"Bob Dylan To Become Radio DJ

Rock legend Bob Dylan has signed up to present a weekly radio show in America. The hour-long show will broadcast on the Deep Tracks Channel, which is part of the XM subscription-only satellite radio service, from next March. It will be the first time 64-year-old Dylan has DJ'd on the radio. The singer says, "A lot of my own songs have been played on the radio, but this is the first time I've ever been on the other side of the mic." The show will feature "an eclectic mix of music hand-selected by Dylan" as well as interviews and commentary, according to XM. XM chief creative officer Lee Abrams says, "Bob Dylan epitomizes the American music experience and his unflagging integrity and vision defines everything we hope for XM to be." "

Interesting. Thoughts folks?

He can barely speak, no one will be able to understand him.

Jesus, he's my favorite artist of all time but...wow. His voice is more worse now than ever. He's been smoking two packs a day since he was a kid. By all rights, he should be dead. God, I really love the man, but as a radio DJ? No, it wont work, his voice will kill him. Plus this means he will probably stop touring too. Bummers all around.

The Doc

P.S. Dylan has always been known for his "jerkiness" to the press and his highly guarded personal life. This seems like such a stretch for him. He must be being offered more than Stern. (well, not likely, but he's definetly been bought. So Sad. My hero.

I love him too, and I would kill to see him live any time, but his ego has basically killed his touring career as it is. As I'm sure you know, but he won't even play any songs released before 1996 live anymore... which, are not only the songs he will be remembered by, they are also the songs people most likely showed up to hear. What's worse is, he was also refusing to play shows that weren't sold out. I've heard it's gotten so bad, that if every seat isn't sold out by show-time (which is unlikey, as it is Dylan, but a possibility), that venue owners will just hand out free tickets to anyone who will attend. He was also considering to stop playing at out-door events, because he felt that anyone outside of the venue's limits, but with-in earshot (whether they enjoyed his music or not) were getting a "free show".

As I see it, Dylan's life on the road is coming to an end rather soon, with or without this radio gig. It's a sad truth.

Hi, all. I was doing a search for something else and, as luck would have it, I came upon this topic. So I'm resurrecting this "old" thread because it's now March/April, 2006, the very time that Dylan is scheduled to start his DJ stint.

Has anyone heard anything more about it? Has a session of his actually been on air yet? If any of you heard it (or read any reviews), what did you think?

As you guys have noted in your posts, it might be a struggle to understand what he's saying between songs, BUT the part that intrigued me was the fact that the songs will be hand-selected by Dylan himself. That's the reason right there that it would be worth the time and price to tune in. We don't know much about his personal life, but I think he's pretty forthright about the music and groups of which he's a fan. I recall in 1979 that he was so taken with Dire Straits he invited them to tour with him. I'd like to know what else he admires, past or present.

Unfortunately, I'm not certain that he will be able to express what exactly makes his fave bands/music special. I've seen him on award shows just a couple of times (so I don't have much to go by); but verbally articulate this man is not . Such an anomaly for someone who has written volumes of the most brilliant, imagistic song lyrics ever. Oh well, genius is an enigma.

Apparently, though, he has lots of genius left in him, as he's getting raves as an author for Chronicles: Volume One... but that deserves its own thread. See you there .

Oh boy,

Bad idea. Why is he doing this?? What a dickhead Dylan is. He spends 50 years avoiding the press only to become "the press". I dont get it. Jimmy Buffett and Neil Young look better and better every day.

the Doc

I nearly fell off my chair when I read that