Blame It On Steinski

Elderly Man River by Stan Freberg (and Daws Butler)

Who on earth is Stan Freberg ?

Begin with voiceover talent for Warner’s and Disney; add comedian, writer, songwriter, radio star, TV pioneer and character actor, and, arguably, the first person to use actual humor – you know, genuinely funny stuff – in many wildly successful and memorable advertising campaigns ( twenty-one Clio awards, friends ).

I won’t even begin to reprise Freberg’s…

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Updated playlists at WFMU.org

I don’t know how many people care about this, but I’ve finally gotten my fat butt in gear and updated the archive playlists for my show at WFMU.

If you’ve been wondering what song I was mumbling about when you streamed the show, the answers are now…

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Always For Pleasure and then some

I’m working on my radio show for WFMU; this program’s about the Mardis Gras Indians of New Orleans.

To do a feeble job at summing up a wonderful, complex story in a few words: Some of the most compelling dance music in the world (in my opinion), performed by African-Americans dressed in wild, home-made costumes (see photo).

In producing the show, I find myself revisiting for the millionth…

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June 26th: A moment of silence for Internet radio

It’s only appropriate; Internet radio is about to die.

The US Government: Killing non-corporate media like a noxious…

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I’m on vacation for a week Pt. 4: Reynaldo Rey

There’s a vast world of underground, somewhat “blue” comedy LP’s, and a whole lot of them (50’s/60’s vintage) came out on Laff Records, from Los Angeles.

Reynaldo Rey, seen overground on BET, the old Match Game, and in several movie and TV roles, made his name as a comedian in the ghetto comedy clubs in LA.

This is the only thing I’ve heard of his from that era; it’s from a Laff…

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I’m on vacation for a week Pt. 3: Fred Allen (and Tallulah Bankhead)

Perhaps you’ve heard the name Fred Allen?

One of the most popular and funny radio personalities of the 40’s and early 50’s, Allen detested almost everything about the medium that made him so famous; sponsors, networks, advertising agencies, talent agents, and the near universally vapid programming. He wrote a book – Treadmill To Oblivion – about his rough dealings, and his collected letters…

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I’m on vacation for a week Pt. 2: Jerry Clower

Now, consistency has never been a strong point of mine, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that while I certainly have great affecion for mad comedians like Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor, one of my absolute favorites is an unabashed, straight-up redneck comedian and lay preacher from Deepest Missisippi named Jerry Clower .

A favorite of the audience at the Grand Old Opry for many years, Clower…

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I’m on vacation for a week Pt. 1: Selma Diamond

Selma Diamond is a woman you may recall from various character acting parts in the movies and on TV; gravel voiced, not exactly gorgeous, and extremely funny. If you saw the excellent film All Of Me, with Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin, Ms. Diamond was Steve Martin’s secretary. If I’m not mistaken, she was a regular on Night Court as well. She died in 1985.

Before her acting career, Diamond was…

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William Shatner: the high-speed remix

William Shatner was doing personal PR on Conan one night, toting dashboard-cam footage of himself driving a racecar. Some extremely observant and talented person watched the show. Hats off to excellent…

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Two hundred albums by a soul artist nobody’s ever heard – until now

Heard of Mingering Mike?

“One cold December morning, Dori Hadar—DJ by night, criminal investigator by day—was digging through crates of records at a flea market in Washington, D.C. There he stumbled into the elaborate world of Mingering Mike—a soul superstar of the 1960s and ’70s who released an astonishing 50 albums and at least as many singles in just 10 years. But…

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