You may (or may not) notice a blog link I've posted called "Minot Memories" over on the right side of Oddball under "Others' Observations".
It's a blog about old-time memories of Minot, North Dakota, written by a fellow who happens to be an announcer and a salesman at KCJB Radio in that town.
The other day he had a post that included a list of the top songs from 1974: the top 9 plus 10.
That was a sly reference to the station's frequency, which was 910 on the AM dial.
Well it took me back about 12 years to 1962, when I was the night disc jockey at that station.
I actually got my first experience in commercial radio at KEYJ in Jamestown, while I was going to college.
But my time at KCJB was based on rock and roll radio, or Top 40, as it was known in those days.
These four young men kept the records spinning from sign-on until sign-off.
Yes, the radio stations in those days went off the air at midnight and came on again at 5 or 6 in the morning.
As you can see, I was identified as Bruce Taylor on this Top 40 sheet but I was famous (or as famous as one can be at a small radio station in a small market) as Bruce On The Loose!
There are still people around who remember me with that monicker.
I've lost track of the other three guys, don't even know if they're still gracing the earth but I still remember some of our crazy antics from those early days in radio.
By the way, for music fans, here's the other side of that yellow sheet from above, showing that Ray Charles was topping Elvis Presley . . at least for that week.
Along with record sales and record hops you old timers may spot something else that's no longer around: a Transistor, or transistor radio, about the size of a smart phone today.
Are all of these archives on your computer? Or are you buried in paper? I am amazed at the stuff you have saved. We don't save anything! I would make a lousy librarian or those people who trace their ancestors. Do love seeing your hair and clothes from that era.
ReplyDeleteNope, all on dead trees. By the way, I traced my ancestors back to King Arthur recently. But that was on the computer.
DeleteYou know that old joke about tracing your ancestors . . . no one traces their family back to a chimney sweep, always kings!
DeleteI was surprised by the King Arthur connection. Probably plenty of chimney sweeps in between me and him. Certainly some tailors!
DeleteTailor - Taylor. In Norway, it was Gun's Stead, which became Gonstead when they hit the shores of the Statue of Liberty. There was a family member into genealogy who did lots of research.
DeleteLooking at that list- Paul Anka's a local boy.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to look at my road atlas for Minot.
There's a radio station here that I sometimes hear when I come into a shop on Saturdays. For whatever reason, they re-broadcast Casey Kasem countdowns from forty years ago. It's weird... that guy's been in the grave for years.
Actually, William, Casey only died three years ago following a horrible battle between his widow and his children from a previous marriage. But he did retire from the airwaves in 2009.
DeleteGreat to see this "blast from the past" or "golden oldie!" Love thinking about the Sandy Nelson and Duane Eddy tunes. Same with the great Acker Bilk. Very cool.
ReplyDeleteSo many memories. You were a sharp looker back in the day, and not too bad now!
ReplyDeleteThank yuh, thank yuh, thank yuh ver' much.
DeleteMy tenure in the 20th century consumed slightly over 50 years. I don't often get the chance to thank a DJ, a broadcaster, who, with positive patter and humor helped me through times nearly as weird as we endure now. Thank YOU, Catalyst, thank you.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness....such memories. I had forgotten all about transistor radios.
ReplyDeleteI restore old radios, mainly 1930s-40s sets. They are all AM or Broadcast as they called it in those days. But the problem is there is nothing much to listen to on AM radio any more. In the day it was all we had. So I transmit my own radio at about 630 Kc. I stream music off the Internet into my transmitter and thus into my old radios. There are places on the Internet trying to emulate your days of radio...way back when...and I like it!
ReplyDelete:)
Tom
Wonderful throwback. Thanks for the memory refresher. Glad to see that Bruce is STILL on The Loose.
ReplyDelete