David Benoit at My Father’s Place: A Tribute to A Charlie Brown Christmas December 7, 2024
Posted by Mike C. in Animation, Broadway, Christmas, Comedy, DVD, Education, Football, History, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Radio, smooth jazz, Theatre, Travel, TV, VHS, Weather.2 comments
3/25/25 NOTE: Scroll down for an update to this post via an email from Steve Stoliar.
Wednesday evening, thanks to the generosity of my fellow WCWP/LIU Post alumnus Bobby Guthenberg, I was at My Father’s Place at the Roslyn Hotel to see David Benoit‘s annual tribute to A Charlie Brown Christmas.
It was the first time I’d seen a live show outside of Smooth Jazz for Scholars since before COVID. That last pre-COVID show was Mike Stern and Jeff Lorber Fusion at The Iridium in December 2019. Wednesday also marked the first time I’d seen David and his trio since June 2019, also at My Father’s Place, three months after I saw The Rippingtons there.
Bobby G., longtime friend of My Father’s Place promoter Michael “Eppy” Epstein, first invited me to David’s show one morning in late August. I didn’t hesitate in accepting the invitation. We would meet at WCWP’s Abrams Communications Center by 5:45 PM and drive to Roslyn from there.
Since it was Christmastime, I anticipated David’s set would be similar to the one from his 2008 concert at IMAC (Inter-Media Art Center) in Huntington. (Little did I know that would be the last show I’d ever see there as the venue closed in June 2009, eventually replaced by The Paramount.)
My parents drove me up to LIU Post at 5:00 and we arrived in the parking lot adjacent to WCWP (and Hillwood Commons) within 20 minutes. In contrast to the flurry of activity during Homecoming Weekend, the Abrams Communications Center was as dark as the night sky, with most of the light coming from studio 1 and 3 where live shows were in progress. Thomas, the Wednesday host of The Rock Show, invited me in before retreating to Hillwood for dinner. I paced quietly in the lobby until Bobby G. arrived shortly after 5:45.
Bobby and I conversed on the entire drive to My Father’s Place, listening to David Benoit’s Fuzzy Logic (2002) CD along the way.
It was about 6PM when parked in the Roslyn Hotel lot. We walked up the stairs to the hotel lobby and down the stairs to the My Father’s Place section. (MFP was originally its own venue before relocating to the hotel.) Eppy Epstein was seated outside the entrance and Bobby introduced us. Then, we confirmed our ticketed reservation with the attendant in the entryway and were ushered to a front row center table.
My conversation with Bobby continued as 8PM approached. (He and Billy Joel were classmates at Hicksville High School!) We both ordered separate dinners, each choosing a seltzer with lime as our soft drink, drinking water in the meantime. None of the entrees interested me, so I ordered fried calamari and a “side” of mac and cheese. Our waitress told me the side dish, with shell pasta, was as big as an entree, meaning I only needed to order one bowl. It was all quite good.
I checked the stage for a set list so I’d know what I was in for. I found one on the stage floor by the drum kit. I didn’t think to write the list to my stenographer pad until the show had begun and the waitress took our dessert orders. I chose chocolate lava cake, which was a bit rich for me, even with the vanilla ice cream mixed in, but still good.
Okay, the preamble is over. Let’s talk about the show itself!
As you see, there was a fourth member of the band: vocalist Courtney Fortune.
David Benoit was on a Yamaha piano:
New York City native Roberto Vally played bass:
Merrick native Dan Schnelle was on drums:
And the aforementioned Courtney Fortune on vocals:
The front stage featured replicas of Schroeder‘s toy piano and the sapling Charlie Brown chose over fully-grown trees in A Charlie Brown Christmas.
