Yearly Archives: 2011
Hearne: Read Her Lips; No More Ida McBeth @ Any Other KC Clubs but Jardine’s
Madonna, Shakira – entertainment giants like Live Nation have been signing artists to exclusive deals for years…
Now Jardine’s is getting in the game. The Plaza jazz club has inked an exclusive deal with the Queen of Kansas City Jazz, Ida McBeth. Meaning, no more club gigs at the Blue Room, Point or Phoenix downtown, if you wanna catch the Queen, you’ll have to go to Jardine’s.
"I signed an exclusive contract with her," says Jardine’s owner Beena Brandsgard. "Ida will only play at Jardine’s. No more Blue Room dates after her last gig there in September. And no other local clubs."
There’s more…
Hearne: The Radio ratings That Actually Matter Get ‘Em While They’re Hot!
There’s something to be said for the 6-plus, seven day, 6 a.m to midnight radio ratings…
Starting with, anybody can get me. But the numbers that truly matter to the station and advertisers – the numbers that determine the air talent’s fates – are the demographic breakdowns that are quite a bit harder to come by.
Here are a few of them for June, released this afternoon…
The Top 20 Radio Stations in Adults Ages 25 to 54, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday:
1) KQRC, The Rock with a 9.3 audience share
Jack Goes Confidential: ‘HARRY POTTER 8’ Delivers Magical Finale w/ 3-D to Match
And so the most successful cinematic franchise in the history of movies comes to an ever so magical conclusion!
Eight Potter movies in 10 years producing in excess of $6 billion in worldwide ticket sales and actually outperforming the entire James Bond series which had a 39 year long head start
Hearne: Stop the Complete Presses, Nick Wright Really Did Beat KK This Time!
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They said it couldn’t be done…
Step aside senior citizens and middle age haters, Nick Wright has done the unthinkable. He really has beaten WHB superstar Kevin Kietzman. And not via the aid of fuzzy math or the Kansas City Royals. The lowly Kansas City Royals, I might add.
Nope, we’re talking the real deal this time out. Check it.
In men, ages 25 to 54, Monday through Friday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wright had the right stuff.
Wright’s show on 610 Sports squeaked past Kietzman’s by a tenth of a point with a 6.8 share to KK’s 6.7.
Wright’s take on his big win?
Hearne: The Odds of Jason Whitlock Returning to KC Airwaves on Sept. 5th?
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There are few things former Star columnist Jason Whitlock enjoys more than pimping people in KC….
So after putzing around with Nick Wright on 610 Sports a few weeks back, Whitlock let it be known he just might be returning to local airwaves September 5th. Coy Tweets to that effect aside, if Big Sexy’s living so large blogging for Rupert Murdoch in LA why is he entertaining the notion of returning to a gig he was fired from here that paid measily $100,000?
That’s chump change for a blogger of Whitlock’s stature, is it not?
Having spoken recently to both of Whitlock’s former radio bosses in KC – Kevin Kietzman and Bob Zuroweste – I can tell you neither see much more than a snowball’s chance of that happening.
The $64 million question: How good was Whitlock when he was on the air here?
Glazer: Naked Monkey Night? Royals, Chiefs Attendance in Freebie Freefall
It’s finally happened…
Fanbases for both the Royals and Chiefs have fallen dramatically the last few years. The Royals attendance numbers are misleading due to their many low dough promotions to get people to come to the games. The Chiefs have done far fewer giveaways thus far, but those look to be coming as well.
The Royals have been near the bottom in American League attendance – 12th of 14 teams. They’re in a freefall. And with the team record they deserve to be.
Star Search: The Truth & Nothing But the Truth Re Steve Penn’s Firing by The Star
I’m about to do the unthinkable…
I’m going to tell you exactly why and how Steve Penn was fired by the Star. In my humble opinion, of course. But trust me, I spent 16 years toiling in the belly of the beast and I know how things work at 18th and Grand.
