Questions and Answers #2

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In my current full-time job, sometimes you get called off because patients cancel their appointments. This can really suck, especially when you’ve slept all day in preparation to work all night long. At any rate, on nights off, I usually read or write. I had a bout of writer’s block and so I went to my Facebook friends and asked for questions they’d like answered. They never fail to ask questions that force me to think, dig deep in my memory, or get creative.

Question #1 – Denise

Denise’s question is radio related. “On average, how many of the songs you spin (love that she is speaking DJ here!) take you back to an exact moment in your memories and is there one particular song you avoid playing for that exact reason?”

ANSWER: One of the things I love about music is that there are many songs that so exactly what you state in your question – “take you back to an exact moment”. With the station I work on today, I would guess that 2-4 songs a show can do that. If I were at a different format (like classic rock, country, or oldies) it would be more. We play a lot of current songs where I am now, with a sprinkling of 80’s and 90’s. The older songs can certainly do that, for example, a song from 1999 or Little Red Corvette by Prince can take me back to a high school dance.

I did country radio for almost half of my radio career, so there are plenty of songs that I can remember hearing for the first time. I was the music director and had a hand in helping the program director pick the songs to play on the air. My job was to listen to every new song that an artist put out. It was exciting to hear a song and get a gut feeling about whether it would be a hit or not. Sometimes I was right, sometimes I was wrong. I would think many of those songs I can remember hearing them for the first time while sitting in my office.

Now regarding the second half of your question, all stations have a play list. Sometimes, you have the freedom to play requests, but usually, you are playing from the list of songs that was scheduled for you on your shift. That being said, there is one song that I have to turn down the volume when it plays – Daniel Powter’s Bad Day.

That was the song that was the ring tone on my mom’s cell phone in the last few month’s of her life. I guess she used it as an anthem. She battled breast cancer for 10 years. She’d been through it all – chemotherapy, radiation, and countless painful procedures and tests. She had good days and bad days – more bad than good. She would still keep that positive attitude and often say “Don’t sweat the small stuff”, but cancer isn’t small stuff. She related to that song. “You had a bad day”… but she kept fighting. She was one of the bravest and strongest women I have ever known. I have to turn down the speakers, because when I hear it – I hear mom’s phone…

Question #2 – Marcia

Marcia and I have known each other since elementary school. Our mom’s knew each other and it is no surprise that her question is about my mom. “What’s your favorite memory of your mom?”

This is really a difficult question. Maybe for some people they could pick just one, but for me, there are so many special moments. I could mention the many nights that she stayed up with what my dad called “The Warren Boys Club” and played pinochle until all hours of the night or how she used to stay up late on Saturday nights watching terrible Kung Fu movies on Channel 20. I could also mention her falling asleep in the waiting room at the hospital as she waited for Dante’ to be born, a moment that is caught forever on film. Instead, I have narrowed it down to three.

These three memories, in no particular order, are definitely in the top ten memories of mom. To answer your question, I allowed myself to jot down three memories and stopped there. Perhaps there are others that just weren’t lucky enough to pop into my head on command, but these three did immediately, so they appear as the answer to your question.

Mom memory #1 – I was 20, soon to be 21, when I moved to Ludington for a radio job. I had ever been away from home before. It was scary and yet my folks were supportive of the move. Mom was pretty strong, even though I think it bugged her more than she let on. After the first week, I think she missed me more than she wanted to tell me. She used to send me a letter or a card a week. It was usually something silly just to say she was thinking about me and that she loved me.

I remember the first night I was there. I had a small apartment and every single noise kept me awake. I remember the second day I was there, she called to ask how I was. As much as I tried to keep it together, I couldn’t. She listened to my cry and told me she was proud of me and that everything was going to be ok. I remember coming home from the radio station at night and having messages on the answering machine from her. What I wouldn’t give to have those letters and cards (ruined in a flooded basement) or the answering machine tape!

