Greatest (truthful) DJ song of all time.

[CoolBreeze]

I bought this record when it came out. It's in the top 20 of my all time favorites. Of course, I'm prejudice...

This song had a great deal of radio play for one that only achieved #36 on the charts. But because it was about radio, and because elements of its story are distressingly common in radio, it was immensely popular with radio DJ's. Radio stations can be lonely places, and it seemed that almost every station at that time had an old, veteran morning man with a long, long history.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l0fH0dRUow


Hello Honey, it's me
What did you think when you heard me back on the radio?
What did the kids say when they knew it was their long lost daddy-o?
Remember how we listened to the radio
And I said `That's the place for me'
And how I got the job as an FM Jock the day you married me?
We were two kids and I was was into AM rock
But I just had to run around
It's been eight years since I left you babe
Let me tell you 'bout what's gone down
CHORUS
I am the morning DJ on W*O*L*D
Playing all the hits for you wherever you may be
The bright good-morning voice who's heard but never seen
Feeling all of forty-five going on fifteen
The drinking I did on my last big gig made my voice go low
They said that they liked the younger sound when they let me go
So I drifted on down to Tulsa, Oklahoma to do me a late night talk show
Now I worked my way back home again, via Boise, Idhao
That's how this business goes
CHORUS
I've been making extra money playing high school sock hops
I'm a big time guest MC
You should hear me talking to the little children
And listen what they say to me
Got a spot on the top of my head, begging for a new toupee
And a tire round my gut from sitting on my....
But it's never gonna go away
Sometimes I get this crazy dream
That I just drive off in my car
But you can travel on ten thousand miles and still say where you are
I've been thinking that I should quit disk jockeying
And start that record store
Maybe I could settle down if you'ld take me back once more
OK Honey, I see
I guess he's better than me
Sure, Old Girl, I understand
You don't have to worry, I'm such a happy man
W*O*L*D, W*O*L*D, W*O*L, W*O*L, W*O*L*D*D*D
I am the morning DJ at W.O.L.D.
Playing all the hits for you Playing them night and day
The bright good morning voice who's heard but never seen
Feeling all of forty-five, going on fifteen
I am the morning DJ on W*O*L*D

In the '70s, radio disc jockeys had a great deal of influence over the music they played, and could help out artists they liked by playing their songs. Very often DJs would have to work for many different stations throughout their careers as stations would change format or "direction" and let them go. These guys would often trade a stable family life for the excitement of being on the air, which could be more difficult as they got older.

Chapin was constantly promoting himself, and made sure to visit radio stations as he traveled across the United States. The song is a composite of the disc jockeys he got to know, including Jim Connors, who was an air personality at a radio station in Erie, Pennsylvania, and in 1973, became the morning man on WYSL in Buffalo - he had something of a freeform style which endeared him to many listeners.
Chapin was very astute from a marketing perspective (he went to Cornell, you know), and figured out that if you were trying to get disc jockeys to play your song, it would be a good idea to write a song about a disc jockey.

WOLD is a real radio station in southwest Virginia, which went on the air in 1968. It was not the inspiration for the song: more likely, Chapin was going for a universal feel, and chose the letters as a play on "World."

[The Interpreter]

That last part is complete hooey. The song is about an aging deejay. An O L D one. As in dubya O L D. Get it?

Harry Chapin was a great guy and is missed. I was honored to see him in concert at UK more than once.

[CoolBreeze]

I agree. The song IS simply about an aging DJ with a troubled past. ( not unlike most DJs)

I love the opening because "back in the day" you took a job at some no-nothing FM station in order to get "some" experience, and then graduated to AM. Problem was, you weren't allowed to do much besides push buttons on FM. If you were looking for real experience, you usually moved to some backwoods AM station and then moved to nights on a larger market AM.

[Scott Reppert]

I think we've done a list of "radio songs" before and this was at the top of the list.

Although I've always considered myself to be an "Around The Dial" by The Kinks man, myself...

[EZ103.3FM]

I saw Harry Chapin and his brother Tom in an acoustic performance in Ritter Park back in the 70's.

One of the best music experiences I've ever had....