Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass & Other Delights at Lincoln Center: April 1 show April 5, 2025
Posted by Mike C. in Baseball, Film, Food, Game Shows, Internet, Japanese, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Pop, Radio, Trains, Travel, TV, Video.add a comment
NOTE: This recap will lead with photos at the venue; before, during, and after the concert. That will be followed by photos on the way to and from there: at Rockville Centre‘s LIRR (Long Island Rail Road) station, aboard the train to Grand Central Terminal, inside GCT itself, the long walk through Manhattan to Columbus Circle (including stops at Rockefeller Center and Serafina restaurant, entering 59th Street-Columbus Circle Station to take the 1 train to 34th Street-Penn Station, and watching the Babylon-bound train arrive on track 20 of Penn Station’s LIRR terminal.
Tuesday night, thanks to my friend Lori Downing, I finally got the opportunity to see Herb Alpert live in concert. Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass & Other Delights played two sold out shows in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall. The show I attended – along with Lori, Lori’s son Zach, and my mother Lisa (a mutual friend of Lori) – was the second of the two, one day after Herb’s 90th birthday.
I have been a fan of Herb Alpert since CD 101.9 played “Rise” and “Rotation” on a regular basis in the 1990s. I inherited my fandom from my mom and her dad (my grandpa) Artie. In the summer of 1999, I bought a compilation CD called Classics Volume 20 with some of my high school graduation money. It only covered 1979 to ’87, meaning no Tijuana Brass. I wouldn’t discover that portion of Herb’s catalog until getting another compilation called Definitive Hits. (Yes, I’d heard TJB songs in episodes of The Simpsons and on The Dating Game. I just didn’t have them in my collection.) In 2010, I began buying CD remasters of whole albums, from The Lonely Bull (1962) to North on South St (1991). Outside of Second Wind (1996) and Colors (1999), there’s a 22-year gap in my collection that ends with Steppin’ Out (2013). From there, I’m only missing The Christmas Wish (2017).
When Lori Downing and I attended Dave Koz’s 20th Anniversary Christmas Tour at Tilles Center in December 2017, I quipped that we were in the Bob Uecker seats since we were so high up (but not in the last row). It’s a nod to the infamous 1984 Lite Beer from Miller ad where Bob is at a baseball game and settles into a field level seat. An usher intervenes, telling him he’s in the wrong seat, and Bob says, “Oh, I must be in the front row.” After the ad’s tag, we transition to Ueck in the upper deck (of Dodger Stadium). He shouts to his friend, “Good seats, eh, buddy?,” and to an umpire, “He missed the tag! He missed the tag!”
Life somewhat imitated art on Tuesday. When we presented our tickets to an usher, she escorted us to seats at stage level, a handful of rows from the stage. Seconds after I settled into what I thought was my seat, the usher realized her mistake and referred us to another usher. When I got up, I acknowledged the similarity to the ad and repeated the “front row” line. The second usher had us go up two floors in an elevator to our true location. We were in the last row of the center balcony. Unlike with Dave Koz, we really were in the Bob Uecker seats. However, there wasn’t a bad seat in the house. The rows are arranged in a way that your view won’t be blocked by the person in front of you.
Before we see photos from the show itself, along with the complete set list and background info, let’s backtrack.
Lori, Zach, my mom Lisa, and I reached Jazz at Lincoln Center, one of many portions of the vast Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, just after 7PM.
Using the clear backpack my dad bought for when we went to a Mets game in June 2022, a security guard cleared me in mere seconds. After riding an elevator to the 5th floor, we waited in the lobby until the Rose Hall doors were to open at 7:30.
Zach invited me to look at the view of Columbus Circle from a window at the lobby’s edge.
Then, I took a selfie with my mom.
There was even a WCWP connection to all this. (FM 60th anniversary/2024 Hall of Fame Ceremony recap) Jeff Kroll is an equally big Herb Alpert fan, and he and his wife Pat attended Monday’s 90th birthday performance. Jeff and Pat’s seats were at stage level.
On Tuesday, fellow alumnus Bobby Guthenberg, a.k.a. Bobby G., was among the attendees! Here he is talking to Lisa and Lori:
Zach took a photo of Bobby G. and me:
Bobby treated me to the David Benoit concert at My Father’s Place on December 4.
On the way to the Rose Hall entrance, I saw this poster for an upcoming Bobby McFerrin concert series (with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra):
Jazz legends photo exhibit:
That brings us back to my last row balcony seat. I can’t show every photo I took, and would rather keep videos to myself (and to some the Discord chat servers I’m part of). What I will show are the photos where my phone could make out faces with its AI enhancement.
The lights went down at 8:05 and the monitor showed Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass as the Mystery Guests on a circa 1965 episode of What’s My Line?
The stage lights came up, the new Tijuana Brass assembled, and Herb made his entrance.
The band was made up of:
- Herb Alpert – lead trumpet
- Kris Bergh – trumpet and percussion
- Ryan Dragon – trombone and percussion
- Bill Cantos – piano, synthesizer, marimba
- Kerry Marx – acoustic and electric guitars
- Hussain Jiffry – bass
- Ray Brinker – drums
It was nice to finally put faces to the names (Bill, Hussain) I’d seen in the credits to Herb’s solo albums since 2013. I’m connected with Ray Brinker on Facebook, and knew of him through his work with Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band. So, he was the only Tijuana Brass member I knew by name until Herb’s introduction toward the end of the first encore (spoiler).
Bill, Hussain, Ryan, and Kris provided background vocals on songs that called for them.
Here is the full set list (original album and release year in parentheses):
- The Lonely Bull (El Solo Toro) (The Lonely Bull, 1962) – Original composition by Sol Lake
- The Work Song (S.R.O., 1966) – While writing this post, I finally learned “Work Song” was by Nat Adderley, not Cannonball
- Memories of Madrid (What Now My Love, 1966) – Another original TJB composition by Sol Lake
- Whipped Cream (Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965) – One of two music cues used on The Dating Game
- Spanish Flea (!!Going Places!!, 1965) – The other Dating Game cue – Original composition by TJB member Julius Wechter (also leader of the Baja Marimba Band) – Wechter’s original title was “Spanish Fly,” which wouldn’t fly in 1965
- Ladyfingers (audience member request) (Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965)
- Lollipops and Roses (Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965)
- Bittersweet Samba (Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965) – Still another Sol Lake composition for TJB – Serves as the theme to All Night Nippon, a Japanese radio show
- Mexican Shuffle (South of the Border, 1964) – If you’re keeping score, that’s four Sol Lake compositions in the set – I had no idea this was used in TV ads for Clark’s Teaberry gum (one such ad shown on the monitor), or that it was referred to as “The Teaberry Shuffle”
- Tangerine (Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965) – See notes below set list for more info
- I’m Getting Sentimental Over You (!!Going Places!!, 1965) – Preceded by Ray Brinker drum solo
- Love Potion No. 9 (Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965) – The album’s requisite striptease song
- Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 (hits medley sung by the group’s lead vocalist Lani Hall (Herb’s wife; he considers Sergio “Cupid” for bring them together): Tim Dom Dom (Chim Dome Dome), One Note Samba, The Fool on the Hill, Mas que nada – Songs 1, 2, and 4 are from Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66, 1966; “The Fool on the Hill” was a 1968 title track, minus the “the”
- Rise (Rise, 1979) (solo album) – Rap fans may recognize one part from its sampling in “Hypnotize” by The Notorious B.I.G.
- A Taste of Honey (Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965) – Ray Brinker perfectly matched The Wrecking Crew player Hal Blaine‘s drumming from the original, right down to the bass drum taps to note the 4/4 time signature
- Zorba the Greek (Zorba’s Dance) (!!Going Places!!, 1965) – A clip of the titular film‘s dance scene (with Anthony Quinn as Zorba) was shown during the slow middle
- Encore 1-1: This Guy’s in Love with You (The Beat of the Brass, 1968) – Herb’s lone vocal song of the set – Contrary to popular belief, the song was later reworked as “This Girl’s in Love with You” for Dionne Warwick and other female singers, not the other way around for Herb
- Encore 1-2: Smile (Midnight Sun, 1992; Catch the Wind, 2021) (solo albums) – Requiem for departed friends, including Sergio Mendes, Karen Carpenter, Burt Bacharach (co-writer of “This Guy’s in Love with You”), and A&M Records co-founder Jerry Moss – “Smile” by Charlie Chaplin is not to be confused with “Sweet, Sweet Smile,” which was introduced/popularized by The Carpenters
- Encore 1-3: What Now My Love (What Now My Love, 1966)
- Encore 1-4: A Banda (Herb Alpert’s Ninth, 1967) – Fittingly preceded by band introduction (“a banda” literally means “the band”)
- Encore 2-1: Tijuana Taxi (!!Going Places!!, 1965) – original composition by TJB guitarist Ervan “Bud” Coleman
- Encore 2-2 (True Finale): On the Sunny Side of the Street (Come Fly with Me, 2015; Sunny Side of the Street, 2022) (solo albums)
I knew the title of most songs the instant they began. There were a few exceptions. I had to ask my mom about “Smile,” Zach confirmed “Tangerine” on the train ride back to Rockville Centre (via a set list for one of the Buffalo shows), and I confirmed “Tim Dom Dom (Chim Dome Dome)” on Wednesday morning via the Herb Alpert Presents… Wikipedia entry.
It’s understandable that I wouldn’t recognize “Tangerine.” I gravitated toward the more popular tracks on Whipped Cream & Other Delights. I didn’t really develop awareness and appreciate of the song until hearing it on She Was Too Good to Me, trumpeter/vocalist Chet Baker‘s 1974 comeback album.
