John Schaefer changed my life. Plain and Simple. In 1983, I came home a bit after 11pm, put WNYC on. A fave station, since I loved classical, baroque and NPR news. Then..WHAT!?!?? Yes, Coming out of the speakers: pure bliss. Threw a cassette in. Had to get this (remember those days, recording radio?). A playlist unfolded of artists who are STILL some of my faves: Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass, Jan Hammer w Jack DeJohnette. I was hooked. Couldn't wait for my 2nd night of New Sounds. To this day when I hear the classic Brian Eno theme music, there's a Pavlovian "New Sounds is on!" response. Over the next few years, John turned me (and countless) onto Popol Vuh, Steve Reich, Cluster, Eskimo music, Shiv Kumar Sharma, Gamelan music, Scott Johnson, music from EVERY corner of the world and so much more. He told you about the artists & put things in context. He had themed shows so you saw the common threads between disparate musics. Thanks to this on-air classroom, I went on to study world music and electronic music with Philip Corner & Daniel Goode, both well known in the downtown NYC avant scene, and to tour with Don Preston, who I arranged with John to have on the show in 2005. The circle completed when I was touring with Adrian Belew (His guitar tech for several yrs), and we played a festival in Adelaide Australia. The MC? John Schaefer. These 30 years would NOT have been the way they are without JOHN & NEW SOUNDS. Thank you John!! 30 more yrs! (listening online right now from home in NC)

Andre Cholmondeley

Asheville NC