Tom Mischke Steve Cannon:
I think about the day he was diagnosed with cancer. I knew he hadn’t been feeling well. The last time we had gotten together he hadn’t had much of an appetite. Still, the news was a blunt-force strike to the heart, made more difficult by the matter-of-fact way he addressed what was so awful about his situation.
“There’s still things I want to see,” he said. “These are such interesting times, aren’t they? There’s so much going on. I want to find out how this Obama does, I want to see what changes are going to happen in this country. I want to see the new Twins stadium and the Gopher stadium.”
He was 81, but he might as well have been 21. The world around him was endlessly fascinating to Cannon. He kept up with everything. His mind was sharp, and his biting wit alive and devastating.
It was hard to pick an actual clip from Mischke’s Strib elegy. Just go and read the whole thing. It’s the kind of thing you just don’t see in the mass media.
Cannon was terrific. I only last Saturday heard him (probably a replay) on the radio – and introduced him to my son. His was a class and character rarely equalled.
BTW, did you see Babs Davis got axed at KSTP? The guy was a tool, and his shows nearly always were crap, but it’s just another sign of the death of local talk radio. Corporate control is the coming thing (thank you FCC/Bush deregulation) – and guys like Davis, or Cannon, are/were the Hesperonychus elizabethae and Tyrannosaurus of our age. Good speed to Cannon.
Peev, you are indeed a sad little man.
Cannon was indeed one of the greats. TD did a great job of writing about him.
BTW, did you see Babs Davis got axed at KSTP? The guy was a tool, and his shows nearly always were crap, but it’s just another sign of the death of local talk radio.
Er,no. It’s a sign of the death of KSTP-AM since they abandoned conservative talk.
Corporate control is the coming thing (thank you FCC/Bush deregulation)
Actually, Clear Channel has been spinning off stations for the past couple of years, and the big radio corporations are in huge trouble.
– and guys like Davis, or Cannon, are/were the Hesperonychus elizabethae and Tyrannosaurus of our age. Good speed to Cannon.
I guess that makes Limbaugh, Lewis and I the sabre-tooth tigers.
You and Lewis, maybe, Limbaugh, no, he’s the corporate package.
BTW, Davis was a conservative, how is it possible that his ratings sucked? They didn’t abandon that portion of conservative talk, yet he failed. The fact is, maybe GOOD conservative talk can work, but Davis wasn’t good – he was a vapid tool, and failed because he wasn’t up to the task of daylight radio.
I mean this as a compliment, you were and are better than Davis.
BTW Brad – I’m actually quite happy, thanks. OTOH, you have made comment after comment that showed you to be an ugly, venomous and ignorant troll, to wit, your reply.
BTW, Davis was a conservative, how is it possible that his ratings sucked?
A bit of a non-sequitur. Conservative talk in general is doing well; that doesn’t mean every host is going great guns.
KSTP hasn’t promoted itself to that audience since it lost Limbaugh. And let’s not forget, Davis was in a bad time slot for his type of show.
They didn’t abandon that portion of conservative talk, yet he failed.
They abandoned the larger format, which left him and Thompson as orphans, more or less.
The fact is, maybe GOOD conservative talk can work, but Davis wasn’t good – he was a vapid tool, and failed because he wasn’t up to the task of daylight radio.
People are entitled to their opinions, definitely. And that last bit makes some sense; night was Bob’s element. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough money in nights (after losing Limbaugh) to keep either Bob or Tom Mischke on the night shift.
I mean this as a compliment, you were and are better than Davis.
Well, thanks!
Mitch, the only reason radio conglomerates may be in trouble, well, okay, two reasons.. first, they over expanded, and the current economic melt-down is killing them, second, the allowance for corporate conglomerates to control more than 40% of market share is under serious question, as it should be.
I’m surprised that you seem okay with the hyper-control of the big conglomerates honestly. I mean, you normally have some populist sentiments, and ‘The Man’ radio would seem pretty counter to your whole culture/approach. When NARN goes dark, my suspicion is that it will be because Salem either gets bought out, or because Salem decides it can make more money selling Snuggies and Sham-Wow’s during your slot. That’s not a shot at you, but rather that local value is often trumped by the almight corporate dividend. Just as local papers are dying because it’s easier to advertise directly and on the internet, local radio seems like it’s dying too.
I never understand the people like penigma who seem to dance with glee over the firing of someone with different political views. I just have to believe it speaks to the character of the man.
you have made comment after comment that showed you to be an ugly, venomous and ignorant troll
It only happens when I read your comments. Thus, when in Rome…..
I’m not sure what KSTP is attempting to do, but when a CCO castoff like Al Malmberg has a job there and Thompson and Davis don’t, it’s pretty clear that they are no longer a conservative talk station, especially with Pat Reusse doing morning drive.
