Fast Freddy

Recently, I found a website that archives newspapers from upstate New York. To my amazement, there were digital copies of my college newspaper. In one of those editions was an ad for WOCR-AM, the college radio station that I worked at.

I majored in communication studies with a specialization in broadcasting, so working at WOCR was a great way to learn about my intended career. You can see the two shifts I held in September, 1975.

Note the 6:00 p.m. shift on Monday. The college tavern was right across the hall from the radio station, so if I wanted to catch up with a few friends I'd play "Inagodadavida" by Iron Butterfly. (Imagine that, a bar located in the student union. Times have changed.) It was a 20-minute song, so I could have a diet cola and enjoy the company of my college buddies.

I blogged about this subject a few years ago, so I thought I'd resurrect a portion of that post here. Enjoy, and don't laugh too hard.

"After I left college, I moved to Virginia to work at at WMJD-FM. A few things before you listen to my first real job:

1. The 40-second introductory music is the theme song for the Cincinnati Reds. We were part of their baseball network. How did we get the feed for the Reds' games? I would tune in a radio station from Kentucky, then simply re-broadcast that signal over our 97.7 frequency. It has since moved to 100.7 FM.

2. There are two "scoped" airchecks, which means you won't hear the entire song. Essentially, this is a resume, so the program director only wants to hear the disc jockey and how they handle themselves, not the music.

Yup. Fast Freddy. I'm not so fast anymore.

If you ever run into me, ask me about the time the station had me announce a high school football game. I had to hide for two weeks after that debacle.