David Brinkley’s 1995 Memoir (Knopf Books) is on one hand a fascinating story of his life. Born in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1920, he grew up in the same era as my father. Contrasting Brinkley’s tales of growing up in the post-WWI south with my dad’s stories of his early years in Wakefield, Michigan, I […]
My first introduction to Keith Moon and The Who came from the 45 rpm I had added to my drum practice records. I would put on a stack of 45s (and later, albums) and retreat to the basement. After playing through as many songs as would fit on the spindle, my mom would flip […]
It was on one of those TV shows that tried to be ‘really hip’ back in the 1970s, yet some how still seemed like a typical TV musical variety show, just aimed at a younger audience. This show would do little vignettes of comedy between popular music acts of the day. The guest host was […]
In the movie Kelly’s Heroes (1970 – MGM Pictures), Kelly (Clint Eastwood) leads a rag-tag assemblage of soldiers deep behind German lines with a singular goal in mind. While his commanding officers mistake Kelly’s assault as an unbridaled act of bravery, his real aim is to raid a bank vault containing gold bars hidden […]
It is late 1967. Bob Dylan is holed up in Woodstock, NY recovering from a serious motorcycle accident that had prematurely ended the tour he had been on using Levon and The Hawks as his backing band. Actually, the second half of the tour had been just with The Hawks as Levon Helm had gotten […]
Mark Lavon Helm (1940 – 2012) was an Arkansas country boy raised in the cotton picking culture that surrounded his boyhood home of Turkey Scratch. As soon as school let out for the summer, the back breaking work of cotton farming consumed his summers. When I learned that Helm started his farming career as a […]
During my job interview with Elementary-Jr. High Principal Jim Ollila, we took a quick tour of the old Ontonagon High School building. At that time, I didn’t know the history of the district. I wasn’t aware that it had only been eight years since the opening of the new high school building on Parker Avenue. […]
Dan Aykroyd’s movies averaged $50 million at the box office in 1983. Unfortunately, one of his films, Doctor Detroit, was a stinker that only accounted for $8 million, thus lowering the overall average just a bit. Doctor Detroit cost $10 million to make and was Aykroyd’s second flop in a row. The pundits were already […]
I don’t suppose there is a big need to explain the reasons . . . WOAS-FM 88.5 is located in the library of the Ontonagon Area Schools. With the State of Michigan mandating all k-12 schools be closed until at least April 6, 2020, we will be OFF THE AIR until such time as school […]
Greetings all – With February behind us, we are working diligently to get the posters and buttons judged so we can wrap up this year’s Strive 4 a Safer Drive – Don’t be Distracted 5 campaign. Winners will be announced in this space in the next two weeks. Thank you to MSP Trooper Jerry Mazurek […]