Instrumental Invasion, 11/17/23: Finale November 18, 2023

The final prime time Instrumental Invasion on WCWP began life the same way the prior night did: as a Wednesday night show to air following what I assumed to be a short renovation programming hiatus. I hadn’t recorded this one yet, though. The playlist, annotations, and script were completed, but I wanted to work on more playlists before recording 181 or 182. I made 183 the Christmas show and 184 the third Three-of-a-Kind Showcase special. I’d work on 185 and 186 when I was ready.

The playlist was created on October 20 and 22. Annotations began on October 25, but were put on hold due to uncertainty over the hiatus and lineup change that was to follow. I finished those annotations and drafted the script on November 1. I figured I would record 181, then move on to 182.

After making tweaks to show 181 on the evening of November 6, I tweaked all components of 182: playlist, annotations, and script. Obviously, I’d have to redo the intro and outro, including a proper goodbye on the latter. These are the changes made:

• Extracurricular info about “The Secret Drawer” by Bob James was thrown out to allow more time for the goodbye.
• “This Time Around” by Four80East was replaced with “The End of Our Season” by David Benoit and Russ Freeman, the same song that closed The Instrumental Invasion on WGBB back on May 5, 2005.
• “Fellowship” by Justin-Lee Schultz was replaced by “Wrong Side (instrumental, no backing vocals)” by Cerian (kerry-anne), fulfilling my promise to her in the Twitch stream I raided on November 4.
• Annotations were updated to include the replacement songs, and the script was updated accordingly. The script was revised a few more times before recording began.

Two segments per day were recorded from November 9 to 11. Each time, I streamed the recording sessions on Twitch.

Click here to download the finale’s aircheck scope or listen below:

I’m sad the show is over, but relieved that the hard work is behind me. So much time and effort went into each show, so burnout was inevitable. While this isn’t quite how I wanted to end, I’m grateful to WCWP station manager Pete Bellotti for allowing me a proper ending. Here was Pete’s complimentary statement on the WCWP Alumni Association Facebook group hours before air:

A salute to Mike Chimeri … yes, his birthday (Happy Birthday!!!!!) ….but to his final Instrumental Invasion tonight at 9p on 88.1 FM WCWP. There are no words to describe how important Mike will always be to WCWP as a talent, alum and human being. I am truly grateful for Mike’s friendship and I speak for many by saying THANK YOU! Time for some R & R and the next project that you will execute with class, professionalism & superior skill.

Cheers my friend!!!

Pete Bellotti, 11/17/23, 1:05 PM

Thank you very much, Pete.

Thank you, the listener and reader, for reading these recaps and listening to the airchecks. See you all on Twitch.