Episode 50: The Final Show

     Over the last 20 months, I’ve been conducting an experiment. The main questions I was attempting to answer were the following. (1) Would it be possible to do an adult-centered radio show (rather than an obscurantist indie-snob show) drawn entirely from my own CD library? (2) Could I do said show without ever repeating a song that I had played on a previous episode? And, in the end, (3) would I find or develop a significant audience in the process? That is, would I be able to open listeners’ ears in the way that some of my favorite DJs of the last few decades—e.g., Vi Francis on Fisk University’s WRFN, Dick Shannon on Nashville’s WKDA and Matt Swanson on Vanderbilt University’s WRVU in the 1980s; Liz Copeland, Martin Bandyke and Judy Adams on Wayne State University’s WDET in the 1990s and the early part of this decade—managed to do, unwittingly, for me?
     The answers to the first two questions are an easy “yes.” The answer to the last question, at least based on the evidence at my disposal, is a resounding “no.” In part, I think the group of people who might be most interested in my show is not coterminous with the one that regularly listens to WHPK. But I knew that from the start. Initially, I hoped that the promised, near-horizon arrival of webcasting might be the bridge between my show and those listeners. What I couldn’t have known is that the implementation of webcasting at the station is about as likely to happen as is your receiving a lot of money if you respond to one of those e-mails issuing from “Nigeria.”
     Nonetheless, the show was a lot of fun to do. I got to discover a lot of new things in the process of searching for music that would make for satisfying, sometimes revelatory shows. Along the way, I also improved markedly as a radio DJ, making the most of a frequently imperfect monitoring situation in the studio as well as not always well-maintained equipment.
     For those I can name as being among my most loyal listeners (some of whom listened in real-time, others of whom heard the secret podcast), I have nothing but heartfelt thanks for their support, feedback and commentary (this means you, Dawn, Michael, Melissa, Dan, Mariel, Lauren, Rashida and Michelle). I don't have any plans to return to radio—not even when, if ever, WHPK does start to webcast. Neither do I have the desire to produce a podcast, as some people have suggested. I’m most interested right now in getting back to the mode of listening I had before starting the show—one that was about tickling my ears and expanding my sonic world without the need to please an audience (or not piss off a program director/format chief—though there’s no evidence I ever did). Even more, though, I want to do some things that mean a lot more to me that have sadly been on the back burner for the duration of ECI’s run: writing and recording music as well as, gasp, doing the research and writing that I enjoy and that, let’s face it, pays my bills.
     So where do you go, now that ECI is no more? Well, in addition to whatever other sources you have for your music jones, you might try these, all of which I listen to on a fairly regular basis:

• Vidro Azul. Since I described this show (available as a podcast) in a previous post, I’ll not repeat myself here. Use the link to read what I wrote.
• Alternate Take with Liz Copeland . Many of my friends know that LC is one of my favorite radio DJs ever. Using the link included, you can hear the five previous five-hour episodes of her show. The procedure, however, is a bit user-unfriendly: you have to select a show and a date before you receive a Windows Media stream, and you always have to do so manually. But the show itself is great.
• Morning Becomes Eclectic. While I preferred the version of this show that aired in the late 1990s, when Chris Douridas was the host, it’s still one of the best places to hear an eclectic mix of music, one that equally embraces obscure and popular artists alike. While there isn’t a podcast option that covers the broadcast program (you'll have to stream individual episodes), you can use the podcast option to hear the live, in-studio performances by bands who are visiting the Los Angeles area, using this link.
• Pandora. This isn’t a radio program per se, but in some ways it functions like one. I include it here mostly because it can be a great way for you to learn about music similar to those things you already like, and especially tracks from other genres that you might not ever have thought to give a try.

     So ... you probably want to know something more about the track listing below. Before I can get to the show proper, there’s the matter of the song in parentheses at the top of the show. David Waldman, host of the Evil Show wanted to leave the studio a little early, so the Beth Orton track could be considered a prelude to the show I had planned. And on that show, there isn’t a track that I don’t absolutely adore. Figuring out the sequence was, as was the case last week, exceedingly difficult. In the end, the strategy that worked was placing the killer tracks at the beginning and end of each hour. Beyond there, I tried to distribute all the others in a way that sonically made sense, judiciously sprinkling noisy and/or long tracks throughout the three hours. Thus, while it might make sense to think of the last hour as containing the best of the best—and to a degree that’s true—you shouldn’t necessarily think that those ten tracks are better than the rest. Likewise, you might not want to sleep on the tracks come between the beginnings and ends of hours. What you can believe, with absolute certainty, is that the track that closes the show—all the more fitting because it comes from the last new release by the band in question—would be the one I’d want to hear if I knew that after it played I would never hear music again. It seems the most proper way to say goodbye. While I wasn’t at all sure whether I would be wistful putting the show to bed for the last time, I did almost get choked up right at the end but managed to save the sadness for the walk home.
     Thanks for reading, and thanks even more for listening. I hope you enjoyed the ride as much as I did....

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• (Beth Orton, “She Cries Your Name,” Trailer Park, Dedicated)
• The Apartments, “No Hurry,” Apart, Hot
• The Sundays, “My Finest Hour,” Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, Geffen
• Allen Toussaint, “Brickyard Blues,” The Complete Warner Brothers Recordings, Rhino
• Morsel, “Pieces,” Para Siempre, Small Stone
• Dead Can Dance, “The Cardinal Sin,” Spleen and Ideal, 4AD
• Split Enz, “One Step Ahead,” Waiata, Mushroom
• Junior Boys, “Three Words,” Last Exit, Domino
• Wham!, “Careless Whisper,” Make It Big, Columbia
• My Bloody Valentine, “Soon,” Glider EP, Sire
• The Blow Monkeys, “Wildfiower,” Forbidden Fruit EP, RCA
• Radiohead, “Climbing Up the Walls,” OK Computer, Capitol

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• Bob Marley and the Wailers, “Babylon System,” Survival, Tuff Gong
• Leslie Feist, “Let It Die,” Let It Die, Polydor
• The Waterboys, “The Pan Within,” This Is the Sea, Chrysalis
• The Flaming Lips, “Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell,” Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Warner Brothers
• World Party, “Ship of Fools,” Private Revolution, Chrysalis
• The Cinematic Orchestra, “Man with the Movie Camera,” Every Day, Ninja Tune
• Nina Simone, “I Put a Spell on You,” I Put a Spell on You, Philips
• Apostle of Hustle, “Animal Fat,” Folkloric Feel, Arts and Crafts
• Slowdive, “Souvlaki Space Station,” Souvlaki, SBK
• David Sylvian, “Before the Bullfight,” Gone to Earth, Virgin

• 2:00–3:00 a.m.:
• The Durutti Column, “Tomorrow,” Bread and Circuses, Factory
• The Smiths, “This Night Has Opened My Eyes,” Hatful of Hollow, Rough Trade
• Red House Painters, “Medicine Bottle,” Down Colorful Hill, 4AD
• Sam Cooke, “A Change Is Gonna Come,” Ain’t That Good News, RCA Victor
• Prince, “Scandalous,” Batman, Warner Brothers
• Blur, “Strange News from Another Star,” Blur, Virgin
• Tanya Donelly, “The Storm,” Beautysleep, 4AD
• Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions, “On the Low,” Bavarian Fruit Bread, Rough Trade
• Cocteau Twins, “Pearly Dewdrops’ Drops,” The Spangle Maker EP, 4AD
• Talk Talk, “After the Flood,” Laughing Stock, Polydor