Throughout the set, relevant video clips or still photos were shown on a monitor above the stage.
The best of the photos:
“Memories of Madrid” 
“Whipped Cream,” with …& Other Delights cover model Dolores Erickson shown on the monitor 
As Herb and the Brass played “Lollipops and Roses,” a promo for The Brass Are Comin’ (1969) ran on the monitor. Among those to recite the album title was Johnny Carson. 
“Tangerine” 
Ray Brinker’s drum solo before “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You” 
Herb acknowledging his marriage to Brasil ’66 lead vocalist Lani Hall, thanks to Sergio “Cupid” Mendes 
Lani’s entrance 
Lani singing “Tim Dom Dom (Chim Dome Dome)” 
A kiss after the medley 
“Rise” 
“A Taste of Honey” 
“Zorba the Greek (Zorba’s Dance),” accelerando and all 
The false ending 
Encore 1 began with “This Guy’s in Love with You” 
“What Now My Love” 
“On the Sunny Side of the Street” 
The end! 
Herb Alpert has left the stage; you can literally see him exiting stage left 
The rest of the band departs
In conclusion, there were 22 songs, 6 of the encores (4 in the first encore, 2 in the second). It was a night I’ll never forget, and I owe it all to Lori Downing. Crying happy tears, I hugged her and thanked her as we got up from our seats and walked back to the lobby.
There were no accessible stairs. So, we had to take an escalator from the lobby to a set of elevators. We and several other attendees boarded the first elevator to open and rode it down to ground level. From there, we exited back out to Columbus Circle.
The experience wasn’t all “Lollipops and Roses,” so to speak. I neglected to disable my iPhone camera’s flash and the flash light was on as I recorded “Memories of Madrid.” An usher had to come to our row and tell me to turn it off. I did as he instructed, and I deleted the video from my phone, but was quite embarrassed and miffed. I gathered my wits within a minute or two. I made sure the flash was off in photo and video mode the rest of the night, and there was no further trouble. I recorded 12 more videos (on top of “The Lonely Bull” before the intervention). Again, I’m opting to withhold them from this post.
Now, let’s turn our attention to the other photos, taken going to and from Jazz at Lincoln Center.
This train was an M9.
By this time, my iPhone’s battery state of charge was down 10%. So, I didn’t take anymore photos, but I had taken 154 photos and 13 videos on my phone, in addition to the two photos provided to me by Zach, which I cropped and upscaled for this post.
I don’t know what more I can say. Thank you again to Lori Downing for inviting me and my mom to see Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass & Other Delights on Tuesday night. And thank you for reading this recap. Check back in mid-May for recaps of this year’s Smooth Jazz for Scholars. Bye until then.
2024 Long Island Retro Gaming Expo: introduction, guests, mishaps, panels August 21, 2024
Posted by Mike C. in Audio, Aviation, Books, Computer, Education, Game Shows, History, Internet, Media, Personal, Photography, Podcast, Radio, Technology, Travel, Video, Video Games.add a comment
Feel free to skip ahead to the second post (touring the expo) or third post (conclusion and pickups).
INTRODUCTION
2024 was my sixth year at Long Island Retro Gaming Expo, held in the Cradle of Aviation Museum, on the right end of Museum Row in East Garden City. This was also the first year that Flagstar bank had naming rights. That’s evident in the first photo below, taken as my mom pulled off Charles Lindbergh Boulevard at 9:45 AM on Saturday, August 10.
LI Retro, the expo’s shorthand, launched Friday, August 9, at 4PM, but since the expansion to three days (or 2 1/2) in 2022, I’ve forgone the Friday leg.
Tickets went on sale all the way back at the end of December and I was quick to secure my weekend badge, even though it would be months before attendees even knew who the guests would be.
Once announced, Long Island Retro Gaming Expo’s 2024 guest list was a mix of mainstays, newcomers, and returnees. Naturally, author/publisher Leonard Herman, Mark Baer (middle child of videogame pioneer Ralph Baer), Frank Cifaldi (Video Game History Foundation) and Jeremy Parish (Retronauts, Limited Run Games) would be there. G Gracin (G to the Next Level) returned for the second year in a row, this time with Greg Sewart (Generation 16). Pat Contri and Ian Ferguson were back for their fourth consecutive LI Retro. (There was a gap between their first and second years due to COVID postponements in 2020 and ’21.) The Immortal John Hancock was back for the first time since 2018. (I met Lenny Herman through the panel he and John co-hosted that year.) And it was the second appearance of Coury Carlson and Marc “Try4ce (‘triforce‘)” Duddleson of My Life in Gaming, having first appeared in 2019.
If you remember my disappointment last year when spotting Clint Basinger (LGR) walking through the vendor marketplace after the expo while editing photos, I was pleased to see he was a guest this year!
Two other notable guests were Warren Davis, the creator of Q*Bert “and other classic video arcade games” (as his book title notes), and legendary Nintendo marketer Gail Tilden. I was not able to attend Warren’s Saturday evening panel, though I met him at his table in the morning as you’ll see in that portion of this post. Gail had a free-form panel on Saturday evening and an interview panel on Sunday, the latter of which I attended.
Ahead of Saturday morning, I packed a printout of my badge retrieval code, my Canon EOS R7 with RF-S 18-150mm lens and Speedlite 430EX II, TASCAM DR-05X, and stenographer pad with pen. (I never used those last two.) I was anxious that my compulsive nature would lead to as many photos as last year. The bad news is I was right. The good news is the total over three cameras (you’ll read the why of that quantity later in the post) was 697 photos. This time, however, 617 were chosen to spread out over three blog posts, not counting scans or photos taken after Sunday.
Since last year’s Long Island Retro Gaming Expo, I have begun streaming on Twitch at least four days a week. Gaming is the channel’s main focus with occasional “media production” streams where I work on radio shows or edit photos from events like this. I spent a whole week editing photos in April after returning from Smooth Jazz for Scholars. While the initial plan was to do the expo photo editing off stream and go on hiatus until I was finished, I opted instead for occasional streams to report on my editing progress and show all games and merchandise I picked up. Thanks to a quicker editing process, only two of those streams were required before returning to gaming. The first stream – Wednesday, August 14 – dovetailed into saving smaller versions of watermarked photos (“© Mike Chimeri” on the lower left) edited that day. And with only 96 photos left to edit going into Saturday, August 17, that became the sole photo editing stream.
ARRIVING AT THE MUSEUM
Several paragraphs ago, I said I arrived at the Flagstar Cradle of Aviation Museum at 9:45 AM Saturday. After my mom dropped me off in the parking lot to the left of the roundabout, I took an establishing shot of the museum, unaware that my folded badge code printout was visible in the bottom left. So, I took another shot Sunday morning:
The photos in this gallery are from Saturday.
On the way to the guest table area, I ran into Timothy (a.k.a. Sho), a fellow My Life in Gaming fan. We met in person in 2019 and I had to get a selfie this time:
GUEST TABLE PHOTOS
Photos in this section were taken Saturday and Sunday. You can tell which day by what we’re wearing.
Warren Davis
Warren and I didn’t talk much – so, no magic tricks – but I introduced myself and gladly bought a copy of Creating Q*bert for him to sign. I told him on Sunday that I bought a copy of Q*bert’s NES port in his honor. He thanked me for that. (More on pickups in the third post.)
Clint Basinger (LGR)
It was honor to meet Clint in person. As I told him, I’ve been a fan of LGR for years, and that we both have the distinction of reading quotes in Gaming Historian videos. (I was in The Story of Link’s Awakening, per a blog post.) We commiserated over Norman Caruso’s April announcement that he was stepping back from pursuing his YouTube channel full time (but not retiring). (Norm went out in style with his magnum opus, The Story of The Oregon Trail, a video years in the making.) I told Clint that I unknowingly photographed him last year and thought about printing a copy for him to sign, but opted not to.
8/23 UPDATE: Today, that future video became a present video.
Thinking Clint would be at the expo on Sunday, as well, I brought my PlayStation 3 copy of Duke Nukem Forever to sign. Alas, he had left after Saturday.
A recent LGR video made me think of my psychologist of 27 years, known to patients like me as Brad. In the mid ’90s, Brad had an Acer Aspire. If I remember correctly, it was the same color as Clint’s. (Brad retired in 2018 and I’ve had another therapist since 2019.)
9/6 UPDATE: Clint went into greater detail about LI Retro in the vlog below.
The Immortal John Hancock
I reacquainted myself with John on Saturday – fresh from Retrocon in São Paulo, Brazil! (John’s Retrocon vlog) – and proudly bought the Genesis port of his original game, Block ‘Em Sock ‘Em, seen in the second photo.
Check out John’s LI Retro vlog. He saw exhibits that I missed, and thus won’t be seen in my second post.
Give Adam Koralik a look, too.
Pat Contri and Ian Ferguson
I was not a fan of either Pat or Ian prior to their LI Retro debut in 2019, but I got to know Ian and his wife Vani at their Luna Video Games table, placed between the My Life in Gaming table and Pat’s table. I worked up the courage to meet Pat, buy Ultimate Nintendo: Guide to the NES Library and all DVD volumes of early episodes of Pat the NES Punk. That led to an interest in Flea Market Madness and The Video Game Years, and The CU (Completely Unnecessary Podcast). I was even hyped for Pat’s next Ultimate Nintendo: Guide to the SNES Library. I wrote reviews for both guides after reading them later in 2019 (NES, SNES).
So, of course, I was thrilled to see them again this year, and ask a question for the third year in a row at their panel/podcast recording.
