From the vaults:
GuestBook
Charles' Free Quit-Smoking Tips
Find out what Charles up to now and read about his latest exploits from Hawai'i on his very own Big Mattress 'blog.
Would you like to become an exclusive member of the Big Mattress Fan Club? As a lifetime member, you will receive the highly coveted 4-CD set of Charles' last show on WZLX, August 4, 2000; and there's lots of stuff you can't receive, but will wish you had. (In the words of the immortal Duane Ingalls Glasscock, "How does it feel to want?")
"Okay, I'm crazy - How do I become a BM Fan Club member?" you ask. Click here, and soon you will be enjoying the fact that you are an official BM Fan Club member, and have nothing to show for it except your own copy of Charles' last show on WZLX.
The
Pros and Cons
of Bitchmaking
A taste of the e-mail messages and Charles's personal responses from back when Charles' on-air opinions were always getting him in some kind of hot water.
The listeners' letters are in yellow and Charles' responses are in white.
All typos and grammatical errors below are unedited and uncorrected, and are the sole responsibility of the EMailers themselves, and the school systems which they attended.
America - Love it or Leave it...
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: PaulaB
Re: Viet Nam
Charles,
I have sent you an E-Mail once before criticizing you and your show as nicely as I could,
and your response to me (not that I was looking for one) was "Ouch, babe!".
For some reason I had WZLX on in the car this morning, and heard your interview with Adrian Cronauer. I heard you mention how you had protested the Viet Nam Conflict, instead of serving your country.
Now, I find myself going from thinking you are just a windbag, who is stuck on himself, to being totally disgusted with you! My husband served 20 years in The Marines. He is a man with total Honor, and Love and Respect for his Country!
You may not have been the only person who protested our actions In Viet Nam, but you are the one I hold the most contempt for!
You make me want to PUKE!
Don't even bother sending me your "Standard Hate Mail" response I have heard of from a friend of mine. You should be banned from Radio as far as many of us are concerned!
GET A LIFE!
Paula B.
To: Paula B
From: charles
Re: Vietnam
Dear Paula B.,
You want ME to get a life???
Wait just a minute, Paula. Spending even two minutes of precious time writing angry hate letters to a disc-jockey you don't even know, is two minutes which you'll never EVER get back as long as you live.
Look at the bigger picture: Why do you keep listening and torturing yourself like this? Either change the station -- or get yourself a CD player.
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Give Us Our Daily Hit...
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: surferfool@hotmail.com
Re: request
Dear Charles:
I would like you to play "more than a feeling" by boston every weekday morning at 7:30 because that is when I am on my way to school
thanks,
surferfool@hotmail.com
To: surferfool
From:charles@wzlx.com
Dear surferfool:
We can do this...every WEEK-day right? (because I don't think we could actually do it on
weekends too). :)
c.
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: surferfool@hotmail.com
Re: request
Dear Charles,
that would be great. On weekends I am ussually doing something anyway but that is one of
my favorite songs so I would like to hear it in the morning to make one thing good about
the day since I have to go to school which I can't stand. thanks. Yes every weekday and
not weekends
To:surferfool@hotmail.com
From: Charles
Re: request
Dear surferfool@hotmail.com
(I should have known by your screen name that it would come to this) I was just kidding! I
actually did play your song, and say your name this morning; and I bet you didn't even
hear it, because you were listening to Phish tapes, right? Please don't answer that.
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: surferfool@hotmail.com
Re: request
Charles,
well no I was listening to a little alman brothers band tapes in my dads new car. Try it
again I will promise to llisten this time
thanks
one more try this time i will be waiting try and say my name too because I would like to
show off to my dad and friends.
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: surferfool@hotmail.com
Re: request
Charles,
I am not trying to be annoying but this is jon again and i would really like you to play
it consistantly . It wouldn't sound bad because there is such a long space in between when
you heard it and when you will hear it again. so please try and play it again. Oh and you
were right aboout the surfing. I do listent to phish and I love to surf. If you could
possibly say that I live in Ipswich Ma. on the radio at 7:30 am and that I like to surf.
that would be awesome. thanks
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"Classic Rock is Like a Box o Chocolates..."
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Tex
Re: Format change
Charles, love your show but what is up with format change at ZLX. It seems that ever since
Big Mattress was dropped the whole format is going "bubblegum". What is with Pat
Benetar et al crap. You guys used to rock and I always had my dial locked in to 100.7. Now
I find myself surfing, and we don't have many alternatives here in RI. Please give us back
the hard core classics-you guys were always the best at playing the hard to find stuff ,
now it's the same old same old.
Happy Holidays to all,
Tex
To: Tex
From:charles
Re: Format change
Dear Tex:
Carter Alan has come over as Music Director here at ZLX, and -- in fact -- he has
INCREASED the number of classic rock songs by over 30%. If you have a problem with
"Pat Benatar et al crap" (meaning some of the great eighties classics), then you
actually have a problem with the OPPOSITE of what your complaining about -- the "same
old same old" -- That's exactly what we're NOT doing. If we left out those songs, we
would be guilty of playing the same old same old.
Sorry tex, "bubblegum" has a different meaning to you than it does to me.
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Tex
Re: Format change
Charles, when I think classic rock, Hendrix, Allman Bro's, Stones, Frampton, Stevie Ray,
is what come to mind. Not the stuff that played top 40 stations in the 80's. I'm
disappointed Chas. I thought some one was holding a gun to your head to make you play that
stuff. Maybe your not such the classic rocker after all. Guess I'll take 100.7 of the memo
button.
p.s. Thank God for tapes, cd's and yes albums!!!
To: Tex
From:charles
Re: Format change
Dear Tex:
Peter Framptom a "rocker"???!!!! (Please come back after your first shave. I'll give you a lesson on what real rock is).
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Why No Ry?
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: EBell
Re: Ry
Dear Charles,
My father and I would like to hear more Ry Cooder. You guys never
play him. Ry Cooder music runs through alot of people's music today. It's a shame that you
don't play him. Anyway thanks wicked ton.
Ernie Bell/Revere, Ma
To: EBell
From:charles
Re: Ry
Ernie:
Tell your dad, "Those were the days, huh, Pop?" because I don't think Ry
Cooder's been played on any commercial radio station in America for at least twenty years;
and that's the state of radio today -- and none of it is my fault.
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Dave's Not Here...
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: dlaskey
Subject: dave's not here
Hey Chuck,
Seeing how the JETS won, you should honor your word and leave radio. Then again, you'll
probably back out because you don't have the gut to back up your words.
dlaskey
To: dlaskey
From: Charles
Dear dlave:
It's "guts", not "gut", Dlashole.
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: dlaskey
Chuck:
What ever...
Regardless, you should be on AM, because you are all TALK. And thinking about it,
"gut" is appropriate. Guts is plural...and you don't even have the single
conviction to stand behind your words.
You said you'd leave radio if the Jets won. But I guess that is too much an inconvenience for you to follow through on.
Perhaps you should think more before making dumb statements you won't follow through on. Then again, that would probably create too much "dead air". You could always play a few more tunes to compensate. It would be more enjoyable too!
dave
To: dlaskey
From: Charles
Dearest Dave:
I haven't even been back on the air since the game! Aren't you jumping my gun here?
Anyway, speaking of "gut", how about we make a bet that you'll kill
yourself if I keep my part of the deal?
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Flutie and his Flakes
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Michael R. Gilsinger
Re: Flutie and his Flakes
do you beleive they were stomping Flutie Flakes. I also have a 6 year old autistic son. I would like you to demand a apology on the radio from those unfeeling mother-------!
thanks
Michael R. Gilsinger
To: Michael
From: Charles
er......I'm thinking these guys weren't really stomping on a symbol for autistic children.. They're football players -- Players who felt that Flutie had verbally trashed them, and after the victory they were stomping on the symbol for Flutie himself -- Flutie Flakes -- in the locker room. If Paul Newman said something bad about the Detroit Pistons and then they stomped on a jar of Paul Newman's Salad Dressing (all proceeds which also go to various good causes and charities), I wouldn't interpret that to mean the Pistons hated the individual groups that benefit from Newman's products. It's a bunch of football players -- we're not talking about Henry Kissinger here.
Charles
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Michael R. Gilsinger
Charles, after discussing it with the 4 gentlemen I vanpool to Marlborough with daily, and a long discussion. I have to agree with you. I still feel Jimmy Johnson did a pretty uncalled for act. One person I travel with, is a Kenmore Square, born and bred Vietnam Veteran, he has made me aware of your career, which impressed me. Thanks for returning the mail!
