When did you KNOW?

[VeteranWorkerBee]

Was there a moment in your life that you just KNEW you had to be on the radio?

Was it a certain talent that somehow reached out and grabbed your attention?

Was it the idea of fame, that people would look up to you?

I'm just curious about when, and under what circumstances, you decided to become a radio person.

 

[flakunkel]

Was there a moment in your life that you just KNEW you had to be on the radio?

Was it a certain talent that somehow reached out and grabbed your attention?

Was it the idea of fame, that people would look up to you?

I'm just curious about when, and under what circumstances, you decided to become a radio person.

When I was about 10 years old.

It was Jack Gale on WITH, Baltimore. Also Paul "Fat Daddy" Johnson, WSID, Baltimore. (late 1950's, early 1960's, if you must know).

Fame never really entered into it. Part of the attraction was that listeners wouldn't know what I looked like.

 

[NHRadio]

I had just turned 6. My grandfather (who in the 50's owned a third of a suburban Boston FM but sold it at a loss before I was born) bought me a Radio Shack Flavor radio. I still have it.
I discovered Boston radio by day and NYC at night and KNEW I had to do that. My dream came true in 1983 and I still do it today.
Sounds a bit corny but I still love what I do.

 

[kirkiefan]

The WING airstaff known as the "Lively Guys"....most notably Gene "By Golly" Barry for his love of music and of good times in Dayton. I was also 10 years old at the dawn of Beatlemania,the British music invasion and Motown. I was a small farmer's kid who resembled Ralphie from "A Christmas Story" ...a "little runt" as my dad sometimes jokingly referrred to me. I struggled in school realizing I could never be a banker,lawyer or doctor...let alone a high school basketball player.

The other..of course is none other than Steve Kirk...He imitated nobody...he was himself with his own style and witty humour. His telephone put ons made me laugh hysterically.

Wolfman Jack,Larry Lujack,Ted "The Bear" Richards and Casey Kasem solidified it when I was in my teens.

If I could do it all over again I would have asked my parents (and the nuns at my school) to get me a tutor to help me with my learning disablities,help me with my lack of self-esteem, get my grades up and went to U.D.

 

[bigdave3]

I think my earliest influence would have to be Wolfman Jack. I never heard him on the radio but my older brother had the American Graffitti soundtrack and I listened to it constantly. It was put together like a radio show with Wolfman introducing the songs. A few years later I actually got to meet him at a department store promotion in my hometown of Murfreesboro, TN. Later I discovered 103 WKDF in Nashville and Carl P. Mayfield and The P Team. His show definitely had the biggest influence on me. I actually would get up early on my spring break days so I could listen to his whole show. Ultimately Carl left for WSIX and a few years and two shows later I was the cohost of the KDF morning show. (Take that Guidance Counselor!)
One thing that has always stayed with me is another example from my days of listening to KDF. One the DJs came to my town to do a remote at a waterbed store down the street from my house. I was so excited to ride my bike down and meet this person I listened to religously. When I got there, he was holed up in the back of the store and never came out to see us at all. To this day I remember my disappointment and to this day I go out of my way to meet and talk to listeners. If it wasn't for them I wouldn't have a job. I also try to talk a little extra with kids who have an interest in radio. I just hope one day they don't take my job!

 

[Arbitorn]

When I was in the fifth grade, my uncle bought me a big, blue plastic toy transmitter that had a telegraph key and microphone. I never used the key, but I put a kiddie record player next to the mic and introed the records I had. I remember doing "She's Just My Style" by Gary Lewis in particular. I'd run across the basement to listen it on a radio I had set up over there. Later, when I was in college, a friend had a job at a carrier current station and my interest was reborn. All of a sudden, managing a grocery store just didn't seem to be so attractive.