9/2 UPDATE: The latest Flea Market Madness video is embedded below photos of the CU Podcast panel.
G Gracin and Greg Sewart didn’t have a table, but did have a Saturday panel. (Check the “Panels” section of this post for photos.) I posed with them in this photo on Sunday.
I also got the Sonic selfie treatment, in digital form…
…and in thermal print form. I scanned that (left) and used Photoshop’s photo restoration filter to limit the vertical banding (right).
G posted a few YouTube Shorts at LI Retro:
[The first short was removed in 2025.]
There really is so much to see at Long Island Retro Gaming Expo. John Hancock and G saw things that I missed.
I really liked Greg Sewart’s Ridge Racer series retrospective:
I’ve had Ridge Racer 7 since I bought a slim PS3 back in 2018. The video made me seek out Ridge Racer 6 for Xbox 360 when scouring the marketplace at the end of each day.
Since you saw Daniel and Alex Greenberg (Winterion Game Studios) in Pat and Ian’s photo gallery, here is a photo Alex took of Daniel and me after Pat’s CU Podcast Live panel.
Let’s skip ahead one table to the My Life in Gaming duo of Coury Carlson and Mark “Try4ce” Duddleson:
I spent a lot of down time at the MLiG and Leonard Herman tables (see below). Coury and I talked about photography, while Try and I talked about Backloggery‘s recent 17th anniversary celebration, my multiple raids to the Backloggery Twitch channel, and how I rightly kept dejitter off on my Analogue Nt Mini Noir. Try neglected to do that in the MLiG review of the console back in 2020. (Source: Comment to Analogue Reddit post.) Having dejitter off allowed me to connect my Monoprice VGA-to-composite/S-Video adapter, run a composite cable to my sister’s old Durabrand DWT1304 CRT TV (a Funai-manufactured TV sold by Walmart), and play NES Zapper games in my last two Twitch streams before LI Retro.
9/2 UPDATE: Coury and Try ended August with a new My Life in Gaming video: the second in their Multi-Games Compilations series. It’s worth watching for Try’s LI Retro t-shirt alone.
We round out this segment with the Father of Videogame History, Leonard Herman, joined by Patrick Wong and Mark Baer (middle child of videogame pioneer Ralph Baer).
I spelled video game as one word because that’s how Ralph Baer spelled it and how Lenny spells it.
Leaving the guest tables behind, it’s panel time!
PANELS
Saturday Panel 1, 11AM-12PM
Panel Room 2
Mark Baer and Leonard Herman
Ralph Baer: His Creative Life in Electronic, Videogames and More
This strayed close to the 2023 presentation, which was the last panel I attended. So, I changed my photographic approach. Before the photos, here are the videos shown during the panel:
Before the other panels, a diversion.
Mishaps
It was in between the Ralph Baer panel and the CU Podcast panel that I accidentally knocked my camera off a food court table, breaking my Canon EOS R7’s RF-S 18-150mm lens. The ring attachment stayed on, but the rest of the lens broke off.
It was irrecoverable. The only solution was to buy a replacement lens once I got home, and with a 5-year lens accident warranty. I’m covered if history repeats itself, God forbid.
The lens and UV filter arrived Wednesday morning and a test photo was successful.
I took the rest of Saturday’s photos on my iPhone 13 Pro. Then, Sunday, I shot in RAW for the first time on my Nikon D5500 with a Nikkor 18-300mm lens.
Unfortunately, Sunday had another problem. Patrick Wong from Leonard Herman’s table prepped to take a photo of me with Pat Contri and Ian Ferguson. Ian sprained his ankle and was only at LI Retro that day. After I took the photo of Pat and Ian together, I foolishly chose to take a photo with them to the right of Pat’s table. Ian’s cup of coffee was perched on the right end of that table. As I turned to get into position for the photo, Ian warned “watch the backpack!” The warning was in vein. My bulky backpack knocked the cup over and it spilled on the upper right end of the table. The photo op was aborted, paper towels were summoned, and adjacent merchandise was checked for damage. As all that happened, I felt tremendous guilt and shame. I thought I’d become persona non grata to both of them, and God forbid, would be sued. Thankfully, none of that was true. No merch was damaged, the spill was quickly disposed of, and Pat used hand sanitizer to further clean the affected area. Then, we retreated to a safe spot away from the table for our photo op. Pat and Ian were all smiles in the photo while I was too drained to fully smile. They both assured me everything was fine and not to worry. That’s when I headed to the main theatre for the Gail Force panel.
After that panel, LI Retro staff member Ryan Shapiro gifted me with an expo backpack that contained a pin, sticker, 2024 program, and Asteroids-themed t-shirt. I’ll save the contents photo for the third post, but I’ll show the backpack here, too.
Thank you very much, Ryan.
Now, back to Saturday’s panels.
Saturday, 12:30-1:30 PM
Main Theatre
Pat Contri with Frank Cifaldi (filling in for Ian Ferguson)
CU Podcast Live!
The topic was the sudden end to GameStop’s Game Informer magazine, and the bizarre public relations statement accompanying its demise. (Reactions were compiled in this Resetera thread.)
When the theatre was opened to Q&A, only one person had an Amico-related question. Mine focused on Pat’s Wednesday Twitch streams:
Aside from the podcasts, you’re also on Twitch every Wednesday, watching retro commercials. How did you- What made you decide to go that route instead of streaming games?
Pat responded that it spun off from his NES Charity Marathon (origin of the “Buh-lack Box!” catchphrase), and that he felt relaxed and nostalgic watching things from the past. The TV commercials or promos allow him to recall moments from his past. That led to a discussion about the significance of preserving these moments in the same way video game media is preserved. I chimed in with radio airchecks as an example, but I might not have been heard.
As of publication, the podcast is not up in audio or segmented video form. There is, however, Flea Market Madness Volume 49, recorded on Father’s Day (June 16). It features the other Frank, as seen in the thumbnail.
3:51 PM UPDATE: There is audio of the Game Informer discussion, but not the Q&A, starting at the 1:17:25 mark of the latest podcast.
10/28 UPDATE: Video of Pat and Frank’s discussion went up six days after this post was published (August 27).
Saturday, 2PM-3PM
Panel Room 2
G Gracin and Greg Sewart
Growing Up Sega: A Trip Down Sega’s Console Timeline
After browsing and buying from the vendor marketplace, I went home.
I returned a little closer to 10AM on Sunday morning. I still had to wait in line for a bag check; I didn’t mind that.
In lieu of a panel I had in mind at 11AM, I re-photographed areas that were blurry on Saturday, took photos of vendors I missed on Saturday, then toured the exhibits on all three floors. Look for those in the second post.
Sunday, 12:30-1:30 PM
Main Theatre
Gail Tilden, interviewed by Jeremy Parish (Retronauts, Limited Run Games) and Lucas Thomas (Nintendo Force magazine founder)
Gail Force: An Intimate Interview with a Nintendo Legend
The interview initially covered Gail’s involvement in the Nintendo Entertaintment System’s North American launch, beginning in the New York Metro Area in October 1985. Among the locations chosen to carry the NES were Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream. At some events, attendees could play Baseball against either New York Mets pitcher Ron Darling or center fielder Mookie Wilson.
Then, the topic switched to her tenure with Nintendo Power magazine. Lucas asked the audience to give a “whoo!” when their first issue was displayed on the projection screen above them.
Watch the video to see if I misremembered anything. Then, see the photos that I kept bending over to take.
Then, it was quickly off to Panel Room 2 for my last panel of the weekend.
Sunday, 2PM-3PM
Panel Room 2
Leonard Herman
The History of the History of Videogames
This was the place to be: a celebration of a man who blazed the trail for videogame history. 2024 marks the 30th anniversary of the original Phoenix: The Fall and Rise of Videogames.
Ahra wanted a photo with Lenny beforehand:
Then came a prologue from John Hancock:
Well said, John.
The stage is yours, Leonard.
Upon closing, Lenny opened the floor to Q&A:
The funniest question and answer came via Mark Baer:
LENNY: Yes, sir.
MARK: Do you have a favorite historical figure in videogame history, by any chance?
LENNY: Yeah. Nolan Bushnell.
[audience laughs]
If anyone doesn’t know, that’s Ralph Baer’s son. That’s his son, Mark. He’s a troublemaker.
MARK: You could answer honestly.
After a few more questions, the panel ended with a round of applause.
I had to get a photo of Leonard Herman, Frank Cifaldi, and John Hancock:
Ian Ferguson dropped by after the panel to say hello:
That is the end of post one. Head to post two for a tour of the marketplace and exhibits. Post three features a conclusion, pickups photos, and a postscript with post-expo pickups.
My Twitch “Back After This” game show music cue mixes December 18, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Audio, Game Shows, Livestream, Media, Music, TV.add a comment
Rather than update my Twitch setup post, I’ve made this original post chronicling every cue in my game show music cue mix (mostly from The Price is Right). Per a TXT file compiled from my Adobe Audition multitrack sessions, the mixes currently in rotation are listed below. (NOTES: I tweaked the speed for some of the cues, so they vary from the original links. Not all cues have corresponding links.)
