What would Jesus do…in Pittsburgh?

He'd have his "superstar" world premiere, of course. On July 12, 1971, the first authorized production of the Tim Rice/Andrew Lloyd Webber rock opera "Jesus Christ Superstar" was staged in my fair city, Pittsburgh, PA. Quite appropriate, actually, considering it's the birthplace of the man who coined the term superstar: Andy Warhol! The musical starred Jeff Fenholt as a laid-back, hippiefied Jesus, Carl Anderson as a prescient, forewarning Judas, and Yvonne Elliman as a sexy Mary Magdalene. A crowd of 13,000 people turned out to see the play at the city's domed, space-age Civic Arena, the world's first major sports/entertainment venue to feature a retractable roof.

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The Sex Pistols Invade America. First Stop: Pittsburgh?

I remember sitting in study hall one day during my senior year of high school, speaking in hushed tones with a couple of friends about a band that was just starting to rear its spike-haired head on the pages of Circus and Creem magazines: The Sex Pistols. Who were they? Or rather, what were they? In the early months of…

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I A.M. What I Am: Breakfast of Champions with KDKA

As a kid I had breakfast every morning with the 50,000-watt Godzilla of all AM radio stations - KDKA 1020, Pittsburgh, PA. The first commercial radio station in the world, launched by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation, turns 95 years old today. My dad always had our kitchen radio tuned to 1020 on the dial. There was no fighting him on…

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