Bozo people

A Bozo girl from Bamako, Mali
Total population
132,100
Regions with significant populations
West Africa, mainly the Niger River in Mali
Languages
Bozo languages
Religion
Mostly Muslim

The Bozo are a West African ethnic group located predominantly along the Niger River in Mali. The name Bozo is thought to derive from Bambara bo-so, 'Bamboo house'; the people accept it as referring to the whole of the ethnic group but use more specific clan names such as Sorogoye, Hain, and Tieye themselves. They are famous for their fishing and are occasionally referred to as the "masters of the river." Their languages, belonging to the Soninke-Bozo subgroup of Northwestern Mande languages, have traditionally been considered dialects of one language, though in reality there are at least four distinct varieties (see Bozo languages).

Aspects of Bozo culture took shape under the 10th century Ghana Empire, when the Bozo took possession of the banks of the Niger. The Bozo were the founders of the Malian cities of Djenné and Mopti.

Though the Bozo are predominantly Muslim, they preserve a number of animist traditions as well. Their animal totem is the bull, whose body represents the Niger and whose horns represent the Bozo fishing pirogues.

A 2000 census counted the Bozo population of Mali to be 132,100.

Bibliography[link]

• Ligers, Ziedonis (1964-1969). Les Sorko (Bozo), maîtres du Niger: étude ethnographique (four volumes). Paris: Librairie des Cinq Continents. 
• in ISBN 3-570-19230-X: Geo Special Westafrika, Article: Sexualkunde am Fluss

Marshall Brodien, known for his role as Wizzo the Wizard, played a wizard clown that performed on WGN-TV's Bozo's Circus and The Bozo Show from 1968-1994. Brodien, who had been making semi-regular guest appearances since 1968,^[1] later appeared as a wizard character in an Arabian Nights-inspired costume which evolved into Wizzo the Wizard by the early 1970s. He was billed as being from Arobia (which is based on "Arabia" because A and O are vowels) and possessed the Stone of Zanzabar. According to Brodien, the first time he touched Bozo (Bob Bell) with the stone, Bozo quipped "I remember when you got stoned at the Zanzabar." During the mid 1970s it was rumored that Wizzo (the character, not Brodien) was a Jewish convert to Islam. Producers of the show during that time, however, denied this rumor and claimed that the storyline would have just "confused small children" watching the show.

Oliver O. Oliver (Ray Rayner) left Bozo's Circus in 1971 and was briefly replaced by Pat Tobin as Oliver's cousin Elrod T. Potter, and then by magician John Thompson (an acquaintance of Roy Brown's and Brodien's) as Clod Hopper. By 1973, WGN gave up on Thompson and increased Brodien's appearances as Wizzo. Brodien left the program in 1994.^[2]

In 1970, Brodien was the spokesperson and creator for a trick magic card deck known as TV Magic Cards, which was a renamed Svengali deck. The deck resembled a regular playing card deck, except that the cards could be shown as all the same card. Many other card tricks could be performed with the deck. Over 17 million decks of the cards were sold.^[3][4]

Brodien currently designs magic trick sets for children through a company called Cadaco Toys. He occasionally makes public appearances in the Chicago area and his autobiography, The Magical Life Of Marshall Brodien, was published. One of his Wizzo costumes is in the Bozo's Circus collection of the Museum of Broadcast Communications.^[5]

Bozo Show references[link]

• Toonarific article on Bozo
• Bozo's Circus (1961-1980) at the Internet Movie Database
• The Bozo Show (1980-1994) at the Internet Movie Database
• The Bozo Super Sunday Show (1994-2001) at the Internet Movie Database
• Bozo: 40 Years of Fun! (TV special) at the Internet Movie Database

References[link]

1. ^ "Bozo Timeline-1960s". WGN-TV. Archived from the original on 9 July 2001. http://web.archive.org/web/20010709002133/http://wgntv.com/station/bozotime/tln1960s.htm. Retrieved 16 February 2011. 
2. ^ "Bozo Timeline-1990s". WGN-TV. Archived from the original on 8 August 2001. http://web.archive.org/web/20010808014949/http://wgntv.com/station/bozotime/tln1990s.htm. Retrieved 16 February 2011. 
3. ^ ephemera: Marshall Brodien TV Magic Cards
4. ^ "Bozo Timeline-1970s". WGN-TV. http://web.archive.bibalex.org/web/20001218093000/http://www.wgntv.com/station/bozotime/tln1970s.htm. Retrieved 16 February 2011. 
5. ^ "Bozo Timeline-2000". WGN-TV. Archived from the original on 8 August 2001. http://web.archive.org/web/20010808020050/http://wgntv.com/station/bozotime/tln2000s.htm. Retrieved 16 February 2011. 

