I <3 DJs

Back in 1990, I would listen every night to the Live 5 at 8 Countdown with Dave Fuller on 92.5 KISS-FM. (I am so old, I remember before they were called KISS-FM.) I would listen on my awesome stereo AM/FM cassette player mini boom box from Sears. (I still have it. The best radio I have ever owned.) I had a total crush on the DJ, Dave Fuller. I still do. Well, a crush on his voice. I had no idea what he looked like. And I wouldn’t know for another 22 years.

I loved the song “Nothing Compares 2 U” by Sinead O’Connor. And it was VERY popular on 92.5, since that is the station all the school girls listened to. I had a knack. I would call about 15 minutes before he did the number one song on the countdown. I knew the number one song would be “Nothing Compares 2 U”. I knew that with the number one song, Dave Fuller always played a phone call. And I knew that he pre-taped the calls. There were multiple times that Dave played MY call on the air.*

*Here is a transcript of one of the calls. I would totally put an audio clip in this post, but I don’t want to get sued:

DF: The coveted event.
The sacred moment.
The thrill you have been waiting all day for.
The number one song on the Live 5 at 8 Countdown.
ME: I wanna request, um, Nothing Compares 2 U for the countdown.
DF: That’s what they all say.
ME: [Awkward teenage giggle.]

I had such a big crush on Dave. I believe I have his birthday written down somewhere in my house. That is probably when I decided that Dave was such a cool name, although that is not the whole reason my dog is named Dave. If I had had a drivers’ license, I totally could have gone to remote broadcasts and stalked him. But by the time I did, he was off to another radio station.

So, I kept listening to 92.5 and I developed a crush on Kurt Kruse (no idea on the spelling) and Billy Michaels. I used to tape the disc jockeys talking to one another at shift change. I actually got to meet Kurt when I got to do a show called “Look Ma, I’m on KISS-FM” where I got to play DJ for an hour on a Friday night when no one listens. But it was right before high school graduation, so I never found out if anyone listened and thought I was ultra-cool. (Or ultra-dork.) I wrote an outline for a story about Billy Michaels, but I have never fleshed out the full story.

Probably my obsession with the DJs (and being totally clueless as to what I wanted to do in life) is why I studied Radio & TV Broadcasting in college. Not that I have ever actually used my degree to go into that field, because I have not.

The other day I looked, and Dave Fuller is now on a station in Detroit. He even has a Facebook page, which means I got to see what he looks like. My 8th grade self was so excited:) [Awkward teenage giggle.]

Sorry for all of the nostalgia lately. I am in the process of converting all my audio cassette tapes to mp3 files. Sometimes technology can be great.

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