Before more photos, let’s look at…
THE SET LIST
- It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
- Believe
- Medley: My Favorite Things/The Christmas Waltz
- Santa Claus is Coming to Town
- Originals medley: Drive Time/Café Rio/Kei’s Song
- Schroeder/The Doctor is In
- Vince Guaraldi medley: Great Pumpkin Waltz/Thanksgiving Theme/You’re in Love, Charlie Brown/Christmas is Coming/Skating/What Child is This?/O Tannenbaum
- Christmas Time is Here
- Just Like Me
- Linus and Lucy
- (encore) Cabin Fever
Set List Background Info
Vince Guaraldi’s A Charlie Brown Christmas compositions (except where noted) in the set were “Christmas is Coming,” “Skating,” “What Child is This?” (only on the soundtrack album; arrangement of traditional song), “O Tannenbaum” (arrangement of traditional song), “Linus and Lucy,” and “Christmas Time is Here.” That last song was heard instrumentally throughout A Charlie Brown Christmas, but a separate version added lyrics by Lee Mendelson, the special’s producer and co-writer (with Peanuts creator Charles M. “Sparky” Schulz). David first covered “Linus and Lucy” on This Side Up (1985), which led to an updated arrangement for “The Great Inventors” episode of This is America, Charlie Brown. David scored that entire episode, and many Peanuts TV specials (plus some Garfield specials) through 2006. The specials that stand out in my mind are:
- It’s Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown – Features hilarious scenes where Peppermint Patty and Sally Brown botch their lines in the Christmas play – Similar scenes were played out in the series finale of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show, where a young Stacy Ferguson (Fergie) voiced Sally
- You’re in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown – Relegated to VHS, as of this writing – Features
improvisedplay-by-play by Steve Stoliar, a comedy writer, film historian, assistant to Groucho Marx, and impressionist (naturally, his Groucho impression is immaculate [no, he didn’t do it in the special]) *See 3/25/25 UPDATE below this list* - I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown – Focuses heavily on Rerun, Linus and Lucy‘s younger brother, and his desire for a dog, be it Snoopy or Snoopy’s brother Spike (partially recycled from episode 15 of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show) – This special marked the debut of David’s original composition, “Rerun’s Theme,” later recorded for David’s Jazz for Peanuts (2008)
3/25/25 UPDATE: Steve Stoliar emailed me this evening to clear things up about his involvement in You’re in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown.
It was much more of a challenge than mere improvisation. Here – whether you want it or not – is the complete story: I had a friend who worked at Bill Melendez Prods. in a variety of capacities. She called me up one day and said, “Can you help us? We produced this Super Bowl show that Sparky wrote and there are football games with no dialogue that just go on and on and they’re repetitious and confusing.”
She gave me a VHS of the rough-cut and I sat on my living room floor starting, pausing, rewinding my VHS player and trying to time (without a stopwatch) how long each football sequence ran. Then I scribbled down some suggested narration, making use of a lot of alliterations and metaphors, such as you get from color commentators on sporting events. After that, I read it and tried to edit the copy so it fit snugly in the blank spaces. Then I went to Melendez Prods. in Hollywood and we recorded it – with Bill M. directing me – and me doing a sort of Vin Scully-inspired classic sportscaster voice.
It’s fairly miraculous that it worked out. “Variety” actually reviewed it and pointed out the sports narration as a high spot. Unfortunately, my pleasure in having met the challenge was greatly impacted by my late wife and me having been literally thrown out of our apartment by the Northridge Earthquake, which hit between the time I recorded the narration and when the show aired.
I was later rewarded with a lovely production cel (and original background) from one of the birdie football games, inscribed, “For Steve – In friendship – Bill Melendez” in black Sharpie. Sadly, even though it wasn’t in direct sunlight, the inscription faded. But – like Big Julie in “Guys ‘n’ Dolls” talking about the blank dice – “I remembers where da spots previously were.”
It remains the only Charlie Brown special that has any sort of shared writing credit.
End of story – except to thank you for the compliment on my Groucho impression!
Thank you, Steve, for correcting the record, and allowing me to post what you wrote. I don’t know where I got in my head that he improvised the dialogue. I must have misinterpreted the Facebook comment he left a few years ago when I said that I’d watched my digitizing of the VHS tape. On that note, Steve wrote in a follow-up reply…
Oh – also – that particular show was produced as a tie-in with Shell Oil and the VHS tape was either a giveaway or for sale at a low, low price at Shell Stations when you filled up your tank. So even though it aired on TV, I suspect it’s missing from DVD release because of the initial deal with Shell. Not sure. I also did voices for Melendez (what a great guy) on “Snoopy’s Reunion” and “It’s The Girl In The Red Truck, Charlie Brown.”
I’m inclined to agree with Steve about the Shell tie-in keeping You’re in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown off DVD and other modern home media releases. It’s the Girl in the Red Truck, Charlie Brown is another special that has yet to go beyond VHS, but Snoopy’s Reunion has a dedicated DVD.
Thanks again to Steve Stoliar. Now, back to what I wrote in December.
Speaking of David’s originals, “Kei’s Song” is from Freedom at Midnight (1987), “Cabin Fever” (the encore) was on Waiting for Spring (1989), “Drive Time” originated on The Best of David Benoit: 1987-1995 (one of two new tracks), and “Café Rio” is from Full Circle (2006). “Drive Time” and “Café Rio” get the big band treatment on David’s latest album, Timeless, recorded in the UK with Spice Fusion Big Band.
