Burt Nagra

Thank God for college radio.

When my dad and I were first sending out promos, we could always count on the kids at MTSU or UT Knoxville to give it some air time.

But anyway, that was the other thing I was trying to do with my work.

I was trying to document all the songs I could because of the way popular music was going.

It seemed like everything wanted to become the same.

People in those little villages in Spain I talked about, whenever they got radios and TV, they'd lose interest in their traditional music.

They all wanted to start guitar bands.

There's nothing wrong with guitar bands, but there's so much more out there that people never get a chance to hear.

If those damn penny-pinching congressmen and grant committees hadn't made me spend half my time writing proposals, I would have been able to do more.

You know, I didn't have anything to leave my kids.

Even when I was tenured at CUNY, I still had to fund most of my trips out of pocket.

And that's to say nothing about the equipment or publishing costs.

Mal, I can tell you mean it.

But I also know you're trying to get me through that Onyx door.

It's nothing personal, but I can clock a salesman from a mile away.

But I've made my peace with not being able to work.

It's the loss of what I've already done that's the kicker.

It's not just about the catalog being out there.

I recorded every one of those songs.

I talked to the people.