The Replacements "Left Of The Dial"

I went to Fenway Park for last night's Red Sox game (they won; 4 in a row!).

Even at a major sporting event, it's hard to stop being a DJ.

"Bon Jovi?  Really?  This song is older than he is."

Did you know that each Sox player gets to pick his own song that will play for 10 to 15 seconds on the Park P.A. as he steps to bat?

There are a surprising (or perhaps unsurprising) number of rap songs in the lineup.

But the only really familiar, popular song I heard was when Cody Ross stepped to the plate to the tune of Bon Jovi's "Living On A Prayer."

"Terrible," I said, each time he came to bat.

"They're baseball players, not DJs," said my sensible sister.

And in my mind, I briefly entertained the idea of a new career as a professional Professional Athlete Theme Song Consultant, where Major League ballplayers would pay me handsomely to work with them to find the ideal song to both motivate themselves and get the crowd going.

I quickly moved off that pipe dream, to ask myself what song I would use, if I were, say, a Minor League utility player suddenly called up from Pawtucket and inserted into the big game at a crucial moment.

I settled on The Replacements "Left Of The Dial."

Its first 15 second are ringing, anthemic and powerful, and would set the tone for my history making at bat.

Yeah, not going to happen, either.

Not coincidentally, "Left Of The Dial" is the song I'll put on the air for myself, if I am ever fired from my radio job, as they drag me kicking and screaming, my nails dug into the door frame, out of the station.

Hopefully, that won't happen either.

And, of course, I would want this one to be the track playing, as my casket exits the church, and I (metaphorically) let the static rise and say to my friends "see you on the other side."

That, I suppose, is the most likely opportunity I'll get to use this as a theme song . . .


Hear The Replacements on Youtube.


Hear Bon Jovie on Youtube.

The Vapors “Turning Japanese”

Top 5 Songs found in mvyradio’s online auction . . .

If you’re married/in a long term partnership, you probably had that Right Thing moment some time early in your relationship.

It’s after you’ve gotten past the first couple of dates, so it’s not exactly a new relationship. But there’s still so much you don’t know about each other.

And you, unwittingly, innocently, say The Right Thing. You weren’t trying to impress or schmooze or suck up. You just happened to say The Right Thing.

They look at you, and they smile. And you know you’ve just passed some test, and you’re In.

This can happen at a job, too. You’re new, and you do the right thing, and your boss notices, and wordlessly indicates that your hiring has just been justified.

It happened to me in the November 2000. I’d been at mvyradio only a short time.

Barbara, who was the Program Director, had picked up the listener phone line, and had a furrowed brow.

“Who sang ‘Turning Japanese’? Hmm. Turning. Japanese. Um . . .”

The little rolodex in my brain flip, flip, flipped through the mental database taking only a microsecond to land on:

“It was The Vapors."

She smiled. I was there with the Right (meaning “obscure”) knowledge, at the Right time.

I’d said The Right Thing.


If you can’t remember all those cool, underground songs from the 80s---or if you DO remember, but don’t have them on disc---bid on the 80s bundle at our Friends of mvyradio eBay auction, which ends Friday at 1pm ET. There’s the 4 disc “Left Of The Dial” boxed set (description here), which is this amazing compilation of the alternative 80s, plus a David Byrne DVD and a David Bowie CD/DVD set.