(July 21 - 4:47 p.m.) Apparently Clear Channel didn't have to look too far to fill in afternoon drive at MY/fm. The exhaustive search seems to have resulted in the transfer of Clear Channel's Ty Bentli, from afternoon drive at the KIIS-type Chicago's WKSC, according to sources.

Bentli has been at the high-powered Top 40 Chicago KISS/fm since October 2006. He will leave for MY/fm as soon as his replacement is announced. Bentli was the No. 1-rated afternoon drive anchor in the 18- to 34-year-old demo in the just-released June Arbitron ratings book, according to published results.

(July 21, 2010) Joe McDonnell, an LA sports broadcasting icon for over a quarter of a century, has had some medical challenges in recent weeks. On Memorial Day weekend, Joe took a fall and he thought he had broken his collarbone. “A CT scan showed that the collarbone was indeed damaged, but by flesh-eating bacteria,” said Joe. WHAT? This was the kind of thing you see in movies or in London tabloids.

Elizabeth, Joe’s wife and the woman Joe calls his angel, picks up the story. “We thought he had strep throat and a broken collar bone. I urged him to not only make two doctor’s appointments, but to take me with him, and I’m glad we did. On May 27, the orthopedic doctor told us there wasn’t a broken collar bone, but that something didn’t look right and he wanted us to get a CT scan, which we did the following day.”

Joe’s regular doctor thought Joe had a bladder infection, took a urine sample and said he would call right after Memorial Day Weekend. “Joe was literally half way in the car when the CT Tech came running out and said we couldn’t leave,” Elizabeth continued. “Then the radiologist came out and said you have to call your doctor. We have to admit you right away. We called the orthopedic doctor and he told us they found a very serious bacterial infection and his bones were black.”

If Joe hadn’t had the CT scan, chances are he probably wouldn’t have made it through Memorial Day weekend, according to Elizabeth. “The second time I almost lost him was when the antibiotics that were working stopped working and the infection shot up his white count another 10,000 [back up to 27,000]. 11,000 is the highest the white cell count should be and it was 28,000 the night he was admitted. That’s when they decided that he needed surgery to take out part of his clavicle, breast plate and to take out the flesh eating bacteria that was already in his neck muscle causing problems. This category of infection is called Gram Negative. There are also Gram Positive ones too, which are actually worse to have and his specific one is called  klebsiella osteomyelitis with a side order of necrotizing fasciitis [flesh eating part].”

What can we do to prevent these flesh-eating bacteria from attacking us? Well, that’s the mystery. Joe’s doctors don’t know. Elizabeth made some guesses. “His orthopedic doctor said this thing could have been lying dormant for a long time. Running back and forth during spring training, Joe could have been beaten by a spider. One time he scratched himself on our gate. It could have been when the cat scratched him,” speculated Elizabeth. “Each bacterium that gets into your blood stream is a problem. Joe’s infection was in all of his organs and his bones.”

Joe has been on IV 24/7 since Memorial Day and today could be a good news day for him. “He’s getting better, the surgical wounds are healing, and we hope to get good news today from his infectious disease doctor. If it doesn’t happen today we suspect next week or very soon after that.  We expect him to need antibiotics for the next couple of months, but they can be taken orally.  He’s starting to venture out to see where his limits are, and with a lot of due diligence [a couple of words he likes to use] on his part we hope to have him driving me crazy full time in another month or so.”

Elizabeth has high praise for her husband. “He’s one of the strongest men I’ve ever met.  He’s fought this infection with everything he’s got in him; he’s stronger than I ever imagined him to be. This has renewed his faith in himself and others, and he can’t wait to talk about it. He’s goal is to have more people know that Staph Infections [as bad as they are and can be] are nothing compared to these new infections and you can get them very easily. Our doctors haven’t heard of this happening to anyone who wasn’t using intravenous needles or drinking antifreeze. Leave it to Joe to be the first!”

Through this whole ordeal, Joe’s weight is down to near his high school graduation numbers. Joe loves the support from his wife. “The good news is I'm alive,” said Joe. “You know how you hear those stories that so-and-so would have died if they hadn't gotten treatment in 24 hours? That was me. The CT scan literally saved my life. My doctor just had a hunch that there was something else wrong. Thank God he did!”