Mom memory #2 – Dante’ was 4 and loved trains. He watched Thomas the Train all the time. When mom found out that Thomas was coming near my house, she bought tickets for all of us. This was probably in August, so it was two months before she passed away. She was sometimes using a walker or a wheel chair to get around, but she was not going to let anything stop her from going for a ride with Thomas and Dante’! As tired as she was, she sat next to him and sang the Thomas theme with him. The day was captured in some of my favorite pictures, and even though the day is foggy for Dante’ today, he still looks at those pictures and remembers grandma.

Mom memory #3 – One year after mom passed away, my brother came home. We were all going to go to the cemetery on the anniversary. While at my dad’s house, I believe it was Chris who found a stack of envelopes. Each envelope was addressed to members of the family. They were letters that mom had wrote to each of us. The letter to written long before Dante’ was born, so he wasn’t mentioned in it. There was, however, a wonderful message from mom to me. “Know that I love you” was the first line written to me. It was a wonderful message from beyond the grave, that I still have locked away, so that I can read it whenever I need to.

Question #3 (in two parts) – Stephanie

Leave it to my friend Stephanie to give me a serious and silly question. (1) “What comedy or drama movie would you make into a musical and what would be the name?” and (2) “What is something you recently realized that you can’t believe you didn’t realize earlier?”

Part 1 – As I thought about some of my favorite movies, I laughed at the possibility of them being made into a musical. As you know Young Frankenstein was made into a musical, and so was Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The Blues Brothers already is considered a musical, so I started to look at a few others.

Smokey and the Bandit would be hard to make into a musical. However, I think it would be fun to have Buford T Justice sing “Sum Bitch” in a song! Airplane! is a comedy classic, but how do you make this into a musical. Animal House might be one you could do as a musical – I could see Flounder singing about Bluto giving him that name or Dean Wormer singing a rant about Double Secret Probation. I guess if I had to pick one, it would be Johnny Dangerously…because the name of the show would be easy: Johnny Dangerously: The Fargin’ Musical!

Part 2 – I have an answer to this question that is kind of obvious, but because I am a bigger person, I will not use that answer. What I will answer is this: I realize now, just how fake some people can be. It is sad to see how people are quick to judge you on the thoughts or stories of others. They make their judgments based on those things without ever coming to you to see if they are true or hear your side of the story. It is sad that so many people will pretend to be your friend and then as soon as you leave the room, begin to talk about you, label you and judge you.

I realize now that there are some people who are not happy unless they are making others unhappy. I realize now that there are people who feel the need to be in control of every situation, no matter what, and have to get their way. They will say things to make you believe things that will work in their favor, even if it means alienating you from friends and family.

The biggest realization I have had recently is that before you can make others happy – YOU have to be happy. It is not worth living a life to make others happy while you, yourself, continue a downward spiral into sadness, unhappiness, and depression. You must weed out negative people in your life and live happily and positively! You should be happy in your job, happy in your relationships, and happy with yourself. The hardest, and best, decision I ever made was to find happiness and surround myself with it.

Question #4 – Connie

Connie asks another question that is difficult to answer. Connie and I often spoke of Stanley nickels and Schrute Bucks in the office, and now she asks “What is your favorite episode of The Office?”

While there are MANY episodes that continue to make me laugh out loud, it is hard to pick just one. At the same time, some episodes consist of brief moments that make me laugh like hell, but the rest of the episode isn’t as strong.

If I had to name a few episodes off the top of my head, I would start with Diversity Day. We truly get a sense of Michael Scott and just how awkward he is in this episode. The uncomfortable situations that he often creates really start to show with this episode. Next I would say The Deposition. Classic Michael/Jan tension. The Dinner Party is also a great episode – the awkward relationship that Michael and Jan have is showcased here (snip snap snip snap!).

The Dundies is just a great episode! The thought of an office party – well, an awards show – and Chili’s while real customers are trying to eat is hilarious. So many great things about this episode. Threat Level Midnight is another one I liked because it showcased some cast members who hadn’t been on the show for a while, and it shows you the incredibly bad movie Michael wrote.

Scenes I could watch over and over and over:

Michael screaming “No” over and over when Toby returns
Jim’s spot on impression of Dwight – Bears, Beats, Battlestar Galactica
Kevin’s famous chili
The Fire Drill scene (“save Bandit!”)

