WGVU Morning Show with Eddie Rucker & WGVU Saturday Night Blues guests

A look back at some of the guests interviewed and topics discussed on The WGVU Morning Showing with Eddie Rucker and WGVU's Saturday Night Blues in the late 90s.








The WGVU Morning Show with Eddie Rucker

John Trudell (American Indian activist/actor/musician) In studio
Ted Nugent
Helen Thomas (White House corespondent)
David Osmond (son of Alan, nephew of Donny) In studio
Susannah Kenton (daughter of jazz great Stan Kenton) In studio
1998 USA Men's Volleyball Team--In studio
Ernie Harwell
Chester Eagleman, Sr.
Myrlie Evers-Williams (widow of slain MS civil rights activist Medgar Evers)
Davy Jones (The Monkees)
A former prostitute (Women's Issues segment) In studio
Rep. John Conyers
Rep. Pete Hoekstra--In studio
Edith Gilbert (Ask Edith wedding planning tips)
Deb Conrad (construction worker)
Attorney General Jennifer Granholm--In studio
Floyd Mayweather (pictured next to Eddie Rucker, second from left front) In studio
Todd duBoef (Top Rank Boxing, Las Vegas) In studio
Attorney/Former Candidate for Governor Geoffrey Fieger--In studio
Liz Mandeville (blues entertainer, Chicago)
Ben Vereen--In studio
Rev. Samuel "Billy" Kyles (MAB award-winning segment)
Butch Mudbone (American Indian blues musician, Memphis TN) In studio
G.R. Mayor John H. Logie--In studio
Jim O'Neil (publisher, The Paper)    
Former Vice President Dan Quayle
Debbie Allen (Fame)
Congressman Vern Ehlers--In studio
Former Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Colin Powell
Gov. John Engler
Rob LaDew--In studio
David May (GRACE Racial Justice Institute)--In studio
Tim Giago (publisher of Indian Country Today newspaper, Rapid City SD)
Michigan Gender Equity lawsuit (Title IX)--In studio
Michigan Right To Die initiative (Proposal B)--In studio
Rev. Fred Phelps (virulent anti-abortion proponent, Wichita KS)
Dennis Banks (American Indian civil rights advocate) In studio: (pictured top right) with Kevin Richards of Skyview Traffic)


Saturday Night Blues

Robert Cray
Ross Bon (Mighty Blue Kings)
Derek Huston (The Iguanas)
Ken Saydak (in-studio performance)
Hank Mowery & Junior Valentine (in-studio performance)
Lynwood Slim (In studio)
Ben Vereen (impromptu vocal in-studio performance)
Charlie Baty (Little Charlie & the Nightcats)
Big Sandy of Big Sandy & his Fly-Rite Boys
Corey Harris
Ray Condo & his Ricochets
Jimmie Stagger (in-studio performance)
Tad Robinson (In studio)
Mr. Downchild (in-studio performance)
Johnnie Bassett (In studio)
Roberta Bradley & John Gist (In studio)
Robert Ward (in-studio performance)
Gary Primich (In studio)
The Mighty Littlejohn Band w/ Billy Rider (in-studio performance)
Big Dave & the Ultra Sonics
Rich Lataille (Roomful of Blues)

West Michigan Benefit for Haiti Relief at Intersection 1/28

On the heels of the pop music's mega-production telethon effort to raise money for the victims of Haiti's earthquake comes a similar heartfelt effort- grassroots this time around- when local musicians gather in the front room of the Intersection in Grand Rapids on Januaray 28 to raise money for the Red Cross effort in Haiti. The Donald Kinsey Band along with Jimmie Stagger (presumably solo) and other local musicians including Griff and Jon's Afterhours Experience - featuring Ray White (former guitarist with Frank Zappa) with Griff from the Verve Pipe (Botfly, Daddy Longlegs). Bluesman Stagger has answered the call for musical assistance once again and lends his time as he has done throughout his career for the positive work of groups like God's Kitchen, Hospice of Grand Rapids, and Crib Full of Blues among many others. If you've never seen Jimmie alone with just a National steel guitar then you've never seen his real forte in action. $20 VIP includes food at 5, music at 6; from 7-11 only $10.
Please see www.sectionlive.com for more details.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon movie has TMGR relative

TMGR has learned that a relative of the publisher of this blog portrays the human werewolf character Sam Uley in the new hit movie The Twilight Saga: New Moon. Actor Chaske Spencer (second from left) has recently appeared in the movie 'Skins. He is originally from Lewiston, Idaho but his mother is from Montana with relatives in Michigan and Kansas. He moved to New York to study acting during his freshman year at college. Tidbit: His mother called up a relative to ask them to try to talk Chaske out of a cross-county hitchhiking trip he was on when Chaske turned up at the relative's home in MT.

