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

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)