AIRED:
KCRW, Los Angeles, 1996.

While working at Groove Radio one day, Rabbit In The Moon came into the studio. They had a DAT tape with them, which had some of their latest (and yet - at the time - to be released) remixes.

ME: "Can I make a copy of your DAT?"

A member of Rabbit In The Moon: "Sure."

Squeeeee!

Now, Groove Radio 103.1 FM was a small station. A very small station. A small fact that I forgot when I asked if I could clone their DAT tape. That fact became painfully obvious when I remembered the station only had one DAT deck.

Fuck.

Think, rabbit. Think!

About two miles from Groove Radio was KCRW FM. With equal parts hope and balls, I cold called the radio station. Upon hearing the voice say "KCRW", I quickly explained my dilemma: "I work at Groove Radio. We only have one DAT deck. Rabbit In The Moon just walked in with unreleased mixes on a DAT that I desperately, and quickly, need to clone. Any chance you'll help out a fellow DJ? Do you have two free DAT decks?" The reply: "Sure, as long as I can make a copy for me."

I literally flew down the road, and got to tape cloning.

The person who let me come over was Gary Calamar. Gary now is a radio veteran, nominated for five Grammy Awards for his music supervision in both film and TV. Back then, he was the cool guy at a somewhat-competing radio station that let me use their equipment for an hour or so.

After that cold call trip to KCRW, I became friends with Gary. Along with lunches at Koo-Koo-Roo (remember them? Good chicken!), I'd also talk shop with Gary. I mentioned that I had done remixes that were not exactly Groove Radio or KROQ friendly, just wasting away on DAT tapes. One of those mixes was of "Strawberry Fields Forever" by The Beatles.

A week later, Gary was playing it on air. Here's an aircheck.

Some very important things to remember while listening to this mix:
• This was done in the 90s, way before all the Beatles stems leaked from the Rock Band video game. If you wanted to separate elements in songs, you had to get VERY creative!
• I did not have Pro Tools when I did this mix! All I had was Sound Designer 2.82 (snapcase crack - IYKYK). As such, EVERYTHING was layered in a two track digital editor. You have to plan FAR in advance when you're doing a mix limited by two stereo tracks!

Considering the limitations, it turned out good enough to get KCRW airplay. :)

File uploaded: January 13th, 2023