Anne Litt: My strange and beautiful year behind the decks of Morning Becomes Eclectic

From Happy Morning to Happy Hour!

What a strange, yet beautiful, year it’s been behind the decks for Morning Becomes Eclectic. 

As I pass the MBE host baton to Novena Carmel and Anthony Valadez, I’ve been reflecting on what it’s been like to be with you all every morning, rain or shine, through all the ups and downs of this past year. 

Anne Litt in the KCRW studios before COVID restrictions called for social distancing. Photo by KCRW.

In January 2020, I started in KCRW’s Santa Monica studio. By January 2021, I had been hosting for months in the basement studio at my Hollywood house. So much happened between these Januaries. There was Trump’s first impeachment. Then we lost Kobe. COVID ravaged the globe, and we banged pots and pans for frontline workers. 

Together we were gutted by the loss of Black lives who should be with us now. We sighed together when our children could not go back to school. We cheered when the Lakers won the NBA championship. And then, the Dodgers. We listened to “I Love L.A.” on repeat and kept trying to pick up the pieces. We voted. We endured the holiday surge of COVID cases in Los Angeles. And later, we witnessed an insurrection.

Anne Litt in the basement studio of her house, where KCRW built a mobile Morning Becomes Eclectic live broadcast set up. Photo by Anne Litt/KCRW.

I’ve sobbed, laughed, vacuumed, cracked jokes, danced, played with my cats, hugged my family, worn a mask, missed my sister… and through it all, we’ve listened to music together. 

“Music” and “together” being the key words in this equation; even though we’ve been apart, this year has felt like a collaboration.

And I want that collaboration to continue. My new time slot will be weekends 3-6 p.m. on KCRW starting February 13 and I hope you'll join me.