MEMORIES

Most of us really don’t think about how we look until we get older.  It’s then that we realize how we’ve changed throughout the years, and those years bring back memories!

Gary KSTT 1957 - 6x8Here’s what yours truly looked like in the late 50s when I was a disc Jockey on KSTT in Davenport, Iowa during my junior and senior years in high school.

Those were the days of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, Richie Valens, Pat Boone, The Everly Brothers, Chuck Berry, Paul Anka, Debbie Reynolds, Rickie Nelson, The Diamonds, Johnny Mathis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Patti Page, Fats Domino, The Four Lads, The Ames Brothers, Little Richard, Gene Vincent, Guy Mitchell, Doris Day, Dean Martin, The Platters, Perry Como, Andy Williams, Bill Haley & The Comets, The Chordettes, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Teresa Brewer, Vic Damone, Don Cherry, Jerry Vale, The McGuire Sisters, Johnny Cash, Peggy Lee, Frankie Lymon, Nat King Cole, and many more!

Twenty years later from 1977 to 1987 I DJ’d part time on WEMO, East Moline, WQUA & WMRZ in Moline, Illinois.  My last gig on WMRZ was an oldies station and our mascot was a 1957 Gold Chevy.  That was pretty cool!  The really cool thing was we were playing all the music that was popular way back in the 50’s plus all the hits from the 60’s and 70’s.  A lot of that music has never died!

Capt Gary WQUA-BWIn those later years we listened to Connie Francis, Brenda Lee, Bobby Rydell, Leslie Gore, Frankie Avalon, Dion and the Belmonts, Roy Orbison, The Ventures, The Drifters, Sam Cooke, Marty Robins, Chubby Checker, Conway Twitty, Steve Lawrence, Charlie Rich, Four Tops, Rolling Stones, Temptations, Roger Miller, Beach Boys, Sonny and Cher, Jay & The Americans, Tom Jones, Beatles, Supremes, Herman’s Hermits, Marvin Gaye, Gary Lewis, Del Shannon, Simon & Garfunkel, Carpenters, BJ Thomas, Neil Diamond, Jackson 5, Bobby Sherman, John Lennon, Creedence Clearwater, Ann Murray, Chicago, James Taylor, Spinners, Delfonics, Glen Campbell, Aretha Franklin, Guess Who, Stevie Wonder, Tony Orlando, Bread, Frankie Valli, Eagles, Neil Sedaka, Elton John, Captain & Tennile, Barry Manilow, Oliva Newton John, Paul McCartney, America, Michael Martin Murphy, Linda Ronstadt, Barry White, Earth Wind & Fire, 10cc, Styx, Gladys Knight, Orleans, John Denver, Leo Sayer, Bee Gees, Andy Gibb, Player, Chic, Meat Loaf, Queen, Billy Joel, Kansas, Rod Stewart, Donna Summer, Abba, Foreigner, O’Jays, Carly Simon, Dolly Parton, Commadores, Kenny Nolan, ELO, Hall & Oats, Jimmy Buffett, KC & The Sunshine Band, Alice Cooper, Kenny Rogers, Pointer Sisters, Supertramp, Barbara Streisand, Village People, Little River Band, Toto, and the list goes on!

Sorry if I missed one of your favorite artists or groups. As you read through the list of artists you remembered their songs, and some of those songs brought back memories.  When, where, and who you were with.  Life is made of memories. 

Gary with Mic-BWThe radio days are gone for me, but I still listen to all those oldies while working out at our fitness center. 

For the last 15 years I’ve still been behind a microphone giving technology and photo seminars in many cities.  Technology is fascinating as we think about advancement in the last 20 years.  It’s an industry on steroids!  Today we can’t imagine life without our cell phones.  The Dick Tracy watch in the comics years ago is now a reality and I’m wearing one. It does everything but make lunch for me and I’m working on that!

We talked about memories, and as I mentioned we change through the years.  How we think, how we act, and how we look.  I hope you have lots of memories!