Radio Called, I Answered: My Love Affair With Being on Air

Dear radio,

It’s been a minute. How have you been?

Let me begin by telling you that I have missed you. You have been a part of my life for nearly half of it. I am 48. I also wanted to tell you about the impression you made on me while I was growing up. Here we go.

I spent a lot of time in the Chicagoland area growing up; however, my home was in St. Joseph, MI. Sure, St. Joe has some good local stations, but just about every Chicago radio station would come in on my radio in St. Joe. Major market radio blew my mind. I had all kinds of stations to listen to. WLS had Larry Lujack and Little Tommy, Les Grobstein did sports. I remember their bit “Animal Stories.” They were funny. They released an album of “Animal Stories.” I remember thinking that they were a big deal.

As I got older, new stations evolved. In my late teens and early 20s, there were two stations that I used to listen to daily. One was Q101 an alternative station in Chi-town, and the second was Rock 103.5 the Blaze in Chicago. They played rock, Skid Row, Metallica, AC/DC and more. Then I heard “Mancow’s Morning Madhouse” one morning and I was hooked. The bits were hilarious. I could not believe that people got paid to have fun on the air and make people laugh.

At this point, I was singing in a band back home. We were a cover band, and we wrote some original songs. Music was always kind of my thing. We had a lot of fun jamming and playing gigs.

My love of music drove me to pursue radio. Playing music and producing a solid on-air product was my dream. I went to college to pursue a media technology degree at LCC. As luck would have it, I landed a gig in Lansing before earning my degree.

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I didn’t bounce around stations. I rode the ride for the same cluster for nearly 23 years. I was living my dream. Then things changed. I was released from my prior gig in 2019. At the time I don’t think I loved you. I was not having fun. That’s ok. I had to be honest with myself.

I was “on the beach” for 3 years. I missed broadcasting. My best friend and I decided to start a podcast together. We’re having a blast. That’s when I knew I missed being behind the mic.

Let’s talk about some of the things I love most about you, radio. I love meeting listeners and getting to know them; I’ve made some good friends. I am all in for community involvement. I believe that it’s our responsibility as broadcasters to do good and lead the way whenever possible.

My affair with you, radio, never died. I have missed you dearly.

A couple of months you knocked on my door. It was great to hear from you. Was it seduction?

I’m so grateful we came back together. Things are going to be a little different this time. I will not let radio define me. Having had 3 years off the air, I have had a lot of time to discover who I am as a person, and I like myself.

I will give 100% like I always have.

Thank you for the love affair with you, radio. Now let’s have some fun!