Cruising With ‘In My Car,’ a Radio Grab Bag of Songs About Autos

When Mark Humphrey was pondering new programming for KCSN-FM in May he picked a topic that would evoke nostalgia and, at the same time, capture the essence of a current Southern California obsession: the automobile.

As music coordinator of the station (88.5) licensed to Cal State Northridge, part of Humphrey’s job is to originate program ideas.

“It struck me that there were all these different car stories being told in the lyrics of every kind of music, from 1920s hillbilly to contemporary,” Humphrey said.

And that was the genesis for “In My Car,” a weekly series (8 p.m. on Saturdays) that spotlights a grab bag of songs about automobiles.

Humphrey needed a host for the show who could relive the days of cruising, drive-in movies and restaurants and drag-racing. His first choice was David Durham, who leads Dave Durham and the Bull Durham Band and is the author of the recent country-western hit titled “In My Car,” the story of a freeway commuter fantasizing of singing stardom.

“Mark contacted me about the possibility of doing the show. It’s ironic because I’m a big truck enthusiast and I thought it was a heck of an idea,” said Durham, who gets around in a souped-up ’46 Studebaker.

Humphrey’s next step was to categorize the plethora of automobile-related music he had at his disposal. He came up with program titles for each of the weekly shows, built around the music available from the KCSN music library and personal collections of station employees. Titles include “Cadillacs: The American Dream On Wheels,” “Model T’s to Mercedes” and “Racing, Romance and Other Roadside Attractions.”

Durham says the series had prompted him to recall some of his own auto escapades. As a teen-ager in Homestead, Fla., he wasn’t having much luck getting dates while driving a beat-up Fiat Spider 850. So he borrowed the keys one night to his father’s ’68 Mustang. “I was pretty hip with the girls that night so I decided to save my money and buy that beauty,” Durham said.

“That car was good and bad for me, mostly bad,” Durham said, recalling a few scrapes with Dade County authorities. Eventually, “I got sideswiped by a guy who was driving a stolen car from Key Biscayne, and he took the back end right off. There was nothing they could do to save it.” (One recent edition of “In My Car” was titled “Trouble, Transfusion and Tragedy” and it featured a song by Leo Kotke called “Why Can’t You Fix My Car?”)

KCSN’s “In My Car” series, which Durham tapes each Wednesday afternoon, began in July and continues through Sept. 2. The remaining shows include “Cadillacs: The American Dream on Wheels,” “Model T’s to Mercedes,” “Son of Racing Romance & Other Roadside Attractions,” “On the Road” and “Last Stop.”

In My Car airs on KCSN-FM (88.5) Saturdays at 8 p.m. and is re-broadcast Wednesdays 8 p.m.