Nice… Guys

Hi folks and welcome to another Simpsons Sunday. Today, is Veterans Day in the US and Remembrance Day in Canada. One example of a parody of sorts, was the title of the Season 3 episode When Flanders Failed, which is a play on the title of the poem In Flanders Fields, by John McRae. When I went to school, there was one class who did the remembrance Day assembly/service every year and one year, I was in that class and we had to learn the entire poem, off by heart. I have my own copy of it in spoken word form and will listen to it, at the 11th hour this morning.

Also, The Beatles White Album was rereleased and remixed in a deluxe and [Super Deluxe] version, as it says on the iTunes title. I love the album and the remixes didn’t disappoint me either. For example: the song Birthday has the guitars in stereo, with the bass, drums and percussion in the center with the lead vocals from Paul and John. Another example of a remix which is better than the original is Revolution 9, which actually sounds cleaner and the panning to the left and right, is more defined. The version of Revolution 1 Take 18 has elements from Revolution 9 too and now, we know what the music going into that weird section, where Yoko is talking and she utters “and you become naked” at the end, comes from, along with John screaming “right” again and again.

The demo versions of most of the songs are also interesting to hear, as some were played on the radio years ago. Some ended up on bootleg albums and Youtube, along with Anthology 3. If you love the album as much as I do, I think you are going to really enjoy this remixed and remastered version.

Something else which happened this week was a very sad anniversary, for those of us who listen to rock radio in Southern Ontario. You may have seen the name Iron Mike Bensson during my posts around this week each year and here is why. This is what I posted on Facebook on Wednesday.

5 years ago today, rock radio in Southern Ontario got a little less fun. It was 5 years ago today that I learned that an icon in Southern Ontario had unfortunately passed on too soon. If the name Iron Mike Bensson rings a bell, that’s who I’m talking about and every year, I think about him and everything he did on the air, to make us listeners and the people whom he worked with laugh. He encouraged you to call hima funny name and he had a few names of his own, in his box of tricks. If you have ever heard him on 103.3 The Fox in Bufalo, he was the same back then too, before moving his act to St Catharines in 1995, where he worked until his last broadcast in July 2013.

I met him a few times when picking up a prise at 97.7 HTZFM or just going to the station, to be a part of the fun of the morning show, when he would sometimes broadcast outside the studio. He had worked in both the afternoons and the mornings and during both shifts he did a segment called The Teaser. The idea was to guess how 3 songs connected and some days it was really easy. For example: once I won when the connection was that all 3 songs appeared on the bands respective debut albums. Once he played 3 songs from bands from Seattle and someone had figgured it out 2 songs in. Sometimes, he would make it hard and it would take as long as half an hour, before someone would get the correct answer.

Also, on September 11th 2001, he wasn’t able to get across the border, as he lived in Western New York and this also shows his dedication to the listenership. He drove to and from work and he only missed shifts if he was either sick or on vacation. September 11th was the exception to this and it was totally understandable.

He was always nice to me, as everyone at 97.7 HTZFM has been so far. I remember when I went to the station in September 2004, just to give him a welcome card, as he had just been moved to doing mornings. I would send him a birthday card every year, including 2013 and I don’t know if he ever got it. By the way, his birthday was October 17th and he was 60 when he died.

I remember the day I found out he had passed, when an announcement that something major had happened would be made at noon on 97.7 HTZFM. It was then, that both Kristy Knite and my friend Paul Morris announced Mike’s passing, of oesophageal cancer. He had gone at around 7:00 AM that morning and to say it was sad, was an understatement. When I was more active on Twitter it exploded, with comments from all sorts of listeners, including myself, expressing our grief over what had been told to us. It went on for most of the day, meaning the broadcast and the tweets and I couldn’t focus on anything else but this for the rest of the day.

About 8 days later, 97.7 HTZFM did a on-air memorial tribute to Mike, with all of his past co-workers at HTZ past and present, along with his friends who worked at other radio stations with him. It was a very moving tribute and I had told that to my friend and unfortunately, I couldn’t attend the party for Mike, which was held soon after it.

I could go on forever about what had happened 5 years ago today and the days afterwards but I will say one more thing. For some reason one of the songs being played in rotation around this time was Say Hello To Heaven by Temple Of The Dog and right now, 97.7 HTZFM is playing I Am The Highway by Audioslave. I don’t know if playing the Temple Of The Dog track was a premonition or not but it’s certainly brought back this memory just thinking about this song. Of course, 4 years later Chris Cornell would be gone too but not before someone else I had met once, when he worked at HTZFM. Finding out about Kerry Gray passing away (20 months late) really made this memory of 5 years ago today, stick out for me and it made these memories I have talked about here, even more vivid.

I have talked about Mike in my Simpsons Sunday blog because he would play Simpsons clips sometimes during his show and even a classic song from the episode Duffless. I will mention one more thing about Mike that made him such an enduring part of my life and those of us who knew or listened to him on the radio. As I said earlier, he encouraged you to call him a silly name and it was all in fun and not for trash talk. Some of the names bordered on scatological humour and some names were just playing fun. Also, I will leave you with his memorable line he would always say at the end of his broadcasts.

