review of Something in the Air by Marc Fisher
Ever get a book so good you read it all in one sitting? This book is that good, and not just for radio fans like myself (I have been a college station DJ for 26 years and am active on radio messageboards on the Net). When TV came along many thought it was death knell for radio, but the wireless adapted into pop/rock radio, talk stations, and various other formats. Radio was everywhere--when we woke up and had breakfast, during our commutes and at work, and during leisure time, providing us with music and information.
Fisher's book covers everyone from Cousin Brucie Morrow to Lee Abrams
and Tom Donuhue; talk hosts like Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh, and Tom
Leykis; the storyteller Jean "A Christmas Story" Shepherd; Bob Fass of
WBAI and his pals Abbie and Arlo ("Alice's Restaurant" developed on
Fass's show) and it comes into the present where terrestrial radio
gets competition from the likes of mp3 players and satellite radio,
and revised ownership rules have resulted in job cutbacks/consolidation
and a more homogenized, less local product.
From the transistor radio you listened to under the pillow of your
bed to streamcasts on the Net, Fisher covers it all, and extremely
well. Excelsior!
Ever get a book so good you read it all in one sitting? This book is that good, and not just for radio fans like myself (I have been a college station DJ for 26 years and am active on radio messageboards on the Net). When TV came along many thought it was death knell for radio, but the wireless adapted into pop/rock radio, talk stations, and various other formats. Radio was everywhere--when we woke up and had breakfast, during our commutes and at work, and during leisure time, providing us with music and information.
Fisher's book covers everyone from Cousin Brucie Morrow to Lee Abrams
and Tom Donuhue; talk hosts like Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh, and Tom
Leykis; the storyteller Jean "A Christmas Story" Shepherd; Bob Fass of
WBAI and his pals Abbie and Arlo ("Alice's Restaurant" developed on
Fass's show) and it comes into the present where terrestrial radio
gets competition from the likes of mp3 players and satellite radio,
and revised ownership rules have resulted in job cutbacks/consolidation
and a more homogenized, less local product.
From the transistor radio you listened to under the pillow of your
bed to streamcasts on the Net, Fisher covers it all, and extremely
well. Excelsior!