Columns
Spins: Greg Dulli • “Random Desire”
Greg Dulli Random Desire (Royal Cream/BMG) Calling this “the first solo album” by The Afghan Whigs frontman Greg Dulli isn’t technically truthful – unless it’s a deliberate attempt to erase 2005’s Amber Headlights altogether. Whether first or second, it was time for another musical road less traveled for Dulli. Surviving way longer than most rock […]
Spins: Pearl Jam • “Gigaton”
Pearl Jam Gigaton (Monkeywrench/Republic) Pearl Jam’s timing for the end of the world record is impeccable. The Seattle-based quartet’s recorded output has been stalled for nearly seven years, and apparently, they have some shit they want to get off their chests. The band’s eleventh record, Gigaton, also finds its members looking for new ways to […]
Media – April 2020
Steve Darnall remembers the exact moment he became obsessed with old time radio. “It was 1977, and I was driving in the car with my dad. I asked him to turn on the radio, and he turned on Chuck Shayden’s program, which aired old-time shows from the Golden Age of Radio. Dad told me that […]
Media – March 2020
How long has Pat Cassidy been delivering us the news on the radio by “the dawn’s early light?” “The alarm clock has gone off at 2:30 am for over 40 years,” he says with a laugh. “I go to bed early. The bottom line is that I start going to bed around 6:30 or seven […]
Media: February 2020
Scott Miller was a regular on the radio in Chicago for several decades (WJMK, WCKG, WGN, WDRV, News 101.1 FM, Oprah Radio). Still, a few years ago, after his stint at the Drive (97.1 FM) with Pete McMurray and Dan McNeil, Miller found himself out of work. Despite knowing just about everyone in town, he […]
Media – January 2020
When Brad Edwards was asked to be the co-anchor of the 5, 6, and 10 pm newscasts on CBS-2 Chicago in March of 2019, he was a little taken aback. Edwards had been a big part of the award-winning CBS investigative team since 2012, and “anchor” was a whole different ballgame. He knew what […]
Media – December 2019
The Chicago media community lost several greats this year. Among them, WLS Channel 7’s long-time reporter Russ Ewing, WLS disc jockey Jim Dunbar, and WGN-TV’s Marshall Brodine. All of them were giants in this town that left lasting legacies, but two others passed away in 2019 that were personal friends of mine, and I wanted […]
Media: November 2019
For seven months, Jenniffer Weigel occupied a co-host chair in Mancow’s studio at WLS. She already knew him socially but was impressed by seeing Mancow work firsthand. “He works very hard on his show,” she says. “He’s the first one there every morning. Watching him run the board is like watching someone with ADD fly […]
Q&A and Live Review: Rick Wakeman
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 2019
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 […]
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