Al Bell

Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Sam & Dave . . . Tag Team and Duice? They're all the same to Al Bell, who guided such Stax Records stars as Redding and Hayes in the '60s and '70s, and now has a second life with his four-year-old Hollywood-based Bellmark Records. Tag Team's "Whoomp! (There It Is)" on the Life label is one of the top selling singles in the country, according to SoundScan figures, while Duice's "Dazzey Duks" on the TMR imprint is also making big noise on the national single charts.

Let's see, there was a relief pitcher who couldn't throw a strike, another who probably wished he hadn't and a slugger who produced just the sort of jolt the Cleveland Indians needed. Final score: Cleveland 9, Baltimore 4. The Indians staved off elimination, grabbed a hunk of momentum and trail in their best-of-five American League division series, two games to one. Game 4 is at 10 a.m. today. Just how will these teams top themselves?

Let's see, there was a relief pitcher who couldn't throw a strike, another who probably wished he hadn't and a slugger who produced just the sort of jolt the Cleveland Indians needed. Final score: Cleveland 9, Baltimore 4. The Indians staved off elimination, grabbed a hunk of momentum and trail in their best-of-five American League division series, two games to one. Game 4 is at 10 a.m. today. Just how will these teams top themselves?

Palisades junior quarterback David Koral made headlines Friday when he completed 46 of 51 passes for a state-record 583 yards in a 61-6 victory over Fairfax. Many question the legitimacy of a record achieved with the benefit of 22 shovel passes, but no one doubts the ability of Palisades wide receiver Geoff McArthur, who caught 11 passes for 233 yards and three touchdowns--none on shovel passes. McArthur, 6 feet 1 and 200 pounds, is a 16-year-old senior.

The City Council has approved a $50,000 grant for a group preparing a study to identify a location for a second airport to serve Orange County pilots and airline passengers. The group, the Airport Site Coalition, was formed in 1986 with representatives of the Orange County Aviation Council, the county Chamber of Commerce, the Industrial League of Orange County and the Airport Working Group.

Two county community groups seeking a place for a new regional airport have won a large chunk of federal money to help pay for their work, it was announced Thursday. The $150,000 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration was awarded to the Airport Site Coalition by the Southern California Assn. of Governments, said Al Bell, the coalition's executive director. Another $228,000 will follow next year, Bell said.

The Blues Foundation presented its inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award Tuesday at the House of Blues, but not to a guitar picker from the Mississippi Delta or a belter from the South Side of Chicago. Instead, the award went to--as record executive Al Bell said in his introduction of honoree Jerry Wexler--"a white Jewish boy from the Bronx." No one in the audience, from industry titans to blues aficionados, argued the choice.

The Senior Bowl has snared a record 10 players from the University of Alabama, including All-American linebacker Cornelius Bennett. Senior Bowl Director Eric Tillman said also slated to play in the Jan. 17 all-star game from Alabama are quarterback Mike Shula, wide receiver Al Bell, center Wes Neighbors, linebacker Wayne Davis, nose guard Curt Jarvis, placekicker Van Tiffin, defensive backs Freddie Robinson and Britton Cooper and wide receiver Greg Richardson.

Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Sam & Dave . . . Tag Team and Duice? They're all the same to Al Bell, who guided such Stax Records stars as Redding and Hayes in the '60s and '70s, and now has a second life with his four-year-old Hollywood-based Bellmark Records. Tag Team's "Whoomp! (There It Is)" on the Life label is one of the top selling singles in the country, according to SoundScan figures, while Duice's "Dazzey Duks" on the TMR imprint is also making big noise on the national single charts.

Mavis Staples, famous as part of the gospel-cum-secular soul group the Staple Singers, had met and sung with Prince on a number of occasions. But she was wholly unprepared last year when her father, Pops Staples, called and told her that the Purple Batguy's manager was trying to track her down to offer her a solo contract with his Paisley Park Records.

Several mayors and residents from south Orange County plan to voice opposition today to placing a new airport in their area. The opponents plan to attend a meeting of the Airport Site Coalition, a group commissioned by the Board of Supervisors in 1987 to conduct a search for a place to put a new airport. Among the 17 sites that the coalition has identified is one off Ortega Highway east of San Juan Capistrano and another in a canyon in the undeveloped portion of Rancho Mission Viejo.