HotTrax Radio

Still Goin' Strong

2010-01-20T18:16:00.002-06:00

Wow! It's been well over a year since I have blogged anywhere... I'm wondering if I can still do this? Yes, I'm still goin' strong, but this blog post is not about me. It's about a couple of "old friends." As I was listening to the Today show this morning, I heard them say James Taylor and Carole King were going to be singing later. So I hit "record" on my way out the door, and when I got home this evening, I settled in to weed through all the other stuff, looking forward to seeing these two great musicians... and I wasn't disappointed.

I've been listening to King and Taylor as long as I can remember. My mom had Carole King's "Tapestry" album (yes, vinyl, and I probably still have it), and I listened to it over and over again as an adolescent. I could sing all the songs by heart, well, at least on one side. As often happened with albums, I listened primarily to one side. But enough about that. James Taylor and Carole King are about to embark on tour together. The tour will start in Australia in March, and they'll be back in the US in May. The tour is called "The Troubadour Tour" after a club in Los Angeles where they first played together in 1970. For tour info, check out http://www.james-taylor.com/tour/ . You can find ticket info at http://www.jamestaylorcaroleking.com/ .

James and Carole were great on the Today show. They did two numbers, Taylor's "Something in the Way She Moves" (my favorite James Taylor song) with King singing back up, and later they sang King's "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" with Taylor doing the backing. They sound amazing, at 61 and 67. They are slated to do Letterman tonight.

I rather like the fact that artists that I've listened to for years are still touring... or touring again. I had the opportunity to see Cheap Trick, Poison, and Def Leppard last August, and they were all awesome. I guess it's true what they say... 70 is the new 50. Rock on, dudes!

38th Annual JUNO Awards

2009-03-30T03:45:00.004-05:00

Hi there, this is my first post on the Radio Blog.

So you ask, JUNO Awards? Well it's Canada's idea of the Grammy's. Hosted once again by Comedian Russell Peters, from Vancouver, BC.
This years big winners were Nickelback, taking home 3 awards for Group Of The Year, Album Of The Year and Juno Fan Choice. Other award winners were....
Artist Of The Year - Sam Roberts
New Group Of The Year - The Stills
New Artist Of The Year - Lights
Songwriter Of The Year - City and Colour
International Album Of The Year - Coldplay
Country Recording Of The Year - Beautiful Life, Doc Walker
Adult Alternative Album Of The Year - is it o.k., Serena Ryder
Alternative Album Of The Year - Oceans Will Rise, The Stills
Pop Album Of The Year - Flavors of Entanglement, Alanis Morissette
Rock Album Of The Year - Love At The End Of The World, Sam Roberts

And yes I just bet most of you haven't heard of a lot of these Artists. I was disappointed to see that Theory of a Deadman didn't win anything as I think there latest CD, Scars & Souvenirs just totally rocks!!!!!!!!!
Well theres a good taste of Canadian Artists, if you want to check out the full list of winners go to
www.junoawards.ca or www.junos.CTV.ca
Hmmm 4am guess its bedtime...nah gotta listen to more Deadman...till next time

The joy of Bluegrass

2009-03-26T03:52:00.008-05:00

One of the delights of being a DJ on this wonderful station, quite apart from the great guys I work with, is the opportunity to sometimes pick up a stream at times when the schedule is a little lightly loaded with DJs and just do your own thing..within genre reason of course.

Living in England, such opportunities are easier for me as the schedules, reasonably, tend to fit round an American day and evening, so in my afternoon there are a few opportunities to grab a stream and broadcast.

