The radio bug hit me, too. 1963 I believe. Junior in high school, had to write a paper for an English Rhetoric class. Chose radio. I could see the stick (tower) for a 3300 watt FM station (One of two licensed commercial stations in Kankakee, Illinois, south of Chicago in WLS and WCFL Land). So I went over to interview the manager. Nice gent, also chief engineer. One thing led to another and I applied and got a part time job spinning records (more of an easy listening station) on weekends. Didn't have a driver's license yet so my Dad would drive me. Once I could drive I expanded my hours to evenings and weekends. Part of the gig was getting a 3rd Class Phone... my Dad drove me to the FCC office in Chicago to take the test. Transmitter was a 1,000 watt something or other with a big klystron tube and a 3.3 db antenna gain so = 3300 watts. Because the AM station in town was a sundowner the FM station I was at was the only local game after sunset. It was fun. I kept it up through college where I worked at several other commercial AM stations and the college FM station, then transitioned into TV News while in college. Did that for about 20 years... Then put together a boutique video agency (StoryVisionVideo.com) that I still operate. And use my old radio production skills to do the podcast - dictatorforaday.substack.com It's a lot of fun.
Sunday mornings at the radio station were similar. No live preachers but enough gospel music to open a dozen new churches.
Saturday nights I would take requests. One lady always called in... I suspect she'd had a few too many. Always asked to hear "Misty." This was long before the Clint Eastwood movie, "Play 'Misty' for Me." And the caller never tried to kill me.
I think my first tape recorder was similar to the one in your photo but was a consumer Ampex product. Great sound from the 1/4" 2 track commercial music tapes you could buy. Used it for all kinds of stuff. Probably at the bottom of a landfill by now that's been turned into a ski slope somewhere.
My best microphone story involves a Neuman U 87. But that's for another day. Til then, as we say in TV, "Dolly out and fade to black..."
I LOVE this story! Seeing the bulwark of how you got started is fascinating; re-living the old hits is fun; and seeing where it took you is even better! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for telling your story. It was so well written.
Thanks LM for your kind words.
Wow. Similar sons from different mothers.
The radio bug hit me, too. 1963 I believe. Junior in high school, had to write a paper for an English Rhetoric class. Chose radio. I could see the stick (tower) for a 3300 watt FM station (One of two licensed commercial stations in Kankakee, Illinois, south of Chicago in WLS and WCFL Land). So I went over to interview the manager. Nice gent, also chief engineer. One thing led to another and I applied and got a part time job spinning records (more of an easy listening station) on weekends. Didn't have a driver's license yet so my Dad would drive me. Once I could drive I expanded my hours to evenings and weekends. Part of the gig was getting a 3rd Class Phone... my Dad drove me to the FCC office in Chicago to take the test. Transmitter was a 1,000 watt something or other with a big klystron tube and a 3.3 db antenna gain so = 3300 watts. Because the AM station in town was a sundowner the FM station I was at was the only local game after sunset. It was fun. I kept it up through college where I worked at several other commercial AM stations and the college FM station, then transitioned into TV News while in college. Did that for about 20 years... Then put together a boutique video agency (StoryVisionVideo.com) that I still operate. And use my old radio production skills to do the podcast - dictatorforaday.substack.com It's a lot of fun.
Sunday mornings at the radio station were similar. No live preachers but enough gospel music to open a dozen new churches.
Saturday nights I would take requests. One lady always called in... I suspect she'd had a few too many. Always asked to hear "Misty." This was long before the Clint Eastwood movie, "Play 'Misty' for Me." And the caller never tried to kill me.
I think my first tape recorder was similar to the one in your photo but was a consumer Ampex product. Great sound from the 1/4" 2 track commercial music tapes you could buy. Used it for all kinds of stuff. Probably at the bottom of a landfill by now that's been turned into a ski slope somewhere.
My best microphone story involves a Neuman U 87. But that's for another day. Til then, as we say in TV, "Dolly out and fade to black..."
Dennis, Thanks for sharing your story with me. Crazy similarities.
I remember every one of those songs. Guess we're gettin old!
We are all "gettin old!" That's the nature of time.
Yes, I’ve never been this old before.
I LOVE this story! Seeing the bulwark of how you got started is fascinating; re-living the old hits is fun; and seeing where it took you is even better! Thanks for sharing!
Your choice of music could have come straight from my playlist
Amazing story and I can see God's hand of guidance all along the way.
I will say that I am glad you turned to newspapers. - Sue
Me too. 😊