📻 Behind the Mic: Power Cuts, Puzzles, and Pacing

A radio focused day today so down to StarFM in St Helens with a few challenges, but nothing I couldn't handle.

It was an interesting start to the shift today. A regional power failure meant arriving at the studio just as the power clicked back on, leaving a bit of a scramble to get the streaming servers restarted and everything firing on all cylinders. Fittingly, the Shirt Du Jour was Beaker from The Muppets sporting a very anxious "MEEP" design playing off the "OBEY" and later "OBAMA" parodies. Little did I know when I donned it at home how well it would mirror the day.

Despite a few early technical gremlins and short tracks in the second hour requiring some quick back-timing (including a handy 2-shot of Scary Pockets and Hanson, plus some Stevie Wonder to hit the news spot), the music logs lined up perfectly. We even managed to squeeze a classic "Winds light to variable" Wallace Greenslade nod into the marine report.

For those tracking the music and the puzzles from today's broadcast, here is the full breakdown of how it all came together:

🧩 Hour Three: What's My Theme?

This hour kicked off with a riddle block centered around the end of an era of sorts—specifically, the sign-off of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

• Late Night Talking – Harry Styles

• Green Door – Shakin' Stevens

• Cancel Everything – Ron Wood

• Last Night – Traveling Wilburys

• It's All Over Now – The Rolling Stones

🧠 Hour Four: The Brain Teaser

A "This Day in History" puzzle marking the day in 1973 when San Francisco banned amplified electronic instruments from playing free gigs in Golden Gate Park. The band involved later wrote a number-one hit mocking the decision. As a nice bit of accidental programming symmetry, Paul McCartney's track in this block was actually released in that exact same year.

• We Built This City – Starship

• San Franciscan Nights – The Animals

• Band on the Run – Paul McCartney & Wings

• Electric Avenue – Eddy Grant

• Listen to the Music – The Doobie Brothers

🎸 The Drive Home Log

The final run of the day featured a mix of high-energy female-fronted ANZAC rock, a few deliberate artist tie-ins to bookend the show, and a classic finish for the weekend.

• Black Fingernails, Red Wine – Eskimo Joe

• Voodoo Child – Rogue Traders

• Rollover DJ – Jet (Bookending their first-hour track)

• Sunsets – Powderfinger (as I drove off into the sunset)

Note: The online stream is fully recovered and running normally at www.starfm.org.au and via external aggregators. Thanks for listening along today, and have a great weekend.