And this has given me the chance to indulge my love of American country music over the last few weeks..and particularly bluegrass. I do try to mix my material even in my impromptu shows as I realise not all country listeners have the same enthusiasm for bluegrass music that I do.(despite DJ Jazzy joking yesterday that I should have called the show 'DJ Alex's Bluegrass Wednesday')

But I just wanted to plug it - and a few of the bands I currently like within the genre. There are so many good bluegrass outfits around now and I'll do a brief list of my current favourites:- (cites are from 'Wikipedia')

The Cherryholmes

Cherryholmes is a bluegrass music group consisting of members of the Cherryholmes family, including father Jere Cherryholmes and wife Sandy Lee and their kids, Cia Leigh, BJ, Skip, and Molly Kate. They are all self taught and amazingly have been nominated for Bluegrass album of the year three times in a brief six years. They come from Nashville...surprise surprise :)

The Infamous Stringdusters

The Infamous Stringdusters are a bluegrass band. The band emerged in 2007 with the acclaimed album, Fork in the Road on Sugar Hill Records. The various members of the band all have résumés that include numerous notables that they've worked with in the past. The band's current line-up features: Andy Hall (Dobro), Andy Falco (guitar), Chris Pandolfi (banjo), Jeremy Garrett (fiddle), Jesse Cobb (mandolin), and Travis Book (upright bass).[1] Falco is the newest member, filling the role vacated by guitarist Chris Eldridge (son of Ben Eldridge and later a touring partner with Chris Thile).

The Infamous Stringdusters won three awards at the International Bluegrass Music Association Awards Ceremony in October 2007. They came away with the award for Emerging Artist of the Year, Album of the Year for Fork in the Road (in a tie with J.D. Crowe & the New South's album Lefty's Old Guitar), and Song of the Year for the album's title cut.[2]

Del McCoury

Del is hardly a newcomer but still one of my favourite outfits. Delano Floyd McCoury (born February 1, 1939 in Bakersville, North Carolina) is an American bluegrass musician. As leader of the Del McCoury Band, he plays guitar and sings lead vocals along with his two sons, Ronnie McCoury and Rob McCoury, who play mandolin and banjo respectively

Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys

Compared to Ralph Stanley, however, Del McCoury at 70 is a kid in short pants. Ralph Stanley (born February 25, 1927), also known as Dr. Ralph Stanley, is a legendary American bluegrass artist, known for his distinctive singing and banjo playing. He formed the Clinch Mountain Boys in 1946 and his music formed part of the score of the wonderful Coen Brothers 'O Brother, where art thou?'

Ricky Skaggs

Has played bluegrass since he was a kid and at the age of six played mandolin on stage with the legendary Bill Monroe. Ricky's list of Grammy awards and awards from the International Bluegrass Association are impressive. He currently has a band called Kentucky Thunder.

Nashville Bluegrass Band

The Nashville Bluegrass Band is an American bluegrass music ensemble founded in 1984.

The group's members first played together in 1984 as a backing band for Vernon Oxford and Minnie Pearl; each of the members were established musicians from the Nashville bluegrass community. They signed to Rounder Records and recorded their Béla Fleck-produced debut, My Native Home, in 1985. Incorporating elements of black gospel and spirituals, then a rarity in bluegrass, they became critical and popular successes both in America and abroad. The group toured in some 20 countries and were the first bluegrass band to ever play in China.[1]

So if you like country music in ALL its shades..and particularly Bluegrass...I try and grab the stream either on Wednesday or Thursdays at around 10.30 am Hot Trax Time. If you'd like to listen in I always drop an IM round to everyone on the HotTrax Country buddy list...so please keep an eye open and I'll try and play you some great music.

HotTrax Radio Toolbar: Uber Cool!

2009-02-15T21:52:00.000-06:00

Okay now... let me see if I remember how to blog. LOL Seriously, I've been meaning to write this post for a while now. I want EVERYONE to know about the HotTrax Uber Cool Toolbar! The HotTrax Toolbar is not only Uber Cool, it's the ONLY toolbar you really need! Unlike other toolbars, such as Google and Yahoo, the HotTrax Radio Toolbar uses fewer of your system's resources. And while other toolbars track where you go on the web, the HotTrax toolbar does not.

