Bee-otch of the Day

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

5.2.18 Bee-otch of the Day: Urban One

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Bee-otch of the Day honors are awarded Monday through Thursday, Bee-otch of the Week is awarded Friday on Chuck69.com.

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Name: Urban One
Age: 38
Occupation: black media giant
Last Seen: Washington, DC
Bee-otched For: still airing Cosby

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It's a shame when black people own a radio and or TV station and in the end, they don't do the right thing.

Urban One - formerly Radio One since they own the TV One cable network - recently announced that they are selling WPZR/Praise 102.7 to Educational Media Foundation. EMF will flip the signal-impaired station to their Christian contemporary K-Love format once the ink is dry. Of course, us metal fans remember 102.7 when it was WDZR/102.7 Z-Rock in the 1990s. What a killer station that was. Sadly, being forced to live up in northern Michigan where our main rock station OD'd on geezer rock, I was unable to listen to Z-Rock often.

Radio One bought 102.7 many years ago when it was classic rocker The Bear (remember that station? Ted Nugent had a morning show) and flipped it to urban AC Kiss FM. They moved Kiss to 105.9 and 102.7 became Praise 102.7.

Oddly enough, this is NOT the reason why Urban One is BOTD.

Like I mentioned, Urban One owns TV One, a cable network aimed toward older black women. Well, guess what they still air a week after the fact? Why, it's The Cosby Show! Nothing like embracing African-American culture by airing a TV show starring a convicted felon!

I know, some are crying that Cosby's co-stars - i.e. Phylicia Rashad, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Raven Symone etc. - didn't do a thing. But do these assholes at Urban One know a thing or two about Jimmy Savile, the British TV and radio personality whom it was discovered that he molested over 500 people before he died a few years ago? His victims were all male and female, young and old. Because of this horrific discovery, his old shows like his episodes of Top of the Pops have been banished from British TV.

Sadly, I think this country has a higher tolerance towards sexual offenders unlike England. Gary Glitter's in jail for accosting minors and yet there's gotta be a radio station somewhere in America that's playing "Rock and Roll Part 2". Cosby is a sick fuck for drugging and raping all those women and he should be getting the same treatment the Brits gave Savile and Glitter. I'll betcha Cosby is getting special treatment from Urban One because of the fact that he's black.

But if that's the reason why The Cosby Show is still on TV One, then the African American crowd needs to find his replacement.
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Bee-otch of the Day Archives can be seen on http://beeotchoftheday.blogspot.com

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Tuesday, May 1, 2018

5.1.18 Bee-otch of the Day: Bill Simonson

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Bee-otch of the Day honors are awarded Monday through Thursday, Bee-otch of the Week is awarded Friday on Chuck69.com.

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Name: Bill Simonson
Age: 57
Occupation: hack
Last Seen: Grand Rapids, MI
Bee-otched For: dropping The Ball

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Today, it was announced that Cumulus Media got the approval to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy by the end of the quarter. The media giant - which owns over 450 radio stations - is now trading at a nickel per share.

It's too bad that one of the reasons for their bankruptcy is still stinkin' up the joint.

The Winter 2018 Nielsen ratings are out and B93 once again ruled at #1. WGRD - which thankfully shitcanned most of the shitty 1970s butt rock that their now-unemployed PD Johnnie Walker introduced into their playlist - rose nicely to a 7.1 share to #2, its best showing in years. WLAV, WOOD-AM/FM and WSNX all rounded out the top five.

And you guessed it, WBBL 107.3 is dead last on the FM side with a pitiful 1.3. Their ratings are to the ears as Johnny Brann's little eyesore is to the eyes (and to the stomach since that place is known for their health code violations). But it makes perfect sense since Brann's is a sponsor to the reason for WBBL's shitty ratings: Bill Simonson.

It's tragic that this fat fuck is still on the air with his little Howard Cosell shtick. He's no longer on TV because he had poor ratings there and the only other thing keeping him going is his little diatribes in the Grand Rapids Mess -er, Press. Plus the fact that some of Grand Rapids' biggest elitists like the Devoses, the Meijers and of course the Branns keep him on the air. Oh, and the fact that Auto Value advertises on the show, too. Good thing I go elsewhere for my automotive needs.

