An Open Letter to Youtube and Neal Mohan: HELP!

 I need the help of a live person at Youtube. Anyone out there know of anyone who works at Youtube? Anyone know Mr. Mohan who is the CEO of Youtube? How can I get ahold of him? HELP!

This past week by Youtube channel @hansJeffBorger8038 was taken down by Youtube. The vague email I received said it Your channel won’t be put back on Youtube at this time. We took a careful look at your channel again and confirmed that it violates our spam, deceptive practices and scams. We recognize it’s disappointing news but our goal is to keep the Youtube community safe and supported.

I am sure an AI bot did this but there seems to be no way to reach a real person to review this draconian action. Deceptive practices? Spam? Scam? My little nostalgia channel? As my grandma would have said "oh come on...."

                      Do I look like a scammer? Spammer? Deceptive person? I don't think so. I am not!

So... I rack my brain thinking what could have triggered this.

Could it be my long lost interviews with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz? I was amazed to see that even the podcast from TCM "The Plot Thickens" even used my audio from Desi Arnaz's appearance on the Lou Gordon Show from WKBD in the late 1970s. No one can hear that original interview now. A spam/Scam/deceptive? NO WAY JOSE.

I was so pleased to see that the new Desi Arnaz biography listed one of Desi's old Tropical Trip radio shows I posted on Youtube. Was that a scam/spam or deceptive? No, it was a rare piece of American radio history.

Could it be my many radio air checks and newscasts from the various nostalgia radio shows I hosted through the years? My legacy of all of those historical radio airchecks certainly couldn't be construed as spam or a scam, could they Mr. AI bot? I don't know how but AI can apparently see it that way?

I have posted various interviews and segments about The Four Lads including the unveiling of my brand new book about them "The Four Lads Book." This tome features long lost fan club material and bios on all the singers from this million selling group. Is my book spam or a scam? Nope. And deceptive? Certainly not! My audience appreciates information like this.

What about my solos in church or recorded at home? I love to sing. Even had some of me at the piano. My voice may not be as good as Elvis or Perry but is it a scam or spam? Come on now! Deceptive. No. That was my voice.

My parent's 1960s wedding footage was on there. They are still married. Was that a scam or spam? I can't see why.  Also on the channel was footage of me singing at my wedding. That was a real event. Not scam/spam or deceptive.

I visited Lawrence Welk's farm in North Dakota.  A cool tour was posted. Now maybe the Youtube AI bot doesn't like Lawrence Welk music, but is that any reason to take down my channel? Not wunnerful wunnerful for sure.

Some great old family slides were on there including a salute to Detroit 1960s Christmases. So beautiful. Now that is gone, too. Why? Who knows.

I could go on and on but as you can see there is no logical reason for any of this. Yet Youtube issued their ultimatum as if I were some kind of criminal. 

Apparently you can appeal a channel's suspension for up to a year. I appealed and was sent an email saying my channel was "carefully reviewed" and their decision stands. Reviewed by whom? Please let a human being with some sense look into this. No specifics were offered.

I can survive without my channel but I have to say it is very disheartening. I feel sorry for the folks who enjoyed listening or watching my material. It was a joy to present it and for it to be ripped away for no apparent reason is a strange feeling. Innocent until proven guilty doesn't work for Youtube. 

Anyhow, if anyone can help resolve this I would appreciate it. I have watched several Youtube videos about channels which were brought back and Youtube issued a "sorry we did this. We make mistakes" type apology. Unfortunately it isn't easy to get them to even look at mistakes they made. No email, No phone number, and their on line appeal process just goes around in circles with no answers.

In the meantime I hope I will issue more blog entries here which have been neglected since Youtube was more intriguing. 

Hopefully this will be resolved but in this day and age everything ugly is beautiful and everything true is false. I am caught in the web of this nonsense but am so blessed to have been able to share it in the past. And that is no scam/spam or deceptive information either Youtube AI bot.

December Bride: I Love Lucy's other neighbor

You may think of Fred and Ethel Mertz as the neighbors on "I Love Lucy" but From 1954 until 1958 "December Bride" was a situation comedy seen on CBS right after Lucy aired. So December Bride was a Lucy neighbor, too!

Although this series has been long forgotten, LenW's Youtube channel has posted much of the series from washed out reruns on a local station. It is really a hoot for any fan of "I Love Lucy" as the whole series has a "Lucy" aura to it. The laugh track, the music, the set and even the bit players are very familiar.

