The Morning After Blues

With New Years Eve approaching, and with it the temptation to coddle the bottle, I felt it was my duty to share this music video by Dr. Steve Greenberg & Rafael (Ralph) Murciano. Doc Steve was WCIX’s health reporter – and a master of creative storytelling--so this was not your usual “don’t drink and drive” message. Nothing preachy, no stiff talking heads, none of the usual TV clichés: Steve and Ralph instead decided to drive the point home, using music. Powered by a Willie Dixon blues riff, they wrote, produced, and directed the video you are about to see.

I opted to use the off-the-air version, because it includes the intro from weathercaster-turned-newsman Bob Soper. Some people have forgotten that he spent many years at Channel 6, following his stint at WSVN Channel 7. One of my jobs around this time was to work with Soper, showing him the ins-and-outs of news writing. Soper, as you’d expect, was a quick study, and made a rather seamless transition to the anchor chair.

The Say Six! Blog wishes all of our readers a safe and happy new year. If you must drink, then follow Steve and Ralph’s advice. And be sure to check out Steve’s Gadget Nation, for a look at his successful post-news career.

On The Record

I love records! Everyone who’s ever met me is well aware of that fact. I can’t remember how to do some of the simplest things, but I can tell you the name of just about any artist that issued vinyl from the mid-60s on (labels and B-sides, too). It’s both a blessing and a curse to be a vinyl junkie – a curse, when it comes time to move, and to transport tens of thousands of records. But it’s a blessing when a recording artist discovers that someone actually has – and enjoys – that piece of music that they were convinced no one on earth has ever heard of, let alone owns a copy of.

So I guess this post was inevitable. Combine nearly two decades in the WCIX/WFOR newsroom, with a lust for records, and you get this selective discography of Channel 6’s greatest (non-)hits. The recording artists at the station ranged from anchors, to weathercasters, to tape editors, to interns. Here are just some of the musical souvenirs that our illustrious employees left behind.






Any look at Channel 6’s recording artists has to start with the one and only Hambone. Future superstar anchorman John Hambrick first started recording in the ‘60s – while based in Ohio. Before striking out on his own, Hambrick recorded this folk-inspired obscurity with two of his brothers. The oddly-named “John Jud Mike” appeared on the Fraternity label, which had several hit records in the 50s and 60s (including “Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye” by the Casinos, “The All-American Boy” by Bill Parsons (nee Bobby Bare), and “Memphis” by Lonnie Mack). This record, engineered by former Floridian Lee Hazen (whose credits include “The Little Black Egg” by the Nightcrawlers) went nowhere, but undaunted, John Hambrick pressed on, eventually winding up on Terry Knight’s Brown Bag label.






Hambrick’s 1972 LP “Windmill In A Jet Filled Sky”, featured a who’s who of Nashville studio musicians, including Southwest High grad Charlie McCoy and Harold “Pig” Robbins. Knight, whose main claim to fame was managing rock bands such as Grand Funk Railroad and Bloodrock, had high hopes for the album, but it failed to take off, leaving Hambrick to pursue his long career in TV news. Hambrick told us many stories about this LP, and his brushes with some of Nashville’s finest songwriters and artists. If ever there was a natural born storyteller, it was John. An unforgettable character in many ways.






(My personally autographed copy of John's 1972 single. Click images to view them full size.)







I remember when Don Franklin recorded his remake of the “A Deck Of Cards”, the T. Texas Tyler/Wink Martindale hit of several decades earlier. Franklin was a terrific announcer and weatherman, but he wasn’t a singer… which was okay, considering this record falls in the “spoken word” category. Don Franklin was a real class act. It’s a shame so few people seem to remember him, and I’m sure even fewer have any idea that he ever made a record.








Chuck Zink didn’t come to work at Channel 6 until the 1980s, but during his amazing run as Skipper Chuck on WTVJ, he took part in this children’s recording on the Vak label. Music played a big role in the Skipper’s program, though I’m sure few would remember songs such as “I Love Little Kitty” or “Wiggle Nose, The Flop-Eared Bunny”.







Steve Hass started working at WCIX in either 1970 or 1971, and I’m sure there were those that didn’t know about his past. Hass had been the drummer for the Gents Five, a Miami band that recorded a couple of very elusive singles back in 1967. “I started as a projectionist, then ran the video and audio boards,” Hass remembers. “Operated the camera in the studio mostly, and went on to shoot news footage. Those 16mm mags were a bitch to load.” The A-side of the Gents Five’s record was written by group member Dave Tubin, who is better-known to South Floridians as Cosmo Ohms, the long-time sound man at Tobacco Road.






