For anyone looking to launch a long-form radio series, now’s probably the best time to do so. While many of us would be happy to listen to Henry Rollins talk for four hours, the prospect sounds particularly attractive during quarantine, when we have that kind of time on our hands.
The Cool Quarantine is the name of the new online program Rollins launched today in collaboration with KCRW, featuring “personal stories, deep cuts, rarities, bootlegs, full albums, EPs, and much more,” per a press release shared by the radio station earlier this morning.
“For many years, I’ve had this idea for a long-form show,” Rollins shared in the release. “I mean really long-form. Like hours. To do it terrestrially would be difficult because I would be crowding other shows out. But if it was online, hey. It’s as many songs as I want, language issues are not a factor, and if anyone gets bored, they can just turn it off or mark the time they checked out and resume later.
“The idea is that you’re in your room and Engineer X and I come over with a bunch of records,” he continues. “We play you songs, I tell you stories, and we do time together. Now that many of us are under some kind of confinement, we might as well get some good listening happening. Let’s go long! It’s kind of like the show we do on Sundays but without time constraints or worrying about FCC compliance. It’s an extra slice of pizza. It will be completely indulgent. Fanatic, of course, and hopefully, as Iggy Pop, the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion Of Rock And Roll says, ‘a real cool time.’”
The first episode of this Real Cool Time is available on-demand at KCRW’s site and via their app.