If you have never seen this series you are in for a treat. Here a a few discoveries I have made as an "I Love Lucy" fan.

The laugh track is the same as from "Lucy." You will often hear the famous "oh-oh" on December Bride (the "oh-oh" lady was supposedly Lucy's mother!).

The series starred Spring Byington, Dean Miller, Frances Rafferty and Harry Morgan. 

Remember Mrs. Porter, the maid hired by Lucy? Mrs. Porter was none other than Verna Felton who played the much more adorable character Hilda in "December Bride"!

Get ready to see a lot of Lucy alumni on the screen or in the credits.

Here's Kathryn Card (aka Mrs. McGillicuddy--Lucy's mom)

Here's Joseph Kerns (who appeared as the theater manager and doctor on "I Love Lucy")

Here's Desi Arnaz himself guest starring in an episode

I even spotted Lucy's stand in Hazel Pierce in the background on at least one episode. 

The background music sounds very familiar. Wilbur Hatch uses incidental music which sounds much like a Lucy episode.

The set looks very "I Love Lucy" like to me. The kitchen door and sink are in the same position as are the open windows leading into the living room area.

Any Lucy fan will recognize these names from the credits

And of course get ready for the Desilu logo!

From what I have read "December Bride" didn't do well when CBS moved it out of its post Lucy time slot. The show later aired daytimes on CBS and was in syndication but never fared too well. One reason is they said children couldn't relate to the story lines as the cast was older. I don't know about that, however it would be great if someone could rescue this show from the archives of oblivion and let us see it again from clear prints! Until then thank you LenW for giving us the rare chance to visit with Lucy's neighbor "December Bride". A real treat.

The Four Lads Book

                               The Four Lads Book by ...  me!

                               available at   

                          www.TheFourLadsBook.com

What has your Nostalgic Rambler been up to lately? I have been writing and researching a book about one of my favorite 1950s groups The Four Lads.

The Four Lads were powerhouse singers of the 1950s with such hits as "Standing on the Corner," "Who Needs You?," "Istanbul," and "Moments to Remember."  Since discovering their records in my grandpa's record cabinet as a child, I have always enjoyed their music. Frank Busseri, Jimmie Arnold, Bernie Toorish and Connie Codarini. The Four Lads.

Writing this book was an interesting experience. I run The Four Lads Appreciation Society on Facebook and many of The Four Lads family members have found us there since the official Four Lads facebook page is no longer maintained and their official webpage has vanished. The Lads fans and family were generous with sharing their time, pictures and memories for the book. One lady donated her daughter's huge 1950s scrapbook of Four Lads pictures and clippings. All the original newsletters are reproduced in the book. They are a treasure trove of material that would have been lost to time if not saved for posterity in my new book.

Connie Codarini's son David Comden was my editor and cheerleader. I was very honored that Kathy Lennon of the famous Lennon Sisters agreed to write the intro to the book. The Four Lads personal stories are included as well. The most intriguing true tale is how singer Bernie Toorish met his daughter Debi for the first time when she was in her sixties. Also included are profiles on most of the "replacement" lads. As the original four retired from the group, other singers kept the music alive into the decades following their 1950s heyday.

The publishing world isn't easy to navigate. I actually had a signed contract to have the book published by Bear Manor Media. Since they specialize in nostalgic type material, I was really looking forward to seeing my manuscript come to life through them. One of my goals was to get this book out before the last of the living original Four Lads Bernie Toorish left us. He was in ill health for quite a while. Bear Manor was unable to get the book out in the time promised. Rather than delay another six months or more, I decided to self publish in the hopes that Bernie would see the book. Unfortunately he passed away in December of 2025.

The book is finished now. The maze of setting up the publishing and webpage is about done. This is a labor of love and it has cost a small fortune to bring "The Four Lads Book" to life. I am proud of what I and the members of the Four Lads Appreciation Society have accomplished. It is my hope that you will help get the word out so that the legacy of The Four Lads and their contribution to Canadian and American popular music will be remembered.

The book's website is www.TheFourLadsBook.com 

Ozzie and Harriet: A old TV friend rediscovered

 From 1952 until 1966 "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" aired on TV. That's a long run. I remember the show from reruns but it never seemed to gain the status of cult following to me and the reruns weren't around much. Maybe it is because the rights to the show were held by Ozzie Nelson himself and syndication from a big studio was not in the cards.

