Radio Daze 1970-1976

Biographies & Memoirs

synopsis

Synopsis

I’m a storyteller. I always have been. This is a book of some of those stories. It gets off to a rough start, with the first chapter being about my mother's abuse. I did tell it with humor, though. This is a memoir, so I tell you about my life before radio in addition to some of the radio stories. I love the radio stories, which began with chapter 5. The first station I worked for was the third station in the country to go rock on FM. I worked for Sam Phillips of Sun Records at his station in his hometown of Florence, Alabama. I also interviewed Jim Morrison of the Doors in 1974, just three years after he died. I worked with the Attorney General, Hugh Staton, in his efforts to take a serial rapist off the streets of Memphis. I was invited to New York by Clive Davis to talk with him about a job with Arista Records. The stories about working at WRNO, the Rock of New Orleans, are interesting, too, especially the Alice Cooper interview and going on the road with Lynyrd Skynyrd for a week's Vacation.

bio

Author Biography

Mitch McCracken has spent most of his adult life as a Disc Jockey on album rock stations. Before his radio career, he was the class clown. He still thinks he’s funny but admits he has no class. McCracken’s first job in radio was at the third station to go rock on FM, WMC FM in Memphis. When DJs played what they wanted to play and said what they wanted to say. Much different from the radio of today. Radio was fun then, especially if you have a dream job, working for the Father of Rock and Roll, Sam Phillips, at his station in Florence, Ala, WQLT. Working for Estelle Axton, the “AX” of Stax Records, was another high point of his career. McCracken accepted the position of National Promotion Director of her new label, Fretone Records. Mitch took their first record right up the charts, and “Disco Duck” by Rick Dees was named the Peoples Choice Award Winner of 1977. Mitch is known among his friends and family for his storytelling. His writing style makes you think he is sitting right there with you telling his story, like his 1974 interview with Jim Morrison, who died in Paris in 1971.

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Author Insight

My first job in radio

It was at WMC-FM100 in Memphis and it was a dream job. The station was free-form album rock. Make sure to read the other book bubbles of Radio Daze 1970-1976.

Book Excerpt

Radio Daze 1970-1976

Within a month and just after high school, I went full-time, doing the overnight shift. We had over 2,000 albums in the control room. You would play a song from one and then set it on the floor, and it was done for the day (except for current albums). Then, at midnight everything went back in. I did graveyards, so the whole world was open to me every night. That was when being a disc jockey really rocked. You could tell who was on the air just by the music that was being played. As a DJ, you were allowed to be a creative as you wanted to be. I still remember a few real good segues that I did; you couldn't tell where one song ended and the other began.

I would play The Door's “Riders on the Storm,” and right at the end, there’s some tinkering on the piano as you hear the storm. Then, the piano stops, and there’s a clap of thunder, and the sound of rain starts to fade. As soon as I heard that clap of thunder, I would hit Leon Russell’s “A Song for You” on the other turntable, which begins with piano, and by the time the rain stopped, it was into the vocal. It was an exceptionally smooth segue way

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Mitch McCracken

Radio Daze 1970-1976

Synopsis

Author Biography

Author Insight

My first job in radio

It was at WMC-FM100 in Memphis and it was a dream job. The station was free-form album rock. Make sure to read the other book bubbles of Radio Daze 1970-1976.

Book Excerpt

Radio Daze 1970-1976

Comment on this Bubble