I don't know, folks. Grand Rapids knows that Fat Boy is a total homer, plus the fact that whomever is doing the afternoon shift at WMAX/96.1 ESPN is doing a helluva better job these days. Hell, 96.1 could probably steal Tyrone Bynum from 1680 and have him spend three hours on how he hates white people and still get better ratings than the Huge turd.

Of course, WBBL is also the home of Eric Zane, formerly on Free Beer and Hot Wings. The fact that he's now Huge's butt buddy has hurt his image. No wonder why they knocked an hour off his morning show. Hell, even with the current problems with ex-producer Joe Gassman, I think FB&HW have no worries.

As for Cumulus, I think it's sad that they're at a fuckin' nickel per share and they expect to exit Chapter 11? Please. They need to sell off underperforming stations. Hell, the only station they have in GR that's worth a tin shit is WLAV. I think it's time to kill off WBBL and realize that this town has several format holes. Urban and alternative come to mind.

But since this is Cumulus we're talking about, it'll never happen.
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Thursday, April 26, 2018

4.26.18 Bee-otch of the Day: Bill Cosby

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Bee-otch of the Day honors are awarded Monday through Thursday, Bee-otch of the Week is awarded Friday on Chuck69.com.

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Name: Bill Cosby
Age: 80
Occupation: convicted felon
Last Seen: Pennsylvania
Bee-otched For: making it official that he's guilty

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When I was a kid, I loved The Simpsons and guess what? I still do.

However, growing up in rural northern Michigan in the early 90s, watching the weekly adventures of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie, Snowball II and Santa's Little Helper was nearly prohibitive. Northern Michigan's Fox affiliate, WGKI/33 (now WFQX/32) had a nearly-non-existent signal and my family lived out of the range of any cable company. We had a big antenna on our roof and could only pick up four channels. The only time I could watch The Simpsons was when my dear, sweet old grandma taped me episodes of the show.

One day at school on a Thursday, I had a teacher who asked me what I watched on Thursday nights. My answer was Top Cops, a show on CBS that was about true stores of policemen on the job. My teacher told me that she wanted me to watch The Cosby Show instead. Even worse, she wanted me to write a report on it. Needless to say, I burst into tears. Thankfully, I talked her out of it.

The reason why I started to release the waterworks was simple: I HATED Bill Cosby. I hated him for blasting Bart Simpson for being a so-called negative role model for children. But you see, Bart is what Bill Cosby never was, and that was funny.

It's hysterical knowing that on Sunday, The Simpsons will beat Gunsmoke to be the longest-running TV series in prime time history with its 636th episode. The show is still funny and quite topical. However at the same time, the man who hoped to beat Bart and co. at their timeslot has been found guilty of drugging and raping a woman.

As we all know by now, Bill Cosby has been declared a convicted felon by a jury in Pennsylvania. He will spend the next two months at his home and then he'll be sentenced officially in two to three months. He could spend the next 30 years in prison, or roughly the rest of his life.

For Cosby, this is the end of one of the most-respected careers in entertainment. For nearly 60 years, he was one of the few black comics that never swore on stage and focused on clean humor. His family-friendly image got him gigs on multiple kids shows like Sesame Street and Captain Kangaroo plus his own Saturday morning program, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.

The tragedy regarding Fat Albert is how hypocritical the show was. I've seen many episodes of the show and it dealt with smoking (Cosby smoked big fat cigars), drinking, smoking pot and even pornography when Albert and the gang befriend a man who gave them nudie mags and pictures to jerk off to. In the end, the lesson learned was that porn degrades. Yet it was Cosby who always hung out at the Playboy Mansion and even drugged and raped a teenage girl there. It's funny that those who tend to attack the porn industry do much worse in life.

Cosby's conviction is closure to the 60+ women who all have claimed that he raped and drugged them as far back as when he was first hitting it big in the 1960s. Most have kept quiet about their ordeals for decades because of his power. But in the end, the truth came out and it sparked the #MeToo movement. Now, the networks that aired Cosby's shows have yanked them off (although Bounce still airs the Cosby-produced A Different World).

As a kid, I was told to admire Cosby over Bart Simpson. However, if one spraypaints "El Barto" on a building wall, it can be repainted. But if one rapes a woman, that woman's pain is like a third-degree burn. It may never fully heal. I hope all of the assholes who rape and hurt women see nothing but steel. As a matter of fact, I know of one who lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW in Washington, DC.

