Meeting The Mole

My compadre, Manny Casaclang aka The Mole. Started out at the seminal rock station RJFM 100.3, formerly known as DZUW, the FM counterpart of The Rock Of Manila, DZRJ-AM 810.
Back in the day, these two stations were the pioneering proponents of Rock music in Metro Manila, especially Pinoy Rock, its home at 810 via another seminal Rock Jock, Dante "Howlin' Dave" David's radio show Pinoy Rock N' Rhythm. Rock was alive on the airwaves thanks to these two stations.

RJFM 100.3, also known as The Source, was managed by The Mole. Together with the other Rock Jocks such as The Madman (Alfred Gonzalez), The Spirit (Jamie Evora), Jimmy Mo J (Jimmy Javier), The Domino (Joel Gregorio), Bob Sellner among others, tailored the rock tastes of countless listeners and rockers, broadening their minds and ears with some of the best rock music of that time. It is at DZRJ where I first met The Mole, as an avid listener, who joined their contests, claimed prizes and eventually began hanging out there during my College days, with dreams of becoming a Rock Jock.

After the military-controlled DZRJ got folded and reformatted into the all-female DJ-ed DWNK or WINK, a few years passed before I finally got my start on radio in 1986, and crossing paths again with The Mole at 97.1 WLS-FM in 1988. Having gotten my feet wet in Radio, and having known him from the RJ days, I was a shoe-in at LS.

Sometime in the 90's, we parted company once again, with The Mole moving to, first, Kool 106, then to DM 95.5. He went off-air after his stint with Pinoy Radio. Then did a shortie with Rock 990, RJ's other AM station, but the station didn't last. Now he's back on-air at RJUR 105.9 Underground Radio. Doing the Sunday swing from 9am-12nn, The Mole is back to what he does the best.. playing Classic Rock the way no other newbie jock nowadays could ever do or even imagine.

20 April 2008.
Listening to The Mole on a Sunday morning puts a smile on my face. Why?
Coz of all the great stuff he plays; stuff I never would have thought of hearing on radio again.
Stuff from Fleetwood Mac. Poco. Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Pousette-Dart Band. Stuff I used to trip on back in 1982 on The Source RJFM. The Little River Band. Steely Dan. I could go on and on.

In short, I paid my compadre a visit that Sunday morning, even putting me on-air for a bit of the old chit-chat banter we used to do back in the old LS days. I miss my compadre. Just like old times. After his shift, and over a burgers-and-fries lunch at Wendy's, we caught up, just jammin' the breeze. It was good to see my compadre again. I'll be seeing him again soon, I promised him a shitload of cd-r's worth of material for his Sunday show, which excites us to no end, just thinking of playing and hearing them on-air. Again.
We're the true blue DJs. Those who go beyond the paycheck. The DJs who actually care about what they play. And not how much they're paid. Sure, it puts food on the table. But there are the DJs who are passionate about what they do. And what we play. Me and The Mole.. we're two of a kind. A dying breed, perhaps. Those who, as Bad Company would say,
live for the music. Coz that's what it's all about, baby.. the music.