I used to hide the Atlanta Rhythm Section records.
But to be fair, all the DJ’s at WNCA hid their favorite records so they could play them on their shifts. It’s likely that went on at other radio stations everywhere else as well.
Though by then CDs had been in use for a few years, we mostly played 45 RPM singles and songs from 33 RPM albums. We didn’t keep track of the 33s – would just play a song off one of them every now and then — but we kept the 45s in ordered rotation.
They were on three shelves right above where we sat at the microphone and control board. A piece of cardboard was kept in one of the rows. Each time we put back a stack of records that had just been played, we put the returning stack to the left of the cardboard, and the next records would be the ones to the right. They hadn’t been played for a couple of weeks. The process avoids repetition.
Every now and then I’d find stacks of 45s in odd places — under the phone book in the drawer of a desk no one used, behind some 8-track tapes in the advertising recording room, under the extra toilet paper rolls in the bathroom cabinet. So THAT’s where “Oh What a Night” has been! I’d been missing that one. Indignantly, I’d scoop up the discovered loot and play those good songs.
One day I hit upon a great way to hide my favorite records for my shift. I did it the good old fashioned way: hidden in plain sight.
I’d gather up “Strawberry Letter 23” by Brothers Johnson, “Imaginary Liver” and “So Into You” by the Atlanta Rhythm Section and anything by Stevie Wonder — but not all the Stevie Wonders at once, because that would start a war among DJs. I simply put them on the 45s shelf to the left of the rotation-divider piece of cardboard. Bingo! It looked like they had just been played and would not be up for another turn for a couple of more weeks.
Of course, if I came upon one of those records honestly – if it just naturally came up in rotation – I’d play it right then and there. My secret stash was created when I had privacy in the DJ booth. When I knew I’d be alone for a while, I’d go through all the shelves and pull out the winners, which would include some that had just been played.
There was one catch: Overplay might ruin the song. If you played the favorites too often and too close together, they’d lose their charm and even, in fact, start to get on your nerves. I suppose that would go for the listener as well as the DJ. It’s kind of like eating chocolate: The first chocolate bar is wonderful. Eating a second one after that would be an exciting clandestine treat. At your fourth candy bar every mouthful would be torture and you’d have a stomachache.
Though that never happened with the best of the best.
And now of all the delights, Atlanta Rhythm Section is coming to the Harvester Performance Center in Rocky Mount on Sept. 22.
Not only did I buy tickets, but I also got out my Atlanta Rhythm Section album to listen to.
Sometimes now I can’t find the Atlanta Rhythm Section album at home. But it’s not hidden. I know where to find it. I just go up into my teenage daughter’s room.
She keeps learning about great “old” music and is delighted and impressed to find that we already have the album.
And now as soon as she discovers a cool “old” band, she knows just where to look for its record. No need to hide anymore.