Question #5 – Hope

Hope and I talk music a lot. She’s a Beatle fan and played trumpet in band. It is no surprise that her question is musical. “Are there specific songs that remind you of your childhood? If so, which ones and why?”

Absolutely! Growing up, my dad played in a wedding band, so I heard him play a lot of songs and was exposed to a lot of genres of music. One of the first songs I remember was “Dream Baby” by Roy Orbison. My dad had it on a vinyl LP and I asked him to play it all the time.

My friend, Jeff, had this album of novelty songs called “Dumb Ditties”. Every one of those songs cracks makes me think of when we were kids listening to it. Dumb songs like “I’m a Nut”, “Gimme Dat Ding”, “Ahab The Arab”, “Purple People Eater” and “Charlie Brown” were on it as I remember.

Anything of Willie Nelson’s Stardust album and Johnny Paycheck’s Greatest Hits (Volume 2) makes me think of summers at my grandparent’s trailer up in Caseville. There is a blog I wrote about an old 8 track that is full of songs that remind me of road trips to Caseville, too.

I remember many songs from 1988 and my senior year of high school – Wild Wild West by Escape Club, Don’t Worry Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin, and Bad Medicine by Bon Jovi Come to mind. I remember buying Huey Lewis and the News Sports album for I Wanna New Drug. Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley, Need You Tonight by INXS, Rock Steady by the Whispers, and The Final Countdown by Europe were all songs I remember from high school dances.

I remember the first slow dance I ever danced to was Crazy for You by Madonna. I remember wondering if I was doing it right. I mean, I was literally swaying back and forth. “Is this right?!” We used to go to dances and just stand around and BS. When I was asked to dance, I really had NO idea what I was doing!

Question #6 – Joe

Joe and I have been friends since Jr. High. We met in first hour band class. His question is “How well do you remember that day we all met in junior high in the band room?”

I don’t recall much. It was the first day of junior high and I remember being scared to death. I remember Steve, Kevin, John, and Joe. Yes, there were others, but those are the ones I remember from the beginning. As far as the first day, I don’t recall much. I remember getting chair assignments and lockers, but that’s about it. The first day wasn’t the “…wanna be friends?” day, was it? Your memory may be better than mine, so please feel free to fill in the gaps.

Conclusion

This is the second blog that I have written based on the questions that friends have asked me. It’s actually something I really enjoy. Thanks to those friends who served as the “thought starters” for this blog. I hope I answered your questions and you enjoyed reading this as much as I did thinking about the answers and writing them.

The Big O

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Roy Orbison is a rock and roll legend. I refuse to debate this. It is a fact. The Beatles and Elvis Presley (both legends in their own right) had stated on record that Roy was a major influence on their music. Roy’s music was different – it had it’s own style and a certain darkness to it. My first exposure to Roy Orbison was when I was about 4 or 5 years old.

I remember my dad had an album of Roy’s Greatest Hits. My favorite song as a kid was Dream Baby. I didn’t know that was the name of it. I know this because when I asked him to play it, I would ask for it by singing the opening bass line: “Daddy, play ‘boom boom boom, bum bum boom.'” I remember the first song on the album was Candy Man, which started with a harmonica. That is the instrument Roy asked for as a kid.

When asked hey wanted for his sixth birthday, Roy told his parents he wanted a harmonica. Luckily for the music industry, his father bought him a guitar instead. While some stories differ, most biographies claim that Roy learned how to play from his father Orbie Lee Orbison. Some sources say that he learned from his Uncle Charlie, Orbie’s brother.

He wrote his first song in 1944, and entered a talent show in 1946. He and another act tied for first place and the first prize of $15 was split between Roy and the other winner. How much of a class act was Roy? He gave half of his $7.50 to the friend of his who carried his guitar to the contest!

He formed a band while in Wink, Texas called the Wink Westerners and that band played some high school dances. While in college, two friends of his had written a song called “Ooby Dooby.” They began playing that in their shows and because of their success, they got their own radio show on station KMID. In 1955, the band got their own TV show and artists came to play and sing on it. Among them, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash.

