Ten Favorite Radio Reference Songs: Rex Bob Lowenstein (#1)

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It’s time to turn the radio off. Here’s the final song on my list of favorites that have radio as a central theme of the song without actually mentioning “radio” in the title. I’ll get to my favorite radio song in a few minutes (of course, you all know what it is). Meanwhile, here’s a song you’ve never heard by an artist you’ve never heard of. #1: Rex Bob Lowenstein - Mark Germino & the Sluggers When I highlighted Harry Chapin’s great “W*O*L*D” song I mentioned it influenced other songs. This is one of them. Mark Germino, well-known among the Americana and alt-country artists but by very few others, paid homage to Chapin’s song by paraphrasing the line “Feeling all of 45, going on 15” in this song (“He’s 47, going on 16”). This is a killer story song. It deals with a DJ who plays whatever his listeners want to hear (“you can call and request ‘Lay Lady Lay’”). The genre doesn’t matter: “he’ll play Stanley Jordan, U2 (or the Dead in the second version), and Little Feat, and he’ll even play the band from the college down the street.” That’s what FM radio used to be. Lori will back me up on this: one of our local radio stations, WLRS, used to put out albums of local bands doing original songs. The series was called Homegrown Music. Let’s see that today. Now, FM rock didn’t go so far as to “play Madonna after George Jones” as Lowenstein did, but not that far of a stretch: consider the country sounds of acts like Poco, the Eagles, Firefall, and other “country-rock” bands in the 70s who received significant airplay alongside the Tom Waits, John Prine, Pat Travers, Aerosmith, and Led Zeppelin tunes. Then, along came the corporations and the greed. A radio consultant takes the owner of the radio station (WANT) to lunch and pitches a format change, promising more listeners and “less confusion,” with only one consolation: “Your drive time jock won’t get to do his thing.” So Rex gave his notice. On his last day of work he locked himself in the studio and played a game of “Smash or Trash” until the police came. The brilliant conclusion of this song is that the judge that Lowenstein is hauled before takes Rex’s side, even as he reluctantly upholds the law: “I’ve gotta lock you up, for what I’m not sure yet, but your boss here seems to think you’re wrapped too tight.” Then..... “And, by the way, thanks for playing ‘Moon River’ last night.” Radio isn’t for the music lover, it’s for the masses. This song explains that fact more eloquently than anyone can. Rest In Peace, radio. Thanks for reading. Rex Bob Lowenstein Written by Mark Germino Recorded by Mark Germino & the Sluggers From Radartown, 1990 He puts two or three eggs in him: