*** Sweet Baby James Taylor turns 61 today. I've always been a big fan of his. He has such a warm sound to his voice. Whenever I hear a James Taylor song, I picture him sitting in some cabin in the winter, sipping on hot chocolate in front of the fireplace.
I prefer picturing him like this, rather then envision what he was like in his early days, strung out on heroin and methadrine, during his two separate bouts with drug problems.
That's going back to the late sixties, so, while not a condonable activity, it's at least a little more understandable given the culture back then.
One good thing that came out of all that, Taylor wrote "Fire and Rain", which is partly in reference to his time spent in psychiatric wards.
For the tie-in, we featured "Shower The People", a typical Taylor song, in that it makes me feel good.
*** In an American Idol shocker last night, Jeff Lockridge was sent packing.That was fortunate for us though, because we needed Jeff in the newsroom today to fill-in for Jay Capron, who should be back tomorrow.
Jeff, or J-Lo as I like to call him, has been with us in some way or another for a very long time.
Anyone remember the Saturday Student Hour? We used to do that segment back in the early days of WJDK. Every Saturday morning in the 8 o'clock hour, I'd interview a student from each of our area high schools about things going on at the school.
Jeff was one of our representatives from Seneca High School. After hearing his low, booming voice for the first time, it was pretty apparent that a radio gig was at least a possibility for him.
My proudest moment during those segments -- and I'm being sarcastic here -- was when I was talking to one student who was going to be in an upcoming school play.
I mentioned how courageous it was for kids to get on stage in front of their peers, family, etc. and perform either in a play, or a musical. But, if I had only said "courageous."
I was trying to say that it takes a lot of "nerve", or that it takes a lot of "guts". Well, my mind was thrown for a loop, and it came out that "it really takes a lot of nuts to get up on that stage."
Oopsies. Well, at least it was a factually correct statement. It just came out a little different than I had envisioned.
*** Al Jarreau is having a birthday today as well. For the 80's Escape we brought you "We're In This Love Together."
In this live clip, it looks as though Al is dealing with some initial shoulder pain.
You know, it takes a lot of guts, I mean, nerve, oh whatever, you get the idea.
