Tuesday, October 12, 2021

750

 

Carmen Nardone passed away recently.  While we never met, I do know he was involved in the group that owned the local AM 750 several years ago, and that launches today's entry.

AM 750 fired up in the 80's.  While I didn't know Mr. Nardone, I did know several of the people involved in the very early days, including a favorite junior high English teacher, Jim Emmel.  At one time, the studio and offices were in the Williamson Building, in downtown Olyphant.

Even though I was working at WARM at the time, I did stop in a few times to look around and see my friends.  Everyone there was nice and accommodating.  We really didn't see each other as competition.  I was with the "MIGHTY 590."  AM 750 was a little start up station with a relatively weak signal.  It signed off at sundown.  Every day, they would play Ray Charles' "America the Beautiful" just before turning off the transmitter for the evening.  Give it a listen.  One of the best performances-- ever.

That launches me in to part two of today's entry:  the dream.  If my fairy godmother ever bopped me on the nose with her magic wand and handed me a winning Powerball ticket, I always wanted to own a small town AM station, just like the old AM 750.  Storefront studio.  Play some good music. Do a little news.  Community groups could drop in to plug what was going on.

Forget about storefront, street level, windowed studios-- forever and ever.  Security.

When you really think about it, it's not a dream.  It's a nightmare.  There is no way you could make money with something like that.  There are companies out there that own hundreds of stations.  There is the economy of scale.  You just can't compete.  The mere concept of breaking even is a long shot.

Still, it would have been nice to try.

My sympathy goes out to the Nardone family.

My heart is with the people who still make radio a lot of fun.