The HotTrax Radio Toolbar has been around for a while now, but it keeps getting better all the time! If you don't have it... why not? Hmmm... where do I begin? Let's start with Applets. Well, first off, once you have the toolbar, you need to create an account. This will let you sign onto the toolbar. Why would you want to do this? Well, two reasons, actually. First of all, if you are time challenged, as I am, it allows you to choose your time zone. Then when you go to the Applets and look at the schedule, it will give you the times in YOUR time zone! The other reason is so that you can use the Tune Minder. What's a Tune Minder, you ask? It's another nifty Applet. It allows you to remember a tune that is playing that you like and would like to add to your library. You can even use it to go directly to purchase the tune. Another cool feature of the HotTrax Radio Toolbar is the Playlist Search Applet. This allows you to search a DJ's playlist for a certain song. It also allows you to check ALL the DJ's lists at one time. I use it when I'm looking for a tune during my show. I can look to see if a DJ has a song, then contact them if they are online to send it to me. It's handy during a show, when a DJ gets a request. Sure, I could probably go online and find a tune, but if a DJ has it, then it's probably already been checked out and tagged! Other handy Applets are the Song History and the Listeners Map. Oh, and I mustn't forget... you can even come directly into our Chat room from the HotTrax Chat applet.

Then there are the Links you can get to from the toolbar! All the HotTrax Channels, all the DJ's playlists, and DJ Bios. The only way to get to the Bios is from the HotTrax Radio Toolbar! There are more channel links, plus from the ToolBar you can get to a couple of lyrics sites, the station's Facebook and MySpace pages, NASCAR.com, AND there's even a link for the WildWest Festival in Hayes, Kansas, where the HotTrax Gang will be meeting up again this year for the 4th of July Celebration! Oh, and don't forget the Blogs! You can reach those directly from the Toolbar, too!

Then there are the Gadgets. You gotta love gadgets! There are plenty of cool ones there, including the Countdown one, under "Tools/Utilities." It allows you to count down to special events in days, hours, minutes, and seconds. And there are some fun games under Gadgets, too. There is more than one DJ around HotTrax who can be found playing Bubbles... occasionally even during their show! TSK TSK!

Recently, our beloved Lizard Boss, who is responsible for constructing our fantastic toolbar, added a Games drop down menu from the toolbar. There are even more games to become addicted to there! How much better can it get? You can listen to HotTrax and play games all at the same time.

There is also a Newsfeed drop down menu, a place to set the weather so you have the temperature at your finger tips, and you can even set the Toolbar to check your email, and inform you when "you have mail!"

Of course, I've left out the obvious... you can tune in directly from the Toolbar and listen to your favorite HotTrax stream... or your favorite DJ! Also, the HotTrax Radio Toolbar uses Google as it's default search engine. And when you use the search engine on the HotTrax Radio Toolbar, it benefits HotTrax Radio. So download the Uber Cool HotTrax Radio Toolbar, lose the others, and start searching! And let your friends in on it... it truly IS Uber Cool!

The Grammys 2009

2009-02-10T09:33:00.003-06:00

It's always rewarding when the station you work for has shown that it's consistently up with, and often ahead of, the game when it comes to choosing the music which will eventually be saluted as the best in its field.

Look at this year's Grammy awards, held 2 days ago and which, of course, is the supreme arbiter of the year's best music. There were some well-deserved winners and I suppose the run-away 'superstars' were Robert Plant and Alison Krauss who won all five awards for which they were nominated - and that's some achievement - including 'Record of the Year' for 'Please Read the Letter', Album of the Year for 'Raising Sand' , Best Pop Collaboration for 'Rich Woman', Best Country Collaboration with vocals for 'Killing the Blues' and finally 'Raising Sand' won the best Folk/Americana album of the year too. And Hot Trax Radio has been playing 'Raising Sand' - and all the above songs - throughout 2008 even when the album's success was not a sure fire guarantee. After all raucous Zep front man and gentle Bluegrass queen hardly sounds like a marriage made in heaven, but the results were wonderful.

It was great to see Adele win Best New Artist and Best New Female Performer for 'Chasing Pavements' another song HotTrax has played almost from the date of its release.

