My younger son in the Air Force has earned the nickname ‘Storytime’ because he has a story for everything. Guess he got it from me, so here goes…
Seriously, that is what I wanted to do after high school. Listening to all the rock DJs and watching Dr. Johnny Fever were my inspiration, I was young and thought that was how radio stations operated. I checked out Broadcast Center where all the good DJs graduated from. My dear departed father supported me, but said as a greenie, I would probably be placed in an AM podunk station at 3am, and if I ever lost my voice, what would I do.
I decided to go into auto mechanics but always wanted to be a DJ. My chance came years later when I was listening to a local station on the way home from work. The DJ was griping about how he spent xxx dollars for a part and xxx more dollars to have it installed at the dealer. When it was finished the ABS and brake lights were on. Since the DJ provided his own part, there was no guarantee. I called him and then stopped by for a look. It was a system I had never seen before, so I look around and find a connector that was waaaaaay down in the engine compartment, and a matching socket on the ABS modulator. Cut the living $hit out of my forearm (I have Popeye forearms) and managed to get it plugged in. Started the car up and both lights were out. Took it for a drive around the block.
After cleaning my wound with supplies from the radio station, the DJ asked if I wanted to be on the radio. He wasn’t even finished when I answered with an emphatic “YES!”
Decided to do a daily 5 minute informative spot called ‘Tom’s Auto Tips’. I recorded them at home and put them on CDs and were played on the air.
I started running out of ideas after a few months. The DJ said my mic sounded bad and wanted me to get a studio mic. This was all volunteer on my part.
I finally went in with my last CD and said I was not doing any more. He asked why, to which I replied “radio sucks!”. He agreed. There is a lot more to being a DJ than being Johnny Fever.
So I was fortunate to experience radio in the studio, and am glad I didn’t go in that direction.