In college I was a DJ. Back in those days, that meant I worked at a radio station and played records - as in vinyl.It was great. I did the Friday morning shift - 6 to 9 am. I turned the transmitter on. It took about 20 minutes to warm up.
On Sunday afternoons, I played Christian rock with my buddy Craig (and later with John and Jeff). We interviewed all the stars that came through town. It was fun to meet Amy Grant, who was at the top of the charts back then.
So I never went in that career direction. Radio was fun but not how I wanted to spend my life. Also, I discovered that after I spent three hours playing all the music I loved, I got "music-ed out" - I didn't want to hear anything for a day or two. I decided that if I made my career out of something I loved that much, it would take the love out of it for me.
(The letter is from a radio station I applied to.)
4 comments:
My son has been a DJ at a Christian College radio station for the last 3 years. He really enjoys it and would like to have a career in radio, but wasn't able to find work after he graduated last summer. He went back to school this fall to get his teaching certificate.
An Arkie's Musings
Haha! I interned at a pop station (very high up on the dial!) here years ago. I think I only did it for a year. Basically, I just answered the phones for the DJ, and grabbed the tracks for her. I remember my shift was on Friday and Saturday nights so none of the big wigs were in the station, and we had a blast! I did want to be a DJ when I was a kid, but I don't really want to spend my life like that either. I don't like being told what music I have to play next!
And, your last sentence is an interesting one. Most people have said the opposite - If you find something you really love, you'll never work a day in your life! :D
Interesting. I did a 2 hour show on University radio for a term. I was surprised how hard it was to pick the 30 tracks I needed to fill the time. My taste wasn't very wide then. Now it would be easier, but still require a lot of work. One trick of mine was to pick an album where I knew one track and then play a second random one of the same album.
I worked as a security guard overnight at a radio/TV station while in college back in the mid-80s. When the moon was full, the strangeness would begin with weird people coming around telling me that the broadcast personalities were trying to control them through their radios and televisions. My buddies continually taunted me with beer on their way back from the union. And I found out that the punch clock was broken for the first 2 years I was there.
Good times. One of the guys that I would say hi to in the morning was Spike 'O Dell who's now at WGN.
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