On the Radio

I am a child of the 70s. I went to first grade in 1972 and graduated in 1984. Those were the heydays of radio and changing ways to listen to music. I’ve seen AM radio go to FM, 8 track tapes go to cassettes and vinyl go to CDs (and BACK again!!). I’ve also been a part of the digital age, but that’s not within the scope of this post. I want to tell you about my history with music – radio in particular.

The first song I remember hearing on the radio was “Angie” by the Rolling Stones. It’s my name, of course, so I thought it was pretty cool to have a song about me. It was playing on Bus 93 that I took to and from school every day in first grade – perhaps longer, I am not certain. We had music on school buses back then, imagine!

I had two tiny AM radios that I’d set up in my room, on either end of my dresser to listen to the radio. I was creating stereo sound! I loved the American Top 40 show with Casey Kasem and listened every week.

We also had radios for our bikes from Radio Shack. They were sort of like this one, but not exactly:
bikeradio

I remember hearing “Take it to the Limit” by the Eagles on that radio, as we rode up and down the hill from my Granny’s house to our own. I REALLY wish I kept that radio!!

In the mid 70s, family groups were all the rage: The Osmond Family, The Jackson 5, The DiFranco Family. I remember Donny Osmond singing “Puppy Love” and “Want You Back” by the Jacksons and “Heartbeat, it’s a Lovebeat” by the DiFrancos. I had the Osmonds and DiFrancos on 8 tracks.

Also in the early to mid 70s, the variety show was at an all time high. I watched Sonny and Cher religiously. I LOVED Cher! Her long hair and those crazy outfits. I’ve got some Cher vinyl that is probably collectable. This was also the time of KTel records. These were like mix tapes on vinyl. I only liked the ones with the real artists, not the cover band ones. Of these, I had a KTel with “Beth” by KISS that I loved.

Things go fuzzy as far as what songs I remember from the mid 70s until the late 70s when disco hit. There was a local program on TV that was broadcast from a disco in Knoxville and I remember watching it to try and learn the various dances. I remember doing the Bus Stop. We had sock hops in middle school and I remember disco and the beginnings of New Wave. I clearly remember dancing to “Pop Muzik” by M.

Then the 80s hit, in all its glory and I was awash in SO MUCH MUSIC. I used to listen to King Biscuit Flower Hour and one of my clearest memories of that was when Pat Benatar was on. It was the best thing I’d ever heard! I never got to see Pat in concert in the 80s because I lived in buttfuck Knoxville TN, which didn’t get tons of shows. While I was researching KBFH, I came across something that will make ANY music buff SQUEE: the KBFH Concert Vault. This is a comprehensive list of all the performers that ever did a show or spot or interview on King Biscuit AND you can listen on the site (IF you subscribe!) or download some things for $5. SO, I can now download that Benatar show I heard in 81!! OMG is that not INCREDIBLE??!!

ALL HAIL THE INTERNET!

All my high school friends thought I was going into music for sure…and I did, kind of. I went off to Atlanta to get an Associate of Arts in Music Business from the Art Institute with the intention of going into music promotion. I realised quickly that I really did not fit into the sexist jackassery that was the radio/music business. My parents – who never supported any education I got – were making bets about how long I’d last before I dropped out. So I completed the program to spite them. The Art Institute was (and might still be) a rip off and that whole thing cost me about $10k. Since I realised that the AA in Music Business was useless to me, I immediately enrolled at Georgia State University to get my BA in something. Since I was naturally good at languages, I chose to get my BA in French and Spanish.

The weird thing is that when I moved back to Knoxville after I graduated Georgia State, I ended up selling radio! Crazy! I worked for U102/Star94 for a short time. Sadly, the industry was still sexist and pretty shitty and I DETEST outside sales. I made some money, but I didn’t like the job.

I’ve already written about my stint in rock n roll in another post (Sold My Soul To Rock n Roll), so this is where I’ll end my reminiscing about RADIO and songs On The Radio. Another song that I loved back in the day! :)