Dead Air Nightmares
I have a question that i wanted to ask of my fellow djs...
Does anybody have nightmares about not being able to cue up records or not being able to avoid dead air?
This doesn't happen often but i do have these recurring dreams once in a while.
i thought i read about this somewhere on the blog and it happened again last night.
Rich, am i alone in this?
--Morgan Williams
Rich says: Speaking for myself - I haven't had that kind of dream happen lately... I haven't sat in front of a LIVE broadcast microphone in 3 to 5 years, either. But years ago on WLAD - I lost about 20 seconds of precious broadcast time (an ETERNITY... go on count them off) when I went to the bathroom during a Sox or Giants game... I think it was a Sox game, it was the top of the inning, and I had no idea they were going to do a pitching change... So, I casually walk back into the studios and my blood runs cold as I can hear all the all the alarms going off. I start running and throw a CART in and press the button as the dreaded phone was ringing with Mr. Irv on the other line. It was my first chance to talk to him - since I'd gotten the job with the help of Bart Busterna and Louis Wahl. Ahhh well.. For me it was NO nightmare, it was the real terrifying deal. Even after that moment, I could have made much more of my short time at LAD - I regret that I never did.
posted by Rich at 1:08 PM
2 Comments:
Dead air?.....Heck, almost 30 years after I left broadcasting and I still have nightmares about it.
In real life, it happened to me a lot when I worked for a small station in Western Massachusetts. At the time, ZZ Top's song "Tush" was a big hit. That sucker is only 2:14 if I remember correctly. If you don't know what you're gonna play right after that song, you're probably gonna be dead-airing all over the place.It was impossible to find a song (that wasn't already overplayed and nausea-inducing), cue it up, and be ready before Dusty and the boys were done with their little ditty.
At XCI, since programming was pretty loose, you just made sure there was always a PSA in the cart machine, always ready for the times YOU weren't.
I haven't sat in front of a live mic in some time either, but I also have dreams of dead air. No, Morgan, you are not alone!
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