01/02/2024
Hello, Facebook Friends!
Sorry it's been such a long stretch without a word from me and the team here at The Sunday Night Club. It's funny how time slips away. I've been very busy! As I did every year, I flew the whole SNC staff out for a lavish weeklong summer vacation, to celebrate the success of our program and our dominance in the cutthroat world of radio ratings and clicks. This year I treated the gang to a rough and tumble stay on Lake Michigan's unoccupied Poverty Island, just north of Green Bay. No expense was spared for our team-building outing, as we foraged for food, avoided dangerous rocky outcroppings, and fought for privacy with handcrafted weapons in the weatherbeaten abandoned lighthouse, while tending to our various injuries, bug bites, and long-simmering disagreements. I lightened the mood with fun campfire chats about The Kinks, Steely Dan, ELO, and the strength of mid-period Genesis and Fleetwood Mac.
The other occurrence of note was the elimination of nearly all the produced programs at WHRU, 101.5 FM in Huntley, IL., as the station has switched over to a sort of iPod shuffle format. I think it's playing the greatest hits of all time, or something to that effect. A few survivors and shows made the cut, including the stalwart and seemingly indefatigable Jeff James and his Saturday Night at the '70s show, a tremendously enjoyable program spearheaded by a man who not only knows, but loves, what he's doing.
I remain grateful to Jim Eggers, now retired from the radio racket, for giving me not only the chance to create and present the show, but also the time slot I wanted -- the show's name would have been misleading otherwise. It was extremely generous of him, and I'm eternally thankful for his help and encouragement.
The production elements of the show, including the fake spots and show opens, were brilliantly brought to life by my friend Vince Argento, a man of unlimited energy and wild talent. He always knew *exactly* what to do and gave the odd doings of Summit Valley a vividly detailed and professional feel.
Thanks to my bandmate Max Crawford for the iconic round logo, which, to me, summons the old Dean Martin roasts. Also, my thanks to Jeff Knurek -- that's right, the guy that does the JUMBLE (!!) -- for his cartoon depiction of me.
My main thanks, though, go to YOU, the people that turned in regularly or tracked down the (sadly, now removed from the station's website) archived programs. Your feedback and encouragement meant the world to me and brought my goal to life -- the goal of connecting, and of finding ears, hearts, and minds that were open to the things I thought up. I took every kind word to heart, and thank you most sincerely!
The Sunday Night Club sort of sprang out of the pandemic and my family spent many Sunday nights listening to the show and playing cards. It was a great ritual and I miss it very much, even though I doggedly remained in last place in the gin rummy totals.
As I mentioned, the archives evaporated in one click. But I do have all the programs (over 50 of them!) at my disposal. Not quite sure what I can do with them, but I'm open to suggestions. And if any of you reading this are high-placed executives at the Sirius XM organization or perhaps at a small town independent radio station, I'd love to take you out for breakfast, on me.
I've always felt that Sunday nights have a special kind of feeling about them, and it goes back to my schooldays, I reckon. As Monday loomed on the horizon, dragging behind it a monolithic slab of weekdays to endure, I'd reach for those last bits of weekend joy/escape before turning in and facing the reality of the early alarm and the trudge to school. It was Monty Python on a small TV, and Dr. Demento and late night FM rock on a clock radio that wound down the weekend for me, giving me a head filled with laughter and mellow sounds as the weekend dissolved. In my humble way, I tried to honor that feeling, that singular spot in the week where we're straddling these opposing realities. I hope The Sunday Night Club got close, and left you with a good feeling.
My sincere thanks to all of you. I wish you a very happy 2024, and hope it's healthy and filled with meaningful human interactions and experiences.
Your pal,
Dag Juhlin
P.S. Staff announcer Clive Blinker sends his best.
