Longtime Denver morning personality, Gus Mircos, died Sunday. According to denverpost.com, "Mircos was the morning drive guy at KOA for 22 years — before he was replaced by Steve Kelley in 1997...Mircos was known as the 'resident crank case' — a big-hearted, gruff old guy with a gravelly voice and a crusty world-view."

Recent: 7 Reasons Radio People Die Younger

More: Reaction to Article on Radio People Dying Younger

Right now I'm playing with MeeMix Internet Radio. Meemix is a browser-based player which offers both an audio and video mode.

MeeMix thinks of itself as an Internet community which offers members the ability to create and listen to personalized radio stations. MeeMix uses a "taste prediction algorithm" which tries and figure out what you will want to hear - not unlike what Internet stations like Pandora or Last.fm pioneered. (Right: MeeMix Player, Screenshot by Corey Deitz, Graphic Credit: © MeeMix)

I started by typing in "Abba" (It's just my default music search term) upon which MeeMix began playing "Take a Chance on Me" - a big 1978 hit for the band. MeeMix then decided I should hear Donna Summer's "Bad Girls" followed by a 1979 disco hit by Cameo. At this point, although still entertained, I was a bit curious why MeeMix had deserted me on a dance floor dressed like John Travolta in "Saturday Night Fever".

I decided to manually advance to the next song and MeeMix brought up Leif Garrett and "I Was Made For Dancin'". At this point I ripped off my white jacket, threw it across my office and just started doing the "Hustle".

MeeMix has a "Mood Control" with three controls: Surprize Me, Pulse, and Volume. I cranked Surprize Me all the way to the max and a song called "(Funny) Bone" by Chic began playing - another late '70s tune I've never heard. I definitely was surprised.

MeeMix has a Not or Hot slider control which let's you tell it whether or not you like what it's picking for you to hear. MeeMix provides a lot of other controls to promote interaction, too: a favorites tool, another to block cuts, the ability to buy the CD you're listening to, recommendation tools, and more.

MeeMix is fun to play with and free to use. First time visitors can try it out before registering and create up to 3 radio stations that allow you to listen to 5 songs on each one.

Related:
* Pandora - The Music Genome Project
* You're the DJ on Last.fm

Oh, the fall from grace...
Bernie Ward, a longtime and well-known talk show host in San Francisco has pleaded guilty to federal child porn charges. According to ABC News, "Bernie Ward, 56...faces at least five years in prison on a single count of distributing child pornography...[admitting]...that he e-mailed an image depicting nude children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. He also admitted as part of his plea agreement that he sent between 15 and 150 images of child pornography via e-mail..." (Right: Bernie Ward on-the-air at KGO/San Francisco, Photo Credit: © KGO Radio)

When he was indicted in December, 2007, Ward initially pleaded not guilty saying his actions were misunderstood and he was really doing research for a book.

Background:
* KGO-AM Talk Host Bernie Ward Indicted on Child Porn Charges
* KGO-AM Fires Bernie Ward
* Profile of Bernie Ward

Air America Radio continues to fill part of its afternoon programming with "American Afternoon" featuring guest hosts. Here's Sam Seder earlier this week doing his part. Seder is a writer, director, comedian, and liberal talk show host. His regular slot is "Seder on Sunday" (4 - 7 p.m. ET) on Air America Radio. Prior to that he hosted "Majority Report" and the "Sam Seder Show" also on AAR. (Right: Sam Seder on-the-air at Air America Radio. Photo Credit: © Air America Radio)

More: the Seder on Sundays information page at Air America Radio (audio available, too).

Air America Radio's guest hosting is in lieu of a permanent replacement for the recently departed Randi Rhodes.

Background:
* Randi Rhodes Returns to XM Satellite Radio
* Randi Rhodes Suspended by Air America Radio for Hillary Comments
* Randi Rhodes Resigns from Air America Radio
* Randi Rhodes to Join NovaM Radio Network

Election years were made for talk radio and if there's one man enjoying himself, it's Rush Limbaugh. Limbaugh's "Operation Chaos" - a mock on-air campaign to disrupt the Democratic primaries has drawn much ire from the left. Now, the talk show host is putting the word out there for Obama. (Right: Rush Limbaugh, Photo Credit: © EIB Radio Network)

Alexander Mooney at cnn.com writes, "He has publicly urged Republicans to vote for Sen. Hillary Clinton to keep the divisive Democratic nomination fight alive, but talk radio host Rush Limbaugh said Wednesday he really wants Sen. Barack Obama to be the party's nominee."

"'I now believe he would be the weakest of the Democrat nominees,' Limbaugh, among the most powerful voices in conservative radio, said on his program," quotes the article.

Related: Does Talk Radio Move Political Agendas and Help Win Elections?

More: The 25 Greatest Radio Talk Show Hosts of All Time

On the web: RushLimbaugh.com

My recent opinion article, "7 Reasons Radio People Die Younger", drew some interesting response and comment.

