Piece Description

At the 2005 South by Southwest music festival in Austin, keynote speaker Robert Plant, the former lead singer of the legendary rock band Led Zeppelin, told a delightful tale that most any station playing an eclectic music mix can use during fundraising. He speaks of driving out of Portland, Oregon and hearing some rare old doo-wop music by the Jive Five being broadcast on public radio station KBOO. When the announcer says, "We promise we'll never play 'Stairway to Heaven'," Plant pulls off the side of the road and makes a pledge. "It's not that I don't like that song," he says, "it's just that I've heard it before." The piece is offered in four versions versions - the story by itself, the story with a clip from the Jive Five mixed in once, and the story with the Jive Five also added as a trail out. About the fourth version: Plant mentions briefly that KBOO is an "NPR Station" which is actually NOT true. It's an independent community station. Doesn't seem like a reason NOT to run the story but if KBOO wants to run it -or any other non NPR station - the fourth version is the story without music with the NPR mention cut out. Suggested intro: One magical thing about radio is that you never know who's listening at any time or who might call in a pledge during one of these campaigns. Here's a story told by one of the legendary voices in rock and roll, Robert Plant, the former lead singer of Led Zeppelin. He's speaking to an audience at the 2005 South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas. Suggested Outro: Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant appreciates the rarely heard music that only public radio will play, instead of running the same songs into the ground. He's pledged to public radio. Why don't you join him now by placing your call.