Must Be Subject to Change
So when this whole radio/podcast/whatever-it-is thing (not this Radio thing) started, I had no idea what I was doing other than “…my theme music is composed by BJ Leiderman” because to me, that’s the single most important thing in the universe of public media.
I grew up without a television in the house, so while my friends were familiar with ‘Cheers’ and ‘The Wonder Year,’ I was making up my own lyrics to the ‘Weekend Edition’ theme music…
(Yes, I’m an only child. Why do you ask?)
While we can can sometimes see how silly it seems now, looking back as an adult, the lines between reality and fiction weren’t as clear when we were kids. I’m sure you remember mistaking a parody of something for the real thing, or not quite understanding what your parents were so amused by because you hadn’t experienced the original point of reference yet. Sometimes we all fall for satire, and end up looking like big ol’ doofuses, so remember to vote for whoever supports public education in your local area!
Sheesh, has anyone told me that I have a really hard time staying focused?!
Satire and seriousness, comedy and news kind of blurred into one messy jumble on the radio (seriously though. not this Radio) and the names in the production credits loomed just as large as Bob Edwards or Terry Gross. In the 80s, since audio was all I had to go on and their voices sounded similar to me, I assumed that Ronald Reagan hosted Prairie Home Companion on the weekends before going back to his regular job on Monday.
“Don’t Panic” was a pretty big part of my childhood too.
Aaaaaaanyway.
As I mentioned in my previous post (and I really will try to update this blog more frequently, especially as I for realsy put episodes out, but more on that later) I contacted BJ Leiderman about writing Theme Music for my as-yet unproduced show, and it’s taken a bit of an amazing turn…
Since I had no idea what I was doing when we started talking, (not that I do now,) instead of discussing music for the project, the discussion has become the project. I’m beyond fascinated with how NPR came to be, and more specifically how the music came to be created in the early days.
The stories about how Morning Edition came to be created are incredibly interesting to me. When NPR was in its infancy, the majority of the stations willing to carry the news were playing classical music for most of the day. The morning news music needed to be something that wouldn’t shock listeners out of bed while they made their coffee. BJ spoke with me about his inspiration from George Martin’s work with the Beatles, and the studio techniques that you may never have noticed that “Whoooosh” you out of sleep and into the news.
Long story, uh, long, I’m working on making a podcast about making a podcast that’s also about making the music for NPR while also making the music for that podcast…but also with theme music composed by BJ Leiderman, all while hopefully not just getting so stuck in my goddamn head that I end up living in Synecdoche; New York forever and never coming home again.
If you’re reading this, do something productive with your day. If your parents are alive, call them and say hi. If you’re a parent, remember that you’re doing a great job and that everything is gonna be fine. Nothing is as serious as you think it is.
Love,
Me