Once in a while we got a glimpse of some faded print or a few selected episodes when the show ran on the Disney Channel years ago. There are also a lot of public domain type DVDs out there that are so washed out you can't tell whether you are watching Ozzie or Harriet!

Apparently for years the heirs of the Nelsons have been working on getting the series released on DVD and it is finally here...at least the first few seasons. 

Of course the Nostalgic Rambler wanted to see this show so the DVDs are part of our daily viewing for now. Season One is on the agenda. It is really a charming show but very slow moving. The opening of the show features the lengthy "here's Ozzie...here's Harriet...here's David...here's Ricky..." which is gets kind of old after the first few shows...we KNOW who they are! The camera doesn't really move around much. "I Love Lucy" was also filmed around this time and you can sure tell the difference between the way the camera angles were thought out on "Lucy" compared to O&H.   

It's fun to watch for famous guest stars...or actors who were not house hold names yet. A very tiny Jerry Mathers aka the Beaver makes an appearance for instance as a trick or treater in a Halloween episode and Ellen Grandma Walton Corby plays Harriet's aunt in a show.

I imagine the later seasons may attract more DVD interest as heart throb Ricky Nelson starts his singing career. In season one he is a little boy far from any imagination of rock star status. The shows revolve around simple themes and yes they are very corny for our times...but as times get more and more complicated it is a great escape to the 1950s past of huge houses, housewives that look like they are ready to appear on a fashion show, men dressed in suits, and kids who are so polite and sweet you may need your diabetic medication. You gotta love the Nelsons and Ozzie and Harriet is a great series to discover for the first time or re-discover again. 

Although a few sponsor tags were left in, it would have been nice to see the original commercials...and there aren't any extras on the DVD but it's worth a look. An MPI Home video release.

Songsmith Jimmy Van Heusen

Through my life I have enjoyed singing (mostly to myself) and many of my favorite songs were originally sung by the likes of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra and....many of those were written by the one and only Jimmy Van Heusen.

Although his name has been familiar to me, I didn't know much of his background. And unlike some of the other songwriters of the 40s and 50s, Van Heusen has not been as recognized as other guys like Irving Berlin or Rodgers and Hammerstein.   

Van Heusen wrote a lot of the songs made famous by Bing Crosby such as "Swinging on a Star" and one of my favorites, the title song to the movie "Going My Way" with Bing and Ingrid Bergman. 

After the Bing era, he became pals and was the main tune-smith for Sinatra.  Jimmy was quite the womanizer and the quote from Sammy Cahn is that Frank "wanted to be Jimmy Van Heusen, but he couldn't pass the physical." Gotta love that one. Poor Frank!

Compared to many famous composers there isn't too much available on Jimmy Van Heusen. Apparently he was a private man and even though he drafted a biography, it was never released. A great biography by Christopher Coppula called "Swinging on a Star" is out there. There was also a PBS special showcasing his life awhile back...but good luck finding that on Youtube or on DVD. 

I have one of his record albums where he plays the piano. It all sounds so effortless. Truly amazing how he came up with so many beautiful melodies.

Since he never had any children, Jimmy's legacy is now under the wings of his nephew, who didn't have anything to do with the music business but is now keeping his memory alive. Very cool and very fascinating. Why didn't I have an uncle who wrote tunes? Not fair!

Jimmys birth name was Chester Babcock. He took his "Van Heusen" moniker from the shirt company, so I guess I'll have to start wearing Van Heusen shirts to support the legacy of yet another one of my idols. I wonder if Jimmy wore Van Heusen shirts!?

Lucy and Desi, A MUST see....Amazon's documentary review

 Since I was a boy I was fascinated with anything that had to do with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Their iconic show "I Love Lucy" has been a constant in an ever changing life. Every time someone writes a book or puts out a movie about them or the show, I get hyper critical as these are "my" people and I want it to be right.

Lucie Arnaz did it right in her 1993 Documentary "Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie." It had many gems including those beautiful color silent family movies of the couple and their family. It's been many years since that documentary was made. What else needed to be told? 

I was not a fan of Amazon's movie "Being the Ricardos." It took too many liberties in telling the story. My review of that film would be a Ricky Ricardo "eye yay yay yay yay."  And yes, since I have devoured every book, newspaper, magazine article and TV interview since the 1970s and watched their work incessantly, any little discrepancy irks me. 

