Rich Podolsky

Separately, they were great. Together, they were the greatest ever. Madden and Summerall is about two stalwarts of the game of football, but their story is not without controversy. Summerall was a five-sport star who became a broadcaster by accident. Madden was a larger-than-life Super Bowl-winning coach, and he easily could have been a stand-up comedian. We all remember the great story-telling John Madden who won sixteen Emmy Awards, but we don't remember how much he struggled to find his way during first two years on the air. In fact, he was almost fired after his first season, but a rousing appearance at a pre-Super Bowl luncheon changed his life and helped CBS executives see Madden in a new light. It wasn't until he was paired with Summerall that it all clicked. They were so different, yet so perfect together. But they weren't without their controversies, among them: how Summerall had to win a two-month battle vs. the beloved Vin Scully to become Madden's partner and how he threatened to go to NBC or run for U. S. Senate if he lost; how Summerall's alcoholism nearly cost him his job at CBS and his life after an intervention, a trip to the Betty Ford Center and liver transplant; how Fox outdueled CBS for the NFL contract, leaving Madden and Summerall as free agents, like "Van Gogh paintings at a Christie's auction," said one colleague; and how Madden went to his Fox bosses when he sensed Summerall started slipping and said, "something has to be done," before they asked Summerall to retire. Madden and Summerall follows the intimate stories of their lives from childhood until their deaths, before and during their great twenty-one-year partnership. Never-before-told insider stories from friends, family members, and dozens of ex-colleagues pepper the chapters.

You Are Looking Live! is about the genesis, success and magic of a live television show that in 1975 captured the excitement of the country, and launched four magnetic personalities to stardom: Brent Musburger, Phyllis George, Irv Cross and Jimmy The Greek Snyder. It was truly a piece of Americana. It was the first NFL studio show to go live and the first to have both a Black and female co-host. Those four personalities battled each other and the competition, and America loved them for it. This is the story of how Brent, Phyllis, Irv and Jimmy got there, their drama and front-page headlines, and what happened to them after the magic ended. Those headlines included Brent and The Greek’s famous fight at Peartrees, Phyllis first marrying the man who produced The Godfather, then dropping him after two months for the next governor of Kentucky, and the shocking firing of Musburger on April Fool’s Day, 1990. America had never seen a show like this before. On the East Coast and the Midwest, people would literally rush home from church to hear what they had to say, and on the West Coast fans loved waking up to it. The NFL Today became so popular that it not only dominated the ratings, but also won its timeslot 18 straight years, from 1975 to 1993, until CBS lost its NFL package to Fox. And today, looking back, these four personalities, like any family, had their own battles, and became even more famous for them.

You Are Looking Live! is about the genesis, success and magic of a live television show that in 1975 captured the excitement of the country, and launched four magnetic personalities to stardom: Brent Musburger, Phyllis George, Irv Cross and Jimmy The Greek Snyder. It was truly a piece of Americana. It was the first NFL studio show to go live and the first to have both a Black and female co-host. Those four personalities battled each other and the competition, and America loved them for it. This is the story of how Brent, Phyllis, Irv and Jimmy got there, their drama and front-page headlines, and what happened to them after the magic ended. Those headlines included Brent and The Greek’s famous fight at Peartrees, Phyllis first marrying the man who produced The Godfather, then dropping him after two months for the next governor of Kentucky, and the shocking firing of Musburger on April Fool’s Day, 1990. America had never seen a show like this before. On the East Coast and the Midwest, people would literally rush home from church to hear what they had to say, and on the West Coast fans loved waking up to it. The NFL Today became so popular that it not only dominated the ratings, but also won its timeslot 18 straight years, from 1975 to 1993, until CBS lost its NFL package to Fox. And today, looking back, these four personalities, like any family, had their own battles, and became even more famous for them.

From 1958 to 1963, Neil Sedaka sold 25 million records - more than anyone except Elvis Presley. He thought he could do no wrong, but a year later he was all but off the charts, swept away by The Beatles and the British Invasion - a blow he never saw coming. The deejays stopped playing his records, and the public stopped buying them. For 12 agonizing years, Sedaka battled to get back on the charts-back to respectability. He tried everything: working with hip, young songwriters, playing on demo sessions, and even enduring the rough and tumble of working men's clubs in remote corners in the UK. Then, one magical night, he performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London. His new songs, including 'Solitaire,' were greeted with thunderous applause. Shortly thereafter, Elton John, the biggest rock'n'roll star of the decade, stopped by to see him and offered to sign Neil to his new label, Rocket Records. And that was it. In October 1974, 'Laughter In The Rain' showed up at number 95 on Billboard-Sedaka's first appearance on the charts in over a decade. Sixteen weeks later it reached number one, sealing one of the most amazing comebacks in music history. This vivid and authoritative book, written with full access to Sedaka and those closest to him, tells the absorbing story of how he overcame one obstacle after another to become the ultimate rock'n'roll survivor.

In 1958, long before he created and hosted Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, the most dynamic rock-and-roll series in television history, before he developed the Monkees and created the Archies, Don Kirshner was a 23-year-old kid with just a dream in his pocket. Five years later he was the prince of pop music. He did it by building Aldon Music, a song publishing firm, from scratch. This is about how he did it – with teenage discoveries Bobby Darin, Carole King, Neil Sedaka, and more. By 1960, at the ripe old age of 25, Kirshner had built the most powerful publishing house in the business, leading Time magazine to call him “the Man with the Golden Ear.” In five short years he coaxed and guided his teenage prodigies to write more than 200 hits. And they weren't just hits, as it turned out, but standards – including “On Broadway ” “Will You Love Me Tomorrow ” “Up on the Roof ” “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do ” “I Love How You Love Me ” “Who Put the Bomp ” and “The Locomotion” – songs that have become the soundtrack of a generation. “We weren't trying to write standards ” said one songwriter. “We were just trying to please Donnie.”