 

[ncincy1]

Sixth grade - Huntington, West Virginia (listened to the "Big 80 - WKEE & 1340 WCMI) late 1960's and ALWAYS wanted to be on the radio.
After WKEE AM signed off in the evenings I would listen to WABC in New York and/or WLS in Chicago (best...top 40 DJ's...ever). If lucky, I could listen to WSAI AM at night - awesome!
I would always "tinker" with the transistor radios my parents bought so they would "work better' = pick up distant stations. I usually broke them but always got a replacement. Practiced song introductions, reading the newspaper, time/temperature, etc. on a tape recorder.
First experience with "real radio" was at Marshall University (WMUL 88.1) in the mid-70's. Then, on to work in commercial broadcasting from late 70's to early 80's in the Huntington/Ashland/Ironton market. Stints at: WNST AM, WTCR AM, WKEE AM, WAMX FM - everything from afternoon drive to music director to program director. FUN TIMES!
In case your interested, here's some links way back to memory lane from the Huntington/Ashland/Ironton radio market (before my time).

http://jeff560.tripod.com/whtn1.html

http://jeff560.tripod.com/wcmi.html

I would not trade radio in the late '60's/early 70's for anything today (sorry). That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

[engineer65]

Was there a moment in your life that you just KNEW you had to be on the radio?

Was it a certain talent that somehow reached out and grabbed your attention?

Was it the idea of fame, that people would look up to you?

I'm just curious about when, and under what circumstances, you decided to become a radio person.

I took a tour of the local radio station in my town (KBBQ) and I was hooked.

 

[radioboy]

I think it started when my parents bought me a small reel-to-reel tape recorder when I was 6.

Unlike most of those here, though, my fascination was with the local AM country station. Matter of
fact, it was the only country station at that time!

Add in a school field trip to WTNT-Tallahassee and bingo! another DJ on the making.

Being legally blind, I just wanted to find something that I could do that didn't involve the
idea if working in a state office cafeteria (which I never did, thank goodness.)

Worked in radio for most of 24 years in the same market.

 

[ouuc]

New york city...1962...I was 7...Four Top-40 stations! (WABC-770, WMCA-570, WINS-1010, WMGM-1050). I remember constantly spinning the dial to hear the DJs. Sometimes I'd have 4 radios going at once. When progressive FMs WOR-FM (98.7), WNEW-FM (102.7) and WABC-FM (95.5) came along in the late 60s, that sealed the deal. Listening to Jonathan Schwartz, John Zacherle, and others helped me make up my mind.

 

[Time Traveler]

When I was 8 years old in Cincinnati in early 1964. The British Invasion had taken over the air waves! WSAI and WCPO just sounded awesome playing all of this new music! The idea of getting paid to sit in a radio studio to play records as a job sounded amazing. Plus...I hated school!!! Radio seemed like it was a million miles away from that oppressive environment! Another thing that caught my attention at that young age was that the DJs who were adults, didn't seem to act like adults. (the uptight control freak adults (teachers)that I was accustomed too.) These were grown ups that actually sounded cool and sounded like they had an incredibly cool job. With in months, I had discovered night time DX, and spent alot of time with
WABC and WBZ among others....Anyway, I've been spinnning AOR/Classic Rock on the radio non-stop for over thirty years now....

 

[KyDXIn]

I'm not in radio, but have been a huge fan since the mid 70s.

During the April 3, 1974 tornado outbreak, WHAS radio had wall-to-wall coverage about these "Godforsaken" tornadoes! That reference is to one of the more serious episodes of WKRP in Cincinnati where Les Nessman and Arthur Carlson take the reins of the station during a tornado outbreak. Though very humorous, it mirrored some of the coverage of WHAS where scared people were listening for news and information. Dick Gilbert, the helicopter traffic reporter actually flew during the tornadoes and tracked them as they moved threw the area, saving countless lives. Later he said he could track the movement of the tornado by the exploding electric transformers! For more incredible reading on this, check out: http://www.april31974.com/dick_gilbert_whas_april_3_1974.htm

I also loved listening to the creative mind of Gary Burbank who was at WHAS in the mid 70s. Some of his work can be listened to at: http://www.79waky.com/airchecksgaryburbank.htm

 

[almaniac27]

There wasn't really an exact moment with me. I didn't really get heavy into radio until 5th or 6th grade when I started rushing home every day to listen to Gary Burbank. I thought he was the coolest! Unfortunately I didn't get home from school until 4:30, so I missed out on half of his show. My interest kind of grew organically from there as I began exploring what else was on the dial. I remember really liking this one DJ on WGTZ who would play the "um game" with callers, where they had to answer a question and go for a certain amount of time without saying "um" or "uh". Even though that's pretty typical DJ stuff, at the time I thought it was brilliant. I didn't get to grow up with all the legendary DJs that you guys did like Wolfman Jack or Cousin Brucie, I really wish I would have had some airchecks or something when I was younger.

