semi-construction. “Like anything […]
Media: October 2018
For the first time since the late ’80s, the Chicago radio landscape doesn’t include Cara Carriveau. Cara stepped down from her shift at WSHE (100.3 FM) earlier this year after stints at the Wabbit (103.9FM), Rock 103.5, the Loop (97.9FM), and the Mix (101.9FM), and jumped into a new role at Local Radio Networks. It’s […]
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