History & Criticism Books

Voices of Our Time: Five Decades of Studs Terkel Interviews

Studs Terkel

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

OUTSTANDING LISTENING PLEASURE 5 out of 5 stars.
20 of 20 people found this review helpful.

Even today, when celebrity revelations droppeth like the gentle rain, Studs Terkel stands head and shoulders above other interviewers. He had a knack. He could get people to say things they hadn't planned on saying. Terkel knew precisely what to ask, and how to ask it. Those are my words - the Chicago Sun Times said it better:

"Studs Terkel (gets) people to say things in such a way that you know at once they have finally said their truth, and said it better than they ever believed they could say it."

Trained as a lawyer, experienced as an actor, and a best-selling author, Terkel spent half a century on his Chicago based Peabody Award winning syndicated radio program. He brought together people from all walks of life, artists, writers, philosophers, inventors, and visited with each of them as they recounted their triumphs and failures.

Now, 48 of these original interviews have been gathered for our enjoyment - it's a treat to hear the stories of those who influenced our world in their own voices. We hear R. Buckminster Fuller, Woody Allen, Gore Vidal, Eudora Welty, Dorothy Parker, Bertrand Russell, Leonard Bernstein, and a host of others.

Exemplary listening pleasure!

- Gail Cooke

Editorial Review:

From the 1950s through 1997, Louis “Studs” Terkel, bestselling author of Hard Times, Working, The Great War, Coming of Age, and eight other books, hosted a daily one-hour show on WFMT Radio in Chicago. This nationally syndicated, Peabody Award-winning program was an ideal showcase for his curmudgeonly wit, his maverick opinions, and his genius as an interviewer.

The 48 interviews in this collection, span Terkel’s five decades on radio and encompass a wide range of entertainers, scientists, writers and thinkers, including Dorothy Parker, Pete Seeger, Bob Woodward, Simone de Beauvoir, and many more.

Behind the Grand Ole Opry Curtain: Tales of Romance and Tragedy

Grand Ole Opry, Robert K. Oermann

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The Grand Ole Opry has been home to the greatest legends of country music for over eighty years, and in that time it has seen some of conutry music's most dramatic stories unfold.
We'll hear of the great love stories ranging from Johnny Cash and June Carter in the 1960s to Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, who married in 2005. We'll get the truth of the tragedies that led to the loss of three stars all in the same month, starting the rumor of the "Opry Curse." We'll learn how after being stabbed, shot, and maimed, Trace Adkins calls his early honky-tonk years "combat country," and we'll find inspiration from DeFord Bailey, an African American harmonica player in 1927 crippled by childhood polio who rose to fame as one of the first Opry stars. Our hearts will break for Willie Nelson, who lost his only son on Christmas Day, and soar for Amy Grant and Vince Gill, who found true love.
Based on over 150 firsthand interviews with the stars of The Grand Ole Opry, these are stories that tell the heart of country--the lives that are lived and inspire the songs we love.

Adventures in Odyssey: The Official Guide: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Stories, Actors, and Characters (Adventures in Odyssey)

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Too Short 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

My only complaint: it's too short. It's 563 pages long, but still too short! Nathan Hoobler did a wonderful job with this Guide--not bogging down with long episode summaries (yet giving enough that if you haven't heard an episode, you'll get what's going on), but digging right into that behind-the-scenes stuff most people have never known. Hilarious Eugene version of 'Three Blind Mice', Goof Alerts, interviews, 'My Take' segments, pictures, how-to-draw, and fan art are all included--with more. Wonderful job, wonderful book. Hilarious in spots, almost touching in others, always highly enjoyable. Please write another--longer this time. ;-)

Editorial Review:

Adventures in the fictional small town of Odyssey have entertained families around the world for over 20 years. The show has reintroduced a whole new generation to a forgotten form of entertainment (audio drama). Over 20 million Adventures in Odyssey products have been distributed worldwide, and two generations of families feel like they know Whit, Connie, Eugene, and hundreds of other characters. Now Focus on the Family reveals the story behind the stories in Adventures in Odyssey: The Official Guide.

