Happy National Radio Day!

The radio has always been my friend.  Back before we had a television we had a radio.  In my young years I kept up with serials on radio such as THE LONG RANGER, and THE THIN MAN.  Then the scary, mostly Sunday Nights shows, like LIGHTS OUT!

Later I became interested in NBC's MONITOR  that was on weekends.  On MONITOR was several skits scattered what seemed at random BOB AND RAY comedy skits.

In the evenings we listened to the CRACKERS baseball games announced by an guy named Henry.  I forgot his last name.  And in the day time the same announcer was called Hank the Prank, who then was a DJ and full of sound effects.

Later there were  Skinny Bobby Harper and Gary McKee - these people kelp me entertained while I commuted to Atlanta to work.

At night blasted from the Tennessee airwaves were Ernie's Record Mart and I forgot the name of the rhythm and blues station that advertised Royal Crown Petroleum Jelly.

I felt at home listening to the top 40s and still do - the same songs as then; my comfort zone, so to speak.

When I was in the Navy stationed in New Jersey a little clique of us liked classical radio broadcast from New York City and also we listened to Jean Sheppard talk endlessly on anything of his formative years - and if he ran out of things to say he would pull out his kazoo and play it until he thought of something.

Locally I think we listened mostly to stations WBIE, WFOM, WQXI, WAOK, WSB, WPLO, WGST, WRNG, and probably more.

Now, I don't listened to the radio so much to be entertained, I have my own music on my ipod and ipone for that, I mostly listen to NPR to listen to interviews and in-depth reports on subjects.  It makes me feel I am more informed, which makes me feel trapped.  The more I learn the more helpless I feel.

Radio is my friend for life.