by Bruce Niedt, Cherry Hill, NJ

I always thought, even as a kid, that being a radio DJ would be one of the coolest jobs on the planet. Even as a kid I played “DJ” – I used to play Beatles songs on my stereo in my bedroom while my younger sisters slipped “requests” on pieces of paper under my door. When I was in high school, my friend and I recorded a series of satirical “radio shows” on my dad’s reel-to-reel tape recorder in my basement. But in college, I managed to catch a piece of this dream. I tried out for WRSU, the Rutgers University radio station in New Brunswick, NJ, which boasted some famous broadcasting alumni.

Unfortunately, I flunked the audition (the program director said my voice and musical choices were great, but I made too many technical flubs). However, shortly after that I tried out for WLRC, a smaller station at Rutgers’ Livingston College, where I resided. I got a show on Monday evening, where I played mostly rock, and one on Sunday morning, which I made a classical program. I only did it for a year and a half, but I had a ball. My only other DJ experience since then was winning an hour as a “guest DJ” on WIOQ in Philadelphia in 1987, when they were still doing “album-oriented rock”. (David Dye was there at the time, and that’s where I first met him.) I know the DJ job isn’t as glamorous as most people may think (unless you’re David Dye), and I doubt I could ever have made a career of it, but man, when I had the chance, it sure was fun!