Befriending a squirrel (my wife loves the way I pronounce this word!) hardly seems a subject matter for a blog that reminisces about life as a DJ in the Pioneer Valley, yet doing this was one of the most rewarding moments Linda and I experienced during our time on that lovely radio station Valley Free Radio (http://www.valleyfreeradio.org/) hosting "The Nightclub" and later "The Nightclub featuring The Late English Breakfast" every weekend from February 2007 to March 2009.
One time the station was doing a fund drive. The statio received a small donation ($5) from a gentleman who was incarcerated at the Hampshire County jail. He wanted to contribute as he was a regular listener to the station and enjoyed the music that was played. His little transistor could pick up The River (http://www.wrsi.com/) on 93.9FM and the station that yours truly and his lovely wife waxed lyrical on.
He also wrote in his letter that he particularly enjoyed "that English couple" on Sunday nights and could a thankyou message get through to them! Well, you can imagine how pleased we were to hear this. Linda especially - I would later joke "well, we are from England, Linda's from New England and I'm from England!"
We had to express our thanks to the gentleman we to this day know only as "Squirrel". He later wrote us another letter thanking us for mentioning him and listed his favourite British music.
Even if I never do DJ'ing again, and I sincerely hope that isn't the case, I'll be forever proud of the fact that Linda and I played a part in helping entertain someone who was in jail and gave them some pleasure in life. We are proud of the radio show we had and this story is probably the best example as to why people should do some "community work" at some stage in their lives. The level of satisfaction a person gets is immeasureable.
"The Nightclub featuring The Late English Breakfast Video Memories"
Our "Nightclub" memory this time features a man who Linda got me into - Billy Joel. Since listening to Mr. Joel, I have come to admire his music and the stories his songs told. My selection is his US top 10 hit from 1980 "You May Be Right". Astonishingly, this song failed to reach the charts in Great Britain. It was always a good topic of conversation on the show, comapring the tastes of the American and British music buying publics . . . anyhow, here's the tune!
Our "Late English Breakfast" selection is a song from a feller who was born not a million miles from where I'm from. It's a song that, like the other tune featured today, got to number 3, but this time in the UK charts. This singer is currently enjoying a revival in his former band Take That. The singer is a favourite of mine. His name is Robbie Williams and the title of the song sums up what having a radio show gave us the opportunity to do. "Let Me Entertain You" is a great track - great to open a show - and I'm sure as hell glad we did entertain folks. Squirrel certainly thought so!
Adios amigos and enjoy your music!
Ed
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