Foolish-Ass Questions
10 actual questions that have been asked by Fistful listeners
1.
I'm listening to you on iTunes. Why can't I see the names of the tracks
you're playing?
You're able to now apparently. This question is from five years ago. In June 2007, the track titles started appearing in the iTunes radio ticker.
For several years, iTunes listeners weren't able to see the names of tracks for some reason, which resulted in making an already challenging, not-so-popular radio format (movie music radio is predominantly instrumental) an even more challenging listen for iTunes folks, so I told listeners to go look at the "now playing" ticker on my site.
Now playing on the Fistful of Soundtracks channel:
2. Will you ever post any of your shows as podcasts? I would love to have your show on my iPod. Whatever happened to your plan to do podcasts? I thought I saw you mention that on the Web site.
Those goddamn trendy podcasters. Getting all the press while us old-school Internet radio broadcasters get shoved aside. And they're stealing our listeners too. F*@k 'em. Hey podcasters, enjoy the press while it lasts, bitches, because nothing lasts. There's a reason why they're called podcasters. Because they're pod people. They have no personality. Oh, and I also forgot—f*@k 'em.
I'm kidding.
Yes, I once did talk about possibly doing podcasts, and for a few weeks back in spring 2005, I posted mp3s of past episodes (they were just direct downloads though because I'm a dumbass and I have no idea how to write XML code). But I had to abandon my plans for both after I did some more research and learned that it's illegal for podcasters to include copyrighted music on their podcasts, unless the label or copyright owner gives them clearance to include the music (also, they charge podcasters an arm and a leg to use their music). So it would be impossible to do A Fistful of Soundtracks: The Series as a podcast. That's why most podcasts are talk shows rather than music shows like Fistful. Even the Film Score Monthly podcast is more of a talk show than a music show. (Some of the more law-abiding podcasters who have music shows will only use songs that are already cleared for podcast use, like any of the tracks from the Podsafe Music Network or IODA Promonet.)
So if you want Fistful: The Series on your iPod, I recommend you use a streaming audio capture tool like iRadio to record an episode of Fistful off the stream, allowing you to be able to hear Fistful anytime, anywhere.
3. Can you do something about your microphone? It sounds like you need a preamp.
Before I changed mics in 2005, several listeners would complain to me in e-mails and on the guestbook about the flawed sound quality of my voice and would recommend that I buy a preamp for my mic. My pre-2005 mic sucked. It was a Plantronics headset mic that made me sound like I was recording the show while wearing a scuba mask.
The sucky mic is also the reason why you won't be hearing older eps like "A Town Called Big Nothing" and "Sleazy Listening" in rotation anymore. I know some of you have requested that one of these older eps be streamed again, particularly "Big Nothing," but I can't stand the way my voice sounds during those eps.
4. Are you live
on the air right now?
No. I don't do the
live Internet radio thing. Everything you hear during the stream is prerecorded.
5.
At the end of the episode, I heard a soundbite of a guy saying, "Who
put this thing together? Me, that's who!" What's that from?
That's
from Brian De Palma's 1983 remake of Scarface, only one of the
greatest movies ever made. The clip is from the scene in which Tony Montana (Al Pacino) yells at his
right-hand man Manny (Steven Bauer) while chilling in his tub and watching shows about pelicans.
6.
Do you play TV scores?
No.
I'm an elitist who frowns upon anything having to do with TV.
I'm
kidding. Of course I play scores from TV shows as well.
7.
Some of my requests come from soundtracks that are available only on vinyl.
Can you play those?
Sorry,
I only use CD tracks for my program.
8.
Would you like me to send you mp3s from my soundtrack collection?
Thanks
for offering, but I prefer not to receive mp3 attachments from listeners.
I'm fine with the collection I have.
9. How do I start
a Web radio station like yours? Is it easy to start one?
Click here
for details about how to launch your own station.
10. What's the
title of the song that played during the __________ sequence in the movie
__________ __________? Who's the artist?
Whatdaf**k?! I hate it when people
ask me that question. Just because I run a movie music station doesn't mean I know every
single source tune in every single movie ever made. Click to the IMDb
(they're better equipped than me to answer this question) and try this
section to do a search for info about your song.
Updated
June 29, 2007
© 2008 Jimmy Aquino
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Making a request
I used to accept listener requests and play them during special episodes of A Fistful of Soundtracks: The Series that I called "mailbag episodes." But the influx of requests decreased in 2006, so the following year, I phased out those episodes and stopped asking for requests. I was relieved that the influx decreased because I didn't want to spend too much money anymore on buying requested music that I didn't have in my library. If you do have a request, send it to me on MySpace or leave a comment on my blog.
And if the track you're requesting is part of the Fistful music library,
your request will be played during "Assorted Fistful."
Here are some ground rules for listener requests:
1. Tell me what city you’re
listening from. I like to know where my listeners are located. Alright,
so you call yourself “BobaFettRocks.” But which “BobaFettRocks”
are you? Are you “BobaFettRocks” from Toronto? Or are you “BobaFettRocks”
from Cupertino? You don't have to give me your real name. But whatever you call yourself, make sure you tell me your city or else I'll insult you on the air.
2. Keep in mind that Fistful
is not live radio and that the program is pre-recorded because of my schedule,
so be patient with hearing your request.
3. I can't promise to play
the track you want, but it does no harm asking. Come up with alternate
requests in case I don't have your first choice.
If you're not sure if the movie theme you're about to request has ever
been released, check with Google
or SoundtrackCollector
first to see if the soundtrack release even exists before e-mailing me.
I could use a little more e-mails from listeners who actually did their
homework.
4. Don't request all-Danny Elfman or all-John Williams episodes or whatever. Internet radio airplay laws don't allow us programmers to stream shows that feature only music performed by one artist. You might be asking, "There are actually Internet radio airplay laws?" Yes, there are. The Web isn't as Deadwood-y as it appears.
5. Keep in mind that the hour-long
Fistful program and "Assorted Fistful" focus on music written
for the movies. The George Baker Selection did not record “Little
Green Bag” for Reservoir Dogs. Neither was Dick Dale’s
“Misirlou” written for Pulp Fiction. I like both tunes,
but they’re not original songs (they're what's known in the biz as
"existing songs"), so I’m not itching to add them to the Fistful
episode playlists anytime soon ("Little Green Bag" and "Misirlou" are
more appropriate for the "F Zone" block, which focuses on these existing songs). Also not
allowed on the Fistful episode playlists are any of those pop songs
from those lame “Music from and Inspired by…” albums that
don’t even include songs that were featured in the movie (I created
Fistful in 1997 to pay tribute to the film composers, not the tools
who came up with those “Music from and Inspired by…” travesties).
However, numbers from the movie version of a stage musical are okay—even
though I'm not much of a show tunes fan—because they often differ from the original stage arrangements, so in a way, they are kind of written for the movies.
Updated
May 13, 2008
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