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The Marconi Experiment Philosophy
I do have a life, and I have to take around eight hours out of it to produce the four and a half hours you get to hear. So why do I do it? First, I LIKE TO DO IT. I also know that any commercial station wouldn't put up with me (mostly because I wouldn't tolerate their anal-retentive rules). This puts me at a great disadvantage. . . nobody will ever pay me for doing this. In fact, the Marconi Experiment only continues to exist because the people who are in charge here at Hunterdon Central High School allow me to use their facilities, and I hereby thank them for that.
My choice of music is probably hard to explain. If my tastes paralleled most of my peers, I would be playing Classic Rock, Soft Rock, or Country. If I did that, there would be no reason for the Marconi Experiment to exist at all, but my tastes run far wider than that. I have been approached by people little more than half my age and asked, "you like that?" I am perfectly capable of playing Buffalo Springfield, Ricky Martin, Garth Brooks and the Sex Pistols* in the same hour, if not in the same set. Along with an amazingly wide range of music, I am likely to have a bit to say on current events. I have been called "opinionated." O.K., I may even become preachy at times, but I try to control that. During our recent 80's WCVH reunion show, I was alleged to rant; one was played as an example, and I suppose I have to agree.
I have started every show I've ever done with a Frank Zappa track. Aside from the fact that I believe Zappa to have been a musical genius, vastly underrated by most people, and I have been into his music since you could still buy the original vinyl version of his first album, it has become a tradition to start that way.
The name, The Marconi Experiment, was the name given to all the evening rock shows back when I first started doing this on WCVH. I liked it, and I think that it conveys some idea of the somewhat experimental nature of what I do, so I retained it. I tape* myself each week so I can get to hear what you will hear if you tune in. I am usually pleased with the results and it allows me to determine if I am developing annoying on-air habits. That doesn't necessarily mean that I will correct them. By now you've noticed that I use "I" a lot in this text. Let's face it: doing radio is an ego trip. "I" is what much of it is about. If you find what I do offensive, annoying or even boring, I have an easy fix. Take a close look at your radio, find the tuning knob or button and change the station. The off switch is also an effective remedy. It is not my intention to appeal to a lot of you. It is my intention to have a good time and to present to those who choose to listen, music that they might not otherwise hear. Among the advantages of non-commercial radio are freedom from advertisers, and the influence they would have, freedom from the need to reach as big an audience as possible, and the freedom to have a bad night, and still share it with you.
As of February 1, 2008, I started breaking my playlists into sets. When I'm going good, I find that my sets are either logical or musical flows. When I'm totally hot, I sometimes manage both. Mostly, I try, but at least now when you check out last week's playlist, you can see how they were actually played. You do check out the playlist, don't you?
We all owe the name Marconi Experiment to Dave Herman, who hosted what I think is about the best thing ever done on commercial radio back in the late 60's and early 70's. The original Marconi Experiment took place Sunday nights on WMMR in Philadelphia, around the time the FCC required owners of both AM and FM stations to provide, at least, some independent programming (stop simulcasting). What I do on Friday nights is my take on what he used to do on Sunday nights. I also owe him credit for the crickets.
*This was written when Ricky Martin was hot. If I haven't updated for a while, you might not remember who Ricky Martin was. I don't actually "tape" myself anymore. They pulled out the cassette machine, so I got an mp3 player with a line input and I record with that now. The fidelity is better but, since I can only play mp3s on the recorder and computers, it is less convenient. I use an adapter to play them in my car.
I got a critical phone call on May 9, 2008 that I think needs consideration. While I don't agree with the caller's general position, he had points that I need to address. He was probably right in a way when he said that the student operators do "better" shows, if your definition of "better" is more commercial. The school's program is designed to give the student some useful experience and knowledge in radio. Presumably, this should give them a shot at a career in radio. I have no delusions that what I do would ever land me a job in radio and, if it did, unless I toed the line, I wouldn't keep it very long. Public radio had no such limitations. The fact is that what those students should also take away from the course is that there is less and less opportunity in radio as more stations go automated. I'm sure a station can buy a package they can put on their programming system so that all they need is a technician to check in once in a while. Maybe somebody on the sales staff could be trained to do that. Reality bites.
