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Watching The WavsI know….why was there no blog two weeks ago, last week, and this week? It was discovered recently that I may have Trigeminal Neuralgia. This comes from having Shingles in the past. What this does is irritate nerves in the side of the face. Now I was adamant that I at least cover all bases and go to a dentist and make sure no wisdom teeth were possibly causing problems. But according to doctors, I was a moron and didn’t know what I was talking about. Monday I had to go to the emergency room. The pain was so bad I couldn’t see out of my left eye. They gave me 2 percocets, migraine medicine, and an appointment with a neurologist. By the middle of the week, the attacks were fast and worse. My neurologist was very nice, and genuinely concerned. I told him what I thought, and like the others, thought I was nuts. Thursday morning at
6:4friggin5 AM, I was at South Jersey Radiology for an MRI. The girl that set it up was painfully attractive despite looking like she just woke up. There are people that are scared to death of MRI’s. It’s called claustrophobia. People break into hives thinking about going in the tube. I have to be honest, even if I did have a fear of it; I was so friggin tired that I slept through it, anyway. I got out of the tube and told the MRI tech she was beautiful. I wasn’t trying to pick her up or anything but I felt it was just something I had to say. She lit up. It made my day to make someone else’s. I went home and slept. I was physically exhausted. Toast. Spent. Done. My mom called me to have lunch which I was very skeptical about. Eating has become a challenge as of late. Thursday night, I couldn’t take it anymore. I decided it was time to go to the dentist to kill the bird with the stone. I was now hell bent to prove that maybe, just maybe, a tooth was causing this. Let’s put it this way, I was partially right. So the moral of the story is, don’t always doubt your gut. My jaw pain is gone, but I still have the faint pain in my face. But let’s see what happens. This week my project was to get every station ID from every interview I have ever done, and compile them all onto CD. At first it seemed like it couldn’t be that difficult, but then I realized I opened up a big can of worms. I have done hundreds of interviews. There are many, many station ID’s. So I had to transfer some from CD to Adobe, chop them up, clean them, raise the amplitude without ruining the integrity, then name them. The tougher ones were the ones on tape. Which means I’d have to run through a tape or reel to reel, burn them to a CDRW on my CD burner, which is not a computer component, but an actual stereo TDK unit. I love it. It’s the jewel of my system. It’s turnover rate in successful burns totally outweighs a CD burner on a CPU. But there are drawbacks. It won’t burn data discs, but it sure helps on those old vinyl records that never made it to CD. At any rate, I burnt all the ID’s that I have easy access to, to some 7 compact discs. It was nuts. Some didn’t burn right, some did but didn’t track right, and the others, they just came up blank. All in all it was a success, but, I just realized there are more ID’s I didn’t know I had. UGH.
I Scored A Zero This HourSunday November 5th, I woke to exhaustion, and wanted sleep. I was this close to calling the
innovator to tell him I couldn’t take the drive to the NJ Proghouse. But instead, he talked me into it. Next thing I know I was blasting down the road to Gibbsboro listening to Phillip Bailey and Phil Collins doing Easy Lover. I was rocking. YEAH THAT’S RIGHT, I WAS LISTENING TO EASY LOVER AND LOVING IT. Once we arrived at the Innovator’s, we headed to Central Jersey with Troy Tipton, bassist of the powerhouse progressive metal band
Zero Hour. Their new album
Specs Of Pictures Burnt Beyond is a gem. This is the first Zero Hour album to do this great in requests on the program on all three sides (IM, email, phones) in their catalog. We drove up the turnpike and rapped about people and musicians who take themselves way too seriously, and the secrets of barbecuing. We arrived at the
