Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Driving all night radio.
Four a.m. is a nice hour to do a radio show at WFMU. Quiet. Relaxed. Except when the EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM machine is printing out flood warnings every 1/2 hour while a disembodied voice says, "This is an announcement from the National Weather Service." Have to rip, log & read those on the air.
I was filling in from 2 to 6 for a new DJ named Billy Jam, which my brain kept trying to tell my mouth was "Jimmy Jam" & Terry Lewis. Depending upon my energy level, the extra hour - most FMU slots are 3 - is either a bonus for traveling to Jersey City & staying up all night, to be filled with classical music or a drony mescaline trip, or makes me think cripes I wonder if this sounds as tired & bored as I feel.
There are two general attitudes at WFMU about programming late night: pre-internet & after we got a live stream up. For the younger DJs it's morning in England & afternoon in Australia. They just do pretty much the same show any time of day. Older DJs like myself began when the radio station & listener were in the same time zone. So even an overnight show featuring punk would have an intimate, underground, one to one, insomniac quality. I want at least part of my overnight programs to have an atmosphere of a deserted Montgomery St. Jersey City New Jersey USA , only me & the 24/7 Flamingo Diner down the corner
Before WFMU shows were archived, I avoided the overnight shift because the potential audience was so small, most of my friends were asleep (a good excuse for not listening), & the creative arc of the show from wee hours to dawn didn't appeal to me. I preferred 11 pm to 2 am, starting off with big loud beats & steering between midnight & one into a nostalgic or bluesy or tokin' up late night mood, then handing off to a specialist, like veteran DJ Stan, packing up my stuff & going home.
I was filling in from 2 to 6 for a new DJ named Billy Jam, which my brain kept trying to tell my mouth was "Jimmy Jam" & Terry Lewis. Depending upon my energy level, the extra hour - most FMU slots are 3 - is either a bonus for traveling to Jersey City & staying up all night, to be filled with classical music or a drony mescaline trip, or makes me think cripes I wonder if this sounds as tired & bored as I feel.
There are two general attitudes at WFMU about programming late night: pre-internet & after we got a live stream up. For the younger DJs it's morning in England & afternoon in Australia. They just do pretty much the same show any time of day. Older DJs like myself began when the radio station & listener were in the same time zone. So even an overnight show featuring punk would have an intimate, underground, one to one, insomniac quality. I want at least part of my overnight programs to have an atmosphere of a deserted Montgomery St. Jersey City New Jersey USA , only me & the 24/7 Flamingo Diner down the corner
Before WFMU shows were archived, I avoided the overnight shift because the potential audience was so small, most of my friends were asleep (a good excuse for not listening), & the creative arc of the show from wee hours to dawn didn't appeal to me. I preferred 11 pm to 2 am, starting off with big loud beats & steering between midnight & one into a nostalgic or bluesy or tokin' up late night mood, then handing off to a specialist, like veteran DJ Stan, packing up my stuff & going home.
Labels: WFMU
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"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Thomas Jefferson
East Orange got so bad that even with the razor wire parking enclosure I took to leaving my car unlocked just so the window wouldn't be smashed. It did get broken - but in Jersey City right in front of the WFMU building - the thief stole a $25 boombox.
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