Lionel Richie singing “Jesus Is Love”. My favorite and most overlooked Commodores song. Could funeral turn into revival?

When is Extensive Coverage TMI?

How much information do you really want about a news story? In the case of Steve Mcnair, who was found shot to death with a 20 year old woman in a condominium in downtown Nashville Saturday, people seem to want to know every detail.

But how far will the media go covering the personal activities of the city’s biggest stars? And when does that information go from being relevant to the murder to being National Enquirer type gossip?

There are already lots of stories circulating that Mcnair had several girlfriends around town, that he paid their apartment or condo rent, bought them cars, breast enhancement surgeries and other things. People who frequent area nightclubs say they saw him frequently with different women. They were also not surprised to see pictures of Mcnair and Kazemi on vacation and said it’d be more surprising if more pictures of Mcnair with other girls did not surface.

So with all of that stuff in Mcnair’s closet, how much will the news media report?

I think it’s tricky.

Talking to people in our newsroom, this is the biggest news story (non-weather related) that has hit this town in a decade. And in a city that doesn’t get star-struck by celebrities very often, Mcnair’s following is unusually enamored by the man who led the Titans to the Super Bowl.

How much the news media reports about Mcnair’s private life may depend on how much people want to hear.

In the first 48 hours nearly all of the coverage (besides the police investigation)  was about Mcnair’s legacy and the fans mourning his death.  Yesterday was the first time I heard someone say they didn’t have as much respect for Mcnair now that they learn he was cheating on his wife and children.

But newsrooms are going to make some decisions in the next few days. What to report and what not to report. And it’s not going to be easy. Do you report scandalous details about Mcnair’s life that do not necessarily pertain to the murder investigation? Girlfriends, the company he kept, places he stayed. And do viewers and newspaper readers even want that much information if it tears down their hero?

Centers For Disease Control says 87,000 injuries cause by chasing pets. 11.7% from chasing cats.
Seriously. Seriously?

Barely ever get email anymore. Twitter and Facebook make it useless like email made letters. I wonder what will make those things obsolete?

There’s A Hole in My TV

“Why is everybody dying” is the question that keeps showing up on twitter. Of course, they don’t mean “everybody”, as in literally everybody. At least I don’t think so.

But we’ve heard of Ed McMahon. We’ve looked at Farrah Fawcett’s smile. We’ve tried to moonwalk to Michael Jackson’s music. And we’ve all been tempted to purchase something Billy Mays has hawked.

Suddenly, there are an awful lot of people we are familiar with, no longer in our lives.

Facebook Quizzes

According to Facebook quizzes, I’m:

• I’m a German Shepherd,
• Sirhan Sirhan,
• orange,
• Bea Arthur,
• a wookie,
• fork,
• sea sponge,
• 28% black,
• Captain Stubeng,
• North Dakota,
• the Hindenberg,
• Alfalfa,
• pineapple-strawberry smoothie,
• 8pm,
• Tuesday,
• 1979,
• the 80s,
• Dan Akroyd,
• filet o’ fish,
• Mellow Yellow,
• freshwater catfish,
• a dime,
• bumblebee.
• black-eyed susan,
• October,
• Arbor Day,
  
• “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”,
  
• Tito,
  
• Toto,
• “Casablanca”,
  
• Dodger Stadium,
  
• Sweden,
  
• Grandfather clock,
  
• blue spruce,
• Cannonball Run II,
• 2nd period history class,
• Rwanda,
  
• and finally:         Captain Feathersword.

Jacko and Elvis

I suppose people of my age look at the sudden death of Michael Jackson the same way our parents looked at the sudden death of Elvis Presley.  The news was announced about the same time of day. Both artists had basically slipped out of public life and into a bizarre drug induced state of being.

Elvis died at 42. That’s younger than I am now. MJ died at 50.  Elvis helped usher in the age of television, and forced many a dad to buy a tv to satisfy little girls. Jacko ushered in the age of music video. Before “Thriller”, music videos were nothing to brag about.

In 1983 when the video first came out, I saw it debuted at a dance club in Knoxville. The dj stopped the music playing and announced he’d be showing a video on an overhead screen. No one had seen anything like that before in a dance club.

And no one had ever seen anything like “Thriller.” A movie really. A complete story with a killer bass track and dance moves like no one had ever, EVER seen before. No one on the dance floor that night was moving. We all stopped to watch. More still and quiet than that dance club had ever been before or since.

And the thing about the video was, you couldn’t just go watch it if you wanted. MTV didn’t show it every 20 minutes but made a big deal about the fact it was the only channel to see it on. You watched MTV all the time hoping to see it.

How different that would be handled today.

Who was bigger? Elvis or Michael? I couldn’t tell you even though I got to experience the success of both. I remember Elvis’ tv specials AND Michael’s video s and concerts.

It’s amazing how their lives and deaths are so similar.

My Favorite Farrah Story

She will forever be remembered for a beautiful smile and a little red one-piece bathing suit. But Farrah Fawcett should also be remembered for inspiring one of Motown’s biggest hits. Not many people have heard this story yet, and you may think I’m making it up.  But I’m not.

Farrah Fawcett was the inspiration behind  “Midnight Train to Georgia”.

Guy just ran a stop sign cutting me off and speeding away. I said “where’s a cop when you need one”?” one appears and gives bad boy a ticket.

The Worst Job Interview Ever

Five years ago this month I totally choked at a job interview and audition. Good thing I can laugh about it now.

I didn’t have a contract at WREG in Memphis, hadn’t sent out any resumes and had no idea what I was going to do next. I wasn’t doing much except complaining.

My cellphone rang one day and the call was from the news director at the tv station I really wanted to work for in Birmingham. Morning anchor job open, come down for interview and audition next weekend.

The next day, a news director friend in Knoxville called with the exact same opening. Fly in next weekend for an interview and audition.