"My mother was a professional violinist, my father a cellist whose main occupation was that of a history professor at a local liberal arts college. It was impossible to get away from music in that family, nor did we want to. We all played. Mom, the violin. Dad, the cello, my older sister, Joan, the piano and me, trumpet. Our musical tastes varied of course. As Mom & Dad were heavy into classical and founded the area's first symphony orchestra, I leaned more towards jazz, big bands and later rock n' roll.Looking back, I feel this musical upbringing had something to do with my interest in radio. It kept me close and in tune with what I had grown to love...music.
When I was 14 or 15 years old, I began to frequent a local Saturday night dance known as "The Hangout", sponsored by the local Y.W.C.A. Somehow, I convinced someone to let me DJ. This required not only announcing the records and dances, but furnishing most of the music. (I had acquired a lot of popular 78's). This was all on a voluntary basis, of course. Little did I realize that ten years later, I would be "playing records" for a living.
I completed my term in the US Air Force and was married in 1958. I had no radio experience whatsoever and was working as a cashier in a Chevrolet auto dealership in my home town of Lancaster, PA. I used to listen to an afternoon jazz show on WGAL at work.
Ever so often, I'd call and talk to the DJ. One day he told me he was leaving the station. He suggested I try out for his job, adding, "What do you have to lose?" Much to my surprise and elation, I got my first job in radio. I stayed at that station playing MOR for 4 years.
By 1963, my wife was pregnant with our third child, money was getting tight and the Program Director of a competitive station (WLAN) kept calling me and making job offers. The Beatles had arrived, record hops were booming and there was extra money to be made. I made the switch to Rock 'n' Roll in 1963.
From then on, and for the next 20 years, I began jumping around to different stations. My travels took me to WFEC, Harrisburg, Pa, WYRE, Annapolis, Md, WPAC, Long Island, N.Y., WIRK, W. Palm Beach, Fla., WKKO, Cocoa, Fla., WROV, Roanoke, Va., KCUB, Tuscon. Az., WKYN, San Juan, P.R., WLOF, Orlando, Fla, and CK101, Cocoa Beach, Florida. Finally, I lost my wife and family.
I also worked at a few smaller stations in two of those markets from time to time. My full time radio career ended around 1980, although I continued to work part time at stations in Florida, and also when I returned to my home town in Pennsyvania in 1987.
Looking back, I don't regret any of it. I know I lost my family, I know I wound up with no retirement, and I know I never became famous, or even well-known.
But I loved radio and still miss it even today. It gave me a satisfaction that I never found with any other career, and I'm glad I was able to play a part in it when I did."
Fred Klein, March, 2004
