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Read "Gone and Also ... A Work in Progress" | Claude Hall
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Commentary August 30, 2010 Poor Roger Scutt. He didn’t have to die that way. Alone. His body found in a trash dumpster in some alley of Nashville. One evening when he was better known as Captain Midnight on Top 40 radio, he drove me around Nashville and we talked of radio and of music. He knew everything there was to know about Hank Williams. The father, not the son. And, of course, about Audrey. I knew some of the stories; Roger knew them all! Pure, unadulterated gossip of a restless, torrid town. I loved it! The stuff of a novel! Jay Blackburn, he of The Loop in Chicago fame, wanted me to write a radio novel. I had – or knew – most of the information. Would you believe this? I have all four volumes of the congressional payola hearings. They were purloined from some FCC commissioner’s office for me. He probably never missed them. Long ago, all of the copies of these hearings for both radio and television disappeared from the Library of Congress. Thus, all conversation about payola in “I Love Radio” is absolutely accurate. And unavailable elsewhere, I would think. Furthermore, I asked around 50 radio people – men and women who’d been there, done that so to speak – to help. Yes, there’s a fictional tale about an out-of-work disc jockey named Buddy Coffee that runs through the book. But it’s as real regarding radio as an old shoe. Someone said he could even smell the radio station where he’d worked once. Yet, you don’t just sit down and write a novel. I least, I don’t. In my western novel “Huecos,” I’d been in the Huecos, breathed the air there, tromped in the dust of the Huecos. A novel involves so very many things. A few years ago, I received an email from a young woman who was quite upset because her father – a former disc jockey and program director – wouldn’t acknowledge that he was, indeed, her father. I tried, feebly of course, to console her. But what do you say? I knew the guy. Knew him well. He was without question a loose cannon. No cannon of any kind anymore; he has his own problems. And then I knew the miseries suffered by Jim Coleman. His wife took his little boy and disappeared. Years later, he received a phone, a single phone call, on Christmas. He never saw the boy again nor knew how he was, what he looked like, where he was, how he was doing in school. He hired a parade of detectives. Nothing! And I knew the story of Roger Scutt. So many stories like that. I remember receiving a phone call from the parents of Dusty Rhodes after he was killed in a motorcycle crash, leaving a wife and a son behind. I think I know the soul of the disc jockey – and the program director – and the radio station manager very well. Not easy to write a novel…months of research, a year of writing…but then a note from David Alpert commented: “Claude – I downloaded your novel this weekend (after reading about it on Don Barrett’s website) and couldn’t stop reading.” That makes it really worthwhile. I’ve left a bit of history – good history – behind me. George Wilson phoned the other day and in the conversation, he asked how many copies I’d sold. Lying is abhorrent to me. I told him 32 copies. That’s not very many, you know. But the book has only been available a dab more than three weeks at this time. Yet, I had thought I would have sold maybe 80 copies at the minimum by now. I told George, “Well, if it’s not meant to be, George, it’s just not going to happen. There’s a certain fate involved. I’m still glad I wrote the novel. My last hoorah, so to speak.” George asked if there was anyone who hadn’t bought a copy that I thought would buy one. How do you answer that one? My hope, of course, is that a great many people eventually get to read it. I lived that period of Top 40 radio. So did some wonderful disc jockeys, program directors, and general managers. I would hope their memory lives on. Earlier in the day, I’d received this email from George (he says it was typed by his wife Jackie): “Jackie found this poem by Charles Osgood, and thought of you and ‘I Love Radio’. I will post it on Facebook to try to sell one or two books...Jackie and I have read THE book and love it, simply great.” "No television set that's made, no screen that you can find Can compare with that of radio: the theatre of the mind Where the pictures are so vivid, so spectacular and real That there isn't any contest, or at least that's how I feel." So far, the people who’ve bought copies include Lee Abrams, Johnny Holliday, Dennis Foster, Jonathan Fricke, Lee Baby Simms, Sam Hale, Burt Sherwood, Paul Cassidy, Mel Phillips, Jim Hilliard, others…some really good people. Sam also bought copies to present to his four children. Red Jones, a member of Georgia Radio’s Hall of Fame: “The book is great. For some (maybe those under 40 years of age) it might not reflect their recollection of radio but after 62 years in this business I marvel at your writing. Either you have a hell of a great memory or you took a lot of