Donna Summer "Last Dance"

There was one rule to whoever DJ hosted "Retro Saturday Night" on the former 100.3 WPNT in Chicago. At just about 11:55 P.M., you had to close out the show with "Last Dance" from Donna Summer.

Billy Preston & Syreeta Wright "With You I'm Born Again"

On Valentine's Day in 1994, WPNT afternoon jock Ken Cocker teased that he would soon play one of the most romantic songs ever made. I quickly wondered what song that could be as I'm sure you also could come up with a half-dozen songs that would fit into that category, right? Cocker eventually played "Your Song". The simple tune indeed is a great love song, but I have my own favorite.

With its flowing melodies and gentle yet soaring chorus, I nominate "With You I'm Born Again" from Billy Preston and Syreeta Wright as an even better "most romantic song ever". I first heard the song on Love-FM, a format that later replaced WPNT, and immediately fell in love with it. In fact, I remember getting goosebumps after hearing it. The sweet song begins slowly (heck, it fades in) and then Preston and Syreeta's understated vocals playfully tease your ears as the percussion and strings join in, build and, eventually, the song takes off. You might find yourself singing at the top of your lungs just as the ballad softly comes to an end...leaving you wanting more.

Toni Braxton "Un-Break My Heart"

With new owners and a looming format change to pop-dance, 100.3 WPNT-FM started spinning dance versions of certain current songs when I worked there during the fall of 1996. Along with a remix to "Missing" from Everything But the Girl, the Adult Contemporary station mixed in a dance version of Toni Braxton's popular ballad "Un-Break My Heart". Ultimately, WPNT found another set of owners in 1997 (Bonneville) and "switched" formats. The station re-branded itself "Windy 100" -- a Mainstream Adult Contemporary format.

Madonna "Rain"

My fifth grade Catholic school teacher suggested I take speech therapy classes because she claimed I didn't properly enunciate my "L's". Each week, I would leave class in order to play thrilling games like Word Bingo alongside a third grade student who also had some speech issues. With all due respect, neither my parents nor I thought there was an issue, but I went along with the program because that was the kind of person I was.

After a few weeks of speech therapy, I had enough and stopped going. A few weeks passed before my speech teacher found me in my classroom. Visibly upset, she wanted to know why I stopped attending. After a handful of excuses, I told her I felt dumb trekking it down to speech class each week to over-enunciate the words "lemonade" and "lettuce". My only recollection of her during that conversation was that she seemed visibly upset and nearly out of breath. She contacted my parents and, in order for me to get out of these speech therapy lessons, they had to sign numerous documents. My dad questioned why I was so opposed to it, and I just begged him to sign the papers and make the weekly Word Bingo games disappear. Ultimately, I finally elevated my social status to "cool" during the fifth grade and going to speech therapy classes didn't make me feel popular...not to mention, I didn't think I had a speech issue.

Fast-forward to my first paid radio gig: I was a board operator who played public affairs shows and five hours of recorded programming at WPNT-FM in Chicago. My shift began at 6 A.M. and went until 1 P.M. Between two of the early-morning shows, my boss permitted me to do an on-air weather report which was the highlight of my shift. Somewhere in the radio broadcasting Hall of Fame is my first weather report from 6:29 A.M. on June 9, 1996. While a cutesy weather jingle played, I started my report by saying, "Light lane this morning...". You can almost hear my 5th grade speech therapy teacher laughing...

Hootie & The Blowfish "Let Her Cry"

Music from Hootie & The Blowfish spun in heavy rotation on Adult Contemporary radio stations during the mid-1990s. In other words, radio stations played the crap out of everything from the band's breakthrough album Cracked Rear View. While interning for WPNT-FM in Chicago in 1996, the radio station received a fax (remember, it was the '90s!) from an office of ladies who threatened to change the station if we didn't stop playing Hootie. As you probably guessed, the station didn't stop the Hootie and those folks likely all have Spotify subscriptions today. If for whatever reason they are longing for a Hootie reunion tour, the band announced they'll reunite for one night only this summer in Atlanta.

