Turn up, the radio.
I need some music, gimmie some more.
I follow a lot of GenX type accounts across all the Socials.
Shocking. I know.
And one of the things that continually comes up is how we all have very similar experiences, core memories. But how was that possible in a world before the internet to unite us?
I’ll tell you how—FM Radio.
FM radio was a universal experience of GenX.
It was where we found out about new music, and concerts and events in our area. It’s where we learned about trends and what was cool. And we were all collectively gathered ‘round at 9pm when every one of them, no matter what city or state, counted down the top 9 at 9.
And more than likely, you had called in to vote, and hoped you’d be chosen to record an intro.
“This is Julie from Eldora and your number one song is…”
It makes me nervous and giddy just thinking those words.
We all had our favorite stations, and we all remember what they were. In central Iowa?
105.7 played the hits.
94.9 played Hard Rock.
93.9 New Wave
107.9 more of the hits.
(If you’re wondering, this ability to remember the tiniest detail of the 80s is not at all troublesome, except that at the same time, I can’t usually remember what day of the week it is or where I put my phone…)
Radio started our day-as an alarm clock—was there anything more jarring than waking up mid-song blasting at 7:00am?
Then it was a companion as you got ready for school. Humming along as you lined your eyes and backcombed your bangs.
My go to station’s morning DJ said “8:08-- Bob on the clock!” Every. Single. Morning.
And when I heard it, I knew I had better be headed for the door or I was going to miss the first bell.
We listened to it in the car. Man do I miss those old cars radios-turning the dial until you found the station you wanted and then pulling out the tab and pushing it back in to set it. No software updates required. I drove with one hand on the wheel, and one hand on those tabs, pushing one after the other until I found a song I liked.
And while yes, we did have mix tapes as 80s teenagers, not many of us had cars that had cassette players. Pushing the tab buttons was like making a mix tape on the go.
(It’s been a minute since I threw in a “back in my day, kids didn’t have it so cushy” story, so I’ll bless you with one here. We didn’t have fancy cars. We had whatever car our parents gave us, or we could afford to buy. They were used. Very, very used. And we were thrilled to have them. Mine didn’t have heat or go over thirty-five miles per hour, but it got me where I needed to go, and sometimes where I had no business going. I loved that car. It was like an extension of my personality.)
You know what else the radio had? DJs with huge personalities. They said things like “Ten in a row commercial free with Big Steve at Party Animal Headquarters.” And we all screamed because we loved Big Steve, hated commercials and loved being thought of as Party Animals. He was ALWAYS locked and loaded to bring us all the hits!
And then the school hired him to do our Homecoming dance and he was just some regular looking guy in a polo shirt with the collar popped. What a disappointment.
And who can forget calling in to make a dedication? Talk about nerves? There were two ways to do it—giving the DJ all the info and then waiting to hear his smooth voice spill your darkest crush…
Or if you were brave enough, you let him take your requests live on the air.
I remember the drama of a breakup happening via dedication,
“Jane Doe sends this one out to her cheating boyfriend.
And then he played Dead or Alive’s Brand New Lover.
Ouch.
We didn’t mess around in the 80s.
The radio was our social media. Our connection.
I remember cruising the main drag in our tiny town with the windows down and catching the hint of a melody from the car in front of us at the stoplight and scrambling to find it on my own radio.
Gravel road parties where everyone left their headlights on and turned their radio to the same station, so the music was loud enough.
The radio was the background music of my teens, and I haven’t even touched on Casey Kasem. That smoothed voiced devil kept us glued to our radios he counted down the hits. Who can forget his excitement when there was a new number one?
Suffice it to say, if the radio still sounded like it did back in the 80s, we wouldn’t need blue tooth. But since it isn’t, thank the lord for the 80s channel on SiriusXM. You may not be able to call in a dedication, but at least the music is good.
Definitely had that alarm clock.