Again, despite their "pirate radio" status, Touch 106.1 FM keeps the airwaves interesting. While I may not agree 100% with their methods, I appreciate how the station is trying to shake things up around Boston. This afternoon the station replayed the infamous May 30, 2008 phone call between MC Spice and Kristoffer Brassil, General Manager of the Agganis Arena at Boston University. MC Spice was questioning Brassil's decision not to rent the Agganis Arena to Touch-FM to host a Bobby Brown concert while live on the air. Brassil gave a couple of reasons, but insisted that the cost such a concert would incur vs. the amount of revenue he expected it to bring in wouldn't be worth his or Touch-FM's time and effort. Furthermore, Brassil suggested that Touch-FM might have to provide information about its finances before being allowed to book the area given his thoughts on Touch-FM's ability to pay its bills, due to its unlicensed status. MC Spice countered by asking for something in writing regarding the disclosure of personal or business assets prior to renting the arena. According to Brassil, there isn't a written policy to that effect. Spice was upset because Brassil made it sound as though the station might use illegal funds to fund the concert.
As a third-party listener, it did sound as though Brassil was giving Spice the runaround and that he kept hinting at something he wouldn't just come out and say. After a few minutes of conversation, Spice revealed to Brassil that their phone call was live on the air and that "the entire Black community was listening." At first Brassil welcomed the situation, but when it finally sank in that their conversation wasn't private, he asked for Spice to call back when they weren't on the air and then hung up.
At the end of the recording, MC Spice provided a "public service announcement." He spelled Brassil's name, provided his contact information, and called for the Black community not to attend any events at the Agganis arena to demonstrate the economic impact the loss of Black consumers would have on their business. I didn't realize that there were many events at the Agganis which attracted a large Black audience, but I'd be interested in hearing whether the call for an economic boycott has any impact. It's been at least 10 days since that phone conversation, and I haven't heard anything about it other than this recorded phone call. You'd think at least the tabloids or the weekly papers would run a story.
Anyway, with a quick Google search I found two things. First, I found an mp3 recording of the conversation. The link no longer plays sound (perhaps BU threatened to sue if it was made available online?) but there's a snippet of information available. Second, Kristoffer Brassil has a Facebook page. I won't link to it since it's so easy to find and is wide open to anyone with a Facebook account. But, someone might want to tell that guy to tighten up the privacy filters on his page. I realize that Touch-FM has already released his phone, fax, and email and that Spice has called the situation "racist, tasteless, and baseless," but does he really want people on the street walking up to him and calling him that to his face or writing it on his Facebook page?
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