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Final Results: 103.7 Format Change (Nov 5, 2005)The survey started a day before 103.7 changed their format from classic rock to talk featuring Phil Hendrie, Tom Leykis, and other hosts. Based on what the readers voted for, you strongly suggest that San Diego does indeed need a dance radio station by a vote of 46 percent of the readers. Second on the list is oldies, no longer being heard on a San Diego-serving radio station, and with 23 percent of the people voting for the format, there is still strong interest in music from the late 50s through the early 70s. Next down is the talk format 103.7 Free FM adopted a week ago from last Tuesday. Surprisingly, five percent wanted another alternative rock station to compete with 91X and FM 94/9 suggesting that some improvement of the genre is needed such as less emphasis on the grunge sound and more on the renwed sound of synth-dance such as The Gorillaz. Way down on the list is urban (R&B/rap/hip hop) as few readers are either interested in a third format or they find that 90.3 and 98.9 are suiting their needs for that genre efficiently. AAA and Comedy Music each got one vote, suggesting that these formats are for those with a PhD or Masters degrees, demograhics radio finds too rich to serve. Nobody cared for a rhythmic-leaning adult contemporary format similiar to the old Q106 format back in the late 80s.Dance 26 (46%) Oldies 13 (23%) Talk 9 (16%) Alt. Rock 5 (9%) Urban 2 (4%) Comedy Music 1 (2%) AAA 1 (2%) Rhythmic A/C 0 (0%) Join Arnold Today (@10am, Nov 5, 2005)From Jimmy Valentine: The Governator and Roger Hedgecock will be at Montgomery Field this morning as the Governor bus tours the state in a last hours campaign to promote props 74, 75,76 and 77. An old fashioned American barnstorm. Gates open at 10am and you’ll be back to your Saturday “Honey Do, “ list (with your honey) by lunch time. C’mon by and say hello, get an autograph from the Governor and let him know you want Accountability in the Classroom (Prop 74), Paycheck Protection (Prop 75), A Balanced State Budget (Prop 76) and Fair Election Districts (Prop 77). Doing the read on those titles you gotta wonder why anyone would oppose, right?
News of the Stupid (Nov 5, 2005)As heard on Manic Mondays October 31, 2005And now it's time for... News of the Stupid! Well, I decided to do a google search on a few recent stories based on people doing stupid things and I found three that I wish to share. The first story centers on a Sri Lankan Airlines stewardess who desired to have a day off. She could have thought of a few less-threatening excuses such as having the bird flu or just using a Brady Bunch catch phrase: "something suddenly came up." But nooooo. She decided to call in a bomb threat from a mobile phone belonging to her boyfriend, as reported in the Colombo Sunday Times in October 16. Investigators traced the call to her and forwarded the findings to her employer, Sri Lankan Airlines, who had her fired. The paper said: "The inquiry reveals that the stewardess had given the false alarm because she did not want to fly that day." That was it? Just firing her? I mean, the stewardess needs to be punished more severely for scaring people with a phony bomb threat. I mean, let's punish her by making her listen to my two "Stupid Audio" CDs all day for a month. That will make her think about finding a less threatening way to make up an excuse to take a day off. The second story comes courtesy of China as reports of the first Chinese car to be distributed to Europeans was recently tested for safety. The score: a perfect Bluto Blutarskian zero. The lowest safety rating ever! Testers calculated that a driver would be unlikely to survive a head-on collision at 40mph, and in a side-on collision at 30mph the driver would suffer severe head and chest injuries due to a lack of side protection. This car, or as I should call it, a built-in casket waiting for a funeral, will be sold for 10,000 pounds in a few months. What kind of car company is stupid enough to sell a Chinese car model that got a safety rating of zero? Whoever built and approved the sale of this disaster should be sued for knowingly putting out a dangerous product. I hope they can find a good lawyer when all those lawsuits come in. And finally, We have a story that simply advertises how stupid anyone can be. Memphis Police recently raided a house and arrested several drug dealers after a sting operation called "Operation Blue Crush" on October 16. Police say the suspects were so bold that they advertised the fact that this was a crack house. When they were open for business, they'd flip an address sign over that simply read "Crack House". OK, so why didn't they simply find another way to advertise that they were open for business. Why didn't they simply say "Open"? People are stupid, and once again, they've proven it. This has been News of the Stupid. New Benny Bell CD Released (Nov 5, 2005)© 2005. Davesfunstuff.com and Sandiegoradionews.com. All Rights Reserved. May not be reproduced without expressed written consent.Submitted by Joel Samberg, grandson of Benny Bell, who in turn was often credited with singing "Shaving Cream" in 1946, but the real vocalist was Paul Wynn. A new CD has just been released featuring the work of offbeat novelty artist Benny Bell, composer of such songs as "Shaving Cream," "My Grandpa Had a Long One," "Everybody Loves My Fanny," "Without Pants," "Jerk of all Trades," "Six Feet Samba" and dozens of other rare cult classics. The new CD is entitled "Benny Bell: Another Close Shave," and is available exclusively through the online record store, http://cdbaby.com/cd/bennybell. It is reawakening interest in the