Saturday 9 - The Last DJ

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!

Saturday 9: The Last DJ

1. Who was favorite DJ and what radio station did you listen to as a kid? Um... favourite DJ? Hmmm. I listened to WLIR, 92.7, which was really, really hard to receive in my house. Here is the description:

1980s

In 1982 it had been decided that in order to move the station into the future a format change was needed.^[1] Program director Denis McNamara recommended to the station's owner that he choose one of two formats progressive adult contemporary or New Music.^[1] Although adult contemporary seemed commercially appealing, New Music was chosen because it was more in step with the "dare to be different" campaign being used to promote the new format and it was more "fun".^[1] On August 2 the format switch occurred. The station featured new wave (McNamara "hated" that term because he felt it was a trendy phrase that might be out of style in a year),^[1] synthpop, post-punk, early alternative rock acts as well as novelty records. The personalities of the disc jockeys became much more upbeat. The station became known worldwide for introducing new artists and playing singles months (if not years) before other stations. WLIR became the first radio station in the country to play U2, The Cure, The Smiths, New Order, Duran Duran, Madonna, George Michael, Men at Work and Prince. The station was one of the few commercial radio stations in the United States to play these type of artists. One method of doing this was the "Screamer of the Week" a promotion in which listeners would call in and vote for their favorite new song of the week. New Order, Depeche Mode, Ultravox, Yaz and Blancmange were early staples of this format. According to McNamara the "entire music industry was looking upon 'LIR and that 'LIR marketplace of New York and Long Island as one of the hippest music areas of the world. People used to refer to it as the gateway to America if you were an upcoming artist." A criticism of the station in this period was that it favored artists from Great Britain (and to a lesser extent western Europe in general) at the expense of local bands.

The only DJ I remember was Denis McNamara. He was great.

2. What has been the weirdest thing you have worn in public? Gads, I was a punker in the early 80s. I was the first one to have a dyed tail in high school. It was a piece of my long hair in the back that was bleached out so it was white-blonde while I had long purple bangs and shaved sides of my head (not totally bald, but very, very short. That lasted a fairly long time. My mother hated it, which was funny, but realised that at that age, this was going to happen and it was just hair - it would grow in again.

3. What was the best part of last weekend? The best part of this past weekend was going to the pumpkin patch, selecting my two pumpkins and one is carved with an OHM in it. Such fun!

4. What was the most effective punishment for you as a kid? My parents found it extremely effective to make me stay inside. But I was a kid in the 1970s - we loved playing outside!

5. Would you lie to your significant other to not hurt their feelings? Never. He wouldn't do that to me.

6. We're taking you order for breakfast. What would you like? Ah, let me see. Cherry Kiafa Crepes, no powdered sugar, with a side of Honey Maple Ham. And hot tea.

7. Do you celebrate Halloween? If yes, do tell. If no, why not? I do, as Samhain, the Celtic Wiccan New Year. I enjoy it a lot. I usually use my Ren Faire costume. And Greg and I are going to Chiller Theatre again. Yahoo!

8. Do you hand out candy to the neighborhood kids? No - never. I turn out all the lights and hide. I don't like children at all.

9. What's the favorite age you've been, so far? This one! What else?

Thanks so much for joining us again at Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us on next Saturday for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!" Enjoy your weekend!