Radio Radio

Rob Madeo, circa 1981 I think.If you were in Plattsburgh between 1979 and 1983 you might have heard me playing music on the college’s tiny FM station, WPLT. Our signal was dynamite in the city, and pretty good as far away as West Chazy and Peru. You could hear us in Burlington if the weather was right.

I know our signal was strong on the Air Force base, because those guys would often call to tell me I sucked.

My dreams of radio faded — until recently when Exit 97.7 WEXT allowed me to come in and do their My Exit show. Each week a community member is invited to play their favorite music.

Recording the show was very different than the days of WPLT, where the DJ would sit for two or three hours spinning records in a ramshackle studio that really looked like a radio station, with posters, turntables, and an old AP teletype machine. Being students, the staff were sometimes drunk or high, and like many college stations, the quality of the on-air product was wildy inconsistent.

At WEXT? In a sterile little studio we recorded only my intros and they added the music in later — months later. While they were great to work with, afterward it felt more like I’d had my teeth cleaned than done a radio show.

I’m sure a lot of you would like to hear the program. OK, some of you. Alright, perhaps one or two of you — so I’ve posted the audio here. The theme for the hour-long show was Women Who Rock.

My Exit……………………………………………………….

You may want to just look at the playlist in case you can’t stand listening to me for an hour.

7 thoughts on “Radio Radio

  1. Heart. Pat Benatar. Joan Jett. Melissa Etheridge. In 20 years people will still know who these women are! Elastica? Seriously?

    How about “Revenge of the Women Who Know Which Women Rock?” 🙂

    1. Or maybe Some Other Women Who Sell Out Rock?

      But seriously, it should be noted that I was trying to fit within WEXT’s format, which is more indie than commercial.

  2. PS- Again Rob and anyone else who’s a lover of fine music- the weekend of August12-14 WCDB 90.9 reunion- live nude disc jockeys ! ok not nude, but live shows ! And Gloria- he played poet/punk goddess Patti Smith- no finer woman in music- before or since..

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