Rob Halford of Judas Priest checked in with me on the show recently to give an update on the band's activities and share a few laughs. The guys are working on an ambitious follow up to their very successful reunion disc "Angel Of Retribution" and tour of 2005. Rob says it will be a concept disc about the life and predictions of 16th century French Renaissance prophet Nostradamus. Completion of the project is slated for the spring/summer of 2007 with another tour to follow. In the meantime, all of Halford's solo works have been re-mastered and re-released via his website www.robhalford.com, and a terrific 2 CD overview of Judas Priest's career called "The Essential Judas Priest" (also remastered and remixed) has hit store shelves as well.

My long-time friend Rik Emmett (of Triumph fame) played another inspired show at the House of Blues this past Saturday night. As usual, Rik demonstrated his guitar/vocal pyrotechnics and virtuosity for the rabid crowd. Rik and his crack solo band performed plenty of Triumph classics (including the gem "Allied Forces"), solo hits and several instrumental pieces that showed off his grasp of classical, jazz and spanish guitar styles. Rik has never really received his just due as a guitar god as Eddie Van Halen has, but those who have paid attention over the years easily put him in that class of players. Despite his musical prowess, Rik is still a humble and nice guy. It was a real pleasure to get together with him, and I was honored to have him ask me to introduce him on stage once again. By the way, the Chicago-based opening act The Last Vegas are a band to watch. Their enthusiastic super-charged set won over the crowd quickly. They are a five piece original band in the AC/DC, Motley Crue, Black Crowes, Faces vein. Good stuff.

Also attended Soxfest at the Palmer House Hilton this weekend. I was stopped by many very nice Loyal Loopers while I strolled around checking out the scene. Meet and greets with the players and Sox memorabilia galore make this a must-do for White Sox fans. Check it out next year if you can.

Duncan Keith and Patrick Sharp of the Blackhawks stopped in the other night on the show to chat and give away some tickets to the following night's game. Both Duncan and Patrick are rising stars on the Hawks squad and are die-hard rock fans. More of our conversation will be available in podcast form shortly on my page at www.wlup.com.

Lastly... GO BEARS!!!

If Santa didn't bring you a gift you were crazy about at Christmas, here's a few great new items you might like to treat yourself to.

The Doors have just issued a limited edition boxed set entitled "Perception" which includes all 6 of their studio albums. Remastered and remixed, the sound improvement is quite noticeable. Numerous (28) bonus tracks and a dozen rare live concert and music video clips are contained on 6 DVD's which also contain 5.1 Surround Sound mixes of the studio albums. All this is housed in a sharp looking box to commemorate the band's 40th anniversary. Quite a staggering body of quality work, accomplished in only 4 years as a band. As you may know, the best part is that a native Chicagoan (Ray Manzarek) was the founder and keyboardist/bassist in the band. Ray is a great guy and has shared many colorful stories with me about Jim Morrison and the band over the years. Now these stories have been gathered together with other recollections from Robbie Krieger and John Densmore and published along with many never before seen photographs in a new 304 page accompanying coffee table book called "The Doors by The Doors."

Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin also gets the boxed set treatment with all 9 of his solo works in a set called "Nine Lives." Bonus tracks (21) and a DVD with a documentary of Robert's solo career and 20 of his music videos rounds out another great collection.

Speaking of DVD's, the hit spy-spoof television series "Get Smart" created by Mel Brooks and starring the late Don Adams (who also provided the cartoon voices of "Tennessee Tuxedo" and "Inspector Gadget") is now available in single seasons, or as a complete set of all 186 episodes spread over 25 discs. As with the "Gilligan's Island" sets, the picture and sound quality have been boosted here too, and are superb. Many out-takes and special features (including the series pilot) are contained on each disc. This series spawned many catch-phrases that included "Sorry about that, Chief!", "Would you believe...?", "Missed it by THAT much!" among others. The show won 7 Emmy Awards while being nominated for 21 more and 2 Golden Globe's during it's 5 year run. Guess I wasn't the only one who liked it!

Hope you had a chance to go to the Loop's "New Years Eve Rock 'n' Roll Ball" (or at least catch it on ABC7) with Collective Soul and Marty Casey & Lovehammers at the Sheraton. A capacity crowd of 4000 revelers took in the great sights, sounds and libations as we said goodbye to 2006 and welcomed in 2007. Both Collective Soul and Marty Casey & Lovehammers put on spirited, top-shelf performances that whipped the smartly attired crowd into a hell-raisin' frenzy. If you couldn't make it this year, make a special mental note to ensure you are there next year. What a party!

Just a few days prior to the new year, Styx did two shows in the Chicagoland area in support of their excellent new live CD and DVD entitled "One With Everything: Styx With The Cleveland Youth Orchestra." I was able to attend the second show and was asked by the band to MC that night at the Genesee Theatre in Waukegan. Besides the terrific renderings of their many classics, Styx rolled out several of their new songs from the CD and performed a rollicking version of "I Feel Good" in tribute to the late James Brown that brought the house down. In the words of my new pal Steve (who is a major Hollywood film producer... and therefore not all that easy to impress)... "Wow! That was a killer show!" I couldn't agree more. Styx still brings it. In abundance.

Lest I forget... GO BEARS!!!

What a great way to start 2007! As promised, here is the tally for the inaugural "Byrd for Birds" food drive. Together we helped raise over $11,000 in cash donations and collected enough food donations to provide approximately 36,000 people with holiday meals this year! None of this would have been feasible without your kind generosity. Once again, a heartfelt THANK YOU to all the Loyal Loopers who donated and made it all possible!