P.S. bigmattress is a nice site, a little plain, opening page doesn't grab you...... yet Hey would it be possible to play Silver Blue & Gold, we get ZLX about Sturbridge on the Pike @ 5:25AM, and listen to ZLX at the new 3com site in Marlborough when possible.
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The Biggest Classic Rock Library
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Rich Aucoin
Subject: Re: biggest rock library...
Yup, you guys sure have a huge library. But no nerve to actually dust it off. You're all talk. I wonder what guise will be used this time to regurgitate the same thousand songs. Maybe this time you'll go from Z to A instead of A to Z. Or gee wiz, to REALLY impress us, you could start somewhere in the middle!!!
Yawn...
To: Rich
From: Charles
I hear what you're saying, Rich -- but the kind of radio you're looking for doesn't exist anymore in the free world, except at some college stations, (and that's rapidly changing as well).
The ZLX library is, in fact, huge -- and if you listened 24/7/365 you'd eventually hear most of the rock songs that you think should be played on the radio. You just "ain't going to hear" Frank Zappa on any commercial stations in New York or Duluth or Los Angeles. Nor will you hear Fingerprint File by the Stones, Beautiful Boy by John Lennon, or live music by Dave Davies or Al Kooper -- just a few examples of what we've been doing at 100.7 in the past several weeks.
If you listened 24 hours a day you'd hear the whole gamut of Classic Rock -- from Janis to John Lennon to REM. You'd probably get pissed because you'd hear some of those same songs three or four times a week -- but that's because they're great songs, and the people who can't listen 24 hours a day DEMAND to hear them.
I understand your concerns; and maybe someday the radio pendulum will swing in another direction. When it does, I'm sure you'll be right there with the rest of us at ZLX; but until it does, we'll continue to play more different Classic Rock songs than any commercial stations that I know of in America today. Does that mean we are currently playing all of the songs that should be heard on the radio as often as they should be heard? No -- but it means we're probably doing it better than anyone else out there right now.
Write back when you get up.
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Strawberry Fields Aren't Forever
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Anthony DiClemente
Charles,
What's up with you?? Have you just become another corporate shill? Where's the inherent subversiveness that IS rock and roll ? Do you think that because you poke a little fun by being sarcastically irreverent that you come off anti anything ? The music that you play on your show is a reflection of what you've become. And before you reduce me to some "60"s leftover, flashbacking, drug induced, former hippie, let me remind you that this is the image you emitted on your recent interview with Sarah Edwards. I am not a representative of the aforementioned cultural stereotype.
Just because you're getting older and not playing cutting edge music anymore, doesn't mean that you have to fall victim to the ratings driven corporate greed that has diseased our current society. You have to look at yourself as the caretaker of a generation. The world changed in the late sixties so completely that such a change may never be seen again in our lifetimes. You were there and were responsible for some of it. You had control of a fairly powerful medium and the ear of the masses.
You may not feel this way anymore but the music you play is the music of a generation and , I suspect, this generation is your target audience. This is a generation that thought for itself and did not blindly embrace the customs and mores of their fathers. The 10 year period, ' 65 to ' 75, (which is where you draw most of your material from ) was the greatest, most innovative, message filled, intensely cutting edge, musical period in rock and roll history. You have so much to draw upon and yet you choose to ignore so much artistry by keepin to some ill conceived play list that some joker has decided is appealing to a demographic. Our music was and is so much more than this and I shouldn't have to tell you that.You were there and leading the charge to inspire and awaken a whole generation!!
Please, whenever you feel the urge to placate the masses, think back to when you were inciting them, and how much more alive you were then, how exciting and exhilarating that felt. Maybe this will rejuvenate your spirit. Play things like Lou Reed's " Heroin " or " Dirty Boulevard" to remind you of who you used to be. David Bowie's " All the Madmen" or " Quicksand". Anything by Sly and the Family Stone !! Blind Faith, most of David Crosby's stuff, etc. Music with a social consciousness that was truly indicative of what was going on in the world. The message of this period was change. That message was in the music.
You still have the medium and the ability to send out the message, even though it is now viewed more as nostalgia than anything else. But that time was real and really important in our evolution as a society and as individuals. Take it upon yourself to make people think again and maybe find that spirit to be critical and rebellious. Creativity is spawned from this attitude. You still have their ear, don't forget. And you have a responsibility to these ears. Unless it's just a job......
Sincerely,
Tony DiClemente, One of the Ears
P. S. You need to go way deeper !!!
To: Tony
From: Charles
Big Guy:
Just how do you propose I go about doing that? Let's see....
scenario 1: I take over the radio station, bolt the doors, and announce that I have just given our music "back to Amerika". Two days later, the Pigs bust in, I get my head split open and I'm out of work -- so no messages get out ever again.
scenario 2: I start playing all the music that should be played on the radio in
my opinion; after the ratings go in the shitter (like they did two years ago when I had
TOTAL freedom).
I get fired and replaced by a roboton who will play all the same old, correct,
consultant-approved songs over and over and get good ratings, because that's the way
Corporate radio works -- "play them and the ratings will come".
scenario 3: I quit this bullshit radio world in a few years, and go do my own thing on a much smaller radio station -- where I can play great music, do great radio, and not worry about pleasing the masses out there who want to hear the same three Credence songs every day.
Guess which one I'm going to choose.
Now leave me alone, and go play your records.
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Anthony DiClemente
Charles,
So basically you are a shill for a corporate system which allows you no artistic freedom and that's become alright with you." You are paid well so shut up and play what we tell you." Is that it?? Boy, I guess you're right; I had no idea that my requests had to be approved by your music department!! I thought that the fact that I was a listener allowed that I could maybe listen to what I might want to hear without the approval of almighty God. Besides, I have always been under the impression that with your experience, you were the music department.
Tony
To: Tony
From: Charles
Well, first of all, for you to be under that impression means that you "assumed" something; and everybody knows what the first syllable in "assume" is.
You know, Anthony? I am very confused about your brainpower. You first sound like you get it. You write an intelligent, well-written e-mail, which basically complains about the music, and the radio station; and you call me -- a "shill"... so I figure -- of all the listeners out there that deserve an honest and intelligent response -- you are one who should be given certain relevant information.
So I write back, explaining the real facts about the state of Corporate Radio today, painstakingly listing my ONLY alternatives. (did I say "only" alternatives ? I think I wrote those words in the English language -- do you need an interpreter?)
And now you write back and call me a "shill" again???!! I clearly listed the ONLY options I had, in three different scenarios. I even implied what my personal choice was shortly going to be -- given the realities of life out there in the music scene. I also believe that I was very clear when I said that, any attempt to defy those realities would be met by a swift and sure end to my career in radio, sooner than I might plan it to be.
What part of that do you not understand? What part of my responses to you, implied that --as you say -- that this situation is "all right with me"? What right do you have to "assume" anything, especially given the insider information you had to work with? I changed my mind about you. Please don't be insulted, but you are probably not that bright -- you just used spellcheck and happened to write an intelligent sounding letter. You really don't get it, because you just want to hear yourself as you assume, judge and insult.
I do not know you personally, but I, too, can assume a lot (from your insensitive, "cavone" responses). As I said earlier, Anthony -- go play your records -- and send your complaints to Dale Dorman.
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Dont Know Much About Histry...
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: John Overcash
Chuck,
Your list of events etc that next years freshman have no clue about is way off base. Who ever wrote that doesn't give parents, schools, and most of all kids any credit at all.
Kids today know alot more about recent history than we give them credit for. Granted this years High School seniors may have been too young to remember the Chalenger, but it doesn't mean they don't know about it. You can still by soda in bottles with metal caps (not twist offs), and many parents have vinyl records that can still be played!
So before we knock the class of 99 for what they don't know lets be sure of our facts.
By the way I love your show, I followed you from the other station to ZLX and try to never miss a moment!!
John from Ayer
To: John
From: Charles
Dear John:
Relax. It was just a goof.
However, I do understand what you're saying about how kids today are really more intelligent than we give them credit for. (for example, I bet most of those kids know how to spell better, and how to use apostrophes in contractions, unlike some of their elder supporters:
a)"next years freshman"
b)"Granted this years High School seniors "
c) "Chalenger"
d) "You can still by (sic) soda in bottles"
e) "lets be sure of our facts"
just KIDDING, john. your ohkay for surre
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Not-So-Easy-Rider
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: HEYPAULY
Dear charles. No person should be allowed to own a hand gun. Unless of course we are talking about you. You are so much more important than the average person. to sum it up, clinton sucks, G.Gordan Liddy should be president. You are such a dink I can't stand listening to you, but I do, every morning. It must be my medication or lack of it. You say you own a bike, what kind? fatboy? road king? Not a sportster I hope. If it is sell it to Ann Cody and get a real bike. see you up Laconia. Long live Pat Buchanan No points taken off for spelling or grammar.
