{"id":22445,"date":"2022-10-13T12:22:58","date_gmt":"2022-10-13T16:22:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=22445"},"modified":"2022-10-13T12:23:36","modified_gmt":"2022-10-13T16:23:36","slug":"episode-658-humberside-disc-jockey-and-hank-williams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=22445","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 658 HUMBERSIDE DISC JOCKEY and HANK WILLIAMS"},"content":{"rendered":"
EPISODE 658    HUMBERSIDE DISC JOCKEY AND HANK WILLIAMS<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Oct. 13, 2022<\/div>\n

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\"We<\/span><\/div>\n
HANK WILIAMS<\/span><\/div>\n
Your cheatin’ heart will make you weep<\/span>
You’ll cry and cry and try to sleep<\/span>
But sleep won’t come<\/span>
The whole night through<\/span>
Your cheatin’ heart will tell on you<\/span><\/div>\n
When tears come down like fallin’ rain<\/span>
You’ll toss around and call my name<\/span>
You’ll walk the floor the way I do<\/span>
Your cheatin’ heart will tell on you<\/span><\/div>\n
Your cheatin’ heart will pine someday<\/span>
And crave the love you threw away<\/span>
The time will come when you’ll be blue<\/span>
Your cheatin’ heart will tell on you<\/span><\/div>\n
When tears come down like fallin’ rain<\/span>
You’ll toss around and call my name<\/span>
You’ll walk the floor the way I do<\/span>
Your cheatin’ heart will tell on you<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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IT BEGAN AS A P.A. ANNOUNCEMENT AT HUMBERSIDE. C.    I. IN 1955<\/div>\n

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\u201cWBEN radio wants a student disc jockey \u2014 doing book and music reviews \u2014 if anyone <\/div>\n
is interested come to the main office today.\u201d This appeal was part of the morning <\/div>\n
announcements at Humberside Collegiate Institute one morning in 1955.<\/div>\n
\u201cWho would be stupid enough to do that,\u201d was general student reaction except for me.<\/div>\n
Along with two nice girls from Bloor Collegiate, I became a disc jockey for a few months.<\/div>\n

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Once a week we would meet with the real disc jockey at the tiny studio on the second<\/div>\n
floor of a nondescript office building.  This was not big time but it was interesting\u2026even fun.<\/div>\n
The radio station wanted to attract high school students as listeners and the three of us<\/div>\n
were the bait.  Once a week we would do a short on air review of a book or a musician.<\/div>\n
Free books and recordings was payment.  Fame Would follow our insight into fine literature <\/div>\n
and great music.<\/div>\n

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\"1950's<\/div>\n
PICTURE OF A RADIO STATON LIKE WE USED IN 1955<\/div>\n
I was about the age of this disc  jockey. It was possible to run<\/div>\n
around the broadest table as my female friends from Bloor<\/div>\n
Collegiate discovered.<\/div>\n

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Well things did not exactly go as planned.  The books were not earth shattering.  And who had<\/div>\n
time to read them anyway.  Most of my high school time in the fall of 1955 e playing football in<\/div>\n
the mistaken belief that my uniform would attract girls.  I never read the books.  Maybe picked <\/div>\n
a page then made some asinine comment about the author. \u201cMust be smart uses a lot of big words\u201d<\/div>\n
 No danger of lawsuits because no one<\/div>\n
I knew even listened.<\/div>\n

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There were two events that made my disc jockey career memorable however.   <\/div>\n

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The two girls from Bloor Colegiste were gifted.  Really bright.  Cheerful. Good looking.  And they <\/div>\n
actually read the books and played the records.  My comments were generally stupid.  For instance<\/div>\n
I had the same comment for every record. <\/div>\n

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\u201cAnd what do you think of that recording, Alan?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWell, I like the beat.\u201d<\/div>\n

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Liking the \u2018beat\u201d was my sole claim to fame in 1955.  I don\u2019t remember one girl at Humberside<\/div>\n
ever saying a word about my role as a reviewer.  And saying \u201cI like the beat\u201d may have shortened<\/div>\n
my radio career.<\/div>\n

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The experience all boiled down to two memorable events.<\/div>\n

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TWO MEMORABLE EVENTS<\/div>\n

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1)  Our host was a professional and lonely disc jockey. Place the emphasis on the word lonely.<\/div>\n
He  had sexual interests in the girls from Bloor Collegiate. They counted on<\/div>\n
me to protect them.  One of our last meetings when I was a little late I entered the broadcast<\/div>\n
booth to find our host chasing the girls around the table.  Was he for real?   The girls laughed and<\/div>\n
ran but I think they were losing interest in their \u2018on air\u2019 experience.  Was he radio host serous?<\/div>\n
Was he capable of molesting the girls.  I think not.  Then again maybe he was serious  Ho could<\/div>\n
he molest two girls at once?  (Today, in the year 2022, this would be scandalous. In 1955 it<\/div>\n
seemed funny to me, perhaps a little sad.  Not sure the girls agreed)<\/div>\n

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\u201cAlan, try not and be late again.\u201d<\/div>\n

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2)  The Bloor C. I. girls were very cultured.  Think they read the books  I fondly remember their<\/div>\n
taste in music. Classical music.  Think they were real musicians.  But they did not like<\/div>\n
Hank Williams who I adored.   Somewhere in our cellar is a 45 rpm collection of Hank\u2019s<\/div>\n
recordings.<\/div>\n

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\u201cAlan, we do not like country music.  You do the review ,,, and keep the Hank Williams album\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cGreat!\u201d<\/div>\n

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My review was not earth shattering..  Just the usual, \u201cI like the beat\u201d . But I loved the album and<\/div>\n
still remember the Hank Williams songs.  I did not know about  his alcoholism and his<\/div>\n
early death of  a Heart attack when 29 years old.  Nor did I know he had a powerful influence<\/div>\n
of other great pop stars of the 1950\u2019s such as ” Elvis Presley<\/a>,<\/span> <\/span>Bob Dylan<\/a>,<\/span> <\/span>Johnny Cash<\/a>,<\/span> <\/span>Chuck Berry<\/a>,<\/span><\/div>\n
 <\/span>Jerry Lee Lewis<\/a>,<\/span> <\/span>George Jones<\/a>,<\/span> <\/span>George Strait<\/a>,<\/span> <\/span>Charley Pride<\/a>,<\/span> <\/span>The Beatles<\/a> <\/span>and<\/span> <\/span>the Rolling Stones<\/a>, among others.”<\/span><\/div>\n

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How could these terrific girls not love Hand Willims?  Maybe they knew about his alcoholism which<\/div>\n
I did not.  My musical interests were a notch or two below theirs that\u2019s for sure<\/div>\n

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(Note: Years later when our oldest son took piano lessons I asked the instructor<\/div>\n
who was a classical musician, \u201cCould you teach Kevin to play the piano like<\/div>\n
Jerry Lee Lewis?\u201d  \u201cAre you serious?\u201d  \u201cYou bet, I like the way he pounds the piano and jumps<\/div>\n
around.\u201d  Which was the end of Kevin\u2019s piano lessons.<\/div>\n

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There you have it.  Two memorable events in my career as a disc jockey.  Our host chasing my female<\/div>\n
friends around the studio.  And my acquiring of a HanK Williams Album which included some of these wonderful<\/div>\n
country blues  songs:<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Oct. 13,2022<\/div>\n

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POST SCRIPT> NOTES AND TITLES – HANK WILLIAMS<\/div>\n

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 song lyrics<\/h2>\n
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