Jim Hayek is best-remembered for his graphic designs, but his guitar was never too far away. (Jim was the first guy I’d call on, when producing my K-Tel album spoofs for the Christmas reel.) As half of Danny & Desi Doodrop, Jim entertained children on Duck Duck Goose, and entertained the rest of us at parties and during down time. It should come as no surprise that Jim won 4th prize in Creem Magazine’s national songwriter’s contest. That was in 1978, and it resulted in the release of a single the following year, on Hayek’s own Black & White label. As a guy who designed graphics for The Ten O’Clock News, it was sort of an inside joke that Hayek would come up with the band name The News (years before Huey Lewis’ gang). WSHE-FM liked the single, but declined to play it, being on a local label and all. (Boo!) Hayek is still active in music, and plays with a band called On Eleven in Denver.






The Final Say was the name of a project that included WCIX videographer Rafael “Ralph” Murciano. Ralph played drums and piano on the group’s only release, which came out in 1984 on the band’s own TFS label. Who can forget Ralph’s music video, “Morning After Blues”, with Dr. Steve Greenberg? It’s too bad that tune never came out on vinyl!







The Rubber Thongs first appeared on WCIX, when a song they performed at the 1980 John Lennon Tribute in Downtown Miami made it on to one of our newscasts. Years later group leader John Paris would work the assignment desk at our Doral newsroom. John was a great guy who unfortunately became a scapegoat, at a time when management felt they needed one. Like so many that were fired from WCIX/WFOR, Paris landed on his feet, getting a much better job at CNN in Atlanta.






Robert Lyon joined the station a little later, becoming a news videotape editor after the switch to WFOR. But to me, he was Robert Lyon, guitarist of the pop-punk band Caught Inside. WFOR’s Shane McLafferty also joined the band on drums. Caught Inside is still well-remembered in South Florida for their fun, lighthearted songs that capture the late 90s so well.






My good friend Laura Regalado made many friends during her brief time at WCIX/WFOR. She’s still in the business, but living in Maryland now… and playing bass in the band e.joseph & the phantom heart. You might remember Laura (also known as Mia) as part of the band Bionix, during her Channel 6 days. One very talented and beautiful person.








WCIX also had some talented interns, with at least three of them having brief recording careers. In the 60s, Mark Ostrovsky was the lead singer of the Missing Lynx, whose single on the nationally-distributed DynoVoice label is now very collectable. Intern Matt Cooper was part of the trio Dream Time, whose 12” single received quite a bit of airplay on college station WVUM in the early 90s. Matt never made good on his promise to get me a copy of the record, so I don’t have a scan to show you! Hey Matt (or Omar), if you see this, help me fill a hole in my collection!







Another late 80s intern, Jimmy Deal, was a member of local hardcore band FWA, whose self-titled album included the underground hits “Warehouse Party” and “Vanna White”. Well, maybe hits is too strong a word, but those are fun songs that still sound good to my ears.

I’m sure there were other WCIX recording artists, but I can’t think of them at the moment. Any additions, corrections, and vinyl goodies will be gratefully welcomed, as always.

You Better Not Shout...

“YOU LIE!”

Congressman Joe Wilson’s shout heard round the world has made him either a hero or a villain, depending on your view of President Obama and his health care reform bill. To me, there was something unsettling about those words. About an hour after his outburst, I found myself repeating those two words, but changing the inflection, making them sound angrier… scarier… OMINOUS (to use a Neil Goldstein term). I had no clue why I did that… at the time. But now I know. It turns out Wilson was not the only person to shout those words (or words that are very similar) at someone who had the floor during an official proceeding.

It happened in Miami… in a courtroom… in 1985. An angry man listened as his young bride accused him of sexually molesting a 5-year-old boy. With rage building and his patience dwindling, the man stood up and screamed “Liar! YOU ARE A LIAR!” In the words of the Gainesville Sun, his wife “shrieked and shirked back into her chair, her mouth twisted in pain, as if she had been shot”. She then told the prosecutor, “get me out of here”, as a stunned jury watched. That man’s name is Francisco “Frank” Fuster Escalona, operator of the infamous Country Walk Babysitting Service, and the center of Florida’s most famous child abuse case. That outburst painted Fuster as some kind of a monster in the eyes of the jury, and most assuredly played a role in his ultimate conviction.

I’ve written before about how former WCIX news director Larry Lyle squelched our initial investigation into Fuster and the Country Walk case, barring it from the air until Channel 10 finally broke “our” story. That’s not the only reason I still have such an interest in the Fuster case. I met the man. It capped one of the most bizarre days in my career at Channel 6.

