…here is my request.
You don’t have to play it but I hope you’d do your best.
I’ve been listening to your show on the radio.
And you seem like a friend to me.

I too grew up in the generation of the Radio.
Well, I meant how radio was, in the 80’s and 90’s.

There were no iPods, no Napsters, and no easy iTunes
where anyone can download their favourite songs readily and easily.

We wait patiently for our songs to come on the air,
press the record button, with a blank cassette tape waiting inside the stereo.
No matter what we were doing, once we hear the intro to the songs we like
we jump and run towards the deck and press that damn button.

Usually right after when the DJ stops introducing the song,
we press record, sacrificing some of the intro music.
And if they speak right in the middle of the song?
You’re screwed!

No matter, really.
I enjoyed listening to the radio when I was young.
I kept listening to the songs I love and the DJs I like.
Well, until I save enough money to buy the Cassette tapes of the bands I listen to.

Anyways.
Somewhere along my “growing up,”
I stopped listening to it.
I couldn’t stand it anymore.
Why?
Well, I didn’t like much of the music that came out after.
It all became…repetitive.
It became shallow.
A couple of catchy beats to grab you at first,
and add word phrases here and there,
then don’t forget to add “yeah, “baby,” and “yo, yo!”

Music became business.
There were more advertisings being played throughout the show.
plus, the DJs started talking a little bit too much.

Also, if the station keeps saying that the show is Non Stop and commercial free?
It’s Commercial to me!

Sometimes on a 30 minute drive home, I would hear 2 songs.
And it’s the same two songs they played on constant hour rotation.
It was maddening.

My musical growth was stunted since, I had no other way of discovering new songs.
I didn’t have knowledge of the latest cool bands.
I relied very much on friends to tell me who are the new ones and their songs.
The Radio stations in Ottawa, where I moved to, were okay.
I have some stations that I listened to.
But now here, where I am at?
I am pretty sure they are just repeating the same 10 songs over and over.
The whole week.

But, this has been changing lately.
With the help of new technology,
I have been able to listen to more radio stations all over the world.
There are great stations in the UK,
in France and some in the Western States too.

But lately, I have been tuning in to Monster RX93 in the Philippines.
With their Monster mixes, every Wednesday mornings. (Night there).
I listen particularly to two DJs at that time.
They seem to have a great selection of songs and mixes them quite well.
They incorporate music from my childhood, and mix it with today’s hottest hits.

They keep me interested and always guessing what’s going to come next.
They play around with the Bpms, that make my mind scouring for songs
that I know would definitely fit quite well.

And, here’s the best part.
With the help of social media, (I use Twitter)
I tweet them some songs to request and they find time to mix it in.
Much easier than way back when we had to call the stations on our rotary home phone.

Oh and they greet me too. Which really makes me feel cool.
I have never been cool.
I have never been one of those cool people who are friends with Music DJs.
But it really does make me feel like one, whenever they mention me
and thanks me for tuning in.

So. Every Wednesday mornings in the Eastern US,
You could tune in on Monster RX93
and check out the mixes.
And just like what I do, send some positive vibes and a tweet to
Dj’s @TomAlvarezRx931 and @djmccoy931.

Also, thanks to Ms. @kitecruz for introducing me to the Monster Mixes.

**UPDATE

Guess who just got noticed?

Here's an awesome reaction to what we do here @Rx931's #RIOTRemix w/ me & @djmccoy931 BlogSite is http://t.co/zJhW7ywKqg Thanks @denofmusic

— Dj Tom (@DjTomRx931) February 12, 2014