Bruce... August 21, 2009 3:12 PM

I used to be able to pull in a station from Little Rock Arkansas late at night
"on the skip". One of their advertisers was a record store in Louisiana that
would sell by mail. I'd hear a song that knocked me out (like "Sherry" by the
Four Seasons... their first hit) and I'd have a copy in about two weeks.

I also would listen to a program called "World Wide Hit Parade" every Saturday
morning on Armed Forces Radio (shortwave), where they would announce the top
three songs from every country and play the Top 10 on the US Billboard charts.
So I always knew instantly about the new songs and artists. I even would send in
the top 3 from Nicaragua (which I would totally make up) under the pseudonym
Shannon Silverstar, and they would announce, "and in Nicaragua, Shannon
Silverstar reports that this week's top 3 songs are...," and I was doing this
when I was 15. Maybe that led me to a career in broadcasting for a few years
during and right after college. I was a news reporter for Channel 7 in Austin in
the late '60's, running around town reporting on fender benders and Rotary Club
meetings LOL. Lyndon Johnson owned the TV station and would come through now and
then with his Secret Service entourage.

My favorite artists... Buddy Holly, Beach Boys, 4 Seasons, Del Shannon
(Runaway), Lou Christie (Two Faces Have I), Dee Dee Sharp (Mashed Potato),
Little Eva (the Locomotion), Righteous Brothers, then of course the Beatles.