External links[link]

• Marshall Brodien website
• Description of TV Magic Cards
• Marshall Brodien on Nude Hippo

Watch[link]

• Bozo's Circus at Chicagofest 1979. Brodien as Wizzo. Museum of Broadcast Communications (Windows Media Player)
• Bozo 25th Anniversary 1986. Museum of Broadcast Communications (Windows Media Player)

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Steve Goodman
Goodman on April 30, 1983 in concert Photo: David Gans
Background information
Born	(1948-07-25)July 25, 1948 Chicago, IllinoisUnited States
Died	September 20, 1984(1984-09-20) (aged 36) Seattle, Washington United States
Genres	Folk, country, rock, pop
Occupations	Musician, Songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1968–1984
Labels	Buddah, Asylum, Red Pajamas
Associated acts	John Prine, Kenneth C. "Jethro" Burns, Jimmy Buffett, Bonnie Koloc, Steve Martin, Tom Paxton, David Allan Coe
Website	www.stevegoodman.net

Steve Goodman (July 25, 1948 – September 20, 1984) was an American folk music singer-songwriter from Chicago, Illinois. The writer of "City of New Orleans", made popular by Arlo Guthrie and Willie Nelson, Goodman won two Grammy Awards.

Personal life[link]

Born on Chicago's North Side to a middle-class Jewish family, Goodman began writing and performing songs as a teenager, after his family had moved to the near north suburbs. He graduated from Maine East High School in Park Ridge, Illinois in 1965, where he was a classmate of Hillary Rodham (Clinton). In the fall of 1965, he entered the University of Illinois and pledged Sigma Alpha Mu (Sammies) fraternity where he, Ron Banyon, and Steve Hartmann formed a popular rock cover band, "The Juicy Fruits". He left college after one year to pursue his musical career. In the early spring of 1967 Goodman went to New York, staying for a month in a Greenwich Village brownstone across the street from the Cafe Wha? where Goodman performed regularly during his brief stay there. Returning to Chicago he intended to restart his education but he dropped out again to pursue his musical dream full time after discovering the cause of his continuous fatigue was actually leukemia, the disease that would be present during the entirety of his recording career, until his death in 1984. In 1968 Goodman began performing at the Earl of Old Town in Chicago and attracted a following.^[1] By 1969, Goodman was a regular performer in Chicago, while attending Lake Forest College. During this time Goodman supported himself by singing advertising jingles.

In September 1969 he met Nancy Pruter (sister of R&B writer Robert Pruter), who was attending college while supporting herself as a waitress. They were married in February, 1970. Though he experienced periods of remission, Goodman never felt that he was living on anything other than borrowed time, and some critics, listeners and friends have said that his music reflects this sentiment. His wife Nancy, writing in the liner notes to the posthumous collection No Big Surprise, characterized him this way:

Basically, Steve was exactly who he appeared to be: an ambitious, well-adjusted man from a loving, middle-class Jewish home in the Chicago suburbs, whose life and talent were directed by the physical pain and time constraints of a fatal disease which he kept at bay, at times, seemingly by willpower alone . . . Steve wanted to live as normal a life as possible, only he had to live it as fast as he could . . . He extracted meaning from the mundane.

Musical career[link]

Goodman's songs first appeared on Gathering at The Earl of Old Town, an album produced by Chicago record company Dunwich in 1971. As a close friend of Earl Pionke, the owner of the folk music bar, Goodman performed at The Earl dozens of times, including customary New Year's Eve concerts. He also remained closely involved with Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music, where he had met and mentored his good friend, John Prine.

Later in 1971, Goodman was playing at a Chicago bar called the Quiet Knight as the opening act for Kris Kristofferson. Kristofferson, impressed with Goodman, introduced him to Paul Anka, who brought Goodman to New York to record some demos. These resulted in Goodman signing a contract with Buddah Records.

