And the radio is in the hands of such a lot of fools

I love radio. Always have, always will. I can remember listening avidly every weekday morning as WTIC-AM in Hartford broadcast the Bob Steele show. He was the epitome, and the zenith of local morning talk show hosts of the time - amiable, informative, funny, smart.

I remember firing up my grandmother's old cathedral radio from the thirties and finding it had a shortwave band that allowed me to listen to the BBC, and to the strange sounds of music and radio from Japan and India.

I remember my first broadcast experience, as part of a group broadcasting the nightly rosary from a local radio station in New Britain.

I remember getting on the air, via phone, regularly with WPOP DJ, Lee "Babi" Simms, and begging him to play the Animals, and Bob Dylan.

I remember nights at the Connecticut shore listening to the exotic New York top forties station with Cousin Brucie, and the like, and staying up to the early morning hours just to hear them play that new single by the Box Tops one more time.

I remember the birth of "underground FM" radio in Hartford with WHCN (and WWUH), and listening at college to the pioneers of FM in New York on WNEW and WPLJ.


So, radio is a rich part of my life. But apparently not a vital part of the lives of the current young generation.

Depending on your perspective, radio is being killed by the iPod and the internet and by broadcast television (which is also beginning to suffer), or it's killing itself with abusive amounts of advertising, restrictive playlists, idiot talk show hosts and even more idiotic owners and managers.

And when radio disappears, what mellifluous word will songwriters use to conjure up the mystery of music pulled from thin air. Will Van Morrison discover a soulful rhyme for "MP3?" Will Michael Stipe extol the wonder of youtube? Will Regina Spektor wonder how she lost her heart while listening to a shared file?

Colin gets it right

Colin McEnroe has been on the top of his game the past hour of his show. He began by talking about the booing of Miss USA in Mexico, then segued to "we are the country who tortures people, after all."

When challenged by Gary from South Glastonbury (so perverse a rhyme it deserves a song), who was clinging to the delusion that our torture is not sanctioned in writing, as that of al-Qaida's. Colin blasted him with a dozen examples of why what he was saying was ridiculous, and was kind, firm and not apologetic in the process. It was masterful, though the koolaid drinker on the phone was never convinced.

This is liberal talk radio at its best. Colin McEnroe at his best.

I'm usually listening when he's in the horrible Sports A Trois segment, or deconstructing the latest episode of The Sopranos. Neither of which I can bear. I was glad I was out in my car listening just now.