The story of the washed-up radio announcer who can’t move on

Jack Post has released a song about a “generic radio veteran” who’s left the game, but can’t seem to give it up.

The song was inspired by a chat with Andy Lee, in which the two joked about trying to stay up-to-date with current music trends and back announcing on Spotify and iTunes playlists.

“I still put on Spotify – I might put on the Top 40 charts, for instance. Today, for instance, I put on the iTunes Top 50, just to have a listen, just to see what’s getting around,” Lee, who now hosts a podcast with his former radio co-host Hamish Blake, said.

“I always leave spots to thank the sponsor. Just to get the real feel, I’m thanking Video Ezy and Blockbuster just to really hark back to the glory days of radio.”

Lee admitted that now that he no longer works at a hit-based music station, he’s “pretty out of touch”.

“I do listen to a lot of radio still. I know we were there and you had to listen to every song – when you go to a song, it’s kind of there [but] we’d turn the songs down and chat, you, me and Hamish, but it gets ingrained in there somehow, subconsciously. A bit like Clockwork Orange I suppose, where they just made them watch terrible things. I think that’s the same as pop music if you work in the station,” he said.

The challenge for contemporary hit radio, however, is the need for audiences to feel unique and carve out a niche, he said.

“I still like finding out what people are into, but the hard job now for radio stations is, Top 40, it’s kind of not existing… They get it from streaming charts, but I think the want to be an individual is so strong, that anything popular is just doomed, because people want to get off it – they want to be niche.

“So, I think there’s man, many cool niche things, but not so much the huge broad thing anymore.”

Lee’s joke that he still hones his radio craft by back announcing his Spotify playlists prompted Post to pen the ‘Thanks for tuning in’ song, which tracks the former glory, and painful comedown, of a radio star of years gone by.

The full lyrics are below.

This is a story
Of a former glory
A radio DJ who doesn’t play the songs no more
He, no longer broadcasts
Everyone he walks passed, he’ll tell the time – It’s 10 to nine
And does the weather forecast
“Thanks for tuning in”

Now he’s driving
And he’s streaming
Top 40 Hits and talking in the bits between ’em
“That’s the new one, from Ed Sherran”
He back announces the track despite the fact no-one can hear him

He doesn’t seem to care
He’s not on air
He’s not aware
The show he’s on has come and gone
He’s throwing to another song
That nobody will hear
And nobody will care
He says “Thanks for tuning in”
But nobody’s there

Yea, in the morning
He’ll just start talking
Gives out his own phone number
Wonders why nobody’s calling
He’s got prize giveaways to improve his ratings
He played Beat The Bomb against his mum
And she won all his savings

He doesn’t seem to care
He’s not on air
He’s not aware
The show he’s on has come and gone
There’s no point playing Beat The Bomb
When nobody will hear
And nobody will care
He says “Thanks for tuning in”
But nobody’s there

If a radio DJ speaks in the woods
And nobody’s around to hear what he says
Does he make a sound?
Does he make a sound?
Does he even exist?

And now he’s shopping
He’s buying sneakers
Elton John comes on – his song is playing through the speakers
He tells the staff
“It’s my pleasure to pout the classics on
“And it’s all thanks to the Nissan Navara-thon”

He doesn’t seem to care
He’s not on air
He’s not aware
The show he’s on has come and gone
There’s no Nissan Navara-thon
And nobody will hear
And nobody will care
He says “Thanks for tuning in”
And nobody’s there