I can get obsessive about making playlists on my extensive iTunes library. But once the playlist is made, I'm quickly bored with it. I turn on the radio.
Why am I adverse to playing my iTunes songs in favor of the radio with all its interruptions, quirks, and imperfections?
There's a fancy word I want to use to explain this: solipsism, the condition of disappearing into yourself until the self becomes the only reality. That's what a playlist is to me, an insular world that makes me feel isolated and anxious, kind of like the crazed narrator in "The Yellow Wallpaper" who feels claustrophobic when she's surrounded by wallpaper. The wallpaper of my iTunes playlist can only remain for so long until I need to break free from it lest I become more and more disconnected from my surroundings.
In contrast, the radio makes me feel connected. Would I feel as connected with an Internet radio? I have my doubts (but would be lying if I said I'm not tempted by the highly praised Logitech Squeezebox Boom). In any case, I think I am one of those Radios Lovers Who Can't Be Cured.
Jeff: Thanks for posting this photo again---a gorgeous radio that is NOT a "lemon!"
On the post: I agree with you. When I watch movies or television dramas, I feel detached. When I watch live sports or news, I feel connected. I have a great music collection, but I generally listen to the radio, because when I do, I feel like I'm part of a group----shared experience---listening together---real time. I wasn't an only child. In fact, I had four siblings. But I was a lot younger than the others, so I spent a lot of time on my own. I think my love of radio developed because when I was eight, nine, ten years old, I leaned on radio as a companion of sorts. My little black GE pocket AM radio was like a box with people in it. It was a much more personal experience than television of that era. Whether it was listening to American Top 40, local DJs or baseball games, I had company even if I was alone.
Posted by: Angelo | January 31, 2010 at 10:28 AM
As a child, sneaking a transistor radio to bed with the earbuds gave me huge solace after watching a monster movie on Creature Features. Even when I wasn't scared, the music was a nighttime companion. I still remember listening to "Hot Fun in the Summertime" by Sly & the Family Stone with a pang in my stomach.
Posted by: Jeffrey McMahon | January 31, 2010 at 10:38 AM
Jeff: Funny you mention that song. That Summer, with riots, protests, general anger and unrest---Sly Stone comes out with a feel good tune---something that "blew the whistle" and said to everyone "Time Out" or "Take a Break." Its funny how good music can change the mood of a person, or a society, even if only for a moment. I love "Hot Fun In The Summertime." Years later (around 1982?) George Clinton and the P. Funk All-Stars came out with a sequel to that song. It was "One Of Those Summers" and it was an answer song to Sly's hit---and in my opinion, an equally great song.
Posted by: Angelo | January 31, 2010 at 11:00 AM
Connected? As a former Radio Guy I still get pangs when I hear dead air at my house, so I have Squeezebox internet radios all over the place runing 24/7 (and a pillow speaker). Still, most radio stations are not live--unless they are news/talk/sports--so, connection? Most music stations track; so-called DJs/announcers record their schtick hours before hand (we used CBSI and ENCO). So, start programming your own stuff. It's as good or better than programmed air.
Posted by: DougAdams | January 31, 2010 at 11:05 AM
Jeff. Spot on little essay. I, too, am forever making playlists but I almost never play them at home as one of my radios is on all the time. The only time I listen to the playlists is on my iPod when I am working out at the gym, period. Ditto my expansive CD collection, most of which are now dust-crusted. I grew up on radio, so it seems there is something deep in my memory that makes listening to radio so much more enjoyable; a connection, as you suggest, to the larger world beyond and/or to one's own childhood and youth, something nostalgic and pure.
Posted by: Doug | January 31, 2010 at 01:17 PM
Doug, don't even get me started about all the CDs I own that I never play. Radios keep bringing me back to the "Rosebud" metaphor from the film Citizen Kane. Ed was the one who applied Rosebud to radios. Radios are "nostalgic and pure," as you say.
Posted by: Jeffrey McMahon | January 31, 2010 at 01:20 PM
E-Bay 310196249481
I have one of these.
Great radio.
Posted by: Angelo | January 31, 2010 at 02:19 PM
Thank you Jeff for putting into words how I feel. I to have a huge music library but rarely play it like I play my radio. I to was the little kid with my transistor radio under my pillow listening to the "CBS Radio Mystery Theater" as well as listening to "Fabulous KIMN Number #1 in the West". Thanks to everyone for their wonderful comments. As a side note, I mainly use my internet radio to listen to terrestrial news and talk stations. This gives me that "connected" feeling. I am not interested in listening to a "server on shuffle"
Posted by: Barry | January 31, 2010 at 05:59 PM
I think you've hit on something, Jeff. It's that feeling of community, of connection, that makes live radio special. I think that's why my favorite local AM station is the all-news station: not because I have a need to constantly hear the news (how often do I need to hear "traffic every ten minutes" when I'm home for the evening?) but because I love hearing familiar voices. It's like the on-air hosts are part of my extended family.
I hope "live and local" radio stays around a little bit longer.
Posted by: Keith B. | January 31, 2010 at 06:47 PM
I get attached to familiar voices also. And when a DJ is fired or quits, I find myself researching the person on the web so I can find out what happened to the person. I even worry about the person's welfare. Connection indeed.
I was devastated when Dan Patrick left ESPN a couple of years ago and very relieved when he found a home at 570 Fox Sports.
Posted by: Jeffrey McMahon | January 31, 2010 at 06:54 PM
I love a great DJ that knows his genre of music and educates as well as entertains. The difference between a sterile playlist and radio is the human voice. Years ago here in Denver there was a amateur guy that loved the Big Band era and had a massive collection. He would play amazing things but it was combined with his knowledge of the music. He brought the era a live and this was one of my "magical" moments with radio. A playlist with a great selection of big band music can't fill the bill. I like to feel like I am sitting around with another person and we are just playing records.
Posted by: Barry | January 31, 2010 at 07:54 PM