Exclusive: R.J. Mischo at Cow Pie Blues 2010

TMGR is reporting that Fayetteville, Arkansas-based harp player R.J. Mischo and his band will be appearing at the 2010 Cow Pie Blues Festival held annually in August in Caledonia MI. Earlier R.J. had to scrap a late spring/early summer tour completely--one that would have stopped in Grand Rapids--because of a lack of gigs. It's nice to see when artists from down South are able to string enough dates together to get here and back home again. Check out
www.myspace.com/rjblues

Morris Dees at Grand Rapids Community College on Wed Dec. 9

Famed civil rights activist Morris Dees speaks at Grand Rapids Community College on Dec. 9 part of the Diversity Lecture Series 2009. Dees, co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center which was responsible for integrating the all-white Montgomery Alabama YMCA in 1969, speaks in Fountain Street Church at 7:00 pm. As an attorney Dees was one of the principal architects of an innovative strategy of using civil lawsuits to secure a court judgment for money damages against an organization for a wrongful act and then use the courts to seize its assets (money, land, buildings, other property) to pay the judgment. Dees' legal actions against racial nationalist groups have made him a target of criticism (to say the very least) from many of these organizations. He has received numerous death threats from these groups, and a number of their web sites make strong accusations against him and the Southern Poverty Law Center. More recently Dees obtained a judgment of $12 million against Tom Metzger's White Aryan Resistance. He was also instrumental in securing a $6.5 million judgment against Aryan Nations in 2001. Dees' most famous cases have involved landmark damage awards that have driven several prominent neo-Nazi groups into bankruptcy, effectively causing them to disband and re-organize under different names and different leaders. He is expected to talk about the resurgence of hate groups across the US since the Obama administration took office. Dees was most recently at Grand Valley State University in early 2000.
www.splcenter.org

Bill Lupkin at Billy's in Grand Rapids Fri Nov 27

Bill Lupkin along with his brother Steve Lupkin have been playing harp-based Chicago blues for 30 years. Amplified harp man Bill and bass playing Steve have deep roots in the vibrant Windy City scene with people like Jimmy Rogers, Johnny Littlejohn, and Junior Wells. Between the two of them they have played and shared the stage with just about all of the old-school greats from that city. The brothers played the classic Chicago neighborhood blues bars like the north end Wise Fool's Pub ('71 with Buddy Guy), Ma Bea's on the gritty west side (with Howlin' Wolf), and the famed Pepper's Lounge on South State Street. Bill has performed with Muddy Waters (Wise Fool's '70) and Fred Below (Europe '69). Indiana native Lupkin made somewhat of a career within the relatively short commute to Chicago by gigging with the heavy cats. He knows his stuff and can back it up with a rich, fat toned harp. He's on the roster of Chicagoan Nick Moss' Blue Bella record label with a CD called Hard Pill to Swallow. This show features a guitarist who has played with Moss and a drummer formerly of the Junior Wells band. (Picture by Kate Moss at Buddy Guy's Legends, Chicago)

Los Lobos at Goshen College (IN) Nov. 21: Acoustic Brilliance

Thirty-five years and still going strong, this Grammy® Award winning band has captivated fans around the world. The band’s evolving styles are influenced by traditional Spanish and Mexican music, rock and roll, R&B, folk and country. Rolling Stone magazine confirms its relevance: “With the exception of U2, no other band has stayed on top of its game as long as Los Lobos.”

Los Lobos has recently taken their world-class traditional acoustic presentation, or their folklorico set, to some big names in higher education : Humboldt State University (CA), Michigan State University (Wharton Center), UCLA; early next year finds the band at Duke, the University of Alabama, and Mississippi State U. It seems fitting somehow that the Lobos set of traditional Mexican folk music would find its way into the halls of academia because, after all, this presentation is of Smithsonian Museum-grade caliber hence its still-vital educational value. Equal parts history lesson, language seminar, and music appreciation, this close-to-the-heart show was multicultural long before the term was even coined; the always cultural Lobos have been singing these songs since day one of their storied career. The use of traditional instrumentation like bajo sexto, tres, and guitarron only serves to add authenticity. So when the band lands at Sauder Music Hall on the campus of Goshen College in Indiana on Saturday Nov. 21, the Lobos will be among familiar performance hall confines. The acoustic show is seen more rarely than Lobos in-demand electric set. Just the four original members onstage at first but the night will also include at some point Steve Berlin on saxophone with Cougar Estrada on percussion. Acoustic Lobos opened up for The Chieftains (or as Dave Hidalgo put it that night "Los Chieftains") for a series of shows in 2000 which included a stop at the Meadowbrook Music Festival (Oakland University, Rochester MI). This presentation has the ability to make you rethink and reconsider how music can and should be played. (Meijer Gardens photo courtesy of Pamela Troyer) More Goshen College info at:
http://www.gcmusiccenter.org/php/programming/performing.arts.php

All things Los Lobos: http://loslobos.setlist.com/
and http://www.loslobos.org/site/