This was KFMN’s logo when I started in ‘77. Note the clever styling of “Radio 108.” Oh, and the seagull - which had zilch to do with our programming.

Age 16 and trying to be funny. When asked to pose for an “action shot” of me on the air, I pretended to be asleep on the job. Hey, it was funny to ME.

Note the Russco Studio-Pro turntables and the vinyl records. That chart on the wall behind me was the programming “clock” that let you know what kind of song you should play during that part of the hour. I guess it was scientific. Or something. Groovy headphones, too.

Ah, talk about nostalgic. This is the actual first record I ever played on the air: “Help Is On Its Way” by The Little River Band. It’s framed and hanging in my home studio so I never forget those humble beginnings.

Here’s the actual handbook (yes, I still have it) that I studied like crazy in order to pass my FCC license test (see Chapter 9, “This is a Test”).

Here are some of the things I had to learn in order to pass that FCC test. Radio hosts don’t need to do this anymore, so of course I feel a bit smug about it - for no real reason.

In Chapter 12 you can read all about “Dinner on the Mayflower.” Sadly, this is the only existing evidence of my great-idea-gone-wrong. Just a grainy, dark Polaroid picture, with my hastily scribbled description.

For my first couple of years, I kept a notebook where I listed every single show I hosted on KFMN/Radio 108. On my very first night (Sept. 24, 1977) I had to do the phone/alligator clip trick mentioned in Chapter 26, “Tech”.

In the audio section, you can hear one of my earliest shows in late 1977. The program director recorded it on reel-to-reel. And this is it. You can faintly see where he wrote “Domino” in the middle.

In Chapter 6, “Pink Panties,” I mention the first commercial I ever voiced, when I was still only 16.

Turns out it was for an adult drive-in movie theater. Yes, X-rated films.

So I found an advertisement that ran in the 1950s (in the Abilene Reporter-News) trumpeting the opening of the Park Drive-In. Back when it showed “wholesome” movies. 😀