blog, journalism, news

R.I.P.Dick Clark: The DJ’s DJ, the eternal MC, knew when to shut up

As a broadcaster, I was in awe of Dick Clark.

Back when disc jockeys didn’t scratch and rap, they talked over the records up to vocals and did their thing during the intros and outros of the songs they played. It wasn’t  a very respectable job. Fun, but not respectable.  Dick Clark made it respectable.

As the DJ entrepreneur, Clark elevated the species. He represented that the disc jockey could do more than just say  “that was…here is…coming up next.”

By knowing how to shut up and play the music, he displayed his genius and made a mint doing it.

Clark was always the class act among DJs. He wasn’t particularly funny, nor witty. He was just pleasant.  He was a “personality.”  He wore a suit and tie. Oh, and did I say, he knew when to shut up.

Clark was definitely old school when I was coming up in broadcasting in the mid-70s.  My very first paid broadcast job was as a rock DJ in Houston, TX, where my claim to fame was being the first to play the Ramones.

At the time, a guy named Howard Stern was liberating the DJ world by actually talking and not playing music.

That appealed to me. 

Compared to Clark, it was downright radical. I don’t  know what Dick Clark felt or what he thought. He was always just a happy, positive  sort, who played the music. Or presented the acts on “Bandstand.”  He knew who the star was. It wasn’t him.

Knowing that made him bigger than any disc jockey around.  I wish I had followed his role.

Clark was the eternal MC who figured out how to make it all work as a business.

His heirs? There’s really only one person out there who came up from the DJ ranks, Ryan Seacrest.

Inoffensive and bubbly, Seacrest is the perfect “that was, here is” guy.

He becomes a star by getting out of the way.

But alas, he’s no Dick Clark, pop culture’s eternal MC.

I can see him at the Pearly Gates now, about to introduce a great new trumpet player named Gabriel….

blog, humor, news, politics

Dear Ann: My job offer to Ann Romney

Ann Romney never worked a day in her life.

Let me rectify that.

Ann, I ‘ve got some light filing you can do. And I can pay you the San Francisco living minimum wage even (much higher than what they pay in Utah, or Massachusetts, or Michigan, or wherever you domicile these days).  You’ll get the experience you need to counteract all those mean Democrats who’ve gone over your resume and don’t think you can survive a finger nail break. 

I think my job would be a better defense for you than your current surrogates. Like last night, there was Sarah Palin defending you on Hannity’s show, saying how you did have a job—raising five children.

Come on, Ann. I know you contracted out some of that job. I’ve met one of your nannies (on a plane in buisness class)  and she said you were a nice employer. But I think she did all the heavy lifting in that job. 

That’s all right.  You can start for me hourly.

Call it my attempt at some affirmative action for rich, white women who just can’t seem to catch a break these days. 

I’ve got your back!

blog, diversity, journalism, news, politics, race, sports

On Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman, Marion Barry, and Ralph Barbieri

The Trayvon Martin case shows how society still struggles in the old Black and White paradigm.

The ultimate arrest of George Zimmerman is just the beginning. Now the  real argument can begin about what happened on the night of Martin’s death.  That couldn’t happen until there was an arrest and a charge, and now we have that. The month-and-a-half delay we’ve  had was caused by a racist mindset.  In a game of “Who’s the Perp,” Zimmerman or Martin, the knee-jerk reaction ruled the day. Of course, the perp is…

Law enforcement stood its ground as long as it could. 

But, of course we don’t know who the perp is really.

We only knew the stereotype. Maybe now we have a chance at the truth. But given the burden of proof and the availability of evidence, getting justice will not be easy.

 BARRY

In spite of all this diversity we have in our society, America is still stuck in that oldblack/white paradigm. Throw in a little Asian into the mix, and see how hard it is to get justice. Make the perp of the racism a black leader of some prominence in the nation’s capital, and guess what you get? Certainly, no relief for Asian Americans. 

The case of Marion Barry  http://aaldef.org/blog/fighting-barrys-racist-eruption.html shows how difficult it still is for Asian Americans to get the respect they deserve. If such an obviously racist comment as Barry’s gets barely a wrist slap, we certainly aren’t as far in this race thing  as we think.Sure, there have been rebukes from D.C. politicians, but Barry is still in his job as responsible, credible, respectable D.C. councilman.

