The Number 9 Show

Some people and things that are gone from me are missed. Most are not. Some days I think of often; most of them are from long ago. Thousands of days have been forgotten.

One of my favorite filmmakers, Luis Buñuel, wrote in his autobiography (I'm paraphrasing) that in his films he frequently used the moments, scenes that impressed him as a youth. If he'd seen something that stuck in his mind, so that he could still see a picture of it, he trusted that it was important.

Even if Buñuel didn't understand it he trusted the visual. So he'd find a way to use such a vision, whether it made any sense to his story or not.

That's the confidence an artist needs. He must trust his instincts. He should believe in the connections he makes, whether they seem to make sense right away, or not. In that way a painting comes alive as it is being created. It talks back to the artist who has the ears to listen.

In October of 1982, I signed on Color Radio live with the first Number 9 Show. The studio was over the Track Restaurant on Cary St. (For background on Color Radio, click here.) In April of 1984 the last of those three-hour programs was heard by my listeners, how ever many there were. In between those two dates, on Thursday afternoons, I played records in a free form style ... whatever popped into my mind.

Well, I sure do miss doing that.

By the way, one of the best at practicing a free-wheeling format in this town was Rick Stanley, also known as Eric E.

Before he died in 2003, Eric E's Sunday night Bee Bop Boogie and Blues Review was the best thing on the air in this town. I met and got to know Stanley in my Color Radio days. He, too, was one of the volunteer deejays.

So, with the help of YouTube here's a recreation of what one of those Number 9 Shows might have been like, without my introductions, which might be an improvement. The upside is that some of the visuals are worthwhile in these videos, but they have been chosen mostly for the sound.

If you click on the links in order, it will simulate a segment of the Number 9 Show, as it was 25 years ago.

One ... Two ... Three ... Four ... Five ... Six ... Seven ... Eight ... Nine.

Play safe .. stay cool.