A few weeks ago, Pat Matthews took his nine-year-old son, Frank, to a baseball game at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California.
During a lull in between innings (and much to Matthews' surprise), “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by the Beatles came blasting out of the arena's overhead speakers. Almost immediately, thousands of people jumped to their feet and began to dance as both father and son, who were sitting in the upper deck, were given a bird's eye view of it all.
Matthews, 55, observed the scene for a few moments in awe. Feeling quietly nostalgic, he leaned over to his son and said, “That song still sounds good 40 years later.”
Hearing “I Want to Hold Your Hand” elicits a special childhood memory for Matthews. And watching the people dancing around him, Matthews found it nice to see that, at least as far as the other 40,000 people in that baseball stadium were concerned, he was not alone.
“The crowd went wild,” said Matthews, who lives in Mission Viejo, California. “The only time they ever play a Beatles song [at a baseball game] is "Twist and Shout." Except for my station, I haven't heard that song in a long time.”
Matthews' station is Beatles-A-Rama, an Internet radio show that, since its inception seven years ago, has become a 24-hour listening mecca for Fab Four lovers around the world.
Dubbed in one of its promo spots as “a Beatles paradise,” Beatles-A-Rama, the station averages more than 30,000 listeners a day and boasts a playlist of 5,000 songs that includes the music of the Beatles and their work as solo artists. Matthews, who is the program's founder and host, also features music from other British Invasion artists, Beatles soundalike bands, groups inspired by the Beatles and more than 700 Beatles cover songs.
“One thing I like about Beatles-A-Rama over other Beatles channels I've heard is how [Matthews] plays a variety of stuff, including other Apple artists,” said David Haber, founder of What Goes On, a popular Beatles news site.
A Beatles-A-Rama fan who tunes in on any given day will hear special programming, rare recordings of the Beatles' appearances on radio, interviews, classic commercial snippets and in-the-studio Beatles segments. Listeners can even phone in and leave a message detailing their most treasured Beatles memory, which will be played on-air.
“People listen to radio very passively,” said Matthews of his programming style. “You have to do something different that grabs their attention.”
Dana Silver of Greensboro, S.C. is among the millions of Beatles-A-Rama listeners who agree that the show's varied programming is an attention-getter.
“It's the reason I keep listening,” said Silver. “I enjoy the behind- the-scenes information…and the stories.”
Some of what is heard on Beatles-A-Rama is contributed by fans and celebrity listeners, like Allen Wentz, bassist for the "70"s group, Wild Cherry and “Play That Funky Music White Boy” fame, who sent Matthews a Wild Cherry cover version of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” Another Beatles-A-Rama fan, Graham Goble of the Little River Band, sent in his group's version of “In My Life.”
“I get that kind of stuff all the time,” said Matthews, a well-known radio personality and New Orleans native who, in his early radio days, disc jockeyed alongside a would-be actor named John Larroquette.
Apart from what listeners send him, Matthews pays for all the songs he gets and is always on the lookout for material. Most of what is heard on Beatles-A-Rama comes from his extensive vinyl record collection, the majority of which has been transferred to CD.
“I used to have 12,000 vinyl albums,” said Matthews. “Now I'm down to 2,500.”
Matthews has been involved in radio for most of his adult life, a love that he says began with an introduction to the Beatles.
“The Beatles are single-handedly responsible for turning me around and making me like Rock music,” said Matthews, who admits to being a bit of a nerd who spent most of his time listening to talk radio before he discovered the lads from Liverpool at the age of 12.
“I was at a party,” Matthews recalled. “And someone put on'I Want to Hold Your Hand.'They just kept playing it over and over. They must have played it about 50 times. I asked the host who it was and she said it was the Beatles. That was it for me.”
Like many young boys who were inspired by the Beatles, Matthews discovered a passion for music. He played keyboard in a band in high school and at 19, got his first radio job as a board operator for a Sunday morning religious program. By 1969, Matthews was a full-fledged disc jockey, and just four years later, a radio program director over one of the first automated stations in the country.