Steve Penn wasn’t merely fired because he slipped up and got caught. He was fired because he wasn’t very good – which is being generous – and the paper stumbled on to an unimpeachable reason to rid itself of him.
Sounds Good: Noise FM@Bottleneck, Old Crap@Sprint, Hidden Pictures & Howard Iceberg@Replay
Uh oh.
More non-air conditioned shows!!… Look ouuuuuuuut!
OK, actually I’m only recommending one outdoor show this weekend. And considering how hot it’s supposed to be and the fact that the show is an early one, you might want to show up, if for no other reason than one of the performers is kinda old, kinda a KC icon, and he might just drop on stage.
Now that’s a true artist….
Today: Star Columnist Takes One for the Team Ahead of 2nd Quarter Cutbacks
No more shaking in his shoes every three months for newly axed Star columnist Steve Penn…
While the rest of the newspaper’s staff stands braced for the next round of what have become almost inevitable quarterly cutbacks and/or layoffs, Penn got his walking papers over the weekend.
"For using material that wasn’t his and representing it as his own work," the paper explained to readers this morning.
A staggering loss? Not really.
Penn, along with fellow news columnist Mike Hendricks took a major hit two years ago and were converted to part timers in one quarterly cutback. Penn took it like a man, quietly suffering the hit while Hendricks brayed and whined on his Facebook page and inviting "friends" to help him find a better-paying job elsewhere.
But that was then; and now?
Tracy: Thunder, Lightning and No Poncho Douse Guys & Dolls @ Starlight
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So there I was, alive and kicking at Starlight Theatre last night…
When the breeze kicked in, the temps dropped blessedly from 97 degree weenie roast weather to something approaching liveable. But by song #7 – the theme to “Guys & Dolls” – the constant lightning and thunder rolling in began to frighten the assembled masses. (The true chickens in the audience walked out early, during Adelaide’s Lament, about psychosomatic illnesses. Figures.)
Management suspended the show and it was later declared a rain out.
Too bad, because Guys and Dolls IS the undisputed best American musical ever.
Star Search: Ever Wonder What It’s Like to Live in Topeka?
I didn’t think so…
So I’ll skitter past the above headline’s premise. And then let you in on a couple things about the state of newspapering in the capital of Kansas that you’ll never in a million years hear from the moist, sincere lips of jimmycsays. You know, Fitzpatrick.
Mostly because he’s not dating anybody there (like I am). At least I don’t think he is.
I’ll begin by telling you that by KC standards there’s not a whole lot to do in Topeka or T Town as some of the hipper natives refer to it. I mean, they’ve got Olive Garden, Famous Fave’s, IHOP and most of the main food groups as defined by America’s top chain restaurants. There’s a buncha other stuff, too. Family stuff, church stuff, Fred Phelps stuff and that nutty new governor Sam Brownback.
I won’t bore you with the details…
Hearne: The Katie Horner Dilemma; Weather Channel or Quietly into the Night?
The odds of storm siren Katie Horner leaving KCTV for the joys of motherhood? Slim to none…
Oh, that’s what the station said in its wondrous press release about Horner leaving all right. That Horner “feels she needs some additional time with her young daughters."
She may feel that way to some extent, but come on. Clearly, Horner likes cashing paychecks as well – who doesn’t?
If Horner had nothing to hide, nothing to fear, why isn’t she returning phone calls?
Tracy: Those Who Are About to Die, Salute Guys & Dolls @ Starlight
I’m posting this BEFORE I go to Starlight Theatre tonight, to see Guys and Dolls…
You know, just in case. That way, since it’s the undisputed world’s best musical, if I’m struck by lightning, I’ll at least die happy.
No kidding.
The forecast tonight is for scattered thunderstorms, eg 40%. As opposed to this afternoon’s isolated thunderstorms, which are just 30%. And no, I am not taking KSHB TV weatherwonk Gary Lezak. Nor mixed up presidential wannabe Michelle Bachmann’s kid bro, KCTV’s Gary Amble.