Coldplay won best song for 'Viva La Vida' and Duffy won Best Pop Vocal Album for 'Rockferry' - another album which Hot Trax Radio has plugged almost from the date of its release.

There are way, way too many awards to list but I was pleased to see prizes for Ne-Yo, John Mayer, the Kings of Leon, Alicia Keys and Bruce Springsteen among so many - and again all their songs have been well featured on the HotTrax playlists over recent months.

I suppose the one unfortunate note in the proceedings was the non-appearence of Chris Brown and Rihanna who, it appears had had a domestic spat before the awards ceremony resulting in injuries to Rihanna followed by Brown turning himself in to the LA Police.

One puzzle was the award of the best country song to Jennifer Nettles 'Stay'. It is a great song but it must be at least 2 years old and not even on the latest 'Sugarland' album so I'm not sure how it qualified.

Finally, on a very sentimental note, I was delighted to see the Best Traditional Folk Album award go to Pete Seeger, for the appropriately titled 'At 89'. One of the great mainstays of traditional American music, now in his 90th year, there can't be many albums left and he deserved all the plaudits he got.

So if you agreed with the verdict of the judges - and even if you didn't - listen to Hot Trax Radio through 2009 and we will prove to be a pretty accurate barometer of what is the best in popular music in time for the Grammys of 2010. Just you wait and see!

John Martyn : 1948 - 2009

2009-01-31T13:17:00.004-06:00

On Friday 29th January, the music world lost an amazing talent when John Martyn died at his home in Ireland aged 60. He began playing a blend of blues and folk music on guitar in 1965 when he was 17 and became a rage in Britain's folk scene of the 1960s, making his first album in 1967.

He was continually developing his musical style and by 1970 was creating original sounds by playing acoustic guitar through a fuzz box, phase shifter and echoplex, resulting in a haunting fading echo effect.

He made one of the great albums of the 70s in 1973 when Solid Air was released and which contained a number of great songs including 'May you never' which I have played on my Monday show and which was covered by Eric Clapton on his Slowhand album. Martyn continued to release innovative albums throughout the 1970s.

In 1979, John's marriage to his wife Beverley broke up and , in his own words 'I hit the self-destruct button'. He took to drink and drugs and severely damaged his health but produced a cathartic album called Grace and Danger on which Phil Collins played drums. At first his record company, Island, would not release it saying it was deeply and painfully personal but eventually he got his way and said it was the greatest album he had ever made.

By the 1990s, Martyn had picked up on hip-hop and had blended the phrasing into this own unique style on an album called And.

By now he was struggling with serious health problems including a burst pancreas, and later, in 2003 his right leg was amputated. Seriously overweight now and not well he continued to play and tour and was awarded the BBC 's Lifetime Achievement award for his services to music in 2008.

Though his death can hardly be called a shock, it is very sad for those who love music and innovative musicians. The last word should be left to Eric Clapton who said 'John was just so far ahead of everything, it's almost inconceivable'.

The 'Total Turkeys' List

2008-11-27T18:55:00.006-06:00

OK we had a post the other day about a 'Must Have' list - and I think I just about kept my job with 5 1/2 out of 8 (Well I'm giving myself the half anyway just to be on the safe side) But what about a 'Total Turkeys' list (say top 10) - perfect for Thanksgiving - carrying the severe penalty that if you play any of them, the Lizard Boss will come after sensitive parts of your anatomy with an electrified cattle prod. Now I'm not talking hate music or anything that serious nor even some of the current crop to which I have a personal aversion, but just songs that stand the test of time of being so insufferably dire that they should be played endlessly to terrorists to force confessions.

The list of course is off the top of my head and could easily change when I next hear something excruciating:-

In no particular order:-

1. Cliff Richard - Mistletoe and Wine

- the grandfather of British pop at his most syrupy. Guaranteed to have you running for the bathroom after the starter and before you even get to the Christmas turkey.