If any of us had indicated a desire to run members of a specific race out of our neighborhoods, blacks, whites, Asians or Latinos, we would be slapped so hard we wouldn’t know what hit us. But Barry, who has survived FBI crack stings, drug convictions, jail time, remains standing as a public official. This Asian race flap? Just a “2,” he says, on a scale of one through ten. Racism? Against Asian Americans? Are you kidding?

http://blog.sfgate.com/eguillermo/2012/04/11/getting-away-with-racism-in-our-nations-capital/

RALPH BARBIERI

I don’t really know Ralph personally, but how can you not say you “know” him after he spent most of his adult life letting you know what he thought?

That’s the life of the talk show host. Did I listen? Well, I’m a Giants fan and had the radio on in the afternoon.  So let’s see, I know Ralph worked at Sport Magazine, was in adverstising, lived in Hawaii, grew up in Northern California, went to USF, had some alcohol and driving issues, worked at KNBR, adopted a son, liked long winded questions, worked at KNBR, tangled a lot with Brian Sabean, liked thin crust pizza, worked at KNBR, picked up Tolbert as a partner, liked Sean Estes, worked at KNBR, revealed his Parkinson’s, worked at KNBR, worked at KNBR, worked at KNBR.

Something stands out in that litany.  His longevity at KNBR. As a guy who has worked in TV and Radio and know what a revolving door it can be, I admire the fact that he endured so long. And yet, I also know that when you’re behind the mike and you think it’s such an intimate thing, it is. But only between the listener and you. The corporation is no family, and despite what the Supreme Court says, is not a real person. Corporations sign the checks. And then they don’t.

I wish Ralph well. I didn’t realize his age, but KNBR getting rid of a 66-year-old? They probably know what that will cost them. From the reports I’ve seen, Ralph was apparently well compensated.

And I know he was a vegetarian. Coming from a PETA household as I do, I know you can save a lot of money not eating meat.

Good luck Ralph. And go Sharks.

blog, diversity, news, race

Goh profile expands; He wanted his money back from Oikos U.

As more information is revealed about the Oikos University shooting suspect One L. Goh,  a conflicting profile emerges.

Is he an awkward but failed would-be womanizer?  An angry consumer who wanted his money back ? A crazed gunman?  Or a cold-blooded execution-style killer?

At a media conference on Wednesday, Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley offered a new twist when she said Goh  was not kicked out of Oikos, but had left voluntarily  last November.

Earlier reports said Goh left at the beginning of the year for “bad behavior.”

But O’Malley indicated  a key reason for the voluntary departure was a disagreement over the return of admission costs. Goh wanted his money back. The school had refused any refund.  This may explain why a school administrator is believed to have been his main target.

Police had originally said Goh was angered because people made fun of how he talked, and his accent.

One instructor, Romie Delariman, told the Chronicle, that  Goh seemed to be looking to the school as a source of friendship and companionship, when he should have been looking to the school to learn.  He apparently wasn’t successful in making the personal connections he sought.  Some said it was how he talked to people as much as how he sounded.  Delariman went so far as to described Goh as “mentally unstable.”

When O’Malley was asked whether anything could have prevented Goh’s outburst, she dismissed any notion of mental instability.

Said O’Malley:”I don’t think this individual (Goh) particularly displayed any behaviors anyone saw that would have predicted the magnitude of his murderous rage.”

How can she be so sure? At least, one instructor appears to dispute that statement.

The case is being set up for the death penalty, with the special circumstance charges against Goh. 

O’Malley’s  got Goh’s voluntary admission, And her confidence level is high.

I wonder if anyone has advised Goh of his legal rights before he “confessed”?

For as much as O’Malley said at the media conference, she did show some restraint by not answering more detailed questions. Of course, she was protecting the “people’s interest.”

Someone should be protecting Goh’s. 

He’s charged with horrific crimes.  If he’s guilty, let’s let that come out after he gets his due—a fair trial.

Emil Guillermo's amok commentary on race, politics, diversity…and everything else. It's Emil Amok's Takeout!

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