curious and fascinating career of Benny Bell, whose work spanned the 20th Century from the mid 1920s to the early 1990s. He died in 1999 at the age of 93. When "Shaving Cream," originally recorded in 1946, was re-released in 1975, it became the most requested record in the history of WNBC radio in New York, drawing even more requests than the Beatles. "My grandfather was one of the funniest, wackiest, craziest, busiest, most resilient and resourceful comedians ever to come out of Vaudeville and the Borscht Belt circuits," says Joel Samberg, producer of the new CD. "Unfortunately, once he was called to the big jukebox in the sky, there were few mechanisms in place to enable to legacy to live on through reissues and continued publicity. Many people, therefore, are missing out on these timeless novelty gems. So I"m spilling the beans"or more appropriately, the borscht"by making this new CD of Benny Bell tunes available for his fans." Samberg says it will be the first of several compilations to be released. The next one, "Benny Bell: Borscht & Found," is currently in production. Recently, at a radio convention in Newark, NJ, broadcasting legend Joe Franklin, on whose TV show Bell appeared several times, was quoted as saying, "I loved Benny Bell. Somebody should do a tribute to him." Radio jock Bruce Morrow and novelty broadcaster Dr. Demento, with both of whom Bell was acquainted, echoed Franklin"s sentiments. "Another Close Shave," comprised of the original recordings that Bell made in his own studio (where he cut more than 200 albums and singles), is the tribute that they and many others have been asking for. Born in 1906 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Benny"s story in some ways parallels that of the young Al Jolson. His Russian immigrant father was a cantor who would have liked for his son to follow in his footsteps. But Benny was too deeply drawn to music and humor to consider that a viable path. In 1922, at the age of 16, he wrote a new version of an old public domain song, "Sweet Violets," which became a modest success. Throughout the next few years, he was able to interest artists such as Eddie Cantor and Harry Von Tilzer into listening and considering his songs. He appeared on radio several times and entered many contests, winning many fans along the way. By his early twenties, he began having songs accepted for recording by Herman Rose, Ted Collins and others"although many were never released. So Benny began recording his own songs instead. At 22 he married Molly Ehrlich, whom he had known since they were young teenagers. To support his wife and two sons, he took various jobs, such as musical transcriptionist, pushcart peddler and messenger. But he continued to perform at hotels and record his own songs. His son Jerry remembers him sneaking union musician friends into his basement studio to circumvent the financial requirements of professional recording. "He led an enormously interesting life," Samberg says. "He lived it the way he felt destined to"even if that meant a few years of poverty." Several of his songs, including Pincus the Peddler (a comic story-song about a luckless immigrant), Shaving Cream and Take a Ship For Yourself, were popular jukebox hits, particularly throughout New York City. Like his idol, Irving Berlin, Benny also wrote several elegant ballads, including If You Promise to Be Mine, and poignant war-time tunes, such as Ship Ahoy, Sailor Boy, recorded by Rose Marie, famous for her role as Sally on "The Dick Van Dyke Show." Bell later branched out into books (such as "What Men Know About Women," which was several blank pages) and inventions (like "hot pants," demonstrated on the Joe Franklin Show, which steamed up whenever a sexy girl passed by). In 1975, when Bell was 69-years-old, both Dr. Demento and Cousin Bruce Morrow on WNBC radio in New York played Shaving Cream on the air for the first time in a long time, and a new career was born. His appearances at such top venues as The Bottom Line and the Beacon Theatre in New York, and the Country Club of Reseda in California, were met with great success. With the "Benny Bell: Another Close Shave" CD, his career may be reborn once again. Bell fans, collectors, music historians, aficionados of novelty records and others owe it to themselves to buy the new CD (those who do will be put on a mailing list to receive the follow-up at a special price). We would also appreciate it if you would spread the word! Thank you. New Swinging Eurdites CD Released (Nov 5, 2005)© 2005. Davesfunstuff.com and Sandiegoradionews.com. All Rights Reserved. May not be reproduced without expressed written consent.Submitted by Greg Yourbassist Yes folks, it's finally out! For the first time on CD, from those idiots who brought you WALK WITH AN ERECTION, The Swinging Erudites, it's a collection of their greatest hits, THE SWINGIN'EST STORY EVER TOLD. You get songs from all their recordings: Mister Beautiful Presents All Hard, The Swinging Erudites (EP) , Walk With An Erection (12"single) , Unchained Parodies, Pretentious Crapola, Into Leather/Bring Back Richard Nixon (45). You get:
Walk With An Erection
But that's not all! You also get lots of Previously Unreleased gems!!: * From the 1st tape: Lounge versions of I WANNA BE SEDATED and ANARCHY IN THE UK * Live on WMBR's Metrowave: BORN IN THE 51ST STATE, GOD DIDN'T MAKE LITTLE GREEN APPLES, the Pat Benetar remake HIT ME I'M A DUMB TWAT, and OUR LIPS ARE SEALED (take a guess what they did to that one!). * The Never-Released 4-track Christmas song: SANTA ONLY COMES ONCE A YEAR. So buy it now! What else you gonna waste your money on? The Swingin'est Story Ever Told - My Girlfriend's Records MYGF-002 Contact: TheSwingingEs@aol.com |