“I knew I was lucky when this angel said she'd marry me, but found out how lucky I was during all of this,” said Joe. “She was by my side almost 24-7, going home only to feed the animals and sleep. Since I've been home she's been my nurse...cleaning and changing my surgical wounds and doing just about anything else needed, even though she's back to her job. God certainly blessed me.”

Now we know why Joe was so quiet during the NBA playoffs and finals. God bless you, Joe. For those who want to reach out to Joe: royhobbs1988@yahoo.com

Chuck and Jolie Madden

Bob remembered how frequently Chuck was anxious to get home to see his wife, Jolie, and their dogs. “About four years ago I was going through a personal crisis,” Bob continued, “and I called him countless times and he always listened to me. Thankfully I got through that crisis and I have been able to be by his side during his crisis.”

Madden’s sense of humor seemed to be the thread that was woven by many of those who shared their memories of Chuck. McCormick remembered Chuck as being like the nutty professor Doc Brown from Back to the Future. Chuck liked to call others ‘Pally” and others called him ‘Chuckie-Boy’ and ‘Chuckles.’

Chuck was an avid golfer and a neighbor of his shared how they were such fanatics that they played 36 holes in 105 degree weather.

“He was just so happy going through life,” said McCormick (right in blue shirt with KNX/KFWB pd Andy Ludlum). “He enjoyed people more than anything. He gave life to what we did. I miss you and God Bless you, friend.”

So many LARadio People attended the services: Dick Helton, Carol Ramos, Randy Kerdoon, Andy Ludlum, Julie Chin, Linda Nunez, Tom Haule, Steve Grad, Joe McDonnell, Diane Thompson, Donna Page, Jeff Davis, Tomm Looney, Chris Morales, Big Ben Maller, Ken Minyard and his wife Jackie, Warren Eckstein, Denise Madden, Vytas Safroncikas, Vince Delisi, Bill Polish, Laraine Herman, Debbie Wright, Kathy Kiernan, Sam Betesh and Eddie Garcia from Fox Sports and Jack Salvatore.

Chuck died July 16, 2010, at the age of 61. Chuck had been recovering from a series of strokes and recently was diagnosed with leukemia.

A funeral procession took Chuck from the Catholic Church to a Jewish cemetery where he was laid to rest. The rabbi at his internment said that Chuck had all bases covered.

Ken Minyard spoke at his graveside. Chuck was part of Minyard’s KABC morning show. “I just remembered some of the funny times I had with Chuck on the show and particularly his ability to do a perfect sportscast from a few scribbled notes that were written in a kind of shorthand that was completely indecipherable by any other living being. Funny note, by the way, Rabbi Jerry Cutler, who used to do movie reviews on our show and was a friend of both Chuck's and mine, officiated and spoke of Chuck's love of chocolate covered cherries. Chuck's wife, Jolie, spoke up and said, ‘Chuck hated chocolate covered cherries!’ Turns out, Jerry had given Chuck a box of that treat at the holiday season one year and, as a joke, Chuck and Jolie gave Jackie and me the unopened box as a gift, knowing that it was not our favorite thing either. We ended up exchanging that same box of candy at every opportunity for years. Apparently, Jerry didn't get the joke and kept giving Chuck chocolate covered cherries every holiday, thinking he'd never met anyone who was so crazy about chocolate covered cherries. It made such a strong impression on Rabbi Cutler that he brought it up as a fond remembrance at the burial. It was a great ironic moment that Chuck would have loved. My only regret is that we didn't bring that decade old box of chocolate covered cherries to bury with Chuck.”

Additional LARP photos in Subscriber section.

Chubby Checker and Brian Beirne

K-EARTH broadcasted live from the event with Sylvia Aimerito and Dave Randall while hundreds of classic cars were on display for blocks. A number of other radio stations (KNX/KFWB, KRLA, and KABC) had booths along Brand distributing bumper stickers and station promotional material.

Chubby and his entourage stayed at the nearby Embassy Suites, and he arrived early to the VIP area for dinner. He sat with LARadio.com for an exclusive interview, first reviewing his incredible career and then laying out a bombshell.

Chubby has lived in the same house since 1965. ‘My house is on 14 acres and we have a gate on it now because people used to drive up to the house. Everything I need is there. We keep all the tour buses in the back. It’s about a mile from Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. One day we were looking for a house and we went up the driveway and I didn’t even look inside. I said this is where we’re going to live and we’ve been there ever since.”

