This is that weekend! It happens every April! This morning, I moved all my winter shirts to the back of the closet and brought out the short sleeves and Ban-lons to the front where I can get to them easier. For the past several years the changing of the shirts occurred on the weekend that I spin tunes for the Columbia British Car Club show at Tartan Day South out at the Old Columbia Speedway. Usually the show is the first Saturday of April and this year was no exception.
To those of you who say that we can’t wear summer clothes until Memorial Day, I say, Y’all don’t live in the South, do you? We live by different rules down here! If I had a seersucker jacket, I’d be proudly sporting it around on the cooler mornings that occasionally still pop up. Hey, that’s my one avenue of rebellion these days.
This year's DJ Tent at the British Car Club Show There was a first for me this weekend. This was the first year since I’ve been DJ’ing the British Car Club show that I didn’t get sunburned. While they always supply me with a tent, a table, a chair and electrical power, I usually get a bit red on the back of my neck (no comments please) and my arms as the sun begins its westward journey into the afternoon and peeks below the edge of the tent even on overcast days. But this year, the overcast was thick enough to block the rays. Also with the temperatures in the mid 70s and a cool northerly breeze blowing it was a perfect day.
This show is the one time of the year when I get to visit with old friends whom I don’t get to see very often.
Another of the best things about doing this show is to be able to talk with listeners face to face. There were a lot of folks dropping by who either listened back in the old AM days on WUSC-AM, WCOS and WIS radio, or listen today to my shows online or on WUSC-FM. I really dig talking about the music, the stations and all the fun we had. Of course the older listeners, knowing that I love doing requests asked for their favorites. I was in hog heaven. I was even able to visit with a couple who used to hang out in the parking lot at Doug Broome’s during the old Nightbeat Show.
The thing that amazes me is when younger folks come by to tell me that they like the Monday morning Backbeat show on WUSC-FM. They love the oldies and like the old school radio style from the 50’s and 60’s that you can’t get anywhere else in town these days. I guess I should be grateful for today’s “block programming,” it helps “The Backbeat Show” stand out. Full disclosure, at these live gigs, I present in “block programming” style playing 3 – 5 songs back to back before each “stop break” where I make announcements about the upcoming events and sponsors for the show. So I’m not a complete curmudgeon about it all.
Another thing that is fun is to watch people walk amongst the cars on display singing along with the songs that we’re playing. Most surprising is when a group of twenty-somethings, who have wandered over from the Tartan Day South celebration rock to the oldies singing along to a do-wop songs from the late 50s or early 60s. When asked, they tell me that they learned them from visits with grandma. They seem to be hip to the hits from 1955 – 1975 more than the music that followed. That never ceases to amaze me.
But the coolest thing is the toddlers. They can’t seem to pass in front of the speakers without stopping to do a little dance. They are so cute having the time of their lives and making memories. As long as that happens, Rock and Roll will never die.
Even members of the bagpipe and drum corps that march through the Car Show side of the infield intermittently during the afternoon come back over sans instruments to tap their feet to the oldies. There were more of them this year than in the past and the quality of the Celtic music was superb.
That brings up kilts. There were a lot of them again this year. The men wore their kilts at the same length that I saw in Scotland this past summer; just short of knee length. However the women wore their kilts a lot shorter, mid thigh or higher. Ummm, sounds about right to me. I must add that the only kilt I ever saw on a woman who wasn’t a tour guide over there was on an Irish college student on a Saturday night in a club in Dublin. You can bet she attracted a gathering of male students that night.
One final thought as we move into warmer weather. The first person who complains of the heat this summer is gonna get a punch in the snout. Oh MY!
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