Things We Said Today

9:02 am. Four minutes to air

I was up early.

Anxious, I figured.

I wasn't exactly singing "Good Morning Good Morning" at that point.

No, I didn't sing "Good Day Sunshine" either.

But I went through the motions. Shower, breakfast, and pulled the equipment together.

I felt ready. Really, I did.

And yet...

I've decided to work off my computer for the music I'll present on "Meet the Beatles." We don't have a turntable and while we do have a CD player, I'm not really high on lugging CD's to and from the station every week.

That's fine and we have the ability at WGCH for external sources but ... wait for it ... only for one external source.

So regardless of which source -- iPhone, iPad, Macbook, or even a flash drive, I can only plug in one, or I have to come up with a solution to split the signal.

Sure, I can plug in my computer. Heck, that was created for me, because I liked playing sound files of sports sounds off my MacBook.

But how could I work in a second? There wasn't enough time to load all of the music on the station's hard drive.

So I had one of my ideas.

Ah, the idea. It can be great. It can be a game changer. It can also cause an absolute train wreck. 

In this case, keep in mind that time was a factor.

In fact, I considered all of that as I conjured the concept for today's debut show. Initially, I was going to dive right in, covering the history of The Beatles. But I was encouraged to make the first show a bit more personal. 

It was the right call. But that also made the content a bit more free-form.

Before that, I had to work out how to present that content.

The idea was to use a little Behringer mixer that I bought a few years ago. That, I thought, might handle the two computers I was bringing to be able to crossfade between songs if I wanted.

I plugged everything when I arrived at the hyper-warm WGCH studios, which was drastically different than the 16 degrees outside.

It didn't work. I didn't like the volume or lack thereof. It wasn't going to sound right on the air.

Drat.

OK, I thought, I'd still be fine. I'd use the one MacBook.

But, hold on. I had my Zoom PodTrak P4 with me. Maybe?

I tried. 

Again, the sound was off. Even though it's a music show on an AM radio station, there are still people listening on the internet and, for what it's worth, I'm listening in the studio. I'd like everything to sound right.

Even my MacBook (the one I'm typing on now) wasn't giving me stereo sound.

The heat in the studio was helping to build sweat on my brow.

I took a deep breath. Thankfully, the building was quiet and so was my phone.

I fixed the MacBook sound issue in settings and decided there would be no crossfading this week.

I'd have to play one song at a time interspersed with my jibber jabber.

I started Robcasting just around 9 a.m. and waited the interminable six minutes for the national news to end, rolling my eyes at the slanted presentation that we sadly run. Can anyone report without an agenda?

Finally, a Frank Sinatra show promo ended and the theme music began.

It was show time.

As I often get, I was nervous with what I call "good nerves."

I stammered a bit over the next 54 minutes as I found whatever groove I could get.

I plucked songs on the fly, after deciding that "Eleanor Rigby" would be the first offering. Full credit to Susan for the suggestions. Her idea was that it should be personal so the audience could learn why I was doing this show. Eleanor Rigby strikes on a few levels, including a connection with Sean as well as my great-niece Eleanor. I ask her about "the lonely people" every time I talk to her.

The technical issues didn't hurt the show and I have other ideas on how to fix the crossfading concern. It would be nice sometimes to just go from one song to another.

Overall, I pulled the show off without anyone knowing too much "inside radio" knowledge. I did acknowledge my nervousness on the air. It's just how I get.

I thought the show might have been a bit disorganized and that I rambled but all reviews I received were quite favorable.

As the closing song, "Cry For a Shadow" from Anthology 1 concluded, I faded the song into the 10 a.m. news and took a deep breath.

It had been a quick and emotional hour. Ever the softie, I swelled with pride that I was doing this and I suppose a tinge of sadness over who wasn't listening. But my heart felt good with the kind words of support.

The first show is over and I know it will immediately get better. I needed this first one to be mine to work out the cobwebs and the kinks.

There are so many ideas. I didn't fret over playing anything off the beaten path on this first show, opting for songs that are universally known. I stepped away from a studio version just once, playing a live version of "Got to Get You Into My Life."

We can get into the timeline of the lads next week.

We'll "come together" again next Sunday at 9 a.m.

(Today's show is archived here)