Raised on radio
Here’s a quick age test: ask if the person remembers what Top 40 or DJ mean. If they correct identify either, then they can have a seat at the adult table, over the holidays. Back in the day, I was a minor DJ, at a very minor radio station. So small tha we diddn’t actually do “over the air” tests, because we wee carrier current, and that might have raised official eyebrows.
My “careeer” started out innocently. I was asked to annouce a few things, on a tape that ended up getting a long run on late nights. Background music for those that couldn’t handle the country music accent on real radio, or get up to change the LP. I was in need of nasal surgery (received a year later), and my own timbre was special. Plus, running the same tape for months on end meant that my audience moved beyond one-digit totals. Good times.
The studio had two turntables, a decent microphone, a full control board and few restrictions. If you could find the 45 in the back, you could put it to air. Which leads me to my latest YT find: critical playlists. The man in the big chair chooses a list from a particular year, and then gives a very amusing commentary to his finds. If only I had been so inventive, when I opened the mic and spoke to my world. Could have taken me down a very different career path.
I’ll give it this. As a DJ, you never knew how many people were actually listening, so you develeoped a patter that didn’t require censorship. Like real radio. In the subdued lighting of a control booth, you imagine that the world is your oyster, with its ears on. Some of my station neighbours actually made careers out of the skill set. No, really.
That station is nothing more than a rarely visited Wiki page, now. Things have eveolved. As for the playlists, not so much. YT is a sweet revenge.
