One morning, when I was 11 or 12, I was determined to hear Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band's "Still The Same." At the time, I didn't own a copy of it, and the library was closed. I reasoned that a soft rock station must have it, so I called and requested it. After about 15 minutes of waiting, I hadn't heard it. I called again. The DJ said, as he had the first time, "I'll see what I can do." Another 15 minutes went by. I still didn't hear it. I called again. The DJ waffled again, saying, "I'll check on that and see." This routine went on for over three hours. Finally, he played my request, with the introduction, "Here's one for the insistent young man who called a while ago."
As the expression goes, "the squeaky wheel gets the grease." More accurately, in this case, the overbearing caller got to hear his song. A few years later, I learned how most radio stations usually operate. "Still The Same" was probably scheduled to be played at that time anyway, and the DJ probably wasn't allowed to deviate from the playlist. Also, he probably wasn't allowed to tell callers that he absolutely wouldn't play requests because they might stop listening. Most likely, he attached my name to the already scheduled tune, hoping I wouldn't call again.
I didn't call the station again--that day. Looking back, however, asking the DJ 15 times to play my song was a tad excessive.
