Jim’s Blog: The Panama Playlist
You may have heard on the news this week that Manuel Noriega, former president of Panama, died. In December 1989, the U.S. military launched Operation Just Cause, an invasion of Panama intended to safeguard Americans living in Panama, curtail drug trafficking there, and ultimately throw Noreiga out of office. After less than two weeks, Noriega sought refuge in the Vatican Embassy in Panama City, where he surrendered to American officials in January 1990. Noreiga served 17 years in a federal prison in Florida and was released in 2007.
It was widely reported at the time that American forces blasted music through loudspeakers outside Noreiga’s residence in an attempt to smoke him out. An Armed Forced Radio station provided the music—much of which was requested by soldiers serving in the operation. A little-known Department of Defense report surfaced this week containing the list of songs. Not all of them were loud and obnoxious, and some of them are pretty funny when you consider what they were intended to accomplish. The list included:
“50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” by Paul Simon
“Big Shot” by Billy Joel
“Danger Zone” by Kenny Loggins
“Eat My Shorts” by Rick Dees (a novelty song by the singer of “Disco Duck”)
“Give It Up” by KC and the Sunshine Band
“It Keeps You Running” by the Doobie Brothers
“No More Mr. Nice Guy” by Alice Cooper
“Nowhere Man” by the Beatles
“Refugee” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
“The Star-Spangled Banner” by Jimi Hendrix
“Wanted Dead or Alive” by Bon Jovi
“We Gotta Get Out of This Place” by the Animals
The report, which you can read at the link above, shows that the military really does have a sense of humor . . . and that American soldiers had pretty good taste.
Jim’s Blog: One Fine Day in 1971
It’s the spring of 1971. I am 11 years old, and a student in Mrs. Barribeau’s fifth-grade class. Although I outwardly hold fast to the cultural conventions of the time regarding the general ickiness of girls, I do not really believe it. I have already pledged something like undying affection to one of them, although I do not recall at this late date whether I ever said anything out loud to her, or I merely pledged it in my head. So I have a few general ideas regarding what girls are for, but precisely how these purposes relate to me personally remains generally unclear, at least to my conscious mind. Unconsciously, however—perhaps on some molecular level—I am beginning to understand.
(It may have been around this time that all the girls in the fifth grade were taken into the gym one day for a mysterious lecture that the boys didn’t get. Speculation ran wild.)
In 1965, a woman from England and a man from Montreal met in a Canadian ski lodge. She was singing in a band, and he wanted to form one. Eventually, he got his wish and formed the Five Bells. Over the next few years, members came and went (necessitating a name change to just “the Bells”), but the group managed to score a couple of hits, including the thoroughly Canadian “Moody Manitoba Morning.” In 1970, a record-company publicity push started getting them on the radio in the States, and in the spring of 1971, their second American single, “Stay Awhile,” became their only major hit. After one more minor hit and two more unsuccessful albums, they broke up in 1973.
Meanwhile, back in the fifth grade, I cannot say precisely why I like “Stay Awhile,” but I do. The tune is simple enough to hum. The girl singer sounds kind of sweet; the guy sounds a little weird, but if he’s managed to get the attention of a sweet girl, he’s doing better than I am. Every time the song comes on, it gives me this odd, warm feeling inside, and I think that whatever they’re singing about sounds like it might be a pretty nice thing to do. All these years later, it still does, and I still do.
You can hear “Stay Awhile” by the Bells right here.
Jim’s Blog: Tornado Awareness Week
When I was five, the Palm Sunday Tornado went through my hometown of Monroe. It made a big impression on me—and one of the biggest was the way my parents would forever after turn on the radio whenever the skies got dark. When I started working in radio as a little baby disc jockey in Dubuque, I learned how to cover severe weather on the radio from several veteran broadcasters. When I’m on the radio and bad weather breaks out, I am still guided by their examples.
My second full-time radio job was on the flat, windswept prairie of western Illinois. The first spring I worked there, I wanted to talk about Illinois Tornado Awareness Week on the air, but I was told not to. Station management—not the sharpest bunch of people I ever worked for—believed that such talk would “start a panic.”
