Radio

Back when I was 16 years old I listened to the radio a lot. I didn't have an mp3 player or even any mp3s to play. So instead I turned to radio. I didn't have a real radio as such but I had my clock radio which, when I was going to sleep, I would turn way down low and put it close to my ears so I could hear it. Radio is interesting if the stations are good ones. You begin to identify a bit with the personalities of the DJs and their on-air mannerisms, and when a song finishes you welcome their intrusion. This only applies, of course, if the station you're listening to is a good one.

The station I'm describing is a rock station in Colorado Springs. For a long time they were the only rock station in the city, and as such developed a following. When competitors started doing their own thing on the airwaves, it was the talent that the original station had gathered in their DJs, as well as the following they gathered around them, that kept that station ahead of everyone else. They were entertaining, they were great to listen to (if you've ever listened to a podcast that's pretty informal then you know where I'm coming from) and you could always expect them to be there at the same times every day. They knew a lot about the culture, they were guys (and girls) that you would like to have a beer with.

Of course, I wasn't really cognizant of all of this until I moved to a new town that was largely country and pop stations, and every station had terrible, annoying DJs. It was just an all around crappy experience for someone who was used to coming home, turning on the radio, and relaxing. It's like a tv show you enjoy and watch every day is suddenly cancelled and replaced by a reality show starring drag queens. Not only were there no decent songs being played, but on the stations I could listen to the DJs were at best bland and at worse fucking annoying. I missed the songs and the DJs that I had grown to enjoy and expect on the radio, naively. Eventually I just got tired of the whole deal and stopped listening to the radio altogether. Until, of course, I moved back to Colorado Springs, at which point I was overjoyed that I had that station back, and could properly appreciate the hard work and love the DJs put into the job. It does take real talent to do that and I was really grateful to be able to indulge my escapism with these people and their music for a little while longer.

And then I discovered pirating and the internet and now I haven't listened to the radio in years.