Wait until your Parents get That Phone Bill!

Back in the days before the Internet, Streaming Music and TV there was something called terrestrial radio, or simply AM and FM radio to the youth of our time.  I am thinking specifically the years from 1960 to the 1980’s.  Local radio stations in the Aspen Valley shut down with their own version of the star-spangled banner around 10pm each night and at the point as the air got cooler and the skies darker, we would all tune to our favorite superstations on the AM wave lengths.

The best signals came into the Aspen valley from Oklahoma City on KOMA, or perhaps KSL out of Salt Lake City but that was elevator music for our generation.  There was also Dave Niles out of San Francisco on KNBR.  Then there was always Wolfman Jack broadcasting out of Hollywood with a transmitter just across the border from Chula Vista, California where the FCC had no control over signal strength and where he boasted “50,000 watts of Boss Soul Power” which was no exaggeration.  That station would come in on your radio from the bottom of a well.

Kids of our generation went out of our way to have parties; I mean really out of our way…. All the way up smuggler Mountain or up Little Annie’s.  Even out to Aspen’s race track and one thing you could count on was that one of the superstations would be blaring from a car stereo.  Let’s keep in mind that most of us drove old, run down or worn-out cars with stereos that were worth more than the cars they were installed in.  8-Track Tapes were the rage and they played in an endless loop until the superstations came in clearly enough.

The kids who were partying closer to home or listening on the home stereo consoles would take it a step further by calling their favorite stations to put in song requests and they always included their names.  Those of us listening would scream with joy when a song was played led by a local name of the requestor.  This nightly routine was not unique to us, it was a ritual that played out every night across the country and the phone companies loved it as did the Disc Jockeys.  For nights when music was not our preference, there was always “Radio Mystery Theater” to listen to as well.

The downside was the fact that calls in the valley were often considered long distance with a toll charge included.  So, when the local kids called San Francisco, Oklahoma or Hollywood these calls could end up costing over $10 per call and many of us were not satisfied to make only one song request in any given night.  The bills arrived later and there was hell to pay when they did.

The FCC in later years restricted signals to limit the geographic markets of radio stations and started jamming signals from Mexico to “even the playing field” and our remote entertainment became harder to pick up at night.  Oh, and FM stations came to prominence and they had better signal quality.

Add to the fact that David Niles suffered a family disaster and left the airways in 1979.  Wolfman Jack died a decade later and our way of entertainment changed forever.  Even 8-Track Tapes were replaced by cassettes which required a whole new mega stereo in our relics.

Life goes on and music is always a part of it no matter how it is provided.  And what the hell is an iPod….