JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium

I recently flipped through a long-abandoned index of mix tapes and stumbled upon a milestone that happened ten years ago today—the last weekday afternoon radio show that I hosted in Guelph. The excuse I need for a long entry on my broadcasting days... *** You might say I would wind up on the radio one way or another. As a kid I taped mock radio programs on my Fisher-Price cassette recorder, complete with fake ads and song intros. I imagined it would be fun to have a studio at my disposal, with an endless tower of records to play in a WKRP in Cincinnati setting. The radio station was always the same (CHJZ - no idea what the letters stood for), as was the advertiser ("Harrison, we're the quality people"), who sold ACME-like products with a gravelly-voiced pitchman named Doc. *** I first volunteered at CFRU early in my first year at U of G. I figured that organizing the scattered stacks of vinyl in the station's record library would give me a good idea of wha...

Last radio show of the summer run, ending on an up note. Only one tech snafu (open a CD player in the middle of a tune), a few requests, and no dopeyness on the drive back. Once again, Friday the 13th proves a good day. Mean Mean Man - Wanda Jackson Opening rave-up tune. Walk On By - Isaac Hayes Cool It - Wayne McGhie & The Sounds of Joy Can You Get To That - Funkadelic Still needed to get myself organized, so I threw on the longest track I had with me. Also noticed I was in manic DJ mode, talking louder, deeper and more "frantic" than usual...and having a ball. Coolest Little Monster - John Zacherle Night Of Fear - The Move Drivin' Nails In My Coffin - Ernest Tubb Yummy Yummy Yummy - Julie London The "Friday the 13th" related set. Attempted Count Floyd imitation after the Julie London track. True, it doesn't have any fear-related elements in the title (the stretch I used to include the Tubb track)...it's scary in a different manner. ...

Not a good outing. Should have stayed in Toronto for Jordo's send-off (which was promising to be a good time, despite the drizzle on the Madison's patio). Frozen Warnings - Nico I should have heeded her warnings. Ramblin' Gamblin' Man - Bob Seger System Farmer John - Tidal Waves Heinz Baked Beans - The Who Mary Ann With The Shaky Hand (excerpt) - The Who Why Am I Treated So Bad - Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity The First Cut Is The Deepest - P.P. Arnold The fun began during Mary Ann With The Shaky Hand , which developed a shaky performance - skip-o-rama. Veered from late 60s Detroit material to late 60s Britain. O Nosso Amor - Antonio Carlos Jobim/Luis Bonfa Life Is A Carnival - The Band Carnaval - Santana Carnival - The Cardigans Carnaval In Rio - Heino Guess the theme here. This set ran smoothly and I thought all was well and good. Starting thinking ahead to a "fistful of 45s" segment. One hitch - discovered I'd forgotten ...

Like show #3, a smooth one, helped by a third CD deck added to the studio. Before going into the playlist, let's take a quick tour of CFRU as it looks in 2004. Here's the main hallway leading to the studios, looking much neater than I remember (the ramp was installed back in the day). What is a campus radio station without a door plastered with promotional stickers? See if you can find your favourite band in this picture. One wing of the CD library, which appears to be in good shape these days. The record library is an environmental disaster, with platters scattered everywhere. There are still traces of the time I attempted a grand reorganization of it years ago - there are still stickers with my handwriting on the shelves. Finally, the on-air studio, where the magic world of radio comes to life. You could accurately film a period piece in here, which is part of its charm (though you'd have to move the old cart machines back in - those were being used into ...

The most relaxed show so far in this summer run - the old CD decks have been moved back into the on-air studio while the new ones are being rejigged (the buttons are too darn sticky). No technical snafus. I've got my groove back. Strict Time - Elvis Costello Opening song, figured it was a good, bouncy tune to get things rolling... Go Go Trudeau - Les Sinners Vote For Me - The Move The Amendment Song - Jack Sheldon Promises Promises - Dionne Warwick Quimby Campaign Ad - The Simpsons Election Special - Monty Python Richard Nixon - Rod & The MSR Singers Dief Will Be The Chief Again - Stringband An election-inspired set, which would have included two more songs if (a) I had spent time at home digging for a tape (Political Science by Randy Newman) and (b) discovered the station had the album on CD, but only the case (Political by Spirit of the West). Could have used more Simpsons. The Python skit is too close to what coverage will be like Monday night - I wonder wha...

