Happy 48th Anniversary Mr. Ed

After four days of playing the History of Rock n Roll, WCBS-FM returned to regular programming this morning. Karen told me that after left for work this morning, DJ Dan Taylor mentioned to weatherman Mr. G (Irv Gikofsky) that 48 years ago today was the first appearance of Mr. Ed, the talking horse, on TV. Lee has been a fan of that show since he was a little boy. We had to explain to him that real horses do not talk. Just a few weeks ago as we were returning from an afternoon in Manhattan he asked that he watch the tape of Mr. Ed shows when he got home.

I did a little searching and found an interview of Alan Young (now 89 years young) with Fox News personality Bill O' Reilly. If you need more information about Bill, please check Dave DuBrow's World Journal File. In the interview, they talked about a book called Mr. Ed and Me and More that was published in 2007. We had to buy it from Amazon.com. In fact Mark Simone interviewed Alan Young some time ago on Saturday Night Oldies. I am sure that the show's historian Frank D'Agostino could tell you the exact date. Below is the interview with Bill O'Reilly from Youtube:

Marley and Me - A Bob Dylan Connection

On the last day of my holiday break we went to see Marley and Me at the local multiplex. Marley is a dog owned by the family in the movie starring Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson. This song was not in the movie, but it came to mind as I was watching it. If Dogs Run Free appeared in the New Morning album released in 1970. The video below from Youtube was a concert performance, but the original studio version featured some scat singing.




If Dogs Run Free

If dogs run free, then why not we
Across the swooping plain?
My ears hear a symphony
Of two mules, trains and rain.

The best is always yet to come,
That's what they explain to me.
Just do your thing, you'll be king,
If dogs run free.

If dogs run free,
why not meAcross the swamp of time?
My mind weaves a symphony
And tapestry of rhyme.
Oh, winds which rush my tale to thee
So it may flow and be,
To each his own, it's all unknown,
If dogs run free.

If dogs run free,
then what must be,
Must be, and that is all.
True love can make a blade of grass
Stand up straight and tall.
In harmony with the cosmic sea,
True love needs no company,
It can cure the soul, it can make it whole,
If dogs run free.

Copyright ©1970 Big Sky Music

Hofstra Basketball Today

It was cold but clear today so we took a drive out to Hofstra in Hempstead. This arena was the site of the recent Obama-McCain debate. Anyway Hofstra lost to Drexel 63-56. So far we have seen 4 college basketball games this season:

CW Post
Queens College
St. Johns
Hofstra

There May be Scott Muni WABC Airchecks available

For readers of this journal who are not radio enthusiasts Scott Muni was one of the greatest radio personalities in New York history and rightfully called the Professor. He appeared on WMCA, WABC, WOR-FM, WNEW-FM, and WAXQ during his distinguished career. For about 10 years WABC plays recordings (airchecks) of radio shows done during its Top 40 days (1960-82) on Memorial Day. This show called WABC Rewound is produced by Johnny Donovan and Rob Frankel. There were shows done by many WABC DJs, but only a very short tape of Scott Muni has surfaced until now. There is a posting on the Radio-Info board by an anonymous poster with the moniker Radio Truth saying that he has a 1961 WABC Scott Muni aircheck. I immediately notified Rob Frankel. Hopefully, this tape will be heard in May 2009.

People in cyberspace often chose to be anonymous and that is certainly their prerogative. About a year ago Radio Truth really bashed Saturday Night Oldies. Another anonymous poster (I know who he is) named Oldiesking or SNOFAN1 really gave it to Radio Truth. If Oldiesking were told that he could have a date with Jennifer Anniston every Saturday night, he would turn it down to listen to every second of Saturday Night Oldies. To each his own.

Contributed to My Individual Retirement Account Today

An investment counselor once told me that people don't plan to fail, but they fail to plan. Sometimes you have to look several years ahead to retirement, when I won't have to cope with the managers of Maggie's Farm. I have a TIAA-CREF pension plan since I have worked for universities over the past 18 years. NJIT gives a certain percentage of my salary to the fund, while I also give a significant amount each pay period for retirement. For many years I contribute to a supplementary retirement fund through mutual funds. Over the past year these investment accounts have decreased in value. This has happened to millions of people, so I was advised not to panic since I will not be retiring in the near future. Today I put some money into a retirement account through my savings bank. Although the interest rate is relatively low, this money is guaranteed.

Spotlight on Victor Monachelli

This afternoon I received a phone call from radio enthusiast extraordinaire Victor Monachelli wishing me a happy new year. I was appreciative that Vic took the initiative to phone rather than use e-mail. Vic was the first radio enthusiast that I met when I first went online at home in 1994. At that time we were using the online service Prodigy which preceded the internet. Vic must have made umpteen thousand posts on the radio boards there about WCBS-FM. I visited him in 1995 when he owned a pet supply store in Yonkers. He has since relocated to central Florida but still follows New York radio through the Internet. He is proud of his Myspace page. Happy New Year Vic and happy listening.

Valkyrie - Our First Movie of the Year

Since the weather was very cold today, it meant a walk over to the local multiplex. We saw the new Tom Cruise movie Valkyrie. It was about a plot by German officers to kill Adolph Hilter, the most miserable man to ever exist on the earth. I didn't realize that there were 15 unsuccessful plots to kill him during World War II. Although the conspiracy depicted in this movie failed, Hitler committed suicide 9 months later when he realized that the Allies were going to defeat him. If he were captured he would have been executed as Saddam Hussein was 60 years later. I highly recommend this film.