On December 27th of 1998, Dana and I went to what was then the WXXE-FM studio on Westcott Street for the live broadcast of the debut of our brand-new weekly radio show, This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl. I told that story here, a long narrative of where we'd been before that night and what we've tried to do in the decades since then.
We did our shows live in that studio for a very long time. The name of the studio's platform changed, as WXXE faded, as Syracuse Community Radio took over the spotlight, as we migrated in anger to Westcott Radio, and as we ultimately rejoined SCR to become WSPJ. Same studio. And our song retained the name: This is rock 'n' roll radio. C'mon, let's rock 'n' roll with Dana & Carl!
My last visit to that old studio was on March 15, 2020. As the world shut down, we switched to remote programming, prerecording from separate locations. In 2023, the old studio officially became our former studio. WSPJ itself relocated to a studio on South Geddes Street. We've continued recording TIRnRR independent of our station's studio. A return to live programming is unlikely for us, at least in the near future.
But last Wednesday--25 years to the day since TIRnRR # 1--I packed up my CD case, met Dana at the new WSPJ studio, and we recorded this 25th anniversary show. It's the first time we've done a show together in real time since the early days of the pandemic. Given the milestone this week's show represented, it seemed like something we really had to do.
I've said elsewhere that I wondered if a return to real-time studio recording would be like riding a bike. And I've also answered: Yeah, it was. The last time I tried riding a bike I fell over and almost got hit by a car. So, yeah, it was very much like that.
But at least no DJs were harmed in the making of TIRnRR's 25th anniversary show. The result is yet another example of whatever the hell it is we have in mind each week, as we set out to build The Best Three Hours Of Radio On The Whole Friggin' Planet.
And we're back with another show next week. Logistics make it difficult for us to do these in the studio, but whether in the studio or yakkin' and spinnin' from home, make no mistake:
We're. Still. HERE.
And we thank you for joining us, this anniversary week and every week. The second twenty-five years starts now. Start peddlin', boys. We'll keep this bike upright if it kills us.
NEXT WEEK: THE COUNTDOWN! And it's a good one. For now, man, it's just like we've been telling you for a quarter of a century: This is what rock 'n' roll radio sounded like on another Sunday night in Syracuse this week.
This show is available as a podcast.
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, streaming at SPARK stream, and on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO. Recent shows are archived at Westcott Radio
You can read all about this show's long and weird history here: Boppin' The Whole Friggin' Planet (The History Of THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO).
TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS are always welcome.
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