Radio Daze…
When I was a kid, my world revolved around radio.
My little transistor radio brought music and personalities into my life in a very special way…
Radio was such a big deal in my life I’m told my first word was “hotdog!“—a favorite expression of radio personality Arthur Godfrey.
Back in the 60’s—Godfrey was huge.
Edgey as Howard Stern. Influential as Rush Limbaugh, and as popular as Ryan Seacrest.
Godfrey’s radio shows drew such huge audiences, that several were simulcast on the fledgling medium known as television to help create an audience there.
Radio was such a part of my life that when I was 5 years old, I apparently woke up in the middle of the night, marched into my parents room, announced I was going to be a radio actor, and then walked out again—to return to sleep.
Whether I was huddled under the covers in my bed late at night listening to the far away radio stations whose AM signals went great distances after dark— or keeping up with the latest “rock & roll” hit, radio was personal.
The mid-70’s brought a change to radio…
There was a new era of personalities who were becoming the Arthur Godfrey’s of their time.
Among them, legendary disc jockey Bob Vernon who eventually presided over the afternoon craziness on WNBC radio as “Vernon With A “V”…
As he explains on his website here:
We were creating a new kind of radio in those days. Up until then, every Program Director and consultant in the country were hammering it into jocks to “Keep a smile in your voice and SELL the music.” Our little band of radio people in Cleveland thought that was incredibly boring. John Lund, our Program Director, and Jack Thayer, our General Manager, encouraged us to see how many of the traditional radio rules we could break – as long as the ratings kept growing. And they did.
But something was happening to radio.
It was becoming less personal…
Sony Invented the Walkman, a portable tape recorder with headphones that allowed you to create your own playlists of music—with no interference by announcers.
Boomboxes also became popular—blasting pre-recorded music loudly about the area.
Again—no one wanted to hear “traditional” radio programs.
Then came the Ipod—combining the best of playlists and radio.
Yes, you can just use it as an music player. Or you can download podcasts of radio programs—and listen to them the way we used to listen to transistor radios.
Both my kids have Ipods. And—just like me a generation ago— their headphones are glued to their ears as they listen to podcasts and to music.
I watch them enjoy their time with “radio” in a slightly different form.
Yes, radio has become personal again—only the delivery system has changed.
In the words of Arthur Godfrey, HOTDOG!
—Steve
Link here to the video and story Steve covered today on NBC-17
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Comments
Do you remember the short-lived phenomenon known as AM-stereo? That was supposed to be “the next big thing” in the early 80s. I worked at a station(WELI)that boasted being the first in the area to have it.
It was also the last to have it. Oh, well.
BETWEEN the LINES replies: as i recall, there were a half dozen different formats for am-stereo—all of which were mutually incompitable….and the fcc couldn’t decide which system to approve as the industry standard.. so they botched it by “letting the marketplace decide.”.. .that pretty much killed it as radio stations and automakers couldn’t decide which formats to adopt and install to maximize benefit to listeners…. Now we have HD radio… and as much as i love radio— i don’t think it’ll ever catch on enough to really do anything significant for the medium…
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Nice job Steve!