THE SIGNAL from David Katznelson
"Survival is the second law of life. The first is that we are all one."-Joseph Campbell
“I’d like to be able to bring this bunch of records for you…you may hate it but I hope you don’t.”
Those words were some of the first uttered by Christopher Stone as he began his program on BBC radio today in 1927 becoming the worlds first disc jockey. Stone was a huge music fan and major record collector, working for (possibly co-founding, depending on whose story you believe) Gramophone Magazine, an early rag that talked about the music and music players of the day. He was unhappy with the musical selections (and lack thereof) being played on the BBC at that time. He wrote them about it, and after being turned down at least once yet continuing to push, was offered the opportunity to curate music on the air…talk about the music and the musicians….introduce new recordings. And suddenly, the world had the DJ.
I think it is safe to say that the impact of the DJ is not something to be minimized. We all had those voices on the radio we grew up listening to….grew up learning from. For me, it was the Dr. Donald D Rose morning show listened to while carpooling to elementary school or the Sunday Night Dr. Demento program on KSAN (and so many more in between). I used to tape record the radio, and listen back to my favorite songs over and over, often with their beginning notes cut off as I rushed to press the record button to capture them.
And then college radio entered my life, KUSF, with DJs that were rough around the edges and played music that I had never dreamed existed. It was all so exciting to me that when I was 15 I started attending the KUSF community staff meetings, joined Phil Slash’s Production Department and got trained to be a DJ myself debuting on the air in 1985 before my voice fully changed (I still have the tape of it).
In this world of internet chaos, when there is so much new music coming at us from everywhere, it is so nice to find those DJs that can help make sense of it all. I have been listening to A LOT of radio lately, driving around with KALX and KPOO dialing in my experience. And now there are apps like TuneIn Radio that allow you access to local radio shows from around the world: suddenly, you can listen to DJs speaking every language, playing every kind of music imaginable.
And it all started with Christopher Stone playing ballads by Wilfred Sanderson as performed by Leslie Hutchinson in 1927…hoping we all liked the music.
Support your local DJ!
New Chateau Liberté Documentary Chronicles a Local Legend
“Santa Cruz Mountains spot was a haven for hippies, bikers and famous rock bands in the ’60s and ’70s” Santa Cruz has always been such a ground zero for weird and the Chateau Liberté seems to be the ultimate celebration of that.
50 YEARS AGO TODAY- MC5 RELEASED SECOND & FINAL STUDIO LP ‘HIGH TIME’
I don’t remember this record coming out (being 2 at the time) but I cannot tell you how many time I have listened to it in the past 30 years. Definitely my favorite MC5 record: what a huge bombastic rockfest.
Unraveling the mystery of John Steinbeck’s letter to Marilyn Monroe
While after reading this article it does not seem like the mystery is really UNRAVELED, but what an interesting bit of history between two huge disparete personalities of the day.
Early-Career Van Dyck Portrait Recovered by Monuments Men to Sell at Auction
The Struggle Staggers Us
By Margaret Walker
Our birth and death are easy hours, like sleep
and food and drink. The struggle staggers us
for bread, for pride, for simple dignity.
And this is more than fighting to exist;
more than revolt and war and human odds.
There is a journey from the me to you.
There is a journey from the you to me.
A union of the two strange worlds must be.
Ours is a struggle from a too-warm bed;
too cluttered with a patience full of sleep.
Out of this blackness we must struggle forth;
from want of bread, of pride, of dignity.
Struggle between the morning and the night.
This marks our years; this settles, too, our plight.
