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More (miscellaneous) memories of Bob Switzer, by Robert Hutchings:
- Switz always liked the cartoon character Taz (of course!), but he was always a big fan of Garfield, not only for his crazy wit and sarcasm, but also for his voracious appetite. Bob sure did love to eat, and it wasn't just lasagna he lusted after...good pizza and roast chicken were two of his favourites.
- When Bob was happy (when he was listening to great blues, finally finding an obscure LP for a customer/friend/himself, having a great day at the store, etc.) he was joyous! His good humour radiated onto all those around him...and he could be driven into a fit of the giggles as well. When he was REALLY happy (when two or more of the above examples happened at once), he sometimes would break out into an impromptu shuffle dance (with or without music), clicking his feet together...think of a combination of Garfield's "Lasagna!" dance and what you see Snoopy do in the Peanuts cartoons, when he's just gotten his supper dish from Charlie Brown.
- As many Haligonians know, Bob did a blues show on CBC Radio for a while. While his knowledge of the blues was vast, dating back to the shellacs and 78 RPM's of the 1920's (and that's why the CBC hired him), they despaired of his monotonic, non-announcer's voice. When Bob was dispensing vital information on any blues artist, the words came out as if they were being read from that big encyclopedia inside his head. Fascinating stories to those really listening, but oh-so-dull to the casual radio dial-spinner...
- Although Switz loved the feel, smell and sound of vinyl 45's and LP's, he got dragged kicking and screaming into the digital age. For quite a while at Taz, he didn't buy or sell CD's, thinking that they were "unproven" as to both their sound and durability. (Many purists still prefer the "warmer" sound of LP's over CD's.) Bob told me once that records had been around for close to 100 years, and he was unsure if the glass/aluminum skin surface of CD's would stick around for so long...he thought the music on them might deteriorate or even disappear. Well, CD's have been around for 25 years now...but he may still be right in the long run!
Hutch
March, 2006
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