Roy pulled Johnny aside and asked for advice. He wanted to know how to get a record released on the radio. Johnny suggested that he call Sam Phillips over at Sun Records in Memphis. Johnny gave Roy the number and sure enough Roy called. I am sure he was not expecting what happened. Sam Phillips answered the phone and after a brief conversation, Sam hung up on him, but not before telling Roy, “Johnny Cash doesn’t run my record company!”

Roy eventually found a place to record and recorded “Ooby Dooby” with his band, now called the Teen Kings. The song was released in 1956 and Roy took it to a well known record dealer named Cecil “Poppa” Hollifield. He heard the song and immediately called a “connection” he had in Memphis and played him the record over the phone. His connection asked for a copy of the record, and three days later he called Poppa up to tell him he wanted the Teen Kings in Memphis in three days to record in his studio. That connection was none other than Sam Phillips of Sun Records!

That deal got him out on tour with Johnny Cash, Faron Young, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Horton among others. In 1958, Roy was asked to tour with the Everly Brothers. During the tour, the Everly Brothers told Roy they needed a new single and asked if he had any songs. He picked up his guitar and sang the song Claudette. They liked it, and asked him to write down the words and chords. The song was the B-side of All I Have To Do Is Dream. Roy had some of his other songs recorded by artists like Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, and even Ricky Nelson.

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In 1959, Roy was signed to an independent label called Monument. It was at this label that so many of Roy’s big hits came, starting with Uptown. That was followed by Only The Lonely (which reached #2), Blue Angel, and I’m Hurtin’. What followed was Roy’s first #1 song, Running Scared.

Roy had hoped to change up the “pop” sound and try something different. They recorded the song twice and he was disappointed with the two takes, so they cut it again. Instead of using a falsetto voice, Roy sang the high natural A and nailed it. The accompanying musicians were awestruck and had never heard anything like it. Producer Fred Foster said “Nobody had ever hear anything like it before!”

What followed was four solid years of top 40 hits. Those hits included Crying, Candy Man, Dream Baby, Working for the Man, In Dreams, Pretty Paper, Leah, Blue Bayou, Mean Woman Blues, and Its Over. His success got him a spot opening up for some concerts in England. He was the opening act for a few guys who were known as The Beatles (they had yet to become a big thing in the US). The tour sold out in minutes, and on the first night of the show, they say that Roy played 14 encores before the Beatles ever got on stage!

In 1964, Roy recorded what is probably his biggest hit, Oh Pretty Woman. It would be his last big hit while at Monument records. Touring hurt his personal life, and his wife Claudette began having an affair. One day while writing with songwriter Bill Dees, Claudette entered the room and said that she was going to Nashville. Roy asked her if she had any money, and Dee’s replied, “A pretty woman never needs any money.” With that phrase, and about 40 minutes, they wrote Oh, Pretty Woman, which went to number 1 in almost every country in the world.

In 1966, Claudette was killed when a pickup truck pulled out in front of her and she hit the door. She died instantly. Two years later, Roy was on a tour in England and he received a call that his home had burned down. As if that wasn’t enough bad news, he was also told that his two oldest sons were killed in the fire. He tried to cope by keeping himself busy with work. He starred in the film The Fastest Guitar Alive, which ended up being his only lead role.

Roy changed labels a few times after this and eventually re-signed with Monument. In 1987, Roy Orbison was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Bruce Springsteen was there to do the honors. A TV special followed. Roy had always wanted to do one and this special included some powerful special guests: Elvis Costello, k.d.Lang, Tom Waits, Bonny Raitt, Jennifer Warrens, Jackson Brown, and Bruce Springsteen. The special was called Roy Orbison and Friends – A Black and White Night Live. It was aired on cable and released on video and became one of Roy’s great concerts.

