It Was Twenty Years Ago Today, Part CXXII

It was Saturday, January 5, 1991.

I was working at the Mermaid, the supper club, sports bar, bowling alley and nighclub in Moundview where I’d been spinning records, three nights a week, for a little over two years now.

One of our regular features was the Saturday night live appearances from “Mister Ed”, a disk jockey at KDWB.  He’d come out to the bar, talk on the mobile mike, hand out prizes, and generally work the room (for a nice little fee).

We had a pretty good working relationship; I ran a great floor when I was working, and I set up his appearances pretty well.  We got along – which was better than most of the club jocks managed.

It’d been over three years since I’d been out of radio.

And then, it occurred to me; for the first time in three, almost four years, there was a radio guy with some clout who actually had a good opinion of me.

So…

As the evening ground to a close, and Ed was sipping on his drink, I made my move.

“So – if I was trying to get back into radio, would there be anything I could do at KDWB?”

“Sure”, Ed said without skipping a beat.  “Absolutely!  We could use a weekend screener!”

And as fast as I could memorize the details, he said I could start next Saturday, working with Kris Adams and Spyder Harrison.

And that was that.  I was back in radio.

A little, anyway.

3 thoughts on “It Was Twenty Years Ago Today, Part CXXII

  1. I had worked at six radio stations by the time I was in my mid-twenties. The pattern was usual. I would be promised a raise after six months and then when the money didn’t come and when I asked where it was, they fired me. I was also working at KRSI FM in Eden Prairie the night that one of the jocks put on a long record and went to his nearby apartment to “visit” his girlfriend. When he got back to the station the PD was there with his pink slip in hand. It’s a brutal business. Still, I loved it. Too bad it could never pay the rent and was populated by toadies with no imaginations.

  2. In January 1991 I was living in Kona (I live in Puna now) and was helping a female friend through a difficult breakup. Lots of beach time. We would show up up dressed for the beach, wearing a little less each for each date. Yes, I wore speedos. When you are six feet tall, weigh 165, and are tanned to perfection you can do that.
    Tell me again why people live in places other than Kona?

  3. “Tell me again why people live in places other than Kona?”

    A heavy parka and insulated bibs cover up a multitude of “sins”. Can’t be done with speedos or bikinis.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.