Radio Retrofit, stretching its wings...

Venus Flytrap (Tim Reid)

Back when the Johnny Fever mix was prompting a dozen emails a day, from happy listeners, and I was first starting to brainstorm a follow up... the folks at the top of my list were Chris (KBHR: Cicely, Alaska - which I'd tried once before, and I was feeling like I might have figured out the angle, to finally make it work), or Cronauer, and the other, was a listener request I'd already decided would just be impossible...

That other main consideration was Venus Flytrap, the other main DJ at WKRP. In fact, he was one of the first requests, and I'd answered with the truth, originally, that I'd gathered his, as well as Johnny's breaks, from the show, and there weren't even a quarter, I guessed, as many breaks per Venus, as per "the Doctor."

At the time, I felt sure that meant it couldn"t work. But it did! After Finishing two (or three) KBHR mixes, and tackling the movie, featuring a fictionalized version of Adrian Cronauer, from Vietnam, I did one short, fun mix, focusing on a favorite show from when I was a teenager (the first genre switch up, more or less, as Stevens, Fever and "Cronauer" had been playing a lot of the same kinds of music). And then, I took a step back and pondered the program's next steps...

There are some really exciting plans in the works, but before I get to any of that (maybe this summer, or in the fall), I thought it was definitely time to stretch my wings a bit and see if Venus Flytrap and I COULD make a return to WKRP special. In the end, I definitely felt it was, and am sharing it with the world, with love. Just as Venus would, on WKRP, in Cincinnati.

It wasn't quite as easy as the others... I had to first spend a month or so, submerged in a genre of music which, even just a month or two ago, I'd have said I was not a huge fan of, but in the process of identifying the best things I could, within it, I discovered... I actually might BE? I've been learning and experimenting with matching beats and making seamless segues, and, let me tell you, it's never sounded as good as it sounds with Venus and his Quiet Storm playlist. I had some real fun putting it all together.

The first hour features his on-air work with The Doctor, and the two play a lot of rock and roll, and blues, during the afternoon. But sticking around for hours two and three, listener's are rewarded with a good introduction to the subgenre of R&B, defined as the slow, intimate, soulful music of African American recording artists, published more or less from the 1950s through to the beginning of the '80s.

The name was inspired by this Smokey Robinson album (1975)

The Quiet Storm format was first programmed, in spirit, by Tony Brown at WDAS, in 1972, and when Melvin Lindsey, at WHUR, started programming a similar mix, in '76, calling it Quiet Storm, Brown then changed the name of his program from “The Extrasensory Connection,” to “The Quiet Storm,” as well. 

From there, the format became such a popular programming choice, especially among African American audiences, it actually took over some stations, entirely, 24 hours a day, and inspired more than a few performers to record Quiet Storm tracks, specifically for the station's devoted to the genre. 

I was careful to let Venus choose the tracks, just as I had Johnny. And just as with Fever, there were plenty of choices to make on new music to add to the official selections... Embracing the night-time format change, I listened and learned to hear WHY people loved Quiet Storm, and hopefully would made Venus proud, with the mix we assembled, together.

Hour One debuted last month. Hours Two and Three (Quiet Storm) debut on the 15th and 22nd of April, in The Wiggle Room on the Sheena's Jungle Room stream, over at wfmu.org. Soon after the debuts, stay tuned for the full three hour mix, available here, at the awphooey website.

Abandon your expectations, and open your heart: This is fantastic, if i do say so myself. And if I can become a fan, I'm sure you can, too. Thanks for listening!