A peek into the making of Blast from your Past and the Rock & Roll Radio DJs Project ~ Memories & moments from the youthful years of Baby Boomers ~ News you can use from today's headlines reliving scenes from yesteryear ~ Rants, raves and reminisces of author, LinDee Rochelle ~ The latest: July 17, 2010; *photo description at end of page   Book in the Making  ~ Excerpts & Musings   Rock & Roll Rhetoric, Radio Rumors & Great Gossip, plus DJs' Notes & News (*Photo: Neal Blase, 1966) Live! From inside Blast from your Past "There are many claims to what radio station, where and who, first turned us on to Rock & Roll. Ever hear of spontaneous combustion? My guess is it's something like that -- the cause will never be decided, but its effects were instant and hot.    Debates rage from coast to coast and border to border, and though I tried to find the most consistently repeated hypotheses, there are too many versions to come to a conclusion. So agree or disagree with what you read here, but I hope either way you enjoy the stories." "Speaking of radio ... 1954 was not particularly kind to the industry. That scene-stealer, television, threatened to kick radio off the stage.    Thrown into the ropes along with Marlon Brando in "On the Waterfront," radio screamed, 'You don't understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody ...'    Scrambling to salvage the industry and just in time for Holiday gifts, transistor radios hit the stores in November, 1954. Do you have an old Regency TR-1 stuck in the attic? If it's in mint shape, you may be able to sell it for a mint!" Like Brando's tortured character, Terry, radio persevered and won ... sorta." Mike Korgan (KISN, Portland, Oregon) "As a youthful ham operator, too, Mike sprawled in his room at night with his crystal set, its super-long wire antenna reaching for (here, Mike goes into his mock-deep DJ voice, dramatically emphasizing the 'double-U') 'WLS ... Chicago.'    At that young age, he decided he would not talk like the Oklahoman he was -- he mimicked the tones and vocal techniques of the northern DJs -- and got into more than one scuffle in school over his affected Yankee clip." Forrest "Frosty" Mitchell (KIOA, Des Moines, Iowa) "'Alan Freed and I, I think kicked the slats out of our cribs to Rock & Roll music.' So says 'Frosty' Mitchell. Known to his parents as Forrest, his high school football prowess led to a teen sports radio spot on a Des Moines, Iowa, radio station about 1950.    As it came time to 'grow up' Frosty considered his options. 'I looked at it (radio) and there wasn't much heavy lifting. They were playing vinyl 78s at the time but they weren't that heavy.' Decision made." Shotgun Tom Kelly (K-EARTH 101, L.A.) on his venerable DJ career, “I owe it all to mom.” In 1959, an afterschool broadcast from Oscar’s Drive-In by KOGO/San Diego radio DJ, Frank Thompson, was then-10-year-old Tom’s first brush with the microphone. Mom urged him to bike down & get an interview. Tom squeaked into the mic, “My name’s Tom.” And he was hooked! “I went home and built my own radio station.” Cousin Brucie (WINS-NY) on establishing his famous "relative" personality, c.late 1950s: "Everyone looks to visit with their cousins. They have the best toys." Jay Rose on his famous dad, Dr. Don Rose (WFIL-Philly), c. late 1960s: "I was 4 or 5 years old and playing out in front of our house, and he came driving up in the Batmobile. My dad, the super hero!" Joey Reynolds (WPOP-CT) on breaking out a band: "I'm an outsider (a Jersey boy), a street guy; so is Frankie Vallie. I broke his record out and made Sherry a hit--it was Hartford, 1963. I locked myself in the studio and played it non-stop for 4 hours ... and the record became a hit." David Darling on his "Beatle Buddy" dad, Lee Gray (WTRY-Albany NY): "It was early November 1963, and he was program director, when a record from Brian Epstein came across his desk. He knew The Beatles had something special and immediately added them to the playlist ... Epstein gave him access to The Beatles whenever he wanted ... really something for a little market like Albany."   * photo credits: Courtesy of California DJ, Neal Blase, in action in his early years, at Stockton's KJOY radio; c.1966.   So how long has it been since you checked your attic to yawn over (or yearn for) the dawn of your youth? If your pension and Social Security together just isn't quite making the grade this recession, consider the value of your once-loved, now languishing mementos of yesteryear.    A 1957 Sony TR63 is on eBay today (07/17/10) selling on a "Buy It Now" basis for $745! Now that would meet a nice vacation travel expense. On the other side of that gold coin, if it's time to renew your love for Rock & Roll Radio as it once was, or you're thinking about starting a nostalgia collection, check out the cute little red "Winston" transistor radio with a beginning bid of only 99 cents! It's a reflective piece of '60s nostalgia and a tobacciana collectible. American Top 40 Radio show debuted July 4, 1970, starring the distinctive pipes of Casey Kasem. Forty years later and after two separate stints by Kasem (1970-88; 1998-2004), the show is still going strong, with the next perennial teenager-host, Ryan Seacrest. But will the Top 40 mic be up for grabs again? Seacrest is making noises about leaving ... DJ job opening! Stay tuned ... A little old, but worth reporting: 09/23/09, Crains New York, by Matthew Flamm "According to a Nielsen report, the iPod generation listens to the old-fashioned medium as much as older folks ...    Nielsen is measuring listening in 51 markets, using the old handwritten diary system that Arbitron gave up, but claims that it is reaching a wider sampling of the radio audience ... According to the results released Monday, 18-to-34-year-olds listen to radio an average of 21.5 hours per week." Click for full article.    Way to debunk the myth that radio's dying, Nielsen! LR