Tag Archives: Hearne Christopher Jr.
Today: Kanrocksas Brings Chris Fritz Full Circle From Ozark Music Festival
The Pitch touched on it ever so lightly…
The year was 1974 and KanRocksas promoter Chris Fritz was about to unleash the unthinkable upon the unsuspecting city of Sedalia. The Ozark Music Festival. A three day rock fest a la Woodstock with a lineup that included the Eagles, Aerosmith, Lynryd Skynyrd, REO, Bob Seger, Ted Nugent, BTO and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (who headline the Crossroads tonight with Brewer & Shipley).
"The whole idea was we would get a maximum of 50,000 people for three days," Fritz told me in the Star a handful of years back. "And we probably sold about that many in advance and at the door."
Hearne: Glass Called Out as Second Worst Major League Baseball Owner Ever
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Consider the sad state of our unloveable losers, the Kansas City Royals…
With pundits as far afield as Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly taking off-the-cuff potshots – telling Alan Colmes recently that further deficit spending would be "like telling the Kansas City Royals to lose more games" – its time to take a look at how the Royal’s owner ranks in the scheme of things.
It’s not pretty…
Zen College Life, a "leading source for college and degree information online," offers an interesting array of Top 10 lists ranging from the "10 Most Effective & Essential Self Defense Techniques" to the "10 Celebrities Whose Deaths Were Tragically Predictable."
As might be suspected, Royals owner David Glass rates quite highly on Zen’s "10 Worst MLB Owners of All Time."
Today: Hendricks Out as Star Does Away With ‘Local’ Section Columnists
It’s not easy dying a thousand deaths, sleeping off the killer summer cold Jack Poessiger just gave me…
Over a lunch date with zero spit swapped, no less. But, as I inch back to life, and read today’s Kansas City Star like thousands of you, I learn that columnist Mike Hendricks is o-u-t and a new wave of "local’ section columnists are on their way. Oh joy.
But wait, are they really? Let’s take a look.
The moves signal the end of a very long, unstoried era. Shortly before I came to the Star, the newspaper fielded a lineup of Art Brisbane, Jim Fisher and Charles Gusewelle. Brisbane transversed the town laying down pithy columns about the people, places and things that were Kansas City at the time. Describing publisher Tom Leathers as "a Johnson County pundit who weekly squires his readers into a snake pit of stunning personalities and typographical errors"
And blowing the lid off of a controversial decision by Overland Park "that citadel of good taste and expert city planning" to not just welcome the area’s first Hooters at 106th and Metcalf, but to change the center’s name from the Overland Station Shops to the Hooters Plaza.
Today: Saturday Night Youth Dustup on Plaza Incites Mayor, Tear Gas?
The long hot summer in Kansas City appears to have gotten hotter…
"I just got back in town and I heard from friends that there was a mini riot on the Plaza Saturday night," says Shawnee sparkplug Tracy Thomas. "But it involved college kids and white kids, not just black high school youths."
How bad was it?
"I heard that tear gas was used," Thomas says.
Hearne: Plaza & P&L District Late Night Kiddie Gang Bang Update
The aftermath of this morning’s KC Police confirmation several weeks of kid problems on the Plaza…
KC Strip trolly point man Bill Nigro said earlier today that he didn’t see or hear anything, but after poking around, he now says that "several hundred kids were gathered in front of the Cinemark movie theaters again Saturday night."
Other sources indicated that pepper spray was used to break up part of the action, but Nigro’s guy "didn’t see the kids running around all over the place like they have in the past," he says.
As for the Power & Light District‘s urban youth gatherings that seem to have provoked a credit card only cover charge to get into the entertainment zone, "It really didn’t seem too bad this past weekend," Nigro says. "Maybe because it was so hot out."
How about the "boycott" of the P&L over what some call a racist cover charge policy?
Hearne: Is KCTV’s Gary Amble Worried About Gay Backlash Over Sister’s Comments?
The riding keeps getting rougher for KCTV weather wonk Gary Amble’s sister…
Channel 5’s done its part to milk that Amble’s sister – nut job Michele Bachmann – has blundered into the squared circle of presidential politics. Including a recent, "exclusive" interview with Amble, in which he dodged anything resembling a meaningful question about his controversial sister.
Not a big surprise.
Bachmann’s suffered more embarrassing revelations than all the other presidential hopefuls combined. At the end of KCTV’s puff piece, anchor Brad Stephens cautions that Amble would not be accepting any more media interview requests re his sister’s candidacy.
Which might sound a little funny until you consider a story in the August 8 National Enquirer.
