OUR STORY SO FAR: The first Dana & Carl radio series We're Your Friends For Now on WNMA in Syracuse had concluded its five-month run in 1992, and WNMA itself splintered shortly thereafter. Dana and I helped to found Syracuse Community Radio. That brings us to around 1993 or '94....
What now? What next?
The early days of Syracuse Community Radio offered a barrage of meetings, brainstorming, ideas, arguments, and ultimately a feeling of stagnation. We seemed to be going nowhere, and not even getting there fast. It was slow. Everything was slow.
I was SCR's treasurer, but the group didn't have enough money for that to mean much. I went to, I think, nearly all of the meetings, but found my enthusiasm ebbing. I wasn't interested in any of the behind-the-scenes drudgery of building a community radio station; I just wanted to be on the radio.
I did at least try to do my part. Before we split from WNMA, I wrote an article for The Syracuse New Times about the need for community radio, and the roadblocks such efforts faced. Some time after that, I crafted a proposal to present to 1260 WNDR-AM, pitching the idea of that venerable local broadcast institution partnering with SCR to create an alternative radio format. WNDR and its former rival WOLF had been the stations that originally ignited my passion for radio when I was growing up, and it woulda been such a kick to be aligned with NDR. Dana and I visited the WNDR studio to make our case, and while the gent we met there was polite and kind, he clearly thought we were out of our minds, from another planet, or both. There was not going to be a shortcut for SCR getting on the air.
Dana and I were itching to get back on the radio. That brief taste of doing our own show had been addictive, like crack or Krispy Kreme, and we were dying to get back at it, like, now. I'm not sure who had the idea of a short-term substitute, if the notion came from Dana, or from fellow SCR member Frederic Noyes, or if it was someone else. But in 1994, there was an opportunity to produce shows on cassette, and a few local businesses--On The Rise Bakery, My Sister's Words bookstore, the food co-op--would play those cassettes in store. Dana & Carl were back!
Doesn't take much to get us jazzed, does it? Dana had some mics and a rudimentary mixer, so we recorded shows at his house. We didn't want to call these new shows We're Your Friends For Now--frankly, we were never all that fond of that name to begin with--so Dana took a cue from John & Yoko to christen us Radio Peace: This is Radio Peace, this is Radio Peace, this is radio Radio Peace, this is Radio Peace! Catchy! It was basically the same show we'd been doing on WNMA, and pretty much the same thing that would eventually become This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio. Two guys. Some records we thought you should hear. Radio needn't be any more complicated than that.
And it was still fun. I remember bringing in some CDs that I didn't have when we were on WNMA, including stuff by The Muffs and Ben Vaughn. Radio Peace was a success on its own modest terms, perhaps the only time the word "modest" was ever applied to a Dana & Carl show. It led to more shows on cassette, and some oddball circumstances. Through SCR connections, we wound up recording shows to air between races at a Guiness round-the-clock marathon in England (for which we used the show title We're Your Mates For Now!), and also recording shows to air in Russia. No, really! The latter opportunity came through Frederic Noyes, who had been to Russia and had established connections with folks at Russia's Radio Vox. I still look back on that with a grateful but puzzled scratch of the head and a shrug of the shoulders, my equivalent of teen sensations The Wonders' guitarist Len Haise asking rhetorically, How did we get here?
Somewhere in this general time frame, Dana and I also served as MCs for some kind of...well, I don't actually remember what the hell it was. But it was a presentation of various performers and poets interspersed with unscripted banter from us, introducing each act. It took place at the Westcott Community Center, a location that would eventually come to loom large in our legend. Shortly thereafter, our ability and willingness to be shameless showboats made us the logical choice to serve as hosts for Radiovision, a one-hour cable TV special produced by Syracuse Community Radio.
Man, Radiovision was...well, I used to say it was bad. Looking back, it's really okay, clunky and amateur, but not nearly as embarrassing as I remember. And I'm so happy we did it.
