and now the BIO

I will say this just once..to clarify what Radio Crystal Blue is and isn’t:
Radio Crystal Blue is an internet radio program. This program is the collection of sounds that are generated by top indie and touring artists that are not major-label...just everyone else.  I strive to connect one song to another by way of a chord, a lyric, a sentiment based on the time of the month, the year, a season, a common association between 2 artists or labels, a band or songwriter I booked, etc. You really do have to listen to the show to understand what I mean, but, once you do, you’ll feel the flow of this lost art of radio called freeform.  I start each show at 7pm, and I never know how it will end...the songs are chosen spontaneously, tho in advance I’ve chosen as much as which artist from which album...putting together segments generally by degrees of loudness.  The middle stuff I put in the beginning...the louder in the middle, and the quiet at the end. Listen at various times of the year and you will pick up on songs I spin once a year as traditions. 
I strive to play original music, as new as possible, from artists that currently promote their gigs and news. I stray from playing ‘singles’, ‘covers’, ‘standards’ and the like unless absolutely unavoidable. I believe in playing cuts that don’t always get aired.

Are we clear now? Good. No? Well, read on, friend.

Some thoughts on freeform from early pioneers:
 
Debussy: "There is no theory. You have only to listen. Pleasure is the law. I love music passionately. And because l love it, I try to free it from barren traditions that stifle it. It is a free art gushing forth, an open-air art boundless as the elements, the wind, the sky, the sea. It must never be shut in and become an academic art."

Satie: "Postulez en vous-même. (wonder about yourself)"

Wow. Before anyone gave freeform its name in format, there were 2 of the great geniuses of 20th century compositions describing the indescribable.   The very nature of freeform is something I gravitate to, most notably having heard the voices of some great rock radio DJs in old audio files, and grew up soon out of predictable radio playlists, to a rather alternative view and sentiment. You knew you were listening to radio too long if you were hearing the same hit song at least 3 times in one day.. What I didn't know was the then loose regulation about the frequency you could hear a song. Now with the DMCA in place, the hopes of the first rock stars to monopolize the airwaves soon vanished.  Wolfman Jack ruled because he had the airwaves in TX that could reach small countries, the signal was that strong.   All hopes of great radio power have succumbed to both a somewhat Clear Channel, and I sure don't like and don't know Jack-FM.   To a degree I do support the new DCMA regulations....I guess I was born into an era that totally eschewed the very idea of a DJ having too much free rein.  I feel weird even playing a full CD on the radio...there's so much more music to share.  Playing a full album side, in the days of vinyl was something that no one even looked down on. The very practice was what was called Album Rock....playing little-known yet interesting one-of-a-kind pieces that would forever be lost to history if DJs didn't care enough about the music.   But don't call me a throwback just yet.
I've also grown up and began my college life getting subscriptions to magazines like SPIN, Alternative Press and CMJ, which broadened my knowledge of the history of alternative music. Some say the first alternative hits came from the Buzzcocks, some will even point to R.E.M.  Alternative to what? You may as well ask.  Alternative to the established radio-ready hits, the major-label pushes; the excessive media hype.  That's what.  If it got no hype, little radio airplay, or modest magazine coverage at best, you call it an even more broadened label---underground.   IMHO it seems that.. to the extent of the amount of PR and in which direction.. that you reached your preferred levels of stardom if you were to aspire.    With radio, there was truly more freeform as outlined by the government ('you are free to do as we tell you'), and excessive free speech was always frowned upon.  But then there are the levels of taste. Do we really want to hear the classics for the umpteenth time, let alone a 10th time in one day? Do DJs have to sit on rooftops, or toss out bills from the station to get attention? Or maybe even the occasional online spam for VIP tickets to some 'exclusive' hotspot?    Between the extremes lie the tracks upon which I set the groove of Radio Crystal Blue, a monolithic train on a Sunday night, heading to no particular dimension, yet strays from the third and fourth rails of governmental madness and sheer greed and personal excess.  
 
Radio Crystal Blue is constructed by me, Dan Herman. There is no staff, no perky secretary, no WKRP-like, demi-ogre of a business owner at the helm.  This is simply me, a library of 600 CDs at my last count, with about 10 CDs mailed to me a week; a MiniDisc mic, a decent-powered computer which I sorely need to upgrade to, a Behringer EB802 Eurorack mixer, 2 portable CD players, and the software on my PC which runs the Live365 server. The server is a Java applet.
Each show is worked on early Fridays, where I comb through hundreds of emails from acts on mailing lists, informing me of shows in their locale, some from NYC, some from whereever.  Through a rigorous amount of logistics,  I determine the songs that will be in rotation for the next show, often dictated by degrees of loudness, and always dictated by flow. I choose artists based on their body of work as a whole. I don't choose particular albums (I always play the latest) and I never choose songs until the moment arrives to play the next song, thereby keeping to the true spontaneous nature of Radio Crystal Blue.
The shows are archived with the Live365 software.  When the show ends, I upload the show to a remote server, and I simultaneously type out the playlist. I transcribe all notes and the audio to the archive page, and I do likewise with BigContact, the podcast service I recently joined.  When everything's uploaded, I alert the masses via my email list, YahooGroups, and on MySpace.  The whole process starts again on Fridays with the research and the email announcements as to who gets airplay.