Lee Logan from Shane Media Services wrote: "You might find it interesting that the Insurance Institute did a Predictive Index on radio people in 1996. Most likely preparing for consolidation, they wanted to know what to charge the new monoliths of broadcasting for their benefit packages. All of the reasons you cited in your article (stress and lifestyle being the most damaging) except the point about we radio folk being 'different,' were part of the Institute’s analysis...Their finding – on-air radio personalities life expectancy: men – 59, women – 61. It’s worse for PD’s and GM’s: men – 57, women – 60."

Stacy Richardson emailed me to say, "I agree with all of your reasons for the lack of longevity among radio professionals. The one I thought most revealing concerned loneliness...One other thing: you mentioned that perhaps 70% of the on-air people you've worked with have psychological 'issues.' I think that estimate to be a bit low. I think 70 percent of the people have obvious issues, which makes the other 30% seem sane."

Read it Now: 7 Reasons Radio People Die Younger

Radio's Macabre and Morose Side:
* Radio DJ Deaths: The "Crash Curse" And Oher Awful Ends
* The List of Murdered DJs and Radio Hosts

Art Vuolo, Jr. has come to be known by most in the industry as "Radio's Best Friend". Since 1977, he has made a name for himself by creating and providing video airchecks of radio shows and radio events which he offers for sale at his website.

But, Art is selling something even more unique: pieces of the original brick building - the bricks themselves - which housed KDKA/Pittsburgh, the first commercial radio station. KDKA went on-the-air on November 2, 1920.

As Art says at his website, "Building 'K' was in the Westinghouse East Pittsburgh Works, and was demolished in 2007...These are the LAST bricks remaining..the others now being used for patios and home construction, with no one realizing their historic significance."

Each brick comes with a Certificate of Authenticity, signed by two past and one present employee of KDKA. The price is $29.95 + $4.95 shipping. For more information, go to www.vuolovideo.com.

KDKA Milestones
* KDKA Was First to Broadcast Election Returns on Radio
* KDKA Began the First Daily Radio Newscast in the United States
* KDKA Broadcasted the First Religious Program on Radio

I think Radio might be bad for your health - at least if you work in it. Maybe you never noticed but I have: on-air Radio performers seem to die younger than they should. I've narrowed it down to 7 reasons why I think this business kills it's stars prematurely. Read more.

With the release of "Grand Theft Auto 4" this past week, the latest installment of one of gaming's most popular franchises, the news has been peppered with various insights into the guts and how it came together - including now the virtual radio stations players can listen to.

MTV.com has posted an article about Ivan Pavlovich, a former DJ and label manager, who was one of two soundtrack supervisors responsible for picking or "programming" the songs heard in GTA 4.

Besides the ability to find out what song is playing by sending a text message within the game using the main character's cell phone, "The songs in the soundtrack don't always play in a set order anymore. Many of the stations randomize the playing order. There are even multiple DJ intros to songs, just to mix things up," writes Stephen Totilo, the article's author.

"Grand Theft Auto 4" features 18 virtual radio stations including "The Beat 102.7" (hip hop), "LRR 97.8 Liberty Rock Radio" (classic rock), "The Vibe 98.8" (R&B), and 3 talk stations.

You can even put one of the radio stations on your own web page. A widget for the "ElectroChoc" (dance) station is available at rockstargames.com.

More Virtual Radio Stations:
* Radio Rules in "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City"
* "Gand Theft Auto: San Andreas" Has 11 Radio Stations
* Midway’s RoadKill Game Will Feature 6 Radio Stations

XM says Rhodes will return to its programming lineup beginning May 5. Now syndicated by Nova M Radio, the new "Randi Rhodes Show" will air from 3 - 6 p.m. ET weekdays on XM's progressive political talk channel, "Air America" (XM 167).

Of course, it screams of irony that Rhodes left Air America Radio after a controversial suspension and winds up back on a similarly name channel. (Right: Randi Rhodes as seen on YouTube.com. Photo Credit: © YouTube.com)

The new Rhodes offering joins a lineup of programming featuring personalities such as Rachel Maddow, Sam Seder, Ed Schultz, Bill Press, and Mike Malloy. For more information, go to airamerica.xmradio.com.

Background :
* Randi Rhodes Suspended by Air America Radio for Hillary Comments
* Randi Rhodes Resigns from Air America Radio
* Randi Rhodes to Join NovaM Radio Network

SIRIUS Ready for Derby Day

The 134th "Run for the Roses" - the Kentucky Derby - will be heard tomorrow on SIRIUS, channel 120 from 5 - 7 p.m. ET. The audio will be provided by ESPN Radio. A special Kentucky Derby edition of SIRIUS’ horse racing program, Down The Stretch, will air tomorrow from 10 - 12 p.m. ET on SIRIUS 127.