One Sunday afternoon in--was it 1994 or '95?--we took over our favorite Armory Square nightspot Styleen's to tape our segments for the TV show. Styleen's was closed during the day, and owners Eileen and Michael Haggerty let us have the run of the place. Dana and I did our schtick, talking back and forth, introducing videos. There were shots of us shooting pool (well, Dana shooting pool while I attempted to play air guitar with a pool cue), a scene of Dana trying to get something out of a vending machine while I suggested maybe trying to put some money in first, one silent shot of us staring sullenly at the camera while I let a mirrored disco ball dangle spinning from my hand. Before TIRnRR became our little mutant radio show, Radiovision was our little mutant television show.
But it wasn't. Ours, I mean. We had some input regarding the content, but we were basically (unpaid) hired hands. I brought some videos I thought we might use; a video starring The Monkees was emphatically vetoed by one of our cohorts, and a 1978 video of The Flashcubes proved unusable for technical reasons. I managed to get one garage video (starring The Bohemian Bedrocks) into the mix, and Dana had videos of local heroes like The Wallmen and Bicycle Thieves. This wasn't supposed to be a TV version of We're Your Friends For Now or Radio Peace, but rather a special promoting the diverse and eclectic interests of Syracuse Community Radio. That was more appropriate than Dana & Carl playin' rockin' pop videos, granted, but I tell ya, I really wish we had some subsequent chance to do a TV show that was more...well, us. Not more screen time for us, but more focused on the types of music we'd play on our own radio show. That wasn't Radiovision's purpose or intent, nor should it have been; nonetheless, I still mourn the fact that there was never a This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radiovision.
My lovely wife Brenda accompanied us for the Radiovision shoot, adamantly insisting that she would remain off-camera. In June of 1995, Brenda gave birth to our daughter Meghan. Being a Dad was much more important to me than going to more SCR meetings, so I resigned as treasurer and withdrew from active participation in Syracuse Community Radio.
Dana remained connected with SCR. I still had sort of an informal tether to the project, and even attended the occasional meeting. SCR moved forward, still slowly, but with increasing success. By 1998, the FCC granted SCR permission to broadcast on WXXE 90.5 FM in Fenner. Radio City, man.
Frederic Noyes called me in 1998, asking me if I'd like to do a power pop show on WXXE. I'm not sure whether or not he meant for me to do a solo show or for us to reconvene The Dana & Carl Show, though I think he intended for Dana and I to do separate shows to cover more time for this new station. Maybe? I considered it, even thinking of calling the show Shake Some Action. But there were two obvious problems.
One: I didn't want to do a strict power pop show. That was too limiting, and I was never interested in that. Two: although I felt I could do a show solo, I didn't think that would be anywhere near as interesting as a Dana & Carl show.
Dana called me. You wanna do more shows together? Yes. Yes, I did want that.
WWXE went on the air the last week of 1998, its studio upstairs at the Westcott Community Center, above the spot where Dana and I had been MCs for whatever it was we'd been MCs for that one time. See? We were moving up! This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl debuted on Sunday, December 27th, 1998. And that's where we'll next pick up our story, already in progress....
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Our new compilation CD This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4 is now available from Kool Kat Musik! 29 tracks of irresistible rockin' pop, starring Pop Co-Op, Ray Paul, Circe Link & Christian Nesmith, Vegas With Randolph Featuring Lannie Flowers, The Slapbacks, P. Hux, Irene Peña, Michael Oliver & the Sacred Band Featuring Dave Merritt, The Rubinoos, Stepford Knives, The Grip Weeds, Popdudes, Ronnie Dark, The Flashcubes,Chris von Sneidern, The Bottle Kids, 1.4.5., The Smithereens, Paul Collins' Beat, The Hit Squad, The Rulers, The Legal Matters, Maura & the Bright Lights, Lisa Mychols, and Mr. Encrypto & the Cyphers. You gotta have it, so order it here. A digital download version (minus The Smithereens' track) is also available from Futureman Records.
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