Last year, I finished remastering or re-doing all the mix tapes I made for my friends way back in the early-to-mid Nineties, the decade in which portable music was still on analog cassettes or “digital” CDs. It’s a pity that the window for exchanging and burning mix discs was way too brief a stretch. There were numerous accessories to make some seriously adventurous or creative stuff: jewel boxes in different colors/thicknesses, printers capable of putting your design right on the CD-R; and templates for all the packaging you could utilize will all major layout software. Sadly, it wasn’t meant to be since much of it required a computer and while those became mandatory household items, the Internet hit the scene, upending all traditional media.
Uhhhh…my point? Well, I have to admit, I like the podcast format much much more. There was an art and beauty to the cassette via its odd 45-minute format yet after having access to the mixing board at a radio station, you get addicted to the segues you can make and perfect; your show is just one cool flow until you have to play a commercial, station ID or make an announcement. Personally, I have no idea if Streaming does this with Crapify, Apple, Amazon or Pandora. I figure they just play songs in succession as if it were an MP3 playlist with a split-second or longer gap between each file.
I do know this, great software such as Garage Band and Logic can recreate the effect. I used the former with fantastic results in modifying those 32 original tapes while adding about another few plus the never completed 1995 nor even considered 1996. Thanks to my friend/co-worker/music lover Cyril encouraging me to continue the numbering from 21 on, I’ve managed to bang out another six this year alone (not including April Fools’ 2022). What made these different beyond shifting the duration from two 45-minute cassette sides to about an hour, my friend/producer Kathy helped add a couple fun, old-timey radio station elements to KMAG. Back when FM-College radio was impulsive and daring! Now there are stingers (usually station IDs), sometimes a funny audio bit and best of all, the podcast announces/honors requests; resurrecting an old joke I used to do with a friend at Marquette (I hope she’d approve of the new skits). Another cool opportunity came up too! KMAG 27 is the first mix/show programmed by a friend! Mark M, my comrade-in-arms when it comes to concerts. I knew he was a logical choice and he obviously kicked ass with his set list. I whipped the songs together into a flow, added a couple stingers and an ending; he gave his approval and notes; and 27 was posted last week! Getting positive feedback and likes so I will be giving another friend a shot while Mark will get another turn soon, depends on his schedule.
Outside of music, I also wanted to let you all know, today I feel good about my fifth Gifts of the Maggi show. I know there’s only two posted. Numbers three and four got mothballed for numerous reasons I don’t want to discuss. I am truly excited over number five being officially the third since the guest was fantastic, a natural on the microphone. Plus, it’s a lady which I wanted to get out there to demonstrate Gifts is friendly to women. I have always had cadre of female friends since grade school. My hope is that this will help us regain the momentum we used to have. If you want to be a guest, let me know.