Month: March 2017

This week, Ira spoke with Kelly Clinton. To listen to the interview click below.

Kelly Clinton has been part of the Las Vegas entertainment scene for more than 25 years. Her many roles include singer, actress, comedienne, impressionist, television personality, MC, and events host.

Everybody has a story. “Freckled For Life” is hers. “Hopefully, people will get to know a little bit about me” says Clinton. “I always identified with Carol Burnett and Lucille Ball in their approach to comedy. They had no problem glamming down or doing something silly for the sake of the sketch. I’ve always gone for the humor; it started with mimicking family members and going for a laugh.”

Clinton, Entertainer of the Year for 2015, was the headliner for eight years at the exclusive Las Vegas Stirling Club at Turnberry Towers, where she also served as entertainment director.

Her television credits include “Vegas Live” alongside Sheena Easton and Clint Holmes. She was a winner on ABC’s “America’s Funniest People.” She served as a celebrity interviewer on “Entertainment Las Vegas Style,” and appeared on numerous national television shows with Wayne Newton and Engelbert Humperdinck.

In 2010 Clinton received the prestigious Bella Award. In 2011 and 2012 Broadwayworld.com nominated her as Best “Comedic Actress.” Clinton has enjoyed being a part of the “Circle of Red” and working with The Arthritis Foundation as well as many other charitable organizations. One of her greatest passions is mentoring young entertainers.

Clinton performs Mondays at “Kelly Clinton’s Open Mic Cabaret” at The Bootlegger Bistro and Wednesdays with “Kelly Clinton & Friends” at Tuscany Suites & Casino.

http://www.kellyclinton.com

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This week, Ira spoke with Jacob Young. To listen to the interview click below.

Emmy-winning actor Jacob Young, currently featured on CBS’s “The Bold and the Beautiful,” also is a country music singer, and he’ll be performing at The Laugh Factory in the Tropicana March 26-27.

Young made his casino debut as the opening act for “Dynasty” diva Joan Collins in her one-woman show. At the time, Jacob was playing “JR” Chandler on the classic television show “All My Children.” Their show marked the first-time Alexis and JR were appearing on the same stage.

Currently Young can be seen as the well-dressed business man Rick Forrester on CBS’s “The Bold and the Beautiful.” Ironically, he is a laid-back cowboy in real life and a country music singer.

Young was presented with the Golden Nymph Award by Prince Albert at the Monte Carlo Television Festival in recognition of “The Bold and the Beautiful” being the most watched soap opera in the world for more than ten consecutive years.

The actor began his daytime career playing “B&B’s Rick back in 1997, but over the years he also played Lucky Spencer on “General Hospital,” a role for which we won a Daytime Emmy Award and J.R. Chandler on “All My Children a role which also crossed over to “One Life to Live.” In total, Young has been nominated for a total of six Emmy Awards.

Young’s television career began at the young age of seventeen. On Broadway, he starred as Lumiere in “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, stopping the show every night with his rendition of “Be Our Guest.” He followed his successful self-titled CD in 2001 by returning to his country roots.

http://www.troplv.com
http://www.jacobyoungcountry.com

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This week, Ira spoke with Raiatea Helm. To listen to the interview click below.

Grammy nominated Raiatea Helm, one of Hawaii’s premier female vocalists who preserves the Hawaiian falsetto or high voice tradition of the early to mid-20th century, will perform at Cabaret Jazz in The Smith Center March 31 and April 1.

Helm made history in 2006 as Hawaii’s first solo female vocalist ever to receive a Grammy Nomination for her sophomore CD “Sweet and Lovely.”

At 21 years old, she was one of the youngest performers to attend the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California. It was a remarkable achievement when you consider that she comes from the tiny island of Moloka‘i, Hawai‘i, a mere wisp of volcanic land in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Her debut recording, “Far Away Heaven,” captured the prestigious Female Vocalist of the Year and Most Promising Artist Awards from the 2003 Hawai‘i Academy of Recording Artists (HARA). Raiatea Helm continued her award-winning tradition two years later with the release of her second CD “Sweet and Lovely.” (Raiatea Helm Records).

At the 2005 HARA Awards ceremony, she was recognized again as Female Vocalist of the Year and also received the coveted Favorite Entertainer of the Year Award. With the additional acknowledgement for technical merit in Engineering (Dave Tucciarone) and Graphic Design (Mele McPherson), she now claims six Na Hoku Hanohano Awards. Few performers of any age can match that achievement.

http://www.thesmithcenter.com
http://www.raiateahelm.com

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This week, Ira spoke with Larry Wood/Bruce Bothwell. To listen to the interview click below.

