Triad Remembered
By
Jaye Beldo
Back in the 1970s, escaping from Kiss, Journey,
the Eagles and Peter Frampton wasnt an easy
thing to do. All the commercial radio stations
were blasting this crap 24/7 and the alternative
music genre had another twenty years to go before
coming upon the scene . Many of us simply
deluded ourselves into believing that what we
heard schlepping out of our stereos had to be the
best thing out there. However, on one most
auspicious night, in the depths of my black lighted
and day-glo postered lair in the far northern suburbs
of Chicago, I spun my radio dial to the unexpected,
thus opening a vault into a vastly intriguing musical
world . Quite amazed, I had no choice but to kick back
on my water bed, light some Patchouli incense and take
in the convoluted wonders of Triad radio on WXFM
105.9 F.M. Gong, Tangerine Dream, Guru Guru, Can,
Grobschnitt, Gentle Giant and Amon Duul, transported
me to realms so far above the usual top forty summits at
hand that I had no way of getting back to earth except
when the shows agent provocateur, Saul Smaizys,
would announce the play list with the most laid back
and mellow of late night FM voices and do a few
commercials that were actually entertaining to listen
to. Triad was a veritable oasis in a desert of broadcast
mediocrity. Five nights a week, from eight p.m. until
one a.m., Smaizys suavely weaved the intrigues of
such surreal wonders as The Firesign Theater, acerbic
utterances of Marshall McLuhan and the unabashed
skits from Monty Pythons Flying Circus into the lysergic
trance jams of Hawkwind and Can. The program provided
virtually all of Chicago land, in 50,000 watt fashion, with
the opportunity to imbibe in the headiest mix of imported
gems, down home blues, jazz fusion, progressive rock,
electronica and traditional ethnic music all thrown into
this far ranging bit of on the air intrigue. Many of the
upstart Euro-Rockers such as Kraftwerk, Can and the
Scorpions had their songs aired for the first time
across the pond on Triad radio. Styx, Heartsfield
and Shadowfax, at that time unknown local Chicago
bands, also got their premieres on Sauls unique show .
The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Sun Ra and other jazz
groups also got much deserved airtime on Triad. Obscure
composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen and John Cage,
the master of aleatory music could be heard as well. Triad
even had a magazine available (mostly at local head shops
and record stores) with program listings, interviews with
the bands and fascinating articles on psychedelia and its
many manifestations throughout the underground music
scene.
The 70s were a golden age of free-form radio, albeit a short
lived one sad to say. There were a few other stations dotted
around the U.S. that aired programs somewhat like Triad.
According to Saul, he and his friends raised the money to buy
the air time on WXFM. As long as the programming was FCC
compliant, the station didnt care what was aired. But unfortunately,
these programs all quickly disappeared in the mid to late seventies
to pave the way for the corporate Classic Rock stations now
colonizing our airwaves, subjecting us to Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin,
the Rolling Stones and ZZ Top ad nauseum and employing
bottom feeding shock jocks bent on abusing the airwaves with
lowest common denominator fare solely aimed at the Id canals of
13 to 25 year olds. Triad was so high, so inspiring, so free of the
perverse taint of the commercial stations that it positively
influenced many a young and upcoming musician and listener
as well, in its heyday. My own musical abilities simply would
not have evolved into what they are today without the
influence/exposure that Triad Radio afforded. Fortunately, for
those of you failing to find such inspiration in the age of Clear
Channel tyranny, Mr. Smaizys has made a considerable
effort to preserve /promote the high quality music such as
he was playing over thirty years ago (from 1970-1977),
now easily accessible on a website radio program he has
put together called Triad Revisited. There are even actual
webcasts of some of the original shows for those of you that
were A: Too high to actually remember them or B: Hadnt been
born yet. Saul puts a considerable amount of time into finding rare
imported LPs from Europe, Asia, Africa and elsewhere and putting
them up on his site so we can, once again enjoy truly high music,
now in a broadband, click of the mouse fashion. He is currently
giving audio stream time to such fretboard geniuses as Fred
Frith, the Art Bears, those one eyed wonders The Residents
and the late Snakefinger to name a few of beyond the fringe
acts out there. For those of you who missed the golden seventies
and are currently benumbed by the misogynist schlock of Eminem,
the poison bubble gum of Britney Spears and the uncouth
bumptiousness of a menopausal Madonna, Triad indeed is a
most recommended oasis in which to fully refresh your weary ears.
Please check out:
Triad Radio on live365And Saul Smaizys' home page at:
ripco.net©2006-Jaye Beldo
ABOUT ME
NAME:JAYE BELDO
LOCATION:LONE NUTTER LAND, EVERYWHERE
Jaye Beldo has appeared on dozens of radio stations and has been interviewed in such publications as The Wave. He has appeared on BBC Radio London, WGN Chicago, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and the Howard Stern show. He writes for Paranoia Magazine, Magical Blend and other venues on and off line.