NJPROGHOUSE to find my favorite people. Jim Robinson was there with his wife and child, while the worst infection of Ray Laboda approached. The food was there. THE BEST COLD CUTS IN METUCHEN. Good salami, good prosciutto, good provolone, good rolls. Great fruit and vegetable spread. I felt like I was at my mom’s on New Years. Then there was Kenny Lesko. This guy is usually miserable. But that day, Bony Marone looked a little more miserable and lacking sleep. Speaking of lacking sleep and a touch of the flu was our Nearfest Bethlehem engineer Kevin Feele. He looked beat up. Like someone backed over him. Jon Yarger was there as well, looking at every piece of female meat that walked in there. Then there was Mike Emerson, as always a very happy, nice guy willing to talk to anyone. Ken and I pigged out. Then the band Suspyre were the opening act. They were good, almost Symphony Xish…but then it was time. Time for a sandwich. Then Zero Hour took to the stage. I came out to see the start of the show. Everything seemed cool, until the arrival of ‘the couple’. The guy, was about 6 foot 2, and almost 300 pounds. The girl, was 5 foot 3, and loud. Well, they both were. They sat up in the front. Everything seemed to be going fine until about halfway through the set which by the way went like this:
Specs
Evidence
Falcon’s
There For Me
Strategem
Reflections
Demise And Vestige
The Temple Within
Face The Fear
Eyes Of Denial
Voice Of Reason
The next thing I know, she gets up and starts gyrating in front of the singer Chris Salinas. Now keep in mind, this is not a club we are in. This is not an arena. This is an early 1800’s schoolhouse about the size of a small gas station. She leaves the front of the stage, and runs to the kitchen and starts talking to every person that walks by and if it was a guy, was hanging on them. I had just lit a cigarette when I saw her coming. She comes outside and her voice was at concert hall pitch. The next thing I thought was, ‘jesus…is she from Gloucester or something?’ She then asks:
“Hey, where are you from?”
“South Jersey.”
“WOW! ME TOO!”
“Cool…lemme guess…Gloucester?”
“WOW HOW DID YOU KNOW??!?!??”
She started hugging me. At this point I am thinking, if a girl like this hugging me with a linebacker for a boyfriend roaming the proghouse and can walk out at anytime, it’s time to walk away. I go in and Zero Hour continues on. She comes back in, walks to the front of the audience again. Innovator is rocking. In the best way he can, while Jim, with no expression on his face at all, was having the best time he could ever have other than working for Laser’s Edge. Karl Eisenhart was excellent by the way. Karl is the sound board engineer that knew JUST WHEN to raise the guitars on key parts. It was great. He did a hell of a job. Kevin Feeley looked like death and was wrapped tight like a bug. Fighting the flu, he still pressed on and oversaw the entire production. Just then, I turned to see the girl is in front of the stage again. This time, grabbing the microphone and feeling up the Tipton brothers while they performed. And I could see that Jason’s girlfriend was being observant while this nonsense ensued. Then the girl turns and looks at the audience of maybe 30 people and insists that they aren’t showing any spirit. THERE ARE 30 PEOPLE IN HERE. If they were to get up and act they way you are, it would be a fire hazard. Not to mention the whole place may collapse. Next thing you know the cops arrive. I run outside while Jim and the rest of the staph look on. I come to find out someone complained about the noise. And it wasn’t about the band. It was about ‘The Couple’ that were outside drinking and carrying on as if they were in Gloucester City. The cops were cool, then left. The fantastic show ended, and the next thing you know, we were going down the Turnpike and hit exit 4 in no time. I chowed out on some good soup, and made it home by 11:30 to see the final 2 minutes of the New England/Indianapolis game. Thank god the Eagles were off. That’s all I can say. I can say…I totally rocked.
The French Connection
Pole called me the week before and asked if I would be interested in attending a Flyers game at the Wachovia Center. Uhhh….duh? Not to mention there was a rumor his lovely sister would be attending. It was a great day off. It was 72 degrees and I had the windows off and the stereo blasting. It was time to drive to Greg’s with an over abundance of Genesis music in light of the recent news of the trio’s reunion. I knew it was going to happen and wasn’t that disappointed. I am a Genesis fan. I could care less if it’s the 1978-1992 lineup. If it wasn’t for that Genesis, I would not know anything about progressive rock. They opened the door to big things for me. So I could care less what my friends think. Cough cough Roger and Jack cough cough. I arrived in Clarksboro with the urge to drop a puck on someone’s head. The Flyers would be playing the Islanders. My last appearance at a Flyers game was in April in 2000. Game One of the Eastern Conference Championship Finals. It was a loss. 4-1. So my lifetime record at Flyers games: 0-1.
