El Toro's Last Show: "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye"

11/16/2016
DJ El
photo by Brittney Bollay

photo by Brittney Bollay

After ten very happy years working at KEXP, on-air and behind-the-scenes, tonight is my final show before I move to Tucson, AZ.

Tune in starting at 9:00 PM Pacific Time to hear four hours of highlights from some of my favorite in-studios, podcasts, and musical discoveries. I don't imagine I'll have many opportunities to host a performance in a men's room or lead a marching band while dressed as a pig again, and I'd like to savor these memories with you one final time.

One of my happiest episodes at KEXP - in my entire life, frankly - was interviewing the notoriously press-shy Kate Bush circa the release of her 2011 album 50 Words for Snow. It seems especially appropriate then that I'll be previewing selections from her forthcoming record, Before The Dawn, during the first half hour of my last KEXP broadcast.

I've been a diehard music lover since my earliest memories of listening to AM radio in my grandmother's kitchen. From the neon-tinted new wave of Soft Cell to the defiant brilliance of Beyoncé's Lemonade and ANOHNI's Hopelessness, music has fortified and inspired me throughout the best and worst times of my life.

But what's the point? That's what I'd wonder in my darkest hours. Compiling mix tapes and helping people spend their lunch money wisely at the record store is all well and good, but there must be something more... and there is.

Listener-powered KEXP taught me that when we share our enthusiasm for the songs and artists that touch us, amazing things become possible. Look at all we've accomplished together during the past ten years at KEXP: building the New Home, the "Mom Show," Little Big Show.

Your passion for music can transform lives for the better. Please remember that.

My deepest thanks to the entire KEXP Community for allowing me to share "music that matters" with you this past decade. It's been an unforgettable honor.

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