Chicken Radio (or Why WCLZ is the Greatest Radio Station Ever)

Hi World,

Do you listen to the radio? Isn’t it great? Without radio working hard to introduce us to new music, there is a very strong possibility that we might still be dressing up in twirly white disco dresses and dancing to the best of the Bee Gees or attending Led Zeppelin tribute band concerts and getting arrested for waving our bic lighters around.  Neither of these scenarios is good.

Today, I’d like to share a story about the power of radio.

Fifteen years ago I moved to Rhode Island from Maine. Here are a few good things about Rhode Island:

• Beautiful beaches
• Incredible restaurants
• A vibrant social scene thanks to the 10 or so institutions of higher education

Living in Rhode Island is not a hardship, but there are a couple of drawbacks. Our less than stellar economy is one, but more importantly than that, World, is the utter and complete absence of any good radio stations. We do have radio here. If you like Brittany Spears, 50 cent, or Carrie Underwood, you’re covered. If you like Brittany Spears, 50 cent and Carrie Underwood at least once an hour, even better. If you like to listen to people argue on air about sports, politics, religion and community affairs, we have that. If you like to bang your head, bang away. If you want to put on your white disco dress and twirl away to Disco Inferno, slap on some sparkly eye shadow and go crazy.

But if you want to listen to something new by Shawn Mullins or Louden Wainwright III, you probably won’t find it on the radio in Rhode Island. And this has long been a source of angst for me.

Part of my audio angst is because in Maine I listened to a great adult alternative radio station called WCLZ. I miss this station so much that when I visit home, I know the exact location on I-95 where I will be able to adjust the dial and listen in. I know exactly where, on the way back, I will start to lose reception and be forced to start scanning the airwaves in search of something that doesn’t suck.

Most of you know that I went home to Maine on vacation a few weeks ago. On the way back to our RI home I had the radio tuned to WCLZ and a great song came on that I had never heard before. My listening pleasure was somewhat thwarted by littleb’s back seat diatribe. In our house, littleb is commonly referred to as the “Human Radio” because he emits a pretty steady stream of noise, as often entertaining as he is annoying. At the same time, the Teenager Who Lives in the Basement was complaining loudly about his grumbling stomach, which made littleb talk louder, which made BigB talk really loud. Pretty soon I was bent over double trying to get closer to the radio, which is really funny, now that I think about it, because the speakers are in the back….anyway…

I made a note of what I thought was the artist’s name and vowed to look him up when I got home.

Unfortunately, I was not able to track down the artist. GG advised going on the CLZ website where perhaps they had a playlist I could consult.

You mean radio stations have websites? Radical! (I know. You should feel sorry for me.)

I went to the WCLZ website. I couldn’t find a play list but I did find a great free music download and since they change it up every week that’s one great free song per week on my I-pod, or 52 free songs a year. Take that, I-store! In addition, a cheery guy named Ethan, the program manager at CLZ, walked onto the screen and congratulated me, Chicken, on finding the free music. I was pretty sure that someone who made me feel smart for finding the free music download (loaded under a tag that reads “free music”), would be willing to help me find my mystery song, so I wrote him this letter:

To:  ethan@989wclz.com
From:  Chicken
Subject:  New song

Hi Ethan


Last Saturday as we were driving home from Maine you played a song I loved. I think the artist's name was Michael Fontrane or Fontaine and I thought I would just look him up when I got home, but I can't find him anywhere.


Does this sound familiar to you at all? Unfortunately, I can't remember the song or even any of the words. Ridiculous, I know. Happens with two boys in the car when one wants to go to a water park, the other is hungry, and the husband is swerving in and out of traffic one-handed while simultaneously ineffectively swatting at the back seat. Sigh. I was looking forward to listening to it in peace.


On a side note, CLZ is the best music station I've ever listened to. Without it I never would have heard of John Hiatt, John Gorka, Cheryl Williams or Dar Williams (hey that was totally weird and unintended...John, John, Williams, Williams). I moved from Maine 15 years ago. I can honestly say CLZ is the only thing I haven't been able to replace. No...I lied....I also miss Red's Ice Cream in South Portland. But other than that? Yeah, miss you guys.


Also, read your profile and felt a kinship-I have a three-year-old and a 24-year-old. Guess we are both certifiably crazy.


If you can possibly tell me what that song was, I'd.....I'd.....what would I do? I'm sure you don't want my kid and buying you ice cream couldn't possibly express my gratitude. I'll blog about you. How's that? That's awesome, right?


I can feel your excitement.


Have a good day, Ethan from CLZ


Sincerely,


Chicken


btw and ps: husband was not really swatting at anyone in the back seat. I got carried away picturing a 1960s vacation drama that I may or may not have been part of. All the rest is true, though. Scout's honor.

And two minutes later, this correction:

Dear Ethan:
Now I see my fatal flaw. Cheryl Wheeler, I meant. I knew that was too coincidental to be true.

