Happy Friday! This week’s Radio Ink Blast from the Past comes from Robert “Radio Bob” Lewin.
It was the summer of 1970 and it was Lewin’s first paid radio job: rip and read on the national news during overnights on WEMP-AM 1250 in Milwaukee.
Lewin told Radio Ink, “That fall I moved to Madison to study journalism at The University of Wisconsin, and in 1971, I began at WISM-FM. I had a 30-year career with William Walker’s Midwest Family Broadcasting, on air, in sales, management, and ownership. I had seven years away for good behavior, but always kept my stock interests. I chose to retire at age 49 in 2001.”
Thanks, Radio Bob! We want your flashbacks for our Friday. First gigs, internships, vile station vehicles, remotes, concerts, college radio days… We all have them, let’s see yours.
Send your Blast From The Past to Cameron at [email protected] for your chance to be featured.
Blast from the past: As a student at UC Santa Barbara (and staffer, later GM at KCSB) I worked 11 PM to 6 AM at KMUZ in Santa Barbara. As I recollect, we had six six-foot racks of Schafer gear (we called it “Sylvia”) that ran the Muzak/musicraft service for the region on a subcarrier “SCA”, and two Thorens turntables. Sorry, no pictures. That was in 1963-70. The station was at 103.3 with 105 kW ERP atop 4000 East Santa Ynez Peak.
I wrote the first draft of copy for The Richfield Reporter, who came on at 0600, in short-sleeved white shirt, bow tie, and smelling of Old Spice.
I borrowed my room-mate’s Vespa to drive to the station. The late Stefan Ponek had just arrived from Ohio to be the PD and sold me his 1950 DeSoto coupe for $10 but had to refurbish it myself (my roomies assisted).
Rumor had it that the station’s raison d’etre was as a transport for Muzak, and was kind of “self funded” in that way.
Sorry now that the only pictures are in my mind (although I got some good ideas of what to do (and not) when we rebuilt KCSB’s facilities).
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