I was always a fan of talk radio. Call me strange, but that’s not news to me!
I remember being in my early teens listening to WARD-AM in Pittston, PA and the local talk programs with Rob Neyhard, Jim Ward, Sam Liguori and Ed Wallison. Rarely did they ever take on the controversial topics found on today’s shows. These programs dealt with the heavy issues like people