In closing, I just want to let you know that I might not be updating this blog for a while. My aforementioned grandmother is in the hospital and is not doing well. If she makes it, she'll be 89 on Monday. So in the end, pray 'em if you got 'em.

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CHUCK69.COM IS ALWAYS ON!

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

4.25.18 Heroes of the Day: Art Bell and Don Bustany

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Bee-otch of the Day honors are awarded Monday through Thursday, Bee-otch of the Week is awarded Friday on Chuck69.com.

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TWO SPECIAL HEROES OF THE DAY!

Name: Art Bell
Age: was 72
Occupation: overnight radio show host

Name: Don Bustany
Age: was 89
Occupation: co-creator of American Top 40

Last Seen: the Great Beyond
Awarded For: making radio a better place

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These past few weeks have been sad for radio.

Two weeks ago Friday - on the 13th nonetheless - we were shocked when it was announced that Art Bell, the legendary overnight talk radio host known for his vivid discussions about UFOs, ghosts, government conspiracies and the like died at his home in Pahrump, NV at the age of 72. Bell, a lifelong smoker, was diagnosed with COPD a few years back.

Born into a military family, Bell developed a love of radio at a young age, even obtaining his ham radio license as a kid. While serving in Japan in the 1960s, he had his own pirate radio station, playing anti-war tunes like "Military Son" and "Eve of Destruction". Eventually, he ended up working in Las Vegas and KDWN radio, where he created his trademark radio show Coast to Coast AM in the early 80s. Some years later, he started self-syndicating the show, which eventually took off like a rocket. C2CAM was carried on 50 KW blowtorches in big metropolises to small town stations whose night power had less wattage than a lightbulb. He was the biggest talk talent on overnight radio and at times almost had ratings as high as Howard Stern or even Rush Limbaugh.

Art was also known for making as many retirements and comebacks as Frank Sinatra or even Cher. However, his first retirement was due to the fact that his then-teenage son, Art IV was kidnapped and raped by a male schoolteacher who had HIV. The teacher was sentenced to 10-25 years in prison. Art, who sold the show to Clear Channel in the late 1990s was always getting huge offers to come back after his replacement hosts all failed and the show was losing affiliates. He finally revealed the truth to his many retirements and comebacks when he started doing a show for SiriusXM a few years ago. A lot of it was due to how Clear Channel was treating him during his son's trauma.

After that and the death of his third wife Ramona from a severe asthma attack, Art remarried to a Filipino woman in her 20s, Airyn. The two met on video chat and had two kids together. The marriage also spawned a feud between Art and right-winged jackass Michael "Savage" Wiener when the fake talker called Airyn an "underage prostitute" on his show. Last year, Art and Airyn had their second child together, Alexander.

True, Art wasn't perfect. He had two children he was estranged from his first marriage and asked his listeners to imagine a white light when it was announced that Rush Limbaugh was going deaf (ultimately, it was due to pain meds). Also, despite voting for Obama, Bell announced his support for Drumpf in 2016. Nonetheless, I was a fan. Growing up in northern Michigan, I felt that he was the only sane talker on WTCM in its sea of Rush, Dr. Laura, Liddy and so forth. Hell, my grandfather even loved his show.

Also passing away was Don Bustany, who alongside Casey Kasem co-created American Top 40 in 1970. True, Don wasn't as famous as his partner, but he wrote and produced the show for many years. The two were friends in school in Detroit and reunited in the 60s in Los Angeles producing commercials. In recent years, Don hosted a show on Pacifica Radio that dealt with Arab relations. Bustany was 89. Kasem was 82 when he died in 2014.

Like C2CAM, AT40 is now owned by Clear Channel, now iHeartMedia. Kasem hosted AT40 originally from its beginning in 1970 until 1988 over a contract dispute, which he started Casey's Top 40 with Westwood One. Kasem bought the show back from original owner ABC (Watermark) in 1998 three years after the original AT40 - then hosted by Shadoe Stevens - was canceled. Since 2004, the show has been hosted by Ryan "Tinker Bell" Seacrest.

Nonetheless, both Art Bell and Don Bustany made radio better. I'll admit, I like listening to old AT40 shows on YouTube. The best part is that the music's been edited out so I don't have to sit though Mariah Carey, Michael Bolton or Whitney Houston to get to the meat of the shows. But just imagine what this world would be like without it.

