I've mentioned and linked the blog called Mars Bar Theatre before, but have not taken the time to explain what it's about. It is a fan's heartfelt tribute to a Canadian radio legend, David Marsden.
David's career spans nearly 5 decades. In the 80's, he was a fixture at the legendary Brampton, Ontario radio station CFNY (visit an informative site dedicated to CFNY called "The Spirit of Radio" here). This is a period held dear by many Canadians and border-dwelling Americans alike who sought out a glimmer of individuality in the dreary, cookie-cutter world of formulaic radio broadcasting. Top 40, EmpTV-driven, and heavy rotation domination formed the basis of most of the popular music stations here in the states. Those lucky enough to tune into CFNY, and David's show in particular, were treated to cutting edge music far superior to the glut of oft-repeated dreck prescribed by corporate-American fat cats who pretended to know what the public wanted to hear.
I accidentally stumbled across Mars Bar Theatre and, in so doing, struck up a "conversation" via email with the blog owner. He encouraged me to tune into David Marsden's show, brought to the world via 94.9 The Rock, the Internet and streaming media, every Thursday and Friday night from 7 pm until midnight. I tuned in for the first time last Thursday, and was instantly hooked.
"Eclectic" is a word I tend to overuse to describe the music on Marsden's show, 
but I really can't think of a better adjective. He selects music that is all over the place rather than from one specific genre, but is a joy to listen to because it all meshes so well. Some songs will sound vaguely familiar, some will have you slapping your forehead and exclaiming, "I can't believe I'm hearing this! It reminds me of..." Or even, "Wow - I haven't heard that since...!" The listening experience is a combination of a trip down memory lane and a lesson in creative broadcasting.
It's my recommendation that everyone give David's show a listen, visit Mars Bar Theatre to look over the playlists that Ralph, the blog owner carefully constructs based on the current night's show, and even take a trip to David's website, Marsden Global. Marsden is entertaining, irreverent, funny as heck and one of those unaffected celebrities that actually answers his email. Give him a shout - and you just may be lucky enough to get a "shout-out" back.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
80's Music Rules ~ and so does David Marsden
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4 comments:
Thanks for the great post, very much appreciated - said better than I ever could!
You do all the hard work cataloguing the great tunes from the show and offering singles from selected artists. It's my pleasure to give recognition where it's due. Thanks for the kind words.
Thats a great story! I'd never heard of Marsden before, now I'm gonna have to go give it a listen.
I pity anyone from the 80's who didn't have access to an alternative/underground/college radio station. Radio back that was just as bad as it is now. And you KNOW how I feel about that....Mariah Carey indeed! :-) Thanks for the heads up.
I promise if you take the time to listen, you will hear a great selection of music; including Canadian bands that should have been huge here in the states, but were overlooked in favor of gawd-knows-what. Probably whatever the flavor of the month was.
And Marsden will keep you entertained with his own unique brand of humor. :-)
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