Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Remembering three giants at the end of 2008

It is New Year's Eve as I write this (yes, I know, I don't get out much anymore...) and a new year is less than two hours away. As we prepare to usher in 2009 with whatever measure of optimism we can muster in these tough economic times, I wanted to salute three individuals from three different areas of the media we lost within the last couple of months. All three made an imprint on your humble scribe...

Toronto media giant Ted Rogers died in early December at the age of 75. He was, of course, head of the media empire that bears his name, as well as owner of the Toronto Blue Jays. He was also my very first "Big Boss" in radio; when I started at CHFI-FM in Toronto in 1973 as a young hotshot producer, making the princely sum of $ 3.00 an hour (then the minimum wage, believe it or not!) he owned a small but lucrative chain of radio stations in the province. His empire has since grown by leaps and bounds, of course, but back in those days it was not unusual to see the Big Guy around the halls of the radio station. I vividly remember one occasion when the entire station staff was taken out to a swanky Yorkville restaurant for a Christmas lunch one year and I was introduced to him as one of the young weekend producers of the various programs we had on air at the time. I must have made an impression on him, as the music director at the time took me aside afterwards back at the station and said Mr. Rogers told him to watch me, as I was going places. Hmmm, all the way to St. Catharines, it seems! Honestly, though, that brief meeting had an impact on me, when I realized the Big Guy noticed me amongst a group of the station employees. I don't know if I ever really fulfilled his promise, but I have always been grateful for the encouragement he offered me that day many years ago.

Musician and broadcaster Bob Sprott passed away back in October of kidney failure at the age of 82. Bob was a real gem and certainly a bit of an enigma. Bob was a trumpeter who fronted his own band in his teens, filled in for an ailing trumpeter with the Glenn Miller Orchestra when Glenn Miller actually lead the band, and then shunned it all to get a real job and raise a family when he realized big band music was on the way out. Bob returned to his native Toronto and eventually found his way into a radio studio to host a radio show about his one true love: the big band music he knew so much about. He has been called Canada's greatest authority on big band music, and I don't doubt the claim. I first met Bob when he was doing his show at CKTB Radio here in St. Catharines many years ago. He didn't drive, so he would take the bus from Toronto to St. Catharines, lugging his big box of LPs (never CDs!) and taping his show before catching the next bus home. He did it all for free, never receiving a dime for his work, which was exceptional in its thoroughness. He eventually ended up at AM 740 in Toronto, where I caught his show one night quite by accident when I left my evening shift at CKTB early that night. It was great to hear that craggy old voice again, talking with the utmost authority about the music he loved the best: big band music. I always remember his salutation on the show: a cheery "Hi, there!" was always at the ready. Bob never performed as a musician regularly after he got out about 1954, but you'd never know it by the passion he displayed for the music he played each week. Bob was more than a little eccentric, to be sure, but it just added to the charm of this grizzled old musician doing the show for love, never money. Take care, Bob, and may heaven swing a little more now that you're there.

Singer-actor Eartha Kitt died Christmas Day at the age of 81. Of the three, this is the one person I never met, and I sure wish I had. Reading her biography is a lesson in how to rise up from the most humble of beginnings to become a giant of television, movies and recordings for decades. It is her star turn as "Catwoman" in the 1960's era Batman TV series that introduced her to a whole new generation of fans, of which I was an enthusiastic member. Let's face it, a slinky woman in tight leather with a sexy, gutteral voice...I became interested in women at that point in my life, what can I say? Thanks, Eartha, for that! Of course, her lengthy career went all the way back to the early 50's with her first recordings for RCA Victor. Incredibly, her debut disc from 1954 is out of print now, but the follow up is available. I can't quite figure out the logic in that. But a number of good examples are available, including her landmark live recording from 1965 recorded at The Plaza. Any and all of her available recordings are obtainable through my website, A Web of Fine Music, which you can fine at www.finemusic.ca. Any of them will introduce you or re-acquaint you with a voice so unique and a style so sexy that you'll wonder where the sexy screen sirens of today are. Eartha Kitt knew she was viewed as an extraordinary character: Orson Welles, no less, once dubbed her "the most exciting woman in the world." Yes, for a time she was, and for a long while yet, she will be remembered fondly for her rich repertoire on stage, screen and in nightclubs the world over. And oh, that voice!

Happy New Year, everyone, and thanks for sharing some moments with me every week in 2008; here's to a thoughtful and interesting 2009!

December 31st, 2008.

1 comment:

triacus said...

Bob Sprott was a good friend and amazing man who never talked about his past other then his love for the big band music and artists that played it.

I once asked him how big his big band library was and he wasn't sure although he did have 66 CD's on Cab Calloway along since he just prepared an upcoming show on Cab.

We rarely meet people like Bob, but when we do, we remember. Bob, Tom Fulton and Jim Paulson, all three were true gentlemen and I thank god to have been friends with each one.

B. Smith