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The three always under the tree
Christmas Day is here! It’s been a nice morning, and I hope it’s been one for you, too. These three songs always make my Christmas. An 11-year-old Michael Jackson will forever convey the excitement of...
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Gone in threes: 2017
They go in threes. They always go in threes. In 2017, it hit home. My dad, at 91. My friend Dave, one of my mentors in the news biz, at 80. Plus the one that came out of nowhere. Adventurers: Bruce...
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She slipped away
We were more a small family than co-workers. We were young, all in our 20s, some of us barely in our 20s. There were eight, maybe 12 of us in all. We’d work like mad at the Grand Avenue Pizza Hut on...
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Turn it up to 11
This last week of February marks 11 years since the debut of this humble blog. As I write this, I’m listening to “Testify!” the WFMU radio show hosted by my friend Larry Grogan, whom I know well but...
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Getting Cozy at the club
Last month, I finished a three-year history project for which I live-tweeted, sort of, the Green Bay Packers’ back-to-back-to-back championship seasons of 1965, 1966 and 1967, day by day, exactly 50...
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That night in Appleton
This is a photo from a tremendous set by The Right Now from their show in Appleton, Wisconsin, last month. Somehow, the old country club overlooking the Fox River was still standing after The Right...
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Beyond the bathroom reading
Ace Frehley played at our local Memorial Day weekend festival on Friday night. I didn’t go. Didn’t want to stand for a few hours on a staggeringly hot evening. Besides, I’ve seen him twice already....
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The summer of the Stones
Heard the other day that it’s been 40 years this month since the Rolling Stones’ “Some Girls” LP charted in America. That record always takes me right back to that summer. I wanted to write about that,...
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Bob Seger’s Cameo appearance
When it was announced that Bob Seger would be playing our local arena in 2013, my friend Larry in New Jersey suggested I “buy a front row seat and spend the whole concert screaming ‘EAST SIDE...
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A mea culpa for Aretha
2016 was a rough year. Before February was over, David Bowie had died, as had Paul Kantner, Maurice White, Otis Clay and Glenn Frey, among others. So I put together a series of posts intended to show...
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A Flock has landed again
It was there on Facebook for a flash, then gone as quickly in the scroll of the moment. When I thought to circle back and look for it, I couldn’t remember which of my follows had mentioned it, and the...
View ArticleThat you, Siouxsie?
First time I heard Paul McCartney’s “Come On To Me,” maybe last week, it sure sounded familiar. Just couldn’t place it. Heard it again this afternoon and finally put my finger on it. Sounded like a...
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After Ringo, what’s next?
So anyway, we saw Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band in Milwaukee last month. Ringo is surprisingly elfin and nimble for a gent of 78. That’s him in the striped pants in front of the drum kit with the...
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All records $2, except the $1 ones
When a Gordon Lightfoot record you thought no one would ever want is the first record you sell, that’s a sign that it’s going to be a special day. That was Saturday at the Green Bay Record Convention....
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Have a Harry Halloween, everyone
Here's a piece of Halloween trivia: this photo of Dad dressed as Dracula for the Son of Schmilsson record was taken by Michael Putland at George Harrison's Friar Park home pic.twitter.com/EdbKWMHzVh —...
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Downstairs at Prange’s
Imagine seeing a photo of something you thought existed only in memory. As you try to process it, the whole thing takes your breath away. Then you get catch your breath and settle down to scrutinizing...
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A week in the life
The big news around here this week was that Paul McCartney will be playing a show at Lambeau Field on June 8. That’s a little over 2 miles from our house. Macca himself, practically in our...
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Our Christmas Eve traditions
The first one is for our friend Rob in Pennsylvania. Eleven years ago now, Rob declared Irma Thomas’ rendition of “O Holy Night to be “goosebump-inducing stuff.” It still is. “O Holy Night,” Irma...
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A revelation, a toast and a wish
Christmas begins like this. An 11-year-old Michael Jackson will forever convey to me the excitement of Christmas morning. That Christmas songs could sound like this was a revelation to this 13-year-old...
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Gone in threes: 2018
They go in threes. They always go in threes. All the President’s Men (and women): William Goldman (screenplay), James Karen (Hugh Sloan’s lawyer), Allyn Ann McLerie (Carolyn Abbott) The art of the...
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