Radio Daze Part 1

The news that Bruce Springsteen is coming out with another album somehow inspired me to think about a really pathetic contest that I helped to run at a rocker in my dismal past that was designed solely to suck up to Bruce. It was 1985 and he would be doing two shows at the Providence Civic Center. The station was intent on somehow getting Bruce's endorsement either in the form of an exclusive interview or by participating in some manufactured event. Rather than make the listeners identify a string of Eddie Van Halen solos - which was the case when we had given away Van Halen tickets - or just being in the right place at the right time to hook up with a "ticket raid" - which meant we were dumping Ratt or Skid Row tickets or some other marginal act that was having trouble filling a club - we decided to do something socially responsible.

Springsteen was using that particular tour to encourage food donations, collecting for shelters in the different cities he was playing, so the contest would promote that humanitarian theme - the audience would bring food to designated locations where they would then be eligible to participate in a raffle for a pair of tickets. We didn't really stop to consider the fact that most of our listeners lived on fast food or cocaine and bottled water, so the idea of, like, actually buying canned goods was an alien concept. Since the salesmen immediately jockeyed their best clients into position as ideal collection points, the ill-fated promotion managed to combine the wrong demographic with the wrong businesses, as well as working in the wrong times.

Consequently, I found myself collecting cans at a foreign car garage at noon, and holding a raffle at a music store in the morning - when the majority of our core rockers were still sleeping off the night before. Half the fans showed up at these dismal gatherings with one whole can, since we didn't specify how many or exactly what they were supposed to bring. By the time I finished giving away the coveted seats, we probably had enough to maybe feed one homeless person for a few nights, provided they didn't mind eating canned peas.

Aware that we were flirting with disaster, the station came up with a final desperate measure: awarding Springsteen the key to the city, assuming that such an honor would draw him out for invaluable free publicity. The mayor was only too happy to get involved, his office quickly agreeing to hold the dubious ceremony a few hours before Bruce's first concert. I was pleased to see several local TV stations in attendance at the appointed hour, but no sign of the great one. Several seconds before the mayor was about to get seriously pissed, the record company promo guy showed up, graciously accepting the honor before pulling us aside and excoriating the station for not only being stupid enough to think we could actually get Springstreen to make an appearance but also pulling him away from dinner with the wife and kids in some Boston suburb, taking pains to imply that the record label he worked for didn't really need us - we needed them.
Fortunately, Bruce sold out both shows, actually giving the Civic Center a profit for the first time in its history, the promo guy continued to visit the station, and I was left to concentrate on more imaginative contests - that is, until the dreaded Van Halen "Drop Dead Legs" competition - but that's another story.

Favorite links:
Rhode Island International Film Festival: http://www.riiff.org/
William Topley's "Feasting With Panthers" : http://www.williamtopley.com/
Traditional music from a virtuoso practitioner": http://www.bruceburnside.com/
Scott Allen's contemporary tunes:http://www.milomusic.com/
Martha Davis and the Motels: http://www.marthadavis.com/
Read all about the "Land of Lincoln(s)" at:
http://rantsfromrockyhill.blogspot.com/
The latest Cutlass Three gigs: http://www.myspace.com/thecutlassband