The First Time

There was a post on Facebook, some radio thread and the post was about your very first time on the air. 

 I remember it vividly. 

 It was March of 1971. 

I hung around with two other guys in Ava. 

Ava was smack dab between Springfield and West Plains in the southern central part of Missouri. Population was 2,502 and my graduating class would have been 68.

I hung around with two or three guys  from 7th through 10th grade. One was Tom Gunter and the other was Steve Faszholz. They were from complete different backgrounds. Tom didn't have a pot to piss in and Steve's family lived in the "rich" part of town. I was somewhere in the middle.

 

Steve's older brother Chuck somehow got on the local radio station. 

KSOA (Keeping Southern Ozarks Alerted) was on the south side of the square and up the stairs. The local station was staffed by local people and somehow, Chuck, while still in high school, got the afternoon drive job. I was pretty amazed at that since I wanted to be on the radio for as long as I could remember. I hounded Steve until Chuck would allow me to come up and see him on the air. I just wanted to watch. I remember walking up the stairs to the story that had a lot of activity going on. In the front of the office was the receptionist and a number of other people. They seemed to be busy.

I had spent a great deal of the time in the Faszholz residence. Chuck and I knew each other pretty well.

He was kind of a dick at times, but I think that was more big brother than anything else. He never really messed with me. I thought he was a good guy. And me, being in a radio station for the first time after having practiced this in my bedroom over and over again with only me hearing my greatness, this was almost outer worldly. I talked to the receptionist and she went to see Chuck. Man, I could see him through the windows talking on the mic!

He turned off the microphone, the light above the door went out and he motioned for me to come in. 

Oh my God. I was in an on air studio, where the whole thing comes from. It was totally outer worldly. He showed me what everything did, I got to see him at work, getting the carts ready, cueing up songs, preparing to speak, the whole nine yards!

This was one of the greatest days in my life!

He left the studio for a minute, went to the studio next door, grabbed a real long sheet of paper, tore it off and brought it back. He handed it to me and said "do you want to practice reading that?" I said, "sure, why?" He wanted me to just sit in studio, read it and he'll record it for me. "Sure," I said.

So I sat in the room and read the news stories over and over. He came in and said "when I point to you, I want you to read it just like that."

OK.

So, about five minutes later, the light went on in my studio, I read the newscast and nailed it. No mispronounced words and he told me to read it with a "steady pace." Geez, how did  Chuck know what to do so well? I look up and Chuck is playing a song and getting ready for the next break. He gestured to come in  and he handed me a cassette tape. There was my recording he promised me but with this addition. "Congratulations. My news guy was going to be late, so you just did my four o'clock news."

There, in my hand was a monumental recording. My very first time ever on the air anywhere. Just turned 15, I was beyond ecstatic. I went home and immediately played that tape over and over. I kept it with me for years and somewhere along the line of the countless moves I've made, it has disappeared.

I went back to the station with the tape to see if I could get hired. Chuck gave me a good recommendation. But as it went along, my parents announced we would be heading back to the Quad Cities due to my father's health. The closest hospital from Ava was an hour away and my father almost died en route after he had a heart attack at the farm. I was thrilled to be moving back to civilization, but damn the luck.

It was thisclose. 

That was the very first time. Late April 1971, KSOA Ava, Mo.

The station is now KKOZ AM/FM and it's syndicated 24/7 365. There might be people who sell time there, but every time I've been there in the last 15 years, there's no one live.

Fast forward a year and a half and phase two of Randy living a dream takes place