Greg and I left for beautiful South Philadelphia. There is a big difference between going to a Flyers game, and going to an Eagles game. First, the atmosphere. Sadly, these Flyers fans do not react as strong to their play when they are not doing well. I mean they do, but nowhere near the intensity as Eagles fans. I mean first of all, Eagles fans start throwing bodies down the bleachers. Flyers fans just turn away and yell stuff like
“Hey guys, we go this way..” pointing to the opposing team’s net. Or other stuff like
“RATHJE, YOU SUCK”. As the Flyers skated on ice, or if you want to call it that, you could see immediately why the Flyers are not good this year. Every team is two times smaller than them. This is clearly not going to work in the new NHL. Arriving late to the game was Greg’s sister Trina. Trina is amazing…and I will just leave it at that. She was the only one that seemed as excited as I got for music at the Flyers game. Well there had to be something other than the 3-1 debacle I would call previous to the game. We then went up to Victor’s Club where Trina found a wedding band, and where Greg would find cold Miller Light beers with Brian Propp in the background. It was then off to Finnegan’s Wake in the Spring Garden section of the city. It was then I realized how old I was. I know I still get carded for cigarettes and alcohol, but I realized I was 34 that night. Young girls with tattoos drinking shots of lemon drops, shots out of test tubes, and shots out of each other’s chest. At 26, I would have been like
“WOOOOO HOOOOO! THIS IS FRIGGIN AWESOME!!!” (followed by puking on dance floor). Now I found myself a shy person…almost kidlike not maintaining eye contact with anyone. When did I age? Greg kept the night lively with shots of Vodka but it wasn’t the goose. It was the Ketel. Not a fan of the aftertaste. I went outside to smoke to find two groups of people ready to throw down. The out of town group to my left had a guy who was trying to be funny, but the Philly faithful group to my right was a bit uptight. Hey I rhymed there. Anyway, I watched back and forth as if it was a tennis match till finally everyone chilled and went back inside. I sighed and smiled. Brotherly love baby. Lifetime record at Flyers games: 0-2
Industrial Zen
There have been moments in the past where I have grabbed some exceptional guests.
November 11th was that day. When all was said and done, my interview with
John McLaughlin was one of the most gratifying interviews in my 15 year career. I was nervous, and upon listening to the playback, I could tell. Thank god for Adobe Audition that’s all I can say. John and I covered first and foremost, his new album titled Industrial Zen which features Gary Husband (Drums and keyboards);Vinnie Colaiuta (Drums); Dennis Chambers (Drums); Mark Mondesir (Drums);Hadrian Feraud (Bass) who is friggin awesome by the way; Matthew Garrison(Bass); Tony Grey (Bass); Zakir Hussain (Tablas);Shankar Mahadevan (vocals); Ada Rovatti (Soprano and Tenor Sax); Marcus Wippersberg (Drum Programming); Otmaro Ruiz (Synthesizer); Bill Evans(Soprano Sax); and Eric Johnson (guitar). We touched on the recent book written by my good friend Walter Kolosky titled Power Passion and Beauty, we also covered the recent tribute to John by drummer Gary Husband. We also talked about his astrological compositions he stylistically did in the 70’s…we covered his days in the Mahavishnu Orchestra and a recent dream he had about playing with them. Who knows, maybe one day it will happen. But all in all I can say, it was the greatest feeling I had in a post interview/production ever. I was giddy. I realized why I do this week to week. And the big moment was, wondering how the audience would take it. Part 1 went without a hitch and the response was overwhelming. And not just from listeners, but from bands and well known recording artists. Sometimes you wonder whose listening. At 2am. I realized more than I expected.