And then, because I really can’t help myself, one minute later, this one:

Dear Ethan:
Then again, Lucinda Williams? Reaalllly have to go now:-)

And even though Ethan was given plenty of evidence that he was not dealing with a mainstream chicken, he was still nice enough to respond. Then again, WCLZ’s tag line is “Different is Good”, so why wouldn’t they like me, right? Here is his response:

To:  Chicken
From:  ethan@989wclz.com
Subject:  New Song

Hi Chicken,


Yes, could be Lucinda Williams or Cheryl Wheeler :-)
Thanks for your kind words about CLZ. I feel very lucky getting to program such a diverse station!
I think that was probably Michael Franti. If you tell me the approximate time I can let you know which song.
And one kid of any age can make you a bit crazy – two about 20 years apart…
I’m glad you’re listening! And especially glad there was no swatting!

I immediately went to YouTube and found not only Michael Franti, but also Bob Schneider, on a tip from GG, who is a fellow CLZ fanatic, and finally, “The Weepies”, who were featured as one of the station’s weekly free downloads. I ended up with about 11 new favorite songs.  I wrote Ethan back to express my sincerest thanks:

From:  Chicken
To:  Ethan@989wclz.com
Subject:  New Song

Hi Ethan,


Thanks so much for writing back. Yes, I think Michael Franti is the one-Sound of Sunshine. If that's not it, I love it anyway.
Thanks again for your help-it is very appreciated. Now that I've found CLZ online, I'll be continuing my musical education and spreading the word to other deprived grown-ups in Rhode Island.
One awesome blog posting coming your way. You can have one of my kids if you want, too. I'm still kind of partial to the little one but a couple of the older ones are getting on my nerves. I'm looking forward to telling the 15-year-old that I've found a new home for him and he doesn't have to go to the pound after all, so let me know about that.
Best,
Chicken

Ethan passed on my offer of an indentured teenage servant but he did email me the website of a very nice home for ownerless pets to keep in the mind for the next time TWLITB earns himself a stay in the doghouse.

I love a DJ with a sense of humor.

As the story ends, I am not positive that even one of the 11 new songs I found and downloaded from I-tunes was the one I originally started looking for, but it doesn’t matter. What matters is that I found a great new music resource that I can listen to anytime I want and I made a new friend.

If you need a resource for great adult music, check online at WCLZ for their live streaming, free downloads, and new music archives. If you have a question, email Ethan.

Thanks for everything, Ethan. You rock! And not in a tragic, twirly white disco dress way, either.

Click on the Chicken Crossing the road picture to hear my new favorite song. This song is guaranteed to get you dancing in your kitchen. Go ahead and dance like no one is watching.

Chicken out

Random Chicken Thoughts

Hi World,

Surprise!

You know how sometimes you get that little blogger tingle?  When you know you have a great post idea and everyone is going to love it?  It is practically already written in your head, you just need to get it down on paper (so to speak)?

This is not one of those posts.

This is a thumb-twiddling post brought about by a day when all my co-workers happen to be on vacation.  This is a recording of every random thought I had today that I can remember.  But if you read through to the end there are pictures of our vacation.  No Cheating!

1.  7:00AM:  If littleb sleeps 10 more minutes I can read five more pages.....so therefore....sleeping toddler X 10 min=5 pages=10/5=2. Two what?  That makes no frickin sense, Chicken....

2.  7:10AM:  Trader Joe French Roast is much cheaper than Starbucks French Roast but tastes like....Roast Kill....hahahaha.  (Better stick to Trader Joe Iced Tea which is excellent)

3.  8:00AM:  I don't have to bring littleb to daycare today because BigB is doing it, can I get an Amen!

4.  8:40AM:  If I spend the first hour of work reading articles which are all related to my industry, does that still make me a slacker?

5.  8:41AM:  Magic 8 Ball says.....Definitely not.

6.  8:42AM:  Is this my lucky day since Magic 8 Ball agrees with me?  For once?

7.  8:45AM:  Should buy lottery ticket.

8.  8:46AM:  Chicken, you think every day is your lucky day.  Get a life. 

9.  10:45AM:  Five consecutive articles claim that creative people will rule the 21rst century.

10.  10:46AM:  Hey!  I'm creative! 

11.  10:47AM:  Or am I overly attracted to articles that mention the word "creative"?

12.  10:48AM:  I should get some work done!

13.  11:50AM:  How come X, who says he can't remember what was just said to him and makes me write it down is considered saavy, brilliant, and "on the mark", and I, who share that very same quality , am considered flaky. hmmm.

14.  11:51AM:  Oh yeah, X is busy thinking about IPOs, SaaSs and a bunch of other acronyms.  I consult the Magic 8 Ball and can't remember what all the acronyms stand for. 

15.  12:00PM:  Afternoon Delight.  Peanut butter.  Yay.

16.  12:10 PM:  I like herbs.  I wonder if I was a witch in a past life?

17.  12:11PM:  Nah. If that was it, I'd be paranoid about fire.

18.  12:30PM:  I wish there was someone here to talk to. 

19.  12:32PM:  Hey, I should take one of those classes on influential speaking. Must research.

20.  1:20PM:  GG is trapped in a dungeon with old books and a bunch of spiders and she THINKS they are friendly.