notes. I'll be 79 this week and my memory of some things is in slow gear. But to keep working helps. I use a lot of note pads! The one thing I keep noticing is the loss of good people, many at an early age by today's standards. I see the many folks I worked with who are no longer with us. And, involved with traditional country, we're losing the good ones every year. I introduce too many as ‘the late’…. Again, a great book. Brought back a lot of memories. Appreciate your using my biz...while I'm still here.” From Ernie Hopseker: “I will put something up on Ocean Beach Radio's Facebook page about ‘I Love Radio’, and try to get it on the main web page also. It really is very good stuff, and I hope you sell a million copies or so. I loved the pictures of Hal Smith and Rick Sklar, both great guys.” Woody Goulart, a writer of note and quite hip to radio, had this to say: “Way back in 1972, the Elton John and Bernie Taupin song Crockodile Rock asked, ‘Do you remember when rock was young?’ When that wonderful song first hit the Billboard magazine charts, technically, rock and roll was still young. If you were in or near the rock and roll radio business in those days, you would not think of living your life without reading Billboard and the famous columnist Claude Hall. “Fast forward to today. Claude Hall has just published ‘I Love Radio’, a lengthy (250+ page) fictional trip into the wayback machine. Claude Hall’s work is available immediately for downloading in eBook format for $9.95 that you easily can read on a computer screen, or Kindle, iPad, or even print out if you are old-school and still like to read from the printed page. “There are people ‘in the know’, as the saying goes. When it comes to the rock and roll radio business, Claude Hall is one of these people. I met him long, long ago when I was conducting primary research into one of the most famous rock and roll radio business accomplishment, Boss Radio at 93/KHJ in Los Angeles. He helped me focus my efforts as a very young man in awe of the rock and roll radio business. I am indebted to Claude Hall for his guidance in my research efforts in those days that eventually led to my rock and roll radio history website, Boss Radio Forever that has now been online continuously for 14 years now. Best wishes to Claude Hall for success with ‘I Love Radio’!” So, for the past three weeks, I’ve been sending out individual emails promoting “I Love Radio” and I’m going to send out another promotional email in a few days. If that doesn’t wamp up some sales, well at least I will have tried. RANDLE MATTERS Chris Kennedy: “We've emailed on and off since 2004 regarding Bill Randle. Since 2004, I've been researching the Pied Piper film, which in 2006, led me to discover Cleveland deejay Tom Edwards's lost, color photograph collection. Over 1,700 Ektachrome slides featuring practically everyone who passed through WERE, 1955-60. I've written a book about and featuring the collection, to be published by Kent State University Press in March 2011. Recently I've decided to return to the ‘roots’, so to speak, of my research and write a biography on Bill. You, perhaps better than anyone, know what a ridiculous idea this is. How can it be done? He was such an enigma, his life could fill volumes. That's why I wanted to reach out to you for your support. Fortunately, I have full cooperation from Patty Randle and family to take on this project. My goal is to pay tribute to his accomplishments and contributions regarding 20th Century music and culture, as well as attempt to unravel his secrets, who he was and what made him tick. Can we begin a dialogue? I hope to hear from you.” I steered Chris toward Don Graham, who I believe introduced me to Bill in 1964. I told Chris that he’d better hurry. I’m 78 on Sept. 4 and have to assume that Don Graham isn’t any spring chicken. I didn’t have Don’s email so I referred Christ to Don Whittemore. Just FYI, I’d also emailed Jim LaBarbara and got back word that he’s no longer on the air, but finishing up a book with a whole chapter on Bill Randle, plus many of the recording artists that Jim interviewed on tape over the years. And, yes, he has a real live publisher. I will definitely print more information as I receive it. This should be a very good book. TRAIN MATTERS Now and then, singer/songwriter Tom Russell asks a few friends to join him and they take a train ride and sell tickets. Check it out at info@tomrussell.com. Ernie Hopseker and wife Karen are sometimes seen on this train ride. This time, Jan. 14-18, 2011, Jimmy Webb and Jesse Winchester join Tom and their special guest is Thad Beckman. Train trip is from Los Angeles to Oakland and return. Some pretty ocean views on that ride! And, I assure, you, there will be some great music. Ticket sales are limited to 50 people. Riders also get best available seating at concerts in Los Angeles and Berkeley. For data: trains@sover.net or 866-484-3669 (toll free in US and Canada) or www.rootsontherails.com. Say hello for me to Tom and Ernie.
e-mail claude@claudehallonline.com |
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