Sunday Morning Odds & Sods

77° - sunny & humid at 11am

Happy Father's Day

Listening this morning to Milwaukee's WKLH online. Both the syndicated "Flashback" show and Steve Palec's Rock & Roll Roots. Steve devoting his show this morning to the legendary Les Paul (the "father" of the electric guitar).

Steve: how do you gather/organize all those great soundbites??? Great radio to accompany good coffee on the back deck.

Chicago. Did the quick road trip yesterday. After meeting up with Colorado friends at the Museum of Science and Industry, it was dinner together at Uno. During our hour table wait, all seven of us walked down State Street to Wacker; then back on Michigan Avenue; some of that during a light Chicago rain. Good times.

Last night's Uno pizza meal seemed to be missing something; not quite the taste experience I remember - but its been 30 years; just might be me. When you go back is it ever the same?

Driving back to Michigan last night - listened to Chicago radio vet Bobby Skafish doing a weekend shift on WDRV. Skafish a very nice addition to the Drive airstaff!

Number one 12-plus. I spent time on Friday listening to Seattle's KZOK - a classic rock station that earned the overall top spot in its market in the winter book and again in the first phase of spring.

KZOK just does a lot of things right - from its on-air personalities to its imaging to its music. You feel the city (plus get the occassional music surprise on the air). Give KZOK a listen when you can.

Have a great Sunday.

The Weekend Classic Rock FM

80° - sunny at 10:30am

Good Morning.

Personal: Tomorrow we're making a day trip to the Windy City to meet up with some neighbors from our Colorado days.

They've invited our oldest son to spend a week with them and their son as they travel the midwest. Plan to catch a museum and Chicago deep-dish pizza.

Haven't been to Pizzeria Uno (or Duo) since my Chicago CBS Radio days in the 70s. Next weekend: a drive to Milwaukee to pick my son up.

Records & radio: There might be a new line item on your budget - if the record industry gets their way. Imagine performance rights fees for radio for airplay (and promoting music sales).

I thought for the longest time they wanted to pay radio to play songs. Now they want it the other way around. I'm so confused. They want to bite the hand that feeds them. Just last week Sony/BMG attempted to stop radio - here - from playing an album track that wasn't even on their label! Its got to be tough for record company promo man with all this going on.

Mark Ramsey has his take on performance fees here. And Jerry Del Colliano offers up some radical thinking here.

Companies protect their PD talent. In his daily Radio-Info.Com newsletter this morning, Tom Taylor speculates that some recent promotions of PDs around the country were done to keep them in place. Read Tom's newsletter and subscribe for free here.

More Sunday Morning. Have a great weekend.