Magazine / Newspaper Articles
February 1965
1964 ad for Puerto Rico's El San Juan Hotel, with an Al Hirschfeld
illustration showing several of the stars who appeared at the hotel- Sammy
Davis Jr., Milton Berle, Ford & Hines, Tony Martin, Xavier Cugat, Allen &
Rossi, Leslie Uggams, Myron Cohen and Joe E. Lewis
October 12, 2005
KJUL's format change protested
By Jerry Fink
LAS VEGAS SUN
Protesters marched outside the Beasley Broadcast Group's Las Vegas offices Tuesday morning. The group was angered that the Naples, Fla., company has changed the format of their favorite radio station from standards to country.
More than 20 sign-carrying fans of the former format at KJUL 104.3-FM paced the sidewalk at 1455 E. Tropicana Ave. and waved at passing motorists, many of whom expressed sympathy for the marchers, honking and returning the waves and sometimes shouting their approval.
A rally also has been scheduled for 11 a.m. on Oct. 22 in Sunset Park.
Organizers of that event say a number of local celebrities who were fans of KJUL's music will be there, among them Rich Little, Marty Allen, Bill Acosta, Vincent Falcone and Frankie Randall.
At Tuesday's protest most of those carrying signs were in their 70s and 80s. At least one was in his 90s.
"Country music didn't make this town," said 91-year-old Frankie DeMatto, a Las Vegas resident since retiring from the construction industry in 1979.
From 1979 to 1995 DeMatto hosted a celebrity talk show on KUNV 91.5-FM. Each Friday, for one hour, he interviewed some of Las Vegas' most well-known entertainers -- performers whose voices were among those still heard on KJUL.
"We've got to keep those entertainers alive through the music on radio stations like KJUL," DeMatto said. "If we don't play Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin and all those others, the kids today will never know what made this town."
Businessman Tom Best, 57, says he supports boycotting Beasley advertisers because of the switch in formats and because of the way the station treated its fans.
"The fans weren't surprised -- they were in shock," said Best, who moved to Las Vegas from Phoenix eight years ago. "I thought KJUL would be the last station to go."
The protest was organized by Zillah "Zee" Matulonis, president of Entertainment Consumers Exchange Inc., a national organization that focuses on entertainment issues related to the older population.
"Today's demonstration is part of our national campaign to bring attention to the fact that entertainment for older people is disappearing," Matulonis, 62, said. "This is a problem for older adults all over the country, not just Las Vegas."
Matulonis said she and her followers will boycott companies that advertise on Beasley stations in Las Vegas, which include KJUL 104.3-FM, KSTJ 102.7-FM and KKLZ 96.3-FM.
"If they don't want to entertain seniors, then they don't need our business," she said.
Judi Booe (pronounced BOO-ee), one of the organizers of next week's gathering at Sunset Park, said fans can find the rally by looking for a four-foot balloon floating in the air.
"That's where we'll be," she said. "And there is ample parking."
The park is at Eastern Avenue and Sunset Road.
Booe, 62, described the upcoming event as "a rally for all the people who have been loyal listeners and who were surprised by the sudden death of KJUL."
In addition to entertainers, Booe said a number of civic leaders, including Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, might attend.
She said a petition will be available for people to sign.
"It will be sent to the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) to force stations to give some notice when they change formats as a courtesy to the community and the loyal listeners," Booe said.
Like so many others, Booe said, she was furious when she turned on her radio and KJUL was gone.
"Something that had become a part of my life was suddenly taken away," Booe said.
July 08, 2005
Columnist Lisa Ferguson: No illusions: Finney simply out to lend a
hand
Lisa Ferguson's Laugh Lines column appears Fridays. Her Sun Lite Column
appears Mondays. Reach her at lmsferguson@yahoo.com.
Michael Finney is no different than many travelers who purloin the bitty bars of soap and small bottles of shampoo stocked in their hotel suite's bathroom.
What he does with the tiny toiletries, however, is unusual.
Upon returning to his home in Phoenix, the self-described "comedian/comic-magician" donates the pint-sized products to a school for homeless children, whose impoverished students often go without such necessities.
