My own "Left Of The Dial"

Scotty Moore, The Replacements and fame

The text message just jumped off my phone on a sleepy Sunday afternoon. My New England Patriots had a bye weekend so no NFL football. I sat out on the porch in the sun, played guitar for bit, relaxed. The “ding” popped up with no little bit of urgency.

“Hey, friend, I heard Radio Woodstock quote an article you wrote on your Substack about Scotty Moore. “Scotty Moore: Accidental Genius!” How cool! You’ve gone national!”

The text, shipped over from an old teaching friend I hadn’t heard from in years, was surprising. She had been listening to Radio Woodstock, some I Heart Radio program based out of New York City and they what, they were quoting from my own little Substack on Scotty Moore? On NATIONAL RADIO?

What?

This is cool. I had written the Scotty Moore piece just after Liz and I had gone to see the Bruce Springsteen movie, “Deliver Me From Nowhere” a second time on Veteran’s Day. It left me humming. Had to write something but not that, not yet.

On the way home, looking through my phone, I’d just seen a cool picture of Scotty Moore, who was the perfect guitar slinging accompaniment to the wild and untamed Elvis Presley. Nobody sang like Elvis did and consequently, nobody ever had to invent guitar licks like Scotty Moore did.

“Scotty Moore,” I told Liz, driving back home. “I’m going to write about Scotty Moore.” She smiled. Seen that look, heard that voice, before.

It was dark now, I hammered it out, later than I generally write. But she understood. Some things…you know.. We paused for dinner.

The post, which ran on Expecting Rain, too, ended up getting over 1,070 views (which is great!) But now, it’s gone NATIONAL?

The Scotty Moore solo album - ‘The Guitar That Changed The World” I have it!

My friend’s Sunday post made me think immediately of The Replacements’ song “Left Of The Dial,” as romantic a Westerberg-ian saga as there is.

One of the great cuts off “Tim,” “Left Of The Dial” is both a salute to the college radio stations that were the first transmitters of The Replacements’ brand of music and something else.

“That’s where all our airplay came from,” Westerberg told Bob Mehr for his wonderful book “Trouble Boys,” “We ended up going to college in an odd kind of way.”

A more romantic way to look at the song was Westerberg trying/hoping/believing that by going left on the radio dial — left being where all the college radio stations were on the dial — he might be able to reconnect with this woman, this mysterious voice…

Paul Westerberg’s anthem for college radio “Left Of The Dial” was an FM classic.

He later explained it on a radio interview: “Left of the Dial” is the story of this girl, a guitar player, Lynn Blakey, who toured with Mitch Easter’s Let’s Active,” Westerberg said. “We got to be friends. She wanted me to write her a letter, but I never write letters. I figured the only way I’d hear her voice was with her band on the radio, left of the dial on a college station. And one night we did. We were passing through a town somewhere, and she was doing an interview on the radio, left of the dial. I heard her voice for the first time in six months for about a minute. Then the station faded out.”

She wanted him to write. He said, “Nah, I’ll try to find you, going left on the dial” and he does for a fleeting moment. No attempt at a relationship, starting things from scratch, it was all impulse, destiny, if it works, it works.

In “Trouble Boys,” Mehr followed up with Blakey. He wrote: “Left of the Dial” was a “hidden love song,” as well, a chronicle of Westerberg’s infatuation with Lynn Blakey, singer-guitarist for North Carolina’s Let’s Active. They’d met when the bands shared a bill at San Francisco’s I-Beam in the fall of 1983.

“He followed me around and bummed cigarettes off me,” recalled Blakey. The following night, after a show in Berkeley, the two spent hours walking in the rain. They would exchange calls and letters as Blakey moved to Athens, Georgia.”

Westerberg added “I figured the only way I’d hear her voice was with the band on the radio, on a college station.”

His lyrics tell the story:

THE LYRICS: LEFT OF THE DIAL

“Read about your band in some local page
Didn’t mention your name, didn’t mention your name
Sweet Georgia breezes, safe, cool and warm
I headed up north, you headed north

On and on and on and on
What side are you on?
On and on and on and on
What side are you on?

Weary voice that’s laughin’, on the radio once
We sounded drunk, never made it on
Passin’ through and it’s late, the station started to fade
Picked another one up in the very next state

On and on and on and on
What side are you on?
On and on and on and on and...

Pretty girl keep growin’ up, playin’ make-up, wearin’ guitar
Growin’ old in a bar, ya grow old in a bar
Headed out to San Francisco, definitely not L.A.
Didn’t mention your name, didn’t mention your name

And if I don’t see ya, in a long, long while
I’ll try to find you
Left of the dial

Is that me, NOW?

“Call it up,” my friend texted again. “It’s Radio Woodstock. It’s NATIONAL.”

Reading my Substack on Scotty Moore on NATIONAL RADIO? What writer wouldn’t want that? Cool.

Left of the dial. Me?

Found “Radio Woodstock” this afternoon. You can just call it up. Don’t have to go left or right on the dial. Just a click.

Caught Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders in mid-song. “Tattooed Love Boys.” Listened to a few songs. Independent station. Sounds fun. No Scotty Moore. Not today anyhow.

Guess I missed my “Left Of The Dial” moment. My friend didn’t though. That still counts, right?

HERE’S THE VIDEO THE REPLACEMENTS DID FOR “LEFT OF THE DIAL”

THE LAST TIME: Here’s how Paul Westerberg played “Left Of The Dial” and “Alex Chilton” the last time we saw him on stages, on that reunion tour. Still a great song.

HEY, FRIENDS…SINCE WE’RE CELEBRATING PAUL WESTERBERG AND THE REPLACEMENTS, LET’S GET THIS POST OVER 20,000 VIEWS