P.S. Butterfly Blue by Iron Butterfly On metamorphesis
To: Pauly
From: Charles
Dear Pauly:
Thanks for the letter. (I think)
c.
p.s. I have a 1997 Harley FXDL Dynaglide Low-Rider 1340cc Wiseco 10 to1 ratio pistons, S&S Super E Carb and stock header pipe w/screaming Eagle slip-on muffler, hi-flo air cleaner and ignition module rumble-stick cam.
When I see you up at Laconia, I'm going to knock your bike over...and then I'm going to stick a Ted Nugent hickory hunting-arrow up your fat, hairy tattooed ass.
If you have any questions, call Tank and bitch to him -- never mind -- he has less patience than me with mamalukes like you.
Anyway, I am very appreciative of the fact that you listen to my show... maybe I won't knock your bike over.
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Cloning, Immortality and Vonnegut
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Adam Fields
Chuckkkkkkkkkk
I heard you talking last week about cloning people to use their bodies for spare parts to stay alive forever. You and Lance were wondering about what would life if people didn't age and die or something...
Well Kurt Vonnegut wrote a short story called "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" in 1958 which dealt with just that. It is one of the stories in a book called "Welcome to the Monkey House" - which is a compilation of his short stories released in '68. Check it out, its pretty funny.
Excerpt from 1968 New York Times Book Review:
"In one of the liveliest sci-fi stories, "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and
Tomorrow," the discovery of an anti-aging potion has pushed the world of 2158 to a
population of 12 billion, which largely exists on a diet of processed seaweed and sawdust.
In the three-room apartment of a housing development that covers what once was southern
Connecticut live the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Harold Schwartz,
172. Gramps, a crochety tyrant who is glued to television, barks, "Hell, we did that
100 years ago," and regularly disinherits family grumblers who are restlessly
waiting--vainly, it seems--for him to die and vacate the only private bedroom in the
place."
Happy Reading!
ACF
To: Adam
From: Charles
yeah. Vonnegut forgot about space colonization.
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No Excuses
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Nick from Gardner
Charles-
Thanks so much for replying to my e-mail in such a timely fashion - I really didn't expect
a response at all! There is something else that I wanted to bring to your
attention...
My wife will no longer listen to your station because of something that you guys did a few months ago when Linda McCartney passed away. She was extremely offended by the "Helping Linda Die" parody that you played on your show. I never heard it, but she felt that was in extremely poor taste (even for you!) I don't expect you to do anything about this - you will always run the risk of offending somebody out there - but you did lose at least one listener due to your choice of "humor".
Nick from Gardner
To: Nick
From: Charles
Nick:
There was no excuse for that Linda parody we did. It was a bad judgement call on my part
for letting it air; and a bizarre way of trying to deal with a tragedy that we were all
confronted with.
As I tried to explain in my apology the day after - everyone in my family (including my own wife) has been affected by cancer. As a matter of fact, I have never lost any of my closest relatives (mother, father, first-cousins, uncles and aunts) to any disease other than cancer. My one goal would be to someday get that pain going up my arm, indicating that I was getting a damn heart attack -- but that will likely not be the case.
Anyway, please tell your wife that I did apologize publicly -that I understand her feelings, and hope that she will come back to listen again someday. That was a long time ago, when the show had a different name and a different style.
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Idealized Pragmatism
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Mike Cantara
Charles
After checking out your web site last night I have a few observations;
I think people need to realize that your show, and radio in general, is entertainment. Just as no one should get all of their information from TV news or reading material from the New York Times Best Seller list, they certainly should not expect to hear all of the great music out there on a radio station. For years you have been a truly unique voice in providing entertainment that makes people think once in a while. I like many of the people who criticize your untegrity, would like to go back 30 years but those days are gone. We are all responsible for these changes that have taken place in the world, many of which have affected your industry.
I also want to thank you for providing the text of the Charlton Heston speech at Harvard. I had missed this one. Chuck is living, I think, in the upscale section of the same neighborhood as many in the Christian Identity Movement, among other groups. The language he uses isn't that far from Dr. William Pierce or the Rev. Peter J. Peters. So help me Charles, if there is a hell there will be a special section for these people who use religion as a vehicle to promote their own hate filled, violence- ridden agendas.
Anyway I wanted to write you a note of support. Frankly I don't listen to much radio but do catch your show once in a while. In the late 70s and early 80s I learned a great deal both musically and politically from your shows. One of the most outstanding things about ZLX is that there are people like you who actually know something about the music you are playing. We would all be better off, I think, if you could play whatever suited you at the time. As a pragmatist I realize the overwhelming majority of people aren't ready for that, so just keep on keeping on.
By the way could you play all 11 minutes of "Desolation Row" every morning at 8. Heck just play the whole Highway 61 Revisited album.
Yours in spirit
Mike Cantara
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Dr. Death or Father Teresa?
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Jerry Amirault
I don't have a chance to call in on the Dr. Kevorkian subject, but wanted to add my two cents worth anyway. I find it hard to believe that it is humane to put an animal, especially our beloved pets, to sleep. Its humane if they are sick and in pain to end their misery. Why can't this be done to humans. The definition of humane is: compassionate: merciful. Emphasizing human values and concerns.
Why doesn't this apply to humans. Is it not humane to put an ailing, terminally ill person out of their misery? I support what Dr. Kevorkian was doing. The 60 minutes guy was right in saying that this goes on in healthcare facilities every day. Kevorkian tried to bring it to the forefront. Euthanasia should be legal, but there should be strict guidelines for it. We can't have doctors playing God, patients deciding that they just can't take it any more and want to bail out on life or family members who don't want to care for another family member or want access to a family member's estate. Euthanasia is for terminally ill patients who are in great pain and can no longer get any enjoyment out of life. Kevorkian wasn't playing God, he was providing humane treatment for terminally ill and suffering patients.
In his latest case though, I believe that the verdict was correct and the sentencing probably within the guidelines of the law. I don't know what side of the issue she is on, but she is bound by the law. We can't have judges ignoring the law and making their own decision- In effect, making their own laws and passing judgement on them.
Kevorkian made his own bed here. He has preached that he helps his patients to end their own lives. He provides the mechanism to get this done and he sets it up. He has said all along that the patient is the one who administers the lethal dose. In this case however, he doesn't follow his blue print. In this case, he is the one who administers the lethal dose. It was right there on tape. He was directly responsible for ending that person's life, not the patient. If he had stuck to his blueprint I think that he would be walking free today to help others. Instead, he will sit in prison for perhaps the rest of his life. What he did was, by law, manslaughter. I laud him for trying to bring this issue into Americas living rooms so that we all can have constructive discussions on the matter. But he needed to stick to the suicides. America would have been more supportive and understanding had he done that. If he had, it may have been an important first step in this country finally excepting that euthanasia is an important medical treatment and that it is humane for humans to help other humans end their suffering. Its a big issue that many Americans aren't sure about. They needed to be eased in to it. Kevorkian tried to force the whole thing on us in one, made for TV special on 60 minutes. And he paid with his life for that decision.
Thank you
Jerry Amirault
Rockland
To: Jerry
From: Charles
Jerry:
Your letter is very confusing. You either support the man, or you don't. Your argument that he should be helping people to die (but he shouldn't) sounds a bit wishy-washy.
And since when is a judge "bound by the law"? Tell that to Judge Zobel in the Louise Woodward case. Judges, by their very definition, are given the latitudes to interpret the law as they deem fair and moral. This woman judge had many choices, including the often-selected choice of a light sentence. This judge refused to hear the family of the deceased man, refused to consider their impassioned pleas, and refused to allow the family to talk to the jury before their verdict was delivered. She chose to "set an example" and throw the book at Kevorkian.
Don't let her off the hook by saying she is bound by the law -- and don't let yourself off the hook, by saying that because Kevorkian didn't set up an elaborate Rubenesque series of steps for the patient to somehow "do it himself," he is now the villain, and deserves his punishment. The fact that he "forced it on America" is maybe what someone should have "forced" us to do fifty years ago.
If you are lucky enough to have more choices when YOUR time comes, remember how, in April of 1999, you sat there and wrote a 600 word treatise on why the man who made it happen for you rotted in jail while you defended the asshole judge that put him there.
Feel bad yet? Anyway, I don't care what you say - keep listening...I need the ratings.
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Who's Stodgy Now?
To:charles@wzlx.com
From: Rick D
Hey Charles:
Enjoy your music every morning, but don't be busting on ole' Gary Lapierre over at WBZ. His "LaPierre on the Loose" segment is the most entertaining and refreshing 60 seconds on Boston radio. I love it when the stuffy, staid, and boring liberal orthodoxy of the Boston establishment is challenged. You're not part of that establishment are you?
