The 'Hot 100' meets 'Jailhouse Rock'

If you're in radio, you probably have an ego.

If you love music, you probably have strong opinions about it.

When egomaniacs with strong opinions clash, what you're usually dealing with is a few well-placed F-bombs and, at worst, somebody picking up his toys -- or CD collection, as the case may be -- and stomping out the door. However . . . when the temperamental "artiste" doesn't get his way, the drama queen's closing act usually doesn't involve pouring gasoline into the control board and watching the whole place go up in flames.

Usually. But then again, this is the new millennium, and we all seem to be a lot more pissed and "on the edge" than we used to be.

And thus, from The Associated Press, we get this tale of how the "Hot 100" turned into "Jailhouse Rock":

A volunteer at a community radio station set fire to the station because he was upset that his song selections for an overnight Internet broadcast were changed, police said.

Paul Webster Feinstein, 24, has been charged with second-degree felony arson for the Jan. 5 fire, which caused $300,000 worth of damage to the studios of 91.7 FM KOOP. He faces from two to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted.

Feinstein told investigators that he was "very unhappy" about the changes to his playlist, said Austin Fire Department Battalion Chief Greg Nye. The songs were intended for an Internet broadcast that occurs when the station is off the air.

"He had a dream of a career in radio and was very disappointed about where it had led him," Nye said.

An attorney for Feinstein could not be reached for comment.

Station president Andrew Dickens said Feinstein had been in a dispute with another volunteer about what kind of music should be put into a digital library for the Internet program.

(snip)

The fire was the third the station has dealt with in the past two years. The first was ruled accidental. The second was caused by a malfunction in a heating and air-conditioning unit of a nearby business and forced the station to move.

This month's fire knocked the station off the air for 19 days. It resumed broadcasting last week in donated space.

"We are kind of worried that people will look at us like a bunch of idiots," Dickens said. "This is really just one of those out-of-the-blue situations. Who the hell would have thought somebody would have snapped?"

I WOULD. Remember, we seem to be living in some kind of Brave New World, and the center did not hold down on the Animal Farm. And see whether YOU can work references to Aldous Huxley, Walker Percy and George Orwell into a single, straightforward sentence.

Thank you . . . thank you very much for your kind applause. And, no, you can't use my sentence.

Another reason I'd believe what happened at KOOP is because I once worked at Pope FM. Click on the Pope FM tag under "Labels" and see what I mean. And those posts don't even touch the craziest stuff that went on there.

Really.

I may write about that chapter at Pope FM someday, but I doubt you'd believe it.