The story of how I got started is a pig of a tale, so let me get the lipstick out right away.
I transferred to SIU in the fall of 1977 after 2-1/2 years at Champaign/Urbana. Since I had plenty of credits in my bank, I took the beginning Radio/TV classes 300M and 300P in my first semester in Carbondale. As you recall, 300P was the lecture class, and I was lucky to have Dr. Lynch(no relation) as my teacher. The focus in 300P was solely on Dr. Lynch, and rightly so. He knew everything about TV, and was able to present it in a very entertaining fashion.
300M was the practical beginners class, small groups learning studio operations under a TA. I don’t even recall who my TA was, but I did have three WIDB folks in my 300M class; Amy Elvart, Roy Millonzi and Maria Bernardi.
Roy Millonzi
I enjoyed great camaraderie with these three as well as the rest of our classmates. Amy baked me a cake for my 21st birthday. Roy invited me over to his place once, showed me his Les Paul Jr. and shared some.. .inspiration. Roy and Maria were the stars of my class final project, a one minute commercial. Maria nailed the money shot that got me an A.
It appears that I’m fresh out of lipstick.
As for how they got me involved at WIDB, well, they didn’t. I wasn’t ready. I knew it was what I wanted to do, but was just afraid to fail. Publicly. So I kept muddling along in R&T classes, meeting more people. Eventually I landed in a TV criticism class with Al Levy. We seemed to be on the same wavelength with regards to TV, so Al must have presumed that maybe I knew a little radio too. He specifically told me I should be stopping by WIDB, that there would be a place for me, and that I would enjoy it there.
After the semester ended, I checked for auditions to be on air during the summer, when the competition was less fierce. And the listenership was smaller. Especially doing the midnight to 4am shift. I was afforded the opportunity to fail, and I failed at failing. I actually got better, probably lifted myself up to mediocrity over the couple of years that I DJ’d. It was my love and knowledge of music that kept me afloat. Garble a backrap, you get embarrassed. But come back in to a new set with Santana’s “All I Ever Wanted”, and you’re back in the game.
Randy Lynch and his jacket (in the background, Kerry Peace, John Amberg, and Cyril Radwin)
The game, as played at WIDB in the late 70’s, was tremendous fun and highly educational. Still some of the best times of my life.