David composed “Just Like Me” for 40 Years: A Charlie Brown Christmas (2005), with Lee Mendelson lyrics that honor the feel of “Christmas Time is Here.” Vanessa Williams sang on the original, and David recorded a solo piano version at Steinway Hall in 2017, one of 17 tracks from his The Steinway Sessions…session that were saved for It’s a David Benoit Christmas! (2020).
“Great Pumpkin Waltz,” “You’re in Love, Charlie Brown,” and “Thanksgiving Theme” were Vince Guaraldi compositions for It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, You’re in Love, Charlie Brown (yes, more redundancy), and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.
“Believe” was a Josh Groban song for the film The Polar Express, which served as the title track to David’s 2015 trio album that featured Jane Monheit and The All-American Boys Chorus.
“Schroeder” (set to Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”) and “The Doctor is In” were from the Broadway musical You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.
That brings us back to the photos. For that You’re a Good Man medley, David portrayed Schroeder and Courtney channeled Lucy.
I’m not ashamed to admit “Just Like Me” drove me to happy tears. It’s such a pretty song.
When Courtney wasn’t on stage, the trio of David, Roberto, and Dan played instrumentally.
The finale: “Linus and Lucy”:
For the encore, a man at a front row table held up his LP copy of Waiting for Spring (I have it on CD) and requested a track from there. David chose “Cabin Fever,” one of my favorites.
I only got to meet and greet half the band. Roberto and Dan were deep in separate conversations and I didn’t want to rudely interrupt.
However, I did get to catch up with David, who signed my copy of Timeless:
I then introduced David to Bobby Guthenberg (who took the above photo). Bobby bought a copy of Timeless, and David signed that.
Bobby G. and I weren’t the only WCWP alumni at My Father’s Place that night. Voice actor David Kaplan was there, too. It was great to see him. He was talking to vocalist Courtney Fortune, who I then spoke to. I complimented Courtney’s performance and told her how moving her rendition of “Just Like Me” was. Then, Bobby took a photo of us:
My one regret is not getting a photo with My Father’s Place promoter Eppy Epstein before Bobby and I exited The Roslyn. Upon exiting, I noticed it was snowing!
Before meeting and greeting, Bobby offered to drive me back to Wantagh so my parents wouldn’t have to drive back up to WCWP for me. I accepted and called my mom to let her know. Bobby cautiously drove home in the rain/snow mix, once again conversing the entire way while finishing up his Fuzzy Logic CD. He switched to Timeless while waiting at a red light on Jerusalem Avenue.
Bobby dropped me off at the curb at about 10:30. I wished him good night and thanked him yet again for treating me to a memorable night at My Father’s Place. (He messaged me on Facebook upon his safe return home to Bayside.) I may return to MFP some time in 2025 if Eppy can book drummer Billy Cobham. Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Thank you again to David Benoit, Roberto Vally, Dan Schnelle, and Courtney Fortune. You were all wonderful.
Instrumental Invasion, 2/22/23 February 23, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Christmas, Comedy, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Pop, Radio, Rap, Video.add a comment
The February 22 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was recorded the first show recorded in 2023: four segments on January 3 and two on the 4th, along with pickups. I applied a 10-band equalizer effect to my hour 1 talk breaks in an attempt to match the audio quality when recording at my secondary location. It isn’t the first time I’ve done this, but is the first on such a large scale; not just for pickups.
The playlist was created on December 28, 2022, with annotations on the last three days of the year, and the talk break script drafted on New Year’s Eve and Day.
It’s become a habit to program three-song sets in most segments, so I stopped acknowledging the feat in talk breaks.
After two theme weeks, this week had an unofficial theme with eight cover songs.
The Chick Corea Trio’s Trilogy duology were two Christmas presents from my sister Lauren. Playing their cover of “Pastime Paradise” by Stevie Wonder (from Trilogy 2) allowed me to reference “Gangsta’s Paradise” by Coolio and “Weird Al” Yankovic‘s parody, “Amish Paradise.” And since I also played “Who Should I Pay,” Jay Rowe‘s homage to “Blurred Lines,” I got to reference “Word Crimes.” (Read my Mandatory Fun synopsis here.) (7/19 UPDATE: I spoke to Jay on the phone today and he said it was actually percussionist Steve Scales who exclaimed, “yeah, put that in your bank!”)
The show led off with the adjective-less “Paradise” by Grover Washington, Jr., exactly 365 days after I last played a cut from Paradise the album. It’s also been 51 weeks since playing something from The Test of Time by Ken Navarro, and exactly eight months have passed between songs from Chuck Loeb‘s Between 2 Worlds.
To change things up, I had an extra 2007-16 segment after going to the 1985-95 and 1996-2006 wells in previous weeks.