Steve Winwood "While You See A Chance"

I owe my career in radio to the first person who gave me a chance. As a young 18 year-old bumpkin from Indiana, I talked my way into an internship at the former WPNT-FM in Chicago during the fall of 1995. My boss, Lynne, held down the midday shift (10a-2pm) as well as duties as the station's Music Director. On my first day on the job when Lynne was just about to put on her headphones to go on the air, she turned to me and said, "And, by the way, I don't date the men I work with.". After a few weeks into my internship, I first heard the alleged stories about Lynne's fascination with boy scouts. Being the naive youngster, I assumed this meant that she volunteered her free time with The Boy Scouts of America (!)--but, no, the rumor was that she (who was 39 when I first started working with her) enjoyed the company of younger men. Specifically, she seemed to date gentlemen in their late-20s and early-30s. However, some around the station assumed I was her newest "boy scout", but I (naive to it all) just worked as hard as I could and tried to stay out of everyone's way. Eventually, I worked my way onto the staff as a board operator and later a weekend on-air talent whereas Lynne was fired as part of a format flip in 1997. A few years later, Lynne passed away and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't still think of her and all she did for me and my career.

Gloria Estefan "Turn the Beat Around"

Things I Don't Know Why I Remember: WPNT-FM midday host Lynne Murray backselling a Gloria Estefan song and saying "I wonder if her friends call her Glo?".

Joshua Kadison - "Beautiful in My Eyes"

My friend Steve and I took a tour of WPNT-FM in Chicago during the fall of 1995.  The woman who conducted the tour seemed impressed by my and Steve's knowledge of the station.  She later suggested the two of us apply to become interns at the station and split shifts based on our availability.  For whatever reason, Steve then started belting out lyrics from "Beautiful in My Eyes" from Joshua Kadison ("You will always be beautiful in my eyes!").  The woman giving the tour gave Steve a look of "Hmm" and later hired me for the internship.  Last summer, I celebrated my 20th anniversary with that radio station.  Thanks, Steve!

Gloria Estefan - "Christmas Through Your Eyes"

Being the newbie at the radio station, I had the dubious task of working on all the holidays.  The first Christmas that I worked was in 1996 when my shift started at the pleasant 4am hour and lasted until 10am.  When I arrived that Christmas morning, the DJ who was on before me told me that we were running two hours early.  That meant that we were already playing music from the 6am when it was still 4am.  Today, you would typically pick up the phone and call your Program Director or Music Director and they would add some more music for you.  Since it was Christmas morning in 1996 and the Music Director was on vacation, I just chose my own music and prayed that the song wasn't in Spanish.  Most Christmas songs are short, so it was a struggle to find two hours worth of music to get us back "on time".  I played many Christmas songs that I had never heard of and probably shouldn't have played (because they were just plain bad ).  With my best efforts, that cold Christmas morning in 1996 saw a Christmas miracle happen on the 15th floor of the John Hancock Building: I managed to get us back "on time".

Hanson - "MmmBop"

Radio stations became hot commodities after the Telecommunications Act of 1996 passed.  No longer were there strict ownership restrictions (companies could only own 20 radio stations and/or 2 per market).  National ownership caps were removed allowing companies to buy up as many stations as they could afford.  Suddenly, radio stations changed owners faster than you can say "deregulation".  Mom and pop stations started to cash out and sell to big radio companies.  The station where I worked was sold three times over the course of a year (making for a fun tax season!).  At one such meeting with the new owners, the General Manager announced the sale of the station to a room filled with dozens of people nervous about losing their jobs.  Without making any promises or revealing many details about the future of the station, the General Manager proclaimed the mantra to be "business as usual".  At the end of his speech, the afternoon jock raised his hand and said, "Chuck, I got a question."  Chuck said, "Sure.  What's your question?"  The afternoon jock cleared his throat and said, "Are we still gonna play Hanson?"  (long pause)  "Yes, we're still gonna play Hanson," the General Manager replied.  "Oh, good," the jock replied.  A few weeks later, the afternoon jock was fired.