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Hooray - thanks to everyone for getting me to 1,000 followers.
As promised, here is your reward - my @ferrisobrien / @BenFolds story.
It's a long story, without much of a payoff. Invest your time wisely, reader.
As promised, here is your reward - my @ferrisobrien / @BenFolds story.
It's a long story, without much of a payoff. Invest your time wisely, reader.
In 1999, the Spy was still running out of Stillwater. Ferris ran the morning drive, IIRC.
He would play Ferris-y stuff, but also some weird stuff.
He would play Ferris-y stuff, but also some weird stuff.
Notably, one day he played Steve Stevens' "Pet The Hot Kitty"
And stopped it after about 90 seconds. "Sorry folks, that's even worse than I remember."
And stopped it after about 90 seconds. "Sorry folks, that's even worse than I remember."
Here's the thing about the Spy in Stillwater - it juuuuuuuuust barely didn't reach Oklahoma City - in my Mazda Protege, at least.
So whenever I drove North, I had a rare opportunity to listen to the spy.
One night, I got the call. I was to drive up to Burbank, Oklahoma for a city council meeting. Burbank is in Osage County (yes, the same Osage County that Martin Scorsese is so interested in. Marty, the rights to this thread are available.)
That meant 4 hours drivetime, getting paid to listen to the Spy. Plus the sweet, sweet 32.5 cents per mile I could charge. When you have a newborn at home, it's the little pleasures that mean the most.
Now the Spy at night was run by a pre-programmed CD, or perhaps a CD shuffler. Ferris, feel free to chime in. Long story short [TOO LATE], nobody was in the studio.
I start the car, and I hear a song I'd never heard before. Paul Harvey would disapprove of me telling you the song up-front, but it was Ben Folds Five's "Battle of Who Could Care Less"
The first 10 seconds or so of the song are a bunch of "dooooo dooooo dooooodly doooo"
But I knew right away something was wrong.
After about 10 seconds, there was a skip, and the dooodly doos started over.
Skipped CD. 90s kids get it.
But I knew right away something was wrong.
After about 10 seconds, there was a skip, and the dooodly doos started over.
Skipped CD. 90s kids get it.
I figured I'd stick with it a few minutes, see if someone at the studio would give the player a whack, Fonzie-style.
Nobody came.
3 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes. The same doooodly dooo over and over again.
It sounded a little something like this:
Nobody came.
3 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes. The same doooodly dooo over and over again.
It sounded a little something like this:
Now I was hooked. How long would it last?
Well, the entire 111 miles up to Burbank, that's how long.
Well, the entire 111 miles up to Burbank, that's how long.
Two hours at the city council meeting, and now it's dark. The kind of dark you can only get in the country. The kind of dark where you can see the glow of the Ponca City refineries from a long ways away.
And so I drove another 3 hours, in the dark, to that same 10 seconds of Doodly Doo.
I didn't have any friends to speak of back then, and the internet wasn't so hot either. So I was resigned to the fact that I'd never learn the name of that doodly-doo song.
I didn't have any friends to speak of back then, and the internet wasn't so hot either. So I was resigned to the fact that I'd never learn the name of that doodly-doo song.
Two months later, I'm puttering around the house, and Letterman is on, and I hear the CBS Orchestra play - you guessed it, The Battle of Who Could Care Less.
And since we had a baby, we always always always had the captioning on. And since Worldwide Pants is a legit production company, the captions told me the name of the song.
And that's how introverts learned about music in the 90s.
And that's how introverts learned about music in the 90s.
