Passings

This past week was full of sad obituaries. We lost some good ones; Ahmet Ertegun, Peter Boyle and Lamar Hunt.

Ahmet Ertegun, the co-founder of Atlantic Records, was another one of the behind the scenes heroes of the music biz. Check out this list of artists; Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Allman Brothers, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus.

Of equal importance was the Atlantic production team of Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin and Tom Dowd.

I have always listened to anything that I came across that had the Atlantic imprint, knowing that evn if it wasn’t my cup of tea it would be of high quality.

Peter Boyle had a unique quality. When he came on screen I would think “I know a guy just like that” and it didn’t matter if he was being funny or serious. When an actor can make a character believeable, the audience can take the ride.

Lamar Hunt, owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, coined the term “Super Bowl” and was a man of vision. He was elemental to the growth an success of the N.F.L. I know several people who met the man and all have had nothing but kind things to say. That is rare of a man in his position.

Judith Regan has been fired by Harper Collins, which is owned by News Corp., which is owned by Rupert Murdoch, over the O.J. Simpson fiasco. I guess that she is the person with a high enough profile to be a scapegoat.

“I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project,” Murdoch said in a statement. “We are sorry for any pain this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson.”

I have said this before, as the saying goes “A fish rots from the head.” Murdoch holds the ultimate responsibility here and it is sad that he thinks that using a corporate play-book is a means of absolution.

This is funny. Tigers pitcher Joel Zumaya, who can throw a baseball 103 miles per hour, hurt his arm playing Guitar Hero. He hurt it bad enough to miss three playoff games. That is a pretty valuable appendage to be risking on a video game. Throwing a baseball is one of the most damaging things you can do to an arm but, not as risky as Guitar Hero.

I spent an evening with my stepson and his buddy mostly watching them play the game. There were several times when they would take a break, shake their arms out, and then continue. I tried it, by the way, and couldn’t suck enough. I would have a better chance picking up a real guitar and trying to make through “War Pigs” by foggy memory.