Funny How Things Work

Finished off the Lennon biography and started up "Radio Free Boston - the rise and fall of WBCN".

The Lennon thing was hanging around my home for a year or more. I kept procrastinating (there's that goddamn word again).

I started reading it and I devoured it, licking my chops with every sit down.

Keith turned me on to the existence of the BCN book, I grabbed it and now my eyes/brain are sucking it in.

It is a natural progression, however unplanned for.

BCN came on the air in March of 1968, and jumped feet first into an FM radio revolution started in San Francisco.

No loud mouthed jocks, no predictable playlists.

Intelligent radio for discerning listeners.

One of the originals described the concept as creating a mood with the music and running with it.

I love that. That is how music is supposed to be. Not pre-planned but spontaneous.

A jock got a call from a member of the Boston Symphony one day when he segued from a classical piece to rock while maintaining an emotional consistency.

This professional classically trained musician thought the moment was perfect.

That it what this station was all about.

The Beatles got their start in 1957 when John met Paul and exploded into history in 1963 and 1964.

They changed everything.

BCN was a classical FM station that was floundering financially when Ray Riepen convinced the station owner to let him experiment with a new rock format in an attempt to revive advertising income.

He was given the 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. slot to see what he could do with it. Riepen brought in college DJ Joe Rogers.

The station played classical music all day except for that slot. When Rogers went on the air for that first shift and played Frank Zappa followed by Cream, the phone lines lit up with irate classical listeners.

Beautiful.

BCN changed everything.

On the back cover of the book is this quote from Gregg Allman: "WBCN welcomed us in those early days; so much so, that Boston became a home away from home for the Allman Brothers Band and for me. BCN was truly one of the greatest of American radio stations. I miss those guys."

This is deeply meaningful because the Allman Brothers were a hard sell in those days. Deeply rooted in the blues, featuring virtuoso guitar players and musicians, interpreting and re-inventing the blues, jamming endlessly and brilliantly for extended periods of time.

They were a different animal.

Having BCN supporting their music is huge, and says a lot about the open minded philosophy of this station.

I have often said that I cannot pinpoint the moment when I first heard the Allman Brothers.

I wish I could. I wish I could say "Yeah, I was stoned out of my mind at this small, cool party at Phil Camerlengo's house where Snickers bars and long haired, free spirited, casually dressed women ruled, when all of a sudden this music comes over the radio and knocks me to the floor in  writhing ecstasy."

I can't. But I can guess within a small margin of error that I first heard the Allman Brothers on BCN.

There's a quote from Bono on the back cover as well. "WBCN - four letters that made a big difference to our U and our 2........Without them taking risks on new music, I'm not sure the U2 story would have been the same."

That is two deep quotes from two heavy duty bands from different eras.

That says a lot, baby.

With this book I shall continue my emotional trip down memory lane.