SO, WHY AM I STILL ON THE RADIO?

I began in March of 1982 in Tucson, Arizona with a 5-hour
special show called "Virgin Vinyl". Yes, I used vinyl only.
Of course when CDs began in 1986, sure I entered the new
world, but left the name of the show the same.

KLPX, the commercial rocker allowed me to do whatever
I wanted. It gave them huge ratings. That's all they cared
about. For me, it gave me the freedom to put on a wild
show of unknown artists at the time, and have crazy guests
from Henry Rollins to Huey Lewis.

The show even back then was a blending of many styles and
world's of music. Live on-air chats with The Cure, XTC,
and so many more. So many memories.

The show ran for 14-years through 5 different stations.
The latter 4 in Phoenix, Arizona.

From Metal, to what was once Alternative, to Pop,
Hip-Hop, Trance, to whatever, that is what makes
my musical world go around.

Then I went off to Los Angeles in 1995 to run a magazine
for the Album Network. I also hosted numerous national
syndicated specials, and made some guest appearances on
Los Angeles radio.

When I returned to Phoenix in late 2005, I was welcomed
back to KUPD. I was given full creative control, which I had
always in the past, once again.

Hence "Lopsided World Of L".

So, why do I really need to be on the radio?

The answer could be; Given respect? KUPD is like home? I
am allowed by Chuck and Larry to do what I feel is right
to entertain an audience musically? I am surrounded by a
great staff of pro's that will never leave KUPD unless they
are given the offer in the sky? Ratings don't matter for what
I do nowadays?

The answer? All of the above.

Oh, and one other. The internet!

When I began in radio back in the early 80s, I never dreamed
of being heard around the globe. Interenet streaming has
changed that forever.

Where as I always dreamed of being syndicated around the
United States, and when Satellite radio began, my thoughts
turned to that also, I now know that they both pale in
comparison to the internet.

Syndication is cool, but limiting. Same goes for Satellite, which
can only be heard in the United States and Canada.

The 'net' is everywhere, and today most people are sofisticated
enough with a great to good sound system on their computers.

Every weekend I spend many hours prepping my two shows
musically. My aim; to bring people back to a dying entity,
radio.

You know what really keeps me going? It is absolutely bar none,
the listeners. You are so faithful. Every week I am humbled by
the phone calls, e-mails, and Instant Messages while I am on the
air, and in the aftermath too.

I have many listeners who remind me it is their outlet for hearing
something different than what they are used to, or that they are
left listening to the boredom of heavily programmed radio of the
same old, same old.

I more than appreciate that. I know who some of the faithful are.
And, you know who you are too. You put aside other things to
spend time listening to my frightfully pleasantly annoying shows.

Although Phoenix is now the fifth largest populated city in the
United States (look it up), and there is possibly over a hundred
thousand listening at any given moment ( I don't need ratings
to prove that), it is also the hundreds or thousands ( I wouldn't
know) that are listening from all over the United States and to
me just as important, many other countries.

See this woman below. She listens every single week to both shows
faithfully. And I mean faithfully, from Berlin, Germany. Every show
she messages me through Myspace so I know she is listening. I am
a real part of her life.



Do you realize what that means to me? Everything. It makes all
the work and pleasure that goes into putting together a show
twice a week worth it all. Money cannot buy that.

I thank Gaby and the many that I do know that make me part of
their lives weekly. That is what keeps me going, going, and still
going!

I am blessed. That's all.

On a parting note; My founding and programming the legendary
KUKQ is another facet of my career that I will always cherish,
but it will always be the special shows like "Virgin Vinyl", and
now "Lopsided World Of L" that is pure me, and only me.

BEST RESPONSE BACK EVER!



***Internet does not kill the radio star***
because...it is the best way for a global affair.
(new lyrics for Aldo Rox...ha ha ha)

Internet…the best achievement of our time!

Jonathan, you are the bomb :)
I just read your blog...wow...thanks.
I like your way of thinking, my thoughts are linguistically
unfortunately reduced :(

Quite right! ~Lopsided World of L~ and his master is really
a part of my life .

