Date Posted:22:12:10 12/07/09 Mon Author: Debi Subject: Love the glimpse into Sherry's routine In reply to:
Page
's message, "You turn me on, I'm a radio >>>>" on 21:32:17 12/07/09 Mon
>Sherry was two hours into her five-hour shift when
>June entered the control room with a cold can of Diet
>Pepsi and half a shrimp po’-boy sandwich.
mmmm.... shrimp po' boy....
>
>“Hey, thanks for the sandwich, June,” she said,
>dismissing Chad and his attitude. “You didn’t have to
>do that.”
>
>“I know I didn’t. But I know you like these and it’s
>always too much for one person.” June turned at the
>door. “Hey, will you play that song for me?”
>
>Sherry waved a hand at the wall of records and arched
>a brow. “You’ll have to be a little more specific.”
>
>“Oh, you know. It’s about a wolf, and some woman
>moans all through it at the end.”
>
>A grimace creased Sherry’s face. “Not even for a
>woman who brings me a shrimp po-boy will I play Duran
>Duran. Sorry, June.”
LOL! Do you and Sherry share the same tastes? I have to admit, when I was 17, I liked Duran Duran. Of course, I like the nostalgia their music brings. But My musical states have expanded so much sine then... I don't think I could listen to more than a couple of songs before I'd have to put on some hard-core blues or something else equally old-school. With very few exceptions, the 80's were pretty bereft of mauch real talent, IMNSHO...;-)
>
>June sighed. “It was worth a try.”
>
>After June left, Sherry took a huge bite of the
>sandwich and sighed with delight. Chewing, she went
>to the record wall and began pulling albums that
>contained extra-long cuts. She’d need them if she was
>going to have to attend that stupid staff meeting.
>
I once listened to the entire back side of the Beatles Abbey Road. Only when it came to the end, and a few extra seconds of quiet, did the announcer come on and say that great b-sdes were a godsend to disc jockeys at certain times. It was implied that maybe she'd had some bad clams or something...;-)
>
>
>
It was at that point she called a halt to her presence
>in the conference room by saying she was afraid her
>listeners would think she’d had bad seafood for lunch
>since she’d played almost every bathroom-break song in
>the station’s library. “Layla,” “Starship Trooper,”
>“Won’t Get Fooled Again,” and “Free Bird” had been
>spinning while Sherry ran from one room to the other,
>and it was getting old.
Ooohhh!! Dark Side of the Moon is a good one too! Too early for your time frame?
>
>Regaining her composure, Sherry shrugged. “I played
>‘Kashmir’ instead. It’s longer. Besides, I played
>‘Stairway’ yesterday.”
>
I wonder if it's easier these days, what with everything all digitized. I mean, I can bring up my iTunes and sort by time... Karn Evil 9 is pretty damn long too, I discover, just by doing that. It it different in radio? I'm just curious. I've always thought radio would be fun in a lot of ways.
Cool! She gets the nice afternoon spot and jerkoff Chad gets to get to work earlier...
I'm really enjoying watching this story unfold. Keep it coming!
Oh, I MISS po'boys! Subs aren't the same thing, no matter what anyone says. Po'boys are subs with attitude.
The Duran Duran thing really happened. Our station secretary, whose name was Ann, actually asked me to that song in the exact same way June asked Sherry. My response was the same. *G* Most 80s music makes me cringe. I never listened to it, even when I had to play it, but I danced my butt off to it. *G* I used to go to this club in Mobile with my friend Jackie, and when we walked in, the DJ would immediately start playing "Turning Japanese" so we'd get out there and dance. LOL!
Back in the day, the radio announcer had to time out the hour. We'd tot up how many minutes of commercials we'd have, and then pick the music. There were always current songs we'd have to play, and we'd fill in with requests (if we liked them! *G*), and anything else we wanted. If there was a live newscast, we'd have to time it out to the exact minute. I was rubbish at it, too, I might add, and usually just talked up to the news. Rare was the occurence when a song would end right when the news began!
Nowadays, a computer does it all. The music director puts all the songs onto the hard drive, the traffic director enters the commercials, and the program director determines when the commercial breaks will occur. The computer then schedules the whole day. If there are too many songs for the hour, it just skips them, and starts the new hour. And network newscasts are never live. They record automatically, and then play back at the scheduled time. Nine times out of ten, the DJ isn't live, either. Before I got out of radio, I could go into the production room and record an entire four-hour show in fifteen minutes. I'd be writing copy, or recording commercials in another room while I was "on the air." It's why I quit. Everything is so regimented now, and there's no room for deviation. Next time you listen to the radio, see if the commercial breaks don't occur at 10 minutes after the top of the hour, 20 after, 40 after, and 50 after. And the weather at 20 and 50. And if there are only three breaks, I'd lay odds they skip the one at 10. *G*
Royal Orleans is my chance to relive the good old days. LOL!
Page, 22:40:37 12/07/09 Mon