Ive been diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer, Stanley said. My doubts were increasing daily and I decided to speak to the TV Times. Finally Meffen makes an appearance, as co-author with Rigelsford of Trail Of The Pink Panther, that was announced but never seems to have been published. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Once again, Stanley parlayed a sideline gig into steady employment. That life of anonymous domesticity might have continued if Stanley hadnt fought with his boss and lost his job in 1974, four months after his twin daughters Anna and Sarah were born. I would come in at weekends and steadily work my way through them. Q: There must be enough for a book of Urban Myths about Stanley Kubrick A: My twin brother could write the foreword. But it was early 60s folk songs by Peter, Paul and Mary, the Kingston Trio and the Brothers Four that inspired Stanley to ask his parents for a guitar and lessons. And one other thing. This seemed doubtful, as the sets were always closed and a security guard or two was on sentinel duty at all times. If there is a certain grandeur to Clifford Irving's scam in faking a biography of Howard Hughes, Rigelsford's venture smacks more of a venal seediness. Then the pandemic hit.. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. He was considered totally trustworthy. I could have just paid everybody when we played some nominal amount and kept all the rest, Stanley says. As Powers hung up the phone, he wondered if Stanleys impromptu visit had anything to do with Stanleys recent admission that an annual chest scan revealed tiny spots around his lung. A fraud. Part of Audacy. ", Which hadn't occurred to me, but he was right. My dad would throw on my bed, like, 10 45s and three albums, just everything from Louis Jordan to Hank Williams to Miles Davis to Buddy Holly, he says. Im really anxious for people to hear it.. Anyone who has worked in the film industry will instantly recognise the type. And after Skinner was diagnosed with cancer, she was among the West Coast friends and relatives who came to Cleveland to help care for her. But hold on. Were they big names? You're bound to attract this stuff, he would comment, ignore it if you can. A sack the size of the Ritz?). We talked with Chief Stanley and the person who nominated him. I came across a book by Rigelsford in a second-hand bookstore in Rochester - Carry On Laughing: A Celebration, published by Virgin in 1996, a hastily put-together scrapbook of a volume with lots of illustrations. It ends with a short, emotional sentence from Szymczyk. To end up with Ilsa was just a miracle, Stanley says. He was surprised to read about the court case, but not that surprised. The 3-to-7 p.m. hours gave Stanley ample time to record and perform. Heres a look back at five of Stanleys most memorable shows. Over the next few years I would occasionally do a search on the internet looking for Rigelsford and Meffen. A flooded studio at Stanleys house made the gap a little longer this time, and the pandemic forced it online. Odd, thought Anthony Frewin, the director's long-time friend: this didn't sound like Kubrick. This quarter-page ad appeared in The Plain Dealer on Nov. 27, 1986. Rigelsford also claimed to be an actor (James Bond again), but Sheppard now doubted that he was ever anything more than a "spear carrier". But, who knows, perhaps Stanley had done this as a special favour? The album features the hit singles "My Town" and "Someone Like You" as well as Stanley's song about a mining disaster called Fire in the Hole. Q: There's another urban myth - it says you've had more than one business meeting in your study, clinching business deals, cleaning out litter trays with The Simpsons on in the background. I have two favourite moments. This just doesn't read right. Retirement will provide Stanley with more time to spend with his wife as well as his two adult daughters and five grandchildren. In his favour, he said Rigelsford had a tremendous working knowledge of film and television, and frequently identified people in photographs who had defeated everyone else. He wrote songs and played dances with a band during his days at Rocky River High School. We went downstairs, had a beer, Szymczyk remembers. Stanley believes that the bands image as a collection of nice average Joes guys so harmless, parents have told him, that they didnt worry about their teenage daughters attending shows was hard to market in a world where a sex-and-drugs lifestyle was de rigueur for rock stars. I hope you enjoy our conversation too. Interviews Michael Stanley 98.5 WNCX Latest Interviews With Michael Belkin, Jennifer Lee, And More Stories, experiences, and more from Michael's friends and colleagues. Walking out that door was the worst. Stanley Kubrick, my boss, died suddenly and unexpectedly at his home in Hertfordshire in March 1999 after completing the editing on what was his final film, Eyes Wide Shut, starring Tom Cruise. Nothing happened. ", "That may be. As an adult, I wish Id been older and appreciated it moreour nights at Blossom [Music Center] were just some of the best memories when it came to his careerrunning around the pavilion during soundcheck, falling asleep backstage after the show. A delayed startle. Hidden tracks are a Szymczyk trademark, and the one here is BOTHT, which stands for best of the hidden tracks. It spans everything from a childhood interview and snippets of albums dating back to 1969. We were pretty young at the height of his fame. Stanley, who died March 5 of lung cancer, dedicated his final album, "Tough Room" to Belkin, his longtime. In fact, we got a clipping from every newspaper that noted the re-run. Although she was too surprised by his April 2015 marriage proposal to accept it, she began to rethink her answer after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer the next year. PART OF AUDACY MUSIC. A fan inquires what else Rigelsford has written aside from the Dr Who books? Did this really happen? Well, obviously they did. He subsequently retrieved some 21,000 pictures. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. All rights reserved (About Us). Sheppard sees him now as a Walter Mitty character: if he wishes it to be true, it is true. Of the three producers one was none other than Rigelsford; he was also co-author of the script with a Kim Lamont. It wasnt [the] Waynes World We are not worthy, we are not worthy type of thing. Were all here. It was late on a Saturday in September, six months after Stanley had died and when the clippings were beginning to slow down, that I came across something that startled me. After the band broke up, WJW offered him a position as a feature reporter on its locally produced edition of the syndicated PM Magazine. But he was back to work at WNCX less than two months after a second heart attack and quadruple bypass surgery in late 2017. A few days later I phoned the TV Times and was put through to the editor, Peter Genower. Then there was a book on the Hannibal Lecter movie. Stanleys drummer, Tommy Dobeck, singer Jennifer Lee and guitarist Danny Powers were in Cleveland, with Bob Pelanders keyboards recorded in Las Vegas. It was a blessing.. It wasn't as if they had to have a "peg" (in this instance, his death) before someone accepted it for publication. Theres only, like, five songs left, and then Im done. The longtime Cleveland rockers March 5 death, at the age of 72 from lung cancer, continues to reverberate around his hometown -- including the Michael Stanley Day celebration on March 25, his birthday, and a moment of silence at the Indians home opener. His upcoming birthday was going to be bittersweet for the family. Interviews With Michael Belkin, Jennifer Lee, And More. The couple still maintains a long-distance relationship. Where did that come from? But the fact that the city is honoring him in this way on this big dayCleveland is truly his city. By Anthony Elder, @wolfpack_chorus brings something new to the @CLElittleitaly neighborhood, while still honoring its building https://t.co/ayeT1DSdfD, Even before the ballad of Danny Greene and villainy of Shondor Birns, Cleveland was a destination for organized cri https://t.co/h7xpEzD8PI, Happy fish fry Friday, Cleveland! "Death is sometimes not a barrier to being interviewed - ask AR." I dont think we were threatening, he says. It was completed just before his death on March 5 and will be released in April of 2021. Had Stanley really been interviewed on set? So, in this respect, Rigelsford is part of a great tradition. Cleveland rocker Stanley has died at age 72 after battling lung cancer. He performed with his bands Michael Stanley Band and The Resonators (2) . He had also written books on the TV series Blake's 7, Peter Sellers (another "celebration") and several on a series he claimed to be a world expert on, Dr Who. At least once or twice a month [after her death], we would talk, Glanzberg adds. And I did. The other half were a stone's throw away from where he grew up in Brampton. Szymczyk and Stanley got together every year or so since 1992 to record a new album; this time was no different, pandemic be damned. In 1991 he suffered a major heart attack that damaged a third of his heart muscle while he and fiancee Mary McCrone, then a WJW producer, were visiting her sister and brother-in-law, singer Wayne Newton, in Las Vegas. Here are a few scenes from the Slovenian National Home's popular dinner event. https://t.co/zB0qh0BQQL, On Saturday, local high-energy rock band C-Level celebrates the release of its first album since early 2020. Michael Stanley, who parlayed rocker stardom in the '70s and '80s into successful stints in radio and television in his later years, died Friday of lung cancer at his home. Even with the help of Rachel, my assistant, we soon had a massive backlog of clippings waiting to be unfolded, read, punched and bound. Who was the author? Then-program director and afternoon drive-time disc jockey Kid Leo Travagliante subsequently hired him to take over the midday shift. It was a great conversation and really one of the best interviews I've ever done, because he's always so easy to talk to.In fact, that was one of the many things we talked about, along with MSB holding record sellouts at both Blossom and the now long-defunct Richfield Coliseum, the run of shows at the (also) long-defunct Front Row Theatre, his long recording career, the many great musicians he's played with over the years, meeting John Lennon and the 'perils' of recording Beatle songs, being a television correspondent, MSB's popularity around the country, the recording industry, Michael's accessibility to the public and how much he likes talking to his fans and a whole lot of other things.I've always enjoyed talking with Michael, and this occasion was no different. More Local News to Love Start today for 50% off Expires 3/6/23. The place felt like a home again for a few days as opposed to just a house, Stanley