This installment of Digitizing Dimension we hear from my college radio show in all it’s miscues and awkward silence btwn songs from bands such as PJ Harvey, Pavement, Elastica and The Beastie Boys on that beautiful March 20th day in 1995.

I didn’t plan it this way, but it would just happen that the next lamb to the slaughter I would choose out of the lottery tub of tapes would be an episode of my own college radio show. Ah yes, my attempt to take what I had absorbed of the Dimensions program and recreate it for the benefit of the the Student Union audience (and some local cable channel) at the University of Michigan - Dearborn Campus.

I’ll apologize in advance for the sloppiness of transitions or dead air.

wumd

College Radio from the campus of the University of Michigan - Dearborn Campus

So back in the way back when, before I attended the University of Michigan - Dearborn; WUMD college radio was in fact being broadcast on the airways. Rumor has it, it twas an ill advised opportunity to play Monty Python’s “Sit on my face” that shut down the stations ability to rule whatever frequency it was on. After that event WUMD, at least while I had a show on it, was limited to TWO Community Channels on cable tv to provide the background soundtrack to it’s digital bulletin board that was shown between the limited content of that respective channel. It appears that on its facebook page the station is now regulated to their online channel and student union.

Here are the highlights from this installment. Again I apologize for the 21 year old me’s awkwardness and obvious rookie fumblings as I operated the college’s soundboard/mixer.

INSTALLMENT HIGHLIGHTS:

Electronic - Get the Message
- I hear this song and I’m immediately beamed back to my parent’s backyard on a calm summer’s night preparing the condiments for that nights entree. Hamburgers. Or as the Wertanen kids called em’ “Daddy Burgers”. They were called this because, well, this was the patriarch signature dish. Whenever it came to grilling (either gas or electric), my dad was on deck swinging his spatula around like he wonder the place. Which he did. I’d have to assume that that dish in particular got the name because other than that, my mom cooked everything else.
- I digress. This song is definitely at the dawn of my musical independence. Chances are that I was at the dinner table after a long day’s work in the bag room or after concluding a “loop” as a caddy at the Grosse Ile Golf and Country Club. This meant that for the first time in my life I was making money. To be honest I was making decent money and I remember I had gone to the local record store “Slick Disc” and purchased this album after having learned of it on MTV’s alternative video show “120 Minutes”.
- Wikipedia tells me the song came out in 1991 which would mean that this would likely be the summer before I started my Senior year of high school. This was a very good year for me in terms of music.
- Composed by Johnny Marr (of the Smiths) and lyrics Bernard Sumner (of New Order), this is one of my quintessential Summer songs for that year. I think around this time I was also listening to Fishbone’s - “Sunless Saturday” on heavy rotation.
- This song is a perfect example the power music has to conjure up memories as along with the “Daddy Burger meal” memory I also am transported to Grosse Ile where there was a clothing store for some reason had the hippest Mossimo beach wear. I would frequent it after a shift at the Country Club.

Pavement - "Cut Your Hair" from 'Crooked Rain Crooked Rain'.

Pavement - Haircut
- I love this song. Best part about it is I heard it first on Beavis and Butthead. (B&B also introduced me to “Sausage”)
- I definitely credit Pavement and this song as the gateway song as the start of my Indie Rock cd collection.

Elastica - Waking Up.
- First of all. Swoon. I’ve never been more jealous of Damon Albarn that at this time. Although, I really didn’t appreciate Blur until shortly after college, I was jealous of whomever got to be the arm candy for Justine Frishman. Not to mention I’m a sucker for short hair. Le Sigh.
- This song had just made its debut in the states and I was all about it. Big fan of the bass line and now that I know it could be considered Brit Pop, it makes sense that I would be drawn to it like a Mod to a Fred Perry Polo.

Music and album cover does not belong to me, and its copyrights goes to its corresponding authors, enjoy!

The The - August & September
- I considered it my responsibility to share Matt Johnson and The The with my collegiate comrades. He helped me get A’s in High School English for Pete’s sake!
- Lyrics like the following still chill me to my core.
  - “WHAT Kind of man, was I?! Who would sacrifice your happiness to satisfy his pride?! WHAT Kind, of man, was I?! Who would delay your destiny to appease his tiny mind.”
  - Was our love to strong to die? Or were we just to weak to kill it?
- Ugh. Very powerful stuff even to this day. Even more-so now as an adult as I can relate to the relationships of substance that come as you look for a spouse.
- Goosebumps. Matt Johnson and Jean Shepherd, I thank you and my English teachers thank you.

From "More Travels" DVD

Pat Metheny - Have You Heard?
- Pat Metheny might rank up there for the Wertanen boys of the union of Dave and Terry amongst the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. For a Wertanen boy, thats serious stuff.
- If you’ve never heard of Pat Metheny and/or of this song, I’d advise you to hold off listening to it until you find yourself in the midst of your first 85+ degree calm, clear summer night. Preferably at a lake or on a pontoon boat.
- Pat is one of those artists that I can oh so sparingly put on in dire Winter straights when the moment calls for an escape to a warm Summer night where the name of the month starts with “JU”. It can be -13 degrees Fahrenheit with the a windchill of -45 beating on the outside of my house and I can rely on this track to banish it back to the frozen hell from which it came.
- I hate winter with a red hot passion… some would say with the heat of 44 summers. Thank God for Pat and Lyle and I live for their outdoor summer concerts.

from 'Ill Communication' (1994)