“BACK AFTER THIS” MUSIC CUE MIXES
- TPIRCueMix1 (10:52)
Tennis IUFB Cue (joined after opening note)
Computer IUFB Cue (Cue 71)
Chair/Recliner IUFB Cue (Cue 51)
Cue 89
Clock Cue (1972)
Country Fiddle Cue (Cue 61)
Living/Dining/Bed Room Cue (1) (Cue 87)
Tool IUFB Cue (Cue 26)
Second Thoughts (Most Expensive Cue) - TPIRCueMix2
(10:18)(9:17)
Motorcycle Cue (Cue 59) (careful speech volume leveler)
Cue 79 (edited)
Bhen (TPIR IUFB/Prize Cue) [Version #1]
Cue 19 (22A) (1974)
Bar Set/Ceiling Fan IUFB Cue (Cue 58)
08 Dig We Must - TPIRCueMix3 (11:30)
Grocery Cue (Cue 86)
Grocery Cue ’74
Grocery Cue (Concentration) (Cue 72)
Bhen (Grocery Cue)
Grocery/Small Prize Cue ’72 (2) (Cue 73)
Walking (Grocery/Temptation Cue #3)
Grocery/Keyboard IUFB Cue
Phone Home Game Grocery Cue - TPIRCueMix4 (10:51)
Showcase Cue 1 (Cue 54) (joined after opening note)
Showcase Cue 2 (Cue 56) (joined after opening note)
Calliope Showcase Cue (Family Feud 1994 Vamp)
Every Room in the House (Showcase Cue) (Yep Yep upload)
Family Feud Showcase Car Cue
Showcase Cue ’83
Showcase Cue ’03 (2) (mono) - ConcentrationCueMix1 (11:18)
Concentration 1973-78 Opening Stinger
Classic Concentration Opening Music (faded out early)
Concentration 1973-78 Prize Cue 2
Concentration 1973-78 Prize Cue 5
Classic Concentration Prize Description Music
Concentration 1973-78 Prize Cue 6
Concentration 1973-78 Prize Cue 8 - ConcentrationCueMix2 (11:17)
Concentration 1973-78 Prize Cue 7
Classic Concentration Prize Cue (Piano & Horn)
Concentration 1973-78 Game Win Cue 1
Classic Concentration Game Win Music
Concentration 1973-78 Prize Cue 10
Classic Concentration Puzzle Solve/Car Description Music
Concentration Car Cue (No Leads) (Cue 30)
Classic Concentration Bonus Win Music (see game win link)
Concentration 1973-78 Prize Cue 3
Classic Concentration Closing Theme Music (loops removed) - TPIRCueMix5 (11:34)
Concentration Car Cue (Cue 18)
The Bean Stalker (Car Cue) (joined in progress)
The Big Banana (Car Cue) (joined in progress)ElegantLuxury Car Cue (Temptation Cue #5)
Truck/Van/Jeep Cue (edit) - TPIRCueMix6 (11:49)
21 Splendido!
03 Brioche
Eric (TPIR IUFB Cue) (Version #1)
13 Phaser
Amen, Brother Herbert - TPIRCueMix7 (11:52)
Ticket Plug/Consolation Prize Cue ’72
Ticket Plug/Consolation Prize Cue ’74
Sporting Goods IUFB Cue (Cue 65)
Sewing Machine IUFB Cue (Cue 29) (mono)
Plinko Cue #4 (Cue 62)
Spring Waltz SP (Plinko Cue #1)
Rye Bred
The Cats (PlutoTV Bumper Music) - TPIRCueMix8 (11:32)
Funk Penny Ante Cue (Cue 40)
Amen, Brother Herbert [Flute]
Outdoor/Greenhouse IUFB Cue (Cue 214)
Living/Dining/Bed Room Cue (2) (Cue 78)
Trip Cue ’83
Fortune Hunter/Clearance Sale Cue - TPIRCueMix9 (11:24)
Appliance Cue (Cue 52)
Appliance Cue ’83
Safe Crackers Cue (1995) (careful speech volume leveler)
Make Your Move (Cue 210A) (edit)
Race Game, Buy or Sell, Take Two Cue (edit)
Phone Home Game-Buy or Sell Cue - TPIRCueMix10 (12:13)
Jewelry IUFB Cue (Piano)
Grocery/Temptation Cue #4 (Cue 218A)ElegantLuxury Car Cue (Saxophone)
IUFB ’94/Closed Captioning Cue - TPIRCueMix11 (10:10)
Starcrossed (Credit Card Cue)
Compactor IUFB Cue (Cue 75) (Mono)
Cue 80
Range IUFB Cue (Cue 85) ([carefu] speech volume leveler)
Stemware Cue - TPIRCueMix12 (10:50)
Small Prize Cue ’72 (2) (Cue 0M01) (or Cue 27)
Cue 41
Car Slide
Showcase Cue 3 (Cue 22)
Golden Road Prize #2 (Cue 39)
Temptation Cue #2 (Cue 222) - TPIRCueMix13 (11:57)
Cue 38
Jewelry IUFB Cue
Grocery Cue ’03
Walk of Fame/Closed Captioning Cue
Small Prize Cue ’94
As a bonus, my starting soon/next time Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour cue mix combines these files:
2/8/24 UPDATE: Today, I worked on two more cue mixes – one for Match Game and MGHS, and the other for Wheel of Fortune.
- MatchGameCueMix (10:28)
Think Cue 2
Think Cue 3
Think Cue 4
Think Cue 5
Think Cue (MGHS)
Super Match Think Cue (MGHS)
Ticket Plug/Consolation Prize Cue - WOFCueMix (12:35)
Ticket Plug Cue, 1975
Prize Cue, 1975
Prize Cue, 1983 (Struttin’ on Sunset)
Shopping Cue, 1983 (Nightwalk)
Car Cue, 1987 (Buzzword) (Merv Griffin’s Crosswords Theme)
WoF – 1989-92 Opening Theme (100% CLEAN)
2/16/24 UPDATE: Another two music cue mixes have been added, but these are random and not tied to one show. The cues and themes are for Price, Concentration, Wheel, Family Feud, Hollywood Squares, Password Plus, Super Password, and Press Your Luck.
- RandomGameShowCueMix1 (12:07)
Family Feud – Intro/Faceoff Cue (1976)
Hollywood Squares Theme – Opening (1986)
TPIR – Temptation Cue #1
Family Feud – Ticket Plug/Faceoff Cue (1976)
Concentration 1973-78 Prize Cue 11
TPIR – Showcase Cue 1 (No Leads) (Cue 53)
TPIR – Showcase Cue 2 (No Leads) (Cue 32)
TPIR – Oriental Rug Cue (Concentration) (Cue 70)
TPIR – Ceiling Fan/Pool Table/Bar Set Cue (1983) - RandomGameShowCueMix2 (12:04)
Password Plus Theme
The Feud (Family Feud Main Theme) (1976-85)
Press Your Luck (1983-1986) – Extended Closing Theme
Super Password Theme
Wheel of Fortune – Prize Cue, 1983 (Country Samba)
3/6/24 UPDATE: This morning, I added the 20th cue mix; the 14th of all Price is Right cues.
- TPIRCueMix14 (11:37)
Refrigerator/Freezer IUFB Cue
Jewelry/Gold IUFB Cue (Cue 77)
Luggage/Train Set IUFB Cue (Cue 74)
IUFB Cue ’72 (2) (Cue 34) (Moog-40)
Chair/Recliner IUFB Cue 2
IUFB Cue ’72 (1) (Cue 67)
Cue 35
Grocery/Small Prize Cue ’72 (1)
Artwork IUFB Cue
IUFB Cue ’72 (3)
Bhen (Electronics IUFB Cue)
12/28/24 UPDATE: I added a WCBS Newsradio 88 jingle demo shortly after the format switch in August.
21. wcbsradiopackage-morethanjusttheheadlines-adjoined2 (10:43) (Edited from package posted to Don Swaim’s tribute site)
And tonight, I made a mix of game show themes:
22. RandomGameShowThemeMix (11:41)
Card Sharks 1978-81 Theme
To Tell the Truth Theme (1980)
Body Language Theme
The All-New Let’s Make a Deal Theme (1984-86)
Hollywood Squares Theme (1986)
Card Sharks 1986-89 Theme (slowed down to original speed)
4/17/25 UPDATE: After Wink Martindale died, I found a set of music cues from Tic-Tac-Dough. I made an edit that ends before the trip description cues. (Replaced with edited version on 11/10/25.)
23. Tic-Tac-Dough Music Set (without gaps) (no trip cues) (edit) (10:37)
Descriptions are taken from the YouTube video’s description:
Opening theme
Closing theme (loops removed)
Short Trumpet Cue
Contestant Introduction Cue
Regular Game Win Cue
Longer Game Win Cue used when a contestant wins a car with every 5 games (edited out)
Shorter Version of Regular game Win Cue in a higher key signature
Think Music Cue for extra time on center box category as they were always two part questions to earn that center box which Wink Martindale always called them a two-parter
Bonus Game (Beat The Dragon) Win Cue which is also the same as the Win Cue used when a contestant wins a car with every 5 games except that it plays once instead of twice
Bonus Game (Beat The Dragon) Cue when a contestant comes on over to play their Bonus Game (Beat The Dragon)
Consolation Prize Cue
Car Description Cue
Contestant Ticket Plug Cue
Bonus Game (Beat The Dragon) Prize Cue 1
Bonus Game (Beat The Dragon) Prize Cue 2
Bonus Game (Beat The Dragon) Prize Cue 3
Bonus Game (Beat The Dragon) Prize Cue 4
Bonus Game (Beat The Dragon) Prize Cue 5
4/29/25 UPDATE: I added a 24th mix yesterday with a Jeopardy! theme. (Replaced with edited version after 11/13/25 stream.)
24. JeopardyMusicMix-Edit (8:34)
1978-79 Opening Theme – Jeopardy! (“January February March”)
Wheel of Fortune – Prize Cue, 1983 (“Frisco Disco”) (1978-79 Jeopardy commercial/closing cue)Jeopardy – 1992-1997 (via Internet Archive)
1997-2001 Theme Song – Jeopardy!