My future aspirations for the show include a  PC that will be able to handle the Live365 system (my new one running Vista can’t but my oldie with Win98 does) and a  real studio to work from...so that I can host  interviews, drop-ins and calls and interactivity with you all.  Why? Because; I'm passionate as Debussy about getting the music to the many that care about music and the very fabric of each sound. The vibrant fabric of music and voice can be heard not simply measure for measure, but song per song, and even per show. This is what I ultimately wish to convey...the breadth of music's reach into the everyday consciousness and the personal/legal enjoyment of music that was once forgotten or overlooked to reach the common Web-surfer/pod-enjoyer/.

I also have a portable recorder with which I record live events and also do audio based interviews.


You want to know my favorites? I'll give you 4..the 4 pillars of rock as Dan Herman sees it:
VELVET UNDERGROUND (1964-1973, 1993). New York Rock starts with Lou Reed, combining his wicked poetry with avant-garde stuff such as with Ornette Coleman, LaMonte Young and the like.  I'm totally awestruck at how rock could be, and is, truly art. There's a part of me that wishes to have a band that would rock out just the way they did. Just as Satie had his own background 'furniture' music, here was music to get wasted by.   Every song, especially in the first 3 albums, had such marked depth, emotive quality.  I can't single even one song out for evidence...they all beg to be heard.   Perhaps one starting point is "White Light/White Heat"...or maybe "Heroin".  Or Nico's vox on "I"ll Be Your Mirror".  Nico...the icon. Fata Morgana.  What an awesome voice. I can do a decent impression of her voice, but dont' ask me to.    Anyway. Loaded is a true rock classic, and not just for the heavily borrowed rock riffs of "Sweet Jane" nor "Rock N' Roll". Check out "Another View" for more lost gems, and by all means walk with "Head Held High" in the sunrise to late morning hours around the Lower East Side to really know the beauty of VU"s work.    A band I will never tire of hearing, ever since I first discovered "Sunday Morning" on a friend's borrowed mixtape back in 1990.  Said tape also contained half of "Sister Ray". It was only my insatiable curiosity that led me to wonder what the rest of the 18-minute piece was. I'm glad I know, and I hope you know as well.  If I ever get serious jones to ‘performing’ again, and I have my druthers, I will have to perform one of VU’s tunes. Serious.

BETTIE SERVEERT (1990- )

Carol Van Dijk, Peter Visser and company, hailing from the Netherlands..a band I first bought into upon...surprise!..a very positive SPIN review, calling it ‘sport-rock’...something to enjoy while traipsing (tripping?) up the rocks and hills of the mother country.  I snapped up the Palomine CD and was mystified. There was this way they rocked out on ballads....with a touch of guitar artistry, balanced by Carol's high croon, not unlike Edie Brickell yet more airy.  Bettie Serveert was one of my first intros to modern alternative music. The title track of Palomine was the calling card...a 5 minute song that was anything  but a mere pop creation..there was a story to tell and a slow yet exciting buildup. I remarked, even then, to people that they seemed capable of constructing 2 or 3 different melodies and phrasings to each song....it wasn't verse-chorus-verse, etc.  This was before I got into antifolk and learned there were folks doing this sort of approach for a while. This just happened to be the more popular band on the scene doing it, and they weren't antifolk...or anti-much of anything anyway.  They're still around, still make the tour stop locally at Maxwell's in NJ, and I still havent' seen them live yet. They seem to be doing more true ballad stuff which are a lot more reflective, less edgy.  But I still enjoy the sound.  Update: In October 2006 I finally saw the band. What an experience! Read about it in my YahooGroup for more

PIXIES:  (1985-1991, 2005-)
Enough's been written about the Pixies, so I'll simply say this...get Bossanova. Get it for the surf-space songs.  Get Trompe Le Monde if you want their super-polished off-kilter gems..get Surfer Rosa if you want to hear them from the roots of the sound...and you might see why Kurt Cobain wrote "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in homage.  Doolittle is good too, had more of the popular hits and got the MTV exposure, but check them out when Kim Deal was still Mrs. John Murphy.    First discovered their songs in...surprise surprise, a short SPIN article, a year before the breakup.  Yes, I believed in pixies, and this band had such humor and passion in their words and musical delivery.  College kids loved 'em and so did I.  And still do....they're the ultimate summer rock band, with Kim's side project The Breeders a very close second.  Breeders, another great collection of artists, but that's another discussion.

