On the Air

As far back as I can remember, radio has always been a major part of my life.  It started as a small child when I couldn’t sleep at night.  Mom suggested turning on the radio on my nightstand and listening to stations both far and near until I fell asleep.  The illuminated dial also served as a night light of sorts, although I would never admit that to my friends.
I loved everything about the radio: The music, the news, the sports and the announcers.  I loved the way the stations identified themselves with singing jingles.  There was a fascinating world out there, and radio brought it right to my bed in the amazing clarity of the then crackling and popping AM dial.  Somehow, I needed to be a part of it.
At first, my radio experience was only imaginary.  I created a station appropriately called WREG, and used tape recorders and record players to make the magic happen.  I would intro records, do the weather and read the news.  I even had my dad drive around Atlanta with me to record traffic reports.  Then I would play the tapes back for hours, often forcing friends to listen.
While the imaginary world of WREG was fun, it didn’t pay very well and the audience was limited at best.  So, when we moved from Decatur to Conyers, Georgia, imagine my surprise when we saw a small 1,000-watt AM radio station called WGFS in nearby Covington, right there on Interstate 20.  As fate would have it, the station was looking for a high school news reporter from each of the area’s three high schools, and I auditioned at mine.  I got the gig – a weekly high school news report from Heritage – and that led to my very first job offer, at the ripe old age of 13.
Bill Hoffman, God bless him, was the owner and general manager of the station.  He needed someone to work part-time Saturdays and Sundays at WGFS and, if my parents were willing to provide the transportation, the job was mine.  Unbelievable.  Now I would be on the same radio I used to listen to in order to fall asleep at night.
The year was 1977 and WGFS was what the industry called an MOR station, for “middle of the road.”  We played an interesting mix of music, from Perry Como, Dean Martin and the Carpenters to the Eagles and Doobie Brothers. Local news was a mainstay, as were the local funeral announcements, which at the time I thought really cramped my style as the newest Top 40 DJ to hit the airwaves.  But, who was I kidding?  What Top 40 DJ plays Perry Como?
I soon learned how seriously we took the funeral announcements.  First, it was news that people really wanted.  “Haven’t seen Joe in a while, maybe I should go turn on the radio.”  It was also a form of advertising for the local funeral homes.  They paid us to make those announcements, as sad as they might be.
This was also the fertile ground of my first big-time radio blooper.  We did the funerals 3-4 times per day, immediately following local news.  You might have only two or three…sometimes more…but you read them all in detail and concluded with this somber benediction: “WGFS offers its condolences to the family, friends and loved ones of those who have passed away.”  Then it was back to the music.  I always picked my records out early (that’s right kids --- records --- Google it sometime).
Always wanting to have the latest hits, I filled my time on the air with only current stuff.  So, on a Saturday afternoon in 1977, I read the funerals, did the closing statement and immediately played the Bee Gees and “Staying Alive.”  The phone lit up.  Our more mature audience was not amused by the rock-and-roll teen DJ who had just arrived at the station.  Was this his idea of a joke?
But everything worked out fine.  I stayed there for five years, later moving up Interstate 20 to WCGA (later WTPO, WPBE) in Conyers, and then back to WGFS for a brief stint as general manager in 1987.  I treasured my time at both stations, and the many friendships I made while behind the microphone.  It was work, but I was hardly working.  I loved every minute of it.  From election night coverage at the courthouse to live high school football on Friday nights; ice storm coverage in the winters, and an ever increasing array of holiday music as we approached Christmas Day.  In fact, I spent many a holiday, including Christmas, behind a microphone, with some take-out of turkey, dressing and the trimmings prepared by mom.
In 1988, I moved on to WSB-AM and FM in Atlanta, hardly a small town station, to do news and play some music.  But it was only because of the experience I had gained from the smaller stations out east of town.  Sadly, both stations are all but gone, from the mainstream anyway.  WGFS was sold several times, ending up with a group programming it with Caribbean music and specialty programming, while the Conyers station was sold to a Hispanic radio company and moved to Gwinnet County.  But I will always have the memories.
They say that radio waves can travel for millions of miles into outer space, which always led me to believe that somewhere out there, beyond the planets and stars, some intelligent life form may be listening to some really bad programming from a kid in Covington and Conyers.
But they’ll also have a good laugh when the funeral announcements are followed by the Bee Gees.