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Jeff Lynne of ELO was busy producing George Harrison’s Cloud Nine album, and was working on Tom Petty’s and Roy’s albums at the same time. This led to them all getting together with Bob Dylan for the Traveling Wilburys project which was a huge success! Handle With Care was a big hit from the album. A song that was supposed to be a group song on the album was You’re Not Alone Anymore. It was decided that there was really only one voice that could do the song justice, and that was Roy. It is an amazing vocal and an amazing song!

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In late 1988, Roy put the finishing touches on the Mystery Girl album. It was set for release in 1989. There would be a world tour to support the project. The album would include the smash hit “You Got It”. On December 6, 1988, Roy was complaining of chest pains. Just before midnight, he had a heart attack and collapsed at his mother’s home. Roy Orbison died at the young age of 52.

I was still a senior in high school and I was going to WKSG to rip news and type up stories for the news director. I would stay till 6am and then head to school. I remember going to the AP wire and seeing the URGENT breaking news that Roy had died. We were an oldies station and this was big news. I remember when we broke the news. It is one of those moments I will never forget.

You Got It was released after Roy’s death and reached the top 10. One of the coolest tributes to Roy was when the Traveling Wilburys released the song End of the Line. In the video, the group is on a train singing. When Roy’s vocal comes on, the camera is on a rocking chair in which Roy’s guitar is sitting. Next to it, is a framed photo of Roy. Powerful!

Roy Orbison is a legend. His music was like no one else. His style was like no one else. His vocals were indescribably beautiful, haunting, and amazing. Heaven’s choir is blessed to have him in their baritone section. Happy Birthday, Roy!

My Biggest Musical Influence – Dad

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Over the years I have been influenced musically by many people, but I would have to say that it is my father who has had the biggest influence. This blog is sort of a continuation of the “series” I have been doing based on “songs from my iPod”.

My dad introduced me to almost every genre of music. My love for oldies music comes from some of my earliest memories of songs he played. I was also introduced to classic country and country music in general by him. He played in a wedding band for years – the first being Now & Then, and the second was Foxfire. I recall him sitting in front of the stereo playing along with 45 records of songs that they were learning for gigs. I remember long nights when my brother and I had to go to “band practice” as well.

Rock and Roll music was a staple in our house, probably because it was the stuff he grew up listening to. The first song that comes to mind is Dream Baby by Roy Orbison. As a kid, I would ask, “Daddy please play ‘boom boom boom….bum bum boom'”. This was a reference to the bass notes that open the song. I loved that song. While so many other folks always connect Roy to Pretty Woman (a classic, no doubt), I remember Candy Man, In Dreams, and Crying. Roy was awesome – and dad introduced me to him.

He also introduced me to Elvis. Man, Elvis was cool! Sure, every one knows Hound Dog, All Shook Up, and the biggies….but dad played me songs like Steamroller Blues, Moody Blue, and Way Down! He had the Moody Blue album (which was on Blue Vinyl) and Elvis In Concert and I remember playing them on the stereo many times. I remember the look on my dad’s face when the news came on the radio that Elvis had died. We were at the drive in movie getting ready to watch Smokey and the Bandit, when Honey Radio announced it. Dad was shocked. We listened to Elvis music until dark and the movie started.

I have to include another person in this section about music – my Godfather, my Uncle Tom. He and my dad grew up together and their exploits can be an entirely separate blog. For now, let me talk about R&B and “local” music. When I first started working at WKSG (Kiss-FM) in Detroit, my dad asked if I could find him some songs. I told him I would look and if they were at the station, I’d throw them on tape for him. These were songs that he and my Uncle Tom grew up listening to.

As I looked over the list, I remember thinking, “What the hell are these songs? Were these even hits? Who are these people?’ The result was me getting a taste of some really amazing music. I cannot listen to any of these songs without thinking of them. This is music that was stripped down, funky, and amazing.

Mind Over Matter by Nolan Strong jumps out at first. This song is classic! Backing Nolan on this is the group the Diablos. Simple instrumentation and a powerful vocal makes this one of my favorites. This was not a song that would play on the radio much in the late 80’s, and I recall watching my uncle and my dad listening to the tape I made and loving every damn second of it. I watched them become transported back to when they were teens and jamming to these songs for the first time – it was magical!

