Remember the MTV contest where the winner would get a part in a Loverboy video? Turned out to
be "Hot Girls In Love" and you saw the chick for like a second and a half. Wonder how that is
working out for her?
On a statewide news broadcast the other day: "A West Virgnina city has been named the
worst...". It was all I needed to hear before the word "Littleton" popped into my mind.
Just got back from my first trip to Canada in about ten years. I remember I always used to
do lists of what the stations I was listening to up there played. I will insert them, along with
my other "Canadian Radio Comments" as we go along.
Best thing I have done this year is purchase the MLB "audio" package. Every MLB game
radio feed from home, away and "alternate" (Spanish, French, etc.) feeds. I've got to
listen to some great games and have heard some good play by play. I like the sound
of Milwaukee's broadcasts the best, find Seattle almost unlistenable, think that
Cincinnati is overrated and the Cubs (especially Ron Santo, whom I loved as a player)
are the overall worst. My Pirates take on this in a bit...
Wonder if any Christian stations are still playing Katy Hudson?
Just got to thinking about Denny Burnworth, Terry Matthews and the days when
1400 in Clarksburg was all-news as WPQZ. THAT was good radio! Kind of like
Spelter, Anmoore and West Milford having their own KYW...
FOX Sports Radio is basically unlistenable. Stephen A. Smith is not
playing in Peoria, Jim Rome is unintelligible unless he is interviewing
someone, Steve Hartman & Pat O'brien are lost causes and PMS is
unlistenable. What does that leave you with? Dann Patrick and Vic
"The Brick" Jacobs. I miss Steve Czaban and Scott Linn more than
a person should. WHO IS PROGRAMMING THIS MESS???
WCLG's original phone number was 2-2222. I thought that would have been in
Susquehanna...
Oldies station CHWO in Toronto played:
Donovan--To Susan On The West Coast Waiting
The Monkees--Last Train To Clarksville
Manfred Mann--Pretty Flamingo
Vanity Fare--Early In The Morning
Stevie Wonder--Uptight
The Bells--Stay Awhile
I have mentioned previously on here that when you purchased a Pepsi by pressing
a top row button on the machine at the "old" WMQC studios
(Holland Avenue, Westover), it sounded like the beginning of "Ain't Too Proud To
Beg" as it rolled down the chute and out the door of the dispenser at the bottom.
Well, I may have followed up that story with the fact that the old printer at the
"new" WMQC studios (Ramada Inn) sounded like the beginning of "Dude Looks
Like A Lady" when it printed out the top of the daily programming log. Now may
I add another: a couple of mornings ago I realized after two years that when my
garage door goes up it sounds exactly like the beginning of Cheap Trick's
"Everything Works If You Let It". Has to be the single version, though...
My Saturday morning is just not right if I do not get to hear at least a portion of
"West Virginia Outdoors". Kind of like not checking in on "The Ed Sullivan
Show" on a Sunday night even if nobody you wanted to see was on it that week...
What actually did become of the most recent "Morgantown Pirate"? Fine?
Jail? Afternoon drive at 3WS?
Have I ever mentioned that Twizzlers from Canada have more flavor than
Twizzlers we have here in the U.S.? A secretary where I used to work
thought I was nuts until I brought her some back. She is now a believer.
Did I mention that secretaries where I now work think I am nuts?
Nothing gets my political juices flowing like seeing a "Conrad '12" bumper sticker...
The absolute BEST audio I have ever heard on a radio station came from CIXL, 91.7 in
Welland, Ontario. PERFECT audio! After 31 years in radio and listening steady for about ten
years before that, this station is the best sounding signal/audio/processing-wise I have
ever encountered. They are here:
http://www.giantfm.com/
Some of my All-Time Favorite Quotes:
"You only need to wear underwear when you know you're going to be in a car wreck"--George Brunet, Seattle Pilots
"Put this man in cell number one and give him a drink!"--Dr. Khlan in "A Fistful Of Yen" in "Kentucky Fried Movie"
"Come down off your high horse and bake me a nice meatloaf"--Zippy The Pinhead
"I never thought I would have to use macrame to kill"--Lulu in "Polyester"
"Three more box tops and you will be, Boss"--Sliver in "The Lonesome Stranger"
"Nobody ever lends money to a man with a sense of humor"--Peter Tork
"Cheese has no flavor if you can't smell it"--Shemp Howard
Three freaking fifty two in the afternoon and a local station is airing a weather
forecast that starts out "after some dense fog early this morning".
I am writing a book. Can't really divulge much about it right now, but if you all
want a glimpse into what I have been living with prophetically for the past
year to year and half, this about the best representation that I can give you...
Remember the post a good while back where I asked if anyone knew what the word 'stit' meant? Now
that I have found out, all I can say is that each and every one of us SHOULD have known. And by the
way, do not ask!!!
