TarheelinNashville

I’ve gotta warn you ahead of time, I might get a little long winded on this one… but stick with me.-DJM

The first TV Show I remember watching as a kid was WKRP in Cincinnati. My Grandma has a REALLY old cassette somewhere of me pretending to be Dr. Johnny Fever doing a radio show. The music was fun, and I remember being drawn to the personalities. I knew by the age of five what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wanted to be on the radio.

Unlike most households these days (and even when I was growing up), I really don’t remember the television being on that much. I do remember listening to my mother sing along to the radio every morning while she made us breakfast. It sounds funny but Crystal Gayle’s ‘Don’t it Make My Brown Eyes Blue’ makes me think of Mama’s homemade pancakes. As I grew older, the music and stations may have changed, but the radio is still ALWAYS on at my parents house.

I remember 1300 WLNC-AM keeping our family safe in 1984 when a tornado passed over our house. We had no cable, no lights, no power. The only thing that kept us in the know of what was happening around us was a tiny transistor radio with 2 AA Batteries. If it hadn’t have been for the radio, I really don’t know if we could have stayed safe and sound. The radio made me feel safe and gave me comfort even while part of me was scared to death.

Radio made me feel the same way after 9/11.

The TOP 8 At 8 on Q98 was the show to listen to when I was in middle school. Matt Murphy was a superstar in my eyes. He was funny, cool, and played all of the songs I wanted to hear. Every night, he would ask for a “Guest DJ” to announce the no. 1 song. He would take caller number seven, and I would wear out the redial button on the phone to try to win. I DID win some nights. The winner always got some free prize, but I can’t remember anything I won.. I can remember the thrill I had when I heard my voice on the radio. I always taped the shows that I knew I would be on. I would give a thousand dollars to hear one of those tapes now. I try to remember that feeling every time I get a twelve year old calling in to hear Taylor Swift for the five hundredth time. Sure, they can hear the same song on a CD or an Ipod.. but it’s not the same as hearing it on the RADIO.

Radio has been the soundtrack to my life…

I kissed Kittie Cole in High School for the first time while listening to Bryan Adams on Mix 96.

I cried my eyes out every time ‘What it Takes’ by Aerosmith came on after we broke up, but I never switched the station.

I remember as a small child listening to my Grandma Mauldin sing along to ‘Elvira’ by the Oak Ridge Boys. Everytime I hear that song now, it takes me back to being seven years old and dancing around in her living room. Grandma’s been gone for over eleven years now, but the radio still plays that song from time to time.

The first time I heard ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ by Nirvana, it completely changed my outlook on life in general. I heard it driving back from school my senior year. I pulled the car into the Taco Bell parking lot and just stared at my radio in a daze. I called the DJ right after it was done and asked him to play it again.

I was listening to the same station a few years later when I heard Kurt Cobain had died. I called the DJ and asked him to play that song, and he did.

My Mom and Dad are Carolina Beach Music and Oldies enthusiast. When I was a kid, we always had the oldies station on when we went on vacation down at the beach. I would listen to my parents and my Aunt and Uncle talk about the good old days. With the radio playing in the background, I felt like sometimes I was there with them in their younger days.

I have been out of school for many years now, and when I hear late eighties and early nineties music, it takes me back to the good old days. I am sure I will share similar stories with my children one day. “Remember when we where in school listening to Vanilla Ice??” Don’t laugh, it’s gonna happen.

I had my first on air radio shift at 3am on June 16th, 1992. It was six days after my 18th birthday, Four days after my High School graduation, and one year exactly after I broke up with Kittie Cole (my HS Sweetheart). The fist song I ramped up was the intro to ‘Under the Bridge’ by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I remember it vividly.

I went to work at 95.7 WKML on January 12th, 1994. WKML was the station I grew up listening to in my parents house. I hosted the Saturday night show. I was nervous and horrible. The PD at the time made me feel like I was the next big thing. The following week.. I was still horrible, but I had a confidence that was immeasurable.

A few years later, I took over the night show at WKML. By then I was actually pretty good. I gave them the no. 1 night show for the first time in years. It was the first time a country station had beaten the urban station in over 7 years. I was proud of that, and still am. I would go home at night and listen to stations in Nashville on my dial up internet connection. It would play for a few minutes, then go away. I dreamed of what it would be like to work there.

I did my first air shift in Nashville in Oct of 2006. I was scared and excited at the same time. I had been out of radio in a full time capacity for a number of years, but this was a dream I had to accomplish. It is still a thrill to be on the air here.

Radio is much more than a job to me.

Radio is more than just a passion to me.

Radio is a part of me.

Radio has been a constant companion throughout my life.

By being part of this medium, I have the opportunity to be part of other peoples lives.

Being in radio is the opportunity to have an impact on people’s lives.

We are the ones that get to play the song that some kid’s Grandmother sings to him/her. That same memory will comfort him/her with Grandma is long gone.

We are the ones that will hit the button that will trigger the song that will be playing when some preteen kid get his/her first kiss. The song that is played while I am on the air will forever be locked in that moment and memory.

We will give the opportunity to somebody to be “guest DJ” and give them the thrill of hearing their voice over the air.

We can be the one to bring comfort to folks who are scared when a big storm is heading there way. I can be the one to tell them to take shelter, and then tell them when it’s all OK. The radio station I work for can then, be part of the relief effort to help rebuild and comfort once the storm is gone.

It’s the dedicated song for sweethearts.

The news that somebody’s favorite team has just won the championship!

Hearing for the first time that a beloved public figure has passed.

It’s the thrill of being caller 7, and winning that new CD before you can buy it!

It’s giving away free concert tickets to someone to who might not be able to afford to see their favorite band.

It’s giving somebody the chance to attend a meet and greet with their favorite artist, so they can take that picture they will show off for years to come.

Radio is by far the most personal type of media, bar none!

I can’t imagine an IPod, CD, or anything else that you can say the same about.

I LOVE RADIO

and

Love ya’ll

d

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