It's the perfect night for listening to AM radio. Clear, calm and about 60 degrees. And it's Friday, which means all the world is a little looser and breathing a sigh of relief. The Eagles "One Of These Nights" comes to mind as I write.
I'm thinking back to the days when Friday nights in summer crackled with the hits on AM or the barely known riffs of some progressive rock band hailed by some all-too-hip, laid back jock as "the next big thing" played on FM. But I've turned off the radio and slipped a Steely Dan greatest hits into the machine. "Babylon Sister" is playing quietly on the headphones which are not on my head, but delicately balanced atop the computer monitor.
Earlier, I'd scanned the AM band looking for signs of life, but all that's available locally and from a distance is the trite yipping of syndicated fare. I'm thinking it's a Jean Shepherd night. It would be nice to hear somebody who could tell a story. Somebody with a brain and a subtle sense of humor. Sadly, I'll admit to not immediately appreciating Jean Shepherd when my radio friends would rave about him and his story-telling genius. It took a while to appreciate the man's gifts. I did learn, however, to appreciate John Otto and his subtle and often biting vocabulary that would often motivate me to locate a dictionary to find the meaning of some of the words he'd use.
Nugatory is a great word that sounds strong, like a good cup of coffee first thing in the morning. Nugatory. Of course, it sounded even better when John Otto would serve it up while conversing with a listener on whom the word didn't even register. "Yours is a nugatory argument, wearing rather thinly on me at the moment..." Jean Shepherd and John Otto were like fine wine of a coveted year. Sure would be nice to hear that kind of radio locally, late at night these days.
Even the all night music jocks were special. Guys like Bob Christian, John Luther, Tom Donahue and Pat Riley come to mind. The top forty guys could play the hits and stop down to do a bit, read a news kicker off the wire or even connect a news item to a song they were about to play. Those days are long gone. "She thinks I'm crazy but I'm just growin' old..."
I'm thinking back to the days when Friday nights in summer crackled with the hits on AM or the barely known riffs of some progressive rock band hailed by some all-too-hip, laid back jock as "the next big thing" played on FM. But I've turned off the radio and slipped a Steely Dan greatest hits into the machine. "Babylon Sister" is playing quietly on the headphones which are not on my head, but delicately balanced atop the computer monitor.
Earlier, I'd scanned the AM band looking for signs of life, but all that's available locally and from a distance is the trite yipping of syndicated fare. I'm thinking it's a Jean Shepherd night. It would be nice to hear somebody who could tell a story. Somebody with a brain and a subtle sense of humor. Sadly, I'll admit to not immediately appreciating Jean Shepherd when my radio friends would rave about him and his story-telling genius. It took a while to appreciate the man's gifts. I did learn, however, to appreciate John Otto and his subtle and often biting vocabulary that would often motivate me to locate a dictionary to find the meaning of some of the words he'd use.
Nugatory is a great word that sounds strong, like a good cup of coffee first thing in the morning. Nugatory. Of course, it sounded even better when John Otto would serve it up while conversing with a listener on whom the word didn't even register. "Yours is a nugatory argument, wearing rather thinly on me at the moment..." Jean Shepherd and John Otto were like fine wine of a coveted year. Sure would be nice to hear that kind of radio locally, late at night these days.
Even the all night music jocks were special. Guys like Bob Christian, John Luther, Tom Donahue and Pat Riley come to mind. The top forty guys could play the hits and stop down to do a bit, read a news kicker off the wire or even connect a news item to a song they were about to play. Those days are long gone. "She thinks I'm crazy but I'm just growin' old..."
