In the mid to late 1980s, 630 CHED was on the cutting edge of radio trends in the Edmonton radio market. Not only did they have the top-rated (and future international award winning) morning show in the city thanks to Rob and Audie, they also decided to be the first in Edmonton to bring the crazy high energy "morning zoo" format to the evening. The ringleader of the "Nighttime Zoo" was one Jungle Jay Hamilton, a very high-energy personality DJ who was perfect at creating a mood and keeping them listening weeknights from 6 to 10 for about six years. I wondered what a guy who had that much energy was really like, and I found out about a year later when I met him at a spring break video dance party at Heritage Mall. Just as cool as I thought. He was gracious enough to remember me when I called during a show a couple months later.
Cut now to May 17, 1989. I was selected as one of the winners of a "cohost the Top 8 At 8 with Jungle Jay" contest, on the aforementioned 630 CHED. (Before I continue, a quick side note about DJs and dates. The nature of radio, as I sure found out that night, is quick and intense. Done and gone. in the blink of an eye. Unless you buy into the theory that all our radio transmissions float out into space for the amusement of alien races. I doubt it. So the DJ's themselves rarely remember what they did and when they did it. And why would they? Life is fast, baby! But one of my particular quirks is that if a date in my life is significant, I never ever forget it. Ask anyone who knows me well. So what do you think I said to Jay when the 20 year milestone rolled around in 2009? That's right: "Hey man, guess what? It's been 20 years since we did the Top 8 At 8! Isn't that cool?". The look on his face told me that no, he didn't think it was particularly cool, and how dare I. But I quickly backpedaled. Phew!
But on with the show. My mom and stepdad got me to the CHED studio about 45 minutes early after I finished the night's homework, which was social studies if memory serves. As I waited in the lobby, Jay came out to tell me it would be a few minutes while he and a colleague adjusted mikes. That was fine with me, because truth be told I was a little nervous. I was just over a chest cold, and taking Buckley's Mixture four or five times a day on the preceding weekend to make sure it would be vanquished by showtime on Wednesday. It was actually supposed to be on Monday, but Jay took a couple days off to get over his own cold, so I got a little reprieve there. Anyway, when I got in there, the last song before the countdown started was just finishing. (Baby Don't Forget My Number by Milli Vanilli if memory serves. There wasn't enough time to tell me the number 8 song before showtime, but enough time for Jay to tell me one very important thing:
"I'm gonna ask you questions, and you're gonna answer them."
Cool, man. So he introduced me, got me to plug Holy Trinity High, introduced Jody Watley's Real Love, and off we went. And after hastily wetting my whistle with a box of Co-Op apple juice, it was my turn to introduce songs such as Donny Osmond's Soldier of Love, One To Many's Downtown (a song I honestly have not heard since that night), Guns N Roses' Patience, Michael Damien's Rock On, Bobby Brown's Every Little Step, Eria Fachin's I Hear a Symphony, and the number 1 song, Paula Abdul's Forever Your Girl.
I sure made up that night for all the note passing I never did in school, Because Jay would write down the name of the next song on a piece of paper and hand it to me as the current song was playing. And as I said before, all at breakneck pace. It lasted roughly half an hour, but felt like about ten minutes. And all the while I just introduced the songs in my best impression of how Jay would do them. And I must have done something right, because he played a applause sound effect for me at the end. You've heard of baby carrots? Well in the 80s, DJs had baby 8-track cousins that could hold one thing and were always ready to go. Like this one:
When the show was over, I asked my mom how she thought I did. She was, after all, the one who kicked off my love affair with radio by giving me that transistor radio.
She said, "You did great Mike. I know this has been a dream of yours for quite a while. Who knows, you might have a radio show of your own one day. You just might find your very own style!"
And I would.
But that is a story for I Love You Radio: 90s Edition.
MTMG
But on with the show. My mom and stepdad got me to the CHED studio about 45 minutes early after I finished the night's homework, which was social studies if memory serves. As I waited in the lobby, Jay came out to tell me it would be a few minutes while he and a colleague adjusted mikes. That was fine with me, because truth be told I was a little nervous. I was just over a chest cold, and taking Buckley's Mixture four or five times a day on the preceding weekend to make sure it would be vanquished by showtime on Wednesday. It was actually supposed to be on Monday, but Jay took a couple days off to get over his own cold, so I got a little reprieve there. Anyway, when I got in there, the last song before the countdown started was just finishing. (Baby Don't Forget My Number by Milli Vanilli if memory serves. There wasn't enough time to tell me the number 8 song before showtime, but enough time for Jay to tell me one very important thing:
"I'm gonna ask you questions, and you're gonna answer them."
Cool, man. So he introduced me, got me to plug Holy Trinity High, introduced Jody Watley's Real Love, and off we went. And after hastily wetting my whistle with a box of Co-Op apple juice, it was my turn to introduce songs such as Donny Osmond's Soldier of Love, One To Many's Downtown (a song I honestly have not heard since that night), Guns N Roses' Patience, Michael Damien's Rock On, Bobby Brown's Every Little Step, Eria Fachin's I Hear a Symphony, and the number 1 song, Paula Abdul's Forever Your Girl.
I sure made up that night for all the note passing I never did in school, Because Jay would write down the name of the next song on a piece of paper and hand it to me as the current song was playing. And as I said before, all at breakneck pace. It lasted roughly half an hour, but felt like about ten minutes. And all the while I just introduced the songs in my best impression of how Jay would do them. And I must have done something right, because he played a applause sound effect for me at the end. You've heard of baby carrots? Well in the 80s, DJs had baby 8-track cousins that could hold one thing and were always ready to go. Like this one:
When the show was over, I asked my mom how she thought I did. She was, after all, the one who kicked off my love affair with radio by giving me that transistor radio.
She said, "You did great Mike. I know this has been a dream of yours for quite a while. Who knows, you might have a radio show of your own one day. You just might find your very own style!"
And I would.
But that is a story for I Love You Radio: 90s Edition.
MTMG
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