Concerning Radio and Rock 102

I like driving. Unfortunately I don't drive, let's say, the nicest car. It's a red Chevy Venture minivan with unworking automatic locks, only one sliding door and worst of all, no cd player. While I would like to say I have the initiative to record some of my cds on tape and freak out as I speed down 84, I can't say I do. Instead, I listen to the radio.

Until recently, I've stayed pretty faithful to the two actual rock stations: 99.1 PLR in New Haven and 102.1, Springfield's Classic Rock. Fuck the Rock 106.9--Kudler and I almost successfully booed their hired clowns off the stage at the Wolfmother concert when they tried to shoot free shirts out of one of those cannons. I'll even take The River 105.9 over them, though it pains me to say that.

Anyway, 99.1 and 102 always provided me with the extra amplification--perhaps it was Zeppelin's The Ocean, or the Doors' Light My Fire--before I went out to party on the weekend. "This solo makes me want to drink," I would think as I banged my head Wayne's World style and drummed on my wheel that I always have to hold slightly to the left to prevent the car from swerving pretty violently to the right.

But now I have a day job and I'm usually not preparing to drink at 10:30 in the morning. So when I heard "Taking Care of Business" for the tenth time in one week or AC/DC's "TNT" (which sounds exactly like AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds") for the 18th time, I decided it was time to use the search function. Luckily, I came across some surprisingly decent alternatives.

(right: Rock 102's Bob Kester)

There's 88.1 WESU, the Wesleyan radio station. Though much of it's midday schedule is consumed by extreme left-leaning talk shows that can be both enlightening and annoying, there is also some refreshingly different, yet subpar party reggae. There is also some pretty cool ambience music which makes driving more of an artistic, drug-like experience. But by far the highlight of 88.1 is Rockabilly Willy, the eccentric host who digs some "swinging Rockabilly tunes" out of his "treasure chest" for all the "cats and kittens" every Sunday from 3:30 to 5:30. I highly suggest checking it out.

The University of Hartford Radio Station, 91.3, is probably my favorite. With its almost 24/7 smorgasbord of badass jazz that I almost never understand, I always have high expectations for this no-bullshit, highly musically-literate channel.

89.3 is as far as I know, the Trinity station. You couldn't tell. As my friend Caron installed it on my presets, he told me he was putting on the black station. There's a lot of sort of R&B reggae which I don't really like that reflects Hartford's intensely Jamaican population, and then there's some sick James Brown-funkadelic shit that you'll hear pretty regularly.

If all these options fail you, just listen to 102.9, which always has some decent oldies going on. Anyway, I hope they get the internet in cheap cars soon enough so I don't have to deal with this bullshit anymore.