My Past Keeps Catching Up with Me!

A few of you may know that many years ago, I started my working career as a radio announcer. From March of 1970 through sometime in 1973, I was Charlie Fredricks of KBZY radio here in Salem. That's how I put myself through college.

Although it's been about 35 years since I was last on the radio, I can't escape my past, and every once in a while I get to be Charlie Fredricks once again.

Tomorrow night (September 27th), the station is gathering some of the old jocks from long ago for a brief appearance at the KBZY Talent Showcase at the Elsinore Theatre. Joining me on stage will be Jim Trett and Mike Shannon, two guys I worked with back in those days, and possibly several others.

Funny, the technology has changed so much I hardly recognize the radio station any more. Gone are all the old turntables, the stacks of records, and the commercials on what looked like 8-track tapes. Now everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) is on the computer, and the station can actually run itself for hours on end.

But I can't get it totally out of my blood. Just let me hear one of the songs from my days on the radio, and I'm suddenly back in my Charlie Fredricks mode again - back behind the microphone.

And every once in a while, I'll run into someone who remembers me from my past. Last summer, I mentioned my past to the mom of one of my seniors, and I'll be darned if she didn't say "I used to listen to you all the time".

I still have some tapes with old airchecks, and even a 20 minute interview I once did with Neil Diamond. All I have to do is find a reel-to-reel tape deck so I can transcribe them into MP3's.