Cheers.....Rick D, Franklin, MA
To: Rick
From: Charles
No, but when LaPierre says Dr Kevorkian should "starve to death" in jail, he's one step to the right of Paul Harvey, and needs to be put out to pasture with the rest of the ole dinosaurs of 1950's mentality radio. People who are terminally ill and in pain need more "crazy" doctors like Dr. Kevorkian to help them die with dignity. Gary may regret those words some day when he's old, terminally ill and in excruciating pain.
No, I'm not part of the establishment - but most people now agree that the majority establishment is old and stodgy and conservative -- and loves to hate the "boring liberals" out there who are really the enemies of the conservative right-wing "establishment". Now, who did you say you are, and what do you stand for again?
To: Charles
From: Rick D
Charles: Reasonable folks can disagree on Kevorkian...don't want to debate that issue...my point is that Gary Lapierre is refreshing here in Boston precisely because he articulates a generally non-liberal point of view not frequently voiced in this area. If you put him in Idaho or Alabama he'd be less relevant than he is here. If you were broadcasting in Idaho or Alabama, you'd be very interesting there for the same reasons Gary is so interesting here.
As for "what I stand for," I'd characterize myself as a moderate Republican who's strongly in favor of free trade, gun control, and crime victim's rights. Some days, I can't decide which I have a greater distaste for - the left wing of the Democratic Party or the right wing of the Republican Party.
I enjoy your show.....rock on....hey, can you play some Blue Oyster Cult between 6:30 and 7:00 AM some morning? Thanks....Rick D
To: Rick
From: Charles
Rick:
You don't have a clue about the "left wing" of the Democratic Party - mainly
because there is none. If there were, you'd be reading headlines about the boycotting and
picketing of Shell and Exxon gas stations; you'd be reading left-wing editorials asking
for the imprisonment of their CEOs -- You would watch in shock as laws were passed legally
blockading any ship from entering our ports that didn't have a safe double hull, virtually
eliminating oil spills. You would see the passing of laws making the sale of cigarettes
illegal within a ten-year grace period.
You'd see an accelerated non-wimpy government directive making replacement of gasoline cars with electric cars (and other alternatively fueled vehicles) mandatory within ten years.
You would see a country (not unlike Japan, England and other civilized countries of the Western World) with very tightly controlled gun laws. You would see murderers - not arbitrarily executed as they are now - being swiftly taken out of society for the rest of their lives, and with minimum numbers of appeal, except in special extenuating circumstances. Small-time drug dealers would be released from jail and given public service sentences, to make room for child-abusers, women-beaters and other scum who practice violence and brutality on others.
You'd see the push for a World Police/Army, formed with treaties and guidelines that would be written and signed by all major civilized nations of the world. You would see a volunteer army that would be part of this Force which would fight to win against tyranny and aggression in every way possible -- if we can win - go in.... If not, turn them into Capitalists, and bring them into the fold by the lure of the World Market - keep the heat on in every way possible.
You'd see Earth and its natural resources be a number one government priority. "Ecology" would no longer be a word you saw only on Public television and the Discovery Channel. CEO's of major polluting corporations would be thrown in prison. You'd watch as major organized religions which forbid birth-control (causing the overpopulation of our planet and the depletion of our already-scarce resources) get rebuked and censored worldwide for their counterproductive (no pun intended) and ultimately inhumane practices.
The boring, namby-pamby liberal wing of the Democratic party is what you see now, Rick - and it's what you and I both hate. That's where we agree. My guess is our alliance ends there.
My left-wing party would take no prisoners.
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Rick D
Charles: Impressive diatribe...you seem to harbor a rather dismal, downright "Malthusian" view of the world....pestilence, world famine, crime and pollution run amok. No, Charles, I think it's YOU who "doesn't have a clue" that we in the U.S. live in an era of unprecedented peace, health, opportunity and prosperity. If you want to see some real pollution, spend your next vacation in Russia witnessing how the enlightened fathers of communism treated Mother Earth over there for the past 70 years or so. Take a trip to Shanghai and inquire of the local Communist Party functionary about what, if any, environmental standards are utilized to determine which various substances can and can't get dumped into the Yangtze River. You'd see horrors that would make Exxon Valdez look like a glass of spilt milk on the kitchen floor, and which would make a flaming capitalist out of you if you aren't one now.
BTW, I didn't use the word "hate" in my prior missive, so please don't have the presumptuous nerve to attribute it to me. That's your terminology and assuredly reflects your state of mind, not mine. Like the bumper stickers say Charles, "Hate Sucks." The good capitalists who employ you at WZLX ought to inquire about some "cultural diversity" and "sensitivity" training for you. You need it.
Your e-mails portray you as an extraordinarily narrow-minded zealot. Enough said. Rick D
To: Rick
From: Charles
Jeez - talk about missing the point!
I believe I was sitting on a very "pro- capitalistic " position when I used the phrase, and I quote:
"You would see a volunteer army that would be part of this Force which would fight to win against tyranny and aggression in every way possible -- if we can win - go in.... If not, turn them into Capitalists, and bring them into the fold by the lure of the World Market - keep the heat on in every way possible." I guess you must have read past that.
Speaking of diatribes, you go on and on like an Orange County fifth-grade Civics teacher postulating on the evils of Communism, when I'm sure I never used the word Communism one time. If you want to change the label I was trying to convey when I corrected your use of the words "left-wing of the Democratic party", you are certainly welcome to - call it left-wing Capitalism, or what ever..but when you start talking about Russia (I would agree that Stalin, Kruschev and Gorbachov never thought twice about the environment) you make me wonder if I'm wasting my time.
You say that I'm presumptuous to say you "hate" --- let's see now...How do we interpret your words, "I can't decide which I have a greater distaste for - the left wing of the Democratic Party or the right wing of the Republican Party.." My guess is that If you looked up the word "hate" in any valid Thesaurus, the phrase, "a strong distaste for" would come up in the mix every time.
I also don't feel that my viewpoints are dismal and "Malthusian" at all. I am optimistic about, and look forward to the day when my kids and their grandchildren will enjoy the fruition of those ideals: breathe clean air, drink and swim in pure water, and play without fear in a friendly and safe environment. Which Blue Oyster Cult song did you ask for?
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Serbia uber Alles
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Manolis Pahakis
Charles, I respect your work, but I don't think you should go out and speak like that about the Serbs. I think just out of curiosity you should do some research and find out who the Serbs are. Speak to some of them. Find out how rich their culture is ( one of the few left). Learn about their history. You can't come out on the radio with a channel 7 education on the matter. It is ridiculous. And I think you would know better, since you've been around a lot longer than I have. Sure their prime minister is a madman surrounded by mad advisors, but bombing only makes him a hero because the people there have no choice but to stand behind him. But that's irrelevant. All I'm saying is that you can't talk about things you don't know. Thank you for your time
To: Manolis Pahakis
From: charles@wzlx.com
Achtung, Manolis:
I don't have to be a rocket scientist to identify genocide. How dare you talk to me of
your "rich" culture! How dare you try in ANY way to be an apologist for the Nazi
mentality that is responsible for the wholesale massacres happening in your fatherland
even as you are reading this?
History is what I DID learn about -- and I use it as a gauge to make sure that we move swifter and even more determined than we did before World War Two to stop the atrocities your Serbian brothers are committing.
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Welcome to 21st Century Radio
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Tony P.
Hello Charles,
Im not going to cut and paste on this one because I think you can recall my past messages on the J Geils Band. Plus Im not writing to bash them. What you could do (If you can) to pacify my irritation of hearing "Centerfold" more than I can tolerate is play something that I actually enjoy hearing from them and could(even if only heard once) return the positive attitude I have had in the past(believe it or not) towards them.
"Monkey Island" would sure help....
I know this isn't going to please the brain dead target audience that feeds off hearing the same song over and over... I don't blame you for that ..."Hey its business" but, how bout throwing a bone to the people who remember you as a great DJ with surprises.....
Oh well I guess we all come to a point in our lives where conforming is profitable and easy, why take chances??
Shit ....Shower......Shave......."Centerfold"....................
Death...Taxes..."Centerfold"..........
Yours Mamaluckishly,
Tony
To: Tony P.
From: charles@wzlx.com
Now Tony...HERE'S where you've got ME by the bazalias...Even though I genuinely love Peter and the band, there are lots of songs they won't let me play --they won't let me play Monkey Island --it's too deep and too obscure! I'm going to paste below here, a form letter I send to people when they ask for deep cuts. Please understand what's going on out there in radio land.
"Dear ______
Pretty cool request(s), but -- given today's constraints on morning-drive radio, I honestly don't think I can play anything like that during my show. Sometimes there are exceptions, but please don't hold it against me if you don't hear a particular song during the time you asked for it.
