get the led out

WBLM, our local "classic" rock station, has been playing exactly the same music for at least twenty years. This must save them a fortune in album purchases (or mp3 purchases, or whatever it is that radio stations do these days.) In addition to the inevitable "Two For Tuesday" (is there a "classic" radio station out there that doesn't do a "two for tuesday"? Isn't that a requirement of the "classic" radio genre, that you hear the same old songs that you hear every other day, but on this very special day they are arranged so the Beatles songs are NEXT TO EACH OTHER rather than being separated by a song or two? Magic!)...anyway, in addition to the "Two for Tuesday", they play a "Get the Led Out!" set whenever I am driving in the car in the early evening. That's not too often, maybe once every few weeks or something, but that seems to be the only time I hear it. I do imagine they probably play it more often than that, but I can't really tell you anything more specific than the fact that I seem to hear it every time I'm driving and the sun is going behind the horizon and shining straight into my eyes.

I have no idea where the phrase "get the led out!" comes from, but I'm now wondering if it comes from campaigns to eliminate lead residue in drinking water and public environments. You know, as in "Get the Lead Out." Which really makes a lot more sense than getting Led Zeppelin out. Out of what, for instance? Out of your head? Wouldn't playing Led Zeppelin songs rather put it back into your head? It doesn't make any sense.

However, getting the lead out makes a lot of sense. We just got an initial blood screening test back for the D-man, and it came back positive for lead. We don't know yet if it's really in there, of course, as the screening test appears to have a 50% rate for false positives (nice, huh? This is serious serious stuff, so do freak out, but remember, there's a 50% chance that you're freaking out unnecessarily! Silly hysterical mommy!) But if there's lead in there, we're going to get it the fuck out. Just like BLM says. Yes, indeedy.