INSIDE STORY ON SCOTT SHANNON'S RETIREMENT

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THE GLORIOUS CORNER

Story By: G. H. HARDING
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Scott Shannon With John Mayer




Shannon Say It Ain’t So --- After many successful years together with Todd Pettengill hosting Scott & Todd in the Morning on WPLJ/New York, Scott Shannon announced on the air this morning that he is retiring from WPLJ after 22 years at the station.


Pettengill will continue as the host of The Todd Show during the same 6 AM-10 AM time slot.


“Of course I’ll miss being a part of the morning show here on PLJ and I might even pop back in from time to time and try to get Todd to play a Rascals song or two,” Shannon said.


"Scott and I had an amazing run and I'll miss our mornings together and cherish the memories we made. I'm also very excited about the opportunity ahead with a very talented group of people that I know our listeners are going to love," Pettengill said.


Shannon, who I’ve known for years and is unquestionably the real deal in every way, is just a force of nature. His talents, intelligence and encyclopedia-knowledge of music is just off the charts. Plus, a nicer person, you’d never meet.


WPLJ has been going through their own internal battles for quite some time now; losing key personnel like Tom Cuddy and Teresa Angela; shifting owners to Cap Cities and now, Cumulus; and, really dismantling some great concepts like live shows from the late-great China Club. And, their ratings have gone south … way south. If you’ve followed the station over the years, as I have, it’s so very sad. The new doctrine has been cut-back everything ... salaries and personnel.


Shannon created the successful Tru Oldies Channel so he won't want for lack of work, but it’s another unfortunate win for commerce over art. Back in the day, Shannon worked for Neil Bogart’s visionary Casablanca Records. His exploits are somewhat detailed in the great book about the label, And Party Every Day from Larry Harris. The book is perhaps the best ever document of a record company during the halcyon 80's.


New York has lost a tremendous voice; and I trust he'll be back on the airwaves as soon as he can. A major, major loss for us.


Scott just emailed me … he’s not retiring … just movin’ on! Super Shannon Lives!


Giancarlo Stefanutto With Mark Bego



BEGO du JOUR --- As his book, Life With My Father Glen Campbell (Omnibus), prepares for release next month, celebrity-author Mark Bego has begun a new venture: an online site called Cook Like A Rock Star. As Bego says, “Although the life stories of all of my book subjects are vastly different, they're also several things that they have in common: great music, and their love of great food that is exciting and delicious. In this website I intend on sharing some of my favorite recipes, and the personal recipes of some of your favorite “rock star” celebrities.”


So far, Bego has included recipes from such stars as Boz Scaggs, Michelle Phillips, Angela Bowie, Jimmy Greenspoon, and, Mary Wilson.


The goal, adds the author, is to eventually launch a formal book with even more recipes. Last week, Bego showed up at Tucson restaurant La Mia Toscana and cooked with the owner and chef, Giancarlo Stefanutto.


TA-TA 2 ½ MINUTE TRAILERS? --- Hollywood studios are resisting the National Association of Theatre Owners’ January 27th call for movie trailers to be shortened from the current standard of 2 ½ minutes to just two minutes each. It might not seem like a big deal, but with upwards of 5 or 6 trailers shown before the main feature, that could add up to at least a savings of 3 minutes or more.


I don't even know if I like the long trailers as they seem to give away all the plot points in advance. I've heard people say, that since the trailer sucks … I won't be going to see the movie. Wow!


CLOSING NOTES --- As any true-blue Marvel-comics denizen knows, The Vision, the terrific A. I.-creation from The Avengers, is one of the best characters ever from that hallowed-comic book company. It was just announced that the character will appear in Avengers 2: The Age of Ultron, with none other than actor Paul Bettany portraying him. Ultron actually created The Vision in the comic-backstory; so his appearance was only a matter of time. Bettany has been the voice of Jarvis, Tony Stark’s robot-voiced butler in all the Iron Man movies. He’s was also great in The Da Vinci Code and Beautiful Mind; and, he’s married to Jennifer Connolly …


Talk about shifts: People’s Larry Hackett is out … Jess Cagle is in. Hackett was a hack; not very approachable at all. Cagle, from Entertainment Weekly, is far, far better. Good luck Jess …


Rhino Records has officially come aboard as sponsors of next month’s Monkees-convention. Rumors abound that they’re coming with surprising news. Stay tuned. We’ll be there and have all the news …


Watched Jay Leno’s last show last night and he was surprisingly heartfelt. 22 years … a good run for sure. My prediction: he’ll be on Letterman very, very soon. Next week in fact …


We’ve been remiss in not mentioning the passing of Pete Seeger. From “Where Have All The Flowers Gone,” to “If I Had a Hammer,” Seeger was the voice of the big issues of life. He sang a message of peace, civil justice and social equality. President Obama said of Seeger, “He believed deeply in the power of song.” His voice should never be forgotten …


 Photos Courtesy of: David Salidor PR


Comments

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