Radio Time

If you grew up in the 60’s or early 70’s you most likely had a transistor radio and if you are like me you probably listen to it late at night. Back then there were no portable cassette players. Although in high school I can remember having a cassette deck which was the size of a Kindle only 3 times as thick. On the front were the Play, Record, Stop Rewind and Fast Forward keys. You had to press the keys down to get anything to work. A microphone came with it you plugged into the side so you could use it to interview someone. It wasn’t until later they became worth listening to music on. There were also no cd playersand definitely no mp3 players. That left the transistor radio to listen to.

At night I would make my self a little tent under the cover and bring a small flash light and the transistor radio. I would move the dials on the side and the red line would move up and down the front of the radio until I got the station I wanted Sometimes I could barely hear it so than I would move the antenna from side to side and radio around until I found the sweet spot. The headphone that came with it had one end for your ear, everything was mono, so you never wore it. I had to keep the sound down low, so I would get caught. Unlike the daytime when AM radio ruled at night I would listen to FM radio. On a clear summer night I could hear stations from as far away as Boston or North Carolina. FM stations would play full albums from bands like Zeppelin, the Who or the Doors. They would have no problem playing songs that last any length of time. I can remember listening for songs that lasted 15 minutes. The DJ’s were great also there were characters like Wolfman Jack who had this great voice for late night radio. I don’t remember as many advertisements as there are now either. Although there were probably more than I remember. Do you remember listening to the radio late at night growing up, what was your favorite station and DJ.