But sadly, it now sucks.

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CHUCK69.COM IS ALWAYS ON!

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

4.24.18 Bee-otches of the Day: Westboro Baptist Church

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Bee-otch of the Day honors are awarded Monday through Thursday, Bee-otch of the Week is awarded Friday on Chuck69.com.

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Name: Westboro Baptist Church
Age: 63
Occupation: hate group
Last Seen: Topeka, KS
Bee-otched For: coming to town

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I cringe knowing that my hometown of Grand Rapids has the tendency of getting right-winged assholes to live and even visit our town.

Sadly, one of those groups paid a visit to GR earlier today.

The Westboro Baptist Church, aka the "God Hates Fags" people came to town with their signs reading "God Still Hates Fags" and others. They protested at Grand Valley State University and Union High School, where they sent 1,000 students this note: "from the cradle, your parents, preachers and teachers have fed you a steady diet of perversions, half-truths and outright lies about the Lord God Almighty."

Why WBC came to town is a mystery, but they are known for traveling coast to coast with their little signs bashing homosexuality and their definition of sin. But thankfully, even here in conservative GR, people lined the streets to protest their hypocrisy.

One of the signs that bashed WBC read "Jesus never said that". Guess what? IT'S TRUE! For centuries, assholes have been professionals of misinterpreting the Bible and using it to trash gays, women and people of color. The end result? People converting to other religions and atheism because they sure as hell ain't going to a place loaded with assholes when they die. The truth is that I think if you're a Christian, you need to leave the judging to the man himself. Going around the country with your stupid ass signs only scare people away from God, not the other way around.

But then again, if the WBC protested my funeral, I would have done my job.

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CHUCK69.COM IS ALWAYS ON!

Monday, April 23, 2018

4.23.18 Bee-otch of the Day: the airline industry

BECOME AN AFFILIATE OF T-SHIRT HELL AND MAKE SOME MONEY!

Bee-otch of the Day honors are awarded Monday through Thursday, Bee-otch of the Week is awarded Friday on Chuck69.com.

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Names: the nation's airlines
Ages: various
Occupation: the people who fly us from city to city
Last Seen: everywhere
Bee-otched For: not allowing us to fly the friendly skies

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Last week, I flew out to see my mother in Phoenix on Southwest Airlines.

I'll admit, I will NOT fly on another airline other than Southwest. All of their planes are 737s while most other airlines fly their smaller airport passengers on tin box regional jets. Trust me, I've flown on American Eagle. Never again.

Since Southwest came to Grand Rapids several years ago, I haven't been forced to sit between two fat ladies, I haven't had to run a mile to my next flight since Southwest's planes usually share the same terminals and I generally get to sit near the front. I've been told to fly on other planes, but I avoid those who bash Southwest. Southwest is like sex: once you go black, you ain't coming back.

I shook my heard when 60 Minutes did their expose on a cheaper airline, Allegiant recently. In the report, they revealed the fact that their aging fleet has been known to malfunction and even cause emergency landings. I was even told to give them a try. But since they fly to Mesa and my mom's closer to Sky Harbor, it's been a no-go. And thank God they've made that decision.

Of course, Allegiant was probably thankful last week too, when a Southwest plane had to make an emergency landing in Philadelphia after one of its engines blew, causing a window to break and a passenger to be partially pulled out. That woman, 43-year-old Jennifer Riordan died as a result. The plane's pilot, Tammie Jo Shults has been called a hero - even by Sully Sullenberger himself - for safely landing the plane.

True, no airline is perfect. But to me, LUV is the lesser of all the evils. Their average pilot makes around $200,000 per year. American Eagle? Something like $25,000 per year. Remember that plane crash near Buffalo nine years ago involving Continental regional jet? The cause of the accident was when the pilots were bitching too much on their shitty pay and how they were overworked. They weren't watching what they were doing and they crashed into a house. All 49 on board plus one of the people in the house were all killed.

You know, I've always been picky in regards to flying. I want my pilot to be paid well and I want to be safe. If my airline can't do any of that, I'm outta there. I'm happy that LUV is fixing their problems and I'll continue to fly them as long as my mom's in Arizona. If they change a thing, then yes, I'll probably fly something else.

As long as I'm not also stuck with a little crying bastard nearby, we're all good.

