Studio8 - Uniting the Arts

they used to stage coups over air play
try to muscle the music mafia hit parade
get the latest raw rock'n rolla anarchista
hipsta gangsta lowdown jamdown on the air
jimmy cliff took twenty bullets for his trouble
in the harder they come, to spin the real vinyl

ten miles, and not one song!
at 45th street, low mortgage rates and fees
at 50th street, some make-a-buck off eco-guilt
at 65th street, the "conflict-free" diamond hustle
you ... must ... buy ... diamonds, or cease to exist
at 70th street, some other banker hypnotist trance

gawd! the shameless mother-teat of hucksterism
at 85th street, at last, rumors of a summer concert
at some overrun country place, with beck and et cet
but musicians don't exist anymore, only la galleria
de jewelry, discount mattresses and tent sales
which begs the question, what was the point?
what did the rockers lay down their life for?
five percent a.p.r. financing, apparently

surely we never roll that way-at 5% or any other price- $ but the freedom - oh the freedom, and music, and dancing- i miss that so---

thanks. this is a poem waiting to be written by me for over 20 years now--- right about the time i stopped tuning in f.m. corporate music radio when it became virtually unlistenable--- for just this reason !

but . . . my new (well, new to me) tiny little car doesn't have a tape or cd player, so one day i thought i might give radio a try (it's been awhile) . . . . and not ONE song, all the way back from the store . . . . it was an outrage, i tell you !! . . . .

not ONE song..? damn, mnaz! Enjoyed it!!!!!!

was forced by circumstances to buy my first new car which includes three free months of XM satellite radio.......it's fantastic.....zero commercials....eight or ten songs at times in a row...obscure stuff that you remember in many cases, but no one plays ....then occasionally an old style FM-type DJ that was lounging back waiting for an opportunity like this to say something meaningful about the musical connections, the history, the trivia, the roots....Don't know if I can afford to pay the monthly fee when the trial period runs out, but lovin' it for now......

actually, here in baltimore, we have a publicly funded FM station from Towson University that is really good....WTMD.....you can stream it as well, on your computer.....and we can pick up XPN from Philly as well....."World Cafe" with David Dye is among the programs that showcase musical talent old and new.....

but there is slim pickin's on the dial these days.....instead of radio being psychedelisized
it's been corporatized..... which usually means disaster for the arts

Hey, saw, you still making SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSound!
Hey, Mnaz, good radio JaZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
Conk, conk, conk, it's just old huckstable Steve Plonk!
It's allll good in de 'hood, hope to continue to be understoood! ...
It's getting close to Riverbend Festival time here in Chattanooga, TN.
But now you need de pin to get in de Bessie Smith Strut! Great days
of fun & music down here. Yes, we's alive & kicking the cans.

sounds..... great........

Fine poem & theme.