Rock Radio - By Lisa Wainland Page 0,53

now shoulder length with blonde highlights. He wore tight leather pants and a navy silk shirt. Bobby, the tallest and skinniest of the group, was also the most aloof. Success made him withdraw into himself. He refused to color his hair or conform to a stylist’s idea of rock sheik. He wore corduroy pants and a white gym t-shirt. The clothes hung on his lanky body. Harper embraced the rock star image the most. He dyed his hair bright pink or dark green or iridescent blue, depending on his mood. Today it was fire engine red. He dressed in a black shirt and low fitting loose black jeans that he accented with a silver chain connected from his back pocket to his front belt loop. As much as they all carried themselves with the rock star look, Cody was still the most attractive, the one the women went most wild for. The stylists let him keep his trademark look of dark blue jeans and a white button down shirt. Gold highlights were applied to the tips of his brown hair. Muscular and lean with soulful eyes, Cody was a heartbreaker.

But it was his heart that had been broken.

Dana.

He couldn’t get her out of his head.

“Cody, Phillip Dover, Program Director, nice to meet you.” A chunky blonde haired man walked over to them with a huge smile.

“Good to meet you too, man. Thanks for the radio play.” Cody shook hands with the man who programmed the radio station, the man who also dressed like a rock star in a yellow t-shirt, orange pants and black sneakers with gold glitter.

“You’re a hit. Orlando loves you. I just hope you remember us when you go platinum.”

“Of course, of course.”

“Let me take you and the rest of the guys into the studio. I’ll introduce you to Orlando’s favorite afternoon jock, Glenn Stone.”

They pushed through the heavy door into Orlando’s rock studio. The walls were covered with posters of bands. Pictures of all their jocks adorned the walls, their heads pasted on different bodies.

“Glenn, meet The Cody Blue Experience.”

They all shook hands.

Cody looked up at the wall and noticed Glenn’s head was attached to the body of a swimsuit model.

“I love you guys, great first album,” Glenn said, with what seemed like a genuine compliment. Glenn liked interviewing new bands. They were untouched by too much money, too much fame and too much adoration. With just a small taste of what success would be like, up and coming bands retained their hunger for success. They still needed the disc jockey. Big time rock stars often forgot from whence they came, not realizing it was the deejays who talk up their records to the fans who buy them...no, the deejays were not the right people to piss off.

But superstar bands did.

The Cody Blue Experience had great potential. Glenn hoped they remembered him when they reached the top. Inevitably, they’d want to know him again when they needed him on the way down. And they probably would come down. That’s what happened to most of them.

“Thanks for the kind words, man,” Alex chimed in, trying to take the leadership role. He was still resentful that Cody was the point person. He saw the way the Program Director approached Cody first to fill him in. He was jealous.

Glenn addressed all of them. “Here’s the drill. We’ll go on, talk about how you got together, the album and your appearance tonight. Then we’ll have you play the song. Anything in particular you want me to mention?”

They all shook their heads. “No, that’s fine,” Alex said. Cody hung back, he sensed tension with Alex and didn’t want to make it worse.

“Great, the song’s ending...here we go.” He put on his headphones. “Glenn Stone rockin’ with you on this Monday afternoon and I’m joined by The Cody Blue Experience or CBE as they’re being called these days.” He hit the sound effect for applause. “Welcome to Orlando.”

“Thanks,” the band said in unison.

“So tell us...how’d y’all get together.”

Alex leaned into the mic. “Bobby, Harper and I were friends for years. We started a band and went to college. Then we met this guy, Cody, who apparently had a gift for writing lyrics. The rest, as they say, is history.”

“And you’re doin’ real well...local band makes good. We’re all proud of you as you must be proud of your self-titled debut album. The lyrics are powerful...Cody, what’s the inspiration?”

“Real life stuff, observations...the words speak to me. I hope they speak to everyone else.”

“They