Jabulani Leffall, 36, who was a surprise pick when it was announced in October 2010 that he was chosen to replace Kansas City icon Walt Bodine on public radio station KCUR 89.3 FM. left the station abruptly after his show on Wednesday morning.
“Jabulani Leffall has indicated to us that he wants to pursue a different career direction. We respect his decision and wish him well in his future endeavors, and we remain committed to providing high-quality local programming,” was the note posted on the station’s blog.
Loyal listeners had “assumed” that long-time Bodine show partner Gina Kauffman would replace him on the show. However, she reportedly was never offered the position.
The Pitch’s Ben Palaosaari reported, “A source close to KCUR says Leffall’s parting line, which came a couple of minutes before the show was supposed to end, was, “The revolution will not be televised. The revolution is live.” Asked what that meant, the source said, “I don’t know.”‘
The show, Central Standard, airs from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Monday thru Thursday. Brian Ellison, regular guest hosts, will be filling in for the next few weeks.
UNPROVEN TALENT
I never heard of him. That’s what happens when you replace a legend like Walt with unproven talent. Plenty of great proven talent in the KC area who could do that show.
SEE THE FOREST FOR THE TREES
In Kansas City, there are likely a half-dozen knowledgeable “former” news people who can still make a call and get a relevant guest on-air quickly.
Stop being “cutting edge” and see the forest for the trees.
THE POEM
The line is from a poem or spoken word piece done by Gil-Scott Heron. It is a slam on the rampant commercialism in popular media.
The revolution will not be televised
You will not be able to stay home, brother.
You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out.
You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip,
Skip out for beer during commercials,
Because the revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox
In 4 parts without commercial interruptions.
The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixon
blowing a bugle and leading a charge by John
Mitchell, General Abrams and Spiro Agnew to eat
hog maws confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary.
The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be brought to you by the
Schaefer Award Theatre and will not star Natalie
Woods and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia.
The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal.
The revolution will not get rid of the nubs.
The revolution will not make you look five pounds
thinner, because the revolution will not be televised, Brother.
There will be no pictures of you and Willie May
pushing that shopping cart down the block on the dead run,
or trying to slide that color television into a stolen ambulance.
NBC will not be able predict the winner at 8:32
or report from 29 districts.
The revolution will not be televised.
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of Whitney Young being
run out of Harlem on a rail with a brand new process.
There will be no slow motion or still life of Roy
Wilkens strolling through Watts in a Red, Black and
Green liberation jumpsuit that he had been saving
For just the proper occasion.
Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Hooterville
Junction will no longer be so damned relevant, and
women will not care if Dick finally gets down with
Jane on Search for Tomorrow because Black people
will be in the street looking for a brighter day.
The revolution will not be televised.
There will be no highlights on the eleven o’clock
news and no pictures of hairy armed women
liberationists and Jackie Onassis blowing her nose.
The theme song will not be written by Jim Webb,
Francis Scott Key, nor sung by Glen Campbell, Tom
Jones, Johnny Cash, Englebert Humperdink, or the Rare Earth.
The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be right back
after a message about a white tornado, white lightning, or white people.
You will not have to worry about a dove in your
bedroom, a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl.
The revolution will not go better with Coke.
The revolution will not fight the germs that may cause bad breath.
The revolution will put you in the driver’s seat.
The revolution will not be televised, will not be televised,
will not be televised, will not be televised.
The revolution will be no re-run brothers;
The revolution will be live.
TIME TO CALL GINA
I was sincerely hoping (and expected) Gina to get the show… I wouldn’t be upset at all if she got the call now.
WILL MISS LEFFALL
I’ll miss him. I was guest on his show and found that he could handle tricky subjects like religion and mental illness with finesse and sensitivity.
While several have told me he sounded dull, I found his lack of paranoia and hysteria about the day’s events oddly refreshing.
SHOW WAS JUST TOO DIFFERENT
I listened to Walt Bodine for years! After the superbowl flap with Jackson and Timberlake, protocol for Bodine’s show changed.
The show was put on a time delay. Calls were heavily screened. “Producers,” like Kauffman, did more announcing. They introduced the callers, not just by name, but by location and what they wanted to say. Also, a “producer” would frequently announce her name and the fact that “You’re listening to the Walt Bodine Show”, but only 3 or 4 times during the show. And who can forget the important announcement, “And now for the last call of the day, ….”? An announcement often wrong because the caller had hung up or the staff had miscalculated the time remaining.
I kept thinking that the show was training some people; that the show would eventually return to a Bodine-centered, listener-driven show.
It never did. I could tell that Walt wasn’t happy about the changes — he barked about it a little bit here and there — but, for whatever reason, he didn’t make staff return the show to the way it was. Over time, I quit listening.
When Jabulani took over, I started listening again. I think he was giving it his best shot. But the show was too different for me.
They need a known personality for the host. Simon is correct. There are plenty here in KC to choose from.
Walt, my friend, I miss you. We all miss you.
WANTED TO RECORD PROGRAM
Darn, I sure was hoping the revolution would be televised because I wanted to record that program for the educational benefit of future Americans.
CUTTING EDGE
He was indeed cutting edge and that for the most part was a welcome change from all the softball programming that exists. That being said, there is room for both but few offer the creativity that he did.
BORING PROGRAM
As a long time Bodine fan I was pretty skeptical about Leffall but eventually I found him easy to listen to and pleasant. I thought overall he did a good job. I will kind of miss him but he is not one to get excited about either. My guess is, and my impression is, he found the program boring.