As we lead up to “Floydian Slip” Show #1,000 the week of June 8, we’re digging into the archives to share relics from the show’s past.
We brought “Floydian Slip” to Champ 101.3 FM (WCPV) in Burlington, Vt., in October 1995. We’d end up running on Champ for nearly 14 years — the longest, by far, of any single station before we syndicated.
When we joined Champ, the station was only about a year old, with studios in a small office building just a couple minutes’ walk from my apartment on Shelburne Road, Burlington. I’d pack the CDs I needed for that week’s show into a small carrying case and take the quick walk over to the studio Wednesday nights.
Despite the end product of what I do being very public, the process of producing “Floydian Slip” was (and is) a very solitary activity. There was almost never anyone in the Champ building when I stopped by: The station was running on automation during the weekends. Occasionally I’d bump into another jock laying down some voicetracks into automation for playback later.
But, short of that, I’d often arrive at the station to the greeting of the security alarm, telling me no one was around.
The show I did high
A rare exception was an evening I dropped by accidentally high on muscle relaxants following a back injury. My doctor had warned me they might make me a little dopey, but I felt fine sitting home on my sofa. It wasn’t until I walked over to the station when I realized I was somewhat impaired.
And, as luck would have it, there was some sort of staff meeting taking place that night.
You have to remember very few Champ staffers had ever seen my face. I never stopped in during business hours. I was a faceless voice that some staff members didn’t even realize belonged to a local personality.
In their minds, I was the “Pink Floyd guy,” who, if pressed for details, they’d probably guess was a slightly whacked out stoner — the same sort of person they all turned to see walk through the door that evening.
Making matters worse, I felt compelled to try and explain my condition using lips and tongue that didn’t want to cooperate: the back injury, the muscle relaxants, I’m not usually like this, you probably think all Floyd fans are stoners, anyway, I didn’t drive here, I just walked a few blocks … I probably made my case worse by trying to explain it.
Sadly, the audio from that show is long gone. I wonder if I sounded in control of all of my faculties.
The photo
In this photo of the Shelburne Road studio, you can see the automation software keeping the station on the air on the right monitor. The display on the left was the machine I was using to record my show.
Champ moved from its Shelburne Road location within a few years, and took up residence in Colchester’s historic Fort Ethan Allen.
Fascinating…the truth is always stranger than fiction!!