Click here to download this week’s scoped aircheck or listen below:
As a bonus, here are the music videos for “Amish Paradise”…:
…and “Word Crimes”:
Plus, Al’s breakdown for GQ of his most iconic tracks:
Plus plus, the “pivot!” scene on Friends (from “The One with the Cop“), since I referenced it after Randal Clark‘s “Pivot“:
Instrumental Invasion, 12/28/22 December 29, 2022
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Christmas, Computer, Football, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, New Age, New Year, News, Personal, Radio, Sports, TV, Video, Video Games, Weather.add a comment
The December 28 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was recorded one hour per day on November 17, my 41st birthday, and 18, followed by pickups and remixing. An additional pickup was recorded on the 19th.
The playlist was the third of three created between November 7 and 9. I created it solely on November 9, started annotating on the 9th and finished on the 12th, with the talk break script drafted on the 15th and 16th.
For the second year in a row, I played Christmas-adjacent songs the week after the Christmas show. “December Dream” by Fourplay was originally in mind for last week, but I replaced it to allow for a longer third song in its intended segment.
For the second show in a row, I played two versions of the same song, ending each hour with “Auld Lang Syne“; first by Kenny G, then by Jessy J. Yes, I know J is technically not her last initial, but for poetic license, it was in this show.
All of the last three shows have had segment gaps filled by songs less than three minutes long. And speaking of last initials, I searched my blazers for a suitable (no pun intended) nickname to go with “Armani B” by Brian Simpson. Jos. A. Bank made the most sense; ergo, “Joseph A. Bank M.” By the way, I bought a CD copy of Closer Still just before publishing this post.
“Busta Move” by Julian Vaughn was originally played on August 17.
I’m still not finished listening to my iTunes Christmas music playlist, which I’ve been listening to incrementally since early November. I got through big portions of it during a Christmas Eve party and then on Christmas Day at home, but there were over a hundred songs left. I’ll update this paragraph once I finish. 1/2/23 UPDATE: I finished this morning.
Mid-November Mike (another nickname) could not have foreseen a historic winter storm, an explosive cyclogenesis (“bomb cyclone” in media hype lingo), when he included “Black Frost” by Grover Washington, Jr. to fill out the first segment. Crazy as the storm and aftermath were here on Long Island – southwest winds ushering in cold air?! – it was much worse elsewhere, particularly in Buffalo! Here, temperatures plummeted from the mid 50s (Fahrenheit) to the single digits! That meant there was black frost ice on the roads, and patches of ice on the sidewalks, from floodwaters brought on by rain and coastal flooding. I haven’t talked to Ryan “A Ripping Good Time” Grabow since the storm, but I know from its Wikipedia entry (first link) that Central Florida – where he lives and works for the Orlando Fox affiliate – had a period of sleet and snow flurries in on Christmas morning! (Okay, enough exclamations.) Christmas also marked record cold highs for Fort Lauderdale and Miami: 49° and 50°F, respectively. Reading that took me back to similarly cold Christmastimes in 1989 and ’90 in Crystal Beach, Florida, in the Tampa Bay area; not to mention how cold it was outside LaGuardia Airport before flying to Tampa in ’90. Maybe weather conditions are cyclical.
I’m further reminded of a video I watched on YouTube five years ago that exemplified the cold Christmastime in ’89: the start of NBC Sports coverage of the Miami Dolphins’ Christmas Eve regular season finale against the Kansas City Chiefs at then-Joe Robbie Stadium in not-yet-incorporated Miami Gardens. As you’ll see in the video below, the game time temperature was 39° with gusty northwest winds. No wonder it was dubbed The Miami Ice Bowl.
Yes, that was “Carol of the Bells” by Mannheim Steamroller (from A Fresh Aire Christmas); yes, that was Charles McCord announcing (“NBC Sports presents…”); and yes, John Tesh‘s “Gridiron Dreams” was the NFL on NBC theme song.
Anyway, click here to download the last scoped Instrumental Invasion aircheck of 2022, or listen below:
See you in 2023!
Instrumental Invasion, 12/21/22: Christmas December 22, 2022
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Christmas, Film, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, New Age, Personal, Radio.add a comment
The December 21 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was the third annual Christmas special. All segments were recorded on November 16, the eve of my 41st birthday, making this the first show recorded in one day since November 2 (September 19). Pickups were recorded on Thanksgiving, November 24.
This show’s playlist was the second of three between I made November 7 and 9. It was created November 7th and 8th, annotated on the 9th and 11th, and the talk break script was drafted on the 14th and 15th.
