Song #403: "I Can See For Miles"--The Who (1967)

Today's song brings back a very specific memory, one that carries a myriad of emotions.

On August 14, 1999, I was happily a stay-at-home Dad, minister, and, not so happily, still delivering newspapers every morning. I had no intention of changing any....er.....most of that anytime soon.

I had no idea that, a little over a month later, my dream job would appear in the Sunday paper. WRVA Radio was hiring.

On August 14, 2000, nine months after becoming Continuity/Production Director for WRVA, WRNL and the Virginia News Network, I and the rest of our staff got the absolutely jarring news that our leader, and Program Director, Tim Farley, had been let go. We were on the verge of making the horrible mistake of moving from the iconic Church Hill location that had been the station's home since it opened in 1968. That's Clear Channel....er.....iHeartMedia for you. Strip assets, don't understand your markets, your people.....well, that's for another time. The dismantling of WRVA had begun.

Farley was one of the people who influenced my 30-year radio journey, most notably by his consistency and creativity. In the Summer of 2000, he had produced a series of promos for our traffic reports (still done by helicopter at the time) and weather, using classic tunes as the large body of the promo, One great one was using "Tired Of Waiting For You" by The Kinks, using the chorus with a small outcue at the end: "Helicopter traffic reports. NewsRadio WRVA 1140". Simple premise, fantastic result.

So, in the days after his departure, when I found myself, for two weeks, putting up the daily mail and making sure announcers were scheduled for weekend shifts (yes, me, go figure....), I put together a quick traffic promo to honor my boss, by replacing The Kinks with The Who, and adding a little clip of Whit Baldwin reporting from the copter near the ending statement.

I already liked this song, a lot, but now, almost 16 years later, it gives me a great memory, albeit tinged with sadness, at a nine-month period in my life that was simply golden. Me, on the same hill, in the same building as Farley, Lou Dean, Tim Timberlake, John Harding, Bob Black, "Big Al" Coleman, Jerry Lund, et al? Are you kidding?

Thanks God, for making a dream come true. From my eight years at the company, I choose to fondly remember this slice of heaven. :)