Phil Collins, Elton John, and Gloria Estefan dominated Adult Contemporary radio back in the 1980s and '90s, yet have disappeared from modern radio. Seemingly, the only time you ever hear them is at the grocery store or your local CVS. This blog remembers the music, the stories and the quirky characters from my days working in Adult Contemporary radio.
Monday, May 25, 2015
Phil Collins "Do You Remember?"
It was a foggy, humid night on the eve of Memorial Day 1992. That night four bored teenagers from Indiana decided that they would do what most hormonal rebellious teens their age would never do. Earlier that weekend, one guy in the group discovered that his father's accordion had a button that when pushed sounded much like a train horn. Another guy owned a heavy duty flashlight that could only be described as "super bright". What better to do with these objects but try to stop traffic with said accordion train horn and flashlight headlight. So, with an accordion and super duper bright flashlight in tow, the group ventured onto the nearby train tracks and started walking through the fog to the nearest railroad crossing. I can only imagine the two guys in the group who weren't carrying an accordion or flashlight, respectively, begrudgingly marched along while wishing they had cooler friends. When the foursome arrived at the railroad crossing, we switched the flashlight "on" and gave the accordion a great big tug. As any normal level-headed human could imagine, not one car even slowed at our pathetic attempt to stop traffic with our fake train. I'd like to say that I wonder what happened to those five guys, but in fact I do know what happened to them. Somehow, some way, we're all still friends.