Chicago's WLS Radio (Images of America: Illinois)

Scott Childers

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

The former Rock of Chicago! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great memories from a guy who produced and voice spots on this 50,000 watt blow-torch for mid-America!

Editorial Review:

From its early days as the farmer's companion to over a quarter century as the nation's premier rock-and-roll station, WLS has touched the lives of millions of listeners. Many well-known celebrities, like Gene Autry, owe their careers to the Big 89, through the famous Saturday night program The National Barn Dance. Local personalities such as Dick Biondi, Larry Lujack, and John Records Landecker became household names thanks to Chicago's 50,000-watt blowtorch. The images in Chicago's WLS Radio scan the entire history of the station, featuring engaging hosts, the biggest stars, and lots of fun. The book also covers WLS's move in the 1990s to become a leader in the news and talk format.

Hello, Everybody!: The Dawn of American Radio

Anthony Rudel

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Long before the internet, another young technology was transformed--with help from a colorful collection of eccentrics and visionaries--into a mass medium with the power to connect millions of people.

When amateur enthusiasts began sending fuzzy signals from their garages and rooftops, radio broadcasting was born. Sensing the medium's potential, snake-oil salesmen and preachers took to the air, at once setting early standards for radio programming and making bedlam of the airwaves. Into the chaos stepped a young secretary of commerce, Herbert Hoover, whose passion for organization guided the technology's growth. When a charismatic bandleader named Rudy Vallee created the first on-air variety show and America elected its first true radio president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, radio had arrived.

With clarity, humor, and an eye for outsized characters forgotten by polite history, Anthony Rudel tells the story of the boisterous years when radio took its place in the nation's living room and forever changed American politics, journalism, and entertainment.

Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey

Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 27 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

From the first time a record was played over the airwaves in 1906, to a modern club economy that totals $3 billion annually in New York City alone, the DJ has been at the center of popular music. Starting as little more than a talking jukebox, the DJ is now a premier entertainer, producer, businessman, and musician in his own right. Superstar DJs, from Junior Vasquez to Sasha and Digweed, command worship and adoration from millions, flying around the globe to earn tens of thousands of dollars for one night's work. Increasingly, they are replacing live musicians as the central figures of the music industry. In Last Night a DJ Saved My Life, music journalists Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton have written the first comprehensive history of the mysterious and charismatic figure behind the turntables -- part obsessive record collector, part mad scientist, part intuitive psychologist of the party groove. From England's rabid Northern Soul scene to the birth of disco in New York, from the sound systems of Jamaica to the scratch wars of early hip-hop in the Bronx, from Chicago house to Detroit techno to London rave, DJs are responsible for most of the significant changes in music over the past forty years. Drawing on in-depth interviews with DJs, critics, musicians, record executives, and the revelers at some of the century's most legendary parties, Last Night a DJ Saved My Life is nothing less than the life story of dance music.

Raised on Radio

Gerald Nachman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Relive the days when radio was king... 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

I really love this book... Its a great read... neither overly scholarly (as in Zzzzzzzzzzzzz...) nor overly wishy washy like some titles that might come to mind. Its just one of those books you can sit back, read and enjoy. In the process you'll get a great overview of the rise and fall of radio... you'll meet the stars and the personality in front of and behind the mic, from the actors and executives, right down to the writers and sound effects men. - - I'm not sure if one could call it definitive... but for sure whether its definitive or not, it tells the story well and is re-readable as many of those classic radio shows are still relistenable. - - All in all, if you're a die hard "OTR" buff and want to know who played so and so in episode 154 of a certain radio show, its original airdate, and when it re-aired... the book probably isn't for you... - - If, however, to hear the story of radio as a whole, relive this golden age, and experience it not only from the perspective of the people who made it, and the generation that grew up on it this is one must have piece of literature - - (...to boot, almost all of my favorite radio shows were covered... atleast in brief !)

