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honky cracker: Guided by Jovi
This almost certainly did not go down the way I remember it did. But no matter. I like this version better, anyway.
This happened way back when I was still working my summers at the Tard Camp. We spent a lot of time driving the campers from place to place in our Tard Van. I must have been 16 or 17 at the time, because I wasn't the one driving the Tard Van. My cousin was. (Yes, tardsitting is the family vocation.) As such, she would always get to choose what we listened to on the radio.
She'd almost always choose 96.5 WTIC-FM, Hartford's Top 40 Station. I remember that particular summer, (this was 1994ish) WTIC-FM was holding an "Open for Bon Jovi" contest where bands (presumably local and unsigned) would send in their demo tapes and the winner, you guessed it, would open for Bon Jovi in Hartford.
They ran ads for this every 20 minutes or so all summer, until August rolled around and they finally had to pick a winner.
Now, the way I remember it, we were driving home from a park in Northern Connecticut when I heard the voice-over guy say "And congratulations to Guided by Voices! You've just won the opening slot of the such-and-such a date Bon Jovi concert. Blah blah blah."
I specifically remember it being Guided by Voices because, at the time, I had recently seen the words "Guided by Voices" written on a stall. I'm pretty sure I saw it at some club. (Must have been an all ages show.) I remember saying to myself, "Guided by Voices... I think I've heard of them.". That story popped into my head when I heard the announcement.
I'm pretty sure this couldn't have happened. But if it did, you'd have to give the ol' GbV some credit. Neat little stunt they pulled there.