21.  1:21PM:  Must. Save. GG.  Spiders are bad.

22.  1:23PM:  GG.  Walk towards the light.....Do Not Trust Those Spiders!!!

23.  2:00PM:  I've seen elastic band balls before but how do you start one?

24.  2:01PM:  Oh, look.  I have all these elastic bands.

25.  2:10PM:  Starting an elastic band ball is really much harder than you would think.

26..  2:13PM:  I'm going to make the best, the biggest, most colorful elastic band ball ever!!!!

27.  2:15PM:  Must email all my friends and let them know.

28.  2:30PM:  What?  You people think I am joking????

29.  2:34PM:  I love spreadsheets. 

30.  4:00PM:  So....I didn't have to drop littleb off today and that means....I have to pick him up.  Yikes.  I gotta get out of here. 

31.  5:00PM:  Must go to grocery.  What?  Free doughnuts?  littleb it is our lucky day!!! Must buy lottery ticket!!!

32.  5:10PM:  Is watermelon a vegetable or a fruit?

33.  6:00PM:  Watermelon for dinner.  Yay!

34. 8:40 PM:  Teenager who lives in the basement, I love you, but why come you are cleaning dishes now when I am trying to get littleb to sleep????

35.  9:00PM:  Buses at night, when they are all lit up, look like time travel machines. 

36:  9:30PM:  S, I love you, but do I have to look at all your vacation pictures right now? 

37.  9:40PM:  Ok, S, I love your vacation pictures....they are awesome....I'm going to look at them while I have wine.

38:  10:00PM:  Where did the day go?

38.  11:00PM:  Whatever happened to those little troll dolls with the hair that stood straight up.  They were cute. 

39:  11:10PM:  Must blog

40:  1:30AM:  Can't leave just 39 thoughts.  Must have even number. 

41:  Scientists say that odd numbers are more attractive.  Hmmm.  Would you like to see some vacation pictures?
 

Small Town Girls 1981-I managed to control my chardonnay intake, thus the absence of eyeshadow and prom dresses  (that took place later)

This is littleb with my old friend Lucy.

Here are some cousins having fun (Teenager WLITB is there on the left)

Here is littleB at BigB's family reunion

More Cousins!

We did some frog hunting....

Trolled a water park...

There was a fair amount of laughter with good old friends...

Random thought number 42.  GG don't kill me!!  GG.  How could I not publish the Chicken vacation highlight?  Friends for 30 years?  Finally some live footage? 

Here's me and my Dad, who prefers to remain mysterious

And here's the view in my hometown

Thanks for staying until the end.  You are a trooper!

Chicken out

If You Give a Chicken a Glass of Chardonnay...

Hi World:

If you give a Chicken a glass of Chardonnay, she will probably want another.  Sooner than you think.

If you give her another glass of Chardonnay, she will remember how she used to smoke and how lovely cigarettes and Chardonnay went together.  And she will ask you for a cigarette.

So you will drive her to the store where she can get a pack of life-lived-short.  While she is waiting in line she will notice the chips and feel hungry.  She will load up your arms with three kinds of dip, potato chips, corn chips, doritos and cheese curls.  Then, just in case, she'll throw in another bottle of Chardonnay.

And if you buy her the cigarettes, the munchies, and the wine, hold on to your hat.  It is going to be a long night. 

On the way home the song "Don't Stop Believin'" circa 1981 will come on your radio and she will yell, "This is my FAVORITE song.  She will roll down your windows, turn up the volume and sing.  Loudly.

Then, feeling young because of Journey circa 1981, she will stick her head out of your sky roof and yell, with no particular connection but much passion, "I love you Bruce!!!".  When she comes back inside the car her hair will look like it did in 1981.

And that will remind her of blue eye shadow and cute boys. And she will want some.

At the next stop light, she will happen to look back and notice a convertible full of cute boys.  She will have her head out of the sun roof , just about to invite them back to your place, when you will pull her back down and remind her firmly that she is no longer 18.  Thank God for you.

This will, however, remind her that once she was 18, and she will want to go to your place to look at your old high school yearbook.  There, amongst the cornchips and dip and Chardonnay, she will be hit by a tsunami of nostalgia.  She might weep a little.  And she will want to get dressed up in old prom dresses.

Once you are both dressed in old prom dresses and blue eye shadow, she will want to take a picture.  So you'll go find your camera and snap a picture of you both. 

While you load it onto her facebook page, she will decide that she NEEDS to hear "Stairway to Heaven", your prom song, and will search frantically through all of your old cassettes. She won't find it because that song kind of stunk, but she will find "Jesse's Girl" and will once again proclaim, "This is my FAVORITE song" while singing loudly and out of tune with traces of orange cheese curl powder around her mouth.

Not pretty.  And you've been patient enough.  You will suggest watching "Flashdance".  Chicken will be all for it.  But first, she will need to rip up one of your sweatshirts and put on a lobster bib.

And chances are, if you give her a sweatshirt and watch Flashdance, she is going to ask for another glass of Chardonnay.

For GG and all my old HS friends.  Looking forward to visiting home.

Chicken out...