Rock & Roll Jeopardy theme song (via Internet Archive)
8/25/25 UPDATE: I neglected to note the addition of four recycled cue mixes. I made them since I rarely take breaks long enough to hear the cues below.
25. RecycledCueMix1 (8:13)
Second Thoughts (Most Expensive Cue)
Phone Home Game Grocery Cue
08 Dig We Must
Showcase Cue ’03 (2) (mono)
26. RecycledCueMix2 (8:56)
Concentration 1973-78 Prize Cue 8
Classic Concentration Closing Theme Music (loops removed)
Amen, Brother Herbert
Truck-Van-Jeep Cue (edit)
27. RecycledCueMix3 (8:18)
The Cats (PlutoTV Bumper Music)
Race Game, Buy or Sell, Take Two Cue (edit)
Fortune Hunter-Clearance Sale Cue
Temptation Cue #2 (Cue 222)
28. RecycledCueMix4 (10:48)
Ticket Plug/Consolation Prize Cue (Match Game)
WoF – 1989-92 Opening Theme (100% CLEAN)
TPIR – Ceiling Fan/Pool Table/Bar Set Cue (1983)
Bhen (Electronics IUFB Cue)
Wheel of Fortune – Prize Cue, 1983 (Country Samba)
11/9/25 UPDATE: I’m up to 29 cue mixes, 5 of which are recycled cue mixes. (First two cues swapped on 11/15/25.)
29. RecycledCueMix5 (9:03)
Trip Cue ’83 (careful speech volume leveler)
Car Cue, 1987 (Buzzword) (Merv Griffin’s Crosswords Theme)
Make Your Move (Cue 210A) (edit)
Super Password Theme
11/14/25 UPDATE:
30. RecycledCueMix6 (8:06)Elegant Luxury Car Cue (Temptation Cue #5)
Spring Waltz SP (Plinko Cue #1)
Living-Dining-Bed Room Cue (1) (Cue 87)
Family Feud Showcase Car Cue
Instrumental Invasion, 11/16/23: 60-year musical journey, 1963-2023 November 17, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Computer, Football, Game Shows, Internet, Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Livestream, Media, Music, Personal, Radio, smooth jazz, Sports, Technology, TV, Video.add a comment
This edition of Instrumental Invasion started out as a regular Wednesday night show that I assumed would air after a short programming hiatus (one or two weeks) for WCWP. I guessed wrong. Thus, this was reworked as a Thursday night show. References to “this week” were removed and the intro and outro were redone to acknowledge the impending demise.
Rather than have my last six shows run on The Wave, station manager Pete Bellotti arranged for this show and the next one to air on consecutive nights, hours before the renovation programming hiatus was to begin. This meant I was on three nights in a row: November 15 to 17, all in the regular 9PM slot.
The playlist was created on October 4 and annotated from October 13 to 15. The script was drafted on the 15th, 17th, and 18th.
Recording began on November 4, during my second-ever Twitch livestream. It was an opportunity let viewers in on the process, though few cared to watch live. I worked on the first hour over the course of a two-hour stream. Then, I raided out to music streamer Cerian (kerry-anne). (Twitch doesn’t have a radio category, so I chose music and felt I should raid a fellow music streamer.) I was giddy (as in Biddy) to raid her because I’d been meaning to give her streams a try. I promised I would play the instrumental version of her song “Wrong Side” in my last show, which I assumed would be 186. More on that in the finale recap.
Livestream clips:
- Making a train-whistle motion while backselling “Dazzling” by Casiopea
- Using Game Dave emotes after playing his liner between songs, then imitating one of his sound commands
- The raid out to Cerian
The first segment of hour 2 was recorded on November 5 and the rest on the morning of the 6th. I was over a minute beyond my desired 1:49:00 threshold, but with legal IDs and spot breaks, I’d still end before 11PM.
As noted earlier, pickups were recorded on the evening of the 6th, but only after reinstating backups of segment session files. Thinking I was moving to The Wave, I recorded a tag to play in place of all FM references in liners, then I saved and exported those files accordingly.
David Benoit‘s cover of “Song for My Father” was first played on July 1, 2020, but not with the lengthy origin story. I ended up hooked on a video YouTube recommended of the Horace Silver Quintet playing “Song for My Father” on Danish TV in April 1968:
That, in turn, sent me down a Billy Cobham rabbit hole, culminating in this August 2016 Drumeo presentation:
Click here to download the penultimate scoped aircheck or listen below:
2023 Long Island Retro Gaming Expo recap: conclusion and pickups September 1, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Aviation, Baseball, Books, Education, Football, Game Shows, Golf, History, Hockey, Internet, Japanese, Language, Media, Personal, Photography, Sports, Technology, Travel, Video, Video Games.add a comment
If you haven’t seen them yet, read the first post here and second post here.
Sunday, August 13
After my last Long Island Retro Gaming Expo panel of the weekend, I made my way to the vendor marketplace and searched for games I didn’t have that were $20 or less. I bargained with each vendor, only spending close to $200. That’s the least I’ve spent since my first year (2017). The bulk of my purchases were for the Nintendo Entertainment System, my first video game console.
Satisfied, I exited the Cradle of Aviation Museum and waited for my mom to pick me up.
Exiting 
The opposite view from the establishing shot in post 1 
Cumulus clouds against the clear blue, sunny sky 
The American flag (I captioned the other two, so why not this?) 
My bag of combined pickups, led by the infamous Deadly Towers; I finally got it
Monday, August 14 and beyond
My attempt to make up for Saturday night’s severe storm-shortened sleep was unsuccessful. I woke up early Monday morning after five or six hours of sleep. Then, I went outside to look at the stars.
Back inside, as the sun rose, I unpacked the pickups from my paper bag and photographed them.
We’ll start with merchandise (and my badges):
- Pat Contri: CU Podcast pin, Pixelated Pat pin
- John Riggs: Ghostbusters Special Edition ROM hack
- Leonard Herman: ABC to the VCS: A Director of Software for the Atari 2600, Bill Kunkel‘s Confessions of the Game Doctor
- Mark W. Baer (gifted from him): copies of his father Ralph H. Baer‘s patent and of the Magnavox Odyssey licensing agreement between Magnavox, Atari and Sanders Associates
The front of the badges:
12 games for Nintendo Entertainment System:
- Athletic World (for Family Fun Fitness Pad/Power Pad)
- Cybernoid: The Fighting Machine
- Dance Aerobics (for Family Fun Fitness Pad/Power Pad)
- Deadly Towers
- Demon Sword
- Ms. Pac-Man (licensed release by Namco)
- Roger Clemens’ MVP Baseball
- Short Order/Eggsplode! (for Family Fun Fitness Pad/Power Pad)
- Star Voyager
- Strider
- Xenophobe
- Yoshi
Now, I have an NES Yoshi to go with the Game Boy version I’ve had since childhood. The Power Pad games and Star Voyager were the subjects of early Pat the NES Punk episodes (including one with Alison).
“Power Pad Fun!”, Part 1:
Part 2:
Deadly Towers got the Angry Video Game Nerd treatment (via fans’ script submissions):
Two for Super Nintendo:
The TV ads at launch tempted me into getting SimCity, but I never did. I haven’t even seen Judge Dredd the film.
Two Nintendo 64 games:
Another game show game for my collection – Jeopardy! for Nintendo DS:
One self-explanatory 3DS title – Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS:
Wrongly assuming the 3DS and Wii U Super Smash Bros. games were the same, I only bought for Wii U when I started collecting for the two consoles in 2017 (there’s that year again). Prior to LI Retro, I saw a Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Video Games video that set me straight (Japanese with English subtitles):
Good thing I found a copy from a vendor, eliminating the need to buy from Amazon.
And lastly, my first Sega CD game – Joe Montana’s NFL Football:
To quote the infamous TV ad (parodied here), I “still don’t have a Sega CD,” but after buying my first game Sunday afternoon, I bought 12 more games on eBay between Monday morning and Wednesday night. This included eight from four-game lots, and two Sonic CD variants. The complete list (in order of appearance):
- Lot 1: Ground Zero: Texas, Links: The Challenge of Golf, NFL’s Greatest: San Francisco vs. Dallas 1978-1993, Prize Fighter
- NHL ’94
- Sonic CD (not for resale pack-in)
- Lot 2: Ecco: The Tides of Time, Jeopardy!, NBA Jam, Tomcat Alley
- Mad Dog McCree
- Stellar-Fire
- Sonic CD (retail)
All the games on the shelf
Thank you for taking this photographic journey through the 2023 Long Island Retro Gaming Expo. Until next year.
2023 Long Island Retro Gaming Expo recap: introduction, guests, panels September 1, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Audio, Aviation, Books, Computer, Education, Game Shows, History, Internet, Media, Personal, Photography, Podcast, Radio, Technology, Travel, TV, Video, Video Games.add a comment
Feel free to skip ahead to the second post (touring the expo) or third post (conclusion and pickups).
Introduction
The weekend of August 12 and 13 marked my fifth year at Long Island Retro Gaming Expo, held in the Cradle of Aviation Museum, situated along Museum Row in East Garden City. This is LI Retro’s second year as a three-day event, running from 4PM Friday through 5PM Sunday. Again, I opted to skip Friday and just go Saturday and Sunday. I had to last year since I used my ticket for the postponed 2020 expo, but I saved money this year by purchasing a three-day ticket. I would have gone Friday if I lived within walking distance or had a car of my own.
