Midwest BEAT Magazine

UMMMM...WHERE'S THE PHOTOS?

      Okay. Some of you are probably looking through this issue trying to find the special summer concert photo section I promised in the last issue...right?

   Well...I lied! Actually, my intent to include the section was an honest one. Really, it was.

   At the last possible minute (literally) before we needed to turn in the pages of this issue for printing, the King of Shock Rock himself - Alice Cooper - phoned our humble office.

Elusive 'ol Alice, who rarely speaks to the press these days, decided that an old-school Midwest rocker like himself should chat a little with The Midwest BEAT about his slammin' new album, Brutal Planet.

Hmmm...what's an editor to do?

I could stay true to my original plan and print a pictorial salute to the concerts that blew through Chicagoland this summer (which would include some of the same photos we already published in previous issues). Or, I could get the inside dope on the latest concept album and tour by an undisputed legend of rock and one of my all time adolescent heroes.

   Duh! That's a no brainer. Look who's on the cover ya dolts!

   Since by the time next month's issue rolls around, our summer activities will only be a hazy memory at best... we've just decided to scrap the annual pictorial.

SPEAKING OF NEXT ISSUE


   While on the subject of our next issue... it will be something of a concept piece in itself.

    Our entire November 2000 issue is going to be dedicated to giving ink to only Chicagoland bands and regional music.

    It's Thanksgiving next month and it seemed like a good time to do this kind of issue, which has been on the drawing board for the last few months. If the response is good, we may opt to do this sort of issue a couple times a year.

     For this special edition, we will be featuring mini-profiles on a wide cross section of bands, who range from light-hearted pop, to heavy music, to smokin' blues, to modern rock.

    The CD Spins section will likewise feature only reviews on releases from Midwestern bands (mostly those from the Chicago region) that have been stacking up here on our stereo begging for much deserved attention.

    With a few exceptions, most of our regular monthly columns will be suspended for the month from publication or else take a very "local" slant to keep in tandem with the theme of the issue.

    I am hopeful our advertisers will show support to this locally-focused issue next month. Bear in mind that for a freely distributed publication such as ours, the advertising dollars alone dictate the amount of pages and size of any given issue. Urge your local merchants to drop some ads on us so that we can make our "Local Music" issue a strong one.

    For this special "Local Music" issue, ALL local bands/artists 50% OFF our
regular rates on display ads (not including band directory ad squares) to promote their performances and their musical product. This offer is for local band ads only.

REMEMBERING MARTIN KESSLER...

      In closing, I would like to dedicate this issue to the memory of Mr. Martin Kessler, a truly remarkable man and a remarkable educator who passed away at press time after battling cancer for more than a year.

    A few months back in my monthly "For Immediate Release..." column I saluted Mr. Kessler for having been awarded the top teaching honor the State of Indiana had to offer. At that time, I was not aware that he had been ill. Had I known, I would have found the time to stop and tell him how much he meant to me. Instead, I'm left with only these words on a page.

   As a leather-jacketed youth with a bad attitude, I tried to squeak through his algebra class, as I'd so often done in other classes with other teachers.

   Such maneuvers were not acceptable to Mr. Kessler. He busted my chops repeatedly. In the long run, despite my grumbling and protesting, I came to realize that he was a very special kind of teacher, one who valued each student who passed through his classroom.

    In the 30 years he spent as a teacher at Highland High School, Mr. Kessler touched an awful lot of lives. He made a difference in my life and then 25 years later he made a difference in the life of my daughter Sarah.

   Judging from the massive and emotional turn out at the memorial service held in his honor in the high school auditorium two days after his death, there were innumerably others in-between the years that spanned Sarah and I having Mr. K. as a teacher, who likewise were made to feel like we were so much more to him than just a name in his grade book.

   Thank you Martin Kessler for being the very best you could be and for caring about even the students who didn't care about themselves. God bless!