New Year's Resolutions

Hear It Wow returns to the airwaves tonight at 7PM Eastern time for a belated tribute to winter. I always grapple with this one in December; the rest of the seasonal shows fall just before the start of the season, but I figure it's more appropriate to play winter songs in January than it is to play Christmas music.

Old and new favorites highlight tonight's collection, which is actually the first full show of Winter music I've done. I snuck a lot of New Year's stuff in there last year. Listen for Chris Rea, Sting, The Rolling Stones, Duran Duran, Donna Lynn, Squeeze, the Peppermint Kandy Kids, and, of course, the good people from Chromalox. Tune in to 91.5 in Boston, or listen free online at wmfo.org.

About Those Resolutions
Here's my list of New Year's Resolutions, some show-related, some personal. Maybe even a few for you, my listeners and readers.

1. Lose weight. I'm getting married in October. Not at this weight, I'm not. I really should figure out how that Wii Fit in the living room works.
2. Talk about comedy on the show. Living near Boston, I'm lucky to be surrounded by extremely talented people like Shane Mauss, Erin Judge, Dan Boulger, Zach Sherwin, and many, many more. You'll be hearing from them in the coming months. Whether you're interested in becoming a standup comic or just enjoy the shows, you'll get some inside perspective on the Boston scene and the business in general. Boston comedy blogger Nick Zaino will be a frequent guest on the show, keeping us up-to-date on what's happening around town.
3. Listen to independent radio. I've got my faves on the WMFO and WERS dials (you WUML guys still play too much death metal). I'm always looking for more. Make it a point this year, wherever you are, to tune out formatted commerical radio and to give the indie stations a try. You might hear something that you can't live without. There's plenty of indie stations available on the Internet, so good listening is just a few clicks away.
4. Shop at independent music stores. I'm harping on this one again, I know, but if you do only one thing this year, get to know the local music store that's closest to you. You might have to drive a while to find one, because they're dying fast. Spend more time on Main Street and less time at the mall. Small businesses need your support more than ever.
5. Donate some cash to WFMU. If you like my show, or if you like any of my posts over there, send them a few bucks. I'll have the donation widget up on the blog soon. Hear It Wow wouldn't exist without their amazing blog, and I could never afford the bandwidth to keep the MP3 goodness flowing over here. If WMFO needed your money, I'd ask for that, too, but we don't, so send it where it will do some good.
6. Donate more to Toys for Tots. These folks are my favorite charity for one simple reason: Those donations go straight to the kids. You're not giving money to someone and wondering how much of it gets spent on administrative fees. For every toy you donate, a child in need gets a happier holiday. I'm a big fan of can drives as well.
7. Start a podcast. Haven't I been talking about this for two years now? There's a reason this resolution is at the bottom of the list.