Close to You (1970) 8/16/20

Fifty years ago today, my radio career began. I had just gotten my FCC license in Detroit, and almost immediately thereafter, my family made our yearly trek to Menomonie, Wisconsin to visit my dad's relatives.

Of course, I had to run down to the local radio station (WMNE) to see if they'd let me hang around and watch things, and thanks to a friendly and patient(!) announcer named Randy Marine, I was allowed to observe for several days, pull records for airplay, and generally get in the way.

On the final day of our vacation (which was also a Sunday,) Randy told me he'd let me do an hour on the air to close the broadcast day. (The station was a “daytimer,” meaning they were only allowed on the air from dawn to dusk.) On Sundays, they signed off at 6pm, so at 5pm on August 16th, 1970, I made my on-air debut!

Nervous? Absolutely...but it was dream come true!

So what was my first “spin?” Today's “Great Song of the '70s!”

Coincidentally, it was written by the songwriting team we highlighted just a few days ago: Burt Bacharach and Hal David. They gave the song to Herb Alpert, who passed it along to The Carpenters.

By the time I played it, “(They Long to Be) Close to You” had been #1 for 4 weeks, and would go on to become Billboard Magazine's #2 song of 1970, as well as the Grammy Award Winner for “Best Contemporary Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus.”

Apparently, I had good taste. :-)

The next day, I returned to Toledo with my family and within 2 weeks, I started my first real radio job, playing Gospel music at WPOS-FM.

After 23 years working at various stations, in Toledo, Green Bay, Wausau, and Eau Claire, I finally wrapped up my radio career—ironically—back at WMNE in Menomonie, (and B-95) where I was sort of a jack-of-all-radio trades. I had come full circle.

Do I miss being in radio? For a while, I didn't...but I think the fact that I've been writing my “Great Songs of the '70s” blog for 10 months now, might give you all a clue as to how I've been feeling lately. :-)

Here's my first song—from 50 years ago TODAY: a “Great Song of 1970!”