2. Little Jimmy Osmond - Long Haired Lover from Liverpool

- Americans may have been mercifully spared this contribution from the one Osmond who certainly should have been throttled at birth. This falls into the excruciating on just about every level

3. Joe Dolce - Shaddapa ya face

- A bounce along novelty number that sounds mildly sing-alongy ONCE, but when you have heard it twice, let alone 2000 times you have a sudden urge to end it all.

4. Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder - Ebony and Ivory

- The ultimate twee racially together song which takes saccharine sweet nausea to new heights (or is it depths?)

5. Band Aid - Do they know it's Christmas?

- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH (should suffice)

6. Chris de Burgh - The Lady in Red

- They still play this before the start of every Liverpool soccer match (Liverpool play in red you see) and its one sound reason for missing the kick-off. Dreadful sentimental drivel.

7. Donny Osmond - Puppy Love

- The Osmonds are doing well in this list. Donny is a marginal improvement on younger brother Jimmy, but this song of dewy eyed teenage angst is definitely a thumbs down.

8. Middle of the Road - Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep

- Another of those mindless pop mantras that make you want to dash your brains out on the nearest wall.

9. Elvis Presley - Wooden Heart

- I'm almost certain (can't be sure) that when this came out I cried. Damn it, this was the man who was capable of 'My Baby left me', 'Mystery Train', 'That's Alright, Mama'...the finest white R and B man of his age ...singing Eurotrash. Ugggghhhhhhhhhh.

10. Rod Stewart - Do ya think I'm sexy?

- Now I don't know whether my aversion to this is a 'British' thing because I love some of Rod the Mod's early stuff but to have a male artist capering round the stage like a big girl's blouse singing up his sex appeal was just too awful for words. Hate it.

Well that's my ten for which Bill should dish out lethal doses of rat poison to anyone who plays any of them. I have omitted parochial ones which Americans wouldn't know, like seedy fat drunken British footballers who stagger to the mic at Xmas and re-record some famous hit. Legions of British flowers must be growing in thousands of such records converted into flower pots.

So Ive set you a challenge - not too serious - what are the total turkeys which make YOU curl up and want to die...or at least kill the artists. The floor is yours, guys!

The "MUST HAVE" List

2008-11-23T21:10:00.001-06:00

We, the DJs at HotTraxRadio, don't have many rules. We don't play hate music, and we don't play more than 2 songs by an artist in an hour. That's about it. We choose our own music, and maintain our own playlists. But this weekend, a new "rule" has been written. I suppose the current DJs will be "grandfathered" in, but there is now a list of 8 songs new DJs MUST have.

The Lizard Boss' MUST HAVE List to be a HotTrax DJ
1. Boston - Foreplay/Long Time
2. Eric Clapton - Layla (acoustic)
3. Nickleback - Rockstar (he says it's the HotTrax anthem)
4. Shaggy - It Wasn't Me (I say this is the HotTrax anthem!)
5. Tesla - What U Give (live)
6. Eagles - Get Over It
7. Chicago - Beginnings
8. Enya - Orinoco Flow

I suppose that's not a lot to ask of your DJs. For the most part, they are pretty widely known, and most everyone seems to enjoy them... and they do seem to find their way into CDR (Context Driven Radio) fairly often in our chat room.

Actually, I did a little "research" as I was writing this, and I think most of the DJs have all of these, and those who don't have them all have the majority of them. Of course, the Boss was just joking about this list (sort of) but it makes me wonder... what would be on your list of 8 MUST HAVES? I'd love to hear your answers in comments!

The Excitement is BACK!

2008-11-20T07:33:00.004-06:00

In case you haven't heard, we have regained our Featured Station status on Microsoft's Windows Media Tuner catalog. This week you will find us in the Jazz Section of the main radio page at WindowsMedia.com (http://www.windowsmedia.com/Mediaguide/Radio). This exposure has given new visibility to the station and the Smooth stream in particular and our listener counts have gone through the roof. We are having a Special Event this week on HotTrax Smooth, with several of the DJs who normally have shows on HotTrax Live coming over and doing their versions of Smooth shows. Be sure to check the main page of our website (http://www.hottraxradio.com) for the Special Event Schedule. With listener counts that are an order of magnitude greater than we've ever had, this is truly an exciting time for us!

