WXRT is still the best rock station in the country.......

[Gato Moteado]

i left chicago over 15 years ago. WXRT (rock) and WFMT (fine arts) were the two radio stations i listened to. i just recently started listening to XRT over the web and they are still great. amazingly, all the same jocks are still there.

[GOPisEvil]

1. Hey man...how's life in CR?

[Ellen Forradalom]

6. It's Chicago in January

and I'm wondering the same thing!

[GOPisEvil]

7. Yeah, I bet.

Another day around 70 with sun here. :boring:

[Ellen Forradalom]

11. Actually it's been in the 40s

and I've been riding my bike to work.

It sure ain't no Costa Rica, though. Gato has the right idea.

[Gato Moteado]

15. hey be careful when it gets colder....

....i don't want to hear about you slipping off the bike on the ice.

when i was a kid, my cousin and i rode our bikes year round. i remember hitting patches of ice and losing control of the bike. good thing we we had thick jackets to break our fall.

[Ellen Forradalom]

23. Aw, thank you

You're sweet for worrying about me. It's not a danger in the 40s but yes, colder I'm much more careful. I wear a helmet to protect what brain I have left, but the rest of me remains vulnerable.

[Gato Moteado]

12. i miss a lot about chicago......

...winter is not one of those things.

[GOPisEvil]

13. Remember how wet last winter was?

This winter is just as dry. We could be doing boatloads of housework around here. I should be...but...well...

[Gato Moteado]

16. what does the garden look like?

nt

[GOPisEvil]

19. About 90% dead.

We had a pretty hard freeze while I was in CA. It pretty much killed everything. The salvias in the corners are the only things doing well. It's just been so damn dry too.

[Gato Moteado]

26. well, keep watering......

.....most of it is perennials and they should return in the spring.

[GOPisEvil]

28. Yep - I'll definitely do that.

If there was any moisture, I bet some of them would start to return. It's like spring right now.

[Gato Moteado]

40. yeah, if the rest of the winter is mild, they'll get an early start.....

cut the indigo spires (the tall blue salvias) back to the ground and they'll send new shoots up.

[GOPisEvil]

41. I've got to cut all the dead stuff out.

I'm just being lazy about it.

[Gato Moteado]

42. how is the fig tree doing?

one of my lovely tica friends here wants me to landscape her small yard. i'll probably start on that in the next few weeks. it'll be easy because it's a tiny yard. i'll put in some passiflora, a lot of heliconias, and some small palms among other interesting things.

[GOPisEvil]

44. The fig is doing ok.

It got hammered by the freeze, but it's got new green growth.

[Gato Moteado]

10. like the "unchanging" xrt in chicago....

....the weather here is always about the same. a little less rain this time of the year, but always pleasant. if it's too hot for ya, head up into the mountains. if it's too chilly, head for the coast.

[Ellen Forradalom]

14. Oh now

I wasn't trying to be catty about 'XRT. It just isn't entirely to my taste, as glad as I am to have them around.

Did you ever make it to Joe Danno's Bucket O' Suds? It was more than a bar, it was an institution. It was located on Cicero at the Six Corners and was frequented by 'XRT staff and its rock & roll guests.

[Gato Moteado]

17. never made it there

did they start doing that after 1990?

[Ellen Forradalom]

21. Bucket O' Suds

was around for a long long time. Joe Danno retired some time in the mid to late 90s when he was in his 80s.

Like any great Chicago bar, the walls were festooned with memorabilia--beer labels, caricatures on paper plates, autographed posters and promo materials from bands that stopped by 'XRT studios.

Joe used to make, bottle and sell his own liqueurs, slapping on home-designed labels. I vividly remember Elixer Lucifer, which I've seen induce personality changes in its imbibers--and not for the better. He also published an irregular newsletter and sold bumper stickers: "Bucket O' Suds--Center O' The Universe."

Damn, I loved that place.

[DontBlameMe]

45. Great place!

They closed, unfortunately, around 98, I think. He still had a full head of hair, though. Looked like an 80 year old hippie.

I always loved how the other patrons would unlock the door and let you in.

[Gato Moteado]

8. the ticas are still asking about you.......

....when are you coming?

[GOPisEvil]

9. When someone buys me a ticket.

[Gato Moteado]

18. ok....as soon as i hit it big......

hopefully that will be sooner than later.

[GOPisEvil]

22. Sounds good!

I hope so too.

[RetroLounge]

2. Yes, when I return to Chicago to visit

it goes on the preset on the radio...

RL

[benburch]

3. WRIF, Detroit is pretty good too! nt

[Ellen Forradalom]

4. I find it a little too unchanging for my tastes

and usually stick to college radio. But there is a lot to admire about 'XRT. Chicago is far better off for having that station on the air.

[Ellen Forradalom]

5. Re: WFMT

My father had a longstanding association with them. He produced some specials for them e.g. on John Cage, and during the bicentennial year had a daily radio show called "Our American Music."

