Tuesday, October 25, 2011

An Open Letter to Virgil Thompson, Vice President of Programming, Cox Media Group, San Antonio, Texas

25 October 2011

Dear Mr. Thompson:

Today's abrupt dismissal of John Lisle and Steve Hahn, "key members of the KISS air staff" to use your own words, is at best a disservice to both those personalities; and, at worst, a gross betrayal of everything the once-proud "100,000 Watt Blowtorch of South Texas" once stood for.

San Antonio has always been a rock-hard, work-hard, party-hard, hard rock and heavy metal town; let no demographic survey, focus group, or industry publication tell you otherwise.

Ignore that, and you might as well start playing oldies. Ask any old KISS hand who's been listening to and/or working at the station longer than twenty years if you want to know how that went.

While some within the Extended Family (a term I first heard to describe KISS listeners from Lisle and Hahn) have voiced (in my opinion, valid) complaints about the playlist's shift toward commercially "safe" hard rock and metal and the perceived turning of blind eyes and deaf ears to newer, harder bands that the fans are clamoring to hear on the radio, such things are irrelevant with the advent of satellite radio and iPods in cars.

The only way I see the commercial radio stations I grew up with surviving well into the 21st Century is by providing what satellite radio and iPod playlists can't: engaging, genuine, locally-invested personalities that aren't afraid to speak their minds and talk a little smack now and again. The sort of people, in fact, that those in your employ seem hell-bent on driving off San Antonio airwaves (see Kendall, Brian; Schepke, Tom). Especially San Antonio institutions like Lisle & Hahn.

It would, of course, be foolish to assume that the Lisle & Hahn morning show would last forever. But to take men who have been fixtures of San Antonio radio for well over twenty years (counting for their stints in the 1980s) off the air in such a manner, without any explanation whatsoever or even the dignity of a formal farewell show, is not only callous, but classless. Messrs. Lisle and Hahn deserve better. The loyal listeners -- even the few that have not cleared KISS from their presets, bookmark lists, and Facebook likes and abandoned the station like rats leaving a sinking ship -- deserve better.

Sincerely,

Jason Ramsperger
Former loyal listener of KISS-FM, Member of the Extended Family

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Song of the Indeterminate Time Period, 16 August 2K11

One last song for Beth...

White kitchen walls with a thousand windows
You turn on Winston in the den
And I'm still asleep but I can hear the piano
When you make breakfast after ten

I smell the coffee on your fingers
I still smell the perfume in the bed
The crushed linen roses are on everything
And you're still inside my head (get out!)

You gotta make her know how it feels to miss you
Let her know you're swapping sides
You're not the one with all the problems (no, no)
You're the one with all the pride
So just pick your head up, boy, and walk away
Walk the coolest walk that you know
Cause in a month or two, she'll call you
You gotta... HANG UP THE PHONE!

And I hope she knows I've got this memory
It won't ever seem to break or bend
A thick lock, and sheetrock is on this window in my kitchen
I don't think I'll ever take them down again

Cause I've learned a lot
From all of these break-ups and make-ups and fuck-ups and fake-ups
Things that I wish you could comprehend (comprehend)

But for now, I'll lace up my Converse shoes, boys, and I'll
I'll go and have breakfast with my good friends

You gotta make her know how it feels to miss you
Let her know you're swapping sides
You're not the one with all the problems
You're not the one with all the problems
You're the one with all the pride

[Ryan Delahoussaye with a lead violin break]

You gotta make her know how it feels to miss you
Let her know you're swapping spit
You're not the one with all the problems
You're not the one with all the problems
She's the one that's full of shit
So just pick your head up, boys, and walk away
Walk the coolest walk that you know (I know you know)
Cause in a month or two, that bitch will call you
You gotta... HANG UP THE PHONE!

-- Blue October
"Breakfast After Ten"
Argue With a Tree (live) (2005)

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Song of the Indeterminate Time Period, 24 August 2K10

Well, what I thought was over really wasn't. Thanks, Beth.

A lovestruck Romeo sings the streets a serenade
Laying everybody low with a love song that he made
Finds a streetlight, steps out of the shade
Says something like "You and me, babe, how about it?"

Juliet says, "Hey, it's Romeo, you nearly gave me a heart attack!"
He's underneath the window, she's singing "Hey, la, my boyfriend's back"
You shouldn't come around here singing up at people like that
Anyway, whatcha gonna do about it?

Juliet, the dice was loaded from the start
And I bet, and you exploded into my heart
And I forget (I forget) the movie song
When you gonna realize, it was just that the time was wrong... Juliet?

Come up on different streets, they both were streets of shame
Both dirty, both mean; yes, and the dream was just the same
And I dream your dream for you, and now your dream is real
How can you look at me as if I was just another one of your deals?

When you can fall for chains of silver, you can fall for chains of gold
You can fall for pretty strangers and the promises they hold
You promised me everything, you promised me thick and thin
Now you just say, "Oh, Romeo, yeah, you know I used to have a scene with him"

Juliet, when we made love you used to cry
You said "I love you like the stars above, I love you 'til I die"
There's a place for us, you know the movie song
When you gonna realize, it was just that the time was wrong... Juliet?