All this time, Goodman had been busy writing many of his most enduring songs, and this avid songwriting would lead to an important break for him. While at the Quiet Knight, Goodman saw Arlo Guthrie, and asked to be allowed to play a song for him. Guthrie grudgingly agreed, on the condition that Goodman buy him a beer first; Guthrie would listen to Goodman for as long as it took Guthrie to drink the beer. Goodman played "City of New Orleans", (original lyrics) which Guthrie liked enough that he asked to record it. Guthrie's version of the song became a Top 20 hit in 1972, and provided Goodman with enough financial and artistic success to make his music a full-time career. The song, about the Illinois Central's City of New Orleans train, would become an American standard, covered by such musicians as Johnny Cash, Judy Collins, Chet Atkins and Willie Nelson, whose recorded version earned Goodman a posthumous Grammy Award for Best Country Song in 1985. A French translation of the song, "Salut Les Amoureux", was recorded by Joe Dassin in 1979. According to Goodman, the song was inspired by a train trip he and his wife took from Chicago to Mattoon, Illinois.^[2]

In 1974, singer David Allan Coe achieved considerable success on the country charts with Goodman's and John Prine's "You Never Even Called Me By My Name", a song which good-naturedly spoofed stereotypical country music lyrics. Prine refused to take a songwriter's credit of the song, although Goodman bought Prine a jukebox as a gift from his publishing royalties.

Goodman's success as a recording artist was more limited. Although he was known in folk circles as an excellent and influential songwriter, his albums received more critical than commercial success. Ironically, one of Goodman's biggest hits was a song he didn't write – "The Dutchman", written by Michael Peter Smith.

During the mid- and late-seventies, Goodman became a regular guest on Easter Day on Vin Scelsa’s radio show in New York City. Scelsa’s personal recordings of these sessions eventually led to an album of selections from these appearances, The Easter Tapes.

In 1977, Goodman performed on the Tom Paxton live album New Songs From the Briarpatch (Vanguard Records), which contained some of Paxton's topical songs of the 1970s, including "Talking Watergate" and "White Bones of Allende", as well as a song dedicated to Mississippi John Hurt entitled "Did You Hear John Hurt?"

During the fall of 1979, Goodman was hired to write and perform a series of topical songs for National Public Radio. Although Goodman and Jethro Burns recorded eleven songs for the series, only fiveof them, "The Ballad of Flight 191" about a plane crash, "Daley's Gone", "Unemployed", "The Twentieth Century is Almost Over", and "The Election Year Rag", were used on the air before the series was cancelled.^[3]

Goodman wrote and performed many humorous songs about Chicago, including three about the Chicago Cubs: "A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request", "When the Cubs Go Marching In" and "Go, Cubs, Go" (which has frequently been played on Cubs' broadcasts and at Wrigley Field after Cubs wins.) He wrote "Go, Cubs, Go" out of spite after then GM Dallas Green called "A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request" too depressing. The Cubs songs grew out of his fanatical devotion to the team, which included many clubhouse and on-field visits with Cub players. He wrote other songs about Chicago included "The Lincoln Park Pirates", about the notorious Lincoln Towing Service, and "Daley's Gone", about Mayor Richard J. Daley. Another comic highlight is "Vegematic", about a man who falls asleep while watching late-night TV and dreams he ordered many products that he saw on infomercials. He could also write serious songs, most notably "My Old Man", a tribute to Goodman's father, Bud Goodman, a used car salesman and World War II veteran.

Goodman won his second Grammy, for Best Contemporary Folk Album, in 1988 for Unfinished Business, a posthumous album on his Red Pajamas Records label.

Many fans become aware of Steve's work through other artists, such as Jimmy Buffett. Buffett has recorded several of Goodman's songs, including "Banana Republics" and "Woman Goin' Crazy on Caroline Street".

Death[link]

On September 20, 1984, Goodman died of leukemia at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, Washington. He had anointed himself with the tongue-in-cheek nickname “Cool Hand Leuk” (other nicknames included “Chicago Shorty” and “The Little Prince”) during his illness. He was 36.

Four days after Goodman's death, the Chicago Cubs clinched the Eastern Division title in the National League for the first time ever, earning them their first post-season appearance since 1945, three years before Goodman's birth. Eight days later, on October 2, the Cubs played their first post-season game since the 1945 World Series. Goodman had been asked to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" before it; Jimmy Buffett filled in, and dedicated the song to Goodman.

In April 1988, some of Goodman's ashes were scattered at Wrigley Field, the home of the Chicago Cubs.^[4] He was survived by his wife and three daughters.^[5]

Legacy[link]

In 2006, Goodman's daughter, Rosanna, issued My Old Man, an album of a variety of artists covering her father's songs.

Interest in Goodman's career had a resurgence in 2007 with the publication of a massive biography by Clay Eals, Steve Goodman: Facing the Music. The same year, the Chicago Cubs began playing Goodman's 1984 song "Go, Cubs, Go" after each home game win. When the Cubs made it to the playoffs, interest in the song and Goodman resulted in several newspaper articles about Goodman. Illinois Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn declared October 5, 2007 Steve Goodman Day in the state. In 2010, Illinois Representative Mike Quigley introduced a bill renaming the Lakeview post office on Irving Park Road in honor of Goodman. The bill was signed by President Barack Obama on August 3, 2010.^[6]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Compilations[link]

Videos[link]

Notes[link]

Further reading[link]

• Eals, Clay. Steve Goodman: Facing the Music. ECW Press, 2007. ISBN 978-1-55022-732-1.

External links[link]

• Official site
• Steve Goodman at Allmusic
• Steve Goodman : City Of New Orleans (Live 1972)
• Steve Goodman: Facing the Music Biography by Clay Eals, May, 2007

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This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2010)

Barry Louis Polisar is an author and singer-songwriter who writes children's music and numerous children's books, poems and stories.^[1]

Works[link]

He has traveled throughout the United States and Europe as a visiting author in schools and libraries. He is a five-time Parents' Choice Award winner and has performed in The White House, The Smithsonian and The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He has written songs for Sesame Street and The Weekly Reader, has starred in an Emmy Award-winning television show for children and has been featured regularly on The Learning Channel.

Polisar works with literacy groups, media specialists, reading teachers and Title I programs in the schools and has won a Special Library Recognition Award for his "ability to communicate with and excite children to read."

Polisar's song "All I Want Is You" was featured during the opening credits of Jason Reitman's film Juno.^[2] This song is also currently featured on the National Lottery (United Kingdom) advert for Lotto, and the Honda Civic "Date With a Woodsman" advert.

A two-disc tribute album, compiled by Aaron Cohen of the Radioactive Chicken Heads entitled We're Not Kidding! A Tribute to Barry Louis Polisar was released in 2010. The album features covers of 60 of Polisar's songs by artists such as DeLeon, Rebecca Loebe, The Radioactive Chicken Heads, Tor Hyams, and Barry Louis Polisar's son Evan Polisar. ^[3]

Awards[link]

• Polisar's TV show Field Trip won two Emmy Awards in its first season.
• Polisar's recordings have won four (4) different Parents' Choice Awards.
• Numerous Children's Music Web Awards for Best Children's Recording, Best New Song, and Best "Classic" recording.
• Polisar's book Insect Soup won a Parents' Guide Award for Outstanding Children's Books.
• Polisar's Scrapbook video won a National Media Gold Award and an award from the Coalition on Quality Children's Recordings.
• Two Maryland State Artist Awards.
• Polisar's recording of Old Dogs, New Tricks was named "one of the twenty best Children's Recordings of all time" in The American Library Association's Children's Jukebox and Award Hall of Fame.
• Maryland Library Association's Special Recognition Award for his "contributions on behalf of children of all ages" for his "ability to communicate with children and excite them to read."

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Old Enough To Know Better
• A Little Different
• Juggling Babies
• Naughty Songs for Boys & Girls
• Teachers Favorites
• Old Dogs, New Tricks
• Family Trip
• Family Concert
• I Eat Kids and Other Songs for Rebellious Children
• My Brother Thinks He's a Banana and other Provocative Songs for Children
• Captured Live and in the Act
• Songs for Well Behaved Children
• Stanley Stole My Shoelace and Rubbed it in His Armpit and Other Songs My Parents Won't Let Me Sing
• Off-Color Songs for Kids

Collaborations[link]

• Juno soundtrack

Bibliography[link]

• Insect Soup
• Peculiar Zoo
• A Little Less Noise
• Don't Do That
• The Trouble With Ben
• Snakes! and the Boy Who Was Afraid of Them
• The Snake Who Was Afraid of People
• The Haunted House Party
• Dinosaurs I Have Known
• Noises From Under the Rug
• Telling the Story: A Passover Haggadah Explained
• Stolen Man: The Story of the Amistad Rebellion

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website