Thursday, October 28, 1982
Daily Nebraskan
Page 13
Graveyard disc jockeys pin down faceless mass
By Randy Wymore
The hours between midnight and 5 or 6
in the morning on week nights are filled
with a special type of people.
People studying, partying, working or
being insomniac lurk in Lincoln's dark sha
dows. Leading this army of the night are
Steve Mark and Scott McArdle, disc joc
keys of the graveyard shift.
Mark, the traveled, experienced late
night DJ for KFMQ, and McArdle, a young
lion of the radio business, arethe gurus of
midnight. Though they come from varied
backgrounds, they see most things in the
same light.
Mark's roots in radio trace back to the
Twin Cities area of Minnesota, where he
worked at station WRKD playing polkas
and broadcasting American Legion base
ball games, a long way from rock 'n' roll
in Lincoln.
Moving from WRKD and polka music
to KTTT in Columbus, Neb., working a 5
p.m. to midnight shift with no real struc
ture which is a "good way tostart out," ac
cording to Mark-he came closer to the
"Q."
At WRKD, he had his own album
oriented rock program, "Nightwatch." A
department store in the area had five com
mercial spots on the program, and in return
Mark got five different albums a week from
the store's record department.
The show preceding Mark's provided an
interesting contrast for the listener, Mark
said.
"What sounds better after Loretta
Lynn?" Mark asked. "Ozzy Osbourne, of
course."
Mark's and KFMQ's late-night competi
tor is Scott McAfllle at KFRX.
Originally from Omaha, McArdle later
graduated from Waverly High School. His
next stop was'Lincoln and UNL.
McArdle received his degree from UNL
in journalism tmd English in 1981. He had
originally wanted to become a lawyer but
there was no pre-law program to fit his
needs, he said. McArdle's adviser suggested
pursuing something that he would enjoy.
The next thing he knew, he was a part
time DJ at KFRX, working the graveyard
shift on the weekends. Full-time work soon
followed.
"I've gotten into this, and I'm having
fun doing this," he, said. "I might get into
law later on, if I get some bucks."
The most important part to any enter
tainment business is the audience, and disc
jockeys especially have to know who this
faceless mass is. Not surprisingly, the radio
veteran has the midnight listener pinned
down.
"There's a lot of people that work out
there, people at parties," McArdle said. "I
know I got a guy out there that counts
boxcars between here and York."
And it is to that faceless mass that Mark
feels truly committed. "Even if there's just
one person out there listening-just one,"
Mark said, "I feel I've got to do my best."
Mark, however, feels that Lincoln is a
"button pushing" market. If listeners don't
like the song one station is playing, they
can just turn the dial to another station.
McArdle agrees with this theory but
acknowledges the "loyal listener" in the
audience, and that is where McArdle and
KFRX put their energies, he said.
"We'd like to think that our listeners
are loyal," McArdle said. "We think we
play the songs that people wanna hear-we
play the hits.".
Another aspect of the late-night radio
business is the calls and star quality that
goes with being a DJ. Both McArdle and
Mark like the fan mail and the somewhat
"popular anonymity" of the business
where a lot of people know their voices
but could never recognize them in the su
permarket. But Mark related a story that puts the
whole "star" aspect into perspective. Mark
said he had a friend, also a disc jockey but
in a smaller city, who received calls from
an overly adoring female listener. The lis
tener followed the DJ around and kept
calling, until one day he confronted her
and tried to tell her that he just wasn't
interested. She shot and killed him, Mark
said.
No matter how many stations he
travels to, Mark said, he will always have
one thing he will remember from his days
in Columbus. Mark met his wife on a re
quest line.
"She called up and was at a party and
wanted to hear some Iggy Pop, Todd
Rundgren and Tommy Bolan," he said.
"Then she invited me to the party."
Mark went, and the rest is history to
him.
Through all the calls, the play lists and
the commercials, Mark and McArdle share
a quest with each other and all DJs-day-light
play time.
For Mark, the journey continues.
For McArdle, it is just beginning.
Stay tuned.
African-styled 'Zombie Birdhouse' LP
trendy, but not Iggy Pop at his best
Ml 1
repertoire.
Iggy has been one of
ZOMBIE BIRDHOUSE
Iggy Pop
ChrysalisAnimal
Iggy Pop has gone from
being an unknown curiosity rock's most innovative per-
a few years back to being formers, from his pre-punk
a bankable quantity. His days as "Iggy & the
"Party" album of 1981, Stooges" of 1970 to his
arguably his best and most post-punk performances re-
r"7 Album Review
accessible work, is definitely cently.
his finest album since his Although he was noted
days with the Stooges. In earlier for his stage at-
the last year, the Ig has rocities, Ig has toned down
worked African drums and his public appearances for a
rhythms to his impressive more musical rather than
visual appeal. The change
has increased both his musi
cal diversity and his per
sonal integrity.
Iggy's got a knack for
surrounding himself with
great musicians, and "Zom
bie Birdhouse" is no ex
ception to that rule. With
Rob Duprey on drums and
Chris Stein of Blondie pro
ducing and playing bass,
the album is a quality pro
duct. Although the ingredients
are all there for a trend
setting LP, somehow this
record doesn't quite live
up to expectations. "Zom
bie Birdhouse" has all the
careening guitar and syn
thesized drums that David
Bowie promised years ago.
But Iggy's stab at the
current trend of African
music seems half-hearted.
At the very least, he meets
the heart of the jungle.
On his own terms. Fine,
Iggy, but show something
new, OK?
Actually, "Zombie Bird
house" is a good, maybe
great, album. It might not
be up to the lg's "Party"
or "Funhouse" albums, but
then these are tough acts
to follow. Thank God, this
S-foot-6 inch jerk is still
exploring, lest we rot in
popism, or in Iggy's words,
we'll ,"eat or be eaten,
strike or be striken."
Don't get me wrong.
"Zombie Birdhouse" de
serves a place in your
record library. But, for the
true Iggy Pop fan, this
album will settle nicely next
to his "Lust for Life" or
"The Idiot." For the rest
of you that have yet to
discover this incredible ar
tist, "Zombie Birdhouse"
may be a treat. In his
chronology, it isn't his best
work, but is definitely one
worth looking into.
Billy Shaffer
mmt
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