Historian John Hope Franklin. Years before there were any black history departments, Franklin was researching the stories of free-blacks in the antebellum south. His interest in black history began while he was a graduate student in the 1930's. Since then he has written a number of books on the subject. His latest book "Race and History," is a collection of essays written between 1938 and 1988. Franklin is Professor of Legal History at Duke University.
World music commentator Milo Miles explores the continuing influence of punk rock on Japanese music in the second of his two-part examination of Japanese pop music. Milo looks at two Japanese groups -- The Plastics and The Frank Chickens.
Rock musician Ben Vaughn. Vaughn's been a cult staple for years in the Philadelphia/New Jersey area, where he's become known for his tongue-in-cheek lyrics and tunes that draw from rocks early influences. Vaughn's just put out his fourth album, titled "Dressed In Black." (It's on Enigma records).
Underground cartoonist Kim Deitch. In 1967 he began doing comic strips for the "East Village Other" where he introduced his more famous characters, Waldo the Cat, and Uncle Ed, the India Rubber Man. Since then he has contributed to dozens of underground comics.
Rock musician and producer Nick Lowe. Lowe was a main figure of the British pub-rock scene in the early 70s, then in the late 70s Lowe joined forces with Dave Edmunds to form "Rockpile." At the same time, Lowe was producing albums for artists such as Elvis Costello and Grahm Parker. Lowe went solo in 78, and had hits with "I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass," and "Cruel to be Kind." His production credits during that period included The Pretenders, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, and John Hiatt.
Rock critic Ken Tucker checks out singers Michael Bolton and Lisa Stansfield. Ken says Bolton's nothing to sing about, despite his recent Grammy for best pop male vocal. However, Ken says Stansfield's done a good job in mixing 70's disco-soul with 90's dance music.
Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews a couple of new movies: "House Party" by first time black director, Reginald Hudlin, and "Love at Large," directed by Alan Rudolph, who also directed "Trouble in Mind," and "Choose Me." Schiff says the movies are improbable, but likable.
Studio concert with guitarist Howard Alden, trombonist Dan Barrett and bassist Frank Tate. They are members of the ABQ (Alden Barrett Quintet) which records for Concord Records. They play music inspired by the small jazz groups of the 30's and 40's.
Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz presents the second in his two-part review of conductor Otto Klemperer. This time, Lloyd plays some of Klemperer's opera recordings and recordings of Mozart. (Angel Records has begun to reissue some of Klemperer's recordings on remastered compact discs.)
Recently, the Managing Director of Pantheon Books, Andre Schiffrin, was forced to resign. Four senior editors at Pantheon then resigned in protest. We'll talk to publisher Roger Straus of Farrar, Straus, Giroux, and media critic and professor Todd Gitlin about the events at Pantheon and what they say about the state of the publishing industry in America today. Gitlin is a Pantheon author who drafted a petition to protest the forced resignation of Schiffrin and the events surrounding it. We will also speak with Alberto Vitale the head of Random House (the owner of Pantheon).
Actress Jamie Lee Curtis. She stars in the new thriller, "Blue Steel," as a rookie cop tracking down a serial killer, who turns out to be her lover. Her earlier film roles include "Halloween," "The Fog," "Trading Places," and "A Fish Called Wanda." She also co-stars on the ABC TV series, "Anything But Love."
Czechoslovakian writer and publisher Josef Skvorecky (shkor-et-skee). Since fleeing Czechoslovakia in 1968, Skvorecky and his wife have lived in Toronto, where they run "68 Publishers," an outlet for dissident writers. For years, the output of his publishing house has been smuggled into his former homeland, and secretly passed from hand-to hand, keeping alive the voices of Czech writers such as Vaclav Havel and Milan Kundera.
British novelist Martin Amis (pronounced like Amos). Newsweek magazine calls his new novel, "London Fields," "an upside-down murder mystery, morality tale, nuclear science fiction and postmodern love story." His earlier novels, such as "The Rachael Papers," "Other People" and "Money," have made him a literary star in England, and also placed him under attack from British feminists, who object to his satirical portrayals of women.
Television critic David Bianculli two Showtime cable specials about the British comedy group, Monthy Python's Flying Circus. The specials are called "Life of Python," and "Twenty Years of Monty Python--Parrot Sketch Not Included." David says they're both fun, but both fall short of telling the full story of the group.
Film director Kathryn Bigelow. Her new film, starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Ron Silver, is called "Blue Steel." Bigelow also directed "The Loveless," in which a motorcycle gang faces off against small-town rednecks. It starred Willem Dafoe. And she gained a cult-following with the film "Near Dark," a film which mixed vampire and western genres.
Journalist and essayist Francine Du Plessix Gray. In her latest book, "Soviet Women: Walking the Tightrope," Gray documents the lives and attitudes of contemporary Soviet women in the era of glasnost. They talk about everything from birth control to Stalin to the constant struggle to balance the demands of work and family in their lives. ("Soviet Women" is published by Doubleday.)
Rock historian Ed Ward has a retrospective on the Five Keys, a black harmony group that turned out a number of pop and R&B hits in the early 1950's. Their hits included "The Glory of Love," "Ling Ting Tong," and "Close Your Eyes."
