18 years in just 2 days.
August 4, 2004 - it seems so long ago now. It was around 18 years today that I wrote DJ Wrathchild about joining his Station “Hard Rock Radio Live”. The station had been born from the Sims 4 Online Community at the time. He and the late great friend, and sexy voice “Rock Bitch” had been running the station at the time, and decided to give me a shot.
At this point I had been doing Online Radio for a few years in Star Wars Galaxies on “Wanderhome Radio”, a station run by an actual FM DJ in Los Angeles. My original reason for even applying there was a simple one in those days. Everyone else was playing stuff that made me want to kill - myself. From soundtracks to 8 bit games, to pop country and kids bop. I had a decent music collection at that time, mostly from my own choices and people I knew.
I had the years on and off prior to my accident in 1998, met dozens of people in Heavy Metal. Bands and such, that I had a great knowledge of the music. Had the privilege more than once to be at a moment in music history, or a start of a band, or even more so - meeting certain bands on the cusp of becoming legends. Twice for certain, maybe a few more later on for sure. But certainly 2 bands for sure.
Anyways - I gave a brief background to the above to Wrathchild. And he did what would become my self called trademark. A brief less than hour long training session in Spacial Audio Manager - 30 minutes to put together 2 hours of music and …….
Go live.
The show went well, Rock Bitch and Wrath and the rest of the 7 other DJs (Sadly some names have escaped me in time, some were gone shortly after I started.) and approved. And 2 days later I had a timeslot and off I went. That story will come over time, save to say the early days were interesting. A lot of on air cursing, drinking, fighting, and stuff that today - would be perma banned on the various pages of Social Media.
Thankfully mostly we all used Myspace. And that is a large grave to sift through today.
The “High Point” was my first Loyal Listener, I never called them fans. Listeners - simply because that’s what everyone was. Listening to the music, briefly and rudely interrupted with my verbal diarrhea. But he was TOMBSTER from Copenhagen Denmark. Our first early days of radio were wild, high counts of over 15 people were celebrated. We could see who and where our regs were. Tombster was a King Diamond fan like myself and a quick friendship was formed.
Tombster was a wild Viking of a man, whose madness and drinking antics matched my own. Soon he was making audio promos for my show. Wrathchild soon after set me to recruit him to join the station. And 2 weeks after I started as a DJ - I trained Tombster as a DJ and off he too, went into the wild internet radio west. I miss the man often lately, as his answer to most issues were simple. Impale a horses head in their yard and other such Nordic traditions, were his favorite responses.
Years went by and we remained friends, both of us having set backs. Bad times, hard ones. Then his life took a turn when his wife came down with the Big “C” and we eventually lost touch. His wife last we spoke had survived and done well. But his family and kids were now the most important thing. Life sometimes does this to those we call a friend. And lose touch.
Tomb stuck out to me mostly from the hours we spent chatting while music was playing on one of our shows. Dozens if not hundreds of pictures from our lives shared. His started out as he and his friends being the Mad Insane Danes they were. Drunken Metalheads partying waving machine guns and other such things we found funny back then. [ Like I said, things we would be banned for today. ] Or to the times the tanks of the military were out plowing the roads. Or his views on the War in Iraq.
That last stand out of this old friend of mine, was his counter side. Alter Ego. He may have been a Madman of Metal Radio at night. But in the light of day, my insane friend, was the Danish equivalent of a Kindergarten teacher. And a good one. I nearly spit out my beer the day he told me that. Nearly, because why waste good beer? [ Old Mindset, now I’d probably pass on the beer of the day back then. ]
This is but one of dozens of people I remember. One of many who helped the evolution of the show and the character. More names to come, and some of you may already be watching! At least, I hope so.
The reason I want to return to the work in the first place, the reason I did the show for as long as I did. Was the people who listened to the show. Not the guest, but my LISTENERS. My stories, my comedy, my rants and even my self destruction and rebirth. Time and Time again sometimes.
The biggest impact is still the first, I had a listener who lived in Upstate New Jersey - who drove to Springfield Va. To buy me a beer, simply because he loved the show. I paid the bartenders rent that night I think. I bought his drinks the rest of the night, as well as his friends. Not that I could afford it myself. I didn’t eat much for 2 weeks after that. My kid needed to eat more than I did, and I felt that the guy who traveled that far to meet me - should have been given as much graciousness on my part. As the generousness of his gesture was to me.
I learned a very big lesson that day. I can make a difference, but so can anyone else. You just HAVE TO PUT YOURSELF OUT THERE. Stage fright and fear aside, I was out there day after day, and on the Hard Rock Radio Live days - sometimes 7 days a week. Or as the less friendly term some DJs who were not as impressed “Hard Rock Raven Live”. And eventually pushed for my removal of management at the station. Again a story for another time.
Love me or hate me, I made a difference then. Now I wonder if I can again. And continually ask myself why. And simply get back “Why Not?”
