The Mike Miles Collection
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It was in the early 50s when Mike Miles (left) asked Santa (right) for his first set of walkie talkies. Mike writes, "That was back when communication between people was of the wired variety with bulky black phones. I remember that Christmas, listening to "other" people on the same frequency. Little did I know that I was infected with radio fever from that point on." |
Mike Miles writes:
"By middle school I'd built my first AM transmitter using a pair of tubes. It was exciting just to think that someone might be listening to me and the songs I would play from my 3 1/2" reel to reel tape player. I'd beg my sisters to change the tapes as I rode by bike around the block testing the reception. The excitement of hearing my "radio station" was incredible—knowing that the radio waves were traveling magically through the streets of Salt Lake City.
One day I found an inexpensive wireless FM mic that I figured I'd mess around with and try to improve the transmission range. It occurred to me that I could simply put the entire mic up on a tall pole, running power and audio up to it, and I'd be in business. Now we were talking, my range jumped to blocks. Of course, I never realized the whole thing was illegal.
The time finally came when I left home and ventured out. Junior college in California provided me an opportunity to work at KFJC. Licensed to Foothill Junior College in the bay area, KFJC was the "Dead Head" station. Working midnight to six, I remember the program director telling me to play lots of Grateful Dead music. Spinning the longest cuts I could find, I fell fast asleep. Waking to the skipping of the needle on the last groove, a caller told me that the music playing was cool. Yeah sure!
Time and lack of money brought me back to Utah and school. KUER, the NPR station for the Salt Lake area provided me with an internship while I studied communication at the University of Utah. I worked as an announcer for classical and jazz music and music director. After graduation, I got a job in television production, audio, and finally management for KUED PBS television in Salt Lake City. While traveling for KUED as a location audio engineer, I'd record FM stations wherever we'd travel in the United States.
I never did own my own radio station. Different paths took me in different directions. Still, radio is where my heart is. Just to hear an AM station fading in and out as the ionosphere filters its audio frequencies makes me shiver. I wonder late at night if the DJs feel the same excitement as their voices travel past the cities, sometimes thousands of miles across the land to my radio."
Unscoped
[Description by Uncle Ricky, contributed by Mike Miles]
Ron Castro is featured in morning drive on KIOI-FM and KIQI  K101 in San Francisco, on September 7, 1978.
Castro started his radio career in Levittown, PA in 1966. He did mornings at both K101 and KSAN in San Francisco.
As of 2013, he oversees the technical operations of Results Radio, a twelve-station chain in Northern California.
Scoped
Unscoped
[Description by Uncle Ricky, contributed by Mike Miles]ÂÂ
How great to hear genuine, mass-appeal, hit-music radio on B-100 (KFMB-FM) in San Diego! It’s late Summer, 1986 – the Lionel Richie concert has been delayed a day, The Monkees are appearing after the Padres game, and it is America’s Finest City week, after all. According to the official Records of the City of San Diego, that was August 16 – August 25, 1986. Yeah, that’s more than a week but I’m sure they feel good about it.
Danny Romero offers a very friendly, natural performance here. There is a wonderful VARIETY (not diversity) in the music mix, lots of good R&B, pop & ballads, and overall, familiar music. Note also the heavy emphasis on recurrent and recent gold. This was a 1986 FM CHR station, still following *most* of the rules…
There’s only one element of this exhibit to which old, grumpy Uncle Ricky objects: the dead segue from Take My Breath Away to Let It Whip. Lord help us, it was only 1986 and the madness had already started. Two tunes back to back with NO ID. See, even in 1986, there was a belief that listeners were psychic and could somehow remember what they were listening to without being told. The trend continues today. I guess they’ve all signed on to some starship where listening is reported automatically. (sigh) But in all fairness, it only happens once (in this 45 minutes.)
Both the unscoped and ‘scoped version of this exhibit include a fresh, unscripted exchange between Romero and Ellen Thomas near the conclusion. It’s just some of that “Human Interaction” that used to occur when Humans were actually at the radio stations on which they were broadcasting.
Scoped
[Description by Uncle Ricky, contributed by Mike Miles] This exhibit ‘SCOPED, (9:23)
– The Non-Music Elements only. Same high quality stereo without all that music you’ve heard before.
How great to hear genuine, mass-appeal, hit-music radio on B-100 (KFMB-FM) in San Diego! It’s late Summer, 1986 – the Lionel Richie concert has been delayed a day, The Monkees are appearing after the Padres game, and it is America’s Finest City week, after all. According to the official Records of the City of San Diego, that was August 16 – August 25, 1986. Yeah, that’s more than a week but I’m sure they feel good about it.
Danny Romero offers a very friendly, natural performance here. There is a wonderful VARIETY (not diversity) in the music mix, lots of good R&B, pop & ballads, and overall, familiar music. Note also the heavy emphasis on recurrent and recent gold. This was a 1986 FM CHR station, still following *most* of the rules…
There’s only one element of this exhibit to which old, grumpy Uncle Ricky objects: the dead segue from Take My Breath Away to Let It Whip. Lord help us, it was only 1986 and the madness had already started. Two tunes back to back with NO ID. See, even in 1986, there was a belief that listeners were psychic and could somehow remember what they were listening to without being told. The trend continues today. I guess they’ve all signed on to some starship where listening is reported automatically. (sigh) But in all fairness, it only happens once (in this 45 minutes.)
Both the unscoped and ‘scoped version of this exhibit include a fresh, unscripted exchange between Romero and Ellen Thomas near the conclusion. It’s just some of that “Human Interaction” that used to occur when Humans were actually at the radio stations on which they were broadcasting.
Scoped
[Description by Uncle Ricky, contributed by Mike Miles]
Flash Phillips sure sounds genuine here. And he’s not that Phlash person, either, who works in Satellite radio.
Flash is terrific, but the station formatting falls a bit short. No jingles, first of all… c’mon! WAVA was a modern miracle – a Top 40 station on FM in stereo with REVERB! – still kickin’ it in 1987 (and in one of the most “Urban” areas in the country…) In 44 minutes, there is ONE stopset – 3.5 minutes (but 4 units!) plus sweep intro. There’s also a killer promo at the end, but you should NEVER play a promo into a commercial set. But they did. This is one of the reasons why they aren’t around to give me (or you) a job today. Sadly AND furthermore: there are TWO of those bothersome music to music things with NO ID. (sigh.) How do people know where they heard the music unless you tell them?
Unscoped
[Description by Uncle Ricky, contributed by Mike Miles]
playThis Exhibit ‘SCOPED (10:21)
Flash Phillips sure sounds genuine here. And he’s not that Phlash person, either, who works in Satellite radio.
Flash is terrific, but the station formatting falls a bit short. No jingles, first of all… c’mon! WAVA was a modern miracle – a Top 40 station on FM in stereo with REVERB! – still kickin’ it in 1987 (and in one of the most “Urban” areas in the country…) In 44 minutes, there is ONE stopset – 3.5 minutes (but 4 units!) plus sweep intro. There’s also a killer promo at the end, but you should NEVER play a promo into a commercial set. But they did. This is one of the reasons why they aren’t around to give me (or you) a job today. Sadly AND furthermore: there are TWO of those bothersome music to music things with NO ID. (sigh.) How do people know where they heard the music unless you tell them?