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CHUCK69.COM IS ALWAYS ON!

Friday, April 13, 2018

4.12.18 Bee-otch of the Day: Bob Goodrich

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Bee-otch of the Day honors are awarded Monday through Thursday, Bee-otch of the Week is awarded Friday on Chuck69.com.

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Name: Robert Goodrich
Age: 78
Occupation: movie theatre mogul/radio station owner
Last Seen: Grand Rapids
Bee-otched For: having Rome burn while he plays the fiddle

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On Saturday, I think the coffee I drank was overcaffenating me.

I was listening to my favorite weekly podcast when the host talked about how Sinclair was fucking up two of my childhood TV stations, NBC WPBN 7&4 and ABC WGTU 29&8 in Traverse City. I was riled up and had to comment on the show's Facebook page. Within hours, one of the show's hosts started messaging me on Facebook about the further destruction that's been going on at his old radio station here in Grand Rapids.

That show? Southpaws. The host? Darren Gibson. That station? WPRR/Public Reality Radio 1680 plus a slew of low-powered translator stations here and there.

Darren and I were chatting about how WPRR had gone down to just 15 shows. When he was the station's programming director, there was a lot more. The station's glory days have truly fallen behind them.

A main reason for WPRR's demise is because of their current PD, Tyrone Bynum. Bynum worked for Goodrich in the late 90s when he owned 1140 WKWM (now a Catholic station). In the 2000s, Bynum ran the now defunct WMFN 640 AM, which he was forced to give up because it was not making money. Somehow, he weaseled his way into WPRR where he now hosts his own show, Drive For the Dream in the afternoon. Meanwhile, Gibson was hosting Southpaws twice a week on WPRR and also produced a few other shows as well such as Women Libs Radio.

As reported around Christmas 2016, Gibson was fired from WPRR because station owner Bob Goodrich claimed that his ratings were down. However, Gibson became very critical of the Democratic party because of what they did to Bernie Sanders in the 2016 election. But since Goodrich - who ran for Congress against Justin Amash some years ago - and Bynum are avowed Democrats, they seemed to think that Gibson was the antichrist and wanted him out.

Since then, WPRR has become a sad shadow of itself with very few shows and (SURPRISE!) Bynum resurrecting his crappy "Smooth Vibes" soft R&B format for the overnight hours. I've listened, and the music sounds like it's being transmitted through telephone lines. It's sad that despite a having a sizable African American population, Grand Rapids has very few choices for urban music on the radio. When that happens, leave it up to Tyrone to cater to that community... poorly.

Folks, I remember when Tyrone was on AM 640. His show had few callers and one of them was an African dude whose phone had a bad connection. He even had his wife host a show and it was hard to listen to. Now, she has her own show on WPRR. There's a reason why 640 had few advertisers and eventually packed their bags and moved to Chicago. Part of it's because of Tyrone.

I wonder if Goodrich will eventually plan to sell WPRR. Then again, he's 78, single and has no children. He also has the Goodrich Quality Theater chain, which USED to have cinemas here in Grand Rapids, but for some reason, Bob doesn't know how to compete against the Loeks family and Celebration! Cinema. When I moved here in 2002, GQT - whose HQ is at the corner of 44th and Broadmoor - had already pulled out of town, save for the Ada-Lowell 5 which was built in 1996 and is dinky comparing to the giant megaplexes Loeks has. They also have cinemas in Hastings, Kalamazoo, Holland and a few others, but sadly, it's all either Celebration! or AMC here in GR (and tell ya the truth, I like the AMC on Alpine better since the seats are comfy, the tickets are cheaper and AMC has no known connection to the fat, bloated short-bus riding douchebag known as "Huge" Bill Simonson).

Remember, Goodrich used to own a ton of radio stations and sold them all - save for WPRR - off. WPRR acts like a non-profit station and yet it's a commercial station that's supposedly funded by Goodrich's theatres. I wonder if what Goodrich is even doing is legal. I'm surprised that when he ran for Congress, he didn't sell WPRR. Things that make you go, "hmmmmmm".

Another thing to make you go, "hmmmmmm": Southpaws has 442 likes on Facebook. Drive For the Dream? 311.

And WHY did Goodrich fire Darren Gibson?

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CHUCK69.COM IS ALWAYS ON!