ELASTICA (1990-2001)
Totally dug Justine Frischmann and the New Wave of New Wave (yeesh what a title. Britpop is better) after hearing them on a station I struggled to get a decent signal from in Brooklyn NY, that station being Eatontown NJ's WHTG, 106.3.  I miss that station.  It introduced me to Black Grape, Pixies (again), Red Hot Chili Peppers and the like. Mind you, there was one TV, and that was for the folks, not for this young man's consumption of his own merit.  I turned to radio all the more. And so there was one mixtape I had that included "Stutter"..the first radio hit from this great ensemble. A band that hated to (or couldn't) write "middle eights"..those parts of a song where the middle 8 bars between a 2nd verse and bridge in a pop song, needed some extra flair before a neat guitar solo. No, there was no room for that.  Elastica grew out of Suede, and Justine was in lurve with what's his name in that band, Brett....and then she moved on to Dan Abnormal...er, no..that would be Damon Alborn of Blur, whom I preferred slightly below Oasis.  Oasis isn't in my top 4, as they bit a bit too much from the Fab Four, but that too is another topic.   Not a bad song in the bunch, even if they did get a bit experimental and do weird sonic collages over bits of poetry on the long-awaited followup "The Menace" (so named because it was exactly that to record it amidst the coke habits).  I was close-knit to one fanclub, and even provided commentary about the one and only time I saw the beloved band...October 2000 at the Bowery Ballroom.  With a bit of help I even got backstage to meet my new heroes.  Sharon Mew (that would be Mew to you), who bounced around the stage when she wasn't banging a keyboard, shared a neat moment with me...called me her bro. I had mentioned that I have a sister named Sharon, and Mew's bro is Dan. So there we are. Whatever became of her?   

There's my 4....some of the best of alternative pop-rock and the roots and offshoots of punk.  There are satellite acts I will also put in this list....I've mentioned Suede, Oasis, the Breeders, but there are more. Iggy Pop (punk began here; no question) the Sex Pistols (from whom all modern punk dost borrow and steal from), the Ramones (the 70's glamorization of the fun 60's, all dressed dark and 'd-u-m-b’), Primal Scream (dance rock personified) and you know my love of The Orb.

On the personal level I’m 37, raised in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn, New York, older of 2..was a management major for a while..then had to support the folks for a few years before making a sudden left turn in my life....and it was off to New Jersey.    My earliest musical memories include hearing Linda Rondstadt and Olivia Newton-John on local WNBC radio. Matter of fact, I remember hearing a LOT of the old-style radio....Joe Franklin, Cousin Brucie, Dan Ingram.....Dad had the stereo on a lot.....I grew to like the same things he appreciated musically....one of the few bonds we had.  That’s sort of how my quirkiness and openness to musical styles began. Once I got my first radio at age 12, I discovered a lot more about commercial radio in NYC, appreciating sounds from WPLJ mostly. I remember the day I woke up early to check out their morning show, live from the Boardwalk in Coney Island. I think my mental soundtrack then included Dire Straits, Duran Duran, those sort of sounds.  Not the greatest student academically, but very well versed in the top sounds of the day.   From the earlist days I remember being told of my voice and how it would take me places..I never really followed those voices...that would actually occur later..I encountered one member of the False Prophets on a telemarketing assignment in NYC, we got to be fast friends...and soon he would indoctrinate me into the underground sounds of NYC and music history in general. I was among those to first see a band rise and fall by the name of DGeneration. I soon got to meet a few other musicians of renown, tho I had merely the appreciation built...there was nothing I was doing within the industry.  The first cassettes I bought were ones of Hendrix (Smash Hits), Neil Young (Freedom), Pixies (Trompe le Monde), and some European techno compilations. Scouring trade magazines (Spin, Alternative Press), I quickly linchpinned my interests to other bands that drew from the sounds I enjoyed most (My Bloody Valentine, Catherine Wheel, the Orb, to name a scant few). 
In 2000, while redefining my career goals for the umpteenth time, I stumbled upon the medium of Internet radio. I had already gravitated to the world of Web in 1998, and truly it opened my eyes and ears to new appreciation of the world about me, as I am sure any of you can understand. Voice chat in particular became one of my hobbies, building friendships and acquaintances worldwide. August 2000, I discovered that with my connection, as well as a slew of CDs, mp3s and the like, I could finally produce something more tangible and virtually ‘broadcast’ my thoughts, interests and love for music and related areas.  After a minute’s thought, I realized that this just might be my calling. Enter Live365
Fast forward to 2003: After heeding the call of the independents, inspired by particular radio muses (Vin Scelsa, for one), I have turned my focus much more outward.  I find it gratifying to share worldwide sounds with an equally worldwide audience....creating a niche by spotlighting some of the best talent on the Internet.   In May 2002, through the chance meeting of a few notable musicians (and one I followed from LA and back),I became immersed in the NYC downtown scene once again, this time to align with the C-Note music venue  in the East Village.  I currently assist in promoting more of the same great talent with Radio Crystal Blue, locally-based, and certainly Internet-friendly (Yes, RCB does take its name from the Tommy James tune, popularised around the time I was conceived) Therein I created a new niche....one of promotion/airplay/booking. I honestly do not think there is anyone who does what I do.
Some of the influences I credit for my radio presence, apart from Vin are: Hearts Of Space , and just about any old-time rock radio, such as what I’d hear on WNEW-FM (R.I.P.). One of the secrets I learned was being personable, interactive with the music itself.
A typical show finds me spinning music of different musicians (typically 10-15 new ones are heard each week) , as well as catching up on music news, and new releases. I present each show with a low-key and personable manner. I like to add some history to each, a little bit of tradition, but the approach is very much original
2004: Debut appearance in a music video for Dante
public-access cable TV appearance in NYC with songwriter Dave Space
performance of an Allen Ginsberg poem accompanied by the bowed guitar of Denise Barbarita Denise and I reprised our role, me reciting “The Lion For Real” on 8/22/05.
2005 Began podcasting, also working with booking agency NYC Gigs
In 2007 I have expanded my efforts in booking, bought a Behringer sound mixer and am happy to have more people check out the podcasts per day.