Editorial Review:

In the late 1920s radio exploded almost overnight into being America's dominant entertainment, just as television would do twenty-five years later. Gerald Nachman, himself a product of the radio years, takes us back to the heyday of radio, bringing to life the great performers and shows, as well as the not-so-great and not-great-at-all. Nachman analyzes the many genres that radio exploited or invented, from the soap opera to the sitcom to the quiz show, zooming in to study closely key performers like Jack Benny, Bob Hope, and Fred Allen. Raised on Radio is a generous, instructive, and sinfully readable salute to an extraordinary American phenomenon.

And They All Sang: Adventures of an Eclectic Disc Jockey

Studs Terkel

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Studs Terkel... 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

Studs Terkel is a great writer/interviewer. He knows that the best stories don't come from the higher-ups in the country but from everyday working class people. I highly recommend this book.

Editorial Review:

The Pulitzer Prize winner's "latest indispensable oral history" (New York Times) of the twentieth century's most celebrated musicians.

Throughout the second half of the twentieth century, Studs Terkel hosted a legendary daily radio show in Chicago, presenting listeners with his inimitable take on an eclectic range of music, from classical, opera, and jazz to gospel, blues, folk, and rock. And They All Sang is nothing less than "a tribute to music's universality and power" (Philadelphia Inquirer), featuring more than forty of Terkel's unforgettable conversations with some of the greatest musicians of the past century—including Louis Armstrong, Leonard Bernstein, Big Bill Broonzy, Bob Dylan, Dizzy Gillespie, Mahalia Jackson, Janis Joplin, Rosa Raisa, Pete Seeger, and many others.

The Buzzard: Inside the Glory Days of Wmms and Cleveland Rock Radio--a Memoir

John Gorman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Memories! 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Anyone growing up with MMS in the 70s and early 80s will love this book!! Brings it all back, the songs, artists, DJ. Loved this book. A good, easy quick read.

--Gerard Zemek, husband of author of "My Funny Dad, Harry"

Editorial Review:

This rock and roll radio memoir takes you behind the scenes at the nation's hottest station during FM's heyday, from 1973 to 1986. Sex and drugs, music and merchandising--it was a wild time when the FM airwaves were wide open for innovation.
John Gorman led a small band of true believers who built Cleveland's WMMS from a neglected stepchild into an influential powerhouse. The station earned high praise from musicians and even higher ratings from listeners.
Gorman tells how WMMS remade rock radio while Cleveland staked its claim as the "Rock and Roll Capital" by breaking many major international music acts. The fun may have died when FM went corporate in the late 1980s, but it was a hell of a ride while it lasted.
Filled with juicy insider details, this fast-paced story will entertain anyone who listened in during those glory days when FM delivered excitement and the Buzzard ruled the airwaves.

John Peel: Margrave of the Marshes

John Peel, Sheila Ravenscroft

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

The Real Deal 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Having been one of the girls who was mesmerized by John Ravenscroft when I was 14 and a Beatlemaniac in Dallas, imagine my surprise to find out how famous he had become. Although he had a virtual throng of young ladies eager to spend time with anyone remotely connected with the Beatles I found him be quite the gentleman whenever we were together. I remember him playing the Stones and telling me that someday they would be as big as the Beatles. It was a pleasure reading about his life with Sheila and a little bittersweet that his life ended too soon.

Editorial Review:

When he died in 2004, John Peel was in the middle of writing his memoir, which was completed by his wife, Sheila Ravenscroft, with help from their four children. His compelling autobiography details his life as the most influential DJ in rock history. At BBC’s Radio 1, Peel helmed his own show from 1968 until his death, and first introduced UK listeners to reggae, punk, and hip-hop. T-Rex, David Bowie, the Faces, the Sex Pistols, Fairport Convention, Pink Floyd, the Clash, the Buzzcocks, the Cure, Joy Division, the Wedding Present, Def Leppard, Pulp, the Smiths, and the White Stripes have all credited Peel as a major boost to their careers. This intimate portrait of the man and his music provides firsthand remembrances of many of these acts and illuminates how this modest and unassuming man singlehandedly changed the course of rock’n’roll.