Whither Taking Sides?

(I found this image here.)

This is a true story: at some point during my time at KOOP radio, there was a call for volunteers to submit some art & copy for the upcoming Membership Drive.  (We are WRFL are sooooo lucky we don't have to do pledge drives!)  I drew a picture - very rough, I'm not a great artist - with two panels:  one had a sweet little girl lying in front of a radio labeled "KOOP," a huge smile on her face, a heart emanating from her to show how happy she was; the other had a giant monster radio with its mouth open, shoveling money into its gaping maw - it was labeled "corporate radio."  The text at the bottom said "KOOP Membership Drive - Choose Sides!"

The station manager at the time - who openly didn't like me, so it was always extremely awkward talking to her - asked me to come to her office & sat me down, to reject the idea.  "It's so provocative," is the only comment she made about my submission.  She chose instead a perfectly nice, but decidedly more neutral, piece made entirely of clip-art.

Why in the world am I thinking about this?  Because of today's theme, silly!  I initially just wanted the show to be about songs with "my side" or "your side" in them, because of the song that gave me the idea: Neil Young's "Down By The River," which begins with the lines,

Be on my side

I'll be on your side, baby

But obviously there are more sides that yours or mine.  So the show grew from there.

Excluded from the show are songs about the actual sides of things.  No songs about being by your side, or on the sunny side of something, or even boys who may or may not have thorns in their sides.  It's really all about taking sides today.

Which is why I need to tell you that the show will be on (naturally) from 4-6pm on 88.1 fm in Lexington & online at wrfl dot fm.  The show won't necessarily encourage you to choose a side, but chances are, during or after the show, you'll make the decision to defect to the other side.