hardtimeradioHard Time Radio

DJ: Thrashin Alan
Thursday 8 pm – 12 am
KNON Format: Metal

I Am A Lifelong Native Of Ft. Worth Texas, Where I Have Spent Most Of My Life Longing For A Bigger, Better, Stronger Metal Scene. I Began Listening To “hard Rock” Music And Attending Rock Concerts In The Later 70’s, And Quickly Progressed Into, What I Refer To Now As “old School Heavy Metal” In The Early 80’s.

I Was Completely Blown Away By The Likes Of Black Sabbath (Dio & Ian Gillan Eras), Early Ozzy (Blizzard/ Diary Era), Judas Priest (Screaming/ Defenders Era). I Also Was Totally Into Twisted Sister, W.A.S.P. , Quiet Riot, & Motley Crue, Because At The Time These Bands Were Really Pushing The Limits, And That Made Them That Much More Appealing To Me!!! These Were High School Years For Me, And I Was One Of Only About Three Or Four Metal Heads In My School, Which Made Me Stand Out Like A Sore Thumb, And That Was Usually Alright With Me!!!

I Tried To Preach The Metal Word To My Friends But They Usually Just Laughed And Accused Me Of Being Nothing More Than A Crazed Metal Head! I Only Knew That I F**Kin’ Loved Metal Music And That There Were Other People Out There That Shared My Passion For Aggressive, Rebellious Music As Well.

When I Became Old Enough Go To Metal Clubs, Well…that’s When Life Really Started To F**Kin’ Rule! In The Mid 80’s There Was An Underground B.Y.O.B. Club Called The Tombstone Factory, And That’s Where I Got Slammed With My First Dose Of Thrash Metal Music!!! That Place Was The Shit! The Guy That Ran The Place Would Always Have To Leave Early On Saturday Nights To Go And Do A Metal Radio Show On Knon! We Would Always Watch The Bands Until Midnight And Then Flee To The Parking Lot To Listen To Jerry Warden Ripping Shit Up On Knon!!!

I Thought He Had The Coolest Position On Earth At The Time. I Also Knew That I Had To Somehow Be Involved With The Metal Music Business. So I Roadied For Local Bands, And Attended Every National And Local Show Imaginable. Finally In 1990 I Saw A Commercial On Tv For A School That Taught Music And Video Business…i Couldn’t F**Ckin’ Believe It, An Actual School I Could Attend To Learn The Inside Of The Music Business!!! So I Went, I Learned, And In My Last Quarter Of School I Lucked Into A Killer Internship!

I Was Just Wanting To Practice My Interview Skills, When An Unexpected Slot Opened Up On Carrer Day, With The Promotions Director Of 99.1 Z-Rock. The Interview Was An Immense Success. Before I Could Get Home From School, She Left A Message And Said If I Wanted The Position, It Was Mine!!! Finally, After All The Years Of Dreaming About Such A Thing, It Was Finally Reality! I Worked My Ass Off As A Promotions Assistant Intern Until I Graduated From School, At Which Time I Thought The Dream Had Come To An Abrupt End…suckin’!!!

Lucky For Me I Made Good Impression And Was Later Put On The Staff Full Time. I Worked In Promotions For Two Years Or So When An On-Air Position Became Available. I Literally Begged My Boss To Give Me A Chance At It. It Was A One Hour A Week Local Music Show Called “local Stuff” Broadcast On Sunday Nights From 12-1 Am. That’s When My Dual Personallity Known As “thrashin’ Alan” Came To Life! Oddly Enough I Beat Out My Current Boss Dave Chaos, At Getting The Job, Which Was Actually A Blessing In Disguise For Dave!

Anyhow, I Was Successful At That Show And Was Given The Opportunity To Host An Additional Weekly Show Featuring National Metal Music Called “hard Stuff”, I Also Took On The Responsibility Of “metal Director” Which Envolved Me With More Of A Metal Music Lifestyle Than I Ever Immagined Possible! I Was Responsible For Listening To And Reviewing All New Music And Deciding What Was Suitable For Airplay. That Ruled! All Was Great In My World Until The Beginning Of January 1995 When We Were Told 99.1 Would Soon Change Hands. The Station Was Caught In The Middle Of A “hostile Takeover”.

My Dream World Was About To Come Crashing Down! I Was The Final Dj On The Air On 99.1 Z-Rock. On January 31st 1995 I Played Metallica’s “fade To Black” As The Last Song, And As The Song Faded, I Pulled Down The Fader On The Control Board…and That Was That! After That I Spent Almost A Year Trying To Get A Job At Other Radio Stations In Dallas, But Knew I Would Never Be As Happy As I Was At Z-Rock. Until One Night In Deep Ellum I Saw An Old Friend Who Told Me Dave Chaos Over At Knon Had Mentioned To Him That If I Could Be Found, He Might Be Interested In Putting Me On The Air.

Lucky For Me Dave Didn’t Hold A Grudge About The Job Incident At Z-Rock!!! After My First Conversation With Dave, He Said He Would Have To Present The Idea To The Board Of Directors And That It Might Be A While Before He Would Get Back With Me, So I Figured It Would Never Happen. Much To My Dismay, The Phone Rung A Few Days Later And It Was Dave Calling To Tell Me That I Was In!!! I Was Given A Slot In “prime Time” From 8-10pm (Which Has Recently Been Extended To 12am!), And Had To Name My Show. Since My Previous Show Was “hard Stuff”, I Had To Keep It Somewhat Similar To Regain Some Of My Listening Audience.

I Finally Came Up With “hard Time Radio” And So The Metal Train Was Rolling Once Again!!! “h.T.R” Started Shredding The Airwaves In April Of 1996 And Has Been Extremely Successful In Bringing Great Metal Music Of All Sorts To The Masses. I Happily Volunteer My Time And Expertise To A Station That Has Supported Metal Music For Over Twenty Five Years! I Do What I Do Out Of My Undying Love And Dedication For Metal Music And The Metal Music Scene! And So, Thanks To You, All Of My Faithful Supporters…the Dream Continues.