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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2007 > February > 12
Monday, February 12, 2007
He’s not little Theo Huxtable anymore
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who will forever be known as Theo Huxtable from “The Cosby Show,” has wanted to do Joyce Littel’s annual V-103 “Passion & Poetry” concert for ages but never could find the time. This year, he wedged in a day to fly into Atlanta with just a few days’ notice.
“I was a big part of the resurgence of the underground spoken word movement in 1993,” he told Buzz Saturday before his sound check at Center Stage in Midtown, which seats about 1,000.
He loves how Atlantans come to this event just to hear poetry: “Usually, you’re in a really small venue or you’re opening for some headlining singer or rapper.”
Friendly and relaxed, the 36-year-old Los Angeles resident said his true passion is playing bass in his band Miles Long. “Music is an important outlet for me so in between acting work I’m not pulling my hair out.”
He’s on a break from shooting a romantic adventure film, “Fool’s Gold,” starring Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson. But in this case he’s playing a villain, a departure from the good-guy persona he’s created on many a sitcom: “I’m able to show another side of what I do as an actor.”
Party animals hyped for the Tabernacle
On the strength of a memorable power ballad about infidelity, “Lips of an Angel,” Hinder last year became one of the top-selling acts of 2006.
And the Oklahoma City band, which has sold out the Tabernacle this Sunday, is blissfully enjoying every second. “We’re all too wasted to notice,” joked drummer Cody Hanson to Buzz. He then admitted he already was buzzed during the interview: “We party nonstop every day. We drink all day. We love being out on the road.”
Favorite ’80s power ballad: “It’s lame to say this, but ‘Here I Go Again’ by Whitesnake.
His take on country singer Jack Ingram’s cover of “Lips of An Angel”? “It’s flattering, but we feel like there’s no emotion to his version. We wish he had done a better job.”
Most wacked concert moment: when guitarist Joe “Blower” Garvey drank vodka from a prosthetic leg a guy threw onstage.
WSB host’s ‘never been so happy’
Chris Krok arrived on WSB-AM from Minneapolis a year ago Tuesday and handled late-night duties. The station hopes he eventually can take over one of the daytime slots.
So far, the chainsmoking jogger (yes, he does both, but not at the same time) has worked hard to make an impression, focusing heavily on local issues, from crime to illegal immigration.
He has dressed down as a panhandler and dressed up in a burqa. He nabbed the first live interview with a Cherokee County rape victim who fought off and and killed her attacker. He broke news about Kathryn Johnston, the elderly woman shot and killed by undercover cops in an alleged drug bust. And he loves battling callers who call him racist, stupid or worse.
“I feel great,” Krok wrote in an e-mail. “I’ve never been so happy in my talk-show career.”
He said it’s “sad” there are so few radio hosts left in Atlanta who focus on local issues since WSGT-AM dumped Denny Schaffer and Kim “The Kimmer” Peterson in November. (Krok’s WSB-AM brethren Neal Boortz and Clark Howard are syndicated.)
But he’s happy to take the mantle. “I’m so passionate about issues in our backyard, so this happens to be a perfect, natural fit.”
What’s up with Bo?
Bo Bice, former Atlantan and runner-up on “American Idol” in 2004, is no longer listed on the RCA Records Web site. Has he left the label? Nobody’s talking.
Roger Widynowski, RCA publicist, and Bice’s mom Nancy Downes, who lives in Covington, declined to comment. Bice’s talent agency Strategic Artist Management, which also reps the Dixie Chicks and Clay Aiken, was less kind. His agent, Kat Darnell, not only declined to comment but also yelled at Buzz for making multiple “harassing” phone calls to her when in fact, the number of calls made was a whopping three over three days.
Bice’s first CD “Real Thing,” which was far more pop-oriented than fans had expected, sold a respectable 650,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and generated a Top 20 hit. That’s about quadruple the sales of the first CDs of two other runner-ups — Justin Guarini and former Snellville gal Diana DeGarmo — but short of what Aiken sold in 2003. Guarini was dropped from RCA, while DeGarmo asked to be let go from her contract and RCA agreed.
Contributing: news services
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Singer Michael McDonald is 55. Actor-talk show host Arsenio Hall is 52. Actress Christina Ricci is 27.
WAY TO GO!
Jeff Foxworthy’s CMT sketch show shot in Atlanta last year has not been renewed, but Alpharetta’s most successful comic has found a new job: host of a game show on Fox called “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?”
Adults compete for $1 million by answering questions most fifth-graders should know — and if they get stuck, they can get help from (who else?) elementary school kids.
“I took calculus in Georgia Tech, and I’ve got a sixth-grader and I’m looking at her math and I go, ‘I can’t help!’ ” Foxworthy told USA Today. “I’m very grateful that [the show’s producers] give me the answers.”
The first four episodes will air starting Feb. 27 after “American Idol.”
HIGH FIVE
99X’s top 5
“This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race” — Fall Out Boy
“Snow (Hey Oh)” — Red Hot Chili Peppers
“Starlight” — Muse
“Face Down” — Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
“Anna Molly” — Incubus
— Mediabase 24/7
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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