Star Search: Beauty & the Beast, New Star Publisher Faces Awful Earnings Music
In a perfect world I wouldn’t be writing what I’m about to write…
I’d be recuperating from hanging out until 3 a.m. in the Power & Light District, taking the measure of those pesky African-American flash mobs that threaten the struggling downtown entertainment Mecca.
Then, depending on my findings, I’d likely face a quandry.
Should I hold the story for my Wednesday print column? Or unleash it on the Star blog I was poised to set up on KansasCityCom. In other words, should the news come first online, or should the people who pay the bills – print subscribers – get first crack at it.
Therein lies a key dilemma facing the newspaper and print industries of yesteryear.
Today: Does The Pitch Still Ask Tough Questions? Not Where Farm Aid’s Concerned
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One has to wonder after reading a story in the current Pitch under the headline, "Does Farm Aid Still Matter?"
After breezing through the David Martin puff piece I still can’t find the answer to the local alt rag’s question.It must be yes though, since nowhere does Martin come close to dropping the hammer on the "charity" concert schmooze.
Not a single tough question was asked. Not how much money is raised, how much goes to actual charity, etc.
Nope, just a brief history of the event which can largely be found on Wikipedia. And that "a representitive from the Farm Aid…recently went to the White House" and "The Missouri Rural Crisis Center continues to receive grants."
Pretty thin. So allow me to do Martin’s work for him.
Today: Major Renovations @ Downtown Marriott Send 12th Street Jump to Jardine’s
Time to do some reading ‘tween the lines…
Word that theater and jazz guy Mark Edelman‘s 12th Street Jump, old time jazz radio show is on the move again was an eyebrow raiser. The show will move this fall from the Downtown Marriott lounge to Jardine‘s jazz club, just north of the Plaza.
The show launched two years ago as the 12 O’Clock Jump and broadcast live at midnight on KCUR-FM from KC’s historic Mutual Musicians Foundation. That was then. A year later Edelman and the MMF parted company over – what else? – money and the show migrated to the hotel on12th.
But while a move to Jardine’s may also be money-motivated, this time there’s no bad blood. Sources say the Marriott is embarking upon a major redo of it’s dated lobby and lounge areas.
In the hope of staving off a 1,000 room convention hotel that’s been on the drawing boards for years?
Tonight: I’m Back, Joe’s Leaving, Take a Number…
Talk about one-two punches…
I don’t know what you thought about me being mostly MIA the past two weeks, but it’s clear you were thrilled by my brainstorm to have Joe Miller execute a 10 parter on his way out of Kansas City. I thought Joe did a kickass job, by the way.
He butchered some sacred (and not-so-sacred) cows and let his hair down just enough to incur the divine wrath of KC Confidential’s finest, our comments Hit Squad. For the vast majority of readers who never venture into our online mosh pit, I assure you Miller’s exploits here – journalistic and otherwise – were significant.
That said Kansas City is a barbecue town and clearly our comments crowd prefers its ends burnt.
WWE style…
Today: What Boycott? P&L District Cover Charge Sends Urban Kid Crowds Packing
About KC Confidential’s scoop on the Power & Light District‘s new credit card only cover charge policy…
Looks like it’s working. The crowds of urban youth that have been assembling on weekend nights this summer outside the P&L were down markedly Friday and Saturday, reports KC Strip point man Bill Nigro.
"I drove through there and I’d say there were less kids there this weekend than last weekend," Nigro says. "Maybe 200 or 300 total. Where the week before there were easily 500 kids."
Today: Watson’s Girl Preamble; Divorced, Single, New Boobs & Ready to Rumble
This just in….
Spoke with Family Leisure head Andy Prefontaine this a,m. in Asia. Family Leisure is the name of the biz formerly known as Watson’s and Prefontaine still runs it. He’s also the stepfather of Jennifer Eichler aka the Watson’s Girl.
Prefontaine gave me Jennifer’s cell number – she’s 30-something, divorced, single and no longer shilling for the company. And I have a call into her.
Meanwhile, allow me to share what Metromix Indianapolis laid down in an interview with Eichler last month.
Today: The Awful Truth About Trader Joe’s; It’s a Poor Man’s Whole Foods
First White Castle, then Starbucks, now Trader Joe’s...
Allow me to let you in on a little secret about the business reporting in the Kansas City Star. If they can find a way to make things larger-than-life, they will. I remember the newspaper’s mid-’80s hype about Kansas Citians flying in White Castle burgers from St. Louis the demand was so great.
Fifteen lackluster years later, White Castle beat it out of town, its tail between its legs.
