Category
Music
By Bob Andelman October 17, 1984 By a combination of popular acclaim and default, pianist Al Downing is Pinellas County’s father of Jazz. “You live by your reputation,” he joked. It’s getting so people call and say, ‘We want you… Continue Reading →
By Bob Andelman December 16, 1982 CLEARWATER — After 6 p.m., downtown Clearwater pulls in its sidewalks and goes to sleep. It is a time when it would be easier to find a Scientologist than a policeman. There is very… Continue Reading →
By Bob Andelman August 29, 1986 Culture Roots is emblemalic of where reggae music is in America today: Standing still at any speed. Culture Roots is the most popular act of its kind around this area and the group can’t… Continue Reading →
By Bob Andelman May 3, 1985 Frank Zaccaro, new events coordinator for the Florida State Fairgrounds Expo Hall in Tampa, says promoters and patrons can look for the facility to actively pursue major rock music concerts in the immediate future…. Continue Reading →
By Bob Andelman April, 1983 SOUTHEAST Florida To find that good music the gray long hairs are always reminiscing about, consider the International Folk Festival (Miami, late May), New College Summer Music Festival (Sarasota, June weekends), Miami Beach Auditorium Pops… Continue Reading →
By Bob Andelman October 4, 1986 Diana Ross hits are getting shorter as the years grow longer. Songs such as “I’m Coming Out,” “Rescue Me,” “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?” “Swept Away” and a few others have been… Continue Reading →
By Bob Andelman September 23, 1986 With each encore, the audience waited. And waited. And waited. (There were three encores. That’s a lotta waiting.) When is he going to do it? they wondered. When is Elton John going to… Continue Reading →
(I used to write a bi-weekly column, RadioRadio, for Players magazine in the Tampa Bay area. The following story appeared in 1990.) By Bob Andelman They bid him farewell with a medley of Neil Diamond/Air Supply/Johnny Mathis and then “Fast”… Continue Reading →
By Bob Andelman Originally published October 16, 1985 Fred Johnson wears Klompen – Dutch shoes. “I know they’re weird,” he said, “but I don’t care.” The St. Petersburg-based jazz singer also has a distinctive tattoo on his left forearm…. Continue Reading →
By Bob Andelman Originally published March 14, 1986 The fans started waiting around the parking lot at 5:30 p.m. Most never got to see more than the back of Jimmy Page’s head, but it didn’t matter. They were there, and… Continue Reading →
By Bob Andelman Originally published July 1, 1985 Three summertime faces of Joan Baez: Singing in a recent episode of the syndicated TV show Fame, helping the students of a performing arts school understand the importance of speaking up for… Continue Reading →
By Bob Andelman Originally published March 8, 1986 Mike Reno, the lead singer, gave her a big hug and a kiss. So did the other four members of the rock ‘n’ roll band. They also signed her handmade, blue Loverboy… Continue Reading →
By Bob Andelman August 4, 1986 There were three times Saturday night when a person in the more than half-empty Ruth Eckerd Hall could have forgotten that Jermaine -Jackson was you-Know-Who-With-the-Gloves older brother. The first was during a handsome… Continue Reading →
(The following story first appeared in Tampa Bay Life Magazine in 1990 and was reprinted in the book Navigating the Yellow Stream.) By Bob Andelman First things first: I don’t smoke, drink or do drugs. Never have. So, why did… Continue Reading →
Profile By Bob Andelman (Originally published in Tampa Bay Life, 1990) “This is like the guy next door that you grew up with,” says Russ Albums. “If you wanted to have a best friend, this would be the guy. He’s… Continue Reading →
(This story originally appeared in Music magazine, May 17, 1984.) By Bob Andelman The name refers to a military state of readiness, the highest level of nuclear war anticipation. DEFCON-1, a term made familiar to millions in last summer’s film… Continue Reading →
(Note: The following story originally appeared in the St. Petersburg Times, where I was a correspondent for many years. It was fun for my then-fiancee (now wife) and I to ask everybody we met, ‘Is Bruce Springsteen coming tonight?’) By… Continue Reading →
(I used to write a bi-weekly column, “RadioRadio,” for Players magazine in the Tampa Bay area. The following story about the late Q105 DJ Jon ‘Rock & Roll’ Anthony, originally appeared there in 1990. Read more about Anthony at TeddWebb.com.)… Continue Reading →
By Bob Andelman (Originally published in Maddux Report, 1989) Some might say that jingle writing isn’t an art, it’s just advertising.Maybe. But there is a certain melodical, redundant appeal to a well-done jingle that is at once irrepressible and… Continue Reading →