 

[radioman148]

In the late 50s living in Chicago all I did was listen to the radio. Taking a train trip with my family my dad asked the conductor on the train if I cold have a radio to use. I was 6 years old.

 

[del_griffith]

I would not trade radio in the late '60's/early 70's for anything today (sorry). That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Amen to that. That's when the radio bug caught me. I was simply in awe of guys (and a few gals at that time) who could play great music, have so much fun, be funny and witty at a moments notice and keep me and hundreds, even thousands of others entertained. I burned through so many batteries falling asleep and with my radio on all night.

And listening to stations in Boston, New York, Chicago, Detroit, Dallas, New Orleans, Atlanta, Toronto, Philly and many other places that were the same as foreign countries since I had only traveled very limited distances until I was an adult. Landmarks and neighborhoods became destination points as I grew up.

 

[gr8oldies]

I think the bug has always been with me. I would make microphones out of tinkertoys when I was 5 or so. My first radio memories were listening to Bob Sievers and Doug Stevens (I think) on WOWO...and songs like "Barbara Ann" by the Beach Boys and the early Beatles. When I moved to Ohio, and went to the pool I heard "Radio 8 CKLW" blasting out of the speakers at the pool (it would become "The Big 8" later that summer.). The bug really bit when a local top 40 station was broadcasting live from the county fair, turntables, cart machines and all. I don't think there was a time I didn't want to be in radio.

 

[WyllyWylly]

When did I know? I discovered a bit later in my life that it was perfectly matched to my skill set. It was mostly because I had been told many times "you have a DJ voice" or been asked "are you on the radio?" that I decided to pursue it. Those repeated comments and also my love for music meshed well with my technical and people skills. What I discovered... was that I joined the game too late. Low pay, shrinking industry, job instability - these factors became the reason I got out and stayed out. It became obvious that I couldn't support myself, much less my family, without working my ass off for a long time and waiting for a break. If I'd started on this career path when I was 18, things might have been different.

I still love the industry, I still love the job - and if I ever got a chance to be on the engineering or production side of things, I would give it serious consideration. Unfortunately, breaking into the industry at this stage in my life is not a realistic option. But I can live my life now knowing that I pursued the dream. There's nothing like it, and the friendships I made will last a lifetime.

 

[TANKSBACK]

As one of the official "old farts" on this board, I idolized Gene "By Golly" Barry on WING in the late 50's. It always sounded like he was having fun at work, not just working for a living. And I LOVED the music! Got a tour of the WING studios and transmitter site when I was maybe 10. The kids group I was with got to record our voices and hear them back for the first time in our lives. I was HOOKED! Spent my high school years in Washington, D.C. during the early 60's when A.M. was king with top-40 stations from one end of the radio dial to the other from D.C., Baltimore, and the Maryland and Virginia suburbs. Legendary top-40 call letters included WPGC, WWDC, WCAO, WEAM, WINX, WEEL, WYRE plus the soul music powers WOL and WUST. I went to broadcasting school the year after I graduated high school and have been in the business ever since. Like most everyone I've hit a couple of bumps in the road but I wouldn't trade it for any other career!

 

[ThomasBlixa]

I guess I am a child of the 70's, Because I remember living with my mother and she always had Jim Scott on WSAI every weekday morning and this was when they actually played music.
From then on, I was hooked on Radio, Then came FM and Mark Sebastion, Bruce Ryan, Jim Fox Not to mention Casey Piotrowski, Buddy Baron, Ted McAllister, Pat Berry and many more I can't remember.!
I wanted to be those guys sooo bad and isn't that what makes a good/great radio employee.? Someone who has always had a passion for radio.!!
Thanks Mom, I love you.!!

 

[ncincy1]

Is it just me or are most of us part of the generation from the fun days of radio - growing up in the late 60's/early 70's listening to AM radio (local/distant) and that time being the defining moment we wanted (had to) to be a part of it?
We could all write volumes of good times and great memories of radio and our "mentors" back then.
Thanks to VerteranWorkerBee for starting this thread and allowing us to share a brief trip back in time.