Chubby has been touring virtually from the beginning of his career. “I got out of school in 1960 and started touring then, which was before The Twist. My first hit was The Class. Nineteen months went by when nothing happened until we made The Twist and changed history and we’ve been playing on the road ever since.”

He has enjoyed the half century. “In show business there are highs and there are lows but it still goes up. This is not only the 50th anniversary of The Twist but the 50th anniversary of people dancing by themselves on the dance floor with someone else. Billy Idol said it best, ‘Dancing by myself.’ This is what we’re celebrating here. A guy goes out dancing by himself with a woman who is dancing by herself. This is what we’re celebrating. You can’t give me The Twist and not give me the rest of it. When Alexander Graham Bell said, “Watson, is that you?’ was that end of the telephone or the beginning of the telephone? The Twist, The Pony, The Fly, The Shake, and The Hucklebuck are all Chubby Checker. Before we came along it wasn’t here. Aerobic exercises to music didn’t happen until someone said The Twist is something good to exercise to, let’s exercise to music. There are a lot of things we’re responsible for.’

Brian Beirne, Classic Car Night
Host in Glendale

As Chubby recounted the upside to an incredible career, the conversation turned serious as he rhetorically asked a question that keeps him up in the middle of the night. “Radio don’t play Chubby Checker. It is heartbreaking. They don’t play Chubby Checker. The number one song on the planet and there is no format for a song like that? I’m told that these stations don’t play anything before the Beatles but they play the Beach Boys and Frankie Valli and they don’t play Chubby Checker. This has nothing to do with the format laws. They weren’t playing my music in the ‘70s or the ‘80s or the ‘90s or in the 21^st century. For the life of me I can’t understand how radio can play the Beatles Twist and Shout and not The Twist?”

Why is it, we asked? “Is it racism?” Chubby quickly responded. “I don’t want to go there, but I don’t know. Most of the people making money in the world today, even in the 21^st century, don’t have the medals I have hanging on my walls. Why isn’t my music being played? What did I do wrong in the world? They’re not playing my music and everyone is benefitting from me being in the music business. Every singer that ever lived that has a song with a beat; they do my dance to their songs. Rock ‘n roll, Rock, and Hip-Hop, Chubby Checker is there. I am as much on the dance floor as a light bulb is in a building and my music isn’t being played. I should have 50,000 people out here tonight because the only difference between me and Bob Seger, Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart and all the rest out there is – they get their music played and it’s not right. It’s wrong.”

“When I wake up at night, that’s all I think about – that my music is not being played on the radio and I know there is nothing I can do about. It’s very heartbreaking.”

Chubby believes that early rock ‘n roll was led by black artists and that beginning in 1964 with the Beatles, radio systematically wiped out the black people from rock and roll. “But you can’t wipe out the #1 song of all time. You don’t wipe out something like that,” insisted Chubby.

Additional photos in Subscriber site. Part two will appear in the Subscription portion of LARadio tomorrow. You can support LARadio for 10 cents a day. For more information: http://laradio.com/register.htm

(July 16 - 12:48 p.m.) Chuck Madden, a familiar news/sports voice for almost two decades, died this morning at the age of 61. Chuck had been recovering from a series of strokes and recently was diagnosed with leukemia.

“Chuck’s warm and personable style of sports reporting was heard most recently here on KNX – in fact he’s worked at this station twice in his career as well other top Los Angeles stations, including KABC, KMPC and Fox Sports Radio,” said KNX/KFWB program director Andy Ludlum.

Born in Rochester, Chuck grew up in Dallas. He graduated with a chemistry degree from Spring Hill college in Alabama. He later studied film and television production and editing at UCLA.

Before joining Southland radio, Chuck worked in Louisiana, Joplin, WFAA-Dallas, Huron, South Dakota, KMBY and KIDD-Monterey and KXRX-San Jose. Prior to joining KNX in 1999, he was the morning drive sports reporter and feature reporter on the "Ken Minyard & Peter Tilden Show" on KABC, and the "Peter Tilden & Tracey Miller Show" on 710/KMPC. From 1990 to 1992 he was the weekly NBA correspondent for the BBC in London. In the summer of 1999, he subbed for the retiring Fred Gallagher and eventually landed a full-time sports slot.

Chuck enjoyed working as an actor and voice artist. He most recently appeared in the CBS crime drama Criminal Minds. He lived in Valley Village with his wife Jolie.