When LI Retro’s schedule was published a few weeks before the event, I planned my days around panels, three per day. I also hoped to catch musical performances, but time would not allow that. I did not allow myself to buy games from vendors until after the last panel on Sunday.
I brought my Canon EOS R7 (and compatible speedlite, which didn’t cooperate) along with a TASCAM DR-05 audio recorder. While panels would be posted online, I wanted personal recordings to hold me over in the meantime. As of this writing, I have yet to listen, let alone edit out the beginnings and ends.
I hoped not to go overboard with photography, which means I did. A whopping 831 photos (466 Saturday, 366 Sunday) were taken with the R7 at LI Retro, plus four on my iPhone 13 Pro. I spent a week and a half editing them all, spreading out 563 of them in three blog posts. (I couldn’t possibly cram them all in one.)
This first post contains the introduction you’re reading now, photos with guests, photos from the six panels I saw, and relevant links and media embeds.
We start with an establishing exterior shot taken Sunday morning:
Guest table photos
It was fun catching up with guests and staff that I’ve seen before, and meeting new guests for the first time.
Leonard Herman (right) and Mark W. Baer (left), middle child of videogame pioneer Ralph H. Baer:
Mark gifted me with copies of his father Ralph’s patent and of the Magnavox Odyssey licensing agreement between Magnavox, Atari and Sanders Associates. From Leonard, I bought his book ABC to the VCS: A Director of Software for the Atari 2600 and Bill Kunkel‘s Confessions of the Game Doctor. Each book was published by Leonard’s Rolenta Press company.
Leonard and Mark with Patrick Wong:
Me and Jeff:
LI Retro staff member Ryan Shapiro posed with Mark Baer prior to Sunday’s panel:
Me and John Riggs:
I bought another Genesis ROM hack cartridge from John’s table this year, but not one he made.
Pat Contri (a.k.a. Pat the NES Punk) and Ian Ferguson:
I congratulated Pat for 15 years on YouTube, and he and Ian on a decade of the CU Podcast. We talked about cameras, the upcoming N64 entry in Pat’s Ultimate Nintendo book series, and my merch purchases. (I also apologized for how my podcast panel question trailed off at the end. [SPOILER])
Sunday morning, Pat was interviewed by Margaret Sykes of WRHU, radio station for nearby Hofstra University:
She then spoke to Leonard and Mark:
Adam’s table had prototype consoles and a signed copy of Shenmue II:
Frank Cifaldi spoke to Lenny and Mark before his panel, my first of the weekend:
John Riggs talking to attendees:
John’s LI Retro vlog:
Travis McGeehan (TIKevin83) and the TASBot:
On to panel photos and relevant links, including video and/or audio.
Saturday Panel 1, 11AM-12PM:
Frank Cifaldi
Adventures in Saving Video Game History
After the panel, I ended up part of a conversation with Frank and fellow archivist Jason Scott. (I had no idea I was in the presence of greatness until a Google search Sunday morning.)
A selfie with Jason (sans top hat) and Frank:
Saturday Panel 2, 2PM-3PM
Pat Contri and Ian Ferguson
CU Podcast Special 2
Podcast audio out of the way, including my question:
The not-rare Black Tiger cabinet (in reference to this):
And the podcast videos:
While waiting to ask a question, I noticed my friend Daniel Greenberg of Winterion Game Studios in the audience with his wife Alex. I whispered hello and we spoke more after the panel. It turns out Daniel and Alex had visited LIU Post earlier in the day. As you’ll see in the photo Alex took, I was wearing a Post polo on Saturday:
Saturday Panel 3, 3:30-4:30 PM:
G Gracin
Growing Up Genesis with G to the Next Level (streamed live on Twitch)
Watch the Twitch stream VOD here.
G and me:
I tried to go to sleep early Saturday night, but I was wired from the long and exciting day I had. I figure I got four hours of sleep before being jolted awake by a severe thunderstorm just before 3AM. The peak came at 3:13 with two close (and loud) lightning strikes. Thankfully, conditions mellowed after that, though sleep was impossible. I got some editing done and prepped for a return to Cradle of Aviation at 10AM. Somehow, Lenny, Mark, Patrick, Pat, and my parents all slept through the storm.
Sunday morning was when Margaret Sykes conducted her interviews, and where I spoke to her about WRHU general manager John Mullen’s recent induction to the WCWP Hall of Fame.
Sunday Panel 1, 11AM-12PM:
Adam Koralik, Evil Rob Thanos, Sunshine (from Adam’s Discord)
Talking Console Prototypes: Sega Pluto (and hard drives), Atari Jaguar “Hot Rod” Dental Unit, Sony PlayStation Debugging Station, Nintendo GameCube NR Reader
Relevant videos:
Finally, panel photos:
While working on this post, I joined Adam’s aforementioned Discord. I was welcomed with open arms and given the nickname Mike Camera. I like it!
It’s where I found Squishchin’s LI Retro vlog:
10/11 UPDATE: Watch Adam’s travelogue on his second channel, Flying & Eating with Adam Koralik:
Sunday Panel 2, 12:30 PM-1:30 PM:
Frank Cifaldi and Rachel Simone Weil
Unraveling Nintendo’s Most Elusive Lost Hardware: The Nintendo Knitting Machine
Sunday Panel 3, 2PM-3PM:
Leonard Herman and Mark W. Baer
The Life, Time and Influence of Ralph H. Baer, The Father of Videogames
As noted in last year’s recap, Lenny grew to be like a surrogate son to Ralph. You can see the brotherly love between Lenny and Mark in many of the photos below.
This concludes post one. Click here for post two or here for post three.
Instrumental Invasion, 5/17/23: More Three-of-a-Kind Showcases! May 18, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Animation, Audio, City Pop, Comedy, Game Shows, Internet, Jazz, Media, Personal, Radio, TV, Video.add a comment
The May 17 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was the sequel to February 8’s theme week, containing six more Three-of-a-Kind Showcases and more Bob Barker era Price is Right references (Fremantle’s Barker era YouTube channel). The show was recorded and mixed entirely on March 15, but I had to do pickups on the 16th.
The playlist was created on March 9 with annotations on the 11th. The talk break script was drafted up to the top of hour 2 on March 14 and completed between recording sessions on the 15th.
Let’s get the scoped aircheck out of the way before all the background info:
The line “I wouldn’t think of it” while back-selling “Unthinkable” by Casiopea referred to a scene in Futurama episode 2ACV03, “A Head in the Polls.” Here is the relevant portion from the transcript:
Morbo: Morbo demands an answer to the following question: If you saw delicious candy in the hands of a small child, would you seize and consume it?
Johnson: Unthinkable.
Jackson: I wouldn’t think of it.
Morbo: What about you, Mr. Nixon? I remind you, you are under a truth-o-scope.
[The truth-o-scope hovers over Nixon’s head and he starts to sweat.]
Nixon: Uh, well, I, uh … the question is-is vague. You don’t say what kind of candy, whether anyone is watching or, uh…
[He clears his throat.]
At any rate, I certainly wouldn’t harm the child.
[The truth-o-scope beeps.]
Maurice LaMarche as Morbo, John DiMaggio as Jack Johnson and John Jackson (same voice for each), Billy West as Richard Nixon’s Head
Aside from that, there were many Bob Barkerisms in my talk breaks, such as the way I teased the next segment, and the “Sir John, who cometh from the flock…?” shtick with announcer Johnny Olson. Examples can be found at the start of these two videos:
I channeled Johnny and Rod Roddy with the “something for every room in the house!” bit leading into the Fourplay and Ken Navarro showcases. I was going to end the show with a Marc Antoine Three-of-a-Kind Showcase, but my signed copy of Ken’s Love is Everywhere CD arrived on March 9. Thus, an opportunity arose to end on a new recording.
This time, four songs were retreads (again, listed in order of appearance):
- “Avenida del Mar” by The Rippingtons (6/2/21)
- “Can’t Tell You Why” by Brian Simpson (4/22/20)
- “So Many Ways” by Brian Simpson (8/11/21)
- “Tried and True” by Dan Siegel (12/8/21)
And The Price is Right music cues I used were (italics are not in the video title):
- Showcase Cue 2 (Cue 56)
- Showcase Cue (Play It Again Stan)
- Every Room in the House Cue
- Showcase Cue ’03 [1]
- Calliope Showcase Cue (Family Feud 1994 Vamp)
- Bopsa Moog
- Main Theme
For the first time in the show’s Wednesday night history, I went more than a week – two weeks – without a David Benoit song. That’s still only seven weeks out of 163. He will definitely be back next week.