The Indians InvadeAfter the show I was on a natural high. First time I felt that way in a while. And there was still the second part of John McLaughlin to air! By the time I got home I tried forcing myself to go to
sleep. Not happening. While checking in on seeing how the top 100 voting was going (friggin spammers) and still answering 50 some emails in regards to the interview alone, I watched Sissy Spacek in Carrie. Now what does this have to do with anything? NOTHING. I have seen this movie a hundred times. But for some reason, it bothered me this time. I most likely was tired from no sleep, but just seeing this cute, plain jane girl being tortured by her peers, her mother, her kinetic powers and ultimately herself, I found myself yelling at the TV going, “See?? That’s what you get. You shoulda just left her alone.” Brian DePalma films rule. Anyway, I started to nod waiting for my brother in law to arrive at this normal 730 AM – 8 am time frame. I had all the tailgating tools ready. All I had to do was just get up and be ready for Rob. Well guess what. I was asleep all of 10 minutes when Rob knocked on the door. I scurried to get my clothes on and leave for the thing I wait for most, Eagles Football. I realized I was deliriously tired. No one was on 295. The only commuters were those painted in green. I smiled. We arrived at our lot and were set up with the tent by 8:30. Rob had the new George Forman grill, and I had the Genesis CD’s in a frenzy. Grilling began after my 2nd beer in 19 minutes, and the smell of bacon covered scalloped enveloped us. By 10:30, shrimps were on the barbi, and I was
totally lit. With just 10 minutes sleep, the beer was keeping me rolling. Rob calls my sister (his wife) and demands she leaves Wal-Mart, get in her car, drive to the house and do his fantasy picks before kick off. I LAUGHED MY ASS OFF. YOU ARE GOING TO GET DANA TO DO THAT? HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHA. I laughed for 20 straight minutes. I don’t know what I laughed harder at, the fact he was dead serious, or the fact he chose the girl that once said to me, “Well a bear can beat a dolphin easily. And anyway, their colors are just too bright.” The next thing I knew, a girl was trying to take piss in front of our truck. Rob had to get a picture. Finally we walk into the stadium. The Eagles are routing the Skins. Next thing you know, we were leaving. I was so tired I was seeing double. Once we got home we grilled those steaks up and the weekend was complete.
Rest In Peace Yan HazeraAfter some online difficulties with Aural Moon, program 979 was caught for the internet audience just before the second part of the McLaughlin interview aired. This part featured us talking about learning different kinds of music, and the fears involving prog rock and fusion fans stepping into the unknown with something they might actually like instead of criticizing it. All in all it was a great show but with the sad news of Yan Hazera, I couldn’t help but realize how fragile life really is. Yan was the guitarist of the project Zaar who released their self titled album on the Cuneiform records this year. He was also part of the project from a few years prior titled Sotos which also came out on Cuneiform. The only news we received was that he passed away in Spain. Sad. Young as well. I also did a recap of all the top ranking albums in the top 100 from year to year going back to 1996. It was a lot of fun looking back on those memories. They aren’t just albums….they were the buzzes from year to year. They are pieces of the past. In case you didn’t know the top ranking discs every year on the show went like this:
1991: Yes Years Box Set (Top 20)
1992: Emerson, Lake, and Palmer – Black Moon (Top 20)
1993: Ozric Tentacles -- Jurassic Shift (Top 50)
1994: Yes -- Talk (Top 50)
1995: King Crimson -- Thrak (Top 100)
1996: Anekdoten -- Nucleus
1997: Steve Hackett -- Genesis Revisited
1998: Djam Karet -- The Devouring
1999: Nathan Mahl – The Clever Use Of Shadows
2000: Transatlantic – SMPTe
2001: McGill/Manring/Stevens – Addition By Subtraction
2002: Deus Ex Machina – Cinque
2003: Kaipa – Keyholder
2004: White Willow – Storm Season
2005: The Mars Volta – Francis The Mute
Titanic Loss
Pole called me Friday and asked what I would be doing on Sunday for the game. I told him most
likely I would be watching it at home. He replied: “Oh ok, you have plans, never mind”.
“Why what are you doing for the game?”
“Oh I thought that maybe you’d want to watch it from Club Box seats…no sweat I understand.”
“DUDE. I will go.”
