music part three

radio
where would music be without radio?
i remember summer days listening to top ten am radio
("it's my party and i'll cry if i want to . . . hey, hey paula . . . dream, dream, dream, dream, dream . . . little gto . . .)

but there have been times
and still are
when radio music is stale, very stale

my junior year of high school, an evening dj started playing an expanded play list that included "underground music"
he introduced me to groups like vanilla fudge and eclectic artists like arlo guthrie

unfortunately, even though i loved it, someone else didn't and the dj was gone

a few months later,
late one summer evening, listening to a new radio my father bought that had fm as well as am and suddenly "the who" was coming out of the radio,
"i can see for miles"
at song's conclusion the dj said, "that was side two of the who"
i thought, "what radio station plays a whole side of an album?"
then the dj introduced the pusher
i was amazed
those songs were not heard on the radio
i was hooked on an afternoon show called "jelly pudding"
every day during my senior year of high school i listened to "jelly pudding" and heard frank zappa, the dead, jefferson airplane, and many other artists that received little or no airtime on am radio.
it expanded my musical horizons
and expanded my record collection
on a radio station that the rest of the day played classical and jazz
a little known cincinnati radio station called webn
within a few years it was a 24 hour rock station
today it is a pretty stale station that broadcasts
the same repetitious playlist that hundreds of other stations duplicate

when i listen to radio today, while back in cincinnati
i am drawn to wnku, especially in the mornings
with michael grayson
good guy, old friend
plays a great, eclectic assortment of music
give it a listen, 89.7
if you do not live in the cincy area, you can listen on their web site
www.wnku.org

so what about "christian" radio?
that's a different story
for a different entry
stay tuned . . .