let me begin by confessing to you, sir, that in the days of sean demery, i did not pay you near the attention you deserved. my radio time was limited during those days we call university, and it was he who held control of the mic and the playlist... i know you understand.
but one fine day, as i commuted from internship to dreary room i called home, graduation looming just ahead, something amazing happened.
(correct me if i am delusional and it was in fact later in the afternoon)
a whole retroplex, then a mere house, was dedicated to your interview with mr. andy partridge. that was the day i went from acknowledging xtc, to embracing them with the fervor only a new fan can. and you sir, are the only radio personality in all of this city that i can tell - and i have been here my entire 28 years - who would have ever made that possible - who, for that matter, could have even told me who that goofy swindon bloke was... much less given up an hour of your airtime to maybe one of the most incredible and delightful and just damn entertaining radio interviews i have ever heard.
(i arrived back at campus a good 20-30 minutes before that interview was over, and i sat in my car and listened until andy was well out the studio door)
my ex-boyfriend will contest that he is responsible for my fandom, but all i need do is remind him of this - to him mythical, as he was stuck living a dreary existence in cleveland, ohio at the time - interview and he is shot down. (you'll be proud to know that in 2002 he and i traveled to the uk and spent two days in swindon "searching for andy partridge" to no avail, only to discover we were staying less than a couple miles outside his house... ha ha)
that was when my love affair began.
let me say it's not really that hip to listen to your employer these days, unless you're a 16-year-old who listens to that fallout boy nonsense, but as a wise person once wrote - and he may be reading this now - those who are really hip don't care and do it anyway. and i will also readily grant that everything kinda jumped the shark so to speak when our beloved sean went to the other coast (he did head out to CA, am i right?)...
but despite all the moments that that station has made me groan or spit or roll my eyes... i have never failed to make every effort to listen to your show every day. and even if i can't take the regualr rotation playlist any longer without secretly plotting to rid that poser from the killers of his pretty pretty mane of hair, i will not miss retoplex if i can help it.
the fact that i email you weekly with requests and chides probably makes this point all too clear to you. but you humor me in these endeavors - you actually read your listener's emails AND you respond - that's a man who loves his job. even if you do keep confusing jason and dave faulkner. (now play me some jellyfish, dammit!)
and let it be known to my 3 other readers that on my birthday last year this poor soul found himself stuck when my "aforementioned hussy" and i both requested songs for me... he ended up secretly plotting with meg and i got my favorite - and his he'll have you know - cure song for my 4o-somethingth birthday (though it was about 2 decades early)
and that once he accidentally hit the wrong channel or something and suddenly there was a snippet of some serious old school xtc blaring through in the middle of regular rotation. ok, well it was senses working overtime, but still - at like 1030 in the morning or so? that's awesome.
these single incidents alone are not the only reasons i love you, mr. dj. they are simply strong representatives of your utter f***ing coolness. what truly make you the best radio personality this town is blessed with are these: you are a total rock geek (like me, only a bigger pallet). you love this stuff and you know this stuff. and you have ecclectic and incredible taste. you expose listeners to some great things that they may never have encountered or may never encounter otherwise or may simply forgotten they encountered many moons ago with just an hour a day of total artistic license.
i returned to split enz because you brought them back to me. same for dramarama. and god.... the producers. i have loved music since i was a little girl and you brought a lot of that back to me with huge helpings of other stuff to try out. i would never have loved bob if you didn't love his stuff first.
so thank you, mr. craig. you totally rock.
sincerely,
heidi m b
ps - when you see that demery guy - tell him he's missed.
posted by trixievw @ 9:48 AM
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