Warren Zevon "Hit Somebody"

It may come as a bit of a surprise to you, but if you were to ask me who has influenced me most as a Radio Announcer, the answer would not be a name that would seem obvious. 

I can certainly say I loved and listened intently to folks like Casey Kasem and WBCN's Charles Laquidara and Mark Parenteau when I was a kid.

But really, the person I have idolized the most, as a broadcaster, is David Letterman.

Now, I have never thought of myself as anything like (and certainly not equal-to) Letterman, in the ways that you perhaps appreciate Dave.

I was never trying to replicate his sense of humor, or his quick wit, or his wonderful grasp of irony, or his delightful snarkiness.  I do love all those things about him, as a fan.

But as a broadcaster, I've always paid close attention to the way that Letterman communicates information, the way he simply (or sometimes, complicatedly) tells a story.

Take the way he announced his retirement on his show last night.

He did what he does most every night on the program.  After the monologue, he heads to his desk and will tell a story, often with a personal aspect.  I don't suspect that Dave is a racounteur, holding court with friends and telling endless stories.  But we he does these direct-to-the-camera-and-audience moments, he is masterful at getting at the heart of the matter.

So he opens with some facts about how many shows he's done, and then he segues into a seemingly unrelated yarn about how he spent an entire day trying to identify a bird picture.  And just when it appears that this is a simply shaggy dog story, you realize that it actually boldly underscores his point, that it is time for him to retire.

This is what I aspire to every day.  Can I tell stories on the radio (and actually, on this blog too) that are engaging, even if they seem a bit shaggy, but that ultimately circle around to a clear, relatable point?  I'll never be as good as Letterman, but setting the bar high is not such a bad thing.

The other, minor thing I learned from Letterman, is how to carefully, but clearly, show your passion.

Letterman must treat each guest as important.  The show simply wouldn't work if he wasn't displaying enthusiasm for each and every guest.

And that is kind of how I approach being on the radio.  I don't love each and every song I play, equally.  But I recognize that each and every song is somebody's favorite.  And I display enthusiasm of all songs with that in mind.

That being said, you can tell when Dave is passionate about a guest, particularly the musical guests.  You can see it in the early days when R.E.M. came on, or in the late 90s when the Foo Fighters were guest, or recently when Jason Isbell appears.  He'll give just a little bit extra to the introduction, or greet the band after the song with energy that lets the viewer know just how engaged he was.

I too have certain artists that I feel passionately about, and yes, I can let that sneak through in the way I talk about certain artists, hopefully without lessening the importantance of other folks we play.

And when you've set the audience expectation that you, as the host, have your special passions, the audience will respect those occasions where, when the moment is really right, you dive into a personal obsession. 

Warren Zevon wasn't such a major artist that a network television show would normally devote a whole hour to him.  But he was a major artist to David Letterman, and Dave's passion for Zevon allowed the netork door to be open for an hour.  It was some pretty great television.

I've learned a lot from Dave.  And I'm grateful for the things I've been able to take away, to make me a better air talent.

So, Mr Letterman, as you yourself once said to Johnny Carson, "Thanks for my career."


Did you know Dave is on a Warren Zevon recording?  Listen for him on "Hit Somebody."


Hear the song on Youtube.


The retirement announcement on Youtube.


See Warren Zevon on Letterman on Youtube.

Foo Fighters "This Is A Call"

My friend Lori had this up as a status on Facebook last week:

I was in my bedroom up sorta late listening to the radio when I heard P.J. introduce a new tune from a new band that was fronted by that stringy-haired guy from Nirvana. It was the first time he had played it on the air, and I shared his giddyness. "This Is A Call." What a fresh new sound: poppy, upbeat & full of frenzy. I must admit, I haven't been too impressed with a Foo Fighters record in several years, but that song, that night, ignited a spark in me that I haven't forgotten in the 15 years since.

She's writing about 1995, when she was a kid still in school, and I was the host of a nightly alternative rock show on a local radio station.

WABN was a small, family owned AM/FM.  Sometime later I'll write the story of how I walked through their door, and was a DJ on the radio not long after.

Lori was an avid listener, who became a volunteer at WABN, then an intern, and then a board operator, then a fill-in DJ and by the time she was a senior in high school, she became the Saturday night host of my show.

Sometime later I'll write the story about how this little family-owned independent radio station ended, with all of us saying a tearful goodbye and turning the transmitter off, as the station had been sold to a larger group.

Lori posted the above last week, because it was the anniversary of that day when we all said goodbye to the only station in the small town of Abingdon, Virginia.  The company that took it over used the FM signal to rebroadcast their syndicated Talk station, and they simply turned off the AM signal.  12 years later, the building remains empty and no one is covering local sports, or broadcasting from the Abingdon Relay For Life or bringing in local teens to train them to be the next generation of broadcasters.

So then it was a shot in the gut to hear the news, on the same day that Lori posted the above status, that WFNX in Boston had been sold to Clear Channel.  Friday, I listened to Julie Kramer, who'd been on FNX for 25 years, play her last shift for the station and it brought back some pretty dark feelings.

There just aren't that many independent radio stations left anymore.  And there are those who think radio is dead, or who want radio to be dead, or who don't give a shit if radio dies.

Why rely on radio, when there are iPods and Spotify and Pandora and Youtube and you can program all this technology with songs YOU want to hear?

And the answer is simple.  It's in Lori's statement.

ABSOLUTELY NO ONE, fifteen years from now will say, "I vividly remember the first time I heard that song shuffle randomly on Pandora!"

I work for an independent radio station now, one that is struggling just like any other small business effected by the Recession.  So I do take it personally.

But I also have some firsthand knowledge that most people don't have, or don't consider.  I've seen what happens when a community, or an audience, loses an independent station in their midst.

Radio, even independent radio, is not perfect.  Sometimes it sucks.  It isn't for everybody.

But if you are a person that misses your local record store, because it's gone, or can't stand that the restaurant chains have replaced your local eateries, or have found that the places that used to have live music don't bring concerts to your town any more, or that you can't walk into a video store and ask a clerk for a recommendation because the damn video stores don't exist any more . . .

If you are that person, then this is a call.

If you love human interaction when you make a purchase, make a musical connection or want to put something in your damn stomach, then this is a call.

If you don't want to wake up one day and find that you and your neighbors have no participation in the process, the management or the creation of what is around you to consume, then this is a call.

Drive the extra mile for the cup of coffee from the local bakery, instead of the chain drive through.  Spend the extra 2 bucks on the CD at a downtown record store instead of having some online service ship it to you.  And support your local, independent radio station, by listening, by telling their advertisers when you frequent their business, by supporting their fundraisers when they have them.

There is so much human interaction slipping away from our every day existence, and people rarely celebrate it when it's here---they only complain when it's gone.

I can tell you that at no time in the last 6 months, did I hear anyone say "Thank God we still have WFNX."  But the web was filled with anguished cries over its demise when it was announced.  Too little too late.

This is a call.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Foo Fighters "For All The Cows"

Here's another Weekend Post:

I'm supposed to interview author Sandra Boynton this week, about her new book "Amazing Cows."

So I had cow songs on the brain.





Weekend posts are a chance to revisit songs that have happy memories, not of anything in particular, other than just hearing the tunes.

Many of these songs were tracks that I played during my 90s stint as an Alternative/Modern Rock radio show. They're tunes that I hardly hear these days, but are wonderful to revisit.

Click on the "Weekend Posts" label below, to see other posts like this.