Yes, memory is now like that comback you thought of a half an hour too late.

About a half an hour after I finished the last post, I finally remembered the film I'd watched (and deleted form the DVR) which I wanted to note someday before I forget it completely. It was Tim Burton's "Big Fish". I like Burton's movies, even the less than successful ones. It's the kind of movie in which no one gets any appendages cut off in clinical detail while fighting invading intergalactic warriors. There aren't even any transforming intergalactic warriors. There is a transformation of sorts, but it's part of a story about a man who is a teller of tall tales, and his relationship with his son. Released in 2003, it probably couldn't get made today, even for an internet only streaming content provider. All in all, a lovely little film I hope to see again someday.

As usual, I'm running late on some things and rushing through others. One item in the "late" category is the posting of my radio show from April the 2nd. The show opened with a few songs to greet the new month, then turned to a meditation of sorts on the idea of a pop song "April in Paris".



By the way, I've noticed that some of my shows posted here through SoundCloud no longer display the player/picture for that episode. Just click on the square and go to my account on SoundCloud - I have shows archived there going back to November 29th, 2014.

There's lots of other stuff and nonsense on which I'd like to catch up, but have little time to do so. Which means that I'm going to post last night's show and go do other things.

I would like to make a mental note that today is the anniversary of my turning on the new transmitter which put WVEW-lp back on the air almost a year after the fire at the Brooks House. This event was on April the 10th, 2012.  I had also turned on the old transmitter when the station made its broadcast debut on September 1st, 2006.  I turned the transmitter on for radio free brattleboro a couple of times, too. It's probably quite wrong to be proud of such things, but I am for many reasons I'm not going to enumerate just now.

Okay, now - last night's show played a few for lyricist E. Y. "Yip" Harburg, whose birthday was April the 8th. And I played a few for Capitol Records, which was founded around this time in 1942. Accounts differ, and I've seen April the 9th (1942) listed as the day the company was founded, the day it changed its name from Liberty Records to Capitol (about a week after the founding), and the day on which its first record was cut. And finally, there was a set for pianist/band leader Martin Denny who practically founded the "Exotica" movement of the late 1950's and early 60's which resulted in a proliferation of Tiki bars and lounges. The image for the sound file for the show is of a woman listening to a crystal radio made out of a coconut shell. It seemed appropriate at the time.



As always, I hope any listeners enjoy the show(s).

p.s. Well, what do you know, all of the shows form this year are now displaying their players properly. I'd written an old address I had for Soundcloud's tech support (all such info having vanished from their site), but never heard from them. I'm just glad it's working again. It's not like friends or family are currently waiting with baited breath for each and every post, but I'd like things to be available for anyone who stumbles upon these pages.

15 years! Really? Eyah, I counted 'em.

It's difficult to realize that it has been 15 years. The entirety of it is a heck of a story and begins about 17 years ago, or maybe even 20 years ago , or it could go back as far as 1970 or so, but all that is not relevant to this post. The basic situation is that on Saturday March the 4th, 2000, I was to start my own show on radio free brattleboro. March the 1st was the birthday of Glenn Miller. March the 2nd was the birthday of composer Kurt Weil. I was set to celebrate them both. The rfb studio had just relocated to a shed attached to the basement of a building on Main Street. The entrance required a walk down an alley, along the railroad tracks next to the Connecticut River, and up a specially built lengthy flight of wooden stairs.

The stairs - from a landing half way up the hill.

When I arrived that day, the woman with the show before mine wasn't there. The door was locked. I had no keys. A comedy of errors ensued for over an hour as I attempted to get access (I managed to track down someone who gave me the wrong key - twice!) and finally gave up the attempt. My show, still nameless at the time, debuted on March 11th.

The old radio free brattleboro studio. Computers hadn't yet entered into the studio mix,
there was no streaming internet, etc. Heck the internet was only a couple of years old.
Home made CD's had just become possible. Dave Longsmith suggested raising money
by selling rejected home burns as coasters we would call 'recycled radio'.
I hollered "That's It".  And that's how my show got its name.



Seven years later, radio free brattleboro had its equipment seized by the FCC while we were broadcasting under the protection of a Federal judge. (Like I said, it's a heck of a story.) In the meantime, the FCC had been embarrassed into giving out low power licenses again, which they hadn't done for over 20 years. One went to a new community radio station set up in Brattleboro, WVEW-lp. Before long I was back in my comfy Saturday night timeslot. Five years later there was a fire in the building which housed our studio, transmitter, and antenna. The station was wiped out. When that happens, the FCC gives license holders one year to get back on the air. The station had been managed by its staff. When the work of returning to the air started, a dissident group of the membership took over the station. Things got nasty, but the folks who started the station eventually regained control; we made it back on the air with one week to spare.

 

While it might have been better to note my show's anniversary (15 years? Really?) next Saturday, March 7th, I have other intentions for that program. March the 8th is International Women's Day, so the night before is an excellent time to produce another version of a show I've done several times over the years dedicated to the women who led swing bands. 

 

Blogger is giving me all kinds of problems, changing the colors of text, refusing to cooperate, and generally behaving like a spoiled child intent on having its way. It must have been associating with Facebook. So I'll just post a few newspaper clippings from the first week or so of March 2000, then post last night's show, which finally celebrated the birthdays of Glenn Miller and Kurt Weil.



 



 

 

This was another in the series of shows where I couldn't seem to focus on what I was doing and talk at the same time. Nevertheless, I think it turned out to be an enjoyable show. I hope anyone who listens thinks so too.