WXTQ The X_My last shift_062096

[ALL AUDIO FROM MY 25 YEAR-OLD CASSETTE TAPES]
Yes, I was loose on this last shift, to be sure. Kinda outside the normal parameters of concern, complete with interrupting, exceeding break time restrictions, etc. But who cares? When your PD (Lander Rose) is on the same breaks with you, committing all kinds of disregard and passion along the way, it all points to fun radio: without a net. Improvisation from breaks with callers, impromptu friends, fans both calling in and dropping by the studio to say goodbye.

Three years of the most romantic period of my radio career, 1993-1996, was coming to an end this night, where Lander had a sold out remote again at one of the many downtown merchants, this time at the locals and students' hangout, Night Court. You get a glimpse of her incredible talent when she breaks into some operatic note as she sings along with my music bed. Lander is a trained, accomplished actor, singer, currently working as a voice talent in Philadelphia every day on morning radio there. It was a great privilege to have experienced her craftsmanship up close. She has the best timing, improv skills, and voice quality of any jock I've ever worked with.

Crazy things happened that night while I was on the air, including a caller/winner who was unable to answer with the name of the station that had just made her a winner. These are things that, when/if they happen, never make it to the air because, obviously, no jock or radio station wants to broadcast a fan(?) admitting that they don't even know the name of the station they're calling to get free tickets to the Cure show.
But I was in a carefree mood that evening, of course, drunk on the elixir of emotions, running very high that night, so I thought this once-in-a-lifetime train wreck of a call could end up making good radio, and decided to go with it, all on the fly, and see if I could spin it into some kind of halfway funny bit. Or good enough to air, at least.

Then, during a conversation with a different caller, a common friend was mentioned from a years-back summer experience, and then that same common friend happens to drop by to say goodbye, having had no knowledge that he was mentioned earlier. Totally cosmic, down to the fact that he was delivering some Dead show tapes that he thought I'd enjoy. This was near the end of my memories of actively trading cassette tapes of Grateful Dead shows (digital transferring and Archive.org would inherit all of my focus for chasing Grateful Dead shows. Since then, I have amassed over 300 live Dead shows, all uncompressed, recorded and mastered from Charlie Miller transfers, all from the years 1965-1980), and I love that my lifelong relationship with my favorite band, the Grateful Dead, is preserved during an on-air performance. My experience of trading Dead shows brought me into friendly contact with folks from coast to coast, and everywhere I've been in between, including my friend Chris Knies, from the 'Humboldt County of Ohio', known as Meigs County, OH.

Featuring:
Lander Rose
Kyle Wilson
Chris Knies