In theory, this blog might be read by literally hundreds of people,
although judging by the comments columns to each post this is either
not the case or a lot of people aren`t very talkative about music, i
say that with a mixture of humour and frustration. But even if it`s
not being read by too many people, i have two people to thank for
linking Lost Treasures Review to their own website. Firstly Sunshine
Coast DJ Ben Sorenson, who is the man behind the country music web-
site REAL COUNTRY, and an old mate of mine who isn`t the least bit
famous like Ben and who has 2 blogs like me, OZ CENTRAL THE WORLD
and OZ COMEDY. His name is Jeremy Michaels. If it wasn`t for these
two blokes then most probaly i may as well give up and stick to my
serious blog BADRICK UNADULTERATED, but i keep getting a trickle
of links so i guess for the sake of letting my hair down and hav-
ing some fun i`ll keep going. All i can ask is that you support
these guys and have a look at their respective blogs, OZ CENTRAL
is totally based around politics so that might not be your cup
of tea but the other two blogs, one a piece for both of them,
are both very unique and very underrated. I just wish Jeremy
would post a lot more stuff on OZ COMEDY, he really lets a
lot go to waste. Anyhow, talking about Ben Sorenson, DJ`s
and lost treasures all in one, i got thinking tonight about
all the DJ`s i use to ring up on air and request songs from
on the old `human` FM104 radio station in Brisbane back
in the late 80`s. For all of Ben Sorenson`s more quirky ec-
centricities, the one i do admire about the guy is his down
to earth and approachable attitude to his listeners and fol-
lowers of his websites. Ben started out at the tiny 4GY sta-
tion on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, but thanks to the
exposure of REAL COUNTRY he now networks his program
throughout numerous radio stations right across Australia,
despite having a lot of detractors in the music buiness who
seem to resent him because of his more accessible approach
both on and off the air to his followers.
Maybe a few big wigs high up in the music business need to
wash the sour grapes out of their mouth and stop persecuting
Ben Sorenson because of his more progressive and radical ideas
in the radio business. It has been rumoured that Ben was lite-
rally escorted out of the TRECC entertainment centre at this
years Tamworth Country Music Awards night by security guards
because the fascist right wing ultra-conservatives who rule
the roost in the australian country music industry didn`t
want Ben to be there in case he gave some bad publicity to
the show on his radio program once the festival was over.
I dont really know, but it wouldn`t surprise me in the least,
i know how the country music industry works, it is like an
emotionless machine at times and unless you suck up to the
powers that be you get trodden on and abandoned very quickly.
On a more positive note, Ben is still going, despite being
chucked out of Tamworth, and he is still plodding along and
carving out quite a niche in the radio biz. Ben`s approach
to on-air spontaneity reminds me a lot of Dave Carlson and
Rod Lockington, who were two pioneers of radio on the orig-
inal FM station in Brisbane, FM104. That was back in the days
when you could ring up the DJ on air and request a song over
the radio, and you could hear your voice coming through the
telephone. Try ringing up up a FM radio station and talking
directly to a DJ these days, there is more of a chance hell
will freeze over. There was a show on Channel 9 in Brisbane
which aired from 1983 to 1987, it was a music clip show, ap-
propriately called CLIPZ. As far as i know Dave Carlson and
Rod Lockington were two of the radio DJ`s who hosted it.
Unlike the music clips shows of today, CLIPZ was not weighed
down by tacky Gen-Y interviews with tartshells showing their
nipple rings and their underwear, it was just a no-nonsense
show which mainly aired video clips but also included some
civilised interviews with various artists. I can picture Ben
Sorenson having such a like minded show nowadays, dedica-
ted though to country music and showcasing an equal share
of interviews and country music clips. Ben might not be
everyones cup of tea, his eccentric ways might tick a
few people off, but he is still a lot easier to get along
with than Don Burke. Seeing that no one ever broke
Don Burke`s nose i think Ben Sorensen is safe.
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