Principal recording was a pain in the sleigh bells. I struggled with every segment’s second and third talk break. It was a Christmas miracle when I reached the end. I used up the entire 58-second surplus accrued in the first hour. That meant I had to tightly edit the second hour talk breaks, run short liners, and start some songs as beds, including the last song.
Click here to download this week’s scoped aircheck or listen below:
Not included in the scope was a new community calendar I voiced and produced on Saturday (as I was getting over the flu):
And here is hip harpist Deborah Henson-Conant’s website, referenced after playing “We Three Kings of Orient Are.”
Merry Christmas.
Festival of Games 2022 recap December 16, 2022
Posted by Mike C. in Animation, Aviation, Christmas, Game Shows, History, Internet, Media, Military, Personal, Photography, Travel, TV, Video, Video Games, Weather.add a comment
Last Saturday, the second annual Festival of Games was held at the Cradle of Aviation Museum along Museum Row in East Garden City. The so-far one-day spinoff of Long Island Retro Gaming Expo (read about the 2022 LI Retro here) was my latest chance to walk and snap photos in as many sections as possible. Then, back to the vendor halls to add video games to my multi-console, multi-generation collection.
Thanks to my past recaps, I have made friends with the organizers, volunteers, and a week before this Festival of Games, the museum’s director of marketing and community relations, Jerelyn Zontini. I’m honored to know them and to promote special events like this.
I did not think to check the Festival of Games website for this year’s schedule, so I missed out on the panels in the main stage (planetarium) and classes in the classroom, but I saw everything else on offer, and was surprised to meet legendary collector, YouTuber, and streamer Pete Dorr at his vending table. More on that later.
To photograph the event, I brought my Canon EOS R7 with RF-S 18-150mm lens and Speedlite 430EX III-RT. When writing about my initial experience with the mirrorless camera, I did not lower the resolution on test photos. Considering the camera’s higher native max resolution (6984×4660) with the same 3:2 aspect ratio as my previous camera, it made sense while editing Saturday’s photos to increase my default blog post/social media resolution. Thus, going forward, photos will be no lower than 2000 pixels vertically, stepping up from my max horizontal resolution of 2600 pixels.
Again planning on a two-hour stay, my mother dropped me off at 12:43 PM:
Once inside (and having my bag searched), I presented my e-ticket printout to a box office attendant who stamped my left hand.
A promotional banner for Cradle-Con:
Each section I walked through at Festival of Games has a dedicated photo gallery. We start with the vendor hall gallery:
The board game section:
In all the years I’ve been inside the Cradle of Aviation Museum, I never observed its exhibits. I rectified that after passing the board games section.
MY ANSWER: Most of them, thanks to my proximity to John F. Kennedy International Airport. The planes are either on final approach or just took off. I also see general aviation aircraft coming to or from Republic Airport in Farmingdale, which is even closer to my house.
Back to video games in the free play area:
Tournaments:
On to the second floor:
Of course, most of the arcade games were housed on the Air & Space hall sky walk:
I chose not to play any of the arcade games or free play console games. I just wanted to buy games, and where better to start than at Pete Dorr’s table? I didn’t introduce myself to him right away, but he approached me after a few minutes of rummaging. That’s when I complimented him on his work. I ended up buying five Sega Genesis games from Pete’s table, which he gave me a great discount on. Then, we posed for a photo:
An hour of vendor-hopping yielded 42 games in all, including seven imports! Four games were for the Family Computer (Famicom) and three were for the Super Famicom. Final Fantasy V was a timely get as GTV Japan posted a retrospective the day before (last Friday).
Satisfied, I proceeded to the parking lot for my mom to pick me up.
Back at home, I spent nearly two hours photographing my pickups, removing price stickers, and cataloging the games.
Now, photos of all pickups by console, starting with Family Computer (Famicom):
- F1 Race
- Pac-Land (the first home port of the game)
- Super Mario Bros.
- Tetris (variant after Nintendo acquired the rights; thanks to Leonard Herman for bringing that to my attention)
Super Famicom:
- Final Fantasy IV (localized for SNES [Super Nintendo] as Final Fantasy II)
- Final Fantasy V (never ported to SNES)
- Super Mario Kart (champagne!) – This was timely, too, with a Gaming Historian retrospective posted on December 2)
Nintendo Entertainment System:
- Captain Skyhawk
- Goal!
- Gotcha! The Sport! (shown before Goal!)
- Ninja Gaiden
- Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos
- Nintendo World Cup – This and Goal! are still more timely gets as the 2022 FIFA World Cup was in the quarterfinal stage last Saturday. The final is this Sunday.
- Operation Wolf
- Ring King
- Skate or Die!
