Greetings and Salutations! Tonight’s show is going to be one of kind. A return to days of old, and a fitting end to the menace of Darkside Radio with DJ Xavier. Due to the most unfortunate of circumstances (well, not THE most unfortunate, I am being a bit of a drama queen…), Darkside Radio will be going off the air on October Twentieth, Two thousand and Twelve. Tonight, my show will be my last.
Being who I am, I cannot simply state the above and print a playlist for this evening. No, I have to do more, and using Bone Thugs is not enough either; I have to blather. I had no intention of ever being a DeeJay. I am far too shy for that. Really. I prefer to make my statements through writing. And it was so back in the days of MySpace. I created an account there, and had one friend: Manthony. I never really used the profile much. Years later, I met a clan of women named Dean Hodge, and began to do what the equivalent to blogging is in the MySpace universe. I was a hit with the Hodgii, and began to feel my oats after they officially made me one of their clan. Later, I created another profile, one that was just for Xavier. It was here that I once again found myself friendless, save for my secretary, and Manthony. Feeling pity for me, my secretary helped me find some people that she thought I may click with…and she was correct. T’is began my relationships with both DJ Mirage and Sister Constance.
DJ Mirage was quite a charmer, in her own compassionate, albeit darkly sexy and evil way. What started out as an idea to somehow make a guest appearance on her show (which, I later learned would be near impossible due to geographics, and a few other things) turned into my becoming a Darkside Radio DeeJay. I was not sure that I had enough music to meet the gothic/industrial/EBM audience, but I did have much music that was dark in nature, and was the Nineteen Seventies’ and Eighties’ queer older brother of music: New Wave, to begin my own show. And so it began. In the beginning, there were others there to help me not feel all freaked out and cray cray. There was Zephyrael, Phil, Trinity, Lestat…and some whose names I have forgotten. Shame on me. Through it all, there was DJ Mirage, and her partner in crime, Doc Nasty (the “father” of Darkside Radio, KrushRadio, the universe…). And as it stands to this day, aside from myself, there is DJ Mirage, and DJ Parallax. As it stands to this day, is the fear that what is going to be lost is not just a station, but two of my dearest friends and associates. Fortunately, there is Facebook, and I will never forget you two, my dearies.
Over the years, I have gone through several phases. Evolving or, more like changing states like some kind of deranged matter. My original show was four hours long. I shortened it because I started to bore myself, and have a little trouble seeing the broadcaster display after all the absinthe drinking that is required to broadcast one of my little voyages into internet shenanigans. While I started out kicking the old school goth jams and new wave hits (Ha!), I eventually added more industrial, some punk, and at times gangsta rap (Recently I added that new “dub step” stuff. Apparently, it was actually about in the nineties. It should have stayed there.). No matter what I may have decided to do for the night, from playing a block of songs featuring the word “fuck,” to having a celebration of tunage glorifying that good ol’ Eighties tradition of stalking and not taking no from some bitch, I always tried to remain on the darker side of life. However, the end result was always “creepy.” I guess I just decided to run with that.
Apparently, it paid off. At least a little. I met some interesting people by means of my shows through Twitter streams and looking like a music bot for a while. A few people never got that while I was updating my Facebook status, or tweeting some song titles over and over for a couple of hour that what I was actually doing was broadcasting a live show. A few did get it, and would make requests. Part of me wondered why the fuck they were spending a nice Saturday evening inside somewhere and listening to me. The bigger part, ego fed to the maximum, welcomed the attention and was honored that someone actually felt that I was interesting enough to sit and have playing as the background sound track for their night. Thank you all for listening. Now, we can still meet for cyber shenanigans; just read my blog and leave a comment. Perhaps I would write more. Shameless plug, but it is that sort of night.
So, I guess it is now time to put the baby to bed. I am not sure why I am feeling so sentimental at this time. I mean, we darklings are supposed to embrace the end. We sing and dance about the glories of the night. We dance with vampires, zombies and witches. We run around in corsets and Victorian garb. We sport leather and spikes and shades and piercings. We are tattoos and Neo and weirdos who want to sleep on your couch so we send you a picture of us and our boyfriends in women’s underwear with ferret in mouth. We are what goes bump in the night. So why am I dreading my own walk into that very darkness that I tried to coax you into for the last few years? Simple, for once, I am unsure of what that darkness may hold, save for the end of my nights on Darkside Radio.
Tonight’s show will revisit my original four hour format. Tonight’s show will begin like I used to begin: with Erika Eigen’s “I Want to Marry a Lighthouse Keeper,” the song that plays in my head in the background of my dreams…and nightmares. Tonight, I have tried to play a little bit of everything that I have played over the years. Tonight, I try to say a fond farewell to those that listened to me and to a couple of hours every Saturday that I have accepted as part of a welcome ritual. This is harder for me than trying to quit smoking.
To Doc Nasty: Thank you for making this possible. Thank you for putting up with my freaking out over a red button and being there to get me on the air. Thank you for enabling me to spread my sickness through cyberspace, and being a real mensch about it.
To DJ Parallax: In the short time that we have known each other, it has been an age. A wonderful one. Keep in touch, my brother.
To DJ Mirage: First off, I know where to find you and can reach you by phone, email, and Pony Express. Always remember that. Second and most important, you have been an inspiration, a sister, a friend, a vampire, and a zombie to me. From MySpace to Brainaversary to Facebook, you have been the most awesome companion a creepy pirate from the Great Lakes Region could ever hope for when spreading dark music across the internet. We have been through much, ma chere. You will always be the Queen. It was awesome, and thank you for having me. And like I mentioned above, you better not try and flee… 🙂
And now, I present the artists that will be featured on tonight’s show. As you may notice, I decided to make tonight’s show an old school New Wave and Punk, earlier Gothic show with a dash of Alternative rock and Industrial sounds. To listen, tune to http://darksideradio.com at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (US) and stay tuned until at least 2:00 am. If you have Twitter, @XRothechilde and @Darksideradio give song-to-song updates during the show.
Enjoy!
Tonight’s Featured Artists (Subject To Change)
Erika Eigen
Type O Negative
Stone Temple Pilots
Bauhaus
Joy Division
Siouxsie and the Banshees
The Cure
The Smithereens
The Smiths
Peter Murphy
The Sisters of Mercy
The Damned
Lacuna Coil
That Handsome Devil
The Koffin Kats
HorrorPops
Mad Marge & the Stonecutters
The Meteors
New Order
Public Image Ltd.
My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult
KMFDM
Ministry & Co Conspirators (yes, Ms. Paganwitch, this is “Black Betty”)
Electric Six
Modulate
Combichrist
Puscifer
Nouvelle Vague
Thomas Dolby
The B-52’s
311
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
Sonic Youth
Dead Kennedys
Ludo
Murderdolls
Soundgarden
Bigod 20
Ministry
Nine Inch Nails
Far
Duran Duran
Tears for Fears
Tre Lux
The Cult
The Gothacoustic Ensemble
Love and Rockets
Depeche Mode
Switchblade Symphony
Dead Can Dance: “The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove” Dedicated to The Gothic Barbie – DJ Mirage”
Commercials are from: “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” and “Grand Theft Auto IV”
Promotion spots for DJ Xavier produced and Created by: DJ Mirage, Ethermagus, and DJ Parallax