How to send a song request or a dedication (and why the year helps)

Requests and dedications are the heart of a show like ours. They turn an hour of records into something closer to a reunion, where you hear your own name, or your sweetheart's, between the songs. Here's how to make yours count.

Give the song, the artist and, if you can, the year

Lots of 50s and 60s songs were recorded by more than one act. A song might be a hit for one group, then covered by another a year later, then turned into something else entirely by a British band. So the more you can tell us, the better the chance we play the version you remember.

• The song title, as near as you can remember it. If you only know a line from the chorus, send that.
• The artist, if you know who sang it.
• The year, or where you were when you heard it: "the summer I got my license" helps too.

Say who it's for, and why

A dedication is a little story. "For Linda" is nice. "For Linda, who I met at the Friday dance in 1962 and married two years later" is the kind of thing listeners remember. You don't need to write a lot. A line or two is plenty.

Please check how names are spelled, and tell us whether you'd like your own name read out in full, your first name only, or not at all. There's a question on the request form for exactly that.

Why we can't tell you when it will play

Internet radio shows in the United States play records under a license, and the rules of that license don't let a show announce ahead of time exactly when a particular song will be on. So we can't say "your song is at 7:42". What you can do is keep listening, which is half the fun anyway.

Memories are welcome too

You don't have to send a song at all. The first concert you went to, the jukebox at the soda fountain, the record that got you through basic training: those stories are what make the show feel like a room full of old friends. Send them the same way.

Sending it

Use the request form. Fill in the song, the artist and who it's for, choose how you'd like your name read, and add anything else in the message. Then keep your radio on.