I can't do the talk like the talk on the TV
And I can't do a love song like the way it's meant to be
I can't do everything, but I'd do anything for you
Can't do anything except be in love with you

And all I do is miss you and the way we used to be
All I do is keep the beat, the bad company
And all I do is kiss you, through the bars of Orion
Juliet, I'd do the stars with you anytime

Juliet, when we made love you used to cry
You said "I love you like the stars above, I love you 'til I die"
There's a place for us, you know the movie song
When you gonna realize, it was just that the time was wrong... Juliet?

And a lovestruck Romeo sings the streets a serenade
Laying everybody low with a love song that he made
Finds a convenient streetlight, steps out of the shade
And says something like "You and me, babe, how about it?"

-- Dire Straits
"Romeo and Juliet"
Sultans of Swing (1993)

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Song of the Indeterminate Time Period, 22 June 2K10 (Part the First)

Heard the H-word mentioned when talking about my Grandma and I promised my Mom I'd make this song a SotITP. Well, here it is.

Grandma burned the biscuits
Nearly took the house down with it
Now she's in assisted living
We all knew that day would come

We knew she was too gone to drive
The day she parked on I-65
Found her on the shoulder crying
She didn't know where she was

It's like her mind just quit
Oh, but bring up Grandpa
It's like someone flipped a switch

A front porch light in a blue DeSoto
Couple of straws in a Coca-Cola
You can see it all going down
A handsome boy in Army green
A tear on his face, down on a knee
A shaky voice, a diamond ring
She'll put you in that town

Tomorrow she won't remember what she did today
But just ask about Ellsworth, Kansas, 1948

She takes out his medals
A cigar box full of letters
Sits and scatters pictures
Black and whites of days gone by

We started losing her when she lost him
But to hear her carry on, you'd swear she's 17 again

Football games and leaves a'cracklin'
Walking her home in his letter jacket
You can see it all going down
A perfect night on a front porch glider
Saying good night for the next three hours
Her tired eyes go wide and bright
When she talks about that town

Tomorrow she won't remember what she did today
But just ask about Ellsworth, Kansas, 1948

While the world is fading all around her
Sharing a sundae at the counter
He's going on and on about her
Bet she's right there right now

Tomorrow she won't remember what she did today
But just ask about Ellsworth, Kansas, 1948

-- Rascal Flatts
"Ellsworth"
Me & My Gang (2006)

Song of the Indeterminate Time Period, 22 June 2K10 (Part the Second)

For all that was, that wasn't, that could have been, that did, that didn't...

For Beth.


When you're talking to yourself
And nobody's home
You can fool yourself
You came in this world alone (alone)

So nobody ever told you, baby
How it was going to be
What will happen to you, baby?
Guess we'll have to wait and see

(one, two)

[bridge]

Old at heart but I'm only 28
And I'm much too young to let love break my heart
Young at heart but it's getting much too late
To find ourselves so far apart

I don't know how you're supposed to find me lately
And what more could you ask from me?
How could you say that I never needed you
When you took everything
Said you took everything from me

[bridge]

Young at heart and it gets so hard to wait
When no one I know can seem to help me now
Old at heart but I mustn't hesitate
If I'm to find my own way out

Still talking to myself
And nobody's home
(alone)

So nobody ever told us, baby
How it was going to be
What will happen to us, baby?
Guess we'll have to wait and see

[Piano solo]

When I find out all the reasons
Maybe I'll find another way
Find another day
With all the changing seasons... of my life
Maybe I'll get it right next time
And now that you've been broken down
Got your head out of the clouds
You're back down on the ground
And you don't talk so loud
And you don't walk so proud
Any more, and what for?

[Guitar solo]

Well I jumped into the river
Too many times to make it home
I'm out here on my own, and drifting all alone
If it doesn't show, give it time
To read between the lines

'Cause I see the storm is getting closer
And the waves, they get so high
Seems everything we've ever known's here
Why must it drift away and die?

[Slash lets off another face-melting solo here]

I'll never find anyone to replace you
Guess I'll have to make it through this time
(oh this time)
Without you

I knew the storm was getting closer
And all my friends said I was high
But everything we've ever known's here
I never wanted it to die

-- Guns 'N Roses
"Estranged"
Use Your Illusion II (1991)

Thursday, May 06, 2010

Song of the Indeterminate Time Period, 06 May 2K10

You've read the Harry Potter books, you think you know them through
But there's something that you may not know and here's a little clue
The female of the trio has her birthday on
Talk Like A Pirate Day
So heads up, Harry and Ron!

When she found out, her eyes she rolled, she went on knitting socks
But Harry said, "I've got the gold, let's head down for the docks"
They traded lots of Galleons for a lovely brigantine
And now they're her young stallions, and she's a pirate queen

Come here, you lads and lasses, I tell you, she's the one
Give a cheer and raise your glasses, but not 'til class is done
Though she's only seventeen, she's smarter than Dumbledore
Hermione Granger the Pirate Queen, the Pride of Gryffindor!