Back to the airwaves... Your Mind and We Belong Together - Love A much smoother ride this time out, as the problems with CD player prompts have been fixed, though the one deck still sticks when attempting to eject a disc. Grabbed the disc on the top of the stack, featuring the A-side of the last single by the original incarnation of Love. There's A Guy Down At The Chip Shop, Swears He's Elvis - Kirsty MacColl Yesterday's Wine - Willie Nelson Docteur Jekyll et Monsieur Hyde - Serge Gainsbourg Summer Sun - Koop featuring Yukimi Nagano Steven Smith - The Organ Sissyneck - Beck The opening set, playing hopscotch with several eras and genres. Kinda like the Organ disc - what is it about acts on the Mint label I'm attracted to? The Koop track is from a compilation thrown together to tie-in with the Pink Panther DVD box set, mostly loungey remixes. WKNR Newscast June 20/66 - George Hunter Remington Razor ad - Frank Zappa Pata Pata - Miriam Makeba Playing a ...

It wasn't an auspicious start. Hello There - John Cale Playing the first track on the first of my summer run of radio shows went OK. No vocal fumbling when I switched on the mike. Announced the next track as The Who's I Can't Reach You . Went to start the CD player... No sound. The player decided it didn't like my copy of The Who Sell Out . Panic, as nothing else is going right. See, the station has new CD players, but they're sensitive beasts and not user-friendly in their operation. Next time, I taking a tape of the old TV signoff classic, Syncopated Clock, to play in such a situation. Never Had A Dream Come True - Stevie Wonder Sun Watcher - Albert Ayler My Cherie Amour - Roland Kirk Compared To What - Roberta Flack Grabbed the nearest disc I had, which was Stevie Wonder's Signed, Sealed, Delivered and lauched into a soul/jazz set. One mishap along the way - my Manu Dibango disc refused to play, otherwise Hot Chicken would have followed t...

For the first time in ages, went out to Guelph Friday night to spin some tunes on CFRU. New equipment caused slight technical snafus, but the night went well. Had proof someone was listening - got a phone call from one of my old co-workers who still has a show on the station (good to hear from ya, Big John!). The playlist 11PM Apr 30-1:05AM May 1 The Man Comes Around - Johnny Cash Thought this would make a good opener, after seeing Dawn of the Dead. Tear Stained Letter - Richard Thompson In The Cold, Cold Ground - The White Stripes Belleville Rendez-Vous (English) - Ben Charest Desculpe, Baby - Os Mutantes No connection between any of these tunes. Make It Easy On Yourself - Jerry Butler I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself - Tommy Hunt (There's) Always Something There To Remind Me - Lou Johnson Nikki - Burt Bacharach Do You Know The Way To San Jose? - Dionne Warwick A set of Burt Bacharach tunes, including two obscure original versions of well-known son...

Spent Friday night/Saturday morning on the airwaves for the first time in several months. I didn't forget how to use the equipment, though more of it was in less-than-functional order (now both turntables and one CD player need a manual cue - the board will only send the sound out). Things seem to be in better order around there these days - they have finally started to catalogue the new releases and make it easy to figure out if anything has gone for a walk. Good new material is available, not missing after a week. Record library's still a mess, but don't think that can be helped. It's scary to still see signs posted in there from my attempts to rearrange the place...seven years ago. Nobody called, so I can't be sure if anybody was listening. Whenever I do a late-night fill-in, there's usually a drunk or stoner who'll call in and keep pestering for stuff. Still remember the first call I ever got at the station - it was before my first show, and a ...