Best gossip columnist 2000 | Dick Kreck, Denver Post | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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He probably won't appreciate the wording of this accolade. He prefers the designation "city reporter" to "gossip columnist" -- and his regular offerings are indeed skimpier on dishiness than those of his colleagues and competitors. But in his good-spirited way, Dick Kreck does a better job than anyone else of demonstrating why Denver is an interesting, historical and fun place to live and play.
It's still kind of small -- distribution is about 10,000 copies around the city -- but this Denver-based magazine chronicling the area's many professional African-Americans is developing quite a following, and plans are afoot to distribute it across the country, in the U.K., and as far away as Africa. Covering topics as diverse as the resurgence of actress Pam Grier, the business of black history and the best black investors, In the Black gives a measure of hope that Denver is becoming as diverse a city as its boosters and politicians claim.
It's still kind of small -- distribution is about 10,000 copies around the city -- but this Denver-based magazine chronicling the area's many professional African-Americans is developing quite a following, and plans are afoot to distribute it across the country, in the U.K., and as far away as Africa. Covering topics as diverse as the resurgence of actress Pam Grier, the business of black history and the best black investors, In the Black gives a measure of hope that Denver is becoming as diverse a city as its boosters and politicians claim.

Best collaborative underground comic strip

"Hector"

"Hector" is surreptitious and confused and underappreciated, and, therefore, everything great art ought to be. The cooperatively drawn comic strip is the pet project of Tom Motley; the collective (also called Hector) shifts shape regularly, losing some participants and gaining new ones, inviting guests and kicking out the old ones, but, hey -- that's what keeps it fresh in the first place. "Hector" strips have appeared in a wide variety of magazines, including Brazilian and Belgian zines, in Steve Rasnic Tem's High Fantastic Colorado sci-fi/fantasy/horror anthology, and in local indie publications The Hooligan and The New Censorship. The group even had its own two-week show at the ILK gallery. One thing's for certain: All Hector members and guests have wonderfully twisted perspectives on life, which, when intertwined, provide the most unbeatably perverse underground humor and general weirdness this side of a page of S. Clay Wilson ink from 1969. That's scary. But it's the good kind of scary.

Best collaborative underground comic strip

"Hector"

"Hector" is surreptitious and confused and underappreciated, and, therefore, everything great art ought to be. The cooperatively drawn comic strip is the pet project of Tom Motley; the collective (also called Hector) shifts shape regularly, losing some participants and gaining new ones, inviting guests and kicking out the old ones, but, hey -- that's what keeps it fresh in the first place. "Hector" strips have appeared in a wide variety of magazines, including Brazilian and Belgian zines, in Steve Rasnic Tem's High Fantastic Colorado sci-fi/fantasy/horror anthology, and in local indie publications The Hooligan and The New Censorship. The group even had its own two-week show at the ILK gallery. One thing's for certain: All Hector members and guests have wonderfully twisted perspectives on life, which, when intertwined, provide the most unbeatably perverse underground humor and general weirdness this side of a page of S. Clay Wilson ink from 1969. That's scary. But it's the good kind of scary.

Once the overseer of six powerful Denver radio outlets owned by Texas-based AMFM, Bob Visotcky was the most controversial figure in Denver radio during 1999 for a slew of reasons, including his defense of Howard Stern in the wake of some controversial post-Columbine comments and his decision to move classical station KVOD from FM to AM, which he figured no one would notice. (He was wrong.) But Clear Channel's purchase of AMFM meant Visotcky's days were numbered in Denver; he was shipped out to Los Angeles, where he was sacked in a matter of months. Radio can be a nasty business, even for the people who make it that way.
Once the overseer of six powerful Denver radio outlets owned by Texas-based AMFM, Bob Visotcky was the most controversial figure in Denver radio during 1999 for a slew of reasons, including his defense of Howard Stern in the wake of some controversial post-Columbine comments and his decision to move classical station KVOD from FM to AM, which he figured no one would notice. (He was wrong.) But Clear Channel's purchase of AMFM meant Visotcky's days were numbered in Denver; he was shipped out to Los Angeles, where he was sacked in a matter of months. Radio can be a nasty business, even for the people who make it that way.
Last October, Clear Channel, the owner of eight radio stations in the Denver area, merged with AMFM, controller of six local signals. Because of FCC regulations, Clear Channel was then forced to divest the half-dozen AMFM properties -- and the purchaser of three of them was Infinity Broadcasting, the most prominent challenger to Clear Channel nationwide. The results of these deals won't be known for a while yet, but they're likely to lead to a titanic scrap unlike any that Colorado radio observers have ever seen. Let the battle begin.

Last October, Clear Channel, the owner of eight radio stations in the Denver area, merged with AMFM, controller of six local signals. Because of FCC regulations, Clear Channel was then forced to divest the half-dozen AMFM properties -- and the purchaser of three of them was Infinity Broadcasting, the most prominent challenger to Clear Channel nationwide. The results of these deals won't be known for a while yet, but they're likely to lead to a titanic scrap unlike any that Colorado radio observers have ever seen. Let the battle begin.

In last year's Best of Denver issue, we named KVCU-AM, the radio voice of the University of Colorado at Boulder, "Best Non-Commercial Station." This year that qualifier deserves to be removed. Although its management and personnel continue to change, the station is the best outlet in the area for intriguing music that hasn't been beaten to death by repetition. It's a beacon of creativity in an area that's all too often an imagination-free zone.

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