Time to talk about another Christmas song, one a day until December 25. “Christmas Must Be Tonight” by The Band is so much better than you’d expect from a song stuck at the end of side one on their 1977 odds-and-ends album, “Islands.” This was their last album for Capitol Records, scraped-together leftovers so the soundtrack for “The Last Waltz” could come out on Warner Brothers.
I got to meet magician Mac King in the late 1990’s when I was the wacky morning reporter at WDRB-TV in Louisville, KY. Most days, I’d broadcast live from somewhere around town, but occasionally, we’d tape something for later. Mac grew up in Louisville and had come back to see family – and pay for the trip with a few shows at The Comedy Caravan. Mac borrowed a blindfold from former WDRB (and Weather Channel) meteorologist Paul Emmick and this happened.
When we got back to the station van, the newsroom radioed about a call from the police. That McDonald’s at the end of the video had been robbed a few weeks earlier and the manager called the cops about Mac and me – and the cops called the station. Of course, McDonald’s knew it was WDRB because we had branding all over the microphone and camera. It all got sorted pretty quickly – and I kept my job.
Mac is a great performer because he’s both genuinely funny and a skilled magician. When the world opens back up again, you should go see his show at Harrah’s Las Vegas. He performs at 1 and 3 pm, which is a great time to see a show in Las Vegas. You’re finally awake, but it’s too hot outside, so go see Mac. Here he is with his masterful take on a classic.
August 10, 2021 update to the original September 2020 post – Quibi went belly-up and “Mapleworth Murders” has been MIA on streaming since October 2020. Just this week, The Roku Channel announced “Mapleworth Murders” would join the second wave of Quibi orphans to reappear on the service. I’m curious to see if Roku cuts the short episodes into more conventional sitcom-sized chunks.
I’ve lived and worked in Orlando since late 2000, so it’s always satisfying to see what performers pass through Central Florida on the way to national success. Right now, Paula Pell has a new show on Quibi and just debuted season three of “A.P. Bio” on Peacock. Before that, Paula was a “Saturday Night Live” writer from 1995 to 2013 – including two seasons as co-head writer. All that started with theme park work and commercials in Orlando.
Paula moved to Orlando as a teenager, graduating from Longwood’s Lyman High. After Seminole Community College and the University of Tennessee Knoxville, Paula came back to Orlando for acting work and was active in SAK, the same improv group that helped launch Wayne Brady, Paul Vogt (“Hairspray” on Broadway), and Aaron Shure (writer on “The Office” and “Everybody Loves Raymond”).
Paula created The Bingo Lady for both the Florida and Hoosier lottery TV commercials. Now, you’d think I could find at least one video on YouTube, but this promo pic is all I could scrounge.
I listen to different music depending on whether I’m brainstorming or really trying to lock in on the fine details. For dreaming up stuff, I lean toward bright and up-tempo – power pop ear candy. Of course, I can just dig out my Jellyfish (in the pic) or Rockpile or Material Issue, but I often turn to the streaming station Great Big Radio.
Great Big Radio is free, created and programmed by Howard Hoffman, currently the Creative Services/Production Director of 710 WOR radio in New York. You’ll also hear Howard’s voice on commercials and radio liners around the country.
Great Big Radio promotes its format as “The Hits. And the Songs that Should’ve Been.” As Howard puts it on the GBR blog – “ …perfectly pop, well produced, performed with passion and still couldn’t find their way back to the airwaves until we came along.” As I’ve been writing this, I’ve heard Janet Jackson, The Byrds, Rick Astley, Stevie Wonder, and early Chicago. The Beatles play at half-past every hour. Howard also voices the sarcastic liners between the music.
When I need to concentrate on what I’m writing, lyrics are bad. I start paying attention to the song instead of my own thinking. I could switch to instrumentals, but I like the human voice. So, I listen to music in a language I don’t speak. Amadou & Miriam are a married couple from Mali who sing in French and several African languages.