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i grew up in boston and spent my summers
and high school years in new hampshire.
when “live aid” happened in 1985, i remember
pending the whole day with my walkman
on listening to the whole concert broadcast
live on WGIR-FM. when the radio show ‘rockline’
had def leppard on for the exclusive world premiere
interview/unveiling of ‘hysteria’ in 1987,
i was there in my bed, finger on the record button
of my panasonic boom box, listening to and taping
every over-compressed, hissy minute.

my garage is now full of these tapes:
u2, live at the point depot/1989, pat benatar,
live on the king biscuit flower hour/1981,
the police, conspiracy of hope tour/1986,
aerosmith interviewed on rockline, the night
before they released ‘pump’/1989…

because i was in boarding schools most of my life,

access to t.v. was pretty limited…
so the radio was my savior. it was the place
where i could go to discover new bands,
hear the world premieres of new songs
from my favorite bands, and listen to entire
concerts broadcast live…

i was so into these live broadcasts
that even if i didn’t like the band that was playing,
i recorded it anyway… because it was so cool
just to hear them talk. and to hear them
play their songs all imperfect and full of energy-
these moments that would never happen
again… and to imagine myself there, watching the show.
it was escape, pure and complete.

there are a handful of terrestrial stations left

that still believe radio can save you.
they believe that music is more
than just the thing that happens between commercials.
WXPN in philadelphia is one of those stations.
and the band and i had the pleasure of playing
an on air concert for them last friday.
they interviewed me in the middle of the set.
it was a blast.
and i can’t think of a better way to introduce
you to some of the new songs you haven’t heard yet.
a full concert,
streamed in all of it’s imperfect, warble-y, radio glory.
almost exactly like it was when i was a kid.
set your tape players to record!

Click here to listen.