Really. That’s what they told me.
April 17 through 21 is Wisconsin’s Tornado and Severe Weather Awareness Week. The purpose of the event is to allow businesses, schools, and families to test their severe-weather preparedness before severe weather season gets too far long. On Thursday, there will be a couple of statewide tornado drills, in which the National Weather Service will issue alerts via radio and TV, and on weather radios. Community tornado sirens will also be tested at this time. You can read the whole press release from the state Department of Emergency Management here. You will most likely get an alert at 1:00, 1:45, or 6:45PM on Thursday, and when you do, it’s part of the drill.
Don’t panic. Be prepared instead.
Jim’s Blog: An Exclusive Look Inside My Creative Process
On one of the very first American Top 40 shows, dating back to 1970, Casey Kasem is baffled by the title of Chicago‘s song “25 or 6 to 4.” “We’ll figure it out as the weeks go by,” he says. Lots of people are still baffled by that title, but the meaning of the song is pretty clear. The singer is trying to write, but he’s lacking inspiration. When he looks at the clock, he sees that it’s 3:35AM. Or maybe 3:34. In other words, 25 or 26 minutes before 4:00.
Writers are often asked, “Where do you get your ideas?” Some writers hate the question, often because it’s hard to explain. Sometimes writers want to explore aspects of things they’re interested in. Sometimes they write about things they want to know more about. (I have found inspiration both ways.) I know of fiction writers who copy down snippets of conversations they hear when they’re out in the world. These can often spark stories, or provide lines of dialogue when used in the proper spot. Sometimes one story—something a writer sees on TV or in a movie—can inspire another.
Many writers joke that procrastination is a critical part of their creative process. But if you make your living by writing (as I have done for the last several years, in addition to being on the radio), you can’t just sit around waiting for inspiration to strike. Sooner or later, you have to buckle down and write something.
Like today. I had to write this today.
I hope you have enjoyed this exclusive look inside my creative process. Please join me next time when I’ll try to do something better.
Jim’s Blog: Get in the Game
From 1998 to 2000, Sports Night was one of the best shows on TV, and it remains my favorite sitcom ever. It was the first TV show developed by Aaron Sorkin, who later created The West Wing and The Newsroom. In one episode, one of the characters, Dan, was trying to decide which charity to support. When another character, Natalie, suggested she occasionally contributed to an AIDS charity, Dan replied: “The thing is, more people die of breast cancer every year than die of AIDS. More people die of diabetes. About 20 times as many die of heart disease, but the government doesn’t spend as much money researching those. It’s not that we shouldn’t be trying to cure AIDS. It’s just that we should be trying to cure everything. And if I’m dying of leukemia, I might well wonder where my red ribbon is.”
“There’s really no end to what we can do,” Natalie responded. “Know what the trick is? Get in the game.”
In other words, don’t let yourself be paralyzed to the point of inaction deciding exactly what to do. Just do something.
If we could solve all of the problems, cure all of the diseases, help everyone who needs help, we’d do it. But it’s pretty clear that we can’t do all of that, at least not now. But we should try to do something. That’s why, for many years, I have been a supporter of Feeding America and its local affiliate, Second Harvest of Southern Wisconsin. I support Second Harvest because it helps people right here where we live. One in nine people in southern Wisconsin struggles with hunger, which means odds are good it’s somebody you know. What Second Harvest is able to do with your contributions is remarkable. One dollar can buy three meals, which is a lot. That’s because 94 cents of every dollar donated goes for food. Only six percent goes to operating expenses, which ranks Second Harvest among the most efficient charities in the country.
On Thursday of this week, Magic 98 will partner with Second Harvest at the annual Hunger’s Hope Radiothon. All day, fron 6AM til 7PM, every dollar you donate will be matched by Genesis Painting and BioSentinel Inc. That means every dollar donated on Thursday buys six meals.
There’s more than one dollar under the seats of your car or in your couch cushions at home right now, I’m sure of it. So gather it up, put it together with a few more of your dollars, and get in the game. Make a donation during the Hunger’s Hope Radiothon. Call 844-8HUNGER (844-848-6437) on Thursday or make an online gift. Families throughout southern Wisconsin are counting on it.
