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* [11-17-08: In re-reading items as I tend to do, I found TWO problems:
(1.) The correction above needs another correction. "Lloyd Thaxton's story was in FRIDAY'S column- 11-14-08, that flashed back through the "_ Years Ago Today" section (the boxed blue-background section). {The "American Woman in Radio and TV" topic was properly corrected as a "Nov. 13, 2008," Thursday column that is now in archives.}
But there's more:
(2.) That column item to see on Lloyd Thaxton (where the "__ Years Ago" column appeared in the blue-box part) doesn't carry over that blue-boxed item with it into the archive section for that column when it's moved there. You can't see any of those "__Years Ago Today" category archived for any day. INSTEAD, you have to go to the ORIGINAL old column where it first showed up, which means yu have to:
(a.) search for the original story, and that's not too simple from my experience, and,
(b.) if you don't remember the story name or want to see what other days had for old story flashback, it's all depends on your memory or a saved note since ALL the blue box infomation is missing (the title, the old date, all of it) from it's spot in the story when that story is moved to the "archives" section.
Final thing here on what started out as a simple correction- the LINKS to other items that I added still work for the other sources- and the LA TIMES obituary also includes a short video clip in his memory showing samples of his antics on the show.
Free access to LA Radio.com has two more weeks to go. ed.
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I linked the website, “L.A. Radio People,” www.laradio.com in the sidebar for the free access being provided this month. I somehow found that website at about the time it began 11 years ago. It is now a subscription website, but still cheap at about $36 for a year (applying my Lincoln-learned math skills, that’s $3 a month- right?). It’s been a huge source of radio information for me, and I bring it up here since radio is almost always woven into our high school experience, bringing the music of the day to us then and again, now. Radio was heard in the home, in the car, and just about any of the places where you heard sounds.
Radio was an especially important thing for the older alumni types. “We” didn’t have I-pods, CD’s or even cassettes. It was radio and albums and 45’s; maybe some 4-tracks and the short-lived 8-track tapes to add music in the car. Lots of music was put on reel-to-reel tape, especially the case for the vets that bought all that stuff during their government-paid travels as they headed to Vietnam and parts related, finding cameras and audio equipment to try balancing out the less pleasant parts of their job.
But radio still is here and changing, like all of us, we lose people those radio people we came to know mostly through their radio presence. Many names from the past are gone now. You might remember some of the names: Wolfman Jack, the Real Don Steele, Robert W. Morgan (and that “Tina Delgado”- who is rumored to be still alive), Humble Harv, Bill Balance, and Huggy Boy. Most of this information was initially presented to me about all things having to do with L.A. Radio through that web site that somehow misses very little about what is happening now in radio.
I invite you to check it out, as it has that magic word, “Free”, during the month of November. Yesterday's column, Thursday, November 13, 2008, [ http://www.laradio.com/newsite/archives/nov2008c.htm Type in "free" in both username and password pop-up window- valid for Nov. only] featured a panel of female industy standouts in Amercan Woman in Radio and TV, "AWRT." These women have suceeded in radio, many of them knowing what it is to be discriminated against because of their sex. They received praise at this presentation for their excellence in the industry, coming through to overcome assorted obstacles in their careers to get there. Some of their comments may inspire others to stay with their goals and not be discouraged in the face of discouragement. It took a long time for most to advance, but that’s the other tough part for our young students to see when they become used to seeing results happen more quickly. That's something else to be learned for our students.
The LA Radio, THURSDAY edition, has the regular “flashback” feature of past column or story from 1 or more years ago. Included today is a “2-years Ago” essay from Lloyd Thaxton on his short radio career. Lloyd died on October 5, 2008 at 81 years old. (L.A. Times Obit- http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-thaxton8-2008oct08,0,108325.story , 73 comments to date) .
I remember his “Lloyd Thaxton Show” on t.v. in the 60’s where local high school students were invited to come on to dance, while he had music groups there who lip-synched their songs. He did move on to bigger things later, but the dance show was something to watch. His blog is still up with lots of his thoughts. http://lloydthaxton.blogspot.com/2006/01/why-lloyd-thaxton-disappeared.html
Lloyd Thaxton had a disease that was eventually going to kill him, but it did not control his mind. There’s something that showed me more of his creativity and thought that he posted his blog http://lloydthaxton.blogspot.com/ - scroll down to the "May 5, 2008," posting- He describes an exercise to try, that I summarize here, but see his words for the whole theme:
Go to a cemetery and look at any gravestone. He gives an example for a man, 91 years old. There’s a name and then there’s two dates; the date of birth and the date of death. In between there’s a tiny dash (-). That tiny dash is supposed to represent his life. Thaxton called that dash a “putdown” since all 91 years comes down to just a tiny dash.
Lloyd's big question was “WHAT WILL YOUR DASH STAND FOR?”
Right there his idea gets really interesting, describing something special- a project to write your own obituary. I recommend that posting of his for further reading. It may give you a different view on life and it’s something to think about from Lloyd Thaxton, a guy who did a lot in that “dash” of his.
(And the following are my personal favorite parts )
There’s a lot in the LA Radio, and one reason, but not my biggest one to recommend this to you, is that I usually get my own email letters printed there (often it's to later find the missed typos) but you can see the content yourself and consider it. There’s one printed from yesterday, Thursday, November 13, 2008, entitled, "**On -air issues" that I like, responding to response of others.
Then there's another email appearing on Friday, October 3, 2008, remarking on the “Encyclopedia of Hits” guy, Robert Estrada, who had such impressive knowledge of hit songs and their dates and chart position, all heard in the first hour on www.Talkradioone.com Oct. 30, as a podcast- compare for yourself. More on that site later.
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