Welcome to the "Where Were These Songs When I Needed Them?" Department:
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds--Fifteen Feet Of Pure White Snow
Plummet Airlines--Silver Shirt
Chris Andrews--Pretty Belinda
New Colony Six--I Confess
Small Faces--My Mind's Eye
The Turtles--Out Of Breath
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds--Hallelujah
The Old 97's---Big Brown Eyes
Fun And Games--The Grooviest Girl In The World
Do radio stations play songs purchased off of iTunes in this day and age? If so, how does the
sound quality compare? I would think the compression would make Mr. Radio unhappy.
I know who is programming FOX Sports Radio: Gomez Addams. How do I know this? He is the
only person I could think of that would sit in a room and create train wrecks on purpose...
Recently I have noticed a lot of stations broadcasting what sounds like bad satellite feeds over
the air. Doesn't anybody keep an extra receiver in the Engineering room to swap out for when
the one in use goes on the fritz? We always had a spare at HAR and if a choppy satellite feed
ever became an issue it was corrected within a day, at most. This stuff of letting bad broadcasting
due to equipment malfunction go on week after week is not professional at all.
Got to go to the Labor Day afternoon game between the Pirates and the Braves utilizing my
annual "birthday tickets" (thanks, Shasta!). Sat on the front row of the left field bleachers.
Pedro Alvarez hit a ball to the fence right in front of me. It was definitely one of the "Top
Ten Most Intense Moments" of my life. Do I stick the glove out? How far can I stick it out?
Does it have distance enough to go over his glove and into mine without me moving? Should
I get up on the bleacher to have a better shot? Should I just dive over the fence and on
to the warning track? Matt Diaz caught the ball up against the fence while reaching back with
his glove touching mine. I did look fairly good on FSN, though, because my buddy Matt DVR'ed
it and we watched that play when we got back to his house.
New rankings for my favorite all-time movies:
1. That Thing You Do!
2. Field Of Dreams
3. Frequency
4. The Natural
5. Head
6. The Next Voice You Hear
7. Hoosiers
8. The Rookie
9. Hairspray (1988)
10. Bang The Drum Slowly
You know, all people have to do is read the Bible and do what it says. When you do that,
your money and finances are in order, your health is taken care of, your children are
raised correctly, you know and understand your calling in life and your parents are
honored and taken care of. How do I know that people are not smart enough to
read the Bible and base their lives on what it says? I hear the same five commercials
over and over and over and over again telling people how to deal with their growing
mountain of debt, improve their poor health, correct their horribly rotten kids, be able
to leave the job you can't stand and take away the responsibility of dealing with
taking care of your parents.
Getting back to Giant FM in Canada, here is their list of "The Top 500 Classic Rock
Songs Of All-Time"...
http://www.giantfm.com/pop_ups/top_500.htm
In case you are not going to look at it all the way through, may I point out some highlights:
18 Dire Straits--Sultans Of Swing
104 Lou Reed--Walk On The Wild Side
162 Talking Heads--Once In A Lifetime
171 April Wine--You Could Have Been A Lady
209 Steppenwolf--The Pusher
252 Kim Mitchell--Go For Soda
264 Red Rider--Lunatic Fringe
271 The Clash--Should I Stay Or Should I Go?
339 Traffic--Dear Mr. Fantasy
382 Boomtown Rats--I Don't Like Mondays
392 Blue Oyster Cult--Burnin' For You
420 Genesis--The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
431 Nazareth--This Flight Tonight
450 Guess Who--Rain Dance
457 Saga--On The Loose
464 The Kings--This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide
476 The Clash--Train In Vain
477 Red Rider--Human Race
483 Blues Image--Ride Captain Ride
496 Honeymoon Suite--New Girl Now
497 Ten Years After--I'd Love To Change The World
As for the Pirates radio broadcasts, I'll say it again: they should have kept Lanny Frattare,
brought in Tim Neverett and gotten rid of Greg Brown. Greg Brown has ruined more Pirates
games than inclement weather...
Is there a "cut-off point" for bragging that you saw a band live? You're talking to a guy
and he says he saw The Rolling Stones live. Great. Kudos to you, man. Then he mentions
it was in 1999. To me, the "Stones cut-off" would be 1978. I thought of this when some
25 year old-ish kid almost started bowing to me when I told them I saw U2 in 1985...
WHOA! Just heard that Steve Czaban is back on SNR! Too bad I won't be
able to hear him...