- Tiger-Heli
- Wizards & Warriors
- Xevious
Yes, I passed on Deadly Towers again.
- Best of the Best: Championship Karate
- Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind (Bubsy for short) (complete in box!)
- Cliffhanger
- George Foreman’s KO Boxing
- The Jungle Book
- NHL Stanley Cup
- Road Runner’s Death Valley Rally
- Super Black Bass
- Tecmo Super NBA Basketball
I didn’t notice a crack on the upper left of Tecmo Super NBA Basketball until cataloging later. I bought a better condition cart on eBay Tuesday night and put in an offer for another Looney Tunes game, Speedy Gonzales: Los Gatos Bandidos. I bought that on Wednesday when my offer was accepted.
Sega Master System:
Now, I have the original Zillion to go along with the sequel I bought last year.
Sega Genesis (Mega Drive outside North America):
- Bubsy – I bought this before the CIB SNES port
- Chi Chi’s Pro Challenge Golf (featuring golfer Chi-Chi Rodriguez) – This game always makes me think of Dave White’s [intentionally] mangled pronunciation during a Game Sack end skit (“Chy-Chy Rah-drigwez’s Pro Challenge Golf!”).
- Eternal Champions
- Space Harrier II
- Strider
- Super Hang-On
- Taz-Mania (I bought the SNES version last year)
- Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster’s Hidden Treasure
- ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron (maybe I’ll find the original next year)
- Virtua Racing
And one Nintendo Wii game: The Price is Right: 2010 Edition:
That last pickup was the culmination of all the time that I spent this year watching various winning pricing games and showcases from the Bob Barker era of The Price is Right, and with my resulting renewed obsession with Barker era music cues, many of which can be found on this YouTube channel.
It was another successful and enjoyable Festival of Games. Thank you to Pete Dorr and all the vendors I bought from, to the LI Retro staff including George Portugal (who I saw on Saturday), and to Jerelyn Zontini. It was great to meet her in person after she connected with me on LinkedIn a few weeks ago.
Instrumental Invasion, 12/7/22 December 8, 2022
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Animation, Audio, Christmas, Comedy, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Radio, Travel, TV, Video.add a comment
The December 7 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was recorded out of sequence on November 5 and 6. I did segments 1, 3, 5, and 4 on the 5th, and 6 and 1 on the 6th. Pickups were recorded on the 6th and 7th.
The playlist was created on October 28 alongside the one for last week. Annotations began on October 29 and didn’t resume until November 3. I went back to a script this week, which I drafted on the 4th and 5th. I’d have done it all on the 4th, but I had errands to run, including shipping the last of my eBay items referenced in my new camera post.
Like last week, I chose to record out of sequence so I could get the presumably short segments out of the way and bank time for the ones I expected to run long. Also like last week, I was still short after principal production, having to make up 15 seconds by reinstating my “fun fact” about Lynne Scott being friends with Laraine Newman.
The Futurama reference after “Robo Bop” by Fourplay dates back to an episode of Mike Chimeri’s Music Collection, my short-lived YouTube series. The excerpt I played was from this video (the title sequence for episode 4ACV17, “Spanish Fry”):
The November 7 pickups were for the second segment after missing an opportunity to link Amy Poehler and Laraine Newman as Saturday Night Live alumnae (that show has come up a lot lately) and memoir authors (Yes, Please and May You Live in Interesting Times). I met Laraine at New York Comic Con in 2019:
There were more callbacks to Homecoming Weekend this week. I returned the favor to Jett Lightning after he played the original “Blue Train” on his Sunday show, and I played two songs that were on my live Friday show. The songs are the respective artists’ current singles and previously heard on the regular Wednesday show (original air dates are in parentheses):
I was told not to play music from Lisa Hilton‘s new Paradise Cove album until after its release date last Friday. Since the title track shares its name with a favorite Russ Freeman composition, I bookended the show with each “Paradise Cove,” marking Lisa’s album’s debut on the show.
I referenced the Dutchess County trip yet again, doing so after “El Swing” by Hudson.
My “beat Army” line after acknowledging Dan LaMaestra‘s tenure with the U.S. Navy Band was coincidental. I forgot the annual Army-Navy [football] Game is this Saturday.
The Dan Ingram joke about Jack Jones stemmed from Dan’s backsell of “The Impossible Dream (The Quest)” on June 25, 1966 (heard in Rewound Radio’s The Life and Times of Dan Ingram: In His Own Words):
I excluded the 1984 and earlier segment to allow for an extra segment of music from 2022 releases. The Hudson song filled a gap.