We laughed all the way to the stadium. Well, until we walked in when it was then that the lowly Titans scored the first touchdown. Then shortly after that, we are at the one yard line, and I have my cell phone cocked and ready to call my mother so she can hear the Eagles Fight Song sung by 50,000 faithful. Well, unfortunately, that phone sat on pause as the ball was intercepted. Then before you know it the cart is being called out to take Donovan off the field. I could see the disappointment around me. I must have smoked about 5 cigarettes in the bathroom realizing the season was in fact over. How this team parallels my life is just amazing. Pole’s determination that Garcia could get us in to win this game was beyond me. Then out of the blue a guy from the row behind me goes, SORIANO WENT TO THE CUBS! GO PHILLY! I just grunted at this point. Why are we meant to suffer? Why us? This just doesn’t seem to make sense. Is it really a curse? Is it? I don’t even care anymore. I am so done it’s unbelievable. Once we got outside I had to keep Greg from killing himself. He looked like his pet just died. Then we get the word 45 minutes later, DONOVAN, TORN ACL. OUT FOR A YEAR. Nice. Just the way I wanted to keep things rolling on a positive note. A big old bag of smoked ribs closed out the night and what can I say, Pole is the man. Great ribs, great seats, but crappy football team. Oh well, this is life. Life is full of setbacks.
Déjà vuLike a flower…slow to open…I do believe I’ve been this way before…
It’s everyman’s fantasy….to win victory….the world at his feet…..and songs of glory…Thanksgiving weekend approached with the slow finish of the top 100 voting. People were pretty direct this year with the voting which I was happy with. Some spamming that poor Joe dealt with on a daily basis…but you always have to remind people….it’s for entertainment. I mean, the top 100’s literally have been a pretty good range on what’s what at the end of each year. It’s a lot of fun actually. I am looking forward to airing it. The three weeks are pretty wild. I was wrapped up finally by mid week which would be one of the strangest ones of all. I took a wild chance driving to Bethlehem for something I thought was the real thing. It just hasn’t been great as of late. When you are single after not being single for a long time….you know, just at that peak time you know you are ready to meet people you wonder what you are going to get yourself into. I have met some cool people in the last year, some have been a learning experience. Whether it was false promises or seeing how far someone would go to get your attention in the worst way, you definitely take something from each one.
The man seems smaller…the child stands taller….but now I know that what you sow you reap….
And every day at last must die in sleep….
I think it occurred to me as I was driving back from Bethlehem that, sometimes…you just have to go for it. Even if it means, it could all implode. But I discovered that sometimes things don’t do that when they don’t work out. Sometimes, it wasn’t even there to begin with. It was pleasant optimism on your behalf. Sometimes, even when it’s the worst outcome it could be, you may have put something else to bed that needed to be there a long time ago. Sure it sucks, but you can come back from an experience like that enlightened. It may have felt like a loss, but…I gained so much in knowing what I want.
You want to know the story of my life….
The only sin….is not loving enough….
The summation was clear...I never do stuff like that. That was a drive. I finally thought someone was on the same page. I was restless with it, though. Finally my attention was caught without wanting to cringe. Despite being apprehensive...I just did it. Took the chance. I wasn’t going to waste the light. In hindsight I think it was kind of absurd to expect so much. I crossed that line, you know? I know it was drawn so long ago, and no one comes close to that line…but it was finally crossed. It's nothing I planned to feel. This is quite fascinating, actually. I swore the field goal was good. Immaturity, disappointment and heartache were to pass. I promised myself to not walk on by. God knows how many times I hemmed and hawed and hurt people in the process.
I do believe I’ve been this way before….
You want to know the future? The last act....in a play…
A book that falls apart…..with a missing last page….
All the pastures, fall to wasteland….
You can’t take back the fruits you once enjoyed….Maybe the weather was trying to tell me something that night…amidst the obstacles I had getting there. I realized once it was all said and done that it was something I didn't think it was…with the only difference being 100 some odd miles. I slowly walked to my Jeep with rain and wind being a bit ironic yet in a strange way, very emblematic. I drove away and the phone calls roared in on my cell with the twenty questions....I knew. I didn't want to know that I listened to what my inside was saying. Yeah I guess I know it was all for naught. I just hate how it all sounds. But seeing that I was interested was profound. Even if it was in the rain…..the pouring rain.