I was working on an investigation into yet another child abuse case, with anchor/reporter Giselle Fernandez. Our investigation, titled “Devil In Our Church?”, would lead us to several unsavory places, and include interviews with some rather unsavory people. On February 1, 1990, it led us to Florida State Prison in the town of Starke, which had been Frank Fuster’s home since his conviction.

Giselle, Rafael “Ralph” Murciano, and I boarded a plane for Gainesville that morning. We didn’t know it at the time, but rock ‘n roll legend Bo Diddley was also on board that plane. As we headed for the gate, Murciano noticed Diddley, and called out his name. In the chaos, I bumped into the singer-guitarist. Literally! Diddley noticed the TV camera, and pulled out an 8 X 10 photo, which he promptly autographed (with Murciano capturing the moment). He also wrote his phone number on the back, in the hope that we’d be interested in an interview. Well, of course!




(Autographed by Bo Diddley at the Gainesville Airport. Click the image to view it full size.)



We had a little time before our appointment at the prison, so we had breakfast in Waldo, Florida, and checked out a thrift store or two. We noticed a yard sale going on near the prison, so we stopped there too -- just long enough for Giselle to buy a pulp paperback for 10 cents. Its name? Ravaged. Giselle thought it would be fun to read us some of the steamier passages from the book, using her best breathy, orgasmic voice. This went on while driving, while waiting at the prison, and even on the plane ride home. She had us in stitches!

To me, Giselle Fernandez was a blast to work with. Some people at the station disliked her, because she could get bossy, downright ornery, and could be a real prima donna. Those are just three reasons why I thought she was great! Do you think it was easy being a strong female journalist, two decades ago? Giselle knew what she wanted, and was always determined to get it. The two of us made an amazing team.

Finally, it was show time at Starke. Giselle put Ravaged away, and we were led to a special area. There we met the “monster". He did not have horns or a long tail. He was just a man. Model prisoner Fuster was now using the surname Escalona, further distancing himself from his infamy. For hours, he professed his innocence, outlining every hole in the case that it was humanly possible to find. He was SO convincing that Giselle promised to research his claims, and possibly help him, should she find that his story checked out. I do not know if Fuster did the things that Janet Reno’s office, his own son, and several kids in his care accused him of doing. I do know from personal experience how convincing child molesters can be. I was a victim of sexual abuse when I was a young teen, and no one believed me at the time. After all, the hospital worker that attacked me was “such a sweet man who would never do anything like that”. I’m still surprised I was able to carry on a rational conversation with Fuster, and even shake his hand. Guess it was just the journalist in me, trying to do my objective best.

With Janet Reno constantly in the news throughout the 90s, it was only natural for the media to investigate one of her Miami office’s biggest victories. Even Frontline joined the “was Fuster railroaded” fray. Giselle Fernandez made some calls, and corresponded a few times with Fuster, but decided not to pursue his claims. His interview was not used in “Devil In Our Church?”, but instead aired separately, as an Action News update. Several hours of interviews were condensed into a two-minute piece that concentrated on the parts that made Fuster look scary and threatening. Yes, it was Fuster’s fault for uttering scary and threatening remarks, when he knew the cameras were rolling. It would have been irresponsible for us NOT to include that part of the interview, but it may have also been irresponsible for us to make that the focus of the piece. It made for compelling TV, which in that consultant-driven environment, really was the name of the game.

I was rarely paired with Giselle Fernandez during her final year at the station. We were just too strong together. I often was paired with unmotivated anchors or reporters, who needed a push to get the maximum out of our assigned news series. The Jeff and Giselle team did not like to take no for an answer, and could sometimes get insubordinate. Managers don’t like that. We would put a story together, and then tell our bosses that we did so. It would have driven me up a wall, too, had I been a manager. But the thing is – our stories kicked butt. The topics were compelling, and Giselle’s on-camera style always made for great TV. I never enjoyed working with anybody as much as I liked working with Giselle. I even watched her on “Dancing with the Stars”, even though I despise that boring waste-of-time TV show.


(Click the image to view it full size)


When Giselle left Channel 6 in September 1991, I gave her a special present: a book. A dog-eared pulp paperback. It was Ravaged. I’d kept it.

As for Frank Fuster… well, he still maintains his innocence. You can’t help but wonder if his case might have turned out differently had he not shouted those words in court. The jury saw a scary, imposing figure, when he raised his voice and shouted “YOU ARE A LIAR!" Congressman Joe Wilson will have his jury, too: the voters of South Carolina. His judgment day will arrive soon enough.