Swedish Egil

While waiting for a witness to arrive for a deposition this afternoon, I had an odd conversation with the plaintiff's attorney sitting accross the table from me. What developed was something of a game attributing various cities and counties in California to certain parts of the human body. After a while, however, a problem developed We started to run out of dirty foul-smelling crevices. I mean,there are only a small number of armpits and ass cracks to go around.

That's the problem with California, the whole state is an ass crack.

And let me tell you, growing up there was no picnic. Floods, fires, earthquakes, riots, AIDS, gangs, drugs, traffic, freeway shootings, skin cancer, air pollution, water pollution, hypodermic needles on the beach, water shortages, power shortages, high taxes, high gas prices; the list goes on and on... Now, I don't believe in God, but if I did, it would seem obvious that he hates the shit out of that place.

The one saving grace of that pestilence-ridden Sodom and Gomorrah was a little alternative radio station called KROQ. In the early 80s, it sounded more like an amateur pirate broadcast, but over time it grew to become a world-class idol maker. In a world full of hip hop an heavy metal, KROQ offered an alternative, which has now become a genre in its own right.

Those early pioneers of alternative radio in Los Angeles have, for the most part, grown old and faded away. Richard Blade, Poor Man, Swedish Egil, Freddie Snakeskin, Jed the Fish, Tami Heide, Spacin Scott Mason, and many many others. (OK, Jed is still there, but he's old, very old...)

So, many years have passed since I fled the Southland, and imagine my pleasure and surprise when I discovered Sirius channel 22, First Wave. It's a satellite radio channel devoted to the alternative music of the 80s and 90s, but better still it's hosted by several of the old KROQ jocks. Holy crap! I was cruising by and whammo, I hear a limey accent say: "This is Richard Blade..." Good god, it's the Dickie Blade Show, back from the dead!

So here I sit, listening to the The Cult, Haircut 100, and the Smiths, on a late-night radio show hosted by Swedish Egil. It's like I'm 16 again. Well, 16 and a few more pounds, oh, and a mortgage, and some scotch. Right, and a baby, but 16 nonetheless! (And yes Tom, we all know that you were the first person on Earth to have Sirius. I realize that you were the very first person to have ever discoverd First Wave...)

Damn you, just let me live my retro-juvenile fantasy.