I just want to give a great big THANK YOU to all of you out there that are tuning in. And also THANK YOU to the people at Microsoft's WindowsMedia for selecting us and helping to promote our station! We owe you all a deep debt of gratitude!

The Lizard Boss

It's A Pre-Race Party!

2008-11-13T22:11:00.007-06:00

Okay all you NASCAR fans... come join the BIG BASH at HotTrax Live... Saturday, noon to 3 HotTrax Radio time. DJ LilHippie is hosting an end of the season party on Rock Your Racin'! You say you don't follow NASCAR? Well, c'mon anyway... LilHippie is an AWESOME DJ, and she will be playin' tunes that will really pump you up! And my Sista and honorary Texan, LilHippie, can PARTY! I promise, if you come, you'll have a GREAT time! You'll even have more time if you wander into our chat room. "How do I do that?" you ask. It's easy! Just go to our homepage at http://www.hottraxradio.com/. Once there, click on the HotTraxLive Link near the top of the page. On the right side of the page, under the "This Is HotTrax Live" Banner you will find a box that says "Chat." Just choose a nickname, type it in, and hit the "Connect" button. DJ LilHippie will be there. I will be there. And chances are, HardtoH8 (aka DJ Jazzy) will be there, too. And probably that won't be all... but even if it is, we'll be havin' fun.

LilHippie promises to have a spectacular show- better than usual, which in my humble opinion is going to be hard to beat, 'cause DJ LilHippie ALWAYS ROCKS! There will be a lot of Jimmie praisin' and a lot of Shrub bashin'... and all the latest NASCAR news. Hope to see you there!

WOW! What a week!

2008-11-07T09:35:00.004-06:00

Yep, WOW is the word! I watched from the moment of my last post here till the listener count on HotTrax Smooth topped 240 listeners. It was at that moment that the server, (which was never intended to handle such loads) crashed and burned and the station came to a screeching halt. It only took five hours to get it back online and that was quite possibly the worst five hours of my life (at least in the last couple of years). It was however, a triumphant moment in that it showed me that people really DID want what we have to offer. And not just a few, but SIGNIFICANT numbers of people.

So after a short time, we've come up with a strategy, and our opportunity has been renewed. HotTrax Smooth will be the Featured Station again for Windows Media Tuner during the week of November 18th. We're so very happy to have a second shot at it.

For all of you listeners out there who may be reading this, thank you, from the bottom of our hearts for giving us the continuing will to move forward!

The Lizard Boss

OK, I'm officially excited now!

2008-11-04T04:52:00.003-06:00

I'll be honest. From the beginning, I have hoped that we could bring our music and fun to an audience larger than that of just our circle of friends. We have worked hard to make more and more available in the hopes that we could draw a good solid crowd of listeners who would enjoy what we have to offer.

Today, we are beginning to realize that goal. For the first time, one of the HotTrax channels, HotTrax Smooth to be specific, has been listed as the feature station on Windows Media Tuner. This in itself is a major accomplishment, but whats even more gratifying is that instead of just the 5 or 10 listeners that we have been seeing on a regular basis, right now we are averaging almost 90.

All I can say is WOW!!! Thank you, to all of you out there listening, and checking us out! And thank you to everyone who has supported this adventure of ours. We will continue to do all we can to bring excellence to what we offer.

This is truly exciting!
The Lizard Boss

DJs and Music

2008-11-02T13:35:00.001-06:00

Here on this very blog DJ Alex and DJ Tatianna have spoken beautifully about music. Of course, at HotTrax we are all about the music. Each of us have a unique love of music, or we wouldn't be here. The "pay" we receive for being a DJ is simply the joy we get from bringing our music to the listeners. Each DJ has put together their own playlist. We occasionally receive music from a loyal listener, or another DJ, but the majority of our music we have put together individually. So every DJ's list is uniquely different. I would say that most of the DJ's have primarily rock music, with country being a close second. What we play, however, is up to the individual DJ and the listeners.

