Posted on 04/20/2008 6:21:08 AM PDT by raccoonradio
I don’t like Hannity either — I don’t disagree with him, he just irritates me! I think I’ll just get used to the quiet for this week . . . :(
Howie column ping—live from Florida!
Debacle doesn’t reverse Curse of Channel 7
By Howie Carr | Wednesday, April 23, 2008 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Columnists
The Curse of Channel 7 lives.
Its baaaaack . . . only this time, it isn’t sports anchors, or ex-anchors, or airhead reporters getting bagged for, respectively, drunken driving, kiddie porn or shoplifting.
This time it’s the non-head-turning blond, female general manager, screaming (what else?), “Do you know who the (bleep) I am?”
As a matter of fact, Randi Goldklank, very few of us knew who the bleep you were until yesterday morning. Even those of us who belong to Boston’s largest alumni association - the “Fired From 7 Club” - couldn’t have picked you out of a lineup.
But we can now, baby. You’re a legend in your own time. And as the old saying goes, people who become legends in their own time usually don’t have much time left.
She’s just another Sunbeam blow-in from Florida who drifted into 7 Bulfinch Place. Nobody knew anything about her, unless you could match boldface names with blind items in the Inside Track.
My favorite part of the police report is when they ask her how many drinks she’s had and she answers “about three dozen.”
Bob Gamere could not be reached for comment. But remember, his nickname was “Two Beer” and he got clipped.
Hey, so what if Randi got a bad ice cube - or 36.
“I’m a big shot in Boston and I’ll have your (bleeping) jobs.”
She’s lucky she wasn’t also charged with impersonating a Kennedy.
When I went to work at Channel 7, the oldtimers used to tell us that the station had been built on an old Indian burial ground, and that anyone who violated the consecrated land - meaning us - would be cursed. Hey, it sounded semibelievable. After all, there had to be some explanation for the wretched luck that kept befalling the station, year after year after decade.
Once they caught a break with a new young anchor named Chuck Scarborough. He went to No. 1, and then on the night the good news became official, he quit to move to New York. His explanation, which he has since confirmed to me, was classic Channel 7. “In this business,” he told a cameraman, “you gotta (bleep) them before they (bleep) you.”
Too late, Randi!
But since Ed Ansin bought the station, the curse of 7 Bulfinch Place seems to have receded. After all, Jeff Derderian quit and went to work in Rhode Island just before The Station nightclub fire that killed 100 people. Gerry Grant was long gone to San Antonio before he pleaded guilty to buying kiddie porn from the woman who later was paralyzed in the traditional unrelated shooting.
Paula Zahn had a semidecent run at CNN before fellow Ch. 7 alum Bill O’Reilly knocked her off and the tabloid headlines about her third-rate romances and low-rent rendezvous started appearing.
But lately, Channel 7 has been drooping. Channel 25 is the new Channel 7 - flashier, with hotter anchor cupcakes, which is all that really matters in local TV news anyway. The fact that 7 had to hire Linda Ergas from 25 to up their fading babe quotient tells you all you need to know about which way the wind is blowing.
And now La Goldklank has been caught looking for love in all the wrong places. She claims she was groped on her flight by a male passenger who seems not to have existed. Who knew D.B. Cooper was back flying the friendly skies again? And apparently at least one of her 36 cocktails was Love Potion No. 9.
“You think I’m cute and I think you’re cute,” she reportedly told a cop. “Just drive me home.”
They say history first repeats itself as tragedy, then as farce. At Channel 7, it’s farce and then more farce. And if you don’t believe me, just ask a certain dead Indian chief.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1088972
As always, thanks for the ping.
Once again, Howie had me laughing as I read.
Randi Goldklank
“Who does a girl have to [bleep] around here to get a drink?”
Ain't that the truth!
No prob; http://www.savewrko.com alerted me to the presence of the column, though I would have checked the Herald website anyway to see if he’d written anything (...even on vacation in Florida!). Reg columns Sun, Wed, and Fri though sometimes
he’ll do a special column on other days if it’s needed.
from SAVEWRKO.com—below is by Brian Maloney:
‘Do You Know Who I Am?’
I’ve received quite a few emails from readers wondering when we would get to the white-hot story of WHDH-7’s general manager Randi Goldklank and her drunken tirade at Logan.
You know interest is high when even the boring Globies are all over it. After initially avoiding the story, Channel 7 and owner Sunbeam are now addressing it on their website.
Initially, I’d wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt: what if she really had been harassed by a man on the plane?
But the subsequent reporting indicates she was drunker than a skunk.
Because Goldklank is relatively new to the market, she’s an unknown quantity in Boston’s über-insular media environment. Unless you work at WHDH-7 or identical twin WSVN-7 in Miami, you’d probably never heard of her until now.
Now, however, Randi’s a household word, joining her namesake Randi Rhodes in the Public Drunkenness Hall Of Shame.