But now I know I’ve been this way before….
for the final part of the top 100. For some unknown reason to me and my internet provider, my script became corrupted. In essence I had to rewrite the whole thing again. Eh…good thing I kept notes. My good friend Pole had the 35th annual Feast Of The Seven Polish Fishes. Once I arrived, I fell in love. Not with Trina, but the lump crab deviled eggs. They were fabulous. Here is what was on the menu the rest of the night:
taking a headcount online and it was discovered that this was clearly the most listened to show of 2006. We kicked it off at #30 and the disc from Terje Rypdal and the powerful Vossabryg, then moved into Ray Russell’s Goodbye Svengali. The rest of the night was a blur. Until the final 10. I started feeling my intensity as we got closer….I was on track in rare form with the clock as well. I knew they were listening, and the numbers were pulsating higher. Calls came in from everywhere; South Carolina, Ottawa Canada, The Jersey Pines, San Francisco, New York City, Montreal, Phoenix, and the Jersey shore. I may have forgotten some other calls. At any rate, as the countdown got closer to number one, I started getting tenser. I was getting more excited as I closed in. Even the Polish Feast attendees were listening as I corrected my engagement status with other listeners that obviously couldn’t take a joke. Poor Trina. The final 10 rolled down while I am answering instant messages, answering phones, answering emails and trying to fit a cigarette in the midst of the chaos. In the meantime, I was happy to hear from Ben who kept me somewhat grounded during the buildup to the finish. Then the final 5. Then, 4….then 3….then 2….then 1. The top 100 was over. Pure Reason Revolution was the #1 album of 2006 in voting and rightly so. All that work that began Halloween weekend with the kick off of the internet poll, poor Joe being a referee from 10/31 to 11/23, me being a tyrant and checking frequently to see what was happening in votes every end of the day, adding CD’s forgotten in the original list, answering emails related to (directly and indirectly) the poll, then having to talk with notable outsiders to make sure it ‘seemed’ right. When all was said and done it was like I just gave birth….to a statistician for a record company. I felt deflated. It was done. The top 100 of 06 is finished. Wow. It’s over. Every year I feel this way at the end but this one seemed almost like…..hmm…..like a football team that was firing on all cylinders going into the playoffs. That’s pretty much how it felt….this was the most organized team on paper going into it. But, like so many things in life, it came to an end. I later drove to Big Bob’s and received feedback including seeing Rohario who has recently left his paid post along with several other old schoolers from my company. All I can say is, I beat you Alan. I outlasted you. I won. God works in strange ways eh? Now I just wish I had one of those crab filled deviled eggs.
Eagles must play better next week to beat the filth of the NFL in the Giants. After the game I rushed back home to get ready for the Australian Pink Floyd show that Salty Serlenga was adamant that I go to. I have seen The Machine before, and tons of bar bands play the music of Pink Floyd. But they said that this was the real deal sound wise. So, Big Bob was our limo driver yet again, and was well equipped. By 6:00, Bob arrived with a van packed full of people. The 2 Dans, Josh, Chris and Salty. We stopped off at Benash liquor store and then Wawa, and made our way to the city of brotherly love. Once we arrived, the queen was a monarch, and the trees were in full bloom. We tailgated for a solid 45 minutes and entered the Tower Theater. I sat with Salty who once again was disappearing every 20 minutes to get a beer, soda, and water. I hardly moved from my seat, only to pee but the set went like this, beginning to end:
We made it back into Jersey before you knew it…. My thoughts reflect on the Eagles next game against the dirty, filthy, classless New York Giants. Eagles win 31-16 this coming weekend. I could be wrong, but it’s how I feel at this point. If they in fact win, the Eagles could be scary moving into the playoffs. I decided the couch would be my friend tonight. The lights dimmed, the temperature dropped, and I fell asleep amidst the backdrop of the NFL Network week 14 highlights…all was well at the dead end court. I write this in 18.