You should also try e-questing some of the other jocks, because they are given a bit more latitude to play longer songs (and sometimes more obscure songs) than I can in the a.m. - when listeners' attention span is shorter, and they demand more songs per hour, and more familiarity in their music.
What can I say? Welcome to 21st-Century commercial radio.
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Tony P
Thanks for the honest reply Charles.... I understand the limitations on your shift. BUT...Is there any chance that you could get a shift ...like say once a month - on a Tuesday night at 11:00 pm, or sometime when you could do a show for a couple of hours where you could have more freedom?? I think it would be cool, you would attract a big audience and pacify mamalukes like me who want their cake and eat it too. I'm not sure if you or the station would be interested in doing that but, you have too much experience and insight into music not to share it with us once in a while.
It is a pleasure to listen to you ...I know you get some harsh Mail (Ive read it and sent it). You've been criticized like the"Stones" in a few on the age thing......these are just jealous people who are embarrassed that they have no life. They are younger than you and going down while you are getting better.
You know something, I may go see Geils........maybe they'll do Monkey Island!!
Later Chuck...keep the faith,
Tony
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Jesus Saves, but doesn't Spell
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Dan Sullivan
WHY DO YOU PERSECUTE JESUS ON THE AIR? If you had made a comment regarding Jewish people or blacks or another group in the manner in which you so joyfully slam Christ you would probably would face some kind of charges. I feel sorry for you. I think you are too full of yourself and really need a reality slap. I was an avid listener here when they had quality DJ's like Goerge Taylor Morris. I was not happy to see him go especially when I heard that you were coming over. I think it's time you grow up and get over yourself. You are not now, nor have you ever been funny. You are a self righteous loud mouth who apprently has no clue about what it means to be human. I attended Mass Bay Community College and they paid you to come in and speak to students and you thought it was cool to advocate the use of cocaine to college students abd how you turned so many people onto what you called the wonder drug. I think you need to first of all thank God for all the things you have received from Him, count your blessings and go home to your home in Dover and above all SHUTUP!!!
To: Dan Sullivan
From: charles@wzlx.com
Dear Dan:
What the hell are you on - crack? When did I persecute Jesus on the air? Stop ranting and
be more specific. I really need to know what I said and when I supposedly said it. Also
stop bringing up mistakes I made at a college twenty years ago (Would you like someone to
do that to you? I really don't think so..) And while you're at it, learn how to spell your
"favorite" DJ's name so you won't sound like a moron - It's George, not Goerge.
Now be a good Christian and apologize for sending me this cruel letter filled with hate,
venom and character assassination.
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Dan Sullivan
Charles, it sounds like it hit home..I'm glad I wrote...if you had some character I would try to assassinate it for you..it was regarding your little story about your plane trip experience...you apparently hold yourself in high regard insinuating that someone seems cool enough to speak to someone like you...then that someone would be kind enough to bring Christ into your life and then you can do nothing but take a big dump all over it..you are truly en vogue..you'd say anything if you thought it might boost your sad ratings...it must be a blow to your fragile ego to get booted from WBCN by even a bigger loser like Howard Stern..I think you should retire and let some real talent take over...you are passe` CHICA!!! And as far as someone talking about my past..I could really care less..my past id full of death, drug addiction, and alcoholism...I am 8 years sober(by the grace of God). Christ is, was, and will always be the greatest thing that has ever graced this rathole we call Earth..Show a little appreciation for the life he layed down for you..yes, Charles he loves you,too...I am not above being rebuked..maybe someday you can feel the same way. I'll pray for you..
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Over-reacting to bad Rococo
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: kelly
are you familiar with Ayn Rand?
k
To: kelly
From: Charles
Yes. Very right wing. one of the first popular conservative writer/philosophers of the 50's. "Who is John Galt?" bumperstickers used to be the vogue back then. You could always tell which driver was going to have the road rage by that slogan on the back of the car.
To: charles
From: Kelly
have you read The Fountainhead?
k
To: kelly
From: charles
Yeah.. I just LOVE the part where the asshole burns down an entire orphanage because some lame corporate architects defiled the aesthetic intent of his drawings.
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Rockin' and Rollin' Stoned?
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Brian Jones
Charles your the BEST by far. Have been listening to you since WVBF days. That was you right? I was in the eighth grade. Now I'm 40, and so you must be 80? Keep on keep'en on!
To: Brian
From: Charles
Dear Brian Jones: (Yes, of course I believe that's your real name) You must have meant "ever since my WBCN days" because I never worked for WVBF - or KISS - for that matter; (not that that's a BAD thing). Anyway, congrats on figuring out my exact age (actually 87 would be a bit more accurate).
c.
P.S. I didn't know they let you do crack in the 8th grade!
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Mixing Emotions
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Brian M
Charles,
Although I didn't start listening until what must have been fairly late in the converstation you guys were having, I did hear you say you had mixed emotions based on the fact that they were driving a stolen car. I did miss the sarcasm on Anne's comment if it was there. I have to admit that I should have given her the benefit of the doubt on this one.
I guess I don't understand what the "mixed emotions" you said you had were - and that could be because I wasn't able to listen to the whole piece. I'm guessing it might have something to do with "do we want to add to the already terrible tragedy by charging the driver with vehicular homicide and ruining his life too"? My opinion is that doing so does not add to the tragedy. It is simply the consequence.
To: Brian
From: Charles
Oops- miss a minute- miss a lot: What I didn't say on the radio, Brian, was that I mentally was taking the very worst "low-road" - in that, I had absolutely no feelings of compassion for the driver (thief), or even for the passengers who died in the car. My saying I have "mixed emotions", really was me thinking,"Geez, these kids died at the prime of their life - but, if they had lived - the driver would probably hijack my car some day and do harm to my family, or someone else's family...and those girls would likely grow up to smoke, drug-out and abuse five or six of their own kids,who would start the whole circle of crime and squalor over again.
You never know - lots of kids have beaten those odds - but I couldn't give them the benefit of the doubt at that time this morning.
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Mooning the Moodies
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: JBrophy@B.COM
Charles, Can you give me your opinion on why the Moodies are never mentioned when
nominations are made for the Rock @ Roll Hall of Fame.? They didn't make the top 100 group
list on VH1 last year either. They set the standards for Pink Floyd, Yes, ELO and many
other groups. They have had many hit singles, and "Days of Future Past " is a
rock classic. I just don't understand how they get slighted so often. What do you honestly
think. I respect your musical opinion.
To: JBrophy
From: charles
You lost me when you said, "They set the standards for Pink Floyd...." but I do
think you have a point - they are certainly more deserving than some of the other groups
already in the Hall.
c.
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Wake up to Radio 1999
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Rich Aucoin
I pity you guys. FM radio used to sound like a fun business to be
in. Now it sounds as tedious as an assembly line. The repetition on ZLX is
unbearable.......brutal. You guys must be numb by now, like robots, programmed to play the
same 20 songs over and over. You must hate hearing those songs even more than us
ex-listeners do!
Domo arigato, Mr. Laquidara.
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Other Than That, Charles is Pretty Cool...
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Steve Orr
I could not let the promotional spot that I heard the other day go by without comment. It said something about waking up with a legend???
Now, I know that Charles Laquidara is "the talent", pulling down a 7 figure salary. I also know, from my work backstage at the theater, that a certain amount of ego is required of those who put themselves out there as performers. You learn to smile and nod noncommittally and ignore it. But a Legend??? Come on!
As I've heard the story, he was one of the thousands of starry eyed Hollywood immigrants. He just happened to get his bread and butter job at one of the early Los Angeles FM stations. He was not one of the visionaries who risked anything to setup or maintain the underground music movement. He was a bystander whose name happens to appear in the caption of a couple of photographs.
I mean its not like it meant anything to him at the time. Its not like, if a part in a picture had come along, he wouldn't have dropped the radio gig like a hot rock. How can you accord him any credit now?
If he wasn't so full of himself, one might be willing to allow him his delusions of grandeur. He seems to revel in hearing his own voice or his name on the air. One would almost be willing to bet that he pays the other disc jockeys for each time they say his name. And his morning show is so obviously all about "him" and his love affair with hearing himself talk. I'll bet that when he gets to hear himself saying his name on air, it's virtually orgasmic.
Lets face it, if he was the kind of person he wants us to believe he is, he wouldn't have spent all those years at the other station playing that other music. The rock 'n roll pioneering "legend" would have walked away from the money. Staying true to the music would have been more important.
I can hardly wait to see what Charles comes up with for a snappy come back, since I have eliminated the one about using my company's resources to harass disc jockeys.
