Will every listener like every song I play? Of course not. Some tunes I play suck balls (hopefully not too many), and some shows are not as good as others. Some folks may determine that every song and every show is crap. So be it. Can’t make everyone happy all the time. But it’s fun to try to strike that delicate balance of keeping an audience of listeners with diverse musical tastes pleased over the course of a show several hours long, week in and week out. Maybe I’d be better off getting a life, but for me, doing this is as much fun as most of the other options I have, and I’m not overdoing it by taking to the interweb’s airwaves once a week.
I’ve been posting on smack boards since around ’98 or so, have met a fair amount of posters, and therefore realize that even though this isn’t real life or anything vaguely resembling it, relationships among the participants are nonetheless established. Given the nature of the forums, those relationships would typically be considered, at least to most outsiders, as being far more dysfunctional than nurturing. This is as it should be, and few (‘sup, Dan Vogel?) would argue otherwise. We come here to smack and be smacked, to inform and be informed, to argue, and to entertain and be entertained. Otherwise, there’d be no reason to drop into this sordid clambake.
What I find interesting, though, is how long-established “adversarial” relationships among posters on the board change when those same posters interact with each other in the chat room. We tend to let down our guards, drop the board personas, and almost become real people. Sure, we still run smack, but it’s somehow different. We talk about many of the same things (sports, music, wx, etc.), but glaringly (and thankfully) absent from most of the discussions are politics and religion. It’s a lighter, more relaxed, atmosphere. And there’s music.
Online chat rooms have been around for a while, and I’ve never been a fan. I participated in a few before doing this radio dealio, and never found them to be my cup of tea. If it weren’t for the music feature, I wouldn’t use the one here at all, and it seems I’m not alone in that sentiment, since it appears to get little or no use unless someone is spinnin’ tunes. But when there’s good music being played, something (dare I say) almost magical happens. It becomes…FUN!
I believe BSmack, Mgo, Screwy, Papa Willie, Marty, Coogs, Katy, R_t_S, and anyone else who has hosted shows will share the sentiment that those who tune into the shows regularly are greatly appreciated. On Friday nights, I can almost always count on Van, War Wagon, Wolfman, Diego, smackaholic, poptart, and a few others to drop in and stay for awhile. Truman, Carson, 88, trev, KC Scott, Mgo, shutyomouth, Screwy, Ken, ppanther, M2, R-Jack, Coogs, Indy, Y2K, Mikey, Toddowen, R_t_S, Sudden Sam, Jsc, Marty, Political Operative, and occasionally even Biggie and Bace, among others, will make cameo appearances. Special thanks goes out to IF for providing the server and paying for the subscription.
I don’t fault anyone who chooses not to join us – your reasons for doing something else on a Friday night are many and completely valid. I sometimes wonder why anyone would want to waste their time in there. Dins has said that if he wants to listen to music, he can play whatever he wants to listen to whenever he wants to, and doesn’t have to rely on some schmuck to play crap he doesn’t want to hear. This is, of course, true for all of us. Some posters may consider it to be beneath them to enter a chat room. Others are just too cool for school and wouldn’t wanna be caught dead with the losers in chat. I don’t have a problem with any of that. I pretty much feel or have felt the same way.
But I’d at least ask that you take it for a test drive one of these evenings. Like tonight, for example. It may live down to all your expectations and completely suck out loud. But at least you couldn’t be accused of knocking it w/o trying it. And maybe – just maybe – you might actually enjoy it, if even just a little. It’s not like we’re not talking about you anyway, but now you’ll know what we’re saying about you, and it won’t be behind your back.
I’d like to think I have a fairly wide variety of music I can play. My library isn’t huge – it’s something > 18K songs and growing, but it includes jazz, swing, country, disco, oldies, one-hit wonders, soul, R&B, funk, rap, alternative, punk, ska, reggae, novelty, comedy, and large doses of rock and blues. Most of those who tune in regularly will attest that I try to stay away from songs that get regular airplay on FM radio. I like to play songs with which most people are unfamiliar, or seldom-heard versions of tunes with which they may be familiar, such as live versions or covers. I’ll get into themed sets, play requests, and occasionally open the mic and talk a little. I try to make every show different, and provide a few surprises. My goal is to provide quality entertainment, and sometimes I might even succeed in doing so.
So c’mon, Dins, mvscal, husker, AP, Smackmaster, Goobs, missjo, TVO, and the rest of you who haven’t given it a chance. Pour yourself a refreshing beverage, smoke ‘em if you got ‘em, listen in, chat a little, and tell me to die in a fire if that’ll make you feel better. You may come away regretting that you’ll never get those precious moments back, but there’s always a chance that you might actually have a little fun.
Friday nights in TuneTown – at least it’s not…
:wink: 
