Rock and Roll Historian Ed Ward looks back at the impact Record Producer Dave Bartholomew had on the New Orleans music scene. He produced recordings for Fat's Domino, The Hawks, Lloyd Price and Shirley & Lee. Bartholomew's work as a record producer was collected by EMI in an anthology in 1992.
Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Beyond Rangoon" the new adventure film directed by John Boorman, who also directed "Deliverence," and "The Emerald Forest."
Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews The Intersection of Law and Desire, (Norton) which debuts the feminist lesbian private investigator, Micky Knight by J.M. Redmann. And a collection of lesbian pulp romances, The Beebo Brinker Chronicles (Quality Paperback Book Club) by Ann Bannon which has just been republished.
Former Tuskegee Airman Robert Williams. He was with the Army Air Corps "Fighting 99th" the first squadron of Black fighter pilots in World War II. Now, after 45 years of trying he's gotten a studio interested in making a movie about the squadron. The new HBO movie, "The Tuskegee Airmen," stars Laurence Fishburne; Williams is the co-executive producer. The film debuts August 26th.
From the trio Yo La Tengo, singer/guitarist Ira Kaplan, and drummer Georgia Hubley. They are married. The band is a cult favorite and hails from Hoboken, New Jersey. They have seven albums to their credit including the latest, "Electr-o-pura" (on the Matador label). One reviewer says the band blends "fragile, delicate beauty with raw, bash-it-out crudeness better than anyone."
Professor of American Studies and History at the Univ. of Minnesota Elaine Tyler May. Her new book Barren in the Promised Land: Childless Americans and the Pursuit of Happiness (Basic) is said to be the first book to examine the history of childlessness in America in all its complexities, from infertility to forced sterilization to childfree by choice." MAY is the author three previous books including Great Expectations, and Homeward Bound. She has also written widely in the scholarly and popular press, including articles in The New York Times, and Los Angeles Times.
Neurologist William Langston. His work plunged him into a medical mystery, and a hot political controversy about the ethics of medicine. In 1982 Langston was called in to examine a number of "frozen" patients, young men and women in the San Francisco Bay Area who suddenly could neither move or speak, though conscious. Langston recognized the signs of Parkinson's disease, and determined that these patients had all used the same batch of tainted heroin. Langston prescribed L-dopa, a treatment for Parkinson's which only provided short-term relief.
Rock Historian Ed Ward highlights the music of singer Mable John. She hit the black radio top ten chart in the 1960s with her song "Your Good Thing." Her music never caught on and not surprisingly most of her material never was released by Stax Records. But in 1993, Fantasy Records, assembled her music and released what turns out to be her first album.
Former longshoreman and Vice President of the Union local, Reg Theriault . For over 30 years he worked on the piers in San Francisco, where he watched automation take over the industry, and break up the gangs who worked together. Before that Theriault worked as a "fruit tramp" with his family. He has written a new book about work, How to Tell When You're Tired (Norton).
Lonny Shavelson writes about five people who were considering assisted suicide. His book A Chosen Death: The Dying Confront Assisted Suicide explores the agonizing dilemma that family and friends must face in deciding whether to assist. Shavelson argues in favor of legalized Physician-assisted suicide. Shavelson is a writer, photojournalist and emergency-room physician living in Berkeley, California. A Chosen Death is published by Simon and Shuster 1995.
Record producer and musician Don Was. He co-founded the funk rock group, "Was (Not) Was." This year he won a Grammy for Producer of the Year. In addition, he's produced a number of albums for Bonnie Raitt (Was produced Raitt's "Nick of Time" album which revived her career), Rolling Stones, Lyle Lovett, Al Green, Iggy Pop, and the B-52's. He's ventured into documentary film production with "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times," about ex-Beachboy Brian Wilson. Was directed the film.
Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the new thriller "The Usual Suspects," starring Gabriel Byrne, Stephen Baldwin, Chazz Palminteri, and Kevin Pollack.
From The Alloy Orchestra, composer and keyboardist Caleb Sampson. The band has gained a reputation for composing and performing exciting, percussive silent film scores. Their repertoire includes scores for "Metropolis," "Nosferatu," "Lonesome," and their newest, for the Russian classic "Man with a Movie Camera." The film has a "sneak preview" at the Telluride Film Festival in early September, and it premieres at the Pordenone Silent Film Festival in Italy in October. They have two CD's.
Mike Tyson returns to the ring Saturday night after a four year absence. Three of those years were spent in jail on a rape conviction. .Tyson continues to deny the charge. Commentator Gerald Early says that Tyson's release from prison sparked new questions about an old debate in the black community: tensions between the genders. Gerald Early teaches English at Washington University where he directs the program on African and Afro-American studies. He's the author of The Culture of Bruising: Essays on Prize fighting, Literature and Modern American Culture.
Veteran television announcer Bill Wendell retires this week after 37 years at NBC. Wendell is currently the announcer for "Late Night with David Letterman." He's famous for adding the long "A" in his introduction "Here's...Daaay-vid Letterman" Wendell also emceed several games shows and was the Tonight Show announcer in 1956 and 1957.
Senior curator of the motion picture collection at the George Eastman House, Paolo Cherchi UsaiI. He is also Associate Professor of Film Studies at the University of Rochester. He is an expert on silent films, and is co-director and co-founder of the Pordenone Silent Film Festival. He has worked with Alloy Orchestra on several film projects. And he restored the print of "Lonesome." He's the author of numerous articles and studies of silent film.
