Christmas music a la coche
I have tuned in to Oldies 103.3 since about the second day it started playing Christmas music 24/5 (it takes a break on weekend nights). It's the most I have tuned into that station ever. Ever. Being under 30 (for the next week at least), the Oldies station is more a novelty stop on my preset than a must-press. The Christmas music changed that (It should be noted that Mrs. Boston Crazy Driving thinks me a bit of a Scrooge, so it's important to get into the spirit as early as possible). I started listening nearly every time I was in car, but I noticed a couple of things: the station's catalog of Christmas music is woefully limited, there are many versions of the same song meaning we need some new Christmas music, and I found out that two of the jocks are voices from my youth making me wonder if I should listen to Oldies on Dec. 26 and beyond.As a wee lad, I would tune into the afternoon cartoons on channel 56 (back when it was WLVI and it had the "Living 56" slogan), and Uncle Dale Dorman's disembodied voice would serve as a bumper between commercials and "Tom and Jerry." I was never naive enough to think he was my real uncle or anything, but he was a welcome familiar voice in my adolescence when I started to listen to pop music. He was the afternoon jock on KISS 108. But everyone in my suburban middle school believed that KISS was too "urban" and 94.5 WZOU (The Zoo) was way better. I didn't understand until I was older what the former meant, but I agreed with the latter nonetheless.
The Zoo it was for me most of the time, especially in the evenings when "The red light is on and the madam is in." Of course, I had no idea what this meant either, except that there was a song called "Roxanne" that also talked about a woman who didn't have to turn on the red light. (I am much more worldly now.) The madam was Karen Blake. She was my evening siren. When The Zoo gave way to WJMN, Jammin' 9.45, so did my listening. I moved on to what I termed real music at WZLX 100.7. What can I say? I was in high school and confused.
A few years passed and Ed McMann took over for Uncle Dale, who, as far as I knew when off to the radio nursing home. Karen "The Madam" Blake turned up on Star 93.7 in the morning, and although she dropped the madam persona, I always expected her to say it on the rare occasions I tuned in. When Star 93.7 became robot radio known as Mike earlier this year, I wondered what would happen to her. It was the second time that she was programmed off the air. Turns out Dorman does the daytime slot leading into the afternoon drive slot with Karen Blake on Oldies 103.3.
So, two personalities from my youth are spinning on the Oldies station. Yikes. Who's next? Lisa Traxler ("Trax spins great wax.")? Joe Martelle? |
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