1973…Dee-troit radio was a mixture of formats and talent. The Drake-Chenault Big Boss Jocks to Casey Kasem Top 40 shmaltz. The AM airwaves were a congested freeway of screaming Pukers as we refer to the “old school” of over enunciation and pseudo-hip chatter that not only came from somewhere deep in the cave of ego, dark and forbidding, but was delivered faster than bullets from a machine gunning killer of the old Detroit Purple Gang during prohibition.
It was not often that I found engaging sites on Los Internets del Taco, Mexico’s Number One Website portal, a little known but highly suspect Internet provider, but since they were bought by Tijuana resident ex Morning Show co-host, and World’s Oldest Woman, Kathy Lee Gifford, (Who turns 126 today), and converted all their links and sites to English, the world of unusual and entertaining websites has opened up to me, and my internet time has tripled because every day I find new and addictive ways to waste my time. For example, I just used their exclusive Online Run-On Sentence and Comma Usage Counter on this paragraph, and found out I beat my previous, record, by, three, commas. As cool as that is, the best site available there is the one I am about to, share, with, you.
It was only last month that Iggy turned 71, remember?
This month however, we virtually celebrate the Birthday of a crooner of an entirely different stroke, but one no less impressive and influential in his own unique way than that head, headstrong Stooge.
But Don’t Believe A Word I Say! For today we turn the fond reminiscences and frank remembrances completely over to a proud parade of Pig pals who pay tribute to the one and still only Pierino Ronald Como, who could have – nay, should have been celebrating his 106th on the 18th…
Hello.
I am Fernando Periscope.
Mr. Bob is up to his well-defined elbows in Texas No Bean Chili of his own design, rustic Mexican Rice, and a beautiful and healthy (if you insist on looking at it that way) Iceberg lettuce salad drizzled and besotted with an Olive Oil and Vinegar vinaigrette dressing, thin-sliced red onion, and crumbled Roquefort cheese. So demanding are his primitive culinary skills and excitement awaiting his guests for this evening’s repast, discourse, and motion picture study of the 3D variety, that he asked me, his faithful companion of long standing, Fernando Periscope, to address and amuse you on this, his Blog of Note. If you will please follow me by clicking on the continue reading link, (and please stay together in an orderly fashion), your evening’s entertainment will begin.
Received this lovely note and a review Frank had written but didn’t have time to get to me. Life…finds a way.
Hi Bob, I just learned that Frank Gutch Jr passed away and am so saddened by it. He recently did a review for our daughters’ latest album (released May 1), and I sent him an email this past week to see when he would be posting the review…now I know why he never responded. Fortunately, he had sent the review to us for our Kansas Bluegrass Association newsletter. Is there any way we could share this with you on your/his blog? He seemed to really enjoy the girls’ music and this was his third album review that he’d done for the girls. Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks so much, Bob. We really appreciate you sharing this. So sorry for your loss. – Debbie Vogts
…and when you are finished with Frank’s review…keep scrolling, and meet Mike Marino.
Yesterday I went through all of the private messages I’d shared with Frank Gutch Jr, since I’d first encountered him. It was in 2013, just after I’d begun writing this weekly column, and right from that first message, it was as though we were separated at birth.
I was digging through my tape drawer this week (yes, I still have cassettes) and while not bemoaning the death of tape, did bemoan the lack of success of a handful of incredible treasures which I have only on tape. To my knowledge, they have never been available on any other format, though I am not sure. Three of them— the only three commercially available— may have suffered because of that. More than one person had made reference to cassette as a non-format in their world— to paraphrase them,“better to miss the music than have it on tape.”
Bullseye Records of Canada