"That's where the need is," explained Finney, who headlines The Comedy Stop at The Trop through Sunday, during a call from Laughlin where he recently performed. Making the small donations is one of several ways he tries to "help the less fortunate -- kids, basically, who need a break."
In 1997 he founded the Michael Finney Foundation, which raises funds for Phoenix-area charities with its Dry Heat Classic golf tournament and comedy show.
"I did this so I could give a little back to the community" that he's called home since 1978, Finney explains. "I'm blessed. I really don't want for too much."
In years past comedians George Lopez and Wil Shriner along with illusionist Lance Burton have participated in the tournament and comedy show, assisting the foundation in raising more than $400,000 since its inception.
This year's ninth annual event is set to take place Aug. 7-9 at the Arrowhead Country Club and Legends Golf Course in Glendale, Ariz. The lineup is scheduled to include Las Vegas comedy-magician Fielding West, magician The Great Tomsoni and country musician Dillon Dixon, among others.
Finney, an avid golfer with a six-stroke handicap, also plays and performs at several other celebrity tournaments nationwide each year.
"In all these events," he explains, "it was all about movie stars and athletes for the most part, and maybe one or two comics."
With his tourney, "I just decided I would try to put together an event where I could bring in a lot of my comedian friends and play a little golf, have a good time, but then try to raise some money by putting on a comedy show."
"We are really working hard this year," he says of preparations for the upcoming Dry Heat Classic. "I don't have any major sponsorships ... or any of these big corporations behind me because I'm just a little comic and I'm not big enough for them to waste their time on -- that's the way I look at it. But my effort and desire (to help) is there."
"When you see a child who's in pain or suffering, and you can do something and you don't even know this kid, that's very unselfish," says the 50-year-old Finney, who also visits hospitals throughout the country to entertain ailing youngsters.
"I take my magic in and do tricks, and I make them smile for a few moments. The biggest reward is the parents.
"When I walk out of the room, and I've dried my own tears, the parents are thanking me for coming in there and making their kid laugh" when "he hasn't laughed in two or three weeks, or he hasn't smiled, and everybody's smiling. That's why I do this."
A Northern California native, Finney moved to Phoenix, where he learned to tend bar and found work at an upscale restaurant. There, another barkeep entertained patrons by performing magic tricks.
"I pestered him for a while, and finally he said, 'Yeah, I'll teach ya, but it's gonna cost ya,' so I had to pay him a little bit of money and he showed me how to do a trick," Finney recalls.
"I just started practicing and got so involved with it that it became my life -- learning how to do little magic tricks, which I thought at the time were little, but miracles is what they were."
By 1981, Finney had integrated stand-up comedy into his magic act and went to Los Angeles, where he auditioned and began performing at area comedy clubs. During his career, he's shared stages with the likes of Henny Youngman, Marty Allen, Norm Crosby, Keenan Ivory Wayans and Robin Williams.
Finney was a 1986 comedy finalist on television's "Star Search." He also began competing in international magic competitions, and the following year was bestowed a magic award by Siegfried and Roy.
For more than a decade he made the rounds at comedy clubs throughout the country and performed at numerous private functions, including the 2001 inaugural ball for President Bush.
For a time, he also owned Finney Bones, a club that he and a business partner opened in Phoenix during the mid-'80s. The place closed in 1993 when Finney's stand-up career "got really busy and I was on the road way too much" to keep a close eye on the operation, he says.
Finney -- who in recent months has opened shows for comedian Bill Engvall and rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd -- performs in Las Vegas several times each year. Later this month he'll fill in as host of "The Mac King Comedy Magic Show" at Harrah's while its star is away.
Earlier this year the Academy of Magical Arts & Sciences, an organization that promotes the advancement of magic, presented Finney with its Comedy Magician of the Year award, the magic world's "equivalent to the Oscars," he boasts.
"I love my magic. It's where I got started, and it's how I got to where I am now," he says. On the other hand, "I love doing stand-up comedy. I like just going out there and making people laugh and not even having to distract them with anything other than just my mouth and making them laugh with my mannerisms and my gestures."
Not surprisingly, Finney says he also likes to "inspire people to be a better person than what they are today. We're all capable of that."
Out for laughs
