Page 6
THE BATTALION
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 1979
entertainment
Public radio offers more
United Press International
NEW YORK — There’s a station
that in the next year will offer “Star
Wars,’ an F. Scott Fitzgerald se
ries, “Masterpiece Theater,’ live
jazz and a highly acclaimed 90-
minute news program.
Eat your heart out, television fans
— that’s the fare available on the
220 stations affiliated with National
Public Radio.
Those of us who grew up before
television remember with affection
the days of network radio, with soap
operas from “Helen Trent” to
“Young Widow Brown,” kids adven
tures from “Captain Midnight” to
“The Lone Ranger” and “The
Shadow, ’’ and nighttime drama from
“Lux Radio Theater” to “Inner San-
tum” and “The First Nighter. ”
All the big stars were on radio —
Jack Benny, Fred Allen, Bing
Crosby, Bob Hope, the kind of top
names not available to television —
and the fast-developing world of
broadcast news starred the likes of
Edward R. Murrow, live among the
bombs from the Nazi blitz of Lon
don.
Along came television, and net
work radio splintered into hundreds
of disc jockey-dominated stations
occasionally interrupted by an all
news outpost.
Today radio’s counterpoint to
public television. National Public
Radio, has become the biggest radio
network in terms of programming,
offering its member stations 50
hours per week, including 18 series.
Presiding over the network is
Frank Mankiewicz, best known
perhaps as Robert F. Kennedy’s
press secretary to whom fell the
melancholy duty of standing outside
a Los Angeles hospital and telling
the world that a second Kennedy
brother was dead by assassin’s bul
let.
NPR serves about 5-6 million lis
teners per week on a budget of
about $12 million this fiscal year,
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going up to about $15-16 million in
the upcoming year.
“There’s a renewal of interest in
radio,” Mankiewicz said in an inter
view. “I see it in commercial radio,
too, but I think we re leading the
way. There are still an awful lot of
top 40 rock stations from morning
til night, or all news. But we are
beginning to see drama on commer
cial radio as well as on NPR and
there are interesting experiements
all across the board.
“Radio revenues are up — maybe
people are getting a little tired of
television, a little bored with it.”
Mankiewicz has the answer for
anyone interested in variety — NPR
is going satellite. Eventually there
will be downlinks (receiving anten
nae) at every station, as well as 15
uplinks or transmitting stations,
spotted around the country.
“That will make as a totally differ
ent radio system than any other —
the sound will be absolutely perfect,
with the highest fidelity, because
there’ll be no wire at all,” Man
kiewicz said.
“Secondly, and most important,
we will have between four and 20
channels available at one time to
broadcast on. At all times we will
have at least four channels.”
That would allow NPR to broad
cast an important public event live
on one channel, offer a concert on
another, perhaps drama on a third
and Spanish language programming
on a fourth.
The system is scheduled to begin
operations in March 1980, and
Mankiewicz hopes to begin broad
casting “Star Wars” at that time,
complete with the original sound
track and as many cast members as
he can obtain.
“Imagine that terrific sound stuff
on stereo,” Mankiewicz said, “like
Darth Vader breathing. We might
start with it on every night —
maybe original broadcasts Monday,
Wednesday and Friday, with re
peats on alternate nights. The BBC
is putting up the money — for an
American production.”
Other NPR network show of spe
cial interest include Jazz Live,
hosted by Billy Taylor; a drama se
ries called “Ear Play,” which has
presented several original plays that
ended up on Broadway; Master
piece Radio Theater, hosted by Julie
Harris; an eight-part series on F.
Scott Fitzgerald, his life and
dramatized short stories, with
Richard Thomas as Fitzgerald; and
“All Things Considered, an
award-winnin; hour-and-a-half news
show that Mankiewicz described
with pride as “like doing ’60 Min
utes’ daily for 90 minutes.”
He’s at no one’s mercy
not tired
of one-night stands yet
ecis
United Press International
AUSTIN —- Willie Nelson slouched his tan body into
a chair in the restaurant-bar of the Briarcliff Country
Club. He is the new owner of the club, but his relaxa
tion involved no sort of slowing down process.
Nelson had just completed 40 consecutive one-night
stands with Leon Russell.
Just before that tour he completed “Electric Cow
boy,” his motion picture acting debut.
Now the nasal voiced outlaw superstar watched his
lieutenants make preparations for his seventh annual
Fourth of July picnic, to be held on the 7th, 8th and 9th
fairways at Briarcliff
After the picnic Nelson heads for a week at Caesar’s
Palace in Las Vegas, a benefit for Jane Fonda in
California and one for Robert Redford in Utah and
another week in Lake Tahoe.
Then he returns to Texas to begin shooting “Sad
Songs and W'altzes,” a movie about an aging
bandleader —- “like me” —- that will be shot in the
scenic Hill Country and the better known honky-tonks
of Austin.
“Shotgun Willie” is not slowing down at all.
“I don’t get tired of the one-night stands. I don’t get
tired of that at all, I really enjoy it,” said Nelson, pul
ling on the long rust-colored pony tail.
“I can do all these things — put on picnics, make
records and be in movies — from hotels all over the
country-.”
Nelson agrees his horizons have stretched immea-
sureably. And most of all, he remains his own boss.
“I’m not at the mercy of anyone, anymore than you
are,” he tells a visitor.
If there is one complaint about Nelson, known for
writing passionate gut-feeling songs of love and hard
times, is that he has not produced a record of his own
songs since “Sound of Your Mind” two years ago.
But that, too, will change. Following the movie and
the release of an album by Kris Kristofferson and
Jackson still looking for b%
movie despite two Oscars
collection of Christmas songs, he will release his «i United Press
group of songs in an album to be entitled, Me (R-i SMIT1
il board has
“Then 1 w ill prove to the world that I can still write’&hts of tin
grins. [he Southsid.
Despite the success and the whirlwind schedulejmn for a ral
very- little changes for Willie Nelson, country musit’jljl a n leade
No. 1 star. His hair still reaches the middle of his baojelaken to a
and the bandanas around his wrinkled forehead raw;
constant. ot alx
Willie Nelson is at the top. His music, onceCQQsiijf° to demoi
ered provincial, is accepted everywhere. He spends, !,re< l ues * was
lot of time in California, anti he and his family nowl( i ! ; r ^ nt ^ ^ ov
in Evergreen, Colo. Higal action i
Yet he never strays too far from Austin, wher?®®* hoard
kind of music was horn and nurtured. And that’s whylt^l ^ t ^ le 1
paid $250,000 for the 75-acre country club overlookwMjool main!
Lake Travis; he wanted to find a permanent home forbid not lie an
picnics.
He hopes to gather at least 30,000 fans to hear bohool board
Russell, Ernest Tubbs H.n \\ \ lie Hubbard. Stotlj eomimmi
Fromholz and Cooler Brown play from a stas-eoniroamzations i
7th tee for 12 hours. (1^ t 0 CO nc
Since 1973 Nelson has staged his picnics in mi recrea tio n al,
areas of Central Texas. Two years ago he took the sko»f
to Tulsa and last year he accommodated 40 (XKHansi vement or for
Dallas. Now he wants the picnic to remain on hispniJBioo] board
erty fall into any c
“This was the nicest spot I could Imd.” hr said'dschool boan
was also the smartest thing I could do.” ied the Klan
After the picnic, Nelson plans to spruce up therfpies was ev
course and open it to the public on a o-mj-privatebtskfe I S. Sup:
But his major plan for the country club, aside fro, (avid Duke,
serving as the picnic’s permanent site, is to built lerfrom Met
recording studio, perhaps even a portable one. wiled to s
Nelson said he wanted his friends to use the fact th rally, succ
to make their records. The hills and sunsets of Cent- East Baton
Texas, he said, certainly w ill he added attractions It Xldistrict fo
■to use the {
i a ruling b
it of Appeals
B, even gn
be outlawed
feluded frorr
Streets or for
fee protection
a musicians.
United Press International
DALLAS — A sure formula for
box office failure: make a movie
about an eccentric, little-known
English poet and use the stage
script, virtually one set and only
four characters.
But Glenda Jacksonl has never
been a big money draw, despite her
two Academy Awards, so her latest
effort, “Stevie,” seems destined to
follow that pattern.
As Stevie Smith, Jackson has one
of her most demanding roles. Stevie
was a sort of English Emily Dickin
son, producing a huge
volume of
with
■ ruling was
ne Court.
B month, tl
■ board wi
Kr to let th
work — much of it obsessed
images of death and loneliness —
and living in seclusion. She is not,
however, entirely a dreary person,
and the script allows enough flashes
of humor and warmth to draw an
audience’s sympathy.
Jackson’s talents seem espe
cially well-suited to this kind of
character.
But she did speak of her admira
tion for Stevie Smith, whom she
met briefly at a poetry reading in
the late 1960s.
“It was like an act of God,’
said of the meeting. “I couldntkB 11 at Arkai
this tiny person had \nntte»^ e( l uest:e(
neve
th
kind of poetry.”
"This” kind of poetry ranged!™
light, humorous verse to pages*
pages of deadly serious religi
musings. The total adds uptoa
ume the size of a telephone dim
tory, Jackson said, and she
working her way through it, i
though she admittedly is not
“poetry person.”
hey
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United Press
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