by Tony Russo
It is heartening in some bizarre way that the term segregation, as it applies to people, has fallen into such misuse as to border on nonsensical. A case in point:
If you tune into this week’s Todcast for the first several minutes, you will hear co-host Todd DeHart explain how segregation is a good thing to the utter shock and amazement of the crowd. As he finishes and then begins to field questions, it becomes clear he made an opposite word choice.
He was talking about high school reunions and how people no longer keep themselves in cliques at them, which might be true or not, as neither I nor this week’s guest, Bulldog of Ocean 98.1 on your FM dial, had much to say about that as reunions don’t tend to be our bag.
What Bulldog did have something to say about was his crusade to save dancing, although he certainly wouldn’t put it that way.
In case for some reason you missed last week’s show (it’s still on the Internet so you can catch up) Todd and I talked about how the homogenization of radio was killing dancing. Bulldog works for an independent radio station — and here I’ll break to point out that every time Bulldog hears the word “radio” he says the call letters, so just add them in your imagination from here on out — and independent radio stations are the last bastions of real D.J.s doing real D.J. work.
It is real D.J. work that makes the radio worth listening to. And according to Bulldog, Ocean 98.1 on your FM dial is the only station he has ever worked for, not counting, of course, the one in St. Martin.
For his part, however, Bulldog does a local morning show, which is kind of a dying art. His Rude Awakening Show 6-10 a.m. is both produced and focused on the region rather than the nation. He does have internationally famous guests but he also maintains the freedom to talk about what is going on in Ocean City and the surrounding areas. For anyone living outside of a metropolitan area to hear about things particular to their neighborhood on the radio is a kind of rarity.
So while Bulldog personally might not be able to save dancing, he can surely take the sting out of a commute and soften cubicle madness. Until lunchtime anyway.
Feel free to join us 6 p.m. each Tuesday for the Happy Hour Todcast at Burley Oak Brewery. If something tragic keeps you from coming out you can always check out the resulting recording Thursday afternoon by subscribing on iTunes.
Just type GCFL into the search bar at the iTunes store to subscribe. It’s free, fun and only requires a half-hour listening investment. Fair warning before you listen: Put on your irony hats, kids. It’s all in good clean fun.