Friday, February 29, 2008
Ran into an old radio buddy yesterday. He was working as an election judge at a primary polling place. We got to talking about the old times in radio and how it's changed. We were at the end of the golden age of radio, just before the government de-regulated it. When I started in radio, it was fun. People listened to the radio for the DJ as much as for the music played. The DJ's had personalities. Everyone was different. And the DJs had fun. At one station, I had access to hundreds and hundreds of 45 rpm records and LPs. I could choose any record I wanted to play. We interacted with the listeners when they called in to request a certain record played. DJs knew fun facts about the singers and bands and could talk about them. In fact, most DJs researched the artists to prepare for their shows so they could make it as interesting and fun as possible. The station ran crazy contests and had remote broadcasts,,,some in strange places. I once spent a Saturday morning inside a cage at the local zoo. The same station broadcast a croquette match live from the city park on a Sunday afternoon. As I said, we had fun. It's hard to find a radio station with a live local DJ nowadays. Most are nothing more than electronic juke boxes. The kids these days really missed a great time in radio.
Replies
I agree. My band mates all have satellite radio, the kind with no commercials and you pay for it. Me? I like the radio and there\'s one classic rock station that still adheres to the old school style. It\'s so much fun to listen to a person who really appreciates the artists they play and people can call in with requests and to win contests and all sorts of fun. That must have been quite a job!