Excluded for only the fourth time in 140 shows was David Benoit. He will be back next week.
Click here to download this week’s scoped aircheck or listen below:
Instrumental Invasion, 12/22/21: Christmas December 23, 2021
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Christmas, Country, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, New Age, Personal, Radio, Video, Video Games.add a comment
The December 22 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was recorded from home on November 4 (four segments) and 5 (two segments and pickups) with the denoise filter applied to all talk breaks. Additional pickups were recorded on November 23 and December 13, both without the denoise filter and the latter while shortening four segments. It was recommended on the 13th that I make 18-minute segments. Between this week and January 26, I’ve shortened any segments that were padded by liners or songs that don’t start with a talk-up. The first show with 18-minute segments in mind will be February 2, 2/2/22. Wait till you hear what I have in store.
The playlist for the Christmas show was created and annotated on November 3.
Like last year, the show included two songs each by David Benoit and Mannheim Steamroller, but also two versions of “Carol of the Bells” (1 1/2 last year) and “Jingle Bells.” One of those versions was Jay Rowe‘s that I referenced last year. This year, a slightly longer version was included on Jay’s new album, Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas, from Jay Rowe. The November 23 pickup came after Jay announced the album’s release on Facebook. Here’s the original single version, not the album version that aired:
I was glad to reference Roy’s poem in Game Dave‘s video posted exactly a year before the show aired:
Roy’s portion is about 8:20 in.
Click here to download the aircheck MP3 or listen below:
Merry Christmas!
Festival of Games recap December 13, 2021
Posted by Mike C. in Animation, Aviation, Christmas, History, Internet, Media, Personal, Photography, Travel, TV, Video, Video Games, Weather.add a comment
Saturday, for the first time in two years and four months, I made the pilgrimage to the Cradle of Aviation Museum along Museum Row in East Garden City. The event was Festival of Games, spun off from the Long Island Retro Gaming Expo. The main expo returns next August, but video games were calling for me. So, I bought a ticket to the Festival on November 23.
My plan Saturday was to attend for two to three hours, walking through the vendor hall, free play zones, and ticketed arcade zone. (Patrons were given a ticket with their wristband at the front desk.) If any arcade games caught my eye, I’d play them. Then, I’d go back to the vendor hall and pick up games. I followed that plan to the letter upon my arrival just after 12:30. Here are the photos:
A R.O.B. quintet “dances” to Christmas music. 
Computer Space is celebrating its 50th anniversary this month (and last month)! 
Ah, Tetris. As I noted in my recap of the 2019 LI Retro (the expo’s preferred shorthand, rather than LIRGE), I have fond memories of playing the Tetris arcade game at Kutsher’s Hotel and Country Club in March 1995. It was the third of four years in a row of weekend retreats with my fellow congregants of Union Reform Temple. We went to Kutsher’s in ’95 and January ’96, and prior to that, the Nevele Grand Hotel in January ’93 and ’94. Sadly, URT and the two resorts are now defunct. 
The next arcade machine I played was Street Fighter II. I picked up where the previous players left off, but didn’t realize they were in two-player mode until I had my way as Guile with Dhalsim. 
After this, one-player mode kicked in and I was summarily defeated by Ryu, despite somehow winning round 2. 
I am better with the NES port of Donkey Kong Jr. than with the arcade original. 
“Body blow! Body blow!” 
Out of privacy, I chose to remove the boy’s face from this photo. 
I’d heard about Rolling Thunder, but never played it until Saturday. Again, I didn’t get far. 
After that, I gave Double Dragon a go. Yet again, I didn’t get far, but it was far enough for me. 
I could not get a handle on Arkanoid, nor am I the best at its spiritual sibling Breakout. I’m great at Alleyway on Game Boy. 
NFL Blitz isn’t the same off N64. 
Last but not least, another game I saw in the arcade room at Kutsher’s: NARC.
I didn’t play NARC then (or now), but I videotaped two of my friends playing, per these vidcaps (12/27 UPDATE: I upscaled the vidcaps with Bigjpg):
I left this out of the stacked gallery, but one of the free play TVs was connected to a Famicom Disk System, which ran a festive program:
Back at the vendor hall, I picked up 33 games for various consoles. I don’t remember what I bought from which vendor, but the business cards show they were Geek Guilt, Flashback Gaming, The SemiCollector, and Joega’s Comic Chaos. When greeting one of the vendors, I inadvertently said “hello” like Sheldon Cooper, Jim Parsons‘ character from The Big Bang Theory (and Iain Armitage‘s from Young Sheldon). Noticing, I repeated and got a laugh. As I edited Saturday’s photos, I noticed I missed a couple of vendors over the course of my shopping spree. Oh, well.
