Monday, December 15, 2003
The Tin Man, rapidly approaching 30, writes:
"They say that who your idols are can tell you a lot about yourself... ."
Well, certainly. And mine are, and have for years been, Casey Kasem and Robert Christgau (XGau since I was about 18, Kasem since, oh, 10 or so). Going with Tin Man's line of thinking - which I find a fine one - I'm working on the XGau half of it, right here, and as far as the Kasem half, well, it's time to dive back into radio, innit? I don't care a whit about fame; I just need to follow my heart.
BTW, I discovered an amazing resource today for anyone with a love of top 40 radio and what it used to be (i.e. before the Clear Channel slaughter of originality in radio): the Reel Top 40 Radio Repository. They've got airchecks and huge, unedited chunks of DJs from the glory days of radio, including such giants as Wolfman Jack, Larry Lujack, and Rick Dees. AND they've got some chunks of American Top 40 - with the complete songs and all of Casey's trivia included! Here's an hour from 10/28/72 (the first 15 minutes alone include Alice Cooper's "Elected" and James Brown's "Good Foot (Part 1)," along with a newscast from WCFL Chicago with news on Nixon's reelection campaign), the first hour from 3/10/73, and the top 13 from 1/20/73.
And speaking of radio, I discovered another website today, this one devoted to Virginia radio & television news, VARTV - with an emphasis on Hampton Roads. It's apparently an adjunct of the DC-area site DCRTV. Both rock hard.
"They say that who your idols are can tell you a lot about yourself... ."
Well, certainly. And mine are, and have for years been, Casey Kasem and Robert Christgau (XGau since I was about 18, Kasem since, oh, 10 or so). Going with Tin Man's line of thinking - which I find a fine one - I'm working on the XGau half of it, right here, and as far as the Kasem half, well, it's time to dive back into radio, innit? I don't care a whit about fame; I just need to follow my heart.
BTW, I discovered an amazing resource today for anyone with a love of top 40 radio and what it used to be (i.e. before the Clear Channel slaughter of originality in radio): the Reel Top 40 Radio Repository. They've got airchecks and huge, unedited chunks of DJs from the glory days of radio, including such giants as Wolfman Jack, Larry Lujack, and Rick Dees. AND they've got some chunks of American Top 40 - with the complete songs and all of Casey's trivia included! Here's an hour from 10/28/72 (the first 15 minutes alone include Alice Cooper's "Elected" and James Brown's "Good Foot (Part 1)," along with a newscast from WCFL Chicago with news on Nixon's reelection campaign), the first hour from 3/10/73, and the top 13 from 1/20/73.
And speaking of radio, I discovered another website today, this one devoted to Virginia radio & television news, VARTV - with an emphasis on Hampton Roads. It's apparently an adjunct of the DC-area site DCRTV. Both rock hard.
# posted by Thomas : 6:57 PM
