Last night I finished the first semester of a year long class on the history of rock and soul, taught by WXRT DJ Terri Hemmert (pictured right) at Columbia College in downtown Chicago. Fun Facts: Terri was the first woman assigned the morning drive slot in Chicago radio, over 25 years ago. I used to listen to her show when I was home from college working downtown during the summer. Columbia College is the largest media and arts college in the country.
This first part of the class focused on the roots of rock and soul starting with Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith in the 20's and ending up with The Beatles and Black Sabbath in the 60's. It was a fantastic in-depth review of the popular music of this period, facilitated by Terri's truly amazing dvd collection.
Next week the real students in the class will take the exam (in this case it pays to be a poser ;^) and then we'll all meet at a Thai restaurant across the street for an end of the class celebration. Kicking off the holiday party in advance, Terri gave all of us two fantastic cds. The first is called the College of Rock and Roll Knowledge is basically a review of the central roots artists that we studied this term, including Billie Holiday, Louis Jordan, Big Mama Thornton, Irma Thomas and others. The second is the 2007 edition of her Christmas disc which includes Christmas songs from artists who performed in Chicago during the term. Both are sensational and include excellent picutres of Terri dressed as Santa and Terri as a dj at maybe 4 years of age! Thanks for a great term Terri! See you next semester!
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