The Beastie Boys - Sabrosa
- Still amazed that 3 kids from Brooklyn that started off as a punk band we’re lucky enough to meet and grow together as musicians.
- I’m guessing March 20th, 1995 was an unseasonably warm day that had me pining for Summer considering I played this along with Pat Metheny.
- An instrumental song by the boys Beastie that could hold its own against Ahmad Jamal or Dave Brubeck track. (IMHO)

Siouxsie and the Banshees - Dear Prudence
- Gotta give a shout out to Edwin Pasadas who was a year or two older than me and lived across the street. The summer of 86 (I think) we would find ourselves at his house mixing music together to see what would come out of it. I had my Art of Noise and Human league albums and he had The Dead Kennedys, The Cure and Siouxsie.
- Edwin had a stereo system that had two tape decks that you could play together at the same time. Sadly I don’t recall having the option to “tape” our musical cocktails. One part Max Headroom to one part Robert Smith.
- Anyhew, simply put; Siouxsie is one of my musical heroines and I was lucky enough to catch a few summers before at Lollapalooza.
- And yes you did see Robert Smith of the Cure tagging along with the Banshees. I do believe he was dating Ms. Sioux at the time this album was being recorded and/or this video shot.

Screen Shot 2019-04-24 at 1.42.53 AM.png — the love cats?

Robert and Siouxsie sitting in tree.

Jaydee - Plastic Dreams
- If you’re really listening to the digitized output of my tapes and if I’m being truthful, you’ll notice that this song was actually part of the show that followed mine. But I remember the situation as if it was yesterday and it would be a defining point in my life in terms of what I would be hopelessly devoted to musically for the many years to come.
- All I know of “Mike”, who followed my show, was that he was a legit DJ. By Legit I mean he spun at events and what he was spinning was songs from the world that I wanted to learn more about.
- Sure I knew of 808 state and anything from the Mortal Combat movie soundtrack, but what he was playing was foreign to me and unobtainable. Where did he find this song? WHAT is this song? Supposedly there is more like this and supposedly there are events called “Raves” in which this engulfs a warehouse full of kids who were lucky enough to know about it?
- I left my tape in the tape deck to record what he was playing and I wouldn’t remind him to change out the tapes in fear that he would cut the song short… which he did. Shit.
- However, this was enough to get my first look into that world and would start my own progression to one day owning my own decks, mixer and arsenal of vinyl.
- This is what the cool girl at school I was attracted to was talking about in terms of an Electronic/Techno DJ. I had a lot to learn but luckily I had a good undergrad education before getting my masters in Detroit Techno and House music.
- Thank you Mike, wherever you are.

BALLYHOO AND MEMORIES FROM THIS SHOW:

CMJ Requires…
- Listen, I loved having my own radio show. The best part was having access to the Universities extensive record / tape / cd library. I’d find myself between classes hunting down records from my past and listening to new stuff that just came in like this band called “Prodigy”.
- But what I didn’t love was that interspersed within my carefully coordinated list of musical gems, I had to throw in something “New” from the College Music Journal in order for them to be able to tally what the “university kids” were playing these days.
- You’ll see below that along with “The The” and “Pavement” I had to somehow fit in Sugar’s “Gee Angel”. Sure it was Bob Mould, but Ugh. I think it was something like every 4th song had to be something new to appease the CMJ sponsors that were helping to populate our library. Could have been worse I guess.
- I’d sink into my chair, pout and mumble “Fine. Whatever”. “Dimensions prolly doesn’t have to play by these rules” I’d think while I was begrudgingly cueing up the Flaming Lips. Sorry, it isn’t personal…. it’s business.
- Besides I tried my best to find something that didn’t make me cringe on 89X at that time. Hence Flaming Lips following the untouchable PJ Harvey.
I lalalalalalied…
- Accompanying each cd, record and tape was a index card that would be glued or taped to the shell that housed the medium of choice.
- This index card would give somebody's honest opinion of the album as well as identify what genre of music the song was along with a brief history of the artist.
- Now that I think of it, kudos to whomever wrote these. The intentions were good, but I’d be damned if I let myself be influenced by someone that might have liked the latest “Color Me Bad” album. Although I’m pretty sure the program manager did his best to weed those types out.
- I usually quickly scanned the card to see if I could identify the penmanship as one that I could trust.
- This one in particular I hadn’t seen before but it made me laugh when the critique wasn’t the most flattering. And lets be honest, Wonderful was pretty sappy at this time and would be documented in the anals of the U of M - Dearborn library for all eternity with that badge of an index card and it’s no punches held critique that said something to the effect of “Adam Ant’s latest song is a sappy ballad. The Lalalalalalied is a bit sophomoric and trivial.”
  - Ouch.
- I for one know that I’m getting older as with every year that has passed since, I become more and more fond of that song and have at times cried along with Adam. I’m not Lalalalalalalying.
- As I understand it, Mr. Ant wrote this song to express his regret of losing Jamie Lee Curtis. I think I would write a similar song about losing her too. SMH.
- Truth be told I liked this song when it came out. I was a fan of Adam and the Ants and prolly a little more lenient on his use of “Lalalalalalied”
Life, like this episode of “The Sounds Unsensed Program with Eric Wertanen” is too short.
1. You’ll notice that this installment of Digitizing Dimensions is shorter than that of WDET.
2. Thats because as opposed to Ralph and Martin of the dimension program, I only had an hour to share my tunes man.
3. Thank God for Mike and his Jaydee track that added a good 6 minutes to this tape…. and a quality 6 minutes at that.