Radio in the 90s

[twitter]This weekend I return to Z95-3 for the first time in more than 5 years. I can’t wait.

I’ll admit I trolled the internet for a bit last weekend when I made the announcement. I vaguebooked that I had “a new gig.” And I do, I’ll be on Z95-3 Sunday nights at 7p with That 90s Show. Some thought it might mean we were moving back to Vancouver – not the case. I have a great thing going here at XL103, the boys are in a great school and we’re enjoying life on the other side of the Rockies. This is just another freelance sort of gig to add to my pile of responsibilities outside my midday show.

But that does not diminish the excitement I have to be back on Z. It’s a huge day. And, when I have a new shiny toy on my plate, I like to play with it a lot, so I am digging in to the box of memories I archived over my nearly 16yrs at Z95-3. From Duran Duran in the fall of 1993, to Carly Rae Jepsen in the summer of 2009, I was witness to a decade and a half of pop music history, and I’ve saved almost all of it.

Flipping through the archives, I’m listening to the interview I did with Noel Gallagher and the first question out of my mouth is asking him why he left the stage when someone through a shoe at him. I’m listening to the time I told Savage Garden that their show with INXS was the last live performance Michael Hutchence gave. I’m listening to Destiny’s Child and a 16 yr old Beyonce giggling over a crush on Kobe Bryant. I’m flirting with Janet Jackson.

Wow.

When I first started work at Z95-3 in August of 1993, Red Robinson was working on CISL. Red Robinson, Rock n Roll Hall of Fame deejay, was in the studio next door to me. I didn’t fully appreciate the greatness that was there, but something was quickly exposed to me – Red witnessed music history, and archived it. There were pictures of him with The Beatles, Buddy Holly, and Elvis. He saved his interviews and would play them back on his show.

I started archiving everything too. I’d been in radio 3 yrs already, and had saved none of the interviews I had done in Vernon, but now? I saved everything. I got autographs. I got photos. I banked my interviews.

And now, here I am, about to celebrate 25 yrs in radio, and I’ve got a shoebox filled with dat tapes, cassettes, and reel to reels. Barenaked Ladies. Tonic. Paula Cole. Spice Girls. Red Hot Chili Peppers. No Doubt. Nickelback. Britney. Christina. Puffy. It goes on and on and on.

I witnessed pop music history right in front of me. And starting this weekend I get to bring some of it back. That 90s Show is not a documentary program, the focus will be the music and the memories of the era, but it was an era where I was sitting in the front row, so I will share stories. I’ll play back the acoustic version of Stay that Lisa Loeb played in a studio that had just me and her. I’ll dig up tidbits from Shania, Sarah, and Avril. I’ll go backstage at Lilith Fair as Bif Naked looked for a place for her dog to poop. I’ll riff with Austin Powers. I’ll laugh with 98 Degrees.

That 90s Show On Z953

That 90s Show goes Sunday nights at 7p on Z95-3. I can’t wait to say those call letters again.

You can listen live on Z95-3 in Vancouver. You can stream it from their website, or you can play it when you’re on the go from their app.

Got a request or a memory? Let me know about it, I’d love to share your stories along with mine.

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