Home > Deaconlight Mailbag > 27 November 2004

E-mail Received 11/27/2004 from Mark Cain

Hi, I used to listen to Deaconlight around 1979-80. At the time, I was 14-15 years old and lived in Lexington, NC. I'm sure you can understand what an invigorating and life-changing experience it was to hear, for the first time ever, the Ramones, the Clash, the B-52s, etc. I still remember the names DD and Rena and still love a lot of the music I first heard on Deaconlight. The dBs, Cowboys International, the Records... I could go on and on about the musical education I got, even from the more obscure artists you played. There was nowhere else to hear that music- if there had been, I would have found it. I loved Deaconlight!

In 1980 I moved to Asheville. My cousin, a student at UNCA, volunteered at WUNF ("Big Woonf"), and would let me help him out on his Friday night timeslot. Some Fridays he had parties to go to and I got to DJ (and engineer) solo. It was just a 10-watt station and only broadcast as far as the campus and the north side of town. I pretty much played the Deaconlight playlist of the time, mostly made up of my own records. But occasionally I would get a request for REO Speedwagon or something like that. One night someone called and thanked me for playing such great music. It made me feel really good, so I want to thank you Deaconlight people for playing such great music and changing my life and my whole way of looking at things. To this day, I remember that time very fondly.

I don't know if you taped the shows, but I taped a few. I really needed them in new-wave-deprived Asheville. Believe it or not, I taped them on blank 8-track tapes (two of them have the "Peaches" brand- there's a name from the past!). I only have 4 ninety-minute tapes, and most of it is music. But they are straight-through recordings, DJ talk and all. I haven't heard them since 1988, but I still remember some things about them. One is marked Dec. 5, 1980. One (I think) has an interview with the dBs and includes a brilliant EP by Sneakers ("Decline and Fall", "Single File" are some of the songs). [Editor's Note: "Decline and Fall" was from the Sneakers record, but "Single File" was Mitch Easter solo on a reel-to-reel tape.] If you are interested in hearing them, I could send them to you. Again, thanks for playing such great music.

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