SOME FAVORITE CDs past and present from my collection:
Living Colour: Vivid  (my first tape), Jimi Hendrix:blues, Velvet Underground:  White Light/White Heat, Beatles: White Album, DGeneration:  s/t, The Verve: A Northern Soul, Stone Roses: Turns Into Stone, Beastie Boys:  Check Your Head, Elastica:  s/t, False Prophets: (Alternative Tentacles compilation), Bad Brains:Black Dots, Led Zeppelin 4, Digable Planets: Blowout Comb, James Brown:20 All-Time Hits, Digable Planets: (a new refutation of time and space), Pixies:Bossanova

What are my preferred drinks when I drink? Good question:
Toasted Almond (amaretto, Kahlua, milk)
Southern Sparkler (Southern Comfort, juice, soda)
Jagermeister (straight!)
Amaretto on rocks
B-52
and when I really need to balance myself out: Ginger ale & bitters (works every time)
Not a beer drinker, I, but when I do, a good ale usually works (Brooklyn Brown Ale or Lager, or McSorley dark is best. McSorley was my first)
******

How I got into booking:
I was tracking the music career of one ellee ven since 2001. She announced one day she would be performing at a venue in the East Village of NYC called C-Note.  I showed up that day, 5/15/2002. I wasn’t blown away by the appearance of the club, but the sound was quite good. I met Bartender Keith F., ordered a Coors light. First musician I encountered was Kathy Zimmer.  ellee later peformed on backing trackson tape, which mysteriously skipped every few beats. Peter from the band Chasing Sunday handled bongoes beside her.   I stuck around to hear more of the music. I stayed till the end of the night and met themain booker. We chatted for a bit, exchangd a few emails, and he took me under his wing, he having 20+ years in the booking business.
Since that time, I have booked at Bar B (R.I.P.) Le Bar Bat (R.I.P.), Tribeca Rock Club (R.I.P.), a 2.5 year run booking monthly Mondays at C Note (R.I.P.); also 169 Bar (good riddance), The Old Office @ The Knitting Factory .
At NYC Gigs, a collective of 4 bookers in NYC, I currently maintain scheduling and make sure the acts we book are compatible with others on the bill. More info at the Contact page on how to get a gig!
 

PROJECTS:
I am tentatively working on any number of mindless projects that I seem to come up with.
One is a sabermetric study on baseball players and their true power and their ability to influence a game by themselves.  OK, so I’m a stathead.  I loved reading Bill James’s material since 1982.

I’ve completed a Class A subway run of riding every single subway line on the MTA in NYC, accomplished on 1/2/08. Still to be verified but I can say I’ve done it. More of these flights of fancy another time.
I also dabble in various forms of gambling and divination. Weird, yes, but it works for me!   These are semi-serious hobbies and sure to grow more serious over time. I’ve studied astrology for years, and own an Aquarian Tarot deck. I’m also experienced in wagering $ on horses. I haven’t been very successful but I’m learning much.