Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 2, 1993 TAG: 9304020268
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
RADIO STATION AIMS TO HELP FBI'S PLAY LIST
It might be called "music to surrender by."Songs like "Achy Breaky Heart" and "Da Doo Ron Ron." Songs that could drive a person crazy if they're played repeatedly at a loud enough volume.
Christiansburg radio station Rock 105 planned to mail a list of those songs to the FBI in hopes that agents use the tunes in their psychological warfare against cult leader David Koresh.
The FBI turned loudspeakers and music on Koresh after the apocalyptic prophet ended negotiations with agents and turned his own music on the hundreds of officers surrounding his compound.
"We would like to help you in your efforts to drive David Koresh from the Branch Davidian compound outside of Waco, Texas," wrote Kevin Walsh and Rich Kleinfeldt in a letter to William Sessions, director of the FBI.
Suggestions, gathered from listeners, include the likes of "There Goes the Neighborhood" by Body Count, "Muskrat Love" by The Captain and Tenille, "Problem Child" by AC/DC and anything by Debbie Gibson, Yoko Ono or K.C. and the Sunshine Band.
Soundtracks from "Saturday Night Fever" and "Grease" also were on the list, along with Olivia Newton-John's "Have You Never Been Mellow" and Donna Summer's "MacArthur Park."
"It started out innocently," Walsh said. "Rich had asked listeners to call with suggestions, and more and more people called. . . . It just snowballed."
Getting the list to FBI agents, who apparently have been inundated with similar suggestions, hasn't been easy.
When Rock 105 air personalities called the agency in search of a fax number, they were told not to treat the situation as a joke and were reminded that people had died in the standoff.
"We certainly didn't want to make fun of that," Walsh said. "We just thought that since they were blaring Nancy Sinatra . . . "
Agents reportedly were played "These Boots are Made for Walking," along with a series of Christmas carols, at the compound.
The radio station never got the fax number. "It's classified, I guess," Walsh said.
He planned to mail the list to Sessions.