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.
The fear of walking in on one of your friends doing something embarrassing is real. I had four male roommates in college. Stuff that happens behind closed doors could accidentally be seen. One time, I walked into my friend Matt's house. He and I were seniors in college and back home that summer living with our parents. We were about to embark on a three-day road trip to visit some other friends who didn't come home for the summer. For some reason, we named our trip "The Cut-It-Out Tour". Anyway, I walked into Matt's house and his mom tells me he's downstairs in their basement. Matt was always downstairs. He had a pool table, a pull-out sofa, comfy La-Z-Boy chairs, and cable TV. This is why Matt was always in the basement. Matt was supposed to be all packed, dressed and ready to go when I arrived, so I truly was not happy to be walking down into his basement. I notice him sprawled out on the floor watching a movie. Not just any movie, Patch Adams. Yes, the Robin Williams movie from 1998. To make matters worse, Matt is bawling. He sees me and tries to laugh it off by telling me that everyone was wearing a red nose (whatever the hell that means). My eyes are wide as I say, "We're supposed to be on the road and you're down here in your boxers watching Patch Adams and crying?!?" He laughs again. For twenty years and counting, I have and continue to use this story against Matt.
Summer vacation now means a week off from work, but there was a time when you had June, July, and August to do whatever the heck you wanted (provided that you mowed the lawn like Dad requested). One such summer, my friend Matt and I planned a week-long road trip through the mean streets of central Indiana. When I arrived at Matt's house to pick him up, he had still not packed and was sitting in his basement watching Patch Adams. He didn't want to leave until he finished the movie. "It's almost over," he said. This is the equivalent to a woman saying that she'll be ready in five minutes, btw. When the movie ended, Matt desperately was holding back the tears, but the levee eventually broke. I teased him about this throughout the entire road trip that we named "The Cut It Tour: 1999". Why did we call it this? I don't know, but we were broke. After making stops in Bloomington and Muncie, we stopped in a small town called Tipton, Indiana. While driving through Tipton, Matt noticed a sign in front of a gas station-slash greasy spoon restaurant that read "Eat Here & Get Gas". We jumped out of the car and were trying to take a picture of the two of us standing in front of their sign. Out of nowhere, a woman came running from the gas station. "Do you want your picture taken?" We told her that indeed we did. "People come from all over to get their picture taken here." I still have that photo...framed. Between Matt crying at the conclusion of Patch Adams and Eat Here & Get Gas, the memories live on. Thank you, stranger, for the visual proof of "The Cut It Out Tour: 1999."