Gary Reeder
the 60s and 70s were a great time to be a DJ. If
Friday, November 16, 2018, 19:49

you were into free booze and good lookin' willing women, this was the time of your life. It didn't matter if you were fat and ugly or skinny as a rail with pimples, you were a DJ, so in the minds of the chippies and groupies you were somebody. I never was stupid enough to get into drugs at all, but I sure swashbuckled (whatever the hell that means) my way thru the booze and ladies.

Radio in the 60s and 70s and into the early 80s was not for a married man or a man with a conscience. Way too much temptation and way too little will power. During that time period my lack of will power (and scruples) cost me a divorce or 2, or 3. But all things aside, I loved every minute of it, until '83 or '84 when it all changed and it became all about money. Good DJs were canned when they were putting on a great show, all due to money. The radio stations had taken a hit, money wise, during Jimmy Peanuts Carter's regime and no longer did they have the big bank accounts to put on special things to get the listener's attention. The old days of publicity stunts were over. The days of doing silly ass things on the air to make people say "holy shit, did you hear what he said" were over.

I was building TC barrels and custom XP-100s in my garage shop and early in '85 I had enough of the changes and left radio to do the custom gun thing full time. In almost 35 years I have regretted it very little. And the good thing is now I am too old to change. Too old to try to keep up with the groupies (they are probably grandmothers now). Too old to start drinking again. Just too old. But that's OK.