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Tracy Byrd, Full House & Gilligan's Island, Frankie Laine, Perry Como

I would like to know as much information as you can share about country singer Tracy Byrd.
—Ann T., Maryland

Tracy Byrd, 38, was born in Vidor, Texas (pop. 11,440), and started performing around nearby Beaumont, taking over the headliner spot at a honky tonk called Cutters in 1990 from Nashville, Tenn.-bound Mark Chesnutt (Brother Jukebox). Byrd’s own Nashville record contract came about two years later, which led to hits such as Keeper of the Stars and Watermelon Crawl. He’s releasing a greatest hits album this month. The avid outdoorsman hosts two shows on the Outdoor Channel, and he and his wife, Michelle, own Kitchen Koncepts, a store that sells cookware and Byrd’s own line of spices and marinades. The couple has three children and lives in Beaumont. "My friends and family are all here, or in the surrounding areas," he says. "It’s the people I was raised with, hang out with in my spare time and share my success with. I always feel sort of anxious on the way home from the road, like I just can’t wait to get there."

Our family was wondering how you go about getting a television network to air family classics such as Full House and Gilligan’s Island.
—Leah E., Arizona

If you’re looking for the major networks—ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox—to run old episodes of those shows in prime time, you won’t have any luck because they stick with new shows. However, basic cable channels such as TVLand and Nick at Nite specialize in reruns of TV favorites, and many other cable channels also air classic shows. Full House can be seen on Nick at Nite, while Gilligan’s Island airs on the Hallmark Channel. Outside of prime time (8 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET), the local affiliates of the networks make programming decisions. Contact your local station’s viewer relations department and ask what you can do to get them to broadcast your favorite show.

I would like to know about Frankie Laine.
—Ron H., Minnesota

Singer Frankie Laine would like to perform, even at age 91, but he was diagnosed with cancer on his left vocal cord in 2001. "My speaking voice came back very quickly," says Laine, who hasn’t performed in four years. "We don’t know what is going to happen with the singing voice. I tried it in December and I didn’t like what I heard, so I’m waiting to try again." Laine, who had a string of Top 10 hits in the 1940s and 1950s—including That’s My Desire, I Believe and Mule Train—and his own CBS variety show, was a recipient of the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996. He also remains known for singing the theme songs to the TV show Rawhide and the Mel Brooks’ movie Blazing Saddles. A CD featuring previous material from Laine and Greek singer Nana Mouskouri will be released this year. The Chicago native resides in the San Diego area with his second wife, Marcia, whom he married five years ago. His first marriage, to actress Nan Grey, ended after 43 years when she died in 1993. Laine does not have children, although he helped raise Grey’s two children from a previous marriage. "I hope to perform again, although I don’t know how it will be, since, slowly, age is creeping up on me," he says. "My wife calls it Ageheimers."

Would you tell us about the life and career of Perry Como?
—Jim K., Arkansas

The smooth-voiced singer was born in Canonsburg, Pa. (pop. 8,607), in 1912, and began working as a barber at age 14. He always loved music, so he sang to his customers in the shop before making music his career. Starting out in the 1930s as a vocalist with big bands led by Freddy Carlone and Ted Weems, Como went on to a six-decade solo career and sold 100 million records, with the help of hits such as Till the End of Time, Some Enchanted Evening and Goodbye Sue. He won a Grammy in 1958 and five Emmy awards for his TV variety show. The father of three died at his home in Jupiter, Fla. (pop. 39,328), in 2001 at age 88, three years after his wife of 65 years, Roselle, died.

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