James Taylor "Never Die Young"

Yesterday I wrote about segues. Today I’m writing about car wrecks.

A “Car Wreck” or “Train Wreck” is common slang in radio for a segue that just doesn’t work. One song crashes into the other, and does a disservice to both tunes, and anyone with ears.

When a real life car wreck happens on the Island, it’s major news. The terrible tragedy in Vineyard Haven just a few days ago, is on the mind of every Islander I speak to.

There are no traffic lights on the Island, and there are only a few places where you can drive 45mph, and no place where you can go faster. So while I’m sure if you live in a place where there are highways, you’re used to seeing crashes, here on the Island, the rare occasion there is a vehicular death, is a shock to the community.

When I was working mornings on the air, I’d have to do a lot of segues, from music to games to news to commercials. And too often, I was only a half-step ahead of where I needed to be.

On this particular morning, though I was doing my breaks and playing the Morning Moviequote and such, my mind was on a car accident that had taken the lives of a couple local high school students. A terrible, tragic accident.

I knew that the community would be listening for details of the developing story, so I was taking extra care to pre-read the copy, to make sure I delivered it with the proper amount of gravity and respect.

But looking ahead, I did not have my eye on the ball. I was not thinking about that last song, cued up to lead into the news.

We were already halfway through the track, when I realized that “Never Die Young” was a terribly awkward song to segue into the news. It’s not a disrespectful song on its own, but the mere fact of playing it seemed like it was some cheap way to capitalize on a most heartbreaking story. But it was too late. The song was on and there was nothing I could do, except do it.

I made the segue, “That was James Taylor’s ‘Never Die Young’ on mvyradio. Now it’s time for the news. Two Martha’s Vineyard youths lost their lives yesterday . . .”

I made the segue, but it was a car wreck.

Luscious Jackson “Citysong”

Hitting Random on the iTunes list . . .

Every once and a while, a journalist or DJ from another part of the country, or another part of the world, will drop in on the radio station. They’re on Martha’s Vineyard, on vacation, and are interested in interviewing one of us about Local Radio/American radio, and about Martha’s Vineyard.

Of course, the Vineyard has a reputation for being a place where celebrities visit, vacation and/or live, so the questions inevitably turn to “Who have you met?”

Of course, they expect to hear BIG names (Oprah!?), or even Big Names (Meg Ryan?!).

In my decade out-and-about on Martha’s Vineyard, I’ve met or at least passed on the street, familiar folks like Ted Danson and Mary Steenbergen, Mike Wallace and Walter Cronkite, Spike Lee and Larry David.

But not every famous person that comes to the Island is a household name, and I’ve had more than a few “Hey I know that guy” moments as well, bumping into Paul Benedict (Mr. Bentley on “The Jeffersons”), Jere Burns (Kirk from “Dear John”), CC Pounder (“The Shield”) and loads of others.

A few years back, on a quiet, sunny, shoulder-season day, I was walking to the bookstore on Main Street in Vineyard Haven, when I passed this couple, walking in the opposite direction, pushing a baby stroller.

I locked eyes with the woman for a moment, and I had this flash of recognition. Did I go to High School with you or something? And she glanced back, with a look that seemed to indicate that she didn’t necessarily know me, but she knew she’d been recognized.

I got about 30 steps past them, and “Citysong” popped into my head.

I don’t know for sure that the woman was Jill Cunniff of Luscious Jackson. I didn’t go back to ask---that’s an MV faux pas. But the “City” that I think about when I hear this song, isn’t New York any more.



See an interview with the band, and the music video for ”Citysong”, plus if you didn't recognized the actors mentioned above, see them too!

Buy the album, ”Natural Ingredients”