For better or worse, how can I not appreciate a movie or TV show about radio?
Last Friday was the 45th anniversary of the film FM, which tells the tale of Q-Sky, the #1 radio station in Los Angeles.
As happens way too often in corporate radio, the Powers That Be want more commercials and less music, which unsurprisingly, rankles the program director and on-air personalities.
I was just a child when the movie came out and didn't begin my radio career until I was 19, but whew, this would become a concept I would later become extremely familiar with.
(And now would be a good time to add: long live public radio, where the music is second only to our listeners!)
I saw FM on late night TV the first time, and no, I didn't love it. It made no one's "best of" list.
But I did get a kick out of seeing artists like Linda Ronstadt, Jimmy Buffett and Tom Petty in it, playing themselves.
And the soundtrack? Pretty awesome. It even went Platinum.
Now only do you get the aforementioned icons, there are also memorable radio staples from Bob Seger, Steve Miller Band, Queen, Dan Fogelberg, James Taylor, Joe Walsh, Billy Joel, and more.
But for today's SoundTRAX it's got to be FM's title theme by Steely Dan, which also has backing vocals from The Eagles' Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Timothy B. Schmit, as well as drums by Toto's Jeff Porcaro.
So in honor of the film's 45th anniversary, it's Steely Dan with "FM (No Static at All)"
