A Personal History of Radio

Back in the day (aka grade 8) my main source of audio entertainment was the radio. I first started out just listening to the local station while I spent time in my room by myself, cleaning, making things, whatever. It was friendly, it was reliable, and I didn't have to think about what I was in the mood for listening to. I just turned it on and there it was, and I could enjoy some tunes while putting my main focus on whatever I was doing at the time.

Somewhere around grade nine or ten, I discovered a call in program that came on in the evening and ran into the night. The music was varied and I even called in myself once or twice, something I hadn't done since I was in grade school and called More FM to tell Santa what I wanted for Christmas. Something else I started doing around this time was to tape songs (that's right, TAPE) off this program. That left me with a whole box full of Maxell tapes filled with songs that have the beginning cut off or spoken over, and the occaisonal run of commercials from when I forgot to shut the recorder off at the end of a song. But at least I had something good to put in my walkman.

Towards the end of grade 10, my best friend gave me her old CD player, as she was getting a new one. A stereo all my own! Around this time, I was seriously starting to get into some of the bands I was hearing on the radio and I started buying CDs. I listened to my CDs a lot, on my way to and from school, all evening while I hung out in my room, while I did my homework, art, etc. But I still had a serious relationship with the radio. In the morning, I listened to the Deejays on the Edge. I loved them. They played good music and they were hilarous. I even won concert tickets from them once.

I would also listen to the radio at night sometimes if I was staying up really, really late (all night) to finish an art project. When I stay awake late, CDs are good up to a certain point, but eventually, the empty silence between one CD finishing and another being put on just makes me feel lonely and a little creeped out. At this point, it's nice to have the radio playing, as it helps me to feel I'm not the only one still awake out there.

My favourite grade 11 radio time, however, was when I would go to my father's house for the weekend. At this point in my life, I was heavily into writing in journals. And I must admit, I was also seriously lovesick. So when I finished writing about whatever else was on my mind, I would write about a boy. Friday and Saturday nights, I would stay up very late in my little bunk with curtains around it, writing by candlelight, listening to the radio. The particular station I listened to played some sort of soft rock (the complete opposite of what I listened to on CDs at the time) and it played a lot of sappy songs. Even when I was finished writing, I would often stay awake, listening to 'just one more song,' waiting for one that would leave me with a lovely gooey feeling to finally fall asleep to.

After that, the radio pretty much left my life for a while, short of waking up to it every morning (I can't stand a traditional alarm) and listening to CBC Radio 3 online with Fiona when we were staying all night at the textile studio.

How I finally came across Coast to Coast, I really can't remember. I think I heard it once before, late at night in the textile studio, but at the time, I had no idea what it was. Just some wacky program featuring this lady who claimed to have grown up with the man who killed John Lennon, and how he was filled with demons and that's why he did it. I didn't recognize it for what it was until months later. Seg and I were laying in bed listening to a random AM radio show. The host was taking all these calls from people who had crazy stories about ghosts and aliens and the supernatural. It had bumper music between segments, where they would play about half of some song and then lead into the program. Other times, they would play the show's theme music for about a minute, then say we'll be right back, then a clap of thunder, and back to commercials. When the show finally ended around three in the morning, they played a strange song some guy named UFO Phil had written for the show; the lyrics were hilarous, it was so bad it was good. It was odd and quirky and very funny, and we were hooked.

We listened to Coast to Coast every night for the rest of our final months in Oakville, sometimes just for a few minutes, sometimes for an hour or more. It played all night; one morning I had to get up really early for a gallery show and the Coast to Coast theme music was what was playing when my alarm went off. It was horrible. It was still dark out and my bedtime show was playing...it was all wrong!! Now that we're back home and can't quite get reception for the show, it's one of the things I miss most about our times down South. I could listen to it on the computer, I suppose, and sometimes I do, but it's just not quite the same as rolling over, almost asleep, to finally shut it off for the night.

For about a year now, I'd been without regular radio in my life. Working during the day, I would listen to CDs or nothing at all. I'm not sure what possessed me to turn the radio on to CBC 1 about a month ago now, but I did, and once again I'm hooked. Every day now, my routine involves the radio at one point or another. I'm becoming familiar with the Deejays, the programs, the features. I like hearing the news. The discussions are intriguing. I think this sort of radio has made a nice change from CDs for me because it's somewhat more engaging. While a CD is often times still nice for the afternoon, in the morning it's good to tune into the world around me, to find out what's going on beyond my four walls. It helps me feel connected even when I don't have time to leave the house. And while it's sometimes so easy to bock out the music I've listened to a thousand times, the radio keeps me guessing, thinking, wondering, anticipating, a welcome accompaniment to what can sometimes be tedious work.

What's best though, is the balance radio offers between this sort of stimulation and a certain familiarity. When I was in grade 5, my brother would listen to Back to Bible every night as he fell asleep. I could never hear the show itself, but I could just make out the theme music faintly sounding from his room across the hall. It eventually became a source of comfort to me, safe and cozy and familiar. The Coast to Coast music brings me right back to my bedroom in Oakville, lying in bed in the dark, the sound of our roommates, the green glow of the clock radio. The one o'clock time signal that CBC sounds each day makes me think of my Gramma's house where I would always hear it from up in the loft, reading a book or petting a cat, while she puttered about down in the kitchen. I think perhaps some of the reason I've gone back to radio now is the reguarlity if offers. In this new part of my life, where most days are self structured and I'm trying to establish a responsible routine, it's nice to have something familar to tell me what time it is. I don't mean one o'clock, midnight or three in the afternoon, but breakfast time, break time, sewing time, organizing time.

Anyone else have a history with the radio? I'm sure I'm not the only one. Maybe it's just the interactive nature of the CBC getting to me, but I'd love some feedback. Talk to me, friends.

Mir