|
Per Radio-Active
|
||||
RADIO-ACTIVE |
Radio is a dynamic
medium and, over the course of my career, I've seen a great many changes.
And not just the technology--though I have "fond" memories of playing
music on "carts", changing the ribbons on the teletype machines, taping
pennies to the cartridge of a phonograph to adjust its tracking, using a
dial & analog meter system with conversion tables to take transmitter
readings, keeping card files to catalog the music library, recording
satellite concert feeds on Betamax tapes, and using an acoustic coupler
for a primitive computer system... There are the inevitable changes to formats and facilities, as well... |
|||
|
1981-1983 My first professional (outside of college) broadcasting work was done for two different radio stations housed in the same building. I began as an announcer for KXTR 96.5 FM and, shortly thereafter, did the same at KBEA 1480 AM. The studios were located at 1701 South 55th Street in Kansas City, Kansas--a 45 minute commute from my then-home in Independence, Missouri. Back then, KXTR-FM was a rarity: a Commercial Classical Music station. Classical music formats are generally confined to the Public Radio spectrum and they're more of an endangered species today! During my tenure at KBEA-AM, it was a News/Talk station, then switched to the "Music of Your Life" format (better known as "Oldies But Goodies" in some circles). During the early years I juggled a number of shifts (6 hours on the air per) and typically pulled a double classical shift on Sundays, working Noon to Midnight. At Midnight I would sign KXTR off of the air for its once-a-week transmitter nap and walk down the hallway where I would commence my Monday morning, Midnight to 6:00 AM shift on KBEA! After spending 18 straight hours on the air, I would then manage the 45 minute commute back home where I would fall into bed for a couple of hours until my wife departed for her job. She would return home between 3 and 4 in the afternoon and I would go back to bed until 8 or 9, get back up, and hit the road around 10:45 PM for a more abbreviated airshift on Monday Night! I was younger and more durable then... |
||||
|
1984-1986 After a year off to try my hand as Director of Marketing for a couple of Telemarketing start-ups, I returned to KXTR as a full-time Classical Music Host and, eventually, Operations Manager. |
||||
|
1986-1988 Over the next two years at KXTR, I added more titles to my name plate: Music Director, Program Director, and Traffic Manager-United Stations Network 2. After the better part of a decade, however, there were signs that the station owner was considering offers to sell the station and I doubted that KXTR would continue to broadcast Classical Music under new ownership. I began to look into Public Radio for a Classical alternative. |
|
|||
|
1988-1993 In 1998 I joined the staff of KRPS-FM, a brand new Public Radio station in Southeast Kansas. Licensed by Pittsburg State University, the studios and offices were located in an old dormitory on the edge of campus and weren't even finished when I arrived! There was no music library, yet, and with the station's first broadcast day just a couple of weeks away, I played my own albums, supplemented by a few friends' collections, as well, until the college purchase orders began bearing fruit. KRPS was my first experience with a more diverse format, playing Classical Music, Jazz, Blues, Folk, New Age, and NPR News programs as well as shows like Car Talk and A Prairie Home Companion. |
||||
|
In Memoriam
http://kansas.hometownlocator.com/maps/bigmap,n,kbea-am%20(mission),fid,481556.cfm
(Also ULM Adjunct Instructor for Radio/TV/Film Practicum) KEDM-FM 225 Stubbs Hall - University of Louisiana, Monroe Monroe, Louisiana 71209 / (318) 342-5556
1994-1995 Program Director/Operations Manager (Also ULM Adjunct Instructor for Radio/TV/Film Practicum) KEDM-FM 225 Stubbs Hall - University of Louisiana, Monroe Monroe, Louisiana 71209 / (318) 342-5556 |
||||
|
1993-1994 Adjunct Faculty (Speech Communications/Creative Writing) Labette Community College 200 South Fourteenth Street Parsons, Kansas 67357 / (316) 421-6700
|
|
|||
Simmons: