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For whatever reason, this is the time of the year, when too many of my radio friends, lose their jobs. I have always been a massive fan of Radio. It got me through many tough times as a kid. It matters to more people than the businessmen may know. And so, a few years ago, while I was actually sitting in a studio, working on Christmas Eve…the *only* *live* Radio Personality on the air in the city that night, I composed this.
Each Holiday Season since, I post it somewhere. My small gift, to those that love what we do.
(With All Respect & Credit to Clement Clarke Moore)
‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the station
Not a creature was stirring, ’twas all automation.
The phone lines they rang, but no one was there,
The dopes that cleaned house, just didn’t care.
The listeners were calling, with songs in their heads,
With pre-rehearsed audio, turned up instead.
My mom in her ‘kitchen, her foot she would tap,
How sad she would be to put up with this crap.
When we were all young, we heard music that mattered,
The DJ announced it, with relevant chatter.
Away to the speaker, I flew like a flash
Cranked up the Zeppelin, The Who, and The Clash.
The tunes were the best, we loved all the shows
The DJ in mid-day, their name we’d all know.
When, what to my pondering ears should I hear?
The irrelevant voice, of a guy, not from here.
With so little to tell me, ‘bout the town that I live,
I knew there and then, not a care could I give.
More vapid, and useless, his statements the same
And he screwed up announcing, from where we all came
“North KWINsee! BURgundy,” The idiot, blubbers
And all I can think of is, “find me another!”
‘Round the dial do I search, how the mighty they fall!
They chase away! Chase away! Chased away all!”
‘Cos DJs of yore, were stewards of song,
And they knew that their listeners, were singing along
But now those at the top-the costs they eschew,
With the ouster of people, the revenues grew.
And then, someone thought, “shouldn’t radio be live?”
The future demands we adapt to survive.
And I knew in my head, and was hoping again,
That the stations would resolve, to entertain us as friends.
See radio’s unlike anything else, this I feel in my heart,
And to fix it, demands we go back to the start.
With DJs, and music, and stories to share,
And doing it right, by people who care.
These barons on Wall St. don’t know how it’s done!
Connection with people’s how this game is won!
We know that good music, it touches the heart,
Respect for the product is only one part.
To start we could try hearing, the voices who say,
That the songs that they want, are those we should play.
Because what works in Boston, may not in LA,
Take those national playlists, and throw them away!
We’ve been lazy, and cheap, and forgot why we’re here,
To host every party, and toast them with cheer!
It’s not all that hard to get people to care
But, in order to serve them, you’ve gotta be there.
So let’s hope that they get right to this work,
And fill all the stations, with more than a clerk.
Start playing fresh music, and let the reigns go,
And bring back the DJ their audience know!
It’s not yet too late, will take quite some hustle,
And the first social network can re-flex its muscle.
So I say to you now…Do radio right
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!”
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