Solo
By Mitch Berg
Tonight’s the anniversary of my first. night ever “soloing” on the radio. I’d been at KEYJ, learning the job a couple of weeks; I’d worked a couple of shifts with DIck Ingstad over my shoulder making sure I knew what I was doing.
And tonight, I was on my own, working the evening shift.
The following Saturday, I’d switch to my regular shift – Saturday mornings from sign on (in the studio at 5AM, start broadcasting at 5:55AM, on the air to 3PM).
But I needed to get through this evening first.
KEYJ’s control board.
And for whatever reason, I remember the first three records I played.
First up – this pretty obscure Art Garfunkel solo effort.
I guarantee you, the only reason I remember this song at all is the fact that it was the first song I ever played on the air.
Then? Cliff Richard’s last Top 40 single:
Which, I”ll be honest, I still kinda enjoy.
And then came Dan Peek – former member of America, who’d turned into a solo, Christian artist:
It occurs to me, I may be the only person who remembers any of them.
August 18th, 2024 at 6:46 am
Congrats, I guess, sorta, are in order. You seemed to have done OK 😉
Interesting bit about Cliff R. One of the things that was weird about living in Europe in the 70s and 80s was his immense popularity. Maybe not fill-a-stadium popular, but everybody knew of him. Which made it all even more surreal in that I knew nothing about him.
August 18th, 2024 at 7:20 am
I’m glad you had that opportunity. I do not remember the first song I played on my college radio station, but I remember the last one – “Moondance.”
Ol’ Cliff had his moments. He was a much bigger deal in Europe, but that’s a fairly common thing. In the U.S. David Essex is a one-hit wonder, but he had a long and successful career elsewhere.
August 18th, 2024 at 8:36 am
Cliff was Beatles-level popular in the UK in the sixties.
Another was Leo Sayer. He had one or two hits in the US in the ’70s, but was a juggernaut in the UK and Europe through the seventies with some enduring popularity after the usual legal and management trouble in the eighties sorta stalled him.
August 18th, 2024 at 11:25 am
Sayer was indeed another one. A more recent example (but not that recent) is Jamiroquai, which had one big hit and a couple of minor ones here but were huge elsewhere. The vagaries of fame often come down to management issues or lousy record distribution.
August 18th, 2024 at 1:15 pm
I don’t say this to reduce the popularity of any of these entertainers, but I think Elvis-level popular is more better because the fan base of the Beatles didn’t overlap nearly as much with Cliff as it did with Elvis.
August 18th, 2024 at 1:19 pm
Interesting comment about Jamiroquai. For some reason, the “gatekeepers” to the American music market make some unexplained decisions regarding European, and especially English, entertainers.
On the other hand, I know some of Jamiroquai’s music and there’s only one song that I can say I like.
shrug