Steve
"Waiting impatiently for his promised departure from the air waves in 2000."
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Sorry - Wrong Bed
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Don Snoke
Hey Charles,
Every time you put a listener on the air that has called in to the station, you are also
broadcasting a busy signal in the background. I noticed this yesterday (Thursday), too. I
kept looking around my house looking for a phone off the hook until I realized it was
coming out of the radio, and then only when you were talking to a caller. I think it is
time to keel haul some of your engineers.
Cheers,
Don Snoke
Hopkniton, MA
To: Don
From: Charles
er....Don?
That is a soundbed that we have used on all calls for the last year and a half of
mornings. We do it ON PURPOSE. No one has complained yet, but I'll tell you what - If one
other person (not any of your friends or relatives however) complains, I'll drop it. How's
that?
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Charles is the Man - Vote for Charles for... ? for what?
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Mary
What's this latest I
hear...you wantum to become some way big-bigum Massasoit Sachem? Well- Chucky- you know you've always got my vote! Now...I may not be right up to
date on my Political Science but, um.... I don't think you can hold a Government Office in this Great Commonwealth of Massachusetts and live on a
Pacific Island....but like I said, my facts may be just a little sketchy. (Although... you might want to look into that a wee bit more before you shell
out some really big bucks on an appropriate flashy campaign*) Oh, hey, what the heck! IT IS THE 1999s- And according to all the daily rags our State
Government seems to have "relaxed" its dubious standards somewhat as
of late. I say if you really want it then go for it. Let's see...how about:
"Chaz for Praz!" Oops, wrong office. Umm...Oh, I know: "Let's make Laqui...daya
be the Mayah!" Now that has a certain distinction to it. Don't cha think? Or
maybe something profound and forceful like: "Just say....Chuckkkkkkk!"
Count me in!
Mary
*Ya know, I'm thinking...maybe there is some way to recycle those timeless "D. I. G. for President" bumper-stickers from the early 80's? I know I've still got mine! : )
To: Mary
From: Charles
Right on, Mary - you'll be my VICE-pres
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Lost Song
To: Charles@wzlx.com
From: William Lee@worldnet.att.net
Charles,
I've been listening for about a year now to your morning show. Since I have noticed that you have a way of identifing lost songs, I was hoping you would help me with this one. I can remember playing basketball for many hours with this one song playing. It is from an album not later then 1967. I think it was around the summer of 1965 or 1966. It was only played on FM radio-- AM would not play it because of the subject and length of this song (the entire album side). I thought the title was "the ballard of the Titantic" or "the ballard of Jack Johnson". The song is all about how the Titanic went down because the captain got high . This was one of the original pot songs and it was a lot of fun to listen to. Got any Ideas? If it would help I can remember bits and pieces of the lyrics:
"They wouldn't let Jack Johnson on board they said the boat don't haul no coal"
"Let me tell you about the captain. He walk like a captain-talk like a captain- he do all sorts of captainy stuff"
"The captain he take a deep tote....I am commencing to hold it in"
"The captain is out cold on the wheelhouse floor. ... The captains eyes get real wide and he grab the wheel and say I'm gonna move you baby.. and he did .. right into that iceburg ... and they all went down"
Well thats more then enough for now. Let me know if you have any luck.
Thanks for your time
Keep up the good work
Bill Lee
To: Bill
From: Charles
I believe that was "The Legend of the Titanic" by Jamie Brockett - possibly available at a cut-out store.
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Blame Mel
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: LChaseC
i love your radio station Charles i need to no how to listen to wzlx on the net.
To: LChaseC
From: Charles
Sorry. No net yet -- CBS policy. Hopefully, that will change soon
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Notes from Nostradamus
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Marquis, Ray
Charles (Chuckie Boy),
Lighten up get into the 90's dude!!!
Become more like Patrick!!
The future of ZLX is Patrick & Anne Cody!!!
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Casey at Bat - 1999
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Brian Eagar
Charles:
I have an 8 year old that throws 45mph heaters into a tight strike zone at 45 feet. I played hookey with him in May to take him to the Sox Yankee game in the Bronx.
If you read the attached missive about that game I was there with him at,
you will know why I am asking you for 2 tickets to Saturday's game from
you.
I am a Master Chef and if you can help make this happen, I will cook an event for you in return.
Thanks for reading this.
Letter to a friend
Sorry that the eclipse of our travels while we both were recently visiting in the Metro area this past week, prevented the possibilty of seeing you and Chizuru again, but the visit there on Wednesday was only for the day, and my visit extended only as far South as 161st St. in the Bronx. Like the similar pilgrimages that both my Father had made to the shrine there with me on many occasions as well as the indelably unforgetable treks that my Grandfather had accompanied me to as well when we were called to that place where the spirits and voices both from the living and from those still entombed in there forever, became too loud for even the less devout to ignore.
Those voices from the shrine had remained muted enough for the last 30 or even 35 years or so for me to pretend, possibly almost forget, that they were now, maybe, finally, to be at rest.
Now, the numbers such as 3,12,14,8 have again become too loud for us to run from as the din of their mantra gets more bellowous each day.
Wednesday was a school day that had to be missed by Dustin and a time that really, in truth, would have benefited by my presence there as it's operating executive. My voluntary abscence for the day would have felt clearly irresponsible as we abandoned our respective duties normally anchoring us each back, except that, at that perfect moment, enveloping us both then at that moment , consuming us in that same powerfully unswimable current that has carried the Sons and Fathers of generations for the very special wave that crests as right of passage for both.
It was when I was 8, as Dustin now is, that I last rode it, and it remains to me now, an exceptionally special event remaining as memorably clear to me now, as Dustin will surely also recall it someday later when he too gets to ride it once more as I did, but with his son.
It did not matter in the least that the girders that had obstructed the views from anyone that had gone there years back were gone now, that The Rocket never was on the mound that day as we had hoped he might be, or even that El Duque had rallied the Yankees and pitched an 8-3 win over the Red Sox, just as he had done 5 nights before when Dustin and I attended that game as well on the first 3 game series up at Fenway where we drubbed the Yanks mercilessly, and almost swept all 3 games as wins against them, and could have, had the Cuban hurler not snatched the victory out of our hands then, as he did again here this time in their park.
With glove in hand, Dustin became attentively focused aware of the hitting
average of each batter arriving to bat from the on deck circle, waiting where we sat for a foul fly to be hit down off the First Base line that
could drop the ultimate souvenir into his mitt's leather web. Should just one crack off of the right-wrong exact and exclusively singular spot of the
bat occur, it could loft the ball up to the upper reaches of the stadium, keeping even the $12 dollar seat holders way up there on the top of the
upper deck just as involved in the game as people in those prized seats owned and never given up by season ticket holders. If he was lucky, maybe
it might even drop right there to him out of the sky, in slow motion, while the 50,000 others around us paused as time stopped for that moment.
We were adrift there amidst the sea of Yankee Fans that surrounded us where we sat, almost alone in support of our team as the two of us chanted "Here we Go Red Sox, Here we Go".
It was for us at the same time both tauntingly daring as well as nervously unsettling for us, feeling the eyes of the adversaries all around us trying to bore right through Dustin's Red Sox hat and Old Town club shirt bearing the number 9 on it's back, retired now forever in tribute to Ted Williams who wore it when the Yanks were beaten like mules and clubbed silly by the sweet spot of his bat, year after year.
As the one and a half game lead the Sox had now developed over them here in late May, slipped back to a lead of only one, 9 innings later, I could see that he heard it. He knew, really knew now, what the curse is all about, in a way that transcended understanding about what it meant, on a level much deeper than just learning about the story from hearing it whispered by people back home.
The foul we were waiting for finally did come our way in the top of the
ninth off of the wood that Chili Davis sliced wildly through the air just above the plate. The same wind that was blowing Old Glory straight out
in Center Field away from the plate, carried the ball on it's graceful, towering curve, our eyes, along with everyone else's, locked on it's
descent, falling closer, perfectly descending out of heaven, intent in
being received by only the singular special person that the fate, will or
divine intervention of incubi from Cooperstown, would place into the open Rawlings Staff glove, extended up as high as I have seen the reach of any
arm. It was there there, now coming down and appearing to grow larger and falling faster and menacingly demanding our full attention while it dared
to be intercepted by anyone whom might try.
It had to have been that wind, now carrying the white stitched sphere down
on the final leg of it's trajectory just the few yards remaining above
where we stood incapable, transfixed, like the evening's first roadkill,
immobilized by headlights and freezing us there in it's path. The ball was
dropping now, unambiguously, direclty down to his open glove, and there,
instantaneously, perhaps now just 5 or 6 feet above us, the telemetrically
absolute became a supplicant, controlled , powered by the invisible force
now holding the flag out beyond Center, straight out , stripes rippling
brightly against the darkening sky behind it.