Larry Wood, former executive director of the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum, and Bruce Bothwell, docent, are in the cockpit of The Spruce Goose (located at the center of the museum) to discuss the fascinating history and unique dimensions of the world’s biggest plane.

The Spruce Goose was born out of a need to move troops and material across the Atlantic Ocean, where in 1942, German submarines were sinking hundreds of Allied ships. Henry Kaiser, steel magnate and shipbuilder, conceived the idea of a massive flying transport and turned to Howard Hughes to design and build it.

Hughes took on the task, made even more challenging by the government’s restrictions on materials critical to the war effort, such as steel and aluminum. Six times larger than any aircraft of its time, the Spruce Goose, also known as the Flying Boat, is made entirely of wood.

The winged giant made only one flight on November 2, 1947. The unannounced decision to fly was made by Hughes during a taxi test. With Hughes at the controls, David Grant as co-pilot, and several engineers, crewmen and journalists on board, the Spruce Goose flew just over one mile at an altitude of 70 feet for one minute. The short hop proved to skeptics that the gigantic machine could fly.

Perhaps always dreaming of a second flight, Hughes retained a full crew to maintain the mammoth plane in a climate-controlled hangar up until his death in 1976.

The Spruce Goose was kept out of the public eye for 33 years. After Hughes’ death in 1976, it was gifted by Hughes’ Summa Corporation to the Aero Club of Southern California. The Aero Club then leased it to the Wrather Corporation, and moved it into a domed hangar in Long Beach, California.

The Disney Company acquired the Wrather Corporation, thus taking over the lease of the Spruce Goose. Evergreen subsequently bought the aircraft from the Aero Club.

In 1992, Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum co-founders Michael King Smith and Delford M. Smith submitted the winning proposal to provide the aviation icon with a proper home. The Flying Boat was disassembled and transported by barge up the West Coast, then up the Columbia and Willamette Rivers, to Portland, Oregon. It remained there for several months, until water levels permitted the huge structures to safely pass under the Willamette’s many bridges.

Finally, in February 1993, the aircraft was transported by truck for the last 7.5 miles to McMinnville, Oregon. Temporary hangars were built as housing for the aircraft, while volunteers worked on the aircraft’s restoration. In 2001, re-assembly of the Hughes Flying Boat was completed in its new home.

http://www.evergreenmuseum.org

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Photo by Heather Harris

This week, Ira spoke with Harvey Kubernik. To listen to the interview click below.

Harvey Kubernik, an active music journalist for more than 40 years, is the author of eight books, including “Turn Up The Radio,” “Rock, Pop and Roll in Los Angeles 1956-1972.” The tome captures the flavor of the L.A. music and radio scene at a unique moment in time.

Kubernik’s book features hundreds of rare and previously unpublished photographs and images of memorabilia, highlighting dozens of iconic bands and musicians, including the Doors, the Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfield, the Byrds, CSN, the Monkees, the Rolling Stones, Ike and Tina Turner, Elvis Presley, Eddie Cochran, Ritchie Valens, Sam Cooke, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Frank Zappa, Thee Midniters, Barry White, Sonny and Cher.

“Turn Up the Radio!” reveals the studio musicians, background vocalists, songwriters, producers, and engineers who helped propel the Los Angeles rock and pop music scene to such a legendary status.

Bones Howe, Barney Kessel, Hal Blaine, B. J. Baker, Merry Clayton, Jack Nitzsche, Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Jim Keltner, Bobby Womack, Kim Fowley, Bruce Botnick, Dave Gold, and Stan Ross are some of the names recognized for their crucial contributions to the music created and produced in the recording studios of Los Angeles.

The book also pays tribute to the DJs who brought the music of Los Angeles to fans throughout Southern California—and, ultimately, the world—including Art Laboe, Dave Hull, Robert W. Morgan, the Real Don Steele, Jim Ladd, Dave Diamond, Elliot Mintz, and Dick Clark. Their dedication to the music they played at such iconic radio stations as KHJ, KFWB, KRLA, KMET, and KLOS was critical to the development of popular music.

Kubernik’s website: http://www.otherworldcottageindustries.com
To order book: https://goo.gl/64g7JN

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