Shane Brother Shane

       Back, way way back, before rock was classic, I listened to two top 40 stations on the AM dial in Buffalo. One was WKBW. Some say that WKBW started out as a religious station and the letters stood for “we know the Bible well” - which is ironic since when I was a teen, the station was known for playing that “dirty long-hair hippie” stuff. And years after I moved away, I heard that the station had become all talk. Someday it will be back, no doubt to its religious programming roots.

      But in the mid-70's, when KB was still playing rock, the station announced that it was looking for a new evening dj. They said they would let the listeners be involved in the choice of who to hire. This was great publicity for the station. Many candidates came to town and did a stint on the radio. The listeners were supposed to give their feedback and vote for their favorite applicant. KB promised to hire the dj with the most votes. This brought even more publicity because the promise to let the listeners pick the next dj was a risky move.

       Risky indeed. It was obvious that the station preferred the mellow voiced dj named Shane, whereas the audience was loudly in favor of a guy who called himself the Janitor. When the votes were tallied, the Janitor won the job.

       He lasted only a few nights. I got the impression that the Janitor was every bit as awful as the station feared when they tried to sway the votes toward Shane. I don't remember hearing the Janitor myself when he was officially on the air.

       With the Janitor gone, Shane was asked to take his place.

       Shane lasted only a little bit longer than his predecessor.

       But Shane liked Buffalo. And each time Shane was fired from one radio station, another would pick him up for a while. Over time Shane became the evening dj on WGR – the other top forty AM station in town. There were many nights I listened to Shane, and I must have enjoyed his play-list because I was less likely to move the dial between stations when he was on. Thus I got to know the guy who called himself Shane Brother Shane.

      He was very melodramatic. I would roll my eyes at some of this comments. At Christmastime, oh my gosh, Shane carried on and carried on about the Toys for Tots campaign. He begged people not to ask him to sponsor anything else because he was dedicated one hundred percent to Toys for Tots. Shane was like this about songs and artists, rock and roll, Buffalo and local politics.

     It was hard to take Shane too seriously, but I did grow fond of him and his super sappy speeches.

      One summer's night in 1977, I had gotten home from work and was in my room busy with something or other. I was distracted, but suddenly my ear heard Shane saying, “Ladies and Gentlemen, the King is dead.” And then he put on a song. I thought, “Oh good grief, what has Elvis done now that Shane is carrying on as if he were dead?”

        Yeah, that was the day Elvis actually died, and it had not occurred to me to take Shane literally!

       Shane Brother Shane often ended his show with one of two songs. One was A Better Place to Be by Harry Chapin – this was not a top 40 song – if I had not heard Shane play it, I might not have become the serious Harry Chapin fan that I am today. The second song was Watching and Waiting by the Moody Blues – something familiar to me already and unquestionably wonderful. Shane veered from the station format to play these songs – his individuality is what I liked about him. It was probably also what kept him moving between stations.

       Nowadays when I happen upon an oldies station, I keep hoping the next song will be something that Shane would have played. It never is, and I sigh because Shane Brother Shane would take us to a better place to be.

       Sometimes I fantasize about starting my own radio station. It will be in one of the rooms of my Chautauqua. The very first morning I'll sign on and play Rainbow Connection by Kermit the Frog, followed by a dedication to Shane Brother Shane and Watching and Waiting.

281 20151008 Shane Brother Shane