Audiobooking 8 March 24, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Animation, Audiobooks, Basketball, Comedy, Film, Game Shows, Golf, History, Media, Music, News, Personal, Podcast, Politics, Radio, Rock, Sports, Technology, Theatre, TV, Video Games.add a comment
It’s time for the annual “audiobooking” post. Most are visible in the thumbnail, but here are all the audiobooks (with links) that I’ve listened to on Audible since post #7 last year:
- Thanks a Lot, Mr. Kibblewhite: My Story by Roger Daltrey
- All About Me! My Remarkable Life in Show Business by Mel Brooks
- The Kid Stays in the Picture by Robert Evans (1930-2019)
- Killing the Killers: The Secret War Against Terrorists by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard (read by Robert Petkoff)
- I Am C-3PO: The Inside Story by Anthony Daniels with J.J. Abrams (foreword written and read by J.J., otherwise read by Anthony; “th” pronounced like a “t”)
- Out of the Corner: A Memoir by Jennifer Grey
- Directed by James Burrows: Five Decades of Stories from the Legendary Director of Taxi, Cheers, Frasier, Friends, Will & Grace, and More; written by James Burrows with Eddy Friedfeld (foreword by Glen and Les Charles, read by Danny Campbell; otherwise read by Jimmy) – previously referenced on 9/14/22 Instrumental Invasion
- Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark by Cassandra Peterson (“cassahndra”)
- Priceless Memories by Bob Barker with Digby Diehl (read by Bob; credits read by Robert Petkoff!) – I already have this as a CD set, but I wanted the Audible treatment
- Cheech is Not My Real Name…But Don’t Call Me Chong! by Cheech Marin
- May You Live in Interesting Times: A Memoir by Laraine Newman – previously referenced on 12/7/22 Instrumental Invasion
- Laugh Lines: My Life Helping Funny People Be Funnier by Alan Zweibel (foreword written and read by Billy Crystal, otherwise read by Alan)
- Hello, Molly! A Memoir by Molly Shannon with Sean Wilsey (read by Molly)
- I’m Still a 10-Year-Old Boy: Revised and Edited by Nancy Cartwright – includes audio clips, notably of voice over lessons with Daws Butler
- Wish It Lasted Forever: Life with the Larry Bird Celtics by Dan Shaughnessy – Dan did impressions of Bird and various players when reading their quotes. His Bill Walton impression inspired me to pick up…
- Back from the Dead: Searching for the Sound, Shining the Light, and Throwing It Down by Bill Walton
- Killing the Legends: The Lethal Danger of Celebrity by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard (read by Robert Petkoff) – chronicles the lives and final days of Elvis Presley, John Lennon, and Muhammad Ali
- Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me by Ralph Macchio
- Where’s My Fortunate Cookie? My Psychic, Psurrealistic Pstory by The Firesign Theatre‘s Phil Proctor with Brad Schreiber (read by Phil) – includes clips from various Firesign recordings, updates exclusive to the audiobook via Phil’s podcast
- Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry
- I Must Say: My Humble Life as a Comedy Legend by Martin Short – includes Marty as his many characters, rendition of his Christmas party song with Marc Shaiman
- A Life in Parts by Brian Cranston
- The Gospel According to Luke by Steve Lukather with Paul Rees (read by Luke with exclusive ad-libs)
- Face the Music: A Life Exposed by Paul Stanley
- I got halfway through an audiobook by a New Jersey-based musician and actor who was part of a long-running HBO drama. Then, the author launched into a long political dissertation. I returned my credit and moved on to…
- Disrupting the Game: From the Bronx to the Top of Nintendo by Reggie Fils-Aimé (“feese-ah-may”) – main audiobook is followed by off-the-cuff conversion with video game journalist Geoff Keighley
- I only lasted five minutes or so on an audiobook about the media until it became clear this would mostly contain interview excerpts from the author’s podcast. So, I returned that credit.
- Straight Shooter: A Memoir of Second Chances and First Takes by Stephen A. Smith
- So Help Me Golf: Why We Love the Game by Rick Reilly – a collection of golf-themed essays
That’s a total of 27 audiobooks (two co-written by O’Reilly, one wholly by Reilly), plus two returns. Everything from I’m a Still a 10-Year-Old Boy through Face the Music was purchased in October while Audible steeply discounted their catalog. Since then, I only use Audible credits on audiobooks over $14.95, the monthly membership fee. Of course, if I buy three credits for $35.88, then I’ll buy anything over $11.96.
Next year’s “audiobooking” post will be the ninth overall, but the tenth anniversary. Until then, happy listening.
5/26/24 UPDATE: I can no longer commit time to these “Audiobooking” blog posts. So, last year’s eighth post is the final post. Thank you for following my journey through audiobooks over the past decade.
My city pop discovery (and reacquaintance with Garfield and Friends) March 5, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Animation, City Pop, Comedy, Comics, Film, Game Shows, Health, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Phone, Pop, Radio, Technology, Travel, TV, Video, Video Games, Weather.2 comments
NOTE 1: This is also a Garfield and Friends story with several montages among the city pop material. Those montages led me to city pop.
NOTE 2: I consulted my computer audio recordings of the Garfield and Friends DVDs to ensure the video embed caption quotes are verbatim.
NOTE 3: I even spend a paragraph on The Weather Channel tribute site TWC Classics, a simulator that re-creates the old local forecasts, and recently departed announcer Dan Chandler who lent his narration to the sim.
Nearly 50 years ago, Japan’s economy was booming and a new leisure class developed. That leisure class begat a new Japanese pop music genre, borrowing elements of various Western music genres. They called it city pop. What began in the 1970s, peaked in popularity in the ’80s, then fell out of the Japanese mainstream.
City pop found a new Western audience in the 2010s thanks to blog posts like mine (but earlier), Japanese reissues of the genre’s albums, and YouTube uploads of the albums’ tracks. From a 2023 perspective, I give YouTube most of the credit. Today, it is the best city pop recruitment tool.
The rest of this post is about how I discovered city pop and recounts my first nine days as a fan. If you want to read more about the genre and its resurgence, I recommend Cat Zhang’s 2021 Pitchfork article and Wikipedia’s city pop entry.
On February 19, YouTube recommended a video with random clips from my favorite cartoon series, Garfield and Friends:
Jim Davis created the Garfield comic strip and CBS TV specials, but Mark Evanier (with Sharman DiVono for three seasons) spun comedy gold on CBS Saturday mornings from 1988 to 1994 (the last rerun aired in ’95). I can quote parts of episodes or even whole episodes. So, when watching the above clips, I knew what happened next.
The next Garfield and Friends clip in my recommendations came on February 20:
The evening of February 21 was my city pop entry point, but we’re not there yet. The prelude to the entry was this:
Full disclosure: I met Jim Davis at a signing in March 1995, but I was too shy and just had him sign a sketch. And I interviewed Jon Arbuckle voice actor Thom Huge (HUE-ghee) three times for The Mike Chimeri Show. (In retrospect, I would have held off on the first interview until his voice was back to normal.)
The Jon Arbuckle montage led YouTube to recommend this:
Whoa! What is that song that sounds vaguely like “Burnin’ Up the Carnival” by Joe Sample (from Voices in the Rain)? I scrolled down and saw the song was “4:00 A.M.” by Taeko Onuki (or Ohnuki). I searched Google on my iPhone and the Taeko’s Wikipedia entry (linked in the previous sentence) and found the song. That prompted the YouTube app where I heard the whole thing:
Whoa again, it appeared on an album with the last name of a few of my friends, but with an extra N. Lyrics are here.
1:30 PM UPDATE: A member of the My Life in Gaming Discord server told me the album title was part of Taeko’s fascination with French media, which I confirmed after a Google Search yielded this 2017 interview. Still, Mignonne is one letter off from my friends of Italian descent.
3:10 PM UPDATE: I just finished reading the interview linked in the prior update. It was an interesting read, but I was disappointed to learn Taeko did not like Mignonne because of what transpired during production. The resulting disenchantment, and poor sales, made her take a two-year hiatus from the music industry. Anyway, back to the good stuff.
Taeko’s Wikipedia entry led me to the one on city pop. That’s what I heard and I wanted more.
I could not stop listening to “4:00 A.M.” Ironically, it kept me up past midnight, but not as late as 4AM. I was up at 4AM on March 4 when I drafted this blog post thanks to a period of strong easterly winds that buffeted my bedroom window. The song’s refrain may sound vaguely like the later “Burnin’ Up the Carnival,” but the song otherwise had more in common with the works of Bob James and Grover Washington Jr. The line “ima o” was phrased like “that’s the time” in “Feel Like Makin’ Love” by Roberta Flack, which Bob played on and then covered. The guitar solo on the ending breakdown sounded like it came from Eric Gale‘s hands. (It was from Tsunehide Matsuki‘s hands.) I have repeatedly imagined Grover Washington himself covering “4:00 A.M.” on alto saxophone, soloing (improvising) from the last refrain, through the breakdown, all the way to the end.
I should probably acknowledge that I am on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum, formerly known as Asperger Syndrome. That probably explains my intense focus on one thing or another, and attention to detail.
I was busy with radio show production on February 22, but “4:00 A.M.” was in the back of my mind and I was intent on extracting the audio and assigning the WAV file to a vintage Weather Channel local forecast flavor in my WeatherStar 4000 simulator. Now, I could hear all but the last 36 seconds with the current conditions and forecast, peppered with Dan Chandler’s re-created narrations. (I was in touch with Dan for a few weeks midway through my tenure at WGBB, and he even called in while I was playing a song. I didn’t put him on, but relayed what we talked about, including “reading the sports pages” as he listened to the live stream. After writing that sentence, I’m sorry to learn that he passed away on February 7 [obituary].) The simulator was already populated by music cues from The Price is Right and adjacent Goodson–Todman game shows. See the February 15 Instrumental Invasion recap for more on that obsession.
While my “4:00 A.M.” obsession continued, YouTube had more city pop recommendations, including a modern music video for Mariya Takeuchi‘s “Plastic Love“:
Oh, and another Jon Arbuckle montage:
As the “Plastic Love” video wound down, I pretended to be Dan Ingram back-selling the song, quipping that it was better than polyurethane love.
My vocal city pop discoveries halted for the next few days when I found a city pop creation befitting my love of instrumental music: jazz fusion supergroup Casiopea!
First, I found “Midnight Rendezvous“:
Then, “Eyes of the Mind” before the “the” was added:
Groups like Casiopea and T-Square (formerly The Square) have influenced generations of video game music composers.