And Peev — Brad is a great guy and runs an excellent blog. He’s a lot of things, but he’s no troll.
He’s a lot of things, but he’s no troll.
Ugly and venemous, maybe. But no troll. LOL
Ugly and venemous, maybe. But no troll. LOL
Well, ya gotta start somewhere, Brad.
Brad might have a trolling motor. One of those will a rope-pull start.
And Peev yanks it.
And Peev yanks it.
Wow, that’s a hanging curve ball.
“I only last Saturday heard him (probably a replay)…”
Gee. Ya think?
Or maybe you’re confusing the time Cannon joined Warren Buffett, John Maynard Keynes and Ghandi for dinner at the Peevee manse?
Pffft. You’re my favorite cornhole dude, peevee.
For the love of Christ… Peev, you are the greatest of tools. This was supposed to be about Cannon, not how much you dislike Bob Davis and conservatives.
Is it that you can’t help yourself, or that you do it intentionally?
“Is it that you can’t help yourself, or that you do it intentionally?”
Penny is constantly off topic. Maybe he thinks Mitch’s comment thread is his blog, since no one reads his blog.
This was supposed to be about Cannon, not how much you dislike Bob Davis and conservatives.
About 2 or 3 posts before this one, Mitch opined on the firing of Bob Davis. Peev is so deranged that he couldn’t even leave this comment thread to write his Davis remarks on the more relevant post.
“I never understand the people like penigma who seem to dance with glee over the firing of someone with different political views. I just have to believe it speaks to the character of the man. “
BINGO!
Watch peev’s projection:
“you to be an ugly, venomous and ignorant troll”
How’s peev’s blog doing?
“since no one reads his blog” 😆
I have taken peev to task on quite a few occasions. Childs play until they get mean and personal.
Il Duce’ commented here the other day and it nailed the way the liberals (peev, flush, et al) discuss the issues:
“Repeated Liberal fishing expeditions into people’s personal lives has made blogging a whole lot less fun and more dangerous. While it is all the proof anyone will ever need that the local liberals know that they can’t compete with our ideas, plan B of attacking the messenger is deeply concerning.”
I have to admit that the threats against my wife, children, and me were a bit disconcerting.
I would expect peev to defend this with even more threats.
Talk radio and radio in general are and will be doing fine. It’s the product, not the venue. Market something genuine and appealing to people and they will seek it out. Cannon had that kind of appeal,
“I only last Saturday heard him (probably a replay)…”
Not to be snarky, but it was definitely a reply. Cannon retired in ’97, if memory serves.
I’m listening to Mischke’s show for April 7… he’s got nothing prepared, but it’s all about Cannon. Pretty damn good.
Of course, it’s kind of a class on old school radio.
Actually, Clear Channel has been spinning off stations for the past couple of years, and the big radio corporations are in huge trouble.
It’s more of a business phenomenon than anything else. For the last few years heavily leveraged companies like Clear Channel and the Tribune Company have been struggling as credit began to dry up. If you’ve run your business on irrationally exuberant expectations of growth and cheap and easy credit you’re getting hit.
It’s been so long since we had a real consumer driven correction that many companies forgot that too much leverage is dangerous to your survival in a real downturn.
K-Rod,
Let’s be clear; I’m not aware that Flash and Pen have actually made any actual threats. I know Flash hasn’t done any “digging” on people. (If he tried, I know where the bodies are buried in his yard, so lotsa luck!
There are, of course, others.
especially with Pat Reusse doing morning drive
Until I read that I couldn’t think of a more unpleasantly voiced morning drivetime host than Chris Baker.
I haven’t listened to KSTP since Lewis left. I used to be a big GL guy but after a while it was the same old shtick every day, with the exception of the latest St Paul political outrage thrown in. Or Marjorie’s pies at the fair.
Altho I do have to say there are two things that absolutely made me lose it LMAO on GL
1) when he played the old recording of The Crepitation Contest, Lord Windismere vs Paul Boomer. (there are tons of downloadable links of this ~18 meg mp3 if you search for “lord windismere” on Google)
2) Several years ago, the mayor of one of the southern suburbs (Apple Valley, I think) created a municipal scandal when she brought her kids and a couple friends to the municipal pool and used her mayoral influence to get them admitted for free. So someone calls up and says “But Joe, I don’t know what the big deal is. She was just dropping her kids off at the pool!”. Joe didn’t catch the joke right away, but about 10 seconds later, it was 3 solid minutes straight of nothing but his Canadian goose honking/wheezing out of breath laughter. Both he and Rookie were absolutely DESTROYED and unable to function. He still kept up laughing off and on for another 1/2 hour because he couldn’t stop thinking about it.