[Gato Moteado]

25. it's one of the best all around radio stations in the world

i know a few people at the station. i used to go to the new year's eve midnite special every year.

the classical music programming is the best in the country.

i also used to love studs terkel's show. is he still on the air?

[Ellen Forradalom]

33. It really is amazing

I don't know if Terkel is still on the air, but despite being older than Moses he's alive and kicking.

Both WFMT and Studs Terkel are national treasures.

[Gato Moteado]

43. i love it when they replay that old interview studs did with dylan....

....i think it was taped in the 60s.

i also tried to never miss the midnight special. i knew a lot of the artists that got play on that show. i used to hang out at earl's place on lincoln as well as holstein's and just about every other place on lincoln avenue.

[Ellen Forradalom]

46. Oh my

you are bringing back the memories, my friend. Remember Orphans, too?

[XNASA]

47. My old landlord owned Orphan's.

I watched the first Cubs playoff game in '84 there.

[Gato Moteado]

48. of course i remember orphans!

i used to see david bromberg play there several times a year! i loved that place.

then one day it became oui oui's. i wouldn't even go in there to take a wee wee. WTF happened? anyways, the owners went on and opened up the beat kitchen.

other places on the block that merit mentioning:
lily's: used to go see blind john davis play there.
loungeaxe
red lion pub

and of course wise fool's down the street.

[Ellen Forradalom]

49. oh oh oh Lily's.

Lounge Ax is of course a legend unto itself.

Wise Fools. My buddy Paul tended bar there and when I walked in it was a no-empty-glass-and-your-money's-no-good-here policy. Those hangovers I took to work the next day.

Did any of your friends work at the original Potbelly's? I know a whole generation of submakers. It still freaks me out that it's now a chain.

[Gato Moteado]

50. i loved potbelly's!

i had been going there since the early 80's. the juke box used to be free.

for a while i worked at easykeys in the dietzgen building upstairs from demondog's. i used to go to poybelly's for dinner.

i didn't know it became a chain.

[Ellen Forradalom]

52. Yes, it was sold a few years back

The new corporate overlords have done an excellent job of preserving the flavors and ambiance of the original Potbelly.

I used to work across the street in a crummy little cafe called Vieux Carre. We were among the first in town to serve espresso (David, the owner of Caffe Pergolesi, was the first wholesaler of espresso machines and coffee in the area.)

Sterch's is still there. I used to have a Sterch's t-shirt in Cyrillic letters way back in the day.

[Gato Moteado]

51. is sterch's still down the street?

one of the holstein brothers used to bartend there i think. i used to go there once in a while with harry waller, one of the local musicians in town.

[Ellen Forradalom]

53. yes it is

see previous

[XNASA]

20. Saturday Morning Flashback this week features 1977.

And Breakfast With the Beatles on Sunday is kinda fun sometimes too.

I've been listening to that station since I was in high school. I was friends with Bobby Skafish at one time as well. Guess I still am kinda.

[Gato Moteado]

30. does terry hemmert still look like......

....roy orbison?

[XNASA]

32. Yes. She almost has it perfected.

[Gato Moteado]

34. awesome.

gotta love terry hemmert.

didn't one of the jocks at xrt play drums for heavy manners back in the 80s? i used to go see that band all the time...really dug them. especially the chick singer.

[XNASA]

36. Dunno. Jon Langford of Mekons fame has a show on 'XRT.

He and Nick Tremulis have a show together called "The Eclectic Company".

[Gato Moteado]

38. it was shel lustig....he was a jock at xrt in the 80s....

...and he was the drummer for heavy manners during that time.

http://www.chitown.com/bandmain/manners/_manners.html

is he still at xrt?

[Greyhound]

24. Corporate rock still sucks. n/t

[henslee]

27. But does it stream? I just checked it out. Did not see any lnks.

[Gato Moteado]

29. yeah, i'm streaming it now

nt

[henslee]

31. We all got our favorite stations.

[grace0418]

35. I'm not overly thrilled about XRT

They sponsor Neil Finn shows when he comes into town, but the two weeks before the concert is the only time you'll hear any of his music on XRT. Unless you count the 10 times a year they play a Crowded House song.

[madrchsod]

37. what`s wrong with northern illinois?

no sunshine for over two weeks and that really crappy damp 34 degress..are you sure you don`t want to move back?

[Gato Moteado]

39. ok, but only if we can go to connie's on harlem and north for...

...an italian beef (sweet hot and wet, of course). then over to maxwell street for a polish with mustard and onions. after that a pizza at gino's east. at some point in the evening we stop by white castle's for some sliders. a hotdog and fries at superdawg on milwaukee and devon before they close at 2AM. then we pick up a case of old style just to help that food digest.

hey....HOW ABOUT DA BEARS!

[gizmo1979]

54. KOME

the kome spot on your FM dial.Out of San Francisco I believe.