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C.R.M. Blogs
Archive of blogs from 2010 with thoughts on Chicago area media & much more written by Larz.

Blog: The Rock & Roll Hall of Shame

In the spring of 1983, a non-profit organization called The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation was formed by the Publisher of Rolling Stone Magazine Jann Wenner, a handful of record company executives and some attorney friends of Wenner's. They held their first ever Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 1986, even though the Hall of Fame was only virtual at that time and had no home. After getting a sweetheart deal from the city of Cleveland, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum finally opened in 1995.

Read more: Blog: The Rock & Roll Hall of Shame

Blog: Attention Whore Kelly Asks Chicago Police To Arrest Jay Levine

William J. Kelly, the radio & TV personality who has to pay to be on the air and the Republican politician who has lost every single political race he has run, is still at it. The unabashed attention and media whore and subject of yesterday's blog is at it once again.

Read more: Blog: Attention Whore Kelly Asks Chicago Police To Arrest Jay Levine

Blog: William J. Kelly - Political Attention Whore

I have been asked a couple of times why Chicagoland Radio & Media didn't mention the story from a couple of days ago where "reporter" William J. Kelly angered true reporters WLS-TV's Charles Thomas and WBBM-TV's Jay Levine, while they were doing a quick street interview with Rahm Emanuel. The fact is, this is a non-story. This is just William Kelly jumping up and down like a spoiled brat, looking for any kind of attention he can get. I chose to not give him that.

Read more: Blog: William J. Kelly - Political Attention Whore

Blog: Time Out Chicago's Editor Attacks ChicagoNow

It has been an interesting 24 hours for the Tribune-owned blogsite ChicagoNow and the the website/blogsite of Time Out Chicago Magazine.

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The Ides Of March To Be Honored With Street Name

Something big is happening in Berwyn tomorrow afternoon, bring out one of Chicago's greatest bands and one of Chicago's greatest DJs. Here is a hint:

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Blog: The Argument For And Against Fake Callers On WGN-AM

On August 12th, this website broke the news that WGN's Program Director, Kevin Metheny had emailed a memo out to WGN & Tribune staffers asking them to phone into Mike McConnell's then-new radio show, pretending to be somebody else and engaging him in conversation.

Vocalo.org's Robert Feder broke the story open even wider with his column of September 3rd. In that column, he directly quoted most of the memo (something I could not do, due to an agreement I had) and also uncovered that the fake calls have continued well past McConnell's first week on the air.

The memo, which Kevin Metheny had sent out with the subject line "I could use a little help ... there's no money in it, but I'll appreciate it!", has stirred up a lot of conversation, both pro & con. Perhaps even more conversation that a faked phone call would create on McConnell's radio show.

Read more: Blog: The Argument For And Against Fake Callers On WGN-AM

A New Way To Enjoy "Lake Shore Drive"

Throughout the 70's, there was one song that was a huge hit on Chicago radio: "Lake Shore Drive" by the Chicago-based trio, Aliotta-Haynes-Jeremiah. The song was an ode to Chicago's famous lakeside stretch of road with the same name. An homage to driving along the Windy City's beautiful lakefront on a Friday night. The catchy song with the hooky lyrics and piano solos that sweep upon you like Lake Michigan waves on a breezy evening captured the ears and hearts of Chicago radio listeners for years.

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Is The Day Coming When Sam Zell & Randy Michaels Leave Tribune Co.???

When Sam Zell and his top executives, headed up by Randy Michaels, took Tribune Company into bankruptcy, they thought it would be a relatively simple way to avoid paying a lot of debt and make the company profitable once again -- even though much of that debt came from Sam Zell's purchase of the company and the actions of his chosen executives. It turns out, the road into bankruptcy was much easier than finding a road out of it.

Read more: Is The Day Coming When Sam Zell & Randy Michaels Leave Tribune Co.???

Randy Michaels & Bill Cunningham -- The Tribune Sleaze Continues

The "old boy" network is alive and well within Tribune Tower lately. With Tribune CEO Randy Michaels overseeing all key hires, he makes sure that the overwhelming majority of hires have one trait: they had to have worked with him at Jacor Radio and/or Clear Channel Communications, the last two companies he ran. Most of the the Tribune's big hires in the last two years, worked with Michaels at both companies. Are the people being hired qualified for the positions they are being installed as? Do they have any experience at all in those positions? In the vast majority of cases, the answer is a resounding NO. What matters is that Michaels is taking care of his old pals, who are surprisingly loyal to him. They also tend to be well cared for financially with hefty salaries and bonuses, despite the fact the Tribune is mired in a bankruptcy battle.

Read more: Randy Michaels & Bill Cunningham -- The Tribune Sleaze Continues

Through The Pain - Major Concert Announcement

Rather than continuing to update this weekend's blog about Matthew Leone, the Chicago musician and Madina Lake bassist, who is in dire need of financial aid after suffering catastrophic injuries to his head while attempting to be a hero, this blog will give updates to a few items that have have occurred in the last few days, including a major announcement.

Read more: Through The Pain - Major Concert Announcement

Through The Pain - Coming To The Aid Of A Chicago Hero

Matthew Leone is the bass player for the Chicago-based rock band Madina Lake. On the early morning of Tuesday, June 29th, shortly after Midnight, Matthew Leone left his brother's apartment in Chicago to go meet a friend who was at a bar less than two blocks away. As he was walking to that bar, he heard a woman crying for help and witnessed a man choking and hurting this woman. As it turns out this woman was the wife of the man assaulting her. The husband was apparently upset at his wife for coming home late that night and decided to beat her for it. Matthew Leone quickly ran to help the woman, even though the man attacking her was larger than him. He was able to physically get them separated and yelled at the man to relax. Seeing the woman was hurt, he turned away to reach into his pocket to call 911 for further help for her. With his back turned, the man then brutally attacked Leone, punching, kicking and slamming him his head repeatedly. Leone was left near dead, lying unconscious in the street. The man then grabbed his wife and fled the scene.

Read more: Through The Pain - Coming To The Aid Of A Chicago Hero

Fundraiser For WBBM/Shadow-Metro's Joe Collins

If you have ever listened to traffic reports in the afternoons of WBBM-AM, you know his voice. Joe Collins has been doing traffic on WBBM for over ten years. Officially, Joe Collins works for Shadow/Metro Traffic, where he has worked on and off (mostly on) since Dec. 31, 1987. Before that, Joe's voice was heard on numerous suburban stations since 1980.

For a very long time, Joe Collins has helped so many hundreds of thousands of Chicagoans navigate Chicago's roadways each day. Now Joe Collins needs our help...

Read more: Fundraiser For WBBM/Shadow-Metro's Joe Collins

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CRM Website Information

The Chicagoland Radio & Media website (abbreviated as CRM) is a celebration of all things relating to Chicago-area media matters. CRM is a news source, a location for fans to voice their opinions, and an online museum of Chicago media's past and present, with a hopeful eye to its future. For the visitors, readers, and fans of the website, CRM is a both a resource and a release, both educational and an escape, and both factual and fun.

If it has a connection to Chicago area radio, television, newspaper, magazines, and/or other forms of media -- information on it can be found here at ChicagolandRadioAndMedia.com!