With the usual flip of the fedora to Jimmy Cannon
NOBODY
ASKED ME BUT.......
1)
A
few personal thoughts today as opposed to the usual format. Still the fedora is still tipped to Jimmy
Cannon for that title and thought.
2)
Phil
Ochs. Admittedly I am a Johnny Come
Lately to the talent of this great talent since I only started to appreciate
his work in about the 1970s—the late 1970s at that. But, having come to the realization of his
great talent I have to wonder as so many probably do what he might have
accomplished had he lived longer than his short span of life. Would, and I would hope, he have eclipsed or
been on a par with Bob Dylan? Would all
those honors have accrued to him since he may not have reinvented himself so
many times. I am assuming the
non-re-invention and, frankly, I find it
hard to believe in change so I only hope he would not have re-invented himself.
As the current expressions goes---“it is what it is” and I would hope “he would
have been what he was”. If that makes
sense.
a. My compliments to his
sister--Sonny Ochs. I had the honor of meeting her so many years back (thanks
to my wife) and for her keeping the music of Phil alive with the Phil Ochs Song
Nights she presents. Once again, as I
said when introducing Work O The Weavers last week---I am delighted that I was
there at the beginning.
2)
The Weavers, as you know, were the foundation of the “Folk Revival” of
the 1950s and 1960s and also so much more in a political sense. Happily there is a group that is now
celebrating the 10th anniversary of its founding---Work O The Weavers. As I said in my introduction to them at a
concert in Nanuet NY---“...bringing the music of this group (The Weavers) to
another generation..”. Interestingly, all
the people I have spoken with recently said they wished they knew of this event
since they loved The Weavers. Too bad they did not tune in to TRADITIONS---or
read a local paper. The good news is
that this group, as many know, are perfect in their representation of them and,
even better, they now do new material
they have created in the mode of The Weavers.
All greatly talented artists.
3) You all have heard of the death of Pete
Fornatelle. I cannot, in all honesty call him a colleague since the only
contact I had with him was quite some time back when I was doing a Harry Chapin
Tribute and he would not come on the air due, I believe, to contractual reasons
with his employer at the time. My
sympathies go out to his family and multitude of friends and fans since, I do
believe, the death of anyone diminishes all.
It is, however, life. Some leave
us sooner than others.
That said, one can only hope that I am
so appreciated by people in the radio community when my time comes. I know, and I hope it is not soon, that my
response to my WFDU colleagues would be equal to that of
the folks at WFUV.
3)
Now
for a simple thought and query. This
item is linked to Facebook and I am always amazed by how we value privacy and
yet open our souls to the soulless entity of Facebook. The query is this----why do serious comments
get little response there and nonsense such as---dental problems, birds in
backyards, bowel movements (?), and cute kittens amongst other things get
inundated with comments---nonsensical comments posted seriously.
4)
Since
this personal diatribe is now over I will return you to your regular
programming which, one can only hope, is better than what today’s TV can offer
you and, also, leave you with these few thoughts or recommendations.
a. Read Lunatics by Dave Barry
& Zweibel
b. Read Dropping Names by Frank
Langella
c.Dickens is a good choice if
you do not want to follow my suggestions.
Stick with classics and bore yourself to death in the 21st
century. Seriously---they are great and
classic but one needs a laugh a day for good health.
d.Tune in to Sunday Simcha and
Traditions where we do try to raise the level of the presentations and the
artists. This Sunday will be a perfect example of both items---I do hope you like some of the greats you will hear on both programs.
