“Heads Up” on WBAL: anyone remember?
A current research project involves the evaporation of localized entertainment programming from the airwaves over the past three decades. Though this is a national problem, my focal point would be Baltimore, because that’s where I grew up and currently live. And I was hoping for the nexus of the article to be Heads Up, a quiz show featuring area elementary schools that aired Saturday mornings on WBAL for at least much of the ’80s. But I can find no information on it, save a mention on WBAL’s Wikipedia site (no sign on WBAL-TV’s own website), and I’m fearing the tapes have been lost. Here’s what I remember about it (forgive any inaccuracies—we are talking twenty year old recollections here): Read the rest of this entry »
Kanye West: the new Sly Stone?
In his 33 1/3 book on Sly and the Family Stone’s seminal 1971 album There’s a Riot Goin’ On, a highlight in a highlight-heavy series, Miles Marshall Lewis depicts late 90’s/early 00’s urban bohemia as the “Aquarian age.” He cites Erykah Badu, The Matrix and Napster as evidence of a sea change, a “second Sixties” that abruptly ended with the September 11 tragedy and the ensuing jingoism. Read the rest of this entry »