I’m roughing it.
Starbeams: Casey Anthony to Oceans of Fun & Katie Horner Issues Get Naked Advisory
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More people are killed every year by heat than tornadoes, lightning and floods. It’s no joking matter, and yet…
IT WAS SO HOT YESTERDAY – HOW HOT WAS IT?
It was so hot, disoriented Royals pitchers were actually hitting the strike zone…
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It was so hot, officials at Sprint Center were actually trying to get a hockey team…
It was so hot, Mackenzie quit whining about the studio being too cold…
It was so hot Casey Anthony was offered a job at Oceans of Fun…
It was so hot, people in Parkville were…
Glazer: Vote for J Chris Newberg @ 8 p.m. Tonight on America’s Got Talent!
Calling all J Chris Newberg fans…
Yes, from his Chris Army, the time has come to come to the aid of our countryman. J Chris is on America’s Got Talent tonight on NBC at 8 PM. J Chris is in the semi finals and needs our votes to move forward. As many Stanford and Sons fans already know, J. Chris is a regular at the club in Legends.
And America’s Got Talent, starring Sharon Osborne is the most watched TV show this summer, with 14 million viewers.
So lets pitch in for this young guy and help him move upward and onward tonight.
How do you vote? After 8 p.m. our time, call 1 866 602-4866
Hearne: Former Aide Says No Scientology Connect with Funk Family
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Word that Mark Funkhouser is hightailing it out of KC for a D.C. think tank sparked a bevy of Google searches by locals…
Funk is going to work for a new company called the Governing Institute. Which just happens to be owned by a company associated with Government Technology magazine that was sold two years ago to a media company whose top management include Scientologists, New York Times media writer Tim Arango reported in 2009.
The implication being something sinister might be in the offing. However Arango provided no evidence of Scientologist malfeasance in his story and there have been no followups subsequent to the initial handwringing.
Hearne: Bryan Callen on Nick Nolte, Offing Zombies, Shaving on TV & Breaking Out
Get More: MTV Shows
Outside of KC Confidential, Bryan Callen may be one of the most famous guys you never heard of…
Caught up to him during his recent gig at Stanford’s, but held off since Craig wrote about him everyday for like a week.
But now it can be told…
Hearne: Red lights! Camera! No more action!
At long last, Marcie Paegelow‘s harrowing daily nightmare is over….
For what seemed a lifetime, Paegelow witnessed crash after grisly crash from her front row seat at A&A Royal Auto Trim on the southeast corner of 39th and Southwest Trafficway. Because prior to the installation of red light cameras two years back it was one of the most dangerous intersections in Kansas City.
Today: Crime and Punishment from the Red Light District
And now, the rest of the story…
On the heels of my stunning red-light cam bust for turning right onto 39th off Southwest Trafficway, I contacted Kansas City Public Works spokesman Dennis Gagnon to get the skinny on some of the pricklier aspects of the controversial program.
In the case of my particular bust – which came as a bit of a surprise to me since rather than running the light, I merely turned right without coming to a full stop- "That is one of the few intersections that have multiple directions covered," Gagnon says. "It has three directions covered – we don’t have it covered from the west."
Too bad I wasn’t leaving Missie B’s and turning right onto the Trafficway from 39th.
"My guess us you didn’t stop," Gagnon says. "Did you roll around the corner?"
As a matter of fact…
Hearne: Marilyn Maye Out of Hospital, Back at Jardine’s Next Month
This just in…
Stricken singer Marilyn Maye – hospitalized last month the day before she was to perform a series of sold out shows at Jardine’s for Father’s Day week – is back up and at ’em. The legendary KC jazz diva was hospitalized with a rare case of kidney stones, a painful condition more rare in women and older folks.
Maye’s mishap sparked a logistical nightmare for the jazz club…
