After about two months of
attending Brown Institute in Minneapolis
I thought I was ready to “be on the radio.”
Russ Kent ran the station back in the mid-1970s. Russ was part of the ‘Breakfast Bunch” each morning at the Durand CafĂ©. My Dad was also a member of the group.
My Dad called me one night
in early 1974, up at my Dupont
Avenue apartment just off West Lake Street in Minneapolis.
He said, “Tommy, WRDN wants to know if you’re interested in working
weekends at the station?” I almost
dropped the phone, I was so excited. In my best radio voice I retorted, “you
bet!”
Actually my “radio voice,”
just four months into broadcast school was only slightly better than Elmer
Fudd’s voice!
I drove down to Durand the
following day and met with Jeff Peterson who was a stalwart at the station at
that time.
The “board” in the WRDN
studio was identical to one of the “boards” I worked on at Brown. I remember
thinking confidently, “this is going to be a breeze!”
Jeff said he wanted me to
read a couple of commercials and some UPI news off the teletype. No
problem! Jeff hands me the copy. I open
my microphone, and nothing comes out of my mouth! I had “stage fright” and dang
near passed out.
I still wonder to this day
what Jeff thought about Mr. Big Shot radio school guy choking big time in his
first bid to work at a radio station.
The WRDN studio at the time
was located above Gil Weiss Insurance overlooking the Chippewa
River adjacent to the Hwy 10 bridge.
The three things that I
remember walking down the steps following my forgettable audition was how
embarrassed I was, what my Dad was going to think, and if my teachers and
classmates found out, would I be laughed out of school.
Actually, Jeff did his best
to reassure me that many other rookie announcers get stage fright in similar
situations. I was actually offered the weekend announcing position the
following day Whew!!!
At the time, WRDN was
largely automated through the syndicated "Great
American Country" which
was voiced
by the
legendary Bob Kingsley.
I still chuckle over Bob Kingsley on tape with his big voice going into
a break immediately followed with my wimpy voice reading some news. At the time I remember thinking, Rob
Sherwood, Machine Gun Kelly (huge radio stars at the time in the Twin Cities)
look out, I’m coming!
My radio career was underway.
