Charlietown: Next Exit

I gave the new widely-talked about station Charlie 97.1 FM a first listen last night after listening to "Tiki Cha Cha Club" on KBOO, the new station that claims "we play everything" and that "random is good". It's actually quite a cute station, as I enjoy that they play lots of upbeat, dance-friendly material that you seldom hear on most corporate radio nowadays, and believe I'll keep tuning back just so I can hear a happy song after a chain of downbeat numbers that mark up much of the Top 40 nowadays. You can find the site here:

http://www.charliefm.com/



As for the "we play everything" thesis, well, I'll keep tuning in and be the judge of that, but I'm already quite skeptical about that. When listening to a parade of single-length tracks on the station, I was thinking of that "circle of trust" from the Meet The Parents movie saga, and thought, "Hey, I'd love to call Mr. Charlie the Boss and hold him to that circle of trust, hold him to the word "everything", which is technically already false in that there is just too much music in the world that a single radio station can play throughout the entire plane of time and space!" LOL!



I imagine my discussion with Mr. Charlie would go something like this!

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MR. CHARLIE: Charlie FM, hi!
NOAH: Hey hey, Mr. Charlie, I just wanted to say congratulations for starting up this new station and kudos for your great work!
MR. CHARLIE: Yeah, my curator of the Museum of Has-Beens, Sir Edmund Peel, has certainly been doing his homework, hasn't he?
NOAH: Um, yes, yes, rrrigghhttt...anyway, um, I understand that your slogan here at Charlie FM is "We play everything", correct?
MR. CHARLIE: Indeed.
NOAH: Yeah, hehe, that word "everything" is sure something, isn't it. In fact, if one were to look up that word in a grammar book, one would discover it considered a superlative. You know how often on television and in the movies, you always hear a desperate lover or someone in an absurdist comedy always telling another to make up for ones own follies say, "I'll do anything!" when often it's just an exaggerated expression? (giggles) That's something, isn't it!
MR. CHARLIE: Yeah, hehe, what's your point?
NOAH: Well, as a listener to your fun lil' station, I'd like to take your word for it that you truly do play "everything". Therefore, I'd like to make some requests!
MR. CHARLIE: Sure, what would you like us to play for you?
NOAH: Could you play "November Rain" by Guns N' Roses?
MR. CHARLIE: Sure, I'll see what I can do!
NOAH: Hey, that's great! "November Rain", wow, quite the nine-minute epic, isn't it? While we're on the subject of epics, you think you can play "Xanadu" by Rush? Perhaps Iron Butterfly's "In A Gadda Da Vida"?
MR. CHARLIE: Ummmmmm, well, I can thumb through the CD library here and...
NOAH: Hey, great, no need to rush, I'm a patient person! But when you do have the time, I'm also interested in hearing "Supper's Ready" by Genesis from the "Foxtrot" release! My, each time I hear that sixth part "Apocalypse in 9/8" it always brings out te catharsis in me! (sniff sniff)
MR. CHARLIE: Yeah, we always accept CDs here, so you are always free to come on down and contribute CDs and we'd love to play them for you!
NOAH: Hey, that's super! So you're saying if I come on down with the 42 minute-long Dream Theater's "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence", you'll play it from beginning to end in its entirety?
MR. CHARLIE: Welllll...
NOAH: ...or Jethro Tull's "Thick Like A Brick"?
MR. CHARLIE: Look...
NOAH: Hold that thought! You know what a great tradition would be? Maybe 52 hours and 24 minutes before each and every New Years Eve, your station could play Mark Mallman's "Marathon Two"! :) That Mark Mallman, he's quite the character, isn't he? Last September 4th, at the Turf Club in the Clown Lounge in St. Paul, he began recording that 52 hour-long masterpiece at 6 P.M, and kept performing all the way until around 10 P.M that Monday! He even said on his official web-site that he spent months writing 568 pages of lyrics and music for the song! Man, going for hours and hours straight can truly turn you into a Mallwolf, but when you compare it to the barbaric insanity that many poor citizens struggling to get by during the Great Depression had to go through by dancing countless weeks in the hopes to win much needed money to survive the hard times as depicted in "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?", it's a relief what Mark Mallman did was just good, clean, fun entertainment.
MR. CHARLIE: Look, it's not what you think...
NOAH: Hey, I've also been meaning to ask if you play album tracks too!
MR. CHARLIE: Um, well, that is to say...
NOAH: You know how KBOO plays Grateful Dead rarities, jazz prodigies, Dharma Wheel, all that good stuff? You should consider playing some material like that, I'd absolutely love to hear it!
MR. CHARLIE: Would we all!
NOAH: Hey, I recorded a song myself from my high school days, with a music class, titled "Weather Girl". Hey, maybe I can walk on down and you can play it, cowbell seems to be back in season!
MR. CHARLIE: So much good music, so little time, what can I say?
NOAH: Yeah, so very true. But I know in one way or another, eventually you'll get to everything like you say, right, my friend?
MR. CHARLIE: Yeah, I guessssss...
NOAH: Awwwwwwww, that's swell, hehehe, hey, it was really great talking with you, and Charlie!
MR. CHARLIE: Yes?
NOAH: I was just giving you a hard time, you know that, right, buddy?
MR. CHARLIE: Yeah, sure.
NOAH: Splendid! Well, I'll let you get back to your work, keep up the good work, random is good! Byebyes!

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(giggles) But yeah, Charlie and Co. are alright! Whenever you need an upbeat song to clear your head, you can count on them to give it to you! Otherwise, KBOO still very much feels like home to me!



:) Feel like dissolving now to "Three Minute Warning" by the Liquid Tension Experiment! Maybe they'll take my request?

Love,
Noah Eaton
(Mistletoe Angel)
(Emmanuel Endorphin)