Back in March I did a blog post titled Forever Young - A Random Musical Memory. It was about an hour of time where I was a guest DJ on Seattle's 107.7 The End in 2002. I mentioned then that I had two other brushes with radio programming fame, both Depeche Mode related, and that I'd write about them at later date. I guess that date is now because I've been thinking about both moments pretty heavily the last couple of days.
Through Facebook, I've recently taken part in a 30 Day Depeche Mode Song challenge which has made me think about DM music a lot lately. It's brought back memories of certain songs, events, and times in my life. And, yes, it did make me think about my times on The End.
One day in 2005, The End announced they would be doing a weekend of listener programming. Listeners could submit a list of 10 songs to fill a one hour block of programming - this was similar to the deal they did in 2002 that I blogged about in Forever Young. The difference this time would be that the listener would not be guest DJing. The regular End DJs would be playing our playlists. Because I feel a need to promote Depeche Mode to the masses whenever I can, I decided I would submit a list of 10 DM songs. They never said the 10 songs had to be by different artist.
I never heard if my list was chosen or not, so when the weekend came for them to play the listeners choices, I had The End going on the radio from the time I woke up that Saturday morning. We had to leave the house that day to run some errands. We left the house, got into the car and once we turned on the radio, there was Depeche Mode playing. It was one of the songs I chosen, but I wasn't sure if it was my list, or if someone else had chosen DM songs as well. That song ended and the next song began, and again, it was DM. This HAD to be my list! At the end of the second song, Neal, the DJ, came on and said that we were now listening to "Stacy's 10 song choices" and mentioned it was going to be an hour of Depeche Mode - because they never said the 10 songs had to be by different artists - exactly my thought when I chose the songs...LOL.
To give my list a better chance of being chosen, I picked 10 songs that got radio play at one time or another, rather than lesser known tracks. My 10 songs were: Just Can't Get Enough, Personal Jesus, Enjoy The SIlence, Behind The Wheel, It's No Good, A Question of Time, Never Let Me Down Again, Strangelove, People Are People, and Dream On.
In 2006, The End had a day of listener appreciation where listeners could submit 3 songs they wanted to hear by one artist. I submitted 3 songs - of course by Depeche Mode. The songs I chose were "Behind The Wheel/Route 66," "I Feel You," and "Precious." I got a call at work one day from Neal at The End - who remembered me from my list of 10 songs the year before - saying my list had been chosen and they wanted to record me doing an introduction to my block of songs. I went into a private conference room to record my intro, which included a dig at mainstream radio not giving the recognition and airplay that the greatest band of the last 25 years (at the time) rightfully deserved. Neal loved it and the next day, it, along with my songs, were played on the air. ;)
I feel lucky to have had so many great times thanks to the old days of The End. It was through them (with thanks to my husband) that I got the great pleasure of meeting Depeche Mode before the Playing The Angel show in Seattle, and I will always be grateful for that most amazing moment. Perhaps that is a story for another future blog.
I've heard The End has gotten a little worse for wear over the last few years and that makes me sad. But at least I have so many great memories thanks to the DJs and programmers that once called The End home.
Thank you for reading from Rdwnggrl's World!