I'm not absolutely sure of which of the two elderly men over to our right a
few seats from where we were, had actually caught it. It might have been
the first one I saw, wearing the Yankees cap just above the cheap looking
little transistor radio held by him up next to his ear, probably just like
he did every game since he listened to Rizzuto call the games and
beatifying bovines in the same way and with not a bit less intensity than
Johnny Most who called the play-by-play when, Larry,Dennis,Kevin, Danny and The Chief were "The Green".
It was one of the two. Either him or it was the other slightly older
appearing guy right next to him with the sweatshirt identifying him as a
Sox fan , it's red letters reading " Red Sox - World Champions - 1918'.
It didn't matter. The 9th was almost over now, and Valentine's 3 - run
homer provided us both the dignity of escaping a shut-out of the Sox by
them, as well as the perfect time to salute thousands of the vocal Yankee
Fans directly behind us by raising our arms and giving them the raised
finger that makes the number ONE , while holding up and tipping the blue
cap with the "B" above it's visor as a gesture of what little annoyance we
could provide to them after beating Boston by 8 to 3.
Just 2 blocks up the hill from the Stadium, up on Grand Concourse, is The
Yankee Tavern. When we stopped there after the game, the questions from
Dustin and resulting conversation seemed to center not about the Yanks, or
recapping the play highlights we had just experienced, but rather about
Babe, and how he might possibly have even sat here in this very spot at he
bar, more than a few times both after and before games that he played
there, just a block down the hill , after he was sold away as a Boston
Brave to be a Yankee. Above us on the wall hung a box-framed photograph of
Don Larsen beside the signed game ball from the Perfect Game back in 1956.
As we walked from Yankee Stadium to leave for home, it seemed that Dustin
and I shared an unspoken, cathartic experience that somehow left us feeling
that it no longer seemed to be about the Yankees, or about The Sox, the
rivalry between them, or how long it has been since 1918, or how long it
might be, if ever again, that the Series Pennant will hang in Fenway to the
left of the last one that was earned there. Somehow then, the important
thing, all that seemed to only really matter, was about where his soul has
wandered restlessly, and how it would be someday released to come back home
there to the place where it belongs, patiently waiting for it's return
someday to Fenway.
We had head the voice, and It was OK to leave.
Brian Eagar
To: Brian
From: Charles
Dear Brian:
You spelled Valentin wrong.
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Regarding the Riddle from the "Charles' Faves" Page
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Yawcah@aol.com
Oy....
That was the most farkakta puzzle I never solved....
B
To: charles@wzlx
From: kabud@atlantic.net
Here's another riddle. What uses an inappropriately large amount of energy for a very small return.
Answer: Charles's riddle.
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Paul Innis
UUUUHHHHH Charles,, you are the former substitiute teacher who is still paranoid about anything that shows grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors. If that sentence had been punctuated correctly we all would not have looked like dumb bells
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Sorry - Wrong Number
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Donald Fox
Chuck,
Let me start by saying that I am a long-time listener to your show(s). However, between the incessant commercials and live plugs, and your lame play list, I am finding it increasingly difficult to listen to your show in the mornings. People at work are starting to call it the Charles Laquidara Commercial Hour. Really! I know you are owned and managed by CBS, but you are totally compromising your integrity as a broadcaster. I don't know how you can claim to play the most music in the morning when you play a commercial after almost every tune.
And speaking of tunes, your play list stinks like last week's garbage. Every morning between 6:30 and 8:00, I am guaranteed to hear at least one Fleetwood Mac song, one Eagles song, one Bob Seger song, one Boston song, one Doors song... get the picture? Does the program manager/station director have some formula generated by a computer telling you what to play? Today, for example, I heard one Fleetwood song in the shower between 6:30 and 7:00 and then I heard another as I was driving to work . What's up with that? (It wasn't a three-fer.) How about expanding your list, like dramatically? Why not play more Police, Who, Grateful Dead, Guess Who, Lou Reed, Little Feat, The Band, Cars, J. Geils, Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, etc., etc., etc. I know that you're not going to please every listener, Chuck, but a little more diversity in the morning (and fewer commecials) might help put you back on top.
Thanks for listening.
To: Donald
From: Charles
Donald:
You are wrong on just about every observation. First off, to my knowledge, we never ever have played a commercial after
every tune - and playing only one song followed by a spot would be the exception rather than the rule. As a matter of fact, we usually
play between two and four songs after every commercial break each morning. So, either you are listening to a different station and
blaming us, or you are counting wrong.
Second, we have never claimed to play the "most music in the morning"- That is definitely another station you are listening to: a station that has no personalities, no entertainment , no information, and only just music - something you could do much better with your own CD player.
The reason you heard Fleetwood Mac twice in the same morning today was because Fleetwood Mac was the "Artiste-du-jour" (the artist of the day) this morning - a feature which we have been running every weekday morning, five days a week,for the last two months - focusing on a single, particular band all morning long. So OF COURSE you would have heard FM twice - and if you'd listened longer, you might have heard them eight or nine times - including some really deep, rare cuts which your other favorite stations would never play. So please change your words above from, "a long-time listener to your show(s)" to "a sometime-long-time listener to your show(s)", because I know you're either not listening, or you're not paying attention.
As far as the commercials go, just like every other commercial station in Boston, we've been running basically the same ("hourly spotload" they call it) number of commercials for the last four years. It hasn't changed, and probably won't: welcome to commercial radio of the 90's. Any station running less than us just can't sell the radio-time - it's that simple; because if they could fill those airwaves with spots, believe me they would.
Lastly, and most depressingly for me to hear, is you're saying that we should be playing more Police, Who, Grateful Dead, Guess Who, Lou Reed, Little Feat, The Band, Cars, J. Geils, Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jefferson Airplane - almost all of those groups have been featured as "artists of the day" these past several months. That means we've played LOTS of songs by them - so many that guys like you call and say we play too much of them (just like you said about Fleetwood Mac).
Your last line, "I know that you're not going to please every listener, Chuck, but a little more diversity in the morning (and fewer commercials) might help put you back on top."............Donald - we ARE on top. Check your local newspaper for the radio ratings.
I'd really like to end this letter like you ended yours: by saying "thanks for listening"...but I'm not sure you were....listening.
Make sure you know which station you're listening to, and compare us to the other stations on your buttons - I think you'll find we measure up pretty good. Anyway, thank you for taking all that time to write me.
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The Lass Has Got Her Dander Up, Ya Know
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Louise Talbot
Dear Mr Laquidara,
I am writting to you in reply to, what I happen to find, a highly insulting comment in relation to the Irish people made on the morning show November 5th. I deeply resent the implication that all Irish are in a permanent drunken state, an opinion which reflects the ignorance and insensitivity of the person saying it, particularly in light of the recent economic boom in Ireland which shows that the Irish have the most educated work force in Europe, i would challenge you, Mr Laquidara, to sit a high school exam in Ireland and be prepared to eat a lot of humble pie. In a time of political sensitivity, it is troubling to hear such comments made, i feel sorry for your narrow minded opinions and I will never listen to WZLX again.
Louise Talbot.
To: Louise
From: Charles
Sorry you feel that way, Louise. You probably heard us when we said on the radio that most of the people requesting that particular parody are Irish.
Italians out there enjoy media spoofs of Italian Americans; and other ethnic groups flock in droves to theaters and clubs to get the comic relief of watching parodies and ethnic characterizations of themselves.
Your own letter reinforces the progress that the Irish Community has made; these social advances took them out of the "oppressed minority" category decades ago - now the Irish are as empowered (and thus as vulnerable) as WASPS, Italians the rich, the famous, politicians, Scots, etc.
Unfortunately, since this bothered you enough to make you write an email, it probably means that nothing I can say will make you feel better. Please know that there will never be a solution to real ethnic hatred, until we can all battle that hatred with humor. (Also, if I were you, I wouldn't watch that NBC special, "The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns" Sunday night).
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Don't Wanna Discuss It
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: DEaton
I just wanted to let you know that I have been a long time listener to your station. Part of the reason that I do listen to zlx is due to the idiots on some of the other FM stations. Well congratulations you have just joined the club with the discussion of Payne Stewart jokes this morning. This man has been dead for less than 24 hours and you want to tell jokes. Charles how would you feel if your family was killed in a crash. Do you think so called entertainers should make jokes about it. At least you didn't air the jokes and I hope you don't in the future. As for the morons in the studio encouraging you to tell the jokes tell them to get a life. The strange part is that you will dismiss this e-mail as you will with the others you receive but just remember how your callers felt this morning. That should give you a better idea of what entertainment is all about.
