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Places to go, important people to meet
This summer, I spent a bunch of time hanging out with my friend Glick, much as we did in the early ’70s. Most of our time was spent chatting online, but I did crash at his place a couple of times, and...
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Go ahead, blast that Boston
[Here’s the second of today’s two blog posts, again for obvious reasons.] Any day is a good day to drive around, windows down and sunroof open, blasting Boston from the speakers. Today, especially....
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Fly home, butterfly
[You’re getting two blog posts today for obvious reasons. Here’s the first.] Heard the news about Dolly Parton while I was at the Y this afternoon. When you overhear “Dolly Parton” in random...
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Four records for $17.76!
Found this in the old papers a while back. It’s an ad from Pipe Dreams, a record store in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It was published on June 26, 1976, as the American Bicentennial drew near 50 years ago....
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Too Many Candles, the birthday band
Today, June 21, is my birthday. I share this day with enough musicians to make up a pretty good band. So may I introduce to you the act you’ve known for all these years … Front man: Ray Davies of the...
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A fiver for your thoughts
Hello again from the Nielsen family of Green Bay, Wisconsin. It’s been three years since we last were asked to keep Nielsen radio ratings diaries. As before, Janet got one and I got one. Our week...
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How I spent my Record Store Day
Before they fade into fond memory, some scenes from the first Record Store Day of 2026. I visited both of our indie record stores in Green Bay. As usual, I waited until mid-afternoon, until the crowds...
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Let me take you down …
Our spring record show — the Green Bay Record Convention — is coming up in a couple of weeks. I’m starting to wonder who’ll be selling records at it. Jeff in the motorized wheelchair will be there....
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Rick McNeal, signing off
Rick McNeal must have liked this vaguely raffish portrait of himself because he used it as his social media avatar. That’s good enough for me. We never met, even though both of us worked in the Green...
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Hey! Nineteen!
AM, Then FM is 19 years old tonight. Thanks to everyone who’s taken the time to read and enjoy and touch base since that first night, Feb. 25, 2007. A bunch of you have been friends for almost that...
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My most memorable concert is …
Last month, the local paper issued this challenge: “You tell us: What’s the most memorable concert you’ve ever been to in Green Bay?” Challenge accepted. We’re invited to nominate one memorable...
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Gone in Threes, 2025
(If you seek a playlist as you read this, my friend Larry Grogan has put together two tribute shows to musicians we lost in 2025. Larry’s one-hour soul and R&B tribute was on his Funky 16 Corners...
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Let’s talk about Sleepy
Time again for WXPN out of Philadelphia to put together a playlist of 885 songs — XPN is 88.5 FM — for an on-air countdown at year’s end. This year’s theme is the greatest cover songs of all time....
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75 songs for the Class of ’75
A bunch of us who graduated from D.C. Everest High School in Schofield, Wisconsin, in 1975 gathered earlier this month for our 50-year class reunion. We had a blast. We’d booked a DJ for music and...
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MadCity memories and then some
My friend Dave Benton has decided that after “selling rare and not-so-rare vinyl records for approx 43 years,” it’s time for other things. Dave and I go way back, almost all of those approximately 43...
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Bet you weren’t ready for that
It’s been a hot summer in Wisconsin, so you’ll usually find me enjoying the cool of our basement rec room at the end of the evening. There’s not much to do down there but read. The venerable old Sony...
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Sheer excitement
Everyone has songs or records that take them straight back to a particular place or time. For me, Steely Dan at a party before a Marshall Tucker Band concert, 1977. Van Halen in a dive bar, 1978. This...
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Farewell to Hymie’s
Well, dang. This was Hymie’s. Hymie’s Vintage Records, long one of my favorite record-digging spots in Minneapolis, is going out of business. Today is the last day. I’ve been digging at Hymie’s — and...
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Comp time
We lost two music giants — Sly Stone and Brian Wilson — within two days of each other earlier this month. You’ve likely read and heard plenty of excellent tributes to them. This probably is not one. I...
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Seger Citizens Day
The news that MTV anchor Kurt Loder turned 80 last week Monday was a bit startling. The next day, Tuesday, the news that Bob Seger was turning 80 was a bit startling. Went out to see the new Cheech...
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