Have a look-that is my kitchen board above =)



I work about 50-60 hours a week in my shop, and my first
relaxation begins with your Saturday show…and I feel great,
have fun, great music and English instruction (*grin*).

I estimate your work so much, Jonathan!
Rather your understanding, realization of persons/musicians
and your taste and selection of music.
I love you for what you are and for what you do. :)

Send you much, much, much...love from Berlin. ;D
Gaby xoxo

*How could I not run this?
The photo's and words melt me.- JL

MORE RESPONSE


Diva from Nevada

Ok JL,

We haven't talked in awhile cuz we're so freaking delightfully in
demand, (we're busy in our lives), but consider yourself bitch slapped
to reality and told : you're still on the radio because you are a king
at what you do and you have the heart of rock and roll in your blood
and it would be a sad world without you, beatch!

Now, stand up straight, take a deep breath and tell yourself, "I'm so
cool, I even dig me" and RAWK ON!!!

*Blush* I can't do that-but I had no idea you've been listening. I
thank you so much for that.- JL


Musca from Phoenix, Arizona

Don't forget those of us who listen to you in stealth mode.
We're listening but you don't know it. ;0)

You are the BEST of the best when it comes to radio. When you
talk it's intelligent and informative. When you spin the tunes you
give us a break from the mainstream.

If you didn't deserve those words I just typed out then you would
not have seen them (at least from me).

You love it, we love it, and it works.
That's why you're still on the radio. =0)

*You're right! I would never know that you listen. Thanks for
coming out of the stealth mode for a few minutes, so I do
know you are listening. You know it means alot. :-)

That's the thing, I really don't know who all is listening. -JL


Dana from Scottsdale, Arizona

The foremost reason you are still on air is that your listeners would
demand your return so greatly, that the radio station would get tired
of our whining !

That, and because you are the REAL deal!

You are a quintessential artist-whether it be blasting our souls to
the core on a weekly basis-and I thank you so kindly for that, or are
educating the masses with your eclectic musical expertise, which does
NOT include spoonfed mainstream! But, your love and knowledge of
music permeates through every fiber of your being, and we can sense
and respect that!

Passion is infectious.

And your voice is so calm and soothing, not the typical eye- opening
cheesy media radio voices I so often hear!

By the way, Ive been listening all along...since KUKQ and Virgin Vinyl
in the 80's and beyond. I could never forget that voice!!!

Always my love, Dana

*So sweet Dana. :-) -JL

DOES A LIVE PERFORMANCE EQUAL RADIO AIRPLAY?

This band is the reason for this column

BOOGIE COMPANY

Facinating question, isn't it? The argument could be that if
you don't go and see a band live, should you play them on
the radio?

In my 61 years, of course beginning in my teens and through
my long journey on the radio and involvement in many
other facets of the music inDUSTry, let's just say I've been
to at least a thousand shows.

Sound like an exageration? Nope. Been to at least that many.
From tiny clubs, showcases in the weirdest of places, to the
big halls, arena's and theatres, I've done it. Believe it.

So, since I returned to Phoenix near 3-years ago from Los
Angeles, I have only been out to a handful of shows. I
went to see New Model Army for the third time just when
I came back to the desert. I saw Joan Jett 3 times in 2006,
first at the annual Ostrich Festival, then the Warped tour,
and capped it off at the Marquee Theatre.

My son Russell and I also went to see Queensryche perform
"Operation Mindcrime 1&2" at the Dodge Theatre.

That's it so far.

Why do I stay away from shows and club performances
nowaday's? Quite simple. At this point of my life, I'd like to
have a life.

With that in mind, two weeks ago I attended a music
conference with Managers, A&R representitives, Concert
Promoters, Marketing Strategists, Record Labels, and
musicians from 37 different countries being present for
four days of networking, panels, performances, and just
general usual stuff that goes on at such events.

It was the fourth annual Musexpo held this year at the Hyatt
on Sunset Boulevard, and the House of Blues, directly across
the street from the Hyatt hotel.