recalls of the visit. It revealed that he entered the world in 1969. People do this all the time, especially back then: Hey, Im a record guy, Stanley explains, comically mimicking a slick, suave tone of self-importance in his deep, smoky voice. The group began to reach a national audience with the release of He Cant Love You, which became the bands highest-charting single ever and was even played on American Bandstand. It was also the year MSB started what became a four-year tradition of playing sold-out shows at the Coliseum on New Years Eve or New Years Day, sometimes both. I cant get up every day and have that fear hanging over my head, he says. Michael Stanley poses for a photo on June 2, 2000, in Cleveland, Ohio. I think half the guys in our band ripped the card up immediately. And The Iron Range was written in the wake of protests following George Floyds death in Minneapolis last summer. Sounds like someone made it up. For the first time ever, I felt we were in a position of having a little bit more power than we had before, where maybe we could call a couple shots, he says. The band had operated like a company, providing a measure of security for its now-seven members and four roadies by distributing earnings in weekly paychecks. In memory of Michael Stanley and the musical legacy he has left in Cleveland, we have partnered with the Cleveland Foundation to create "10,000 Watts of Holy Light". The launch of our first fund-related merchandise was a huge success! He passed away March 5th, 2021 after a battle with lung cancer. Source: Aquino official web site xeper.org. Two years after Skinner died, Glanzberg asked Stanley if she could spend a long weekend at his far-East Side home. Stanley and McCrone divorced after eight years of marriage. Michael Stanley doesnt tell this story to many people. He remembers amusing himself for hours at a time, often by playing the eclectic mix of records his disc jockey father Stan Gee brought home from then easy-listening station WGAR. Somebody who wriggles? I came to terms with that.. Adrian Rigelsford. I think the fact he has one final album is such a gift for everybody, especially the fans., Weighing in a 15 tracks and 77 minutes, recorded primarily at Stanleys home studio in Cleveland, Tough Room is nothing less than quintessential Stanley, blending a singer-songwriters earnest assessments of life and society with wry humor -- complete with historical references (10th century French Queen consort Eleanor of Aquaitaine, Anton Chekov), and in the case of the chugging rocker Im Pissed, a bona fide anthem for that guy who screams Get off my lawn!. What folly! I thought it was something Id do for a couple of years, until I got my sails straight and saw which way I wanted to go, Stanley says. The story made most of the national papers and popped up on the BBC News website, complete with a photo of Rigelsford, with beard and glasses, looking like an ageing cherub. Michael Stanley (born Michael Stanley Gee; March 25, 1948 - March 5, 2021) was an American singer-songwriter, musician, radio and television personality. Here's why they have little faith in the market's best start to a year since 2019 17 George Glover. Richard Bentine, the son of Michael Bentine, one of the original Goons, employed Rigelsford for a few months doing research for his company, Classic Comedy Group. CLEVELAND, Ohio - Michael Stanleys daughter Anna Sary intended to wait for an actual release date to listen to Tough Room, her late fathers final album. Simply getting paid if and when they worked, he adds, wasnt an option for family men with mortgages. Stanley has injected humor into past recountings of the health crisis, pointing out that as he was naked in the Las Vegas Hiltons Elvis suite when it occurred, his first thought was to put on a robe. An amiable Londoner with a youthful voice that belies his 57 years, he said Rigelsford first turned up at the picture library when he was working on a book by Brian Blessed some 12 years ago. 2023 Audacy, Inc. All rights reserved. But not as much a schmuck as Rigelsford. The only way to resolve this was to get a copy of Adrian Warwick (sic) Rigelsford's birth certificate. Sounds like a character from a British comedy film of the 1950s played, perhaps, by the surly and camp Harold Lang (you'd recognise him all right). Im not doing this anymore, he recalls. Your e-mail address will not be published. Did Rigelsford and Meffen really think they would get away with it? I could only suggest it was. Despite being on the precipice of four rounds of chemotherapy, Stanley was upbeat. Michael Stanley Gee was . This is Aquino's own web site xeper.org. Powers the lead guitarist in the Michael Stanley Band and The Resonators got a call out of the blue from Stanley, who announced he was coming over to Powers Sagamore Hills home. He remembers amusing himself for hours at a time, often by playing the eclectic mix of records his disc jockey father Stan Gee brought home from then easy-listening station WGAR. There was something about the two interviewers' names. She never did. Hough Bakeries Will Rise Again. But Stanley had long ago confirmed her first impression of him as charming and wonderful and smart, funny.. As Michael Stanley celebrates 50 years of music and receives the Cleveland Arts Prize's Lifetime Achievement Award this month, we strum through his life and career. Go back and listen to the interviews that Bill Louis and Paula Balish did on Saturday, March 6th.