I woke up on February 23 after a full night’s sleep and was greeted with two more Jon Arbuckle videos:
As I listened to my radio show aircheck from the night before, I began extracting audio from whatever Casiopea albums were on YouTube (mostly via their “topics” channel), provided the cover art available online was clear and at least 1500×1500 pixels. If AI upscaling in Adobe Photoshop yielded poor results, I’d buy the CD myself and scan the artwork. That’s what I did for Flowers (1996), but I bought Euphony (1988) because it wasn’t on YouTube. I will eventually buy the actual CDs, but given the inflated import prices, collection take a while. Here’s what I do have:
- Casiopea (5/25/79) (Alfa)
- Super Flight (11/25/79) (Alfa)
- Thunder Live (4/21/80) (Alfa)
- Make Up City (11/21/80) (Alfa)
- Eyes of the Mind (4/21/81) (Alfa) – featuring the aforementioned Bob James
- Cross Point (10/21/81) (Alfa)
- Mint Jams (5/21/82) (Alfa)
- 4×4 Four by Four (12/16/82) (Alfa)
- Photographs (4/23/83) (Alfa)
- Jive Jive (11/30/83) (Alfa)
- The Soundgraphy (4/25/84) (compilation album) (Alfa) – I have the title track, the lone original recording
- Down Upbeat (10/25/84) (Alfa)
- Halle (9/10/85) (Alfa)
- Casiopea Live (9/25/85) (Alfa)
- Sun Sun (9/10/86) (Alfa)
- Euphony (4/25/88) (Polydor/Aura) – the CD reissue I have includes “Halle” from Casiopea Perfect Live II (7/10/87) as a bonus track
- Full Colors (5/25/91) (Pioneer)
- Dramatic (5/21/93) (Alfa)
- Answers (5/25/94) (Alfa)
- Asian Dreamer (12/16/94) (Pony Canyon)
- Freshness (5/19/95) (Pony Canyon)
- Flowers (9/20/96) (Pony Canyon)
- Light and Shadows (9/3/97) (Pony Canyon)
- Material (5/19/99) (Pony Canyon)
- Ta•Ma•Te Box (11/20/13) (Hats Unlimited) (CD tracks only)
- A•So•Bo (4/22/15) (Hats Unlimited) (CD tracks only)
- New Topics (10/12/22) (Hats Unlimited)
I’m still working my way through the albums chronologically in my spare time. Flowers is gradually on its way from a Japan Discogs markeplace seller, so I jumped from Freshness to Light and Shadows. That’s where I am as of publication on March 5. (I got in eight hours of sleep the night before.)
The last item in this post’s Casiopea segment is T2norway‘s video profile of them, preceded by his city pop story:
The night of February 23, YouTube recommended two more Garfield and Friends videos. One was yet another montage:
And the other was a series review by Nostalgia Critic, played by Doug Walker (who was born the same day as me!):
I was let down by his critiques of certain characters and the animation style, not to mention his disdain for U.S. Acres. Nonetheless, I respect his dissent.
My city pop discoveries resumed on the night of February 25, related to “Plastic Love.” Leading off, a Super Famicom/Nintendo rendition:
That was followed by the infamous long version of the Mariya Takeuchi original (lyrics):
(As of March 13, the video was taken down. In the long version, one verse repeated and the ending chorus was extended, exemplified below.)
Since I was watching in a web browser, I saw recommendations on the right side of the tab. The one that caught me eye was an English version of “Plastic Love”:
The singer-songwriter was Caitlin Myers, also a voice actress with a focus in anime and video games. She has two YouTube channels: one in her name and one called Interlunium. I was unaware of the scope of her work as I watched this first video. (3/31 UPDATE 1: Interlunium is a virtual idol group where Caitlin portrays Junko.) (3/31 UPDATE 2: Caitlin’s version of “Plastic Love” was reworked with original instrumentation and new vocals for her 2021 compilation, City Poppin’.)
More city pop discoveries came way on February 26. Figuratively waiting at the door to this new day was “Mayonaka no Door* (Stay with Me)” by the late Miki Matsubara, recorded when she was just 19 (lyrics):
*”Door” is lyrically transliterated “doa.” The full term means “midnight’s door (literally, door of midnight).” In another ironic twist, there were nights after discovering this song when I’d be awake around midnight as the refrain bounced around in my head. Sometimes, I imagined a fast tempo, “Spain“-esque Chick Corea version with a Minimoog solo. Others, I thought of McCoy Tyner.
Sure enough, Caitlin Myers wrote an English version of this, too:
Incidentally, I added both versions of “Plastic Love” and “Mayonaka no Door (Stay with Me)” to the WS4000 simulator, again using the five-minute local forecast flavor.
Knocking on afternoon’s door was the biggest discovery yet: Caitlin covered “4:00 A.M.”!
My city pop journey had seemingly come full circle. Now, I had English versions of the first three vocal city pop songs I discovered to complement the originals.
The Garfield and Friends video journey definitely came to end on the morning of February 28 with this video showing one second of each episode from show (or rather from each cartoon in each episode):
However, there was more city pop to be had that afternoon. Other Caitlin Myers English adaptations were in my YouTube feed, and I felt I had to hear the originals before listening to hers.
“Do You Remember Love?” was adapted from its directly-translated Japanese title, “Ai Oboete Imasu ka.” Sung by Mari Iijima, it underscored the intense climax to the 1984 film, Macross: Do You Remember Love? I foolishly watched that sequence on YouTube instead of a straight recording of the song, unable to unsee or unhear any of it. (And I thought Disney villain deaths were rough.)
Lucky for you, the reader, I found a straight recording (lyrics):
And the Caitlin Myers version:
3/13/23 UPDATE: “Do You Remember Love?” was J-pop rather than city pop, illustrating how songs from the subgenre led me to ones from the main genre.
“Dance in the Memories” was next, written and performed by Meiko Nakahara (lyrics):
Caitlin’s turn:
Closing out my first week in city pop, “Telephone Number” by Junko Ohashi (lyrics):
I had to make a 3-minute, 30-second local forecast flavor to accommodate the song’s 3:58 run time (3:59 for Caitlin).
As a suburban New Yorker, I like Magical‘s cover art of Lower Manhattan featuring the original World Trade Center. I passed by One World Trade Center in 2014 while running the Tunnel to Towers 5K.
The hook – “ah-uu, 5-6-7-oh-9” – brought two things to mind:
- “Ah-uu”: “Werewolves of London” by Warren Zevon – of course, that’s “a-hoo,” not “ah-uu.”
- “5-6-7-oh-9” (56709): Foreshadowing SMS!
Musically, Caitlin did a masterful job replicating the sound of each song she adapted into English. On behalf of city pop fans everywhere, thank you, Caitlin, for your efforts.
Thank you to the many city pop artists whose works inspired by our (the West’s) music have boomeranged back to us.
And thank you, the reader, for making it to the end of this post. Wish me luck on the rest of my city pop journey. Be sure to catch Instrumental Invasion April 26 at 9PM Eastern (April 27 at 11AM in Japan) on WCWP. It’ll be the first show with music by Casiopea, and about ten minutes into the last segment, I allude to some of what I laid out in this post because I play Scott Wilkie‘s cover of “Burnin’ Up the Carnival.” (5/2 UPDATE: Here is that show’s recap, along with my journey since writing this post.)
I’ll leave you with Caitlin Myers’ Japanese versions (lyrics by Datenkou) of “Never Gonna Give You Up“…
…and “September“:
Instrumental Invasion, 2/8/23: Three-of-a-Kind Showcases February 9, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Game Shows, Health, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Radio, TV.add a comment
The February 8 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was recorded in December 2022: two segments on December 20 and four (plus pickups) on the 21st.
The playlist was created on December 13 after realizing I’d be too sick to record anything that week. (Read about my flu experience in last week’s post.) Annotations for this show and next week’s milestone 150th show were written on the 14th and 16th with this week’s talk break script drafted on the 18th. I went 61 seconds over in the first segment and spent the rest of the show compensating. I did so at the expense of some extra information.
As noted during the show, the Three-of-a-Kind Showcase was a staple of The Mike Chimeri Show with each hour having a set of three songs in chronological order by an artist or group. I only had one hour to work with on the original The Instrumental Invasion, so there was only one showcase per week. The “showcase” part came from my love of The Price is Right, and I eventually introduced them by saying “[artist/group], this is your showcase.” Music cues I found on this YouTube channel, and saved as WAV files, meant I could introduce the six showcases in this show with showcase cues (and the main theme) from the Bob Barker era. I closed with Bob’s original “…saying goodbye, everybody” sign-off. (The spay/neuter version was implied.)
Eight songs made their second appearance, listed by artist/group (original date in parentheses)
- David Benoit: “96-132” (11/18/20), “Generations” (5/11/22)
- Jessy J: “Back to the Basics” (2/16/22), “Song for David” (7/27/22)
- Jay Rowe: “I’ll Love You Later” (8/11/21)
- Spyro Gyra: “Sunshine of Your Love” (Cream cover) (5/13/20)
- Special EFX: “Showboat” (5/18/22)
- Yellowjackets: “Intrigue” (10/19/22)
That last one was also part of my live October 14 show (Homecoming Weekend).
For reference, these are the music cues used in order of appearance:
- Showcase Cue 1 (Cue 54)
- Showcase Cue 2 (Cue 56)
- The Big Banana Showcase Cue
- Showcase Cue ’03 [2]
- Showcase Cue ’83
- Calliope Showcase Cue (Family Feud 1994 vamp)
- Main Theme (with speed issue at beginning)
And I made another jingle hybrid, tacking the “ding” sound onto the end of the WCWP jingle:
Click here to download the scoped aircheck or listen below:
Next week, 150!
MikeChimeri.com 
