Better work stories - Deejay

 I was first introduced to radio work by my dad, when he roped me in to co-hosting Vinyl Revival, his old time record show. I don't particularly like the sound of my own voice, but I had to speak up sometime, and it might as well be on radio where people could tune in. 

Dad wrote down everything I had to say in blue. My job was to announce the records he was going to play. I never got to to choose them, he had all the timings noted down and the order and I would announce the artist, the year it was released, the title of the song/instrumental, and maybe what position it had reached on the Billboard charts, many many years ago.

Dad had a collection of thousands of vinyl records, mostly 45s, and it was an outlet for him to share those with listeners as he complained that on commercial radio, everyone played the same old songs over and over again. I thought this was because he never listened to anything new after 1964. 

So growing up I never thought it odd that we lived in a time warp of sound, at least in his car, and I somehow knew the words to every teen idol record ever published that made a dent on the charts. Some of these songs were inane and many of them had that annoying 4/4 polka type beat to them. However there was nothing I could do about that, and Dad was paying me McDonalds for breakfast for co-hosting, so who was I to say no?

Technology had advanced over the years so that Dad no longer had to bring along his actual records to the studio and could now load them on to his memory stick which, sometimes, he forgot to bring as it was so tiny. I had to remind him - don't forget your memory stick! 

Other old-timers got into the nostalgia racket. An entire station dedicated to oldies was called 'Unforgettable Music' or 'Today FM' and they constantly reminded the baby boomers that yes, they were young and free and would never ever grow up. I, being of Generation 'Y' wondered if in my twilight years I would be like that, reminiscing over my lost youth of the 80s and 90s having a fondness for replaying old Madonna songs and wearing bike pants and scrunchies with shoulder pads. Or maybe MC Hammer Pants. 

I am probably not far off. When the teachers decided they would all go to a Motown concert they were all in. At the Motown concert I went down to the front of the stage to get close to the action. In the front row were the bands' grey-haired parents in their wheelchairs, enjoying the show. Some things never get old.