Chuck D founder of the rap group Public Enemy. With the group's emergence in 1987, they ushered in politically conscious rap, portraying the world of many young urban black men, of limited opportunity, drugs, guns, and violent death. Their song "Fight the Power" was featured Spike Lee's film, "Do the Right Thing." In 1989 the group was the focus of controversy when one of its members, the "minister of information" made anti-semitic comments. Other band members spoke out against the remarks.
Langford, who co-founded the British punk band, now lives in the US. He's plays in the country-inspired band the Waco Brothers. Langford is also a visual artist. and, under the pen name Chuck Death and draws the comic Great Pop Things, which is published in the LA Weekly, and collected in the new book. "Great Pop Things: The Real History of Rock n Roll from Elvis to Oasis" (Verse Chorus Press) Langford has just released his first solo CD called: "Skull Orchard."
Also one of the car's designers, Chuck Pelly. He is the President and CEO of Designworks/USA, international design consultants specializing in transportation and product design.
Chuck Barris is the creator and producer of over a dozen television game shows, including "The Gong Show," "The Newlywed Game," and "The Dating Game." He gained his reputation as the "manic" host of "The Gong Show." Barris has written a semi-autobiographical novel "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," in which a game show host named Chuck Barris also secretly works as a C. I. A. agent. Barris claims to have had an opportunity to work for the organization, but that he turned it down.
Nadine Cohodas is the author of “Spinning Blues into Gold: the Chess Brothers and the Legendary Chess Records” (St. Martin’s Press). It’s the story of brothers Leonard and Phil Chess, Jewish immigrants from Poland, who knew little about music, but somehow created the influential blues label, Chess Records. Muddy Waters helped them see the potential in the music and they went on to record Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Willie Dixon, Chuck Berry, and others. Chess Records was located in Chicago.
Rock historian Ed Ward continues his series on cities and their contribution to music. Today's city is Memphis. Artists discussed include Chuck Berry, Sam Phillips, B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf, Elvis Presley, The Marquees, Sam & Dave, Al Green
Barris, who died Tuesday in New York, created The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game and The Gong Show, and later wrote the autobiography, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Originally broadcast in 1986.
Due to the contractual nature of the Fresh Air Archive, segments must be at least 6 months old to be considered part of the archive. To listen to segments that aired within the last 6 months, please click the blue off-site button to visit the Fresh Air page on NPR.org.
Critic Kevin Whitehead reflects on the jazz notables who died this year, including Sheila Jordan, Andy Bey, Ray Drummond, Bunky Green, Chuck Mangione, Eddie Palmieri and Jim McNeely.
Mike White is the Hollywood screenwriter behind hit films including The School of Rock, The Good Girl and Chuck & Buck. Now he has directed Year of the Dog, a "not very funny" comedy about a woman grieving for her lost pet; it stars Peter Sarsgaard and Saturday Night Live veteran Molly Shannon.
"You have a group of 650 people whose wealth has gone up a trillion dollars since mid-March," says Chuck Collins of the Institute for Policy Studies. He recommends taxing a portion of those gains.
Chuck Barris is the creator of "The Dating Game," "The Newlywed Game," and "The Gong Show." He also composed the themes for each show. The new film "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" is based on Barris' 1980 autobiography in which he claims - while he was creating game shows - he was also a CIA assasin. "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" is George Clooney's directorial debut. (REBROADCAST from 1/28/86)
Berry, who died in March at the age of 90, left behind an album of new material, his first such collection since 1979. Rejecting nostalgia, Berry's last project is interesting and energetic.
He is also known as "Questlove" of the hip-hop group The Roots. The Grammy award-winning sextet has six albums to its credit. Their latest CD is Phrenology. Their first single from the album is "Break You Off." One reviewer writes, "To fully savor the sound, you've got to commit to spending time with The Roots, to wallow in both the music and the message.
NBC's newly appointed chief White House correspondent talks with Dave Davies about his new book, How Barack Obama Won: A State-by-State Guide to the Historic 2008 Presidential Election.
