Happy National Radio Day 2020

I tell people all the time that my career in radio was an accident, but looking back, I see that it really wasn’t.

Growing up, radio was magical to me. I made a microphone out of Tinkertoys. I played DJ with my record player, imitating my favorite DJ's trying to "talk up" a song before I even knew what that meant. My heroes were guys like Philadelphia radio legends Hy Lit and Joe Niagra., and too many NYC radio personalities to even begin to mention.

I was the stereotypical kid with the transistor radio under the pillow at night listening with an earplug, trying to find the farthest radio station I could get (answer – it was in St. Louis and it was a Cardinals game).

On family trips to New York, it was the sight of various AM transmitter towers sitting “somewhere in the swamps of Jersey” (to quote that Springsteen guy) that always fascinated me.

Radio immediately transported me to a completely different world via theater-of-the-mind. When William B. Williams spoke of "The Make Believe Ballroom," I could literally see it in my head. And when my cousin turned me on to New York City FM rock radio at the age of 13, I couldn't believe what I heard at all, to paraphrase the great Lou Reed.

Yet even with some on-air experience in high school at WMTR in Morristown, and in college at Fordham University on the campus station, it wasn’t until my junior year in college that I actually started thinking of radio as a career path.

What has followed since then was the great fortune to work at two heritage rock radio stations over the course of my career, including nearly 22 years at WDHA. As the host of the WDHA Morning Jolt, it never ceases to amaze me that my voice might be the first one you hear each day when the alarm goes off. The daily challenge to make a connection with you as a listener is something I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world. Happy #NationalRadioDay!

John Gorka Live On All Mixed Up

Singer-songwriter John Gorka will be my guest in the 8 AM hour tomorrow morning on "All Mixed Up." The show streams live at www.wdhafm.com.

Glen Burtnik Live On All Mixed Up

Glen Burtnik will be my guest on next Sunday's edition of All Mixed Up. You have a chance to win tickets to this exclusive, intimate performance this Sunday (December 9) beginning at 7 AM.

Glen's annual Christmas concert takes place on Saturday December 22 at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank. Complete details on the concert can be found here.

"Alice's Restaurant" - What's the Big Deal?

Every year a couple of days before Thanksgiving, it starts. It's slow at first, and then turns into a non-stop avalanche of phone calls. And no matter how many times a station runs promo announcements telling people exactly when it will be played, the calls still come.

"What time are you playing 'Alice's Restaurant?'"

Poor Arlo Guthrie. Don't get me wrong. I like Arlo. He's a part of American folk history, and honest-to-goodness he has recorded more than one song! His version of Steve Goodman's "City Of New Orleans" is among my favorite versions of the song. But for 364 days of the year, no one gives a rat's you-know-what about Arlo. Then, you get within a sniff of Thanksgiving and it's "What time are you playing 'Alice's Restaurant?'" You don't want to know how many phone calls radio stations get on this. One year when I was working Thanksgiving Day morning, I literally answered the phone with the times the song would be played that day. Not "hello," or "WNEW." Just the times that the song was being played. Kids are dying left and right in Iraq, we're spending BILLIONS of dollars a month over there, but dammit, we better get "Alice's Restaurant" on the air. Priorities, you know.

Mind you, this song - now 40 years old! - has ZERO significance in 2007. Wait - I take that back. Just like 40 years ago, we are mired in a war thousands of miles away in a place that I guarantee you many Americans couldn't find on a map if their lives depended up on it. But I digress. First, there's no longer a draft. Second, if you're not from the NYC area, you don't know the significance of Whitehall Street. And if you are under the age of fifty-freaking-two or three, there's an excellent chance you never went through a draft physical or won't understand many of the other dated references contained in the song.

One year, we had a program director at WNEW-FM who was trying to overhaul the station. He decided that we weren't going to play the song. This program director was an interesting sort of guy - no one had his home telephone number, which meant that if anything happened during off hours, no one had a means of getting in touch with him. So anyway, there's poor Ken Dashow on the air getting absolutely HAMMERED on the phone by listeners who are in a blind rage that a Thanksgiving is going to happen and WNEW-FM is not going to play this stupid song!

"It's tradition, man! How can you NOT play that song?!?!?!"

Long story short - Ken finally calls the station general manager at home who tells him to play the song. Wanna bet what went on behind the scenes on Monday morning when the PD and GM met in the hallway?

I'm all for tradition. We try to take the kids to the parade in New York every year. We gather as a family and tell stories and laugh. We tell each other how glad we are to have them in our lives. We don't need Arlo or anyone else playing in the background to make or break our holiday.

How's this for an idea - spend the $1.99 to download it to your IPOD and play the song non-stop.

So anyway, yes WDHA is playing "Alice's Restaurant" on Thanksgiving. 9 AM, noon and 6 PM. Far be it from us to mess with tradition.

Hy Lit 1934-2007

If you listened to Philadelphia Top 40 AM radio at all in the 1960's, you should remember the name Hy Lit. Hyski, as he often referred to himself on the air, was to Philadelphia radio as any of the legendary WABC jocks were to New York City radio.

Along with afternoon jock Joe Niagra, Hy Lit (6-10 PM) was the pulse of Philadelphia, rocking on WIBG with ratings numbers that are still hard to comprehend (at his peak, I think Lit had something like a 40-share at night - he virtually owned the young adult audience in Philly!). Scott Muni and Murray the K here in New York always talked about their relationships with the Beatles, but Lit could go them one better. When the Beatles first came to Philadelphia in 1964, they stayed in Lit's home instead of at a hotel.

