Columns
Media: October 2021 • Ofman’s Chicago Sports Story
George Ofman has been part of the Chicago media community for more than 40 years now. Here’s an indication of how long he’s been doing this. His first job in the business was in a medium that doesn’t exist anymore. He worked for an outfit called Sportsphone. Imagine it. It was a phone […]
Media: September 2021 • “The Big ’89 to Hollywood”
Kris Erik Stevens’s arrival in Chicago in the late ’60s involved a bit of serendipity. “I was on my way from San Francisco to a gig I had just taken in Pittsburgh, and I stopped in Chicago along the way to see an old buddy of mine, Lyle Dean, who I had worked with […]
Spins: Jeff + Ping • The Threefinger Opera
Jeff Elbel + Ping The Threefinger Opera (Marathon Records) A few years ago, Chicago-area musician Jeff Elbel experienced a crushed nerve ending that denied him the use of two fingers on his left hand. This is bad news for someone who not only fronts his own band, the expansive Jeff Elbel + Ping but sits […]
Hello My Name is… John Doe of X
To calm, cool, and collected X anchor John Doe, it’s all about how you see the world these days. Some artists may have dreaded all that enforced 2020 lockdown time as a curse, but, homebound apart from his bandmates in Austin, he viewed it as a blessing, a creative windfall, even though X had […]
Media: August 2021 • “New Sports Radio Economy”
Jon Zaghloul, the host of the show Sports Talk Chicago (which airs locally on WCKG, AM 1530), was born and raised in Tinley Park, is a graduate of Andrew High School, and currently attends the University of Chicago. You read that correctly. Currently attends. He’s 21 years old. He was born in the 21stcentury “I’m […]
Hello My Name Is…Billy
You’ve got to hand it to storied Cult guitarist Billy Duffy — he doesn’t bury the lede when it comes to late-breaking news stories. Only a minute into a recent phone call to discuss Coloursound — the ephemeral side project he and Alarm vocalist Mike Peters launched, then abandoned with a single album back in […]
Media: July 2021 • “Radio Joan”
Joan Esposito was known to Chicago audiences as a television reporter and anchor after her many years at Channel 5 & 7. Still, when she accepted the job as afternoon host at Progressive Talk WCPT (820 AM), it was not her first job in the medium. “When I first got into broadcasting, I got a […]
Media: June 2021 • “Steve King’s Cult 45”
People in Chicago know Steve King for his four–decade run as a radio DJ and talk show host (WLS, WGN), but before his legendary radio career began, he was doing something else entirely. “I was a full-time musician. That was my career in the early ‘60s. Even when I first got into radio (1966), If […]
Hello My Name is Juliana Hatfield
No man is an island, John Donne once wisely noted. Juliana Hatfield would respectfully like to disagree. At 53, the charming Boston folk-rocker is quite happy just kicking back at her Cambridge home with her beloved 11-year-old chocolate lab, Charlie (who’s actually female, she points out), sans any unwelcome interlopers. And while other […]
File: Peoria’s Way Down Wanderers New Album Announced and Video Single Released
Peoria’s country-roots stalwarts, The Way Down Wanderers (featured cover story in March 2019 IE), just announced their new album More Like Tomorrow drops on September 10. More Like Tomorrow finds the Peoria, Illinois-based quintet refining their music, pushing new boundaries of roots-based music with their blend of folk, rock, bluegrass, and deep harmonies. Their first single […]
CinemaScopes: May 2021
Sequels, Remakes, and Adaptations As we gear up for a more Post-Vax world, many films previously on hold are finally coming out, and May traditionally is the tentpole month for theaters. One theme we see is the tendency to rely on tried and true formulas to draw people out again – especially when so many […]
Stage Buzz: Livestream Buzz May 17-23
A rare Monday VIP Livestream commences at the “Night of Covenant House Stars,” a virtual gala on Monday, May 17 featuring appearances by Jon Bon Jovi, Charlie Day, Jewel, Audra McDonald, Dolly Parton, Vanessa Williams, Sara Bareilles, Chita Rivera, Dionne Warwick, and more. RSVP to the event here. Philly’s acclaimed Disco Biscuits added a last-minute hometown […]
Media: May 2021 • “Call Him Dash”
First of all, let’s get an explanation of the name. The night jock at WTMX is named Dash. “All my life, when I told people my name,” he explains, “I would say Jordan Gabriel Orman-Weiss. The dash was part of my last name. That’s where the name Dash comes from.” Secondly, Dash is a […]
Media: April 2021
It’s hard to describe everything Jon Hansen brings to Chicago media. He’s really a Jon-of-all-trades, able to shift from television to radio to just about anything else that requires a microphone. First and foremost, he’s one of the stars of the nightly gabfest (6-7 pm), The Jam on WCIU-TV. “It’s your Twitter feed on […]
CinemaScopes: April 2021
New film releases are finally starting to pick up, with more cinemas opening around the country (specifically on the West Coast). The backlog of film debuts begins this month as we lead up to the summer season. Here are some top picks for April. Concrete CowboyDirected by Ricky StaubRated RApril 2nd on Netflix Inspired by […]
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