To: DEaton
From: Charles
We had the discussion, and I decided NOT to do anything. What are you, some kind of Nazi, that we can't even have a discussion and resulting disagreement?
You were the ONLY negative response out of about two hundred. I dismiss your email only because I dismiss anyone that would censure dialogue which may be controversial.
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Football yes - Education no!
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: parker.wheeler
Why don't you find out why our shortsighted leaders tore down the old middle school and built 3 "Trump Plazas" and an employee parking lot without any thoughts about the students?
Put the middle school students in the new Town Hall!
Make the town's tax and spend leadership hold those responsible for their lack of planning and get off the taxpayers backs for their continued spending sprees!
Parker Wheeler
To: Parker
From: Charles
Even though I heard what it was like, I never was in the old Town Hall,
Parker (and I'll bet you weren't either). I'll also bet a week's paycheck that you wouldn't have been
caught dead working in that hole.
-charles
p.s. By the time you read this, you will already have voted to make Natick a second-class town
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Gary's bent
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Gary Bentz
Anne Cody and Patrick Murry?
I do miss them and hope they are ok. Where are they?
Gary Bentz
To: Gary
From: Charles
Don't take this the wrong way, but it is almost not worth my (or your) time communicating about this, because Patrick comes in two or three times a week, and does almost daily appearances which we advertise all week long. Anne Cody is on the radio every morning as a MAJOR part of the show - she not only does the news every hour - she is also a major player each time the mike goes on every 15 minutes.
Where is your question coming from? Are you writing from Ohio?
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Hey I made the far-right world internet press!
(Copy of letter Charles wrote, as it appears in the WorldNetDaily Internet Magazine): http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_e-mail/98.e-mail.shtml
Not too fond of Dougherty's Fonda column
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I just got a copy of Jon Dougherty's article in WorldNetDaily about Jane Fonda. I've been reading right-wing garbage like this for 20 years, and most of it has already been dismissed on more reliable net sites: http://urbanlegends.about.com/culture/urbanlegends/library/weekly/aa110399.htm.
Shocking as this may be to your readers, many free-thinkers out there felt that Jane Fonda was not necessarily on the wrong side in that shit war. A lot of our guys went out there like blind ferrets to kill thousands of innocent Vietnamese civilians, civilians who became soldiers because they had to arm themselves to defend against American invaders in their own civil war. Many of those American kids were my friends and neighbors -- guys who went off there to die -- or came back to be spit on, and insulted -- because they bought into Jon Dougherty (and other pseudo-patriots') mindless propaganda that led them to go off to Nam to fight a war for reasons which no one ever can really explain -- even today.
So were the great heroes he talks about the ones who blindly supported a war which there was no reason to fight? Or those "Pinkos, Commies and cowards" who had the courage to stand up and resist it, and support the real victims?
Dougherty's response is not backed by what has now been written in the final chapters of any objective documentation of the Vietnam War. If he still hasn't found the path to letting go of those warped ideals, then he should be held accountable for the past mistakes that led to the loss of so many brave and naive Americans in that tragic era in our Nation's history.
That part of history is best set aside; unless someone like grandpa Jon Dougherty wants to drivel on endlessly one more time about "Hanoi Jane," and bring it all back for debate once again -- rekindling those horrific memories (for both the pro- and anti-war movements) that we all are trying to finally and ultimately lay to rest.
CHARLES LAQUIDARA
(email about the letter):
To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Rdalyhome
World Net daily is not a "far right" internet site. In fact it is not a right wing web site. It happens to have been the most visited web site IN THE WORLD for 30 weeks in a row. It is the news the left wing Clinton-controlled media (guess who Jane is married to) won't tell you about. Ask Charles with that many readers does it mean that the far right wackos are in a majority or perhaps people wont to read news that has not been polluted by ted Turner and Dan Rather. Charles should stick to spinning records.
To: Rdalyhome
From: Charles
Oops- I was wrong. WorldNetDaly isn't the "far right" It's just a site where far-right loonies, who call themselves patriots (they're not), libertarians (they're not) and free-thinkers (not) go, in order to slam the rest of that "far-left" world out there.
RDaly should come up with an original group of whipping boys - That Ted Turner/Dan Rather stuff is an old (and very tired) ultra-right Rush Limbaugh line.
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I Must be Streaming
To: charlesFrom: John Bondaruk
Charles,
I just want to start by saying that the show is great.
You keep me
laughing all morning long. Second, I am also from Milford, Ma. I
actually knew your kids a while ago from Liz's dance lessons. The
reason I am writing is that there is a good chance that I am moving to
florida in a few months. The other stations that I listen to can
broadcast over the internet using netshow or real player. I was
wondering if there was any chance of WZLX doing that in the near
future. I know that outside of Boston and New York, radio sucks.
It
would be great to be able to listen to your station in Florida. If
there are any plans, could you please let me know. If there are not any
plans, would it be possible to make a request for it. Thank you for
your time.
John Bondaruk
To: John
From Charles
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(Time) + (Distance) = Change
Name: michael ward
Town: carriacou island W.E.
EMail: xxxx@caribsurf.com
Date: 13 Apr 2000
Comments
dear one take chucky fans:
chucky doesent read this shit most importantly he is a fake he hase no musical taste in the old days we had to tell him what sounded good and iam sure he has little choice now he a lot older than aneyone could gess and morning michagaus is a fake i know because i was a winner and did not receve any prizes and aneyone can have a fancy web site if they have enough fucking cash!!!
To: Michael
From: Charles
You are wrong. I do read these pages - every day. I have to bring everyone up to speed here, and relate some of my thoughts and reactions to these comments of yours.
Michael Ward was one of our first radio engineers at the beginnings of WBCN in the very early 70's. We all liked him, because he seemed to be cool and laid back, and - most importantly - somehow, Mike managed to keep our station on the air and running almost all the time, despite having no money for equipment or maintenance from the man who was then the BCN owner. Mike worked there for only a short time, but when he left - I think I can speak for most of the people who were at BCN back then when I say - we were all sad to see him go, and we wished him and Julie (his girlfriend at the time) much happiness and good luck for the future. We definitely had great feelings about Michael Ward.
About 25 years later, and four years ago, when I first came over to WZLX, one of the first things I did was to seek out Michael and put him on the air for "old times sake" on a quiz segment we had, which we called "Mishegaas". We found him down in Granada somewhere, and he played Mishegaas; and it was fun, and brought back sweet memories and pleasant vibes of the "good old days", and that was a really nice thing.... I thought.)
Now I read this email from Mike, and can honestly say I don't know what to say here. Maybe others of you out there have had an experience like this - where you thought someone was really a friend, and had good thoughts about your past times with them - and you didn't realize that what they were really thinking about you, was not even on the same planet as what you were thinking about them.
Anyway, I will check back on those old records, and try to find out why Michael did not get his prizes back in 1996.
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Reason # 100 to rip up your Shell credit card
To: Charles
From: Mark Seery
Subject: Shell Vader Strikes Again
Hi Charles,
My name is Mark Seery. I am writing to tell you about the guy who operates a Shell gas station in Bridgewater, MA. His name is Tony Saghbini. On Patriots Day he dropped the price of gas from $1.69 per gallon to $1.39 per gallon and challenged other dealers to do the same. Some have; he wanted to start a gas war to drive down the price of gas.
Here is where the story gets crazy. After seeing an article in the Metro section of the Globe, some suits from Shell came down to his station and asked him what was going on? Why was he selling for less than cost? He told them that it's not illegal - they said that they would get back to him. Get back to him they did - they called him the next afternoon and gave him an eviction notice of 90 days. In addition to that, in order to slow down his cash flow, they put him on "certified check credit only" for paying for gas. He has excellent credit and had never bounced a check.
As an angry customer, I thought that you would like to know about this. Have a great
weekend!
Sincerely,
Mark Seery
Bridgewater
To: Mark
From: Charles
Hey Mark:
We've known about Shell for years. They are literally one of the major "pig" corporations of the world. See
Shell Oil and other Bad Corporations in the Parallax View section of these pages.
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Peyote Chants and Such...
To: Charles
From: Dewill@aol.com
Charles...
I've been a fan since High School (and that was early 70's). I need your help. In 1972 or so, I heard you play a song (yeah, it was when you were with those guys...)..Witchi Tai Toh by Jim Pepper. You played it from the Pepper's Pow Wow albumn (1971, Island, produced by Herbie Mann, with Larry Coryell on guitar). I've been looking for that version of the song and the record (or a tape) off and on ever since. It's now out of print and quit
rare..Done the on-line thing, the e-bay thing and have people from Seattle to Houston to Florida helping me look. No luck so far. Now that I'm in the thro