Full of high pressure and job insecurity, broadcasting is a brutal business. That lends itself to substance abuse, with good old-fashioned heavy drinking still common, in the management ranks as much as anywhere else inside the station.
It’s a story that would have been tailor-made for Howie Carr, who now spends more time away from the show than on the air. He now seems to have one-and-a-half feet in Florida, with just one or two toes still firmly planted in Massachusetts.
Soon enough, he’ll be just another Bay State retiree in the Naples area, as common as swamps in the Everglades.
UPDATE: Howie managed to file a Herald column on this matter from Sunny South Florida.
It amazes me that Howie can turn out so many good columns so quickly.
Obviously, Massachusetts provides plenty of grist for the mill.
Wed ping; still Reese.
The following is by Brian Maloney from http://www.savewrko.com
(Note: the person he mentioned, Thomas Arthur Irwin aka
“Tai” formerly of WRKO, WFNX, and WZLX, is a nice guy—had
been tech. advisor of the SSC radio station where I’ve been for a long time. Will read his blog column in a moment.)
by Brian Maloney:
At his Boston Herald blog page, Tai Irwin takes on Howie Carr, accusing him of “phoning-in” his radio program and newspaper column.
Irwin says he is willing to do both for free, if that’s what it takes to put some energy back into our tired local media scene.
While I agree with some of his points, Tai’s timing is off: Carr’s listeners can’t wait for him to return after suffering through a week of Fung Wah, his replacement.
The emails we’ve been receiving on this subject are amazing. Apparently, this is the first many had heard of the New Jersey hip hop promoter. Suddenly, Col Hunt’s ramblings actually seem coherent by comparison. (/Brian Maloney)
Tai’s blog: http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/entertainment/tai_rade/?p=337
Here is what Tai wrote in the Herald
From the Tai-rade in the Herald (Tai’s nickname comes
from his initials. He was at a station in Albany, IIRC,
that had two “Toms” as DJs and to avoid confusion he became
TAI, or That Guy Tai, etc.)
By Thomas Arthur “Tai” Irwin:
Howie Carr Replaced
Howie – I’m Calling You Out. Now hear this: I’ll take over Howie’s slot at the Herald, and his radio show – and I’ll do them both for free. Don’t ask questions about the practical complications of such a plan, just start lobbying for it, damn it. You think I’m making a dime with this crummy blog you’re crazy. Time to move up and conquer.
In today’s paper* (purchased by over a dozen Bostonians at newsstands), Howie recycles his old bull____ about the evil race from hell, and all the upheaval his affluent of Wellesley must endure. The Boston Marathon is one of his favorite generic targets because it is obviously so dynamic and wonderful that to nuke it is to always get people talking. So does someone farting in church. Howie hates the race because it reminds him that some people can run 26 miles faster than he can come up with an original idea for a column.
You see how much trouble print media is in, just look at the mooks across from the Museum of Science every day not selling the Herald. I don’t think they could give it away if they tried. And even that free paper Boston Now was a bomb. Pat Purcell could save a fortune hiring me for free, and think of all the actual journalists they could retain with the savings. Together we could launch an audio element at the Herald that could rival anyone’s nationwide. Build a great website that lived and breathed Boston. And let’s face it, I have a better voice than Howie, and I look people in the eye, whereas he never changes his “shoegazing” mode. In the fatter and balder contest, Carr is proudly the winner.
Entercom could halt the Wall Street panic by taking Howie off the air. Nobody is interested in radio stock and can you blame them? He’s told them he doesn’t want to be there, right? Tell him there is a reunion of all his preppy pals at Deerfield and maybe that will be enough to point him down the Pike. Without Carr on afternoon drive WEEI’s show would have no competition, and WRKO would be free to run the info-mercials they pine for. And unlike Carr who costs an arm and a leg, they could start making serious money from David Oreck and Ron Popeil. Now that’s entertainment. I’d run the board and take calls from his loyal listeners not working (as usual) at that hour of the day.
Hey, if Robert Downey Jr. can be Iron Man, anything’s possible
*—you mean the Herald, who put your “tai-rade” on their
site? A lot more people that that buy it, but you’re just being sarcastic. And no, your voice isn’t better than
Howie’s, you’re both good—raccoonradio
my reply to the Tai-ster:
“hi Tai–Bob N of WMWM here. I do hope someone puts you on the air, but I still think Howie’s show and column are worth it. And both your voices are fine, IMHO (Tai used to be
tech. advisor for WMWM @ SSC, is a very nice guy, and worked for years at WFNX, WZLX, and even WRKO. He called in on air to congratulate me for my 25 years at WMWM. I don’t agree with him on this, as I still think Howie’s fine, but hope he gets on air somewhere!)
“PS–the battle to get Howie on WTKK shows that he is very valuable to either station”
Someone should tell Brian Baloney that if we want more #@%& from him, we’ll squeeze his head!