My inspiration comes from the original Marconi Experiment on WMMR, back around 1969. I suspect that it existed almost entirely due to an FCC ruling that forced AM-FM radio stations to offer different programming on their FM outlet, at least part of the time. FM was barely viable at the time. An FM radio in a car was a rarity. I had one that was an adapted home FM tuner connected to the car's AM radio. Even luxury cars usually didn't have FM. FM portables were almost unknown and most homes didn't have even one FM receiver. That's a tough nut for a commercial station, but if they wanted to keep both licenses, they had to comply. WMMR put together a batch of shows that I suspect had little oversight by the "suits". It made brilliant radio. I suspect that it was the birth of "free-form". The Marconi experiment combined an unusually wide range of music with select news. That's what I'm trying to do. I take news items and put my own spin on them, mostly trying to dig through all the bullshit and spin that's already there. Unfortunatly, doing that is almost guaranteed to piss some people off, so sometimes I get excessively wordy trying to cover my ass. Sometimes, I just get preachy. I try not to do that, but I don't always know I'm doing it when I'm doing it. The host of the original show was an experienced professional and always came off entertaining. I'm just not that good, which is why I'll never get paid for doing this. On the other hand, major stations frequently cover none of this and we all need to know.
I am limited by just a few rules. I can play and say anything I want as long as it doesn't break any laws. I can get amazingly offensive, but I choose not to. When I find a story that I think we really need to know about and that isn't getting any coverage elsewhere, I report it and usually editorialize. If I'm really hot that night, I'll tie it to the music. Those of you who have been long time listeners have probably noted that I've mellowed out a bit. I am less apt to play really offensive music. I play a lot less punk than I once did. I am also more circumspect in my editorials. The fact that some of you take offense should make you wonder the way it used to be. I know that I'm a free-form island in a sea of country music and the audience that country attracts is apt to be older and more conservative than the audience I'm seeking. I don't expect the country audience to stick with me for a second any more than those that listen to me every week are apt to stay tuned when I turn control back to the computer. I also know that the show the inspired me is an artifact of 40 years ago and has no stable place in today's media. I really meant it when I told the caller that he was tuned to the wrong station. I wasn't being glib. If I did a show that he wanted to listen to, I would be doing a great disservice to my regular audience, especially since what he seems to want is readily available on commercial, satellite and internet radio. Traces of what I do are available on the internet, but is almost non-existant on broadcast, and I suspect, on satellite. Broadcast facilities are expensive and so are satellite transponders. Even internet radio has fees.
Internet radio is looing more attractive. When I factor in the cost of gas, it won't cost all that much more and it will be a lot more flexible. Other advantages are that I shouldn't have to limit myself to radio "friendly" editions and I could be available 24/7. Of course, in the WCVH listening area, you won't have the convenience of getting me on the radio, but that doesn't afffect all that many people. On some computers, it would not be difficult to record the program. On this one, I couldn't, but that will change with the sound card I just ordered. You'd need full duplex capability to record from the output. There are probably programs that can capture the streaming audio digitally, but if you choose that route, you're on your own.
I've been thinking a lot about the Marconi Experiment over the years and how it has evolved. Back in the dim beginnings, back around 1975, we operated from the main building at Hunterdon Central High School, and the building was open all the time, so students did shows on weekends, summers, and at night. We were in a wing of the building that also housed a faculty lounge, so we were somewhat isolated from the hubbub of the school. At that time, we shut down late at night and someone came in the next morning to unlock the station and sign on. The main entrance to the building was still open. Later, we moved closer to that main entrance and more in the school's traffic pattern, which had relatively little effect except that we only locked the studio. Our next move was to the library building, with a bigger studio, attached classroom and some other perks. This is also the period in which the security got beefed up and we stopped operating on weekends and holidays. Before that, I typically did 50 or more shows a year, and I sat in that studio on Christmas and welcomed in a New Year there at least once. One more move to a new audio-visual building and a still bigger studio, replaced the old teletype with a satellite feed and finally got the automatic programming system working, so we went on 24/7, although there were a lot less "live" shows. I guess it was inevitible that I would be squeezed out. Ironically, going onto the internet moves me back to being able to do as many shows a year as I want. I think I'll stick with weekly, so expect around 52 a year.