‘Left of the Dial,’ the secret history behind a Replacements classic

Raise your drinks high when they play Left of the Dial.



While reading Millie De Chirico’s “Spanning the Spectrum for 40 Years” in GSU Magazine this weekend, I learned that the Boomtown Rats’ “I Don’t Like Mondays” was penned after singer Bob Geldof read about an elementary school shooting while at WRAS for an interview. I also learned that the Replacements’ “Left of the Dial” was written while the group was hanging out at WRAS as well, adding new meaning to the station’s slogan, “Left on the dial, right on the music.”

Their appearance at Shaky Knees this weekend seems all the more poignant following this week’s news about GPB’s takeover of WRAS’s day time programming.

Catch Paul Westerberg, Tommy Stinson, and the new ‘Mats lineup on Sat., May 10 at 8 p.m. on Shaky Knees’ Piedmont Stage. Raise your drinks high when they play “Left of the Dial.”