Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews two new albums by The Smithereens: a new best-of, "Blown to Smithereens," (Capital Records) and a collection of rare old tracks, "Attack of the Smithereens."
Scottish percussionist Evelyn Glennie. She's one of the world's few classical percussion soloists. And she plays with orchestras worldwide. But instead of hearing the music, she feels it. Glennie is deaf, and has been since the age of 12. She's made several solo albums, and several years ago wrote her autobiography, Good Vibrations (Hutchison Publishers, London). Glennie performs at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia Dec 15 and 16. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)
Children's book author and illustrator Chris Van Allsburg. His book The Polar Express a fable about a little boy who meets Santa Claus was/is a bestseller. It was written ten years ago, and each year at Christmas it's a big favorite. His new book is Bad Day At Riverbend (Houghton Mifflin). His book Jumanji (published in 1981) has been made into a new movie starring Robin Williams. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)
Correspondent for The New York Times, Chris Hedges. He's been reporting from Bosnia and Croatia. He talks about the expected signing of the Bosnian Peace Agreement, and the arrival of NATO troops. First, Terry speaks with former President Carter about the negotiations.
Today is Frank Sinatra's 80th birthday. So we've brought a number of people on the show to comment on Sinatra's life and work: Nancy Sinatra, Sinatra's daughter. She's recorded a few hits of her own including "These Boots are Made for Walking," and "Something Stupid," the duet she recorded with her father. Nancy Sinatra has written a book about her father, Frank Sinatra: An American Legend (General Publishing Group). Nancy Sinatra has a new album too, (her first in 20 years) "One More Time." (Cougar records).
Charles Granata is a Cop who has an extensive archive of Sinatra recordings. Many of the them have been used for Sinatra reissues. He was Project Director for the box set: "Frank Sinatra: The Best of the Columbia Years 1943-1952).
A concert and interview in the Fresh Air studio with John Doe, former bassist/vocalist with the punk rock group "X". He recently released a new solo album, "Kissingsohard," (Rhino's Forward label). There's also a new acoustic best-of live album featuring "X". It's called "Unclogged" (Infidelity Records, L.A., CA). Doe is joined by guitarist Smokey Hormel.
Tammy Schnitzer lives in Billings, Montana. She grew up there, as a Lutheran and married Brian Schnitzer, a Jew, and then converted to Judaism. They are the subject of a new PBS documentary "Not In Our Town," (December 17th, 10:30 p.m. EST) about how the community in 1993 rallied behind Schnitzer and her family when they were targets of hate crimes. The local newspaper printed full page menorahs and they were displayed in nearly 10,000 homes and businesses.
Canadian author Robertson Davies. He died last weekend at the age of 82, from a stroke. Terry talked with him earlier this year upon the publication of his novel, The Cunning Man (Viking) The Washington Post called it "one of [the] author's most entertaining and satisfying novels." Davies had three successive careers. He began as an actor, then was a journalist and newspaper publisher, and in 1981 retired as professor of the Massy college at the University of Toronto. Davies wrote more than thirty books. (REBROADCAST from 2/23/95)
Former Executive Editor of The New York Times James Reston. He died this week at the age of 86, from cancer. He spent fifty years with The New York Times. He began as a reporter in London in 1940, covering the war. He was also Washington bureau chief, executive editor, and columnist. He retired in 1989 at the age of 80. In 1991 he wrote a new memoir, called Deadline (Random House). (REBROADCAST from 10/30/91)
Actress/painter Mary Woronov. She was part of Andy Warhol's "Factory" in the 1960s. She was discovered while still a college student and was in Warhol's film, "Chelsea Girls," about New York bohemian life. She has a new memoir about those years, Swimming Underground: My Years in the Warhol Factory (Journey Editions).
From the United States Catholic Conference's Film and Broadcasting office, Henry Herx. He's is office director. They provide reviews of current films, evaluating them for plot, entertainment value, and moral content. Their number is 1-800-311-4222. The office has five ratings, A-1 (for general audiences) to O (morally offensive).
