Wall Street is breaking up that old gang of mine

by LARRY MICHIE

The Simesite anniversary and the recent postings there sent me into a reverie about the transformations that have changed practically every aspect of show business in the last few decades. For most of those monitoring Simesite, of course, the biggest earthquake was the purchase of Variety itself almost twenty years ago. The new owners utterly discarded the colorful and sometimes wacky culture of Variety – presumably to their great satisfaction, although to the discomfort of many of those who were devoted to that culture – and the ensuing upheaval came at a time when show business journalism itself was rapidly changing.
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Jack Loftus into VNU exec slot

Ex Variety mugg Hy Hollinger, who works for The Hollywood Reporter, informs us that former TV editor on Variety, Jack Loftus, has been named Chief Communications Office for VNU, the parent company of THR.

For the past years Jack has been Senior VP, Chief Communication Office of Nielsen Media Research in New York.

Congratulations, Jack, and a Merry Yuletide to you!

Glug a slug of Glüg at Christmas on 46th Street

by MORT BRYER

The folks on the first floor, aka, the basement, decided to have a Christmas party in the office, instead of going out and enriching some local beanery owner. It was the mid-80’s, things were going gangbusters, we were churning out some rather hefty, nay, obese issues, especially for the ones tied to events like Cannes, Mifed, et al. Morale was high and morals low, in other words, happy times in that towering edifice on West 46th Street, in Fun City.
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Congratulations for the Simesite anni

Roger would have been so proud….. And Peter, now Grandpa, gets to be proud twice over… Four years! Imagine. Most Broadway openings don’t last half a week much less four years. Wonderful, magnificent — all in that breezy style of the muggs we know and love. Hugs to all. Happy 4th.

Jack Loftus