Happy New Year everyone. Let’s hope for a better 2021.
– Inspired by my wife’s watching the HBO series “Treme”, set in post-Katrina New Orleans, I am listening to Professor Longhair’s double disc collection “The Bach Of Rock”. Get yours HERE.
– Ever since I was a little kid I’ve loved professional wrestling. Back in the era of VHS tapes I had a huge collection of my favorite matches, and to a lesser extent have some DVDs. It was always fun
for me to look at the wrestling discs that Record Archive has for sale when I was up near the front cash registers where they were stored.
Over the weekend I was sad to learn of the passing of Rochester native Jon Huber, who wrestled under the name Luke Harper in the WWE, and as Brodie Lee in AEW. Actually, he also used the Brodie Lee moniker when performing locally and on the independent circuit before hitting the big leagues.
He died Saturday 12/26/20 at the way too young an age of 41 following a non-Covid related lung illness.
I was lucky enough to chat with Jon/Luke/Brodie a couple times when he was a guest on Brother Wease’s radio show when I worked there. I know it always made me feel good that he actually knew who I was, and knew stuff about me from listening to me on the radio.
The first time I met Jon he seemed almost excited to tell me that he was, like me, a HUGE fan of filmmaker/podcaster Kevin Smith. In fact his wrestling name came from the character Brodie in Smith’s movie “Mallrats” played by Jason Lee. Brodie is also the name of Jon’s young son. Now I want to pull out my copy of “Mallrats” and watch it for the hundredth time. You can get your own copy HERE.
Spending a few minutes talking to one of my favorite wrestlers about his job, movies, podcasts, and comic books (another common passion) is a great memory I have from my time on The Wease Show. Despite being one of the scariest looking guys you’ll ever meet he was also one of the nicest.
– The death of the former WWE Superstar got me thinking about my time on the radio. Over the course of a couple of decades I’ve been lucky enough to meet and chat with tons of actors, comedians, musicians, athletes, and others in the entertainment industry. For whatever reason I hardly ever got my picture taken with any of them, but I did get a few.
Maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t take more pics considering that I’m a bigger jinx than Cousin Oliver and Schleprock combined. Off the top of my head I can only think of three people I specifically asked for photos with… Jon/Luke/Brodie was one, and the late great Eddie Money was another. Eddie passed away in September of 2019. I just hope that Carole King has her affairs in order.
Maybe actor/comedian Jay Mohr knew what he was doing when he didn’t want to take any pictures.
– I want to close out the year with some thank yous.
Thank you to everyone that spent time reading the blog this year.
Thank you to everyone that has commented on and contributed to the things I write.
Thank you to Alayna, Dick, and the staff of the archive for letting me be part of your family.
Thank you to all the artists, writers, musicians, entertainers, podcasters, etc… who keep my brain occupied when I’d rather not be alone with my own thoughts.
Thank you to the friends and family who are always there for me, even when we can’t hang out in person. I am lucky to have so many people who I can count on in good times and bad. I hope you feel the same about me.
A very special thank you to my wife Susan for making a bad year way better than it had any right being. If I were you I’d be really sick of having me around. I love you.
Again, Happy New Year. If I ask to have my picture taken with you…. RUN!!!!
Billy