Cool Radio Guys

Way back when, AM radio was king. Rock 'n roll and AM radio were made with each other. When long-form radio content started dissapearing from the dial, rock and roll helped fill the woid.

I may be a little retrograde, but I honestly beleive that rock 'n roll's first full decade was it's finest. Soul, garage, and other cool sounds came wafting through the airways free of charge, while the jocks were the maitre d's in this world, serving up the sounds. AM radio needed content, and so, occasionally played local bands and numerous local scenes were nurtured by the local radio station. Pop radio hadn't completely been formulaized, yet.

Two radio shows typify this era for me. One is on John Caroll University's college radio station. Jumpin' Joe Madigan supplies the sounds by following the playlists of Celveland's finest rockers, like WIXY 1260. He plays the local bands, the big hits, and some obscurities. I don't know he knows the era as well as he does. He's only in his 20s. His show is very-well-produced and has authentic jingles and sounders placed between the songs. His show can be accessed on the web.

Dick Bartley first got into radio when he was 16 in 1970. He's been jock and a programmer and produces one of my favorite synidciated shows American Gold. I don't have a statio nto listen to him on, so I illegally buy his old shows on ebay. Dick spins the hits and highlight various artists and years in music. After listening to several shows, I am amazed at how he frshly repackages the same material. For the die hard, he almost puts a couple of lost gold songs, tacked on the ends of his shows, these are for the radio stations who get his show.

I do something like they do on KTIM, environmentally-friendly radio in St. George, Utah. My show, the Gold Standard isn't as well-produced but it has the same spirit, and I used these guys for inspiration.