The news early this morning confirming the death of rock legend Tom Petty is still a shock. Petty, just 66, had completed a major tour this summer and was active on his Twitter account as recently as Saturday. I alluded in yesterday's post to a long-lost mixtape of all Petty songs being a staple in … Continue reading Positively Petty: A TP Top 40
Rest in peace, Tom Petty: “Don’t Come Around Here No More” (1985)
(Above: Tom Petty from the coolest video of 1985.) This one's going to be hard to write. I have a list of them in my head: the musical obits that will be tricky ones for me, because the music that the people who will be featured in them meant so much to my formative years. … Continue reading Rest in peace, Tom Petty: “Don’t Come Around Here No More” (1985)
The Day of the Big Gulp: WLS Top 45s, August 1979
(Above: The Brementowne pool. Not pictured: the WLS Magic Bus.) Yesterday's piece on how going back home is impossible got me thinking: What if time travel is possible on a blog? What if we try to preserve the memories in print? (If I can jog enough memories, can they take on a life of their … Continue reading The Day of the Big Gulp: WLS Top 45s, August 1979
Fall, football, and forgetting: U2, “A Sort of Homecoming” (1985)
(Above: My senior picture, Fall 1985. You'd think someone would have said "Do you want a comb?") The past week has been Homecoming Week at my high school. I was at Victor J. Andrew High School in Tinley Park for four years. I haven't been back to it in twenty, or five times as long … Continue reading Fall, football, and forgetting: U2, “A Sort of Homecoming” (1985)
College radio classics: The Pursuit of Happiness, “I’m An Adult Now” (1988)
(Above: Cassette single version released in Canada. It's a Canadian Cassingle.) The fall of 1988 can best be described - in my life, anyway - as "the awkward transition." On the one hand I was a typical college kid, dealing with classes, girls, and getting into trouble after class by sneaking in to the campus … Continue reading College radio classics: The Pursuit of Happiness, “I’m An Adult Now” (1988)
College radio classics: Squeeze, “Hourglass” (1987)
(Above: Another 45 that college radio made me buy. It was a very expensive extra-curricular.) As a part of my month-long celebration of college radio (lining up with the fact that I started in it 30 years ago, which is surreal), I've been going through surviving recordings of shows from my freshman year in radio. … Continue reading College radio classics: Squeeze, “Hourglass” (1987)
One morning in college radio: WLRA-FM, September 19, 1988
(Above: Screen shot from Lewis University's "Network Video Hour," fall, 1988. No, I really dressed like that.) September 19, 1988 was a Monday morning. I had just settled into my regular schedule as "every day" morning host on Lewis University's WLRA-FM. There's a show from a week earlier that exists, but I chose this one … Continue reading One morning in college radio: WLRA-FM, September 19, 1988
College radio classics: The Cure, “Just Like Heaven” (1987)
(Above: the 45 "picture sleeve" for "Just Like Heaven") I've mentioned in earlier posts on college radio - most recently last week's entry on my first-ever show - that one of the goals of the student station is often to introduce audiences to music that they may not be familiar with. Some stations take this … Continue reading College radio classics: The Cure, “Just Like Heaven” (1987)
College radio classics: They Might Be Giants, “Don’t Let’s Start” (1988)
(Above: This video spellbound me the first time I saw it.) Among the bands I discovered in college that stayed with me after my college radio days ended, I'd have to put They Might Be Giants at the top of the list. The hard part about this piece was "which song do I pick?" I … Continue reading College radio classics: They Might Be Giants, “Don’t Let’s Start” (1988)
The first radio show: WLRA-FM, September 5, 1987
(Above: Sometimes there's an advantage to not throwing things away.) September 5, 1987 was a Saturday. It was the start of the Labor Day weekend, I had just finished my first week of classes at Lewis University, and it was the day that I was to attempt my first scheduled radio show on the college's … Continue reading The first radio show: WLRA-FM, September 5, 1987
45 Ruminations Per Megabyte 