On the Radio

Yesterday I learned from a friend’s Facebook post that it was National Radio Day. This man shared a photo of himself at the first radio station he worked at over 40 years ago. I responded by posting the meme above featuring Wolfman Jack and cast members from the old sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati.” That brought back memories of my disc jockey work.

As a boy, I pretended to be a DJ using my Panasonic tape recorder and playing records on my parents’ stereo system. Listening to Casey Kasem’s “American Top 40” was an inspiration. It wasn’t until my first year in college I became a DJ for real. I volunteered as an announcer for the radio station at Moorhead State University in Moorhead, Minnesota. That same year, the roller rink I worked at promoted me to floor guard. Part of that job was playing the records. I had a blast doing that but resigned after eight months due to disagreements with the managers.

Less than a year later, I landed my only paying announcer job on terrestrial radio. I conducted telephone surveys for KVOX-AM and convinced the station manager to let me have a shift on his station. The format was oldies music fed through a satellite service from Chicago. I came on the air every 20 minutes to give weather forecasts, sports updates, and station IDs. The pseudonym “Todd Richards” was used. I didn’t want my real name connected with the music played. I desired to possibly work for a pop/rock station in the future, but that never happened. 

Over the next few years, I deejayed at other roller rinks plus nightclubs, company parties, school dances, and wedding receptions. Meanwhile, I attended one semester of broadcasting school at Brown Institute in Minneapolis. Because of my prior experience, I got to skip the first six weeks of class. I didn’t continue my schooling there after realizing a full-time career in radio wasn’t something I wanted. I preferred live deejaying because of better pay, instant feedback from the crowd, and more control over the music played. I also learned radio announcers usually start by working at stations in smaller markets. I didn’t want to leave the Twin Cities area then.

Just before giving my life to Jesus in 1991, I lost interest in DJ work. I had enough of the smoke-filled rooms, alcoholics, and getting requests to play the same old songs every night. I never really desired to be an announcer at a Christian radio station. Most of the religious music heard on the airwaves bored me. I ended up started a station online.

In 2002, I had a dream of riding in a car that stopped in front of a radio station with “WWW” in big red letters on it. The Lord wanted me to go on the radio over the Internet. At first, I thought it would simply be a program about evangelism. I wrote out several scripts for when I would have the opportunity to produce such a program. Later, I realized God wanted me to launch an actual station. Thanks in part to an unexpected donation given by a friend, Signs & Wonders Radio began airing in April 2006. The station featured mostly modern worship music plus recordings of myself sharing soul-winning tips. 

During the next decade, Signs & Wonders Radio attracted listeners from over 100 nations. (I also helped start an online station for another ministry). Then in September 2015, I closed my account with my streaming service. I did not approve some of the ads inserted by Live365. A short time later, they temporarily went out of business due to increased licensing rates. Broadcasting through Live365 again is an option, but I cannot justify the higher expense. My number of listeners had gone down. One key reason is platforms such as YouTube and Spotify now allow people to hear just about any song they want at the time of their choosing.

Although I’ve performed a few live DJ shows (called “glory parties”) and continue doing podcasts, I haven’t ruled out going on the radio again. The right situation could bring me back to the airwaves. I’m open to using every form of media to reach people with the gospel.

“And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.” - Matthew 24:14 (NLT)