I can't even begin to tell you how many nights I listened to Hy Lit's show on a transistor radio tucked underneath my pillow. His signature close is still in my ears -

"Lookin up at the old clockarooni on the wall, it indicates its time for Hyski to split the scene and leave it clean...make way for the Frank X Feller record machine. What say we do it again, tomorrow night 6-10 in the pm...in the meantime, inbetween time, maintain your cool, don't be nobody's fool, live love laugh be happy, and go in peace...peace and freedom for all mankind."

Hy Lit passed away on Saturday November 17 from heart and kidney failure at Paoli Hospital in Pennsylvania. He and all those guys at Wibbage, as WIBG was called back then, were instrumental in creating a love of rock & roll and radio in me at a very early age.

Rock on, Hy Lit.

Marshall Crenshaw Live On All Mixed Up - Win Tickets 9/16 and 9/23

Old friend Marshall Crenshaw will be my guest on an upcoming edition of All Mixed Up and starting this Sunday you will have a chance to win tickets to an exclusive, intimate taping which will take place on Wednesday September 26 at the Original Music School in Cedar Knolls. Be listening starting in the 7 AM hour for your chance to win. Marshall's latest CD is called What's In the Bag; his website is here.

Marshall has two NJ shows coming up - September 27 at the Stanhope House and October 6 at the Central Baptist Church in Atlantic Highlands. Click on the above link to Marshall's website for full information on those shows...and make sure you're listening to All Mixed Up these next two Sundays for your chance to win.

No Song List This Week?

Nah. No one's reading it here anyway. They're all over at AllMixedUpRadio.com.

The Songs I Played Sunday July 8, 2007

Lawyers should not attempt to tinker with technology.... Ever.

6-8AM

Opening Theme - "Signe" by Eric Clapton

Please Be With Me - Eric Clapton
Diamond In the Rough - Shawn Colvin
If You Could Read My Mind - Don McLean
How To Save A Life - Fray

Be On Your Way - Lee Alexander
The Man - Pete Yorn
Box Of Rain - Grateful Dead
8:05 - Moby Grape
Two - Ryan Adams
Brooklyn - Steely Dan

Are You Alright? - Lucinda Williams
Save It For Later - Pete Townshend
The Fever - Bruce Springsteen

Perfectly - Judd & Maggie
Best You Ever Had - Joe Colledge
Sway - Rolling Stones
The Door - Keb' Mo'
Everything But You - Glen Phillips
Nightswimming - R.E.M

8-10AM

You're All I Have - Snow Patrol
Crash Into Me - Dave Matthews Band
Driven To Tears - Police
Could You Be Loved - Bob Marley & the Wailers

If I Broke the Record - Dave Potts
Our Country - John Mellencamp
It Must Have Happened - Mary Chapin Carpenter

On A Night Like This - Bob Dylan
One Headlight -
Feelin' To Know - Poco
Full Moon Nights In Pine View Heights - Trailer Park Troubadours
Rebels - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
You Make It Easy - Golden Smog
Teacher Teacher - Rockpile
Mr. Soul - Rush
Dream Big - Ryan Shupe & the RubberBand

Beauty Of A Broken Heart - Page McConnell
Times Like These - Foo Fighters
Two Hearts - Ryan Adams
Harvest Moon - Neil Young

Ain't Wastin' Time No More - Allman Brothers Band
Follow You Down - Gin Blossoms
Got My Mind Set On You - George Harrison
Calling All Angels - Train

Closing Theme - "Take Five" by the Dave Brubeck Quartet

Thanks for listening this morning. Enjoy the All Star Game.

The Songs I Played Sunday July 1, 2007

Here is a list of the songs I played this morning.
6-8AM

Opening Theme - "Signe" by Eric Clapton

Happiness - Weepies
Help Me - Joni Mitchell
These Things - Tim O'Reagan
Bandit - Neil Young

Goodnight Rose - Ryan Adams *
Human - Pretenders
The Door Into Summer - Monkees
O Mary Don't You Weep - Bruce Springsteen
Is This Love - Bob Marley & the Wailers
Perfectly - Judd & Maggie

Two - Ryan Adams *
Sing My Songs To Me/For Everyman - Jackson Browne
Kiss From Eve - Gandalf Murphy & the Slambovian Circus Of Dreams

For Us - Pete Yorn
Forget Her - Jeff Buckley
Californication - Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Sun Also Sets - Ryan Adams*
Crush - Dave Matthews Band

8-10AM

This Is Us - Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris
Undeniably Human - Phil Roy
Before This Time - Ollabelle
Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen - Santana

Rip Off - Ryan Adams *
Everything But You - Glen Phillips
Almost Hear You Sigh - Rolling Stones
Missing You - John Waite & Alison Krauss

Full Moon Nights in Pine View Heights - Trailer Park Troubadours
Times Like These - Foo Fighters
Shinin' Brightly - Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band
Two Hearts - Ryan Adams *
Dance Tonight - Paul McCartney
Two Steps Behind - Def Leppard
You Are All I Have - Snow Patrol
House We Used To Live In - Smithereens
It Must Have Happened - Mary Chapin Carpenter

Vahevala - Loggins & Messina
Happy - Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes
The Picture - Son Volt
Two Lights In the Nighttime - Bonnie Raitt

If I Broke the Record - Dave Potts
Seven Turns - Allman Brothers Band
Water Song - Hot Tuna

Closing Theme - "Take Five" by the Dave Brubeck Quartet

* from the new CD Easy Tiger now available

Thanks for listening this morning. Have a great Fourth!

New Logo For My Sunday Morning Radio Show

How do you like it? I had been tossing some ideas around for awhile, but couldn't come up with anything I really liked. Thanks to Tom Hackett who put this together using some baseball team I happen to root for as the theme.