In 1998 Starbucks came to KC. Much to the chagrin of next-door neighbor, Westport’s locally-owned Broadway Cafe. Broadway didn’t stand a chance. Ten years later, Starbucks moved on while Broadway is stronger than ever.
Which brings us to the much-ballyhooed grocer Trader Joe’s…
Today: Arizona Getaway 2011; Lots More Joe, Lots Less Me
Everybody needs a vacation, whether they deserve it or not…
I obviously don’t, but I’m taking one anyway. And contrary to popular midwestern logic, that it makes no sense whatsoever to party in Tucson in July, I’m here vacationing without you.
A somewhat best kept secret; the monsoon season goes down in mid- July and August here, bringing clouds, rainfall and cooler temps. And Tucson’s temps are far cooler than Phoenix/Scottsdale – the totally yuppified areas most vacationers prefer. What heat there is, is dry and bearable, sans the merciless humidity of KC.
Here’s the really good part…
Today: What’s in a Name? Jazz Club Owner Changes Name…Again!
Where to begin…
See, there’s this woman who worked her way up through hard charging, powerful partying and blind faith into becoming the most powerful and influential person on the Kansas City jazz scene. She’s from India, of all places and you probably know her as Beena.
For me it’s a bit more complicated…
Hearne: Go Figure, KCFX’s Slacker Wins Men, Johnny Dare Women in June
Here’s a bit of a shocker…
Former KY102 and 99.7 KY personality Slacker has taken over as Numero Uno among men listeners, ages 25 to 54, in morning drive from 6 a.m to 10 a.m. weekdays.
Go ahead, squint, rub your eyes, stare in disbelief, Slacker nosed out The Rock 98.9 FM’s Johnny Dare for top ratings honors with a 12.5 audience share to Dare’s 12.3. Let the record show that PPM or metered ratings tend to skew more toward music format than personalities, but it’s a remarkable feat nonetheless.
Here are the rest of the Top 10 stations in morning drive in men for June
Hearne: The Odds of Jason Whitlock Returning to KC Airwaves on Sept. 5th?
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There are few things former Star columnist Jason Whitlock enjoys more than pimping people in KC….
So after putzing around with Nick Wright on 610 Sports a few weeks back, Whitlock let it be known he just might be returning to local airwaves September 5th. Coy Tweets to that effect aside, if Big Sexy’s living so large blogging for Rupert Murdoch in LA why is he entertaining the notion of returning to a gig he was fired from here that paid measily $100,000?
That’s chump change for a blogger of Whitlock’s stature, is it not?
Having spoken recently to both of Whitlock’s former radio bosses in KC – Kevin Kietzman and Bob Zuroweste – I can tell you neither see much more than a snowball’s chance of that happening.
The $64 million question: How good was Whitlock when he was on the air here?
Hearne: Stop the Complete Presses, Nick Wright Really Did Beat KK This Time!
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They said it couldn’t be done…
Step aside senior citizens and middle age haters, Nick Wright has done the unthinkable. He really has beaten WHB superstar Kevin Kietzman. And not via the aid of fuzzy math or the Kansas City Royals. The lowly Kansas City Royals, I might add.
Nope, we’re talking the real deal this time out. Check it.
In men, ages 25 to 54, Monday through Friday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wright had the right stuff.
Wright’s show on 610 Sports squeaked past Kietzman’s by a tenth of a point with a 6.8 share to KK’s 6.7.
Wright’s take on his big win?
Hearne: The Radio ratings That Actually Matter Get ‘Em While They’re Hot!
There’s something to be said for the 6-plus, seven day, 6 a.m to midnight radio ratings…
Starting with, anybody can get me. But the numbers that truly matter to the station and advertisers – the numbers that determine the air talent’s fates – are the demographic breakdowns that are quite a bit harder to come by.
Here are a few of them for June, released this afternoon…
The Top 20 Radio Stations in Adults Ages 25 to 54, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday:
1) KQRC, The Rock with a 9.3 audience share
Hearne: Read Her Lips; No More Ida McBeth @ Any Other KC Clubs but Jardine’s
Madonna, Shakira – entertainment giants like Live Nation have been signing artists to exclusive deals for years…
Now Jardine’s is getting in the game. The Plaza jazz club has inked an exclusive deal with the Queen of Kansas City Jazz, Ida McBeth. Meaning, no more club gigs at the Blue Room, Point or Phoenix downtown, if you wanna catch the Queen, you’ll have to go to Jardine’s.
"I signed an exclusive contract with her," says Jardine’s owner Beena Brandsgard. "Ida will only play at Jardine’s. No more Blue Room dates after her last gig there in September. And no other local clubs."
There’s more…
