If it’s a blustery Monday in October, and Arcade Fire is playing at the United Center in Chicago, then I must be there.

It’s been 13 years and a few weeks since my first Arcade Fire show at the Mercury Lounge in NYC. The occasion for the show was CMJ, but I had stopped going to the conference a few years prior after decades of perfect attendance. I was invited to see them by Mac and Laura from Merge Records because I had worked the Superchunk single “Hyper Enough” to Modern Rock radio, with some commercial success.

Since that night in 2004, Arcade Fire has been my favorite band. Mac said I could work the record at radio, and I picked “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)” as the first single. I’m pretty sure I didn’t charge him (don’t tell my bosses), since indie bands weren’t having much success at the format during that time—Linkin Park, Green Day, our then-management clients Hoobastank, Three Days Grace, U2 and Incubus were the bands that dominated the airwaves. Nevertheless, we persisted (as the saying goes), and I will always credit Live105 PD Sean Demery, along with Aaron Axelsen, plus staffers Miles Anzaldo and Derek Madden, for loving this band enough to make “Rebellion (Lies)” the station’s most-played song of that year.

The signature song from Funeral, “Wake Up,” had little success as a radio single in real time. Rather, it became an “anthem” after its use in the trailer for Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are in 2009. The band’s biggest radio hits have been “Ready to Start” from The Suburbs (2011 Grammy winner for Album of the Year) and “Everything Now,” the title song from the band’s Columbia Records debut. I’ve worked at least 15 of their singles to radio and it’s always disheartening (heartbreaking, really) that Arcade Fire isn’t considered an “automatic” at the format. Radio matters. Failure to recognize bands that matter makes radio less vital. The new single “Creature Comfort” should get its due at radio because it’s fucking incredible, and, as WXRT MD John Farneda proclaimed to me at the show, one of the standout songs of the night. I joke with Brady Bedard that the radio guys are waiting for an engraved invitation before they play a record. Let me know to whom that invitation should be addressed, and I’ll send it out immediately.

After Ted or I have a particularly frustrating conversation with a PD, we’ll walk into the other’s office and express how we should find a station to program. Boston would be an opportune market to make an impression, while I’ve always wanted to run a Modern Rock station in the Chapel Hill/Durham area. Programming my non-existent station is comparable to my friends who play in fantasy football leagues, except I use the Mediabase chart to determine my stats. Unlike sports fans, I can “game” the system a bit by choosing the right songs to work/bet on.

if you’re absolutely, on-the-money, unequivocally RIGHT at least three times
per year, your career will prosper.

Like I always tell you, if you’re absolutely, on-the-money, unequivocally RIGHT at least three times per year, your career will prosper. For the last few months, I’ve declared Alice Merton’s “No Roots” and AJR’s “Sober Up” to be the two singles by new artists that are smashes. The metrics are there: Shazam, streams and sales. “No Roots” is nearing Top 10 and “Sober Up” is touching Top 20, so yep, I’m right. I also told you that The Lumineers’ “Angela” was a fall song, and, sure enough, as temperatures dropped, call-out heated up. As of today, “Angela” is the #1 Greatest Gainer for the week, with a dozen bumps to Power. Ignore at your own peril…. Reading the tea leaves, I believe that Howard P. has a huge hit on his hands with Odesza’s “Line of Sight.” The group is currently playing multiple sold-out arena shows in every market. Ask yourself this: Would you rather have points on this record or the “radio” band that, even after months of airplay, can’t sell 300 tickets in your market?

The new Bishop Briggs single, “Dream,” which was co-written by one of my best friends (Dan Wilson), showcases her otherworldly talent and will be an even bigger hit than “River.” Don’t doubt me.