by Terry, Devon, Pa

The Air Force sent dad to Thailand in 1964, and transistor goodies were even more available there at the time than they were here…He sent home a small battery-powered, reel-to-reel so we could listen to the tapes he recorded and mailed to us. But when he returned, he brought home a whole bunch of goodies: an 8mm movie camera, a large Sony reel-to-reel, assorted transistor radios, and for me, a portable record player with built in AM radio. It was a Nikko, about 10” x 14”, and about 3” deep. It had a textured plastic clamshell design, identical salmon orange top and bottoms, with a band of creamy white running around the middle, dividing them.

At first, I used it to play my older sister’s 45’s, but when we were transferred to McGuire Air Force base in central New Jersey in October of 1965, this device would become my vehicle to start me on the path I’m still following 40+ years later. Of course, it started at night. I would lie in bed, lights out, with the volume low so it couldn’t be heard outside my door, and I would slowly spin the AM dial. Voices and accents from all over; New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Boston, Fort Wayne, Indiana, even New Orleans when the conditions were right.

And the music – it was the best of times – Rock and Pop, Soul and R&B, Country and Western (as it was still known then), Standards, Instrumentals; if it had a hook, it had a place on the playlist. Call letters as vivid today as they were then; WFIL, WIBG, WLS, CKLW, WOWO, WBZ, and what became my favorite, from NYC, 77 WABC. I only had a little over two years to listen, because in January ’68, we were moved again, this time to Oregon. The radio choices just weren’t available there.

18 months later, another move across country as dad retired and we settled in upstate NY. Somewhere in the travels, my radio disappeared – perhaps its well-used shabby appearance led mom to believe it wasn’t worth packing. But my obsession had been formed. I was lucky to be in a college town where an FM station, WVBR was already playing (and continues to this day) every type of music you can imagine, and it wasn’t long before I had my first stereo receiver, a Pioneer SX 770. Two speakers, then four filled the corners of my room, and a steady stream of amazing new tunes were constantly blasting.

The equipment has changed, gotten larger and more complex, then smaller again, but that primordial desire to discover and enjoy the next great new song is still as strong as ever. But if I could ever get my hands on another salmon-colored Nikko portable record player with am radio……