Give Me The Beat Boys

I have a rather mundane job that I perform for my bi-weekly bread: I do payroll.

I have, over the past couple of years, waxed poetically, waxed philosophically, waxed angrily, and waxed incredulously, over the various aspects of my job.

Today, I will wax musically over my current job.

As I've mentioned previously, I spend an inordinate amount of time not being busy, simply because I have been able to get all of my required work done when it was supposed to be done. However, this isn't about that 50% of my bi-weekly time. This is about the other 50% of my bi-weekly time in which I am consistently busy, which are the two days leading up to, the day of, and at least two days after pay day.

To help me keep my mind focused on what I'm doing at a given time (processing paychecks, entering and auditing timesheets, etc.), I listen to a lot of music. I'll even listen to music that I'm normally not a major fan of, but because it has something resembling a good beat, it becomes my white noise (ex: urban & soul).

Not only do I listen to all types of music, be it stuff I like or dislike, but I also listen to specific shows that play these certain types of music. Because I enjoy the variety that is the spice of life, I don't listen to commercial radio for this specific shows, but instead, listen to college radio.

I would say that the bulk of what I listen to (75%) when I'm doing payroll are the various offshoots of rock, with the remainder covering genres like jazz, soul, true r&b, urban and the various country sub-sects.

About the only genre I can't listen to is metal and its various sub-sects. It's not because I don't like it (because I do), but more because of not being able to get a particular station on my radio (incredibly weak signal, as the station has a radius of about two miles, maybe).

So my radio helps me get through an otherwise increasingly painful day (due to the various medical problems I got) that would be much longer than if I didn't listen to music. Specifically, two particular radio stations help fulfill the need: WRTC & WWUH.

These two radio stations: WRTC 89.3 & WWUH 91.3 have specific programming that I make it a point of listening to on a weekly basis. Of WRTC (Radio Trinity College) and WWUH (University of Hartford), WWUH is the more reliable of the two. By reliable, I mean that the volunteer staff will actually show up for their shift, and not temporarily end its broadcasting day like WRTC does from time to time. However, WRTC has the more eclectic day time programming than WWUH has.

Please note that all of these show times are Eastern Standard Time/Eastern Daylight Time. As of today (2/8), we're Eastern Daylight Time.

The following is a list of shows that I enjoy listening to on both stations. The one thing that both stations are know for, is their jazz programming. WRTC has jazz M-F from 6a-9a and from 3p-6p, whereas WWUH has theirs M-F from 9a-12 noon. I normally don't listen to jazz, only because I find it a bit too mellow for my tastes, at least for what they play out here.

1} The Marti Party: Mike Marti plays a fantastic collection of 50's & early 60's rock & roll, doo wop, r&b, and rockabilly from 1p-4p Mondays on WWUH. Not only does he play the well known stuff, but he often digs deeper into the lesser known regional stuff. Also, he has from time to time, done artist spotlights on his show.. And on the rare occasions that a well known performer has passed away, he'll devote an entire show to the artist (most recently, a three hour show devoted to Bo Diddley).

2} The Boris Rock Show: He plays a great eclectic mix of rock, both domestic and import. Normally opens his show with some funky instrumentals, which can be heard Wednesdays from 9/10a-12 noon on WRTC.

3} The Pine Grove Blues: River City Slim (has his own cajun/zydeco band called River City Slim and the Zydeco Hogs) plays an extended mix of cajun, zydeco, swamp pop, and blues. His show is on from 6a-9a Thursdays on WWUH. Always has a spotlight on a a legend of American roots music around 7:30a.

4} In the Weeds: Dwight Thurston plays the best of American roots music, r&b, ska and reggae (mostly old school reggae with some modern stuff thrown in). His show has a particular emphasis on Bob Dylan. Fridays 1p-4p on WWUH.

5} Friday Morning Rock: Roger Catlin, who is a music critic for the Hartford Courant, has a nifty morning rock show from 9ish to 12 noon on WRTC, with a special emphasis on Elvis.

Although there are other shows that I will listen to depending on my mood (specifically, Saturdays from 9a-1p Bluegreass and 1p-4p Doo Wop), there are the five that I try to make a concentrated effort in listening to M-F. These particular shows help make my day go just that much smoother, and more often than not, put me into a better frame of mind to deal with the people who are the tail that wags the dog.