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Jim's Blog: Thanks for Calling, Wherever You Are

I got an interesting phone call while I was on the air last weekend. A guy called me from Baltimore asking for the phone number of a certain radio station in Toronto. Really. He decided to call me, he said, because on the map, Wisconsin is farther north than Maryland, and maybe we can hear the station here, and maybe we know the phone number. My man could have googled the station himself (and he must have had Internet access, because how else did he get our phone number in Madison?), but for whatever reason, he did not. So I googled the number for him, and he went happily on his way.
Google isn't the perfect solution for everyone, however. Here's another phone call I got recently:

Me: “Hi, Magic 98.”
Lady with extremely strong Southern accent: “Can you tell me why you don't have the Georgia Bulldog football game on today?”
Me, after a pause: “I'm sorry, can you please say that again?”
Lady: “Georgia is playing football right now, but it's not on your station.”
Me, after another pause: “Ma'am, I'm in Madison, Wisconsin. I think you called the wrong radio station.”

It turns out that there is a Magic 98 in metro Atlanta that broadcasts University of Georgia football. She had tried to tune in the game, didn't hear it, decided to call the station, googled “Magic 98,” and got us instead. I explained what had happened, and I might even have looked up the right number for her, although I don't remember. Before I dropped off I said, “Maybe Wisconsin will play Georgia in football someday.” She said, “That would have to be in the playoff.” She was clearly a serious football fan.
After I hung up I thought, “Boy, somebody at Magic 98 in Georgia is going to be in big trouble in a minute or two.”
Whenever you hear me on the radio, call up if you want. It may take a while for me to answer because things get busy behind the scenes now and then, but I'm always happy to talk to you. And in a pinch, I'll even google for you.

Read more of Jim Bartlett's blogs here.

by Jim Bartlett

Jim's Blog: A Thanksgiving Playlist

The year was 1981. I was on the air on Thanksgiving Day, finishing up my show, when the phone rang. On the other end of the call was a very irate lady who wanted to know why I hadn't played any Thanksgiving songs. I responded, “Ma'am, I'd be happy to play one if you can think of any.” It probably wasn't the most tactful response, but in my defense I was young, and also an idiot.

Halloween has produced its fair share of songs, and Christmas is responsible for thousands. But Thanksgiving isn't much of a muse for songwriters. The day’s iconography—turkeys, corn shocks, and Pilgrim hats—doesn't lend itself to imagery like the trappings of Christmas do. Watching football does not inspire songwriters like happy children’s faces do. The Macy’s parade lacks the thrill of Santa coming down the chimney. Nothing rhymes with “cornucopia.” 

I have some suggestions, however.

Even though I am no longer a religious person, I still know my way around the Methodist Hymnal. For Thanksgiving, you could choose “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come” (“Come ye thankful people come / Raise the song of harvest home”) or “For the Beauty of the Earth” (“Lord of all, to thee we raise / This our hymn of grateful praise”) or even the Doxology (“Praise God from whom all blessings flow”). I am guessing that's the kind of thing my long-ago caller was asking for, unless she wanted “Over the River and Through the Woods to Grandmother’s House We Go,” in which case she should have said so.

One song you hear on Magic 98 is “Thanksgiving” by George Winston. It's the opening track on Winston’s landmark album December, an instrumental that can paint numerous pictures: a quiet country road with harvest bounty in the adjoining fields, as seen in the fading light of a late November afternoon; the last mile of a long and wearying journey home; or the quiet contemplation of how fortunate you are to have what you have. (Listen to a new 2020 version of “Thanksgiving” here.)

If you want to stretch the boundaries, how about “Thank You (Falletin Me Be Mice Elf Agin)” by Sly and the Family Stone? Part of reaching our fullest potential as human beings involves being true to our true selves, whatever they are. Shouldn't we be grateful to those who permit us to achieve that potential?

There's “I Thank You,” recorded in the 60s by soul singers Sam and Dave and in the 70s by ZZ Top. Sometimes, we receive something from another person not because we’ve done anything to earn it, but out of the goodness of that person’s heart. (In a Christian context, it might be called “grace.”) You’d have to be thankful for that, wouldn’t you? As the song says, “You didn’t have to love me like you did, but you did, but you did, and I thank you.”

A lot of rock radio stations play Arlo Guthrie's “Alice's Restaurant” on Thanksgiving Day. It's only slightly related to the holiday, but it's become a tradition nevertheless.

Honorable mention Thanksgiving songs: Anything by the Grateful Dead.

It's an unusual Thanksgiving this year. A lot of us are separated from our families, some for the first time in many years, and we don't like it much. But if dealing with it in 2020 assures that we'll be able to be together in 2021, how can anybody say it isn't worth it?

Happy holiday to one and all . . . and let's be careful out there. 

Read more of Jim Bartlett's blogs here.

by Jim Bartlett