Just heard legendary Boston sportscaster Don Gillis has
passed away:
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/15978384/detail.html
BOSTON — Don Gillis, the man who invented the television sportscast in Boston, died Wednesday night, his son Gary said.
While Gillis began his career in radio and hosted post-game coverage of the Boston Red Sox. He became best known as a television sports anchor. In 1962, he began his nightly sports segment on WHDH-TV. (the old Ch 5)
“He was the first one in Boston to do a sportscast,” his son Gary said. “It was in October of 1962, the same night Johnny Carson started ‘The Tonight Show’”.
The segment was so popular that the television station expanded its late newscast from 15 to 30 minutes.
Texaco was a sponsor of the newscast and “they wanted him to wear a Texaco uniform on the set. They said they would give him another $15, but he wouldn’t wear it,” his son said. “With five kids at home, that wasn’t easy.”
Gary, who followed his father into broadcasting, said, “The greatest thing about him was that I never worried about running into someone who said ‘what a jerk your father is’. They talked about him with great admiration and great respect. That is the way he approached things. He felt everyone deserved respect until they proved otherwise.”
http://mumblesmenino.us/mumbling/Who%20Don%20Gillis.mp3
WHO TOM MENINO?
tom who???? LOL!
Is that Andy Moes?
Yes that was the late Andy Moes (died in Jan of ‘99 IIRC)
Friday ping; Howie back Monday I believe.
Today’s column in the Herald
Don’t play the Somma card, Randi
By Howie Carr | Friday, April 25, 2008 | http://www.bostonherald.com
Who framed Randy Randi Goldklank, the blotto boss of Ch. 7?
She is, of course, a victim. She must be - it can’t be her own fault, after all. She’s a Beautiful Person, a self-proclaimed “bigshot” who, with a single phone call, can ruin the lives of the Little People who were actually raised here, rather than on Long Island.
Someone must have framed Randy Randi. She had a fairytale-like rise to the top of the manure pile that is local TV news, and now she has the fairytale moniker to prove it: “Snow White Zinfadel.”
Time, though, is not on La Goldklank’s side.
She used to screech, “Do you know who I (bleepin’) am?”
Her next question is going to be, “Do you know who I was?”
But perhaps Randy Randi’s squalid career can still be salvaged. To survive, she must be able to point the finger at someone, or something else. Here are some suggestions for what or whom she can blame her shame:
• “Tabloid frenzy.” A new phrase, coined recently by disgraced U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert Somma after he was arrested for DWI in Manchester, N.H., while wearing a cocktail dress and fishnet stockings, and carrying a purse after he left a gay bar. For weeks the Globe forgot to mention all of the above details except the DWI, but this newspaper (and the Union Leader) didn’t. Ergo, Judge Roberta says he’s the victim of a “tabloid frenzy” and shouldn’t have to give up his lifetime $158,000-a-year job.
The Globe was caught equally flat-footed on this story about yet another seriously bent Beautiful Person. Without the Herald, you can bet the drifters who run the other paper would have once again given a fellow blow-in the “full Somma” - a complete pass.
• “Police brutality.” Not a credible defense. Too many witnesses. On the plus side, F Troop, aka the airport staties, is not the most popular cop outfit around, what with their overtime and imperious attitude outside the Logan terminals. But compared to Randy Randi, they’re the salt of the earth, or as Randi would say, the salt of the bleepin’ earth.
• “Prescription mix-up.” This one is already being floated on the message boards, that she was zonked on the same drug as the other New York woman who recently died in a chokehold at the Phoenix airport. Of course, the labels on all these bottles warn you not to wash down the pills with “three dozen drinks” and to avoid operating “heavy machinery.”
• “I was groped.” Too late. If you were going to put that hoary “sexual-harassment” whopper across, you had to ID the perp as he got off the plane. No suspect, no traction.
• “I have a disease.” Join the club. So do half the people you’ll meet down at the Hurley Building when you’re filing for unemployment.
• “My mom died.” Show us the death certificate.
• “They hate me because I’m a woman.” No, Randy Randi, they hate you because you behave like a Kennedy.
• “Coming soon to Ch. 7, a new series - Dan Conley, Crusading District Attorney!” Jeff Derderian will be anchoring the 11 o’clock newscast before that one takes off.
• “Don’t cross me - I’ll be back.” Any question about her lingering clout, or lack thereof, was answered Tuesday in district court. Ironically, Ch. 7 was the pool camera for every station in town, and the video was perfect. I can think of at least one old Ch. 7 GM who would have ordered the tape to come up bad - and it would have.
• “I’ll sue!” That’s what Judge Somma has reportedly been saying too. Good luck.
Poor Randy Randi, I think the end is near. Randi, as the old country song goes, walk out backwards when you leave, so we’ll think you’re walkin’ in.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1089513
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