Some DJs program a lot of their shows before they ever take the airwaves, while others chose a few songs to start their show, and then see how it goes. I generally start my shows with a set of songs in the que, and then wait to see if I get any requests. Once I get going, I'll see who is in the chat room, and who appears to be tuned in on the listeners map, and then chose my tunes accordingly. After being a DJ for a while, you learn what your loyal listeners like, and I think most of the DJs try to remember songs and groups that their listeners enjoy. We also try to keep up with what is on the charts, and add current tunes as we can. Of course along with obtaining new music, comes tagging all the music. A DJ's music library is a never ending pursuit. Occasionally DJs have been known to compete with regard to the size of their libraries. But the single thing we absolutely have in common is our love for music. Without that, we could never be the quality station that we have become.

Yes, as DJs, we all love music... and our job is to get the listener to love it, too!

There's many a slip twixt cup and lip!...

2008-11-02T13:31:00.003-06:00

...No, folks, I'm not referring to the ease or otherwise of removing a bra with your teeth but that old adage warning about overconfidence before you reach the end of the journey.

It's certainly true for the internet DJ. Just look at all the things that can go wrong and, at some point during at least one of your broadcasts, invariably will. Just look at the elements in the chain which are all required to work 100% for your live show to reach a satisfactory conclusion after 2 or 3 hours of continuous, uninterrupted broadcasting.

I'll start with the inanimate ones. You have to hope for no electricity cuts - OK rare but they happen. You have to hope there are no problems with your internet service -far more common. Sure your computer won't break down or freeze up? After all you've got quite a lot going on while you're on the air. You hope you don't get any problems with SAM or with the MP3 - like it sits on the SAM deck and nothing happens. And one embarrassing disaster which is SO easy to walk into as I did in my early days - Don't reorganise your source music into other folders or files AFTER you have set up your SAM playlist...or the song hits the virtual decks and shoots off again because it can't find the source, leaving you open mouthed and lost...especially when the next one does the same thing! Major major horror!! Oh and of course if you have a tower PC and its under your table, you can guarantee that, at least once, a stray foot will hook round wiring and disconnect something....yep, bin there, done that.

Then there are the animate ones like someone ringing the doorbell when you are in mid show. You can, of course, usually ignore these but just occasionally they are accompanied by cries through the letter box of 'my husband has fallen over and can't get up - please help' as happened once to me. The other one is phone calls so don't have your phone too near your microphone!

These are just the things that can happen at YOUR end. What happens at the really complex end where the server is, heaven only knows. A few things do but Bill loses me in the technical detail whenever I've asked so now I just worry about my end. So watch those encoders like a hawk - something I failed to do last week when the stream faltered !

I'd say one quality the internet DJ needs is a calm, composed temperament in a crisis. Failing that, a pair of reliable incontinence pants!

Two nations divided by a common beverage!!

2008-10-30T06:07:00.004-05:00

We on HotTraxRadio don't disagree about much. In fact we have a degree of synergy that borders on the miraculous, (I got 'synergy' from an American boss I once had when no one in Britain even knew the word) but if there is one issue that stirs debate and division, particularly among the male contingent and ESPECIALLY DJ Jazzy, it's BEER!

Now DJ Jazzy's judgment is generally pretty good (well he employed me , didn't he? ) but I'm afraid on the issue of beer, I shall continue to claim a certain vindication of my own good taste. It's a shame, I suppose, that Americans are exposed to the frozen polar-bear temperature stuff provided, primarily, by Anheuser-Busch, thus they think all our beer is warm and outlandish. I shake my head in sorrow at such a misrepresentation.

For example, only yesterday, I visited my local hostelry and took away the regular brochure of cask ale delights (another delight most Americans never sample unless they taste the products of micro breweries). Cask Ale, for the uninitiated, is living beer where the yeast is still active, unlike the pasteurised, pressurised carbon dioxide filled stuff that keeps for ever and tastes like gassy water.

