WELCOME TO JIM ROSE REMEMBERS RADIO
February 6, 2008 [Wednesday]
Issue #461

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ALL THE NEWS THAT IS NEWS

BEATLES HEART SURGERY
The UK press runs a story that Sir Paul McCartney has heart surgery which lights up his phone and text messages. But the news is a complete surprise to Sir Paul. In McCartney's Web site he says There's been a lot of stuff in the newspapers over the past few months and as most of it is completely inaccurate. There is one recent report about a heart operation that I was supposed to have had. I hadn't seen the report so I was puzzled by so many enquiries about my health. What happened was, over a year ago during a routine medical examination, there was a minor irregularity which I needed to have tests for and which I have now been assured is completely fine. I'm happy to say that I feel great and I have passed my most recent medical with flying colours. I would like to thank all of you and my friends and relatives for your concern and I'm very happy to put your minds at rest, although I have secretly been enjoying all the sympathy I've been getting! (www.paulmccartney.com/news.php#1123/2008-01) Sir Paul's new CD Memory Almost Full is now Platinum in the U.S. which means one million sales. Salute!

THE MONKEES ARE BACK!
Micky Dolenz who pounds the drums and sings with The Monkees during their fame and glory days of the Sizzlin' Sixties returns to CBS Oldies WCBS FM NYC on February 3, 2008 for New York Radio Greats on Sunday nights 7-10p. If you remember, Micky debuts on CBS FM on January 10th, 2005 but leaves the building along with all the radio personalities when WCBS switches to Jack FM. Now under top-notch new upper management, WCBS returns to its original Oldies music format. Dolenz says, I'm looking forward to monkee-ing around on the air again. This brings a huge smiley face to us Monkees fans.

TOM BIGBY (Dallas-Colleyville, TX/Detroit, MI) my first job was at KDBC in Mansfield when I was 13 years old...riding my bike to the radio station to open the door at sign on...now that WAS back in the day, I guess I came back to an active day to day job because I missed it...it is in the blood and will stay there until I find something to replace it. Detroit is Cold, but I am still living in Dallas and get home every couple of weeks... Tom

DAN MCCURDY aka CHARLIE BROWN & DAN PATRICK (Sherman, TX) Jim...you were smack-dab in the middle of the ONLY, and obviously the most destructive tornado in Dallas history...our uber-production manager, Les Vaughn was in Oak Cliff, unused to being on the air, but still doing a stellar job of tracking the monster as it swirled its way through Oak Cliff, down 7th street, Jefferson and starting its Trinity River crossing about Colorado and Marsalis, then toward downtown Dallas before making a sneaky switch up toward Harry Hines and then un-snaking its way back into its mother-cloud. Honestly, my memory may be shaky, quite shaky, but it seems to me that was the itinerary of the '57 twirler...Eddie Barker and many others could give you a more accurate block-by-block trace of the maelstrom's track, but there's no question, you were one lucky dude not to be blown to Kingdom-Come via Schwinn-cycle in that wild and crazy snapshot-in-time. Jim, my very best to you (and Tejas)...print this: one day, before too long, we should all get together to compare notes of those of us who were there in the circle of craziness that surrounded the JFK assassination and the Oswald shooting...just to get an accurate, clear sense of what happened....before we all cross the Rainbow Bridge... My very best, and my heartiest wishes for joy for you and yours... Your Friend... Dan McCurdy

JFK MEMORIES
In the middle of the JFK assassination in 1963 as well as a witness to one of Dallas' mightiest tornados in 1957. In 1962, I graduate from the fabulous new Kimball high school. Desire to be an architect but cannot afford to go to USC. All high school courses set up in that direction, though. From 1962-63, through a Dallas employment agency begin work as an accounting bookkeeper in the home office of an auto insurance company. On November 22, 1963, JFK's parade passes right in front of our building. All the companies along the route let employees out to view the spectacle. There are 2-3 rows deep of parade admirers. The big black Lincoln convertible passes by right before our eyes. Texas Governor John Connally sits in the jump seat in front of the second row. Jackie and Johnnie sit in the back seat. Jack's position is on our side which is the passenger seat with Jackie beside him on the driver's side. Jackie is a gorgeous angel with a glow all around her head and beautiful hair that glistens in the bright sun. Can't take my eyes off her. Hey, that might make a good song title. The entourage passes us by and leaves us spell-bound. It's lunch time so I enter the Greek restaurant on the ground floor of our building which is directly behind us. Take a seat in a booth on the right side against the wall near the huge front window so I can watch the girls go by. Make my order and wait for the tasty cuisine to appear on my table. All of a sudden, a guy rushes through the front door and screams, The President has been shot! Impossible. We food patrons pass the guy off as a hoax. No way that kind of thing can happen in our wonderful city of Dallas. Finish my meal and head upstairs on the elevator. As I leave the box, hear loud radios. No one is at their desks. Looks like a ghost town. Secretaries surround the blaring radio with tears flowing. What's going on around here? One of the lasses sobs The President has been shot! Oh no! All downtown Dallas businesses let their employees go home because of this terrible tragedy. The normally jam-packed Stemmons freeway also looks like a ghost town. A car pulls up beside me. Roll down my glass and he yells something like, Isn't it horrible? A couple more items about the assassination is that Lee Harvey Oswald lives in an apartment in a tiny complex near Beckley Avenue and the freeway. Pass by that location hundreds of times. In fact while in high school, work at Wyatt's grocery store on Beckley at the corner of Illinois which is not too far away from Oswald's pad. During school years, I'm a grocery store sacker and package out boy. In 1963, Kroger's swoops down and buys all the Wyatt's grocery stores. Here's something else that's even more ironic. Police find Lee Harvey Oswald inside the Texas theater on Jefferson Avenue. We go there to see movies all the time. It's our neighborhood hang out. And if that's not enough, Police officer Tippitt who Lee shoots dead lives near my family in a new brick house with his wife and two boys. We remember radio stations, including KLIF-1190, and the police department take up collections to send Tippitt's boys to college. In 1965, when my radio journey begins, get mighty tired of hearing, Oh you're from the town that killed our president. We Dallasites do not go around killing presidents. Oswald is an outsider who travels the world trying to become famous instead of the nerd that he is. Lee moves to our fair city to do his harm and finds his unwelcome place in our history books. Local night club owner Jack Ruby sends Oswald to his maker.

GILBERT CHESTERTON (1874-1936) And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.

Jim Rose and Tejas
Houston, Texas
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