“Stay off the pipe and don’t forget to wipe… AMF.” He was certainly someone you couldn’t get mad at, even if you tried. I never did and never was. Thanks Mike and we miss you, every damn day.

Here is another encore post from the other blog which I thought might be good here as well. Also, because it is the 25th anniversary of the episode Bart’s Inner Child. However, I will be talking about another nice dude here so, read on.

This week I’m going to talk about a couple of nice guys on The Simpsons. By which I don’t mean any of the staff… All though I believe most if not all of the writers, production staff and voice actors are nice human beings. I haven’t met any of them yet but it’s just a feeling I have, from hearing them during interviews and as I follow most of them on Twitter. I’m talking about the characters who have been a part of the series over the years. In this weeks post I’m going to focus on two such one time characters who were voiced by Albert Brooks, during the first 8 seasons: Brad Goodman and Hank Scorpio.

In the Season 5 episode Bart’s inner Child, Brad Goodman shows up as a self-help guru on TV, recommended to Marge by her sisters Patty and Selma, after she has been nagging constantly. Brad helps Troy McClure with his alcohol problem and then, he comes to Springfield with his self-help seminar. He finds out that Bart just does what he feels like and mistakingly convinces the citizens of Springfield to adopt Bart’s “do as you feel “attitude. Then one day, they do and as usual, all hell breaks loose.

At the Do As You Feel festival James Brown shows up to find that the bandstand was not double bolted and the workers who were supposed to do that simply didn’t feel like it. Then, well, you can see where this is going right? This complete fire of idiocy is lit, unintentionally by Mr. Goodman and eventually all the blame for the violence and chaos all falls on one Bart Simpson for his inspiring Mr. Goodman to convince them to adopt his free-spirited attitude.

I liked Brad Goodman simply for not getting mad at Bart for his Random comments and sarcasm, while his mother told him to be quiet, after Brad said “you’re not a human being, you’re a human doing. Then what comes next?” Bart replied “a human going” and everyone laughed at his comment. Even Brad didn’t mind Bart and even had him and his parents come up on stage with him. He said that they had raised an emotionally healthy son, despite what he saw as their own foibles. Namely, Marge’s hairstyle and Homer’s eating disorder, as he saw it. I think it would have been cool if the character had been further developed and we would have learned more about him, like we eventually did with Troy McClure, when he married Selma Bouvier.

In the Season 8 episode You Only Move Twice, Homer is offered a better paying job at the Globex Corporation, along with free healthcare in Cypress Creek and of course, he takes it. After the Simpsons family move they meet Homer’s new boss… A very nice man named Hank Scorpio. Homer is very happy with his job, motivating his fellow coworkers to do more and does a great job. Meanwhile, The rest of his family don’t like Cypress Creek for various reasons. Lisa discovers that she is allergic to all the plants around her, after she takes a nature walk. Bart is put into a remedial class, After he finds out he can’t grasp cursive writing. Marge discovers that the house they live in, does all the work around the house for her and with nothing to do, she starts drinking wine, in the morning. All this time, Homer is doing great at his job and with his new boss being so helpful as to help Homer find hammocks for his fellow workers so they can relax. Unbeknownst to Homer, Hank Scorpio is a super villain with a doomsday device, looking to take control of the East Coast. To make this clear, he blows up the ninth Street bridge.

Eventually, the family tells Homer of their woes and convince him that they should move back to Springfield. Homer is reluctant because of his new job and his great relationship with his boss. However, he talks with Hank and Hank tells him that he should do what is best for his family. Homer decided to do just that and well, they move back to Springfield.

Despite the fact we find out that Hank Scorpio is a super villain, I like the man because much like Homer’s half-brother Herb Powell, he doesn’t seem to like formality and asks homer to call him Hank, as opposed to Mr. Scorpio. The other cool thing is that he is very helpful to Homer in anyway he can be, unlike Mr. Burns, who is a tyrant and a miser at best and at worst. For example: when Homer asks for sugar for his coffee, Hank gives it to him but not in packages and he apologizes for that.

I believe that if both Brad Goodman and Hank Scorpio were further developed we would see that they are not just nice guys but individuals who are just as flawed as the rest of Springfield and the surrounding towns in the Simpsons universe. In the case of Hank Scorpio, we find out that he is not just a nice guy but a super villain. As for Brad Goodman, well, he’s just a motivational speaker trying to do some good in the world. But is there more to him than that? I left out some aspects of both episodes, in order to focus on the two characters and their nice guy personas so, no comments on Homer owning the Denver Broncos or wanting to own the Dallas Cowboys here. Also, no trampolines or Bart sitting on an ice cream sandwich. By the way, I like ice cream sandwiches as long as they don’t melt and fall apart.