Now just sample some of the delights of the cask catalogue and salivate. These are just some of the names and descriptions:-

Stonehenge Eye Opener - A beautiful, dry and smooth premium bitter with a hint of toffee, complementing the citrus and spicy flavours

Harviestoun 666 - The Number of the Beast - A tasty ale light in colour but strong on flavour.

Mystic Libra - A hoppy beer with a light citrus orangey aroma

Drunken Monkey - Burnt toffee and light custard hints permeate from this flavour packed best bitter.

See what I mean? And that's just a few. I suppose now I have retired from a 'proper job' the quality of ale has become an even higher priority than it used to be but even when I was working in computer systems I once turned down a job in New York, the horrible worry racing through my mind of where on earth I would get a decent drink at night. I saw the prospect of endless glasses of freezing cold....nothing.

Seriously, I love the United States and its people. I have literally dozens of friends there..and now hopefully even more on this station (until they read this ) but live there? Not until you import a British brewery!!!

Cheers

DJ Alex

..and music says so much about our society too

2008-10-29T03:50:00.003-05:00

Tatianna has written a beautifully expressive piece on the power of music in all its moods and how it affects the listener. But music in all its forms can also take the temperature of our society too.This has been recognised by historians over the years and, over the past few years, by NASA who have blasted pop hits into space as a kind of audio introduction to the human race at the point in time the mission blasted off, for any extra-terrestrials who might happen to own an Ipod.

But, seriously, popular music (and in the past that could include works by Beethoven and Tchaikovsky) is a sounding board for the moods and attitudes of our society and is thus worthily packaged, along with newspapers and video tapes, as part of the record of an era and how society is thinking. Music is reactive and if we look at the post second world war history, very briefly, you may see what I mean.

In the late 40s, there was swing, bebob and tuneful but, message free, music for those tired of war and conflict who just wanted something to let their hair down by. It was the mid fifties before the youth culture born during WW2 and not burdened by their parents experiences began to seek new outlets. They adopted a mix of black rhythm and blues music and white country music, doctored and manipulated to some extent, and called rock n'roll. Their parents hated it, thought it alien and hostile - just in fact what the kids wanted. A voice of their own. In Britain the 60s produced a new phenomenon with the Beatles - urban rock with a lot of pertinent social comment about their lives and their environment. In America the Vietnam War produced Flower Power - and music to complement it. Out of that era came some of the finest poets and musicians popular music has ever produced.

I guess you could say the early 70s went soft, both musically and socially, with and that, in turn, produced a backlash in both America and Britain with punk music, designed for the disadvantaged working class.

I suppose the point I've tried to make is that music doesn't always 'soothe the savage breast' but often reflects and focuses discontent and anger too. The 60s spawned a revolution in singer/songwriters which has since flourished and new Dylans have sprung up with the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan , Todd Snider being an excellent example, and of course the Flobots and others do highly political material.

In conclusion, and to go back to Tatianna's point about music being such a powerful force, it most certainly is and has the power, not merely to entertain, soothe and satisfy, but to hold people in its thrall. A powerful song with powerful lyrics can sometimes undo in three minutes all the obsequious justifications our politicians have spent months in preparing. Its a power not to be underestimated and can be such an accurate reflection of the mood of the world we inhabit.

DJ Alex

Something New and Different

2008-03-27T01:43:00.000-05:00

One might ask, "Why does a radio station need a blog?" That's certainly a valid question, since the station itself is nothing more than a group of people who have come together for a common purpose: to have fun being djs on the radio. It seems like it might be a good way for us to express something more than just what we put on our normal website.

I'll start by saying that since this blog is maintained by the station manager, it's content and the views represented herein are not necessarily those of the entire station staff. Nor do they constitute official policy of the station itself.

Having gotten the "legal stuff" out of the way, I hope to present in this blog some interesting items that you will enjoy reading. I will likely ramble and carry on... I may even rail a bit here and there. Please do submit your comments and let me know what you like and dislike here as I'm not quite sure yet what all will appear in these pages. Your input is always welcome!