Guest Ghoul: Welcome to Dead Air 98point3FM

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As a Halloween music junkie, I am always on the hunt for more songs to add to my playlists that celebrate the season. Earlier this month when I saw one of my Twitter friends mention the “Dead Air” station she was listening to, I anxiously clicked the link, hoping to find some new gems. I was not disappointed.

I’ve asked the man behind the music to share some thoughts on his station, Halloween music and even a few picks for your own playlist over the next two weeks. Read on to learn more about the best Halloween radio station out there! – Miranda


By Clay Roe
Owner of Dead Air

 

What is Dead Air?

I have worked for nearly 30 years in commercial radio, which seems to have become condensed, pre-recorded, automated, and frankly…bland. I needed a creative outlet. So I built an online streaming radio station in a walk-in closet in my house.

98point3FM is kind of a parody of a real radio station. For 11 months out of the year, I use it to mock at all the radio clichés I’m intimately familiar with, mixed in with music I enjoy. Both good and intentionally bad. It makes for weird listening.

The Haunted Garage Radio Studio

I go all out decorating for Halloween. A few years back, I considered setting up a “haunted radio station,” using old discarded radio studio equipment. Sort of a take on the whole Ghost Pirate Ship concept, except it would be Ghost Pirate Radio. Get it? HA! Humor!

I imagined my garage as an exposed radio studio, skeleton at the microphone and controls, weird and creepy audio playing out of the speakers. Hell, I could even set up a micro-power FM transmitter to actually play the Halloween music for the neighborhood. I could even…..wait….

Why not stream it?

I already have the streaming server and studio setup inside the house…

Well, I never did do the “Haunted Radio Studio” in the garage. The idea sent me off on a tangent, converting 98point3FM over to Halloween for the month of October. I’ve been doing it every October since.

More than 2,000 Halloween tracks currently in the library…more than 1,000 in active rotation at any given time. And hundreds of “others”, as I call them: sound collages I create, TV and movie clips, trailers, educational films cuts, anything non-musical, but Halloween-related. My goal was always to make the stream listenable for long periods of time…without any repeats and always changing.

The station is commercial-free. I accept donations to help offset the hosting costs and the occasional equipment upgrade. The only commercials you’ll hear are either fake or vintage ones, all played for fun only.

Here are some of my personal favorites in the current Dead Air library, in no particular order…

Rob Cantor – Actual Cannibal Shia LaBeouf

Viral speak-sung hit from a few years back. The Shia threat is unresolved.

Lambert, Hendricks and Ross – Halloween Spooks

Been a #1 favorite in my house for years…mainly because I play it on repeat during pumpkin carving and annoy my kids by singing along with the chickenwitch sounds, ghostly gargling, and spirit scatting.

Prairie Ramblers – Ghost In The Graveyard

An early twentieth-century singing-around-the-campfire kind of song. I have no idea how he did that voice without falling into a coughing fit.

Eddie Noack – Psycho

I love this song so much. My friend Rob gave me the Jack Kittel version of it, which I play all year long. This version, however, I reserve for Halloween. The tempo changes are offputting. And every time he says, “Mama”…so do I. Out loud. Now you will, too. You are powerless to resist. Mama.

Koffin Kats – Graveyard Tree

Last year I took this off the playlist entirely. Then one day, the “Six feet un-der ground!” chorus popped into my head, refused to leave…and made me realize I had made a mistake.

 

 

Stay tuned for even more Halloween picks from Dead Air through October 31st, right here on Spooky Little Halloween. And be sure to head over to Dead Air to listen – it’s on constantly at work, at home and in my car as I get ready for Halloween.

Happy listening,

 

Miranda | Spooky Little Halloween

Miranda is the Houston-based writer, blogger, and Halloween lover behind Spooky Little Halloween, the blog celebrating October 31st all year long. Her favorite Halloween things include pumpkin guts, chocolate bars in her trick-or-treat pail, real haunted houses (including the one she lives in!), and historic cemeteries.

2 Comments

  1. Reply

    Jillian

    April 11, 2017

    I make everyone listen to Rob Cantor’s Actual Cannibal Shia LaBeouf if they haven’t heard it before. It’s brilliant!

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