Old-school news, just in time
by Kevin Burton I’m supposed to be good with words, but sometimes there just aren’t any. I’m having trouble expressing my distress at the violent death of Actor/Director Rob Reiner. Reiner and his wife Michele were found dead Sunday and their son Nick is now facing two counts of murder. Sadness, disbelief, anger, …
Continue reading “Farewell To The Meathead, Closing Credits”
by Kevin Burton I missed it, completely. It was totally over my head. I guess it’s just somebody’s else’s fight. “We Built This City” by Starship was number one on the US Hot 100 40 years ago this month. It’s catchy. I liked it then, still do. I loved the era when …
by Dictionary Scoop There’s a mixture of fiction and real life behind the people made famous by the hit songs on our list today. From classic rock ballads to catchy pop tunes, here are 12 famous songs that feature people’s names—and the stories behind them. 1-Johnny B. Goode – Chuck Berry We’ll start …
by Kevin Burton My sister and I had one last shared musical moment, in the days before her death Aug. 25 of last year. We had thousands of them over half a century together. What I wouldn’t give to have a few more of them now. The final one came last August, …
by Kevin Burton This bit of Burton family lore started small, sprung up unexpected. We had a maid named Mrs. Long. This was before the basement at my father’s house in Yellow Springs, Ohio was finished, when you could still practice hockey on roller skates and shoot a plastic puck into a 4-by-6 …
by Kevin Burton Looking back, The Bee Gees’ “Jive Talkin’” seems like an obvious, inevitable number one smash. In its day, it was anything but. Fifty years ago today the song was in a two-week run at the top of the Hot 100. It pretty much saved the Bee Gees. There was …
Continue reading ““Jive Talkin’” Saved The Bee Gees In 1975”
by Kevin Burton Our younger cat Lakin is a great leaper, has a good set of lungs and is eager to communicate. And she’s wild about exercise. I should be so wild about exercise. You share your living space with two cats, you find out a few things. Like on a …
Continue reading “Quibbles And Bits: Cats, Beatles, Fantasy”
by Kevin Burton Gilbert Ronstadt was the owner of Ronstadt’s Hardware Store in Tucson, Arizona. He loved to play his guitar for this three children, two girls and a boy. The kids formed a group called “The Three Ronstadts” and played at functions in the area. One of the girls, you will …
Continue reading ““You’re No Good” Singer Linda Ronstadt Is 79”
by Kevin Burton On a tip from a new friend, I knocked on the door of Interlingua language school one day, and asked the good people there to employ me. Shockingly, they took me up on it. This was in the Reagan 80s. I was in somebody else’s country, Mexico, and somebody …
Continue reading “In Praise Of Mexico, Lettuce And Billy Joel”
by Kevin Burton The shirt I had just bought said “Sweet Home Kansas’ or “Down Home in Kansas,” something like that, and it was supposed to make a statement. With decidedly mixed emotions I had just taken a job in Kansas and left my homeland, Ohio, behind. The shirt was one way of …
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