50 Years On, 'Star Trek' Fandom Continues To Prosper
Fifty years ago, "Star Trek" aired across the country Captain Kirk, Spock, Scotty and the crew of the Starship Enterprise. What's behind the franchise's enduring appeal, and why is Boston such a Trekkie haven? I appeared on WBUR's Radio Boston to discuss. Listen here.
Looking For ‘Likes’ In All The Wrong Places
(image: AP)Does "like" = "love"? Feel a little beat up by social media sometimes? My essay about this topic, "Looking For ‘Likes’ In All The Wrong Places: On Social Media And Self-Worth," appeared on WBUR's Morning Edition, Mon Feb 4. Here's an excerpt, and you can listen to the piece I recorded below.
(image: AP)Does "like" = "love"? Feel a little beat up by social media sometimes? My essay about this topic, "Looking For ‘Likes’ In All The Wrong Places: On Social Media And Self-Worth," appeared on WBUR's Morning Edition, Mon Feb 4. Here's an excerpt, and you can listen to the piece I recorded below.
We all know the feeling.
We post something on Facebook, say our latest gastronomical experiment, or a scathing takedown of a celebrity making a fool of himself. Or, we let fly a clever tweet paired with a shrewd hashtag we’re certain is going to go viral.
Then, crickets. As in, no “likes,” no retweets, no nothing.
And how does all this make us feel? More insignificant than if we’d posted nothing at all.
That’s the power, and danger, of social media.
You can read the rest here. And listen below.
WBCN Remembered in Book and Boston Globe story
Remember the "Rock of Boston"? The Big Mattress? The Rock and Roll Rumble? The on-air hijinks, comedy, in-your-face personalities, the music? A new book called Radio Free Boston: The Rise and Fall of WBCN is out written by 'BCN disc jockey and music director Carter Alan, recalls the era when WBCN ruled the airwaves.
In my story for the Boston Globe today, I was able to sit down with Alan and talk to him about the groundbreaking station, and how it will be remembered. I also spoke with some of the major players at the station -- incuding Charles Laquidara, Oedipus, Ken Shelton, Tank, Mark Parenteau, Lisa Traxler, Adam 12, Tank Juanita, Sam Kopper, Matt Siegel, and others.
The story ended up being a little shorter than I had hoped. I tracked down as many players from WBCN's past as I could, and asked them to share what 'BNC will be most remembered for in the annals of rock and radio history, but a lot of the great material ended up on the cutting room floor.
Read my original story here, then check out the cut sidebar below.
And incidentally, check out Carter Alan, who's got a few book reading and signing events coming up, including: Wed., Nov. 13 at 7pm at The Book Shop, 694 Broadway, Somerville, MA, www.bookshopsomerville.com; Fri., Nov. 15 at 7pm at The Book Shack, 101 Independence Mall Way, Kingston, MA, www.thebookshack.net; Fri. Nov. 22 at 6pm at the Barnes & Noble, Braintree, MA; and Sat. Dec 7, at 7:30pm, Barnes & Noble, Salem, NH.
Charles Laquidara in the early days (photo: courtesy of Carter Alan)
Voices Carry: WBCN Veteran DJs Through the Ages Recall 'BCN's Legacy
How will WBCN be remembered? The Big Mattress? Its Rock and Roll Rumble? The on-air hijinks, comedy, in-your-face personalities, or the music? We tracked down as many players from WBCN's past as we could, and asked them to share what 'BNC will be most remembered for in the annals of rock and radio history.
"I remember there was a time when you could hear 'BCN without a radio. Literally. You could start in downtown Boston and walk, if you wanted to walk the five miles to Cambridge, to Harvard Square ... Between the cars that were playing it, with their open windows, in the summertime ... and all the dormitories and all the apartments, the houses, it was like you could hear 'BCN from one end of the city to the other." --- Charles Laquidara, DJ, 1968–96
"All media going back to cave drawings ... reflect what is going on in their time and stimulate it. 'BCN happened at a time when socially, politically and musically it was unbelievably charged." --- Sam Kopper, first program director and morning DJ - 1968–71, live music broadcast producer and weekend DJ 1975 - 91, now PD/DJ of WBCN Free Form Rock, wbcn.com and 100.7HD3
"WBCN was like being in the Sons of Anarchy without the motorcycles." --- Ken Shelton, DJ, 1980–93
"It was an amazing thing to go in there every day and flip on a switch and talk to a couple million people in six states...To make people laugh and make them dance and make them enjoy their life. I miss that style of radio. There's nothing like that now." --- Mark Parenteau, DJ, 1978–97
"It was a different time. Radio was different. It's all commercial now ... Then, they were just a bunch of crazy hippies. .... I can trace my success to BCN. I dont know how I would have developed differently had I not had the 'BCN experience." --- Matt Siegel, DJ 1977–79, now at KISS 108
"The music meant something to the DJ and to the moment in which it was begin played... What's missing [now is] the human touch. The feeling that someone else was there with you." --- Paul "Tank" Sferruzza, Listener Line operator, van driver, producer, sports reporter, 1978–95
"I remember the owners telling me, distinctly, they said, 'You’re gonna make mistakes, and you’re gonna learn from your mistakes. But we like you because you’re intelligent and you’re not afraid to take chances.' Who says that?" --- Oedipus, DJ and Program Director, 1977–2004, now at RadioDBC.com and oedipus1.com
WBCN staff hanging with Elvis Costello on the release of his SPIKE album. 1989 (Courtesy of Warner Brothers Records)"There was a strong sense of history being made. 'BCN would play something and damn the torpedoes. If we believed in something we could go to the wall on it." --- Lisa Traxler, DJ, 1984–90
"The sense of family came across the airwaves. It was a radio station that you listened to find out what was going on ... The DJs were funny and smart and they lived the life." --- Janet "Juanita" King, DJ 1996–2001, 2002–09, now at WZLX
"It was part of the fabric of Boston ... 'BCN for years set the tone for radio stations of its ilk all across the country. But 'BCN as cultural phenomenon, through it s music and its personalities and its event and its presence, really was Boston. It united Boston." --- Adam "Adam 12" Chapman, DJ, 2003–09, now at RadioBDC.com
wizard rock radio!
If you need your fix of Harry Potter-themed "wizard rock," look no further.... thanks to the coolness over at Paste magazine.
--- Ethan Gilsdorf, author of Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks