Sitting here listening to XM Radio Channel 164....this is the Old Time Radio channel....everything from Jack Benny, to Gunsmoke, The Shadow, Fibber McGee, Burns and Allen, The Whistler, and a hundred other shows from the 1930s to middle 1950s....before TV became king. Most of it is good stuff, right now I am listening to "The Shadow" from the late 30s with Bob Johnson.
Being in Radio for a number of years, early on full time, then for another 20 years part-time, I always enjoyed the old stuff, long before I was in radio, and much before I was even born....makes the $12 a month more than worth it.....then add the college sports, NHL, and any type music from any era pretty well take away any need I have for FM or AM radio.
Anyway, the weekend went well...the back is coming around, now the pain is actually in the left hip, yesterday was pretty good, managed to walk about 3 miles in between football games. Today a little sore after my Greenville work, but will get out and walk up town to pay some bills after checking my fantasy football teams and working on this.
Ohio State continues to be #1....after falling behind Wisconsin midway through the 3rd quarter, the Buckeyes pulled out the hammer in "Beanie" Wells...and pulled away. They may not win it all, but at this point, they are #1....Oregon should be #2...LSU is the most overrated team in the land at this point...Kansas is the most underrated....one former sports announcer's not-so-humble opinion. As far as the pro game, I'm not a big fan anymore, but I do despise New England, their over hyped quarterback, and that slob of a cheating coach...having said that, they took a big step towards going undefeated(I still don't think they will win it all), Randy Moss is the reason for their overwhelming success.....again opinion, and we know what those are like, and some of us are.
Radio
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I spent many years in radio, full time from 1978-1982, then part time for another 20 years, I still get calls but have pretty much left that part of my life behind. Full time broadcasting was a starving business, I had no trouble getting the jobs I wanted, I always had "the voice" for it...that was important from the early days of radio until the 1980s....not so much now, computerisation, and the wimping of America have made it vogue to have squeaky voice females, and femi voice males on the air.....like the country and society, radio has changed, and not necessarily for the better. I enjoyed my run, but to say I miss it, would be a lie.....I don't miss broadcasting(I also spent 10 years on Cable TV as a news anchor and sports play-by-play guy), anymore than I miss Environmental Health work....times and people change, I admire people who can do the same thing for 35 years and then fade away into retirement, but that was never for me.....actually I was amazed that I spent 20 years as a health department bureaucrat.
Enough rambling....60 and windy out today...then a cold spell checks in overnight...the opening week of regular season Dart Ball kicks off tonight.....St Johns Lutheran plays at Bethany United......results tomorrow.
Being in Radio for a number of years, early on full time, then for another 20 years part-time, I always enjoyed the old stuff, long before I was in radio, and much before I was even born....makes the $12 a month more than worth it.....then add the college sports, NHL, and any type music from any era pretty well take away any need I have for FM or AM radio.
Anyway, the weekend went well...the back is coming around, now the pain is actually in the left hip, yesterday was pretty good, managed to walk about 3 miles in between football games. Today a little sore after my Greenville work, but will get out and walk up town to pay some bills after checking my fantasy football teams and working on this.
Ohio State continues to be #1....after falling behind Wisconsin midway through the 3rd quarter, the Buckeyes pulled out the hammer in "Beanie" Wells...and pulled away. They may not win it all, but at this point, they are #1....Oregon should be #2...LSU is the most overrated team in the land at this point...Kansas is the most underrated....one former sports announcer's not-so-humble opinion. As far as the pro game, I'm not a big fan anymore, but I do despise New England, their over hyped quarterback, and that slob of a cheating coach...having said that, they took a big step towards going undefeated(I still don't think they will win it all), Randy Moss is the reason for their overwhelming success.....again opinion, and we know what those are like, and some of us are.
Radio
_____________
I spent many years in radio, full time from 1978-1982, then part time for another 20 years, I still get calls but have pretty much left that part of my life behind. Full time broadcasting was a starving business, I had no trouble getting the jobs I wanted, I always had "the voice" for it...that was important from the early days of radio until the 1980s....not so much now, computerisation, and the wimping of America have made it vogue to have squeaky voice females, and femi voice males on the air.....like the country and society, radio has changed, and not necessarily for the better. I enjoyed my run, but to say I miss it, would be a lie.....I don't miss broadcasting(I also spent 10 years on Cable TV as a news anchor and sports play-by-play guy), anymore than I miss Environmental Health work....times and people change, I admire people who can do the same thing for 35 years and then fade away into retirement, but that was never for me.....actually I was amazed that I spent 20 years as a health department bureaucrat.
Enough rambling....60 and windy out today...then a cold spell checks in overnight...the opening week of regular season Dart Ball kicks off tonight.....St Johns Lutheran plays at Bethany United......results tomorrow.
{photos: me interviewing Pete Rose on Cable TV 1986, after his record setting season, First News Job...WIOU Kokomo Indiana late 1970s. News Director at KGNO Dodge City Kansas, celebrating KGNO's 50th year of broadcasting in July 1980, The Shadow Knows.....still heard on XM Radio}
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8 comments:
I've often listened to the radio coming out of Murphy, North Carolina (the only "local" station in my part of the mountains) and thought how much fun it would be to do the broadcasting. I guess it isn't though. I kind of thought you just sat there and drank coffee and did a little talking between songs. No so, eh?
The "On Air" part was fun, the rest of the 40-50 hour work week and the constant ass kissing and back stabbing that goes on isn't worth the contract hassels.....like I said, I enjoyed it, just didn't want to have to make a living doing it...when I used it as a part time career, I enjoyed it that much more, because, I could walk away without looking back.
the back is coming around,
That's great news!
I did that deejay thing for about ten months or so as a volunteer for a closed circuit AFRTS station when I was stationed in Sinop, Turkey from '71 - '72. The pay was non-existent as a volunteer, but I did get to tape as much of the station's music library as I possibly could... which resulted in the addition of about 500 albums to my music collection. Plus I had a helluva good time while I was at it! The station was pretty much free-form, a la the heyday of '70s FM radio. Which, in my case, meant "Rock 'n' Roll Uber Alles!"
Great stuff Pat...I see you got the hell out of Dodge!
I was in the newspaper business for about 5 years, as advertising manager, and shot football on Friday nights. So, we had a little in common. I even played poker with the local radio news anchor on Wednesdays!
Mushy: My wife loved Dodge City....but I could see what was happening even back in 1980 though....no unemployment and a growing agriculture industry(Cargil etc)....I knew an influx of illegal/cheap labor was coming...I stopped by in 2005, first time in almost 25 years...what a change, and what a sad sight this nice little tourist town had become....glad I "Got the Hell out of Dodge"
The crime rate has skyrocketed, the drugs and gangs have increased megafold.....
Buck, the back is coming around...I am hopeful the next couple of months will see me returning to "normal" or as normal as possible...if not, I may consider laser less invasive surgery...but I avoiding that unless I see no other options, but signs are good.
Cool pictures. We drove out west this last weekend listening to The Vault, on my buddys sat radio. Too cool. Great old tunes that I hadn't heard in years. Need to get one of those.
Wish I'd have had that kind of variety in my work! Other than a short-stint as a nightwatchman for the Florsheim shoe plant in St. Louis immediately after my discharge, all of my jobs were basically the same. I was either cutting it apart, or welding it together, or "drillin' and millin'" railcar assemblies for ACF Railcar Industries out of St. Charles, MO.
Do I miss the work? Sometimes. Do I miss the people? Some of them---ALWAYS....!!!
Oh, and BTW---glad to hear you and your back are on speaking terms again! Now, just be careful, and don't tell it the WRONG thing...!
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