The RadioWitch Will Have Her Revenge on Hartford

(Originally posted on July 29, 2015 at 10:16 pm)
My brain has been known to find an odd connection or two regarding human behavior and events. For those of you suffering from insomnia, please enjoy:

The talented and troubled actress Frances Farmer died on August 1, 1970 and The Rock 106.9 WCCC aired its final broadcast on the same day 44 years later. The Seattle-born Farmer was outspoken, defiant, and rebellious; similar words could be used to describe Hartford’s most notorious rock radio station. The latter was appropriately known as The Asylum, while the former was actually institutionalized in one. 

As we reach the one-year anniversary of the end of an era in Connecticut radio, and for some, a significant chapter in our lives, it’s hard not to reflect back. There has been growth and accomplishment as well as loss. Such losses may be jarring, whether expected or not.

So as this first anniversary approaches, I’m feeling the loss on a few levels. I see now that loyalty is one of the most difficult things to sustain in our personal and professional lives. One of the most respected people I knew told me, “There is no such thing as loyalty anymore” shortly before he died last November, and it broke my heart that he departed believing that. It further saddened me to realize I agreed with him. Maya Angelou said, “If someone shows you who they are, believe them.” Past behavior is indeed the best predictor of future behavior, yet we often try to excuse such evidence. This has been a challenge for me to accept over the last year.

However, I have learned a cautionary lesson (or twenty) from Frances Farmer and another moody/brilliant/deceased Washington-state native, so graceful acceptance is coming a little easier than chaos and drama these days. 

I consider that progress.

“In her false witness,
We hope you’re still with us,
To see if they float or drown…
She’ll come back as fire,
To burn all the liars,
And leave a blanket of ash on the ground…”

-‘Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle’
Nirvana, In Utero (1993)
(Lyrics: Kurt Cobain)

The Life and Times of The RadioWitch: Halloween 2014

It is said that timing is everything. With that in mind, I’m posting these words about a significant time in my life, the people who resided there, some odd events that occurred, and mostly, a place of profound impact to me and many others. The Rock 106.9 WCCC was (at points) incredibly loud, endearing, distracting, original, obnoxious, challenging, game-changing, beloved, loathed, revered, and impossible to ignore. Nearly three months to the day of WCCC’s final broadcast on August 1, 2014, my thoughts now find expression appropriately at Halloween, the holiday that allowed me to enter the bizarre and chaotic on-air world of rock radio, and a time to reflect about loss within the context of life. For me, The Rock is finally laid to rest. 

Over 16 years, Halloween became my opportunity to provide education and impart knowledge about the origins of this holiday, Paganism, and (usually) the paranormal. WCCC had some balls to put a Witch on the air in the late 90’s, in an open-minded and non-condescending way. I always appreciated that, so the Halloween shows became somewhat of a tradition. We never knew what was going to happen, and we didn’t plan on any particular activities from year to year. Well, there was that Ouija board…

We certainly covered some strange topics over the years: death, resurrection, divination (including tarot and spirit boards), love spells, and even removing curses from certain baseball teams. I was fine with adding humor into the mix. While there were some truly jaw-dropping, shocking, and terrifying moments in working with that Ouija board, there were also moments of great joy, inspiration, and comfort provided to others who were suffering with loss and grief. Though my goal was to educate, I found there was no greater gift than providing solace, respite, and healing for someone in grief or emotional pain. 

Though Halloween is here again, I won’t be sitting with Mike Karolyi in the air studio (No Salespeople Allowed!) wondering if any deceased musicians might “come through” to chat. (The man can interview anyone with ease, breathing or not.) Despite some of the dark and difficult subject matter, Mike was always respectful and upbeat. (Miraculously, he never collapsed in that small studio full of incense and smudge-stick smoke.) 

So many detailed memories are etched in my mind from this one place; pieces of time, points in history. Countless posts from staff and listeners over the last three months attest to that. Staff members, interns, and listeners connected and grew with WCCC over the years, to the point where personal identities are linked to it. No matter my professional credentials, or the path I take from here, I am, and always will be, the WCCC RadioWitch.

Sometimes an individual working behind the scenes can take in more details than the person blinded by the glare of the spotlight. I found myself (happily) on the sidelines over the years, observing and storing precious memories. Guardians of such memories and experiences protect the legacy of WCCC; with an army of us out here, we have collected memories, experiences, and shared grief over the loss of this remarkably potent radio station. Halloween seems like the appropriate time to grieve that loss. In some ways, we have come full circle. Is there life after death? 

We may have “WALKED,” but this isn’t over. As I’ve said (too many times) since August 1, energy of this sort does not die; it transforms. In the right hands, it will soar (again). 

Resurrection. Count on it.

The Rock and The Pentacle: 1998 to 2014 
(Photo: M. Blacke)

Full text and photo image may be found here.

#wccc #therock1069 #resurrectionradio #ouija #radiowitch #halloween @rockgumbo@WCCCKarolyi