Her white shirt and black leather, they complement her eyes
Her red sash brings it together, and those boots half up her thighs
Captain Hook's a fan, and Jack Sparrow thinks it's great
It's in the books, it's canon! (*boom*)
So let's all celebrate!

Hoist the mains'l, wind the capstan, give it all you've got
The Fire Whiskey and the captain both are really hot
Here's a happy birthday to the girl that we adore
Hermione Granger the Pirate Queen, the Pride of Gryffindor!

She taxidermied Pettigrew, and on the bridge he sat
Cause after all, what pirate ship doesn't have a rat?
She Incarcerus'd young Malfoy, so he could not escape
And one Petrificus later, she made him walk the Snape

Dolohov she'll finish off, and Bellatrix she'll foil
Lucius'll land in Azkaban, and likewise, Crabbe and Goyle
She laughs at danger, thinks it's keen; bring on Voldemort!
Hermione Granger the Pirate Queen, the Pride of Gryffindor!

Now here's the part we talk about with whom she's lockin' lips
Cause after all, a pirate queen has got to have her 'ships
Some say that Harry's her true love, or Ron she will betroth
She finally cried, "I can't decide; I'll have to have them both!"

Who's the sassy bossy witch that all the boys pursue?
Grander than the Golden Snitch, and more elusive too
One may seek her, one may keep her, both know how to score
With Hermione Granger the Pirate Queen, the Pride of Gryffindor!

And so the Seven Seas she sails in deadly hot pursuit
Of getting perfect OWLs and acing every NEWT
Some think she's just a bookworm, but I am here to say
She's got this pirate thing down cold every naval day!

Come here, you lads and lasses, I tell you, she's the one
Give a cheer and raise your glasses, but not 'til class is done
She'll go down in history, the one we're singing for
Hermione Granger the Pirate Queen, the Pride of Gryffindor!

-- Tom Smith
"Hey, It's Can(n)on"
iTom 1.0: And So It Begins (2006)

Monday, February 22, 2010

Song of the Indeterminate Time Period, 22 February 2K10

This song gets played/pimped in honor of a WWJD-esque bumper sticker I saw while coming home to my apartment from work today.

The sun is hot and that ol' clock is moving slow
And so am I
The workday passes like molasses in wintertime
But it's July
Getting paid by the hour, and older by the minute
My boss just pushed me over the limit
I'd like to call him something
I think I'll just call it a day

Pour me something tall and strong
Make it a Hurricane before I go insane
It's only half past twelve, but I don't care
It's five o'clock somewhere

Well, this lunch break is going to take all afternoon
And half the night
Tomorrow morning I know there'll be hell to pay
Hey, but that's all right
I ain't had a day off now in over a year
My Jamaican vacation's gonna start right here
If the phone's for me, you can tell them I just sailed away

Pour me something tall and strong
Make it a Hurricane before I go insane
It's only half past twelve, but I don't care
It's five o'clock somewhere

I could pay off my tab, pour myself in a cab
And be back to work before two
At a moment like this, I can't help but wonder
What would Jimmy Buffett do?

(Funny you should ask, Alan... I'd say--)

Pour me something tall and strong
Make it a Hurricane before I go insane
It's only half past twelve, but I don't care

Pour me something tall and strong
Make it a Hurricane before I go insane
It's only half past twelve, but I don't care
He don't care... and I don't care
It's five o'clock somewhere

-- Alan Jackson (with Jimmy Buffett)
"It's Five O'Clock Somewhere"
Alan Jackson: Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 (2003)

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Song of the Indeterminate Time Period, 12 January 2010

(Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!)
She had all the tattoos and the piercings
Hates everything, says everybody's wrong
She dressed like she slept with Guns 'n Roses
But I busted her, singing all the boy band songs

She had to go... simply because
And I'll let her go, like she never was
Cause I didn't know, and I don't care what she does
She had to go... cause she didn't know who Joe Strummer was

At night, when we stood in line for hours
Waiting to see my favorite punk rock band
I bled with the passion and the power
But she's only there for all the fashion trends
(With her clueless friends)

She had to go... simply because
And I'll let her go, like she never was
Cause I didn't know, and I don't care what she does
She had to go... cause she didn't know who Joe Strummer was

She started talking about being my wife
But why would I wanna be with someone who doesn't know
The Clash saved my life?!
(Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!)

It's not that she couldn't rock my casbah
It's not that I couldn't burn her London down
It's just that she kept on disappearing
Whenever the Sandanistas came to town, and BURNED IT DOWN!

She had to go... simply because
And I'll let her go, like she never was
Cause I didn't know, and I don't care what she does
She had to go... cause she didn't know who Joe Strummer was

-- Cowboy Mouth
"Joe Strummer"
Voodoo Shoppe (2006)