As I shopped, I checked my video game collection Word document to make sure I didn’t buy a game I already had. I didn’t.
While waiting for a ride home, I photographed my haul:
Once I got home, I photographed my pickups by console.
Going chronologically, I picked up 15 NES games:
Five for Sega Master System:
Three on Game Boy:
Two for Super Nintendo:
One for Super Famicom!:
Two for Sega Genesis:
One for Sony PlayStation:
One for Nintendo 64 (N64):
Two for PlayStation 3:
And one for Nintendo Switch:
In writing, the games were:
Nintendo Entertainment System:
- Balloon Fight
- Cobra Triangle
- Fester’s Quest
- Freedom Force
- Gauntlet II
- Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode
- Hogan’s Alley
- Kabuki: Quantum Fighter
- The Legend of Zelda
- Mickey Mousecapade
- Rambo
- RoboCop
- Section Z
- StarTropics
- Wrath of the Black Manta
Sega Master System:
Game Boy:
Super Nintendo Entertainment System/Super Famicom*:
Sega Genesis:
PlayStation:
Nintendo 64:
PlayStation 3:
Xbox 360:
Nintendo Switch:
Thank you to LI Retro for an enjoyable Festival of Games. I’ll see you in August.
Instrumental Invasion, 1/27/21 January 28, 2021
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Animation, Audio, Christmas, Drama, Internet, Jazz, Laserdisc, Media, Music, Personal, Radio, Technology, TV, Video.add a comment
The January 27, 2021, Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was recorded one hour per day on December 22 (between sounds of fence construction next door) and December 23, 2020. Pickups for the first segments of each hour were recorded on the 23rd (hour 1) and Christmas morning (hour 2).
The playlist was created and annotated, and the script was written on December 21.
This was the last show I recorded in 2020 before allowing myself time off for Christmas (outside of pickups) and New Year’s Day, and the last show recorded through the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2. I received a Zoom LiveTrak L-8 for Christmas.
As noted on air, Anders Enger Jensen‘s “DiscoVision” ode to the early days of LaserDisc, contains samples from side 1 of the 1979 instructional disc, Operating Instructions for the MCA DiscoVision PR-7820 System. Here is that video, hosted by actor J.D. Cannon:
The Don Sebesky album I referenced while back-selling “The Traveler” by Earl Klugh is called Giant Box. I gave it the “big” prefix (“big Giant Box album”) because it was originally a double album on LP in 1973. The 2011 remaster fits neatly on one CD.
I inadvertently referenced the Butch Hartman cartoon series T.U.F.F. Puppy (this episode, in fact) when I said “no, don’t duck; that’s his name” after noting Marty Duck was part of the horn section on “At Your Service” by Oli Silk.
Click here to download the show’s aircheck MP3 or listen below:
Instrumental Invasion, 12/23/20: Christmas December 24, 2020
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Christmas, Country, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, New Age, Personal, Radio, Technology, Video.add a comment
The December 23, 2020, Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was recorded one hour per day on November 20 and 21. Pickups were recorded on the 22nd after remembering Steve Rodby was also an alumnus of Pat Metheny Group. Originally, I only acknowledged Danny Gottlieb and Mark Egan. Another pickup was recorded on the 30th after learning that Jay Rowe recorded a newer, faster version of his arrangement of “Jingle Bells” for Jessy J, which I played in the third segment:
The first and third segments were kept at their original 18:45 length. The rest were cut down to 18:40.
The playlist was created on November 17 (my 39th birthday), then refined and annotated on the 18th.
As I’ve said in the past, I absolutely love instrumental Christmas music, dating back to its use in local forecasts on The Weather Channel in the first 25 days of December. I have a vast playlist in iTunes that I play at parties (in a normal year) and at home ahead of, and on, the special day. The 27 songs on this show were just a taste of the day’s worth of songs in that playlist.
The first song of the show, “Carol of the Toy Keyboards” by David Murray, a.k.a. The 8-Bit Guy (YouTube, website), premiered on David’s sister channel, 8-Bit Keys, on December 1, 2015:
And Lindsey Stirling has a video for “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” (with over 20 million views!!!):
The name of the vocalist and percussionist on “We Three Kings” by Marion Meadows was Arto Tunçboyacıyan. I consulted this page for the pronunciation. Since recording the talk break, it now rolls off the tongue, like Krzyzewski. The name of the stringed instrument Brian Keane used was a bağlama.
Click here to download the aircheck MP3 or listen below:
And as a bonus, here’s a liner that will be heard on WCWP today and tomorrow:
Merry Christmas!
MikeChimeri.com 