Jaded

Nov. 16, 2001 - Friday.

Well what a day! I just survived 10 minutes on shock jock, Russ Martin's Dallas radio show from about 4-4:10 PM. And he did all the crazy things like ring a cuckoo clock in the background while I was talking etc. Confrontational! Oh yeah. But I also got to mention a few things to his audience (the biggest at that time of the day) like 'zines' - he'd never heard of them; the Big 5, the 5 companies that control 85% of the music business (AOL/Warners, Sony BMG, Vivendi, EMI); the new 'legal' payola, promotional prizes and trips; my John Henry Challenge (you play a new song from the Big 5, I play a local song and let your listeners choose their fav.), my Musea interview with Al Brumley, radio reporter for DMN, the idea that Infinity and Clear Channel own way too many radio stations (Russ is on KYNG 105.3, an Infinity station, owned by Disney)that music radio is really poor, and before I left, my website url.

Here's how it all came about (and it'll give you an insight into talk radio). I heard Russ talking about Al Brumley a lot, so I e-mailed him a note and said I had done a Musea interview with Brumley on my website, and told him to check it out. That was Thursday 11/15. Friday morning I get an e-mail from Russ commenting on what I had said. I sent back a reply and we went back and forth a few times -4 or 5 total.

Russ said things like (and I am quoting from the e-mails) "Why don't you call in today and we can get into a good argument over this? Sounds like fun." And "Send me your number and I'll have Dan call you and set up a time today. Make it a good argument. Listeners love that." They called me at 4 PM (they had told me before that they would). Right before I went on the air the guy that called me (Dan?) said don't talk about the e-mails or anything, and say that you think Russ should play local music. Now that is not the exact quote, but something very near it. I was a bit confused, because that is stupid - the station is TALK radio. But I said it when I came on the air and Russ said that that was stupid because this is a TALK radio station. It was pretty rough but we mixed it up pretty good. One thing people should know is that it is very difficult to hear - partly so they can make disparaging remarks and you can't hear them - be forewarned. Anyway I survived, got my message out and that was that ... until the next Mon.

Nov. 19, 2001 - Monday.

When I made the John Henry Challenge to Russ on Fri., he had said he refused to accept it. Monday I get a call from Dan(?) Saying that Russ accepts the challenge and could I be by the phone at around 5 PM. I agreed. This time before I went on the air I was told not to mention that it was Russ's idea. So again I played along and said I'd say something like, you've had all weekend to think about the challenge, do you now accept? That's what I did and we set up a time for the local song vs. Corporate rock challenge, the following Mon. (John Henry, steel driver in American folklore, challenged a steam driven machine to a railroad spike driving contest and won. )

Nov. 25, 2001 - Sunday.

I e-mail Russ and say we should have penalties for the loser. I don't hear back Nov. 26, 2001 - Monday. I drove to the studio by 5 PM. It's a totally corporate office, high in a glass skyscraper near Central and Forest. While I was waiting, I was listening to the show. Russ came on the air, said we haven't talked about penalities when the zine guy looses. (I wonder where he got that idea!) Anyway when I enter the studio , he said if you loose you will either do (blah blah blah ) or be duct taped to the chair. I chose the duct tape, and was then taped to the swivel chair around my legs and my chest. Russ then played my local song choice, Dallas ( a song about local music). While it was playing he played cow and pig noises, and a little over a minute later said , "that's enough." Then he played his choice, the recent hit from Aerosmith Jaded. The callers, as I figured voted 100% for Russ's choice, and after 15 votes for his and 0 for mine, I admitted defeat. Then on the air he pretended that he was having my hands and mouth taped up. He wasn't. With hand gestures he made it clear that that was just a bit. He allowed me to give my Musea URL again, then a helper wheeled me to the elevator and cut me loose. As I was being wheeled out I heard them pretend to tip me over in the studio. That never happened. I got out of the elevator, pulled off the lose strands of tape and went home. I didn't mind loosing to an instantly recognized hit. But what was frustrating is that not a single person voted for me, or at least was able to get through to vote - a set up?.

Nov. 27,2001 Tuesday.

Nobody seemed to hear the show and there is no response.

Nov. 28.2001 Wednesday.

A major turn-around. I hear from a bunch of people supporting me.

In the end I think my song is still better and less Jaded. Like most corporate rock, the Aerosmith song was overproduced, melodramatic, mushy, whiney, and unstructured. I thought my song was taut, intense, and lean. (It can be heard as an MP3 on our website - I'll let you be the judge. And if you still want to vote, email Russ at russ@russmartin.com )

Before I close, here are the lyrics to my contender, Dallas:

I finish this song, its number 337
and all my neighbors wince at the noise.
I put it on cassette and then file it away.
No one will here this song today.

(chorus)
I want to tear down the walls,
that are keeping back all of those
that are bringing a soul to this town
break those walls down now.
This town is building steam]
like a supercharged machine
this town is starting to move
look around you, look around you
this town lies in the future.

I tell a friend and he believes like me
I tell another and that makes 3
We band together and play pretty loud
we band together an change this town,
(repeat chorus)

c 2001 Tom Hendricks.

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