But free form radio was something I'd wanted to do since I was a teenager and I can't describe how fulfilling it is every week to play almost anything you want to play while finding a way to balance what is aired. I have special rules about rotating my artists in order to keep the show from sounding like a personal jukebox. Can anyone tell who my all-time top ten favorites are, based on what hits the Retroactive airwaves? Doubtful.
I feel the show has depth because I'm lucky to have lived in three different areas of the country and musically, I have a vivid memory of what made those places so special. Coming from the Midwest, the bedrock of my long-running show was inspired by the great 1960s AM (CKLW, WKNR) and FM (WABX) stations that lit Detroit up back in the day. I got to Texas in 1973 and didn't understand that folkie/country thing at all ("What is this 'Cosmic Cowboy' crap?," I wondered, as somebody named Pete Brown and another person played a bunch of songs for my fellow incoming students at Texas Lutheran not long after we first arrived).
Thankfully, I found some fabulous stations in South Central Texas (KRMH, "Karma" in San Marcos, KLBJ/Austin, and even KEXL/San Antonio--KOKE was supposed to be extraordinary, but I could never tune it in unless I was driving 50 miles north to Austin) that positively fueled my radio listening, not to mention the rock column I wrote for the college's weekly newspaper for four years. Austin radio, God love them, played more Little Feat, Freddie King and Bonnie Raitt than I ever heard in Detroit. Those three stations, while in tune with the early '70s "Progressive Country" movement to an extent, refused to be defined by that sound. And I refused too, explaining to my Michigan friends that "Texas isn't just country music"; in much the same way, I needed them to know that I wasn't at TLU (then TLC) studying to be a minister--not that there's anything wrong with that, to paraphrase the Seinfeld program.
Just before I left Michigan for Washington state in 1993, I found out about two trailblazers from Tacoma, the (Fabulous) Wailers, and especially the Sonics, who compare favorably to Detroit's proto-punk pioneers the MC5 and the Stooges. I try to get something on the air from a Pacific Northwest band every week, and not as many artists from my other regions of residence, because the Northwest is where I live.
Put simply, I am still having a blast doing my Saturday program. There are many colleagues, mentors and more that have helped me attain what I feel is a very good radio show, familiar sounding yet not predictable. There are too many of you to thank, but I will mention two this time: My fellow KAOS progammer, Steve McLellan, and my loving wife, Gina. Back when I got kicked in the teeth after giving my all to a job I'd had for twenty years, I thought maybe I should give up the show and concentrate on finding new employment. Steve and Gina were among the first to say that quitting KAOS would be a mistake, because my soul is in there. Thanks to them, and to everyone else who has aided me along the way. It's too late to stop now.
PS--My first time on the air at KAOS was right before Retroactive began. I was subbing on a program called Have It Yahweh. And of course, someone phoned in to say that I was making fun of God by using that moniker. "It's not my show!," I told them.
PPS--The best phone calls I've received? One time, a listener said that he had moved away from Olympia for several years, came back, and was glad to hear I was still at good old 89.3...Another time, I had Yoko Ono on and the phone box lit up. "Uh oh, here comes a nasty call," I figured. Yet it was a completely different type of response: "I love Yoko! Is that from Fly or Approximately Infinite Universe?," they asked. That is so Olympia.
Addendum (KAOS Volunteer Appreciation Banquet, May 17th): Gina did the most loving thing for me this day. She had a special card made up that had pages from my battered, 20 year KAOS notebook with a maroon-colored cover printed on one side--under my hand-written "Chuck Berry," for instance, the numbers listed say that he was played on shows numbering 1, 12, 20, 24 and so on. The card's flipside was blank, and she snuck around at the banquet (while I was getting drinks, talking to someone in the corner or whatever) and got several KAOS programmers to sign the card and congratulate me on 20 years. What a really beautiful gesture. Thank you, Gina.