Erstellt am: 2. 10. 2010 - 19:00 Uhr

10 Years of Sunny Side Up

John Megills list of some of the nicest moments in and around ten years of Sunny Side Up. Plus: "10 Years Sunny Side Up" Charts

Ingo Pertramer

by John Megill

They‘re an occupational hazard in radio. And in life. Lists. With lists you get maths and the concepts of better and best. Sundays and holidays are there for us to escape, for a day or even just a portion of a day. To escape things like concepts and maths, better and best. We all need some kind of medicine, some kind of escape, some time spent just being in the moment, without thinking, without planning and preparation. Of course the general plan of western society dictates that Sundays and Holidays be set aside for things other than work. The acquired wisdom of the generations isn’t always wrong; so if you work on Sundays, be sure to take some other day off. Otherwise there’s a risk you’ll get so caught up in the world you create that you’ll miss the world around you. Sundays and Holidays: Be in the moment. Zen Hippy Shxt. Non-optional zen hippy shxt, I’m afraid. Be in the moment, at least sometimes. Sunny Side Up is a show of and about moments. The bittersweet beauty of moments is that you have no choice but to let them go. But you’ll always have the memories ...

radio FM4

Here, then, is a list in no particular order, and of no pre-determined length, of some of the nicest moments in and around ten years of Sunny Side Up on FM4.

The First Show

To be honest, I was so nervous I can’t remember much about the first show. My memory generally is a big messy seemingly random pile of impressions. Finding what you’re looking for can be a nightmare. To compensate for this perhaps, my memory gives me, also apparently chosen randomly, beautiful gifts of perfect high definition video, with audio, ranging in length from between a split- second and max. 4 seconds. I have one such video clip from the very first Sunny Side Up. The clip begins right afer I’ve nervously garbled the all important ‘first words ever’. It’s a close-up shot of my index finger on my left hand pressing the red mic button turning it off. It’s a millisecond of silence but long enough to feel a thousand emotions and one strange thought: why don’t I hear myself breathing out? The camera shoots over to my right hand. We see and even hear my fingerprint being left behind on the button for the first song. I still don’t breathe. Everything goes dark suddenly. Not scary dark, friendly vaguely red-orange dark. In this darkness that is me with my eyes closed wearing headphones, there is no thought. Only a single chord played on some sort of keyboard and a woman with a smooth, smooth, voice singing this: "Laah la la, Laalala laaahhh." And then the drum kicks in a Hip Hop beat and Q-Tip starts rapping some about the solar-system. My memory camera switches off, and I stand there happy to be alive in the solar-system; happier that the scary part is over. And happiest that something new and exciting has just started, for real.

Shortly thereafter

My first off-air "good morning" chat, as colleagues, with Duncan Larkin. He gave me a great big bear’s handshake and said "Well done, I always knew you’d make it", or words to that effect. I don’t remember his exact words unfortunately. But I am sure of the content. Another five or even seven years before, I had been working for a short summer as a virtually unpaid slave for Blue Danube Radio. One Sunday, Duncan caught me practicing in the extra studio… Here’s, exactly, what he said then, rubbing his hands together and then pointing at me with a great big happy surprised aha! grin on his face: "You wanna be a jock!!" The irony is that in Canada, a jock is not a disc jockey but a sports enthusiast who enjoys winning just that little bit too much. I knew what he meant though and they’re words I will always carry with me. And I will also always miss saying good morning to Duncan Larkin in the FM4 studio at 9:45.

Frantischek’s Cooking

My oldest friend in Vienna, my Pate if you like, is called Franz Galla. On-air we call him Frantischek the Cook. Frantischek occasionally visits me in the studio when he has some especially delicious leftovers that his wife Barbara and kids, Laura & Simon have eaten up. Frantischek is a gifted cook. I once asked him where to get the best onions, here’s what he said: "Onions like to be slow roasted. To get the best onions you must find the correct tree. It is an ancient tree in a farmer’s field in Southeastern Burgenland. Once you have found the correct tree you must face north and throw a middle to small sized stone as far as you can. If you hear a farmer scream, ask him or her where to get the best onions."

Broadcasting One Hour of FM4 Connected live with the Stereo MC’s.

Not strictly speaking a Sunny Side Up moment but I had to mention it.

Leona Naess

We once had an acoustic session just for Sunny Side Up with super-model turned singer Leona Naess. And I even got to hang out with her backstage at the Eagle-Eye Cherry concert. But then she went back to the world of the beautiful people and I went home.

Shortly thereafter

Hermes said to me: "You won’t hear any negative criticism in your new profession." And I thought, and probably said, "Great! Who wants negative criticism?", not realizing at all what valuable advice my fine new friend had just given me.

Discussing with Makossa for Seven Hours Over Which Songs To Play in a Three Hour Show

The conversation continues. What we absolutely conclusively agree on at the moment can be heard on our ten years of Sunny Side Up charts edition..

Interviewing Chilli Gonzales

A great musical artist. Will one day be known to generations as one of the greatest musical artists of the 21st Century.

Seeing My Car in Print, Upside Down.

This was once my yellow Peugeot. One of only two yellow ones of it’s kind in the country at the time. I miss it the most of all the cars that left me with only my broken heart for company.

Sunny Side Up Charts