Jim’s Blog: Test Guy
Next week, public-school juniors all across Wisconsin will take the ACT. If it seems like I haven’t been on the radio all that much these last six weeks, it’s because I have been traveling around the state helping kids prepare for the ACT. I work for a company that presents test-preparation seminars, and have done so (on and off) since 1994.
We teach the class a couple of different ways: either in two parts, on consecutive days or evenings after school, or all day on a Saturday or some other off-day. (If your kid attended an all-day test-prep seminar in Sun Prairie on Martin Luther King Day, at Monona Grove on Saturday February 11, or attended after school at West on the 15th and 16th, he or she spent their time with me.) Most of my classes are in the Madison and Milwaukee areas, or in the Fox Valley. Occasionally, I’m sent to Minnesota, and about once a year the company flies me somewhere. The last two Octobers I have taught in Massachusetts and New York. Three years ago, they sent me to San Antonio for a week.
As jobs go, it’s pretty great. If I’m teaching an after-school or evening session, I have the day free to do other work on the laptop in the hotel or some coffee shop somewhere. If I’m teaching all day, I have my evenings free. So there’s plenty of time to be a tourist (on my Massachusetts trip last fall I spent a day at Lexington and Concord) or to explore various congenial brewery tap rooms (as I did in the Fox Valley just last weekend).
If your kid is taking the ACT on Tuesday, February 28, I wish them luck. Tell ’em to pay close attention to the time in each testing section, and not to be be afraid to guess at an answer if they don’t know it. If they guess wrong, they don’t lose anything. If they guess right, it counts just like they knew it all along.
If only life itself worked like that.
Jim’s Blog: Life Goes On Everywhere
Last weekend I did something I hadn’t done since 1980 (I think): I was on the radio while the Super Bowl was on. While thousands of people in the Madison area were watching the game and/or waiting for the halftime show, I was hosting Sunday at the 80s. I didn’t mind. The Packers weren’t playing, and I knew I’d be able to follow the game even while I was working. And I got home in time to watch Lady Gaga‘s performance, which was tremendous.
As I drove home just before halftime, the number of cars on the streets didn’t seem abnormally small, and there were people going in and out of stores and restaurants like always. On Monday, the TV ratings revealed that about 48 percent, less than half, of the nation’s TV households were tuned to the game, representing about 111 million viewers. Even though the Super Bowl was big news on Sunday, there were still more people in America watching something else on TV, and millions more not watching at all. People who were going on with their regular Sunday routines, big game or not.
Is there a lesson in this? Maybe it’s that the world is never going to stop and hold its breath just because we’re doing something that feels important to us. Other people have their lives to live just as we have ours, and we have to leave room for everyone else to breathe.
How’s that for a lesson? OK, I’ll try to do better the next time.
Jim’s Blog: Snowbound in a Hot Tub
The snowstorm this week reminded me of the years I worked at a radio station in small-town Iowa. It was a 70-mile round trip commute from where we lived, so whenever I would otherwise be snowbound at the office, I had a standing invitation to stay in town with the station’s GM, Gene, and his wife. They lived in a fabulous house they had hopes of converting into a B&B one day. She was a great cook and he liked to drink beer, so a snowy night could become a highly congenial, and frequently a highly alcoholic, occasion. I kept a bag of clothes in my truck so I was ready just in case.
One icy night, I was relaxing in the hot tub with a beer in hand (did I mention they had an indoor hot tub?) when Gene tossed me the phone and said, “Call your wife.” And so I did. Ann was back home in our little apartment, where it was freezing cold because the electricity was out. Just before I called, the cat had nearly set itself on fire thanks to the candles she had lit. For some reason, she was not especially interested in hearing about the good time I was having.
This kind of thing was partly practical. It was better to stay overnight in town than to end up sliding off a rural Iowa highway in the dark. But it was partly because that’s how radio people roll. When the weather gets bad in the winter, we want to be able to get to work and do our jobs, because we know listeners are counting on us.