How Radio Changed My Life (Guest Blogger – Dana)

Today, I’d like to introduce you to another blogger friend of mine, Dana. At her blog, Regular Girl Devos, she shares stories of praise, stories of faith, meaningful quotes, and personal stories. I had reached out to her about my next Share Your Nostalgia feature (more on that soon) and she sent me this knowing I worked in radio. I loved it so much, I asked her if I could publish it here.

Here piece is one that I think a lot of my music blogger friends can relate to. Read on as Dana takes us back to 1970 ….

How Radio Changed My Life

In the summer of 1970, I was struggling with the dynamics of my home life. Holed up in my bedroom, the music from my radio was my escape, my safe place.

One Saturday morning, a friendly, cheerful voice announced the countdown of the American Top 40. Based on the Billboard Hot 100 weekly chart, he promised to play “the best-selling and most-played songs from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from Canada to Mexico.”

In an instant, Casey Kasem changed my life. Now I had something to look forward to, something to be excited about! Every Saturday, I had a date with Casey. He would play my favorite songs mixed with flashbacks and fun facts about the artists. Notebook in hand, I wondered if my favorite tunes would make it to number one, or slide back in the countdown. Not only that, but the “Long-Distance Dedication” letters he read gave me hope that someday someone would love me enough to dedicate a song to me.

Casey was a friend. He would describe his smooth baritone voice as “more like the voice of the guy next door.” Casey was an encourager. His signature sign-off was “Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.”

But Casey wasn’t my only radio friend. Back then, DJs in my area would answer the request line themselves.

Many an evening, I would make my escape from the raised voices in the living room and sneak the princess telephone from my mom’s room to mine. I would call my local radio station to request songs.

The evening DJ had a warm, smooth voice, like melted butter. Remembering me when I called, he asks if I was okay. Looking back, I wonder if he could hear what was happening outside my bedroom door. He would tell me, “Remember, as long as you have your radio, you are never alone.”

He was right. But later in life, I began tuning into another voice. Zephaniah 3:17 tells us, “The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” The music of God’s unfailing love and peace is more beautiful than I could ever imagine.

With a nod to Casey, let me encourage you today: Keep your heart with God and keep reaching for His peace!

__________

Thank you, Dana, for sharing such a great piece! It hit home on many levels.

Casey was a big part of my life, too! He used to air on Saturday afternoons in Detroit. My dad would often be outside washing the car or mowing the lawn and American Top 40 would be playing. I had a notebook, too! I would write down the Top 10 every week.

Casey’s show would be recorded in Hollywood right after the charts were released. He would go into a studio with that week’s script and lay down all of the vocal tracks. A producer would add the tunes later. They would be shipped to radio stations on vinyl records. The entire show would be on 4 records.

I was lucky enough to nab a few old shows back in the day. Almost all syndicated shows came that way. Eventually, they came on CD before coming digitally.

The reason Casey was a hit was because of what you said, “he was a friend.” A good on air personality knows that you talk to just one person. That one on one connection is where the “friendship” starts. He was so good at making it all seem effortless.

When I think back on my years in radio, one of the things I am most grateful for are the listeners who became friends. I have so many wonderful friends who I met by talking to them on the request line. I still talk with friends I made in 1988 at my first radio job.

I am sure that the DJ you spoke with had a gut feeling about whatever was going on. You’d be surprised at how much we can tell by just listening to a voice on the other end of the phone. Kudos to that guy!

Now the other Voice that you listen to, well, He will never steer you wrong! I am well aware of that Voice and without Him, I’d be very very lost. How awesome is it that He wrote a book for us to hear that Voice whenever we read it?

Thank you again for sharing such a great story, Dana. I can only hope that I touched the lives of my listeners like Casey and the other DJ did for you!

I am looking forward to reading your next piece in the next installment of Share Your Nostalgia.