Village of Love by Nathaniel Mayer is another one that is worth a listen just for the bass singer – it is R&B gold!. Two songs that were on his list (and now on my iPod) that were local hits that I absolutely love were by the band The Dynamics. I’m The Man and Misery are two very different songs, but they capture the sound of Motown prior to the Motown sound emerging.

A couple oldies that were on the list which we actually played in a regular rotation at WHND Honey Radio were Don’t Let Go by Roy Hamilton, You Can Have Her by Roy Hamiliton, So Fine by the Fiestas, Let’s Go Let’s Go Let’s Go by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, What In the World’s Come Over You by Jack Scott, and Agent Double O Soul by Edwin Star. I loved when these songs would come up on the play list.

Another one that would come up was the song You’re So Fine by the Falcons. Wanna talk about stripped down? This one was as simple as they come. It was recorded in a garage with probably one or two microphones. You can totally tell that they it recorded all at once on one track and it was one take. You can even hear a little guitar feedback at the end. GREAT song! I love it!

My dad was instrumental in introducing me to blues music too. One of those songs that he and my uncle asked for was Baby, What You Want Me To Do by Jimmy Reed. Wow. It is one of those songs that DEFINES the blues in my opinion. Other songs he had me listen to were Fannie Mae by Buster Brown, which we played at WHND, Baby, Scratch My Back by Slim Harpo, Shake Your Money Maker by Elmore James, and The Thrill is Gone by BB King. The blues and R&B music helped shape Rock and Roll and these songs are a must for my iPod.

I grew up in the Urban Cowboy era when country music got a lot of attention and a lot of radio airplay. I don’t know that I would say country music is my dad’s favorite genre, but he sure introduced me to some great artists and songs. He, of course was responsible for me hearing Willie Nelson & Johnny Paycheck (who are mentioned in other blogs), but he also introduced me to Hank Williams Sr. and Jr. I recall him playing the two of them singing a duet on Tear in My Beer. This was high tech at the time, they took Hank Sr’s vocal and isolated it and then Hank Jr. sang with him, It was a great song with just Hank Sr., but adding Hank Jr. was excellent.

Another song he played for me was Okie from Muskogee. The opening line is “We don’t smoke marijuana in Muskogee”…not exactly the best song for a 10 year old to hear, but I had no idea what it meant and I liked Merle Haggard’s voice. I also recall him playing Amanda by Waylon Jennings. It is probably one of my favorite Waylon songs. Such a simple ballad, but I could listen to it over and over. I also loved when he bought the soundtrack to Smokey and the Bandit II because it was the only place you could find a great song by Don Williams called To Be Your Man. Among other acts he played were the great Ronnie Milsap, George Jones, Juice Newton, and Charlie Pride.

Two country albums I remember him calling me in to hear were from Dwight Yoakam and The Kentucky Headhunters. The Headhunters album had a great cover of Oh Lonesome Me on there, but the song he played for me was Dumas Walker. It sounded fresh and almost a little rockish. I remember immediately getting this on cassette for the car. The other album was If There Was a Way from Dwight. In my opinion, this is one of his best. My favorite cut from the album was never released as a single – The Distance Between You and Me. The instrumentation is perfect and the lyric is classic – almost Brad Paisley-ish. I crank it up ALWAYS.

On the “pop” side of things, a few songs stand out, most of which because they were songs he learned and played for his wedding band gigs. The first one I think of is the Breakup Song by Greg Kihn. I remember him putting the 45 on the stereo, and playing that intro over and over. The first time I heard him play it note for note, I was blown away! I loved watching him work out licks and chords and stuff by simply listening to it on the stereo! America by Neil Diamond was another. By the time this one came out, he was in Foxfire and playing bass guitar, not lead guitar. These guys were good. Not that the other band wasn’t, I just know that they sounded amazing. Dennis, the lead singer, (and at one time my boss at my first job) NAILED his vocals. I could swear he was Neil Diamond! Every song he sang was dead on. Man, I miss that group of guys!

