You are a child of the universe

No less than the trees and the stars
You have a right to be here
And whether or not it is clear to you
No doubt the universe is unfolding as it should


:evilgrin:

You are a fluke
Of the universe.
You have no right to be here.....
Deteriorata! Deteriorata!


Go placidly
Amid the noise and waste.
And remember what comfort there may be
In owning a piece thereof.


Avoid quiet and passive persons
Unless you are in need of sleep.


Ro-tate your tires.

Speak glowingly of those greater than yourself
And heed well their advice,
Even though they be turkeys.


Know what to kiss.....and when!

Consider that two wrongs never make a right
But that THREE.........do.


Wherever possible, put people on hold.


Be comforted that in the face of all aridity and disillusionment
And despite the changing fortunes of time,
There is always a big future in computer main-te-nance.


Chorus

You are a fluke
Of the universe.
You have no right to be here.
And whether you can hear it or not
The universe is laughing behind your back.


Remember the Pueblo.


Strive at all times to bend, fold, spindle and mu-ti-late.


Know yourself.
If you need help, call the FBI.


Exercise caution in your daily affairs,
Especially with those persons closest to you.
That lemon on your left, for instance.


Be assured that a walk through the ocean of most souls
Would scarcely get your feet wet.


Fall not in love therefore;
It will stick to your face.


Gracefully surrender the things of youth:
The birds, clean air, tuna, Taiwan
And let not the sands of time
Get in your lunch.


Hire people with hooks.


For a good time call 606-4311;
Ask for "Ken."


Take heart amid the deepening gloom
That your dog is finally getting enough cheese.


And reflect that whatever misfortune may be your lot
It could only be worse in Milwaukee.


Chorus

You are a fluke
Of the universe.
You have no right to be here.
And whether you can hear it or not
The universe is laughing behind your back.


Therefore, make peace with your god
Whatever you conceive him to be---
Hairy thunderer, or cosmic muffin.


With all its hopes, dreams, promises and urban renewal
The world continues to deteriorate.


GIVE UP!

Reprise

You are a fluke
Of the universe.
You have no right to be here.
And whether you can hear it or not
The universe is laughing behind your back.


(c) 1972 National Lampoon

Do you remember:

(Rod Serling "Twilight Zone" voice...)

"Dazed...bewildered...trapped in a world without color...where shadows explode!

Yet this is no science fiction movie...this is the everyday world of the POTHEAD!"

LOL...that was a good NL one, too! Remember it?

...I just listened to FM "alternative radio" in the 60s and 70s, man :smoke:

*sigh* Remember when FM radio was GOOD?

Were you around here to listen to WYDD Free Form 104.7? I think it was out of New Kensington. That was some great alternative radio!

I was 4 years old. But I still relate to 'being from Pittsburgh'.

I had the impression that you spent more time here than that - but if you were born here, you'll always be *from* here, no matter when you left!

It's funny - even tho I left so young, whenever I'm within earshot of anyone from the 'Burgh, I regain the accent within minutes. You can tell I learned to talk there.

I'm very proud of my picksburgh-ness. :)

Sure beat the heck out of the narrow formats and playlists of today, all neatly entered into computer programs so the announcer has no discretion at all. I was in the radio racket awhile. sigh.

It was album-oriented rock that created the atmosphere of niche formats we are stuck with today.

Funny, ain't it?

...that created the niches. The bean counters took over as station chains grew. I was in the biz on the ad side. Sigh. The deal was, buy a locally owned station, swap formats to a tight unserved niche, pop on yer niche-driven national ads from your other chain stations, then staff reps to fill in the local as could be done. Very profitable.

That is the same way it works today. AOR was not as profitable as niche in a chain situation. So bye-bye, AOR.

Yummy to hear some great stuff top 40 wouldn't touch.

We had a Lee Abrams station sign on in 1980; ratings-wise, it stomped the beeswax out of the AOR that played everything from Jethro Tull to the Jam. The Abrams stations were tremendously successful all over the country.

In my market, the AOR's marketing vantage went like this: if we don't play it, it's uncool crap. And there was a lot of cool music AOR wouldn't touch.

I could hear Willie Nelson on my AM top 40 station, but nowhere else until country had a niche.

I could hear black music on my AM & FM top 40, but nowhere else until Urban Contemp came along.

I could here *some* alternative on top 40 and AOR - if it was a big enough MTV hit. Otherwise, I had to wait it out inbetween enterpreneurs who had the guts to try it for real, or put up with college radio wankers.

And so on ...

Country may have been there first, as far as commercially successful niche formats went. But I don't recall ever hearing a country radio station's promos or jocks trying to convince me that their brand of music was the only thing worth listening to.

This started a good 3-4 years before the first round of deregulation (1984ish). Consolidation sped things up but it did not plant the seed.

Sometime in the past year there was a great article about Lee Abrams and how he's supposedly trying to correct his sins of the past in his new gig in satellite radio. But from what I've heard on XM, it's even more fragmented. Feh.

...and the cracks between them are large. There is a lot of good music out there that never makes radio. And that's a damn shame, because that artist then is never given the wider play that could result in reward for the effort. Then you add in the artificial spin machines that sue the Net to prompt calls to music directors to get a song spun more often than it should, and man, it is a very fragmented business out there.

Been there. Done that. Got the memories. Glad they are memories.

With AOR, the audience was exposed to much more musical variety within a genre. There was also a more direct communication line between fans and announcers than now, when everything is preprogrammed to boost the quarter-hour and cume ratings for ad sales use. AOR would play narrow interest stuff at times, which niche won't touch. But the whole AOR discussion is dead, as it has been for 25 years or so.

In many respects, it is the same as a DU favorite topic -- the consolidation of media outlets. Fewer companies, fewer voices.

The real losers in radio are the mid- to small-markets. Those stations lose all of their originality when they are gobbled up by Clear Channel, and the total musical variety played shrinks. I now live in one of those markets, and it is a crying shame. Luckily, there are tiny, quirky small-market stations in range, where I can hear much more variety as long as the signal will hold out.

!!

that is the question.

Isn't that CD great? :)

You are a fluke
Of the universe.
You have no right to be here.
And whether you can hear it or not
The universe is laughing behind your back.

Please click here.

:evilgrin: