Not Dark Yet, Part 1
Dan had just given the legal ID and clicked on the next set of music on his laptop when the studio phone rang. He looked up at it in surprise. He always gave out the number when he did the station ID at the top of the hour but nobody had called in all the years he’d been at the station. It was more of a joke he told himself every week when he did his show on the 5-7pm shift, second to last shift of the day since building security closed the station at 9pm. The station was a 10 watter which in an urban environment meant that it only reached a few blocks and few people ever bothered to click on the internet stream. Friends and relatives mostly, and they never called.
Dan picked up the phone and it said “I need you to play “Not Dark Yet” by Bob Dylan”
“Who is this?”
“Tom from the newsstand around the corner”
“Yeah, listen Tom I already have my show laid out on the computer and so I don’t really have room for requests”
“Why’d you give out the number?”
He had Dan there. Besides, Dan had never gotten a bona fide request from a stranger before.
“Fine, I’ll see if I can fit it in. Why do you listen to an old fart like Dylan anyway though? There’s better folk music nowadays like Devandra Banhart. Not that I have much use for folkies. You’ve heard the show, right?”
“Yeah, I’ve heard it. You claim to be free form. And sometimes in your mic breaks you talk about how your show feels like yelling into a closet. How about you play something to please someone else instead of yourself for a change?”
Dan was 23 and a grad student in communications which meant he knew more about radio than anyone else in the world. In his mind, at least.
“Look buddy, I’ll play your request because I feel like playing it but don’t think I’ll be taking any programming lessons from some old guy who runs a newsstand. Who the hell even reads newspapers anymore anyway?”
“I get plenty of business. Besides I leave my radio on your college’s station all day in my stand. I bet it’s the only place anyone ever really hears you.”
Fair enough, thought Dan.
“OK, I’ll fit it in after the next break”. True to his word, he played the record “going out to Tom at the newsstand”. After the show, Dan packed his laptop and headed out. He made a small detour to look for the newsstand he thought Tom owned, but it was already closed up for the night. A lot of those places closed around dinner time since there wasn’t much foot traffic in the neighborhood after that.
Continued in Part 2
Dan picked up the phone and it said “I need you to play “Not Dark Yet” by Bob Dylan”
“Who is this?”
“Tom from the newsstand around the corner”
“Yeah, listen Tom I already have my show laid out on the computer and so I don’t really have room for requests”
“Why’d you give out the number?”
He had Dan there. Besides, Dan had never gotten a bona fide request from a stranger before.
“Fine, I’ll see if I can fit it in. Why do you listen to an old fart like Dylan anyway though? There’s better folk music nowadays like Devandra Banhart. Not that I have much use for folkies. You’ve heard the show, right?”
“Yeah, I’ve heard it. You claim to be free form. And sometimes in your mic breaks you talk about how your show feels like yelling into a closet. How about you play something to please someone else instead of yourself for a change?”
Dan was 23 and a grad student in communications which meant he knew more about radio than anyone else in the world. In his mind, at least.
“Look buddy, I’ll play your request because I feel like playing it but don’t think I’ll be taking any programming lessons from some old guy who runs a newsstand. Who the hell even reads newspapers anymore anyway?”
“I get plenty of business. Besides I leave my radio on your college’s station all day in my stand. I bet it’s the only place anyone ever really hears you.”
Fair enough, thought Dan.
“OK, I’ll fit it in after the next break”. True to his word, he played the record “going out to Tom at the newsstand”. After the show, Dan packed his laptop and headed out. He made a small detour to look for the newsstand he thought Tom owned, but it was already closed up for the night. A lot of those places closed around dinner time since there wasn’t much foot traffic in the neighborhood after that.
Continued in Part 2
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