I caught the radio bug early. It was one of my birthdays in the mid-60s when I got a little transistor radio. I can still picture that thing in it's black case with the holes in it by the tiny speaker. It was a golden time to listen as AM radio still blasted the music of the day on huge stations that could be heard everywhere. I would listen late into the night…through the static…Motown blasting in from Detroit or the golden tones of Ernie Harwell calling a Tigers game…WLS out of Chicago…WWWE in Cleveland…and on a good night you could even hear voices from New Orleans , St Louis & Memphis. The disc jockeys would keep up a machine gun barrage of patter…much of which rhymed. They had sound effects, jingles and all the time…the hits just kept on coming. Here in Central Wisconsin it was WRIG and WSPT that were the big stations . Later when FM radio arrived it was a much cooler sound…long music sets and laid back jocks playing the music they wanted too. Sharing cool finds with you (listening to music was a communal experience back then…not so much now) and turning you on to latest sounds. WIFC was the first FM station that really catered to a younger crowd and back then they played everything. Jocks like Tom Daniels, Bruce Charles and David Shane Arrowwood were the stars…before a classic 70's lineup ruled the airwaves Sebastian Oliver Stone, Tom Collins, Jim Owen and Tom Hudson (The Incredible Hud) had a great run and I, in fact got to work with those guys in latter half of the 70's. I would sit in the tiny WIFC studio in the Channel 7 building on Grand Ave and watch Owen, who called himself “The Duke Of Madness” ply his craft. But before all that I had to learn how to do it. And that happened at WWSP, 90FM…the college station at UWSP. From 1975-1979 I immersed myself in that station…doing a little bit of everything…news, sports , and taking as many music shifts as I could. I mention this because tomorrow (Friday) i will return to the 90fm studios (still in the same cramped quarters in the comm building next to the Dreyfus Center) and spin some records from 1-4pm. Its a fundraiser for the station as alumni return and pay for the chance to get behind the microphone again. Most of these folks don't work in the radio biz anymore and I'm sure its a big thrill for them to get to do it again. Because I know for me, even though I get to crack open the mic every day…I'm still juiced for the experience. I got to work and learn from alot of great people in my years at 90FM. Guys who went on to big things in the biz. Chris Shebel who later ran some big stations including WLS…. Gene Mueller who has built a fabulous career in Milwaukee and currently does mornings at WTMJ…Tim Bedore who became a successful stand-up comic…Scottie Krueger (The Big K), my first sports mentor who is still doing Pointer and Spash athletics on the radio. Jerry Gavin, a music freak who turned me on to alot of great bands that I had never heard before. And a whole lot of others who made the college radio experience so transformative for me. You can catch the show tomorrow from 1-4 on 90fm here in Central Wisconsin and on-line at their website at
www.uwsp.edu/wwsp.
I'll be back out at the Wisconsin Valley Fair today from 2-4 and we have our football schedules in. Packer, Badger and high school schedules all in one place. Stop by and say hi at the WSAU tent near the Youth Building on the East side of the Fairgrounds.
Also, I will be joining Nate Gatter in the press box at Athletic Park tonight for MY final Chucks broadcast of the season. Nate will continue to bring you Chucks games through next week as they battle for a playoff spot.
Songs Of The Day (from my Ipod)