That being told, the newest entry in the Lucy/Desi story is the Amy Poehler production called simply "Lucy and Desi". The simple title is almost as iconic as Desi's book which he called "A Book"... because he said that is what it was!

There's an old big band song that has the lyrics "it seems to me I've heard that song before...." and that's the way I felt about much of Poehler's "Lucy and Desi."  Many of the audio excerpts, pictures and interviews were very familiar. She had access to a lot of material however that was "new", provided by Lucie Arnaz. That made all the difference. That audio of Lucy and Desi telling their stories was woven together in a delightful way. She uses clips of "I Love Lucy" very cleverly to move the story of the real life couple along. It's all the same story I've heard so many times but this time it is fresh once again. So I give it a thumbs up/must watch for old Lucy fans like me or people who say "Lucy Desi who?"  In my mind, I fancy myself as an expert in the area of Lucy and Desi and could have easily put together this documentary. Even though Poehler didn't ask me for any advice (tongue planted firmly in cheek as I write this....) she did great. What a "wundaful" job she did with "my" people's story. 

I found it amusing that on "I Love Lucy" there were three writers for the first few years and a staff of experts you can see on the show credits that run for a few seconds to list them all. This documentary production had a zillion producers/directors/advisors and even make-up people. My my, have times changed! 

I forgive Amy for using the syndicated opening of "I Love Lucy" in telling the story but of course the heart on satin is so iconic that that opening just HAD to be featured. I guess the folks in the documentary COULD have been watching a rerun!

I hope newer generations will continue to discover "I Love Lucy." Despite all the Amazon hoopla, Sirius/XM "Let's Talk with Lucy" show and interest in their lives, I am amazed at bloggers and commentaries of younger people who have never even seen an "I Love Lucy" episode. It just isn't on all over the TV as it was when I was young. 

For anyone out there who wants a few gems from my archives, here are a few links.

My blog where I have digitalized some of my Lucy/Desi archives (I have so much more and really need to start this up again...but time slips away...)  Lucy Archives

An audio interview from Desi recorded off of the TV onto my little cassette player as he visited Detroit for his book promotion (I am so proud that the TCM podcast used my Lou Gordon Show audio....even though I wasn't mentioned....)   Desi Arnaz in Detroit 

And here's a show I just uploaded. It's Desi's radio show Your Tropical Trip

Life has been busy. I am uploading a lot of my old radio airchecks of big band and nostalgia music of the 1940s and 50s, realizing that even though they are from the 1980s,  they are so old now they are a piece of history. Preserving this material for future generations is a goal.  

Oh, and if someone is doing yet another Lucy/Desi project, I'm available! ;)

Remembering WKBD Channel 50, Detroit's Greatest TV Station

 When I was growing up in the Detroit area in the 1960s and 1970s, broadcasting already fascinated me.  Right down the road from my grandparent's house was WKBD Channel 50.

That's where all the TV shows we watched as kids came from, everything from I Love Lucy to Speed Racer.  This wonderful world of television was where I wanted to work.  What a great goal!

Years later and after 4 years of college to learn the broadcasting trade, Channel 50 wasn't interested in hiring me. What a sad thing that was. Anyhow, the legendary station is still there and has always been in the back of my mind.

I did a previous blog about my fascination with "I Love Lucy" which Channel 50 broadcast ad nauseum back then.  When "Lucy" star Desi Arnaz came to town I recorded the audio of his appearance on the famous "Lou Gordon Show" which is on Youtube here. Gordon was a controversial talk show host on Channel 50 and even for today's standards would be considered rude. He even got poor Desi upset by the end of his visit!  The video tapes of Gordon's show were apparently not saved so my audio might be the only copy of Desi's visit to Detroit. 

I was pleased to discover that author Christopher Lock has just published a brand new book on Channel 50.  It's not a boring look at the station today, which is now nothing like it was in the 1960s and 1970s...this book takes us back to the "golden years" of WKBD, with pictures and details of most of the programs that were on back then. 

If you'd like to be transported back to the baby boomer 60s and 70s of Detroit TV, you will love this time capsule. The book is available on Amazon and click on the link to watch Mr. Lock's  Howell Library Talk about Channel 50.

I think he included most of what I remember except for Snipets!