I really went to L.A. (home) to see friends, golf, and catch a
Dodger game at the stadium. As most of you know, I took the
weekend off from my radio shows.

The conference was something I did because I am more about
networking, learning new things from the panels, and maybe
finding a gem, without going out at night to the showcases at
the House Of Blues. I kept my word. No live shows.

See, what I do on the radio is every week craft a "show" of music
from my vast library and new music that is sent to me in large
quantity's. It's a lot of work which I enjoy doing.

I am a presenter and programmer of music to entertain you. That's
what I do. My responsibility is to listen to all sent, and decide what
fits for the day's I program leading up to showtime.

A live performance at this stage of what I do is pretty much not an
important part of what I do. A CD or MP3 is what I have to go by.
I use two CD players in the KUPD studio, not a computer. The shows
are live, so once in awhile you will hear me fuck up. :-)

I run the board so it's my fault if something goes wrong, except if the
equipment itself has a problem. Than, not my fault.

Okay, so you see the band above. They are from a small country
called Estonia, south of Finland and east of Russia.

On the first day of Musexpo, there was a chaotic noisy luncheon
at the Saddlecreek Restaurant next to the Hyatt.

The above band Boogie Company played a couple of songs to a
loud audience, talking, eating and pretty much in a large part
ignoring the live performance. Par for the course.

The sound system was not good, and the band who flew all the
way from Estonia to be noticed and hopefully get some love
from A&R types, labels, and whoever would show interest, were
probably not recieving what they had hoped for.

When they finished, I walked over to Andrus, the lead singer of
this Rockabilly style band (who did a cover of Rammstein's song
"Amerika"), and handed him a card with all my info.

Later on Andrus saw me and handed me a CDR of that song. As I
drove back to my hotel (not the Hyatt), I listened a few times and
was pleasantly surprised. It rocked! It sounded way better than
the live performance. Again, I reiterate, the conditions for them
sucked.

So the moral is; if I had judged by their live offering, I might have
never discovered a group that is damn good, and I have been
playing on the radio since. New songs have been sent, and I will
continue to program them on my shows.

I don't know if the band has gotten any offers from labels in the
States, nor do I know if anyone else has shown interest. I sure hope
they get some love because they are very good on disc, and they are
also very good live as seen on their video's.

Chalk up that one luncheon as a blip in their quest.

For me, if I hadn't asked for music, I suppose my audience (you)
would never even know about them.

Look, I've seen scads of great shows in my lifetime, from Bowie,
The Stones, Led Zeppelin, oh shit, name a band or an artist and
most likely I've seen them. Maybe not everyone, but a lot, bet
on that. From huge names to names you will never even hear from
again.

Lately I just want to live a private life, I don't drink (haven't for
years), and just don't feel like going out. If I do feel it, I will.

Remember, a good recording is what my tools are.


RESPONSE BACK


Dear friend Johnette Napolitano

From the other side: I would like to say I've always thought of live
playing as a 'sketch' in b & w and the studio as a palette of 'colors'.

They're 2 different mediums altogether. Live conditions are erratic
and unreliable and that is just the nature of it and if you think at
this age it's a bitch to go to a show imagine someone
telling you you have to GO ON at 1:00 a.m. ! AS IF!!! But a show is
just that, a show in the moment and if something doesn't work you
play around it, etc., if the sound isn't right for the moody ones,
you stick to the harder ones, or whatever sounds best in the room, or
the mood of the crowd, etc.

Anyway it's a very simple equation: many more people have purchased
Led Zepplin and Pink Floyd and Coldplay records than have ever seen
them live. They are 2 different mediums.

A live performance is of the moment and not meant , in my opinion, to
be appreciated wholly and properly outside of that context. In making
a 'record' (the dictionary definition helps here)
I am concerned in sending the intended emotion and message of the
piece:, illustrating it sonically to the truest of my ability to be
understood for posterity...for all time. It's sort of like a chicken
and the egg question but if you look you'll find the egg came first,
and you went to the show to check out the chicken who laid it.

Ok that's enough with the feeble reaching for metaphor.

Love J

Thanks J. I think my point is in your 3rd paragraph.