GIANT FM in Canada played:
Paul McCartney & Wings--Maybe I'm Amazed
Yes--I've Seen All Good People
David Bowie--Changes
Sugarloaf--Green Eyed Lady (seven minute version)
Journey--Any Way You Want It
Guess Who--Albert Flasher
ELO--Hold On Tight
George Thorogood & The Destroyers--One Bourbon
Three Dog Night--Let Me Serenade You
Faces--Stay With Me
Saga--Scratching The Surface
T. Rex--20th Century Boy
Lighthouse--One Fine Morning
Genesis--Land Of Confusion
The Beatles--I Should Have Known Better
Ian Thomas--Painted Ladies
Cream--Sunshine Of Your Love
Buffalo Springfield--Mr. Soul
Payola$--Stuck In The Rain Again
Led Zeppelin--All My Love
Have you ever waited years to view a video or hear a song or album and then find
out it's an absolute piece of crap? I consider Larry 'Bud' Melman and Shemp
Howard as the two funniest people I have ever encountered. I have wanted to see
Larry's "Couch Potato Workout" since it came out in the late 1980's. I have finally
seen it. Well, at least the first eight minutes of it. It is almost unbearable to watch
a comedic genius stoop to this.
I heard Joan Jett's version of "Do You Wanna Touch" on a Classic Rock station the other
day. Somebody knows what they are playing! Granted it was at 5:15 in the morning.
Speaking of classic rock: WKVE would be my home for it if only the audio was
adjusted to a listenable level. Tons of DEEP cuts (Uriah Heep, "Poet's Justice". Need I
say more?)
Some favorite song lyrics that come to mind as I type:
"I'm a doctor, I'm a lawyer, I'm a movie star. I'm an astronaut and I own this bar"---
Danny Spanos / "I'd Lie To You For Your Love"
"We can't invent no false laments that go against the grain, the sentiments of
the chosen few cannot re-arrange"---Plummet Airlines / "Silver Shirt"
"With the money from her accident she bought herself a mobile home"---
Billy Bragg / "Levi Stubbs Tears"
"And I'm just walkin' down that country highway...kinda dusty...lovely evening"---
The Robbs / "Race With The Wind"
"It was midnight on the sea, the band was playin' 'Nearer My God, To Thee"---
Jamie Brockett / "The Legend Of The U.S.S. Titanic"
"Hearin' just a bit of the future,oh, it's comin' and it's still blurred and that's the only thing
worth living for in my theatre of the absurd"---Ian Hunter / "Theatre Of The Absurd"
"Today there is no day or night, today there is no dark or light, today there is no black or white"---
The Monkees / "Shades Of Gray"
"We need a solution. We need salvation. Let's send some people to the moon and
gather information. They brought back a big bag of rocks. Only cost thirteen billion.
Must be nice rocks"---Larry Norman / "Reader's Digest"
Do you know that most squirrels in Canada are black? Just checking.
Best song I heard in Canada that I never heard before was "Janine" by Trooper. From
looking at the list of songs I airchecked from GIANT FM, there is still that "you gotta play
so much Canadian-oriented material" on Canadian stations. Hence the Trooper...
Okay, here are the Canadian pics...
View from my window at the Sheraton Fallsview hotel. Regular room is $200 a night.
My "Convention Rate" knocked it down to $130. My membership to the Hot Wheels
Collectors website knocked it down to $60. When I got there, the girl said "we have
upgraded your room for free". I was on the same side of the hallway with all of the
"guests of honor and this was the view...
Port Dalhousie beach near St. Catharines...my favorite beach in the world. Only sad thing is that
every morning around 9am, a guy that looks like an Austrailian Rules Football official comes out,
gets a vial full of water, does a small test on it, and determines if it is "safe to swim" that day.
Aside from that, it's all good...
Joe Feta's...my favorite restaurant in the world. I was there within 25 minutes of crossing the border. For
lunch I had the large Greek salad, hummus and garlic bread.
http://www.joefetas.ca/
My new-found discovery in Canada: Gooee's, Stanley Avenue, Niagara Falls. GREAT Chicken Pad Thai!
If this place was in Morgantown, it would be packed every night. Both times I was there: 9 people.
http://gooeesrestaurant.com/
We gots us a TV in the outhouse!!!!
Finally, while at the Crescent Circle Flea Market in Canada (if you ever get the chance, you MUST go!), I
had what I shall call a "Religious Radio Experience". I was walking down the last of the umpteen hallways
of vendor booths when I heard something familiar in the distance, not knowing exactly what it was and yet
knowing exactly what it was. As I got closer, I realized that the radio in one of the stalls was on and playing
"Take Me To The Kaptin" by Prism. All of a sudden I was transfixed...just staring at the radio. Flashing
before my eyes were event after event and experience after experience from all 32 years
of radio that I have been through as I stood there listening to the one, single motivating factor of why
I got into radio in the first place. That three minutes was worth the entire trip to Canada...
