{"id":1855,"date":"2013-12-29T18:00:36","date_gmt":"2013-12-30T00:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=1855"},"modified":"2013-12-29T18:04:56","modified_gmt":"2013-12-30T00:04:56","slug":"midnight-special-going-like-60","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2013\/12\/29\/midnight-special-going-like-60\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Midnight Special\u2019 going like 60"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mike<\/a>

<\/a> Mike Nichols (1953)<\/p><\/div>\n

In 1953, a 22-year-old announcer named Mike Nichols started \u201cThe Midnight Special,\u201d<\/a> a weekly program of folk music on WFMT FM 98.7, originating from the ballroom of the shabby Hotel Guyon in West Garfield Park.<\/p>\n

Nichols went on to become half of a legendary comedy duo (with Elaine May), an Academy Award-winning director, and the husband of ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer. And \u201cThe Midnight Special\u201d went on to become a broadcasting treasure. It\u2019s still going strong, from 9 p.m. to midnight Saturdays on the Window to the World Communications classical station.<\/p>\n

To mark the show\u2019s 60th anniversary, WFMT will ring in the New Year with four hours of live folk music from the station\u2019s Grainger Studio at 5400 N. St. Louis. (Tickets are sold out.) Starting at 9 p.m. Tuesday, \u201cThe Midnight Special 60th Anniversary New Year\u2019s Eve Celebration\u201d will feature performances by Spuyten Duyvil, Garnet Rogers, Brother Sun, Bonnie Koloc, and Kim and Reggie Harris.<\/p>\n

\"Rich<\/a>

Rich Warren<\/p><\/div>\n

Under the devoted stewardship of WFMT patriarchs Norm Pellegrini and Ray Nordstrand (with the added inspiration of Studs Terkel), \u201cThe Midnight Special\u201d evolved into an eclectic and irreverent mix of folk, Celtic, bluegrass, show tunes, novelty songs and comedy. To this day, the station bills it as \u201cfolk music and farce, show tunes and satire, madness and escape.\u201d<\/p>\n

Current host and producer Rich Warren, 63, who\u2019d been a fan of the show before he joined the station in 1974, has been keeping the spirit alive as its sole host since 1996. He also hosts the concert series \u201cFolkstage,\u201d which precedes \u201cThe Midnight Special\u201d at 8 p.m. Saturdays.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I went to any radio station with a proposal for \u2018The Midnight Special,\u2019 I would be laughed out the door,\u201d Warren told Dave Hoekstra for a Sun-Times piece on the show\u2019s 50th anniversary in 2003.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes \u2018The Midnight Special\u2019 unique is to find a John Gorka song about whistling, then play \u2018Anyone Can Whistle\u2019 by Stephen Sondheim and then the comedy routine based on [the whistling] \u2018The Colonel Bogey March\u2019 from \u2018The Bridge Over the River Kwai\u2019 that [British satirists] Beyond the Fringe did,\u201d Warren said. \u201cSuddenly there\u2019s something going on.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 1953, a 22-year-old announcer named Mike Nichols started \u201cThe Midnight Special,\u201d a weekly program of folk music on WFMT FM 98.7, originating from the ballroom of the shabby Hotel Guyon in West Garfield Park. Nichols went on to become half of a legendary comedy duo (with Elaine May), an Academy Award-winning director, and the... Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1855"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1855"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1855\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1863,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1855\/revisions\/1863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}