Probably the craziest musical incident involving my dad was when he introduced me to the music of Red Prysock. My grandmother always wanted to go to garage sales. I think my dad hated it. There was a familiar look of disgust on his face one day when she asked to go. While at one garage sale, he was going through old 45’s. His face lit up with boyish excitement as he stopped at one 45 with a black label on it. I heard him so, “I can’t believe it…” He bought the 45 and couldn’t wait to play it for me … and to be able to hear it for the first time in years. Hand Clappin’ was the song. It was a jazzy sax number that caused to you tap your toes. It was GREAT. It was like nothing I had ever heard. My dad said that DJ’s used to use it for their “theme song” back in the day. Still remains a favorite for me. Who says garage sales are bad?!

Over the years, my dad has called me over to the turntable, the cassette deck, the CD player, the mini-disc player, and his computer with the words, “Hey son, listen to this …” Very rarely was I ever disappointed. Today, I listen to almost every type of music and have always kept an open mind to genres because of dad. I am so lucky that he was such an instrumental (pun intended) part of my musical influence. Thanks, Pop!

More Musical Memories …

The more I thought about my last two blogs, the more I realized how many memories I have that are tied to certain songs and the people in my life. My family members alone, and the music that I connect them with is an entirely separate blog! For this one, I jotted down a few songs and the friends (and memories) I connect with them.

WKSG

My first program director, Paul Christy, was such a great guy to work with. I remember that when we didn’t have a song, he’d contact a couple local guys (Tom or Tom) and get it. Those songs would come to us on a reel to reel tape. He used to talk about the song Gee by The Crows on the air and he finally played it off of one of those tapes. He raved about how much he loved it. It was one of the first Doo-Wop songs. Now there were plenty of other songs that came to him on tape, but the other one that sticks out was a song that a listener always asked him for – Blame It On The Bossa Nova by Eydie Gorme. Not that I hear it often, but every once in a while on Sirius XM it plays and I think of Paul.

One of the morning show guys was Vince. Vince and I share a love for The Blues Brothers movie (because it is a masterpiece). Vince and I often cracked up behind the scenes while Paul was on the air. Besides The Blues Brothers Soundtrack, two songs make me think of him. Fats Domino’s My Blue Heaven is the first. I’m not even sure how it came about, but we both talked about how it sounded like Fats mumbled almost the entire first line of the song and then you finally could make out “My … Blue …. Heaven”. We’d often pass each other in the hall mumbling that first line.

The other song is Leap Frog by Les Brown. It was Les’s Theme song, and was used in the prom scene in the Jerry Lewis film, The Nutty Professor. In the scene, Jerry’s character is standing and listening to the music, which slowly he gets more and more into. Jerry ends up doing this ridiculous dance to the song. Vince could do that dance move for move. Damn, just the thought of it makes me laugh!

I was lucky enough to follow Johnny Molson each night after his show. Many of the songs that remind me of him are related directly to stuff that happened off air or with his listeners. Examples of this would be Miracles by Jefferson Starship and Rocket Man by Elton John. I think of Johnny, because of two listeners in particular who had … unique … ways of requesting them.

Wind Parade by Donald Byrd wasn’t even a song we played on our station, but I had to find it to hear what it sounded like. It is on my iPod today and when it comes up, I think of Johnny and our mutual friend Joe Crawley, who requested this often (no matter what the station format was). This was one of Joe’s favorite requests, but he had more: Do You See My Love by Jr. Walker and the All Stars, Julie Do You Love Me by Bobby Sherman, Got To Be There by Michael Jackson and Home Cookin’ also by Jr. Walker. All remind me of Molson. Finally a song that reminds me of classic Johnny moment is Walk Away Renee by the Left Banke (because of an on air blooper).

My friend Victor Hughes just so happens to be the guy who was the lead singer for the group The Tymes on their hit single So Much In Love. Vic s responsible for me getting to finally shake hands and meet one of my idols – Soupy Sales. Vic used to work in law enforcement in New York and often saw Soupy there. He sent his business card back stage and next think I know, I’m shaking hands with him. It was pretty cool! I still remember Vic showing me his gold record for this song.

They started as listeners, but remain life long friends today. Roxanne, Gary, and Lee all used to call and BS through the night on the request lines. Roxanne would laugh about Elvis’s Wear My Ring Around Your Neck, Gary would always ask for some surfing instrumental called Penetration by the Pyramids, and Lee would ask for Grady Martin and the Slew Foot Five!

WHND

Richard D. used to have a feature called The Off-the-Wall Record. He’d say, “To my right is a wall. On the wall is a peg. On the peg – records. When I take one of the records of the peg on the wall and play it on the air, it becomes a Tricky Dickie Off-The Wall Record”. When he did this feature it usually consisted of rare or obscure tunes. One day I gave him Stormy Weather by the Spaniels to play. He LOVED it. He told me that was one of his favorites.

He often spoke of the group the Hi-Los and told me about the “tight” harmonies that they had. He was right. Good stuff! As a fan of the big bands, I let him listen to The Spitfire Band’s version of Cherokee, which featured an AMAZING trombone part. Again, he loved it and I think of him when it plays on the iPod.

Long story short – I gave him hell one day because he played a Dean Martin song and made some comment about him. I told him that we were both Italian and I could make some calls if he bad mouths our heritage again or something stupid like that. He laughed and then went on the air and said that I had come in and thrown him around the room and trashed the studio because of what he said about Dean. He said “I had no idea Keith Allen was the President of the Dean Martin Fan Club”! After his last show on Honey Radio, a listener suggested I play a Dean Song in Richard’s honor….I chose “I Will”. The first line of the song is “I don’t wanna be the one to say I’m gonna miss you, but I will…” it fit the somber occasion.

Then there was Rob, my morning show partner in crime. The list of songs that remind me of him are plenty. Most because he sang them at Karaoke (And I Love You So – Perry Como, Delilah – Tom Jones, There Goes My Everything – Englebert Humperdinck, and My Cup Runneth Over -Ed Ames). Three stick out for other reasons. The first two stand out because of a hillbilly character he did named Red Neckman! He’s always get “giddy” when we played Ringo by Lorne Greene and Waterloo by Stonewall Jackson. The one that I can’t believe we played on the air was by actor Robert Mitchum. Rob had this song called My Honey’s Lovin’ Arms from an album that Mitchum did. It was catchy and Bob actually sounds ok singing it…..unlike some of his other songs.

Lesley Ronson and I have “hated” each other since high school. She used to call me all the time when I was at Honey and ask me to play her a song or something. Personally, I think she just liked hearing her name on the radio. One day, I hit the wrong button and played a sound effect of the Frankenstein monster moaning and screaming (which we said was Richard warming up for his show) and said it was for Lesley…..The song I wanted to play – and eventually did – was Mean Woman Blues by Roy Orbison.

WFBE

I was in a meeting with my program director Brian Cleary when the first plane hit the World Trade Center on 9/11. We were called out of the office by the morning show gal and we watched in horror as the second plane hit. To this day, when I hear Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning by Alan Jackson, I think of that morning.

On the less serious side, Brian was/is a big Simpsons fan. I have on the iPod the 45 second classic song from the Stonecutters episode “We Do”. It still is my ringtone for him on my phone.

My morning show partner from my second go around at B95 was Stephanie Carroll. Three songs stand out immediately that make me think of her. She has a very unusual infatuation with George Strait. I’m sure he has some sort of restraining order on her. Give It Away reminds me of her. One of the coolest stars we had in studio was Jeff Bates. He was a blast. Funny. Talented. Boy, he could sing! Rub It In always makes me think of Steph.

Our newsman, Hal, was doing some story about a guy who was truck by lightnight more than once and Steph responded by saying, “Lightning always strikes three times”. Hal said, “No, its Knock Three Times on the ceiling if you want me”….which led to this crazy Tony Orlando and Dawn rant. I quickly found the hook of the song and without telling her, I waited till she started to read the traffic sponsor and just started playing it…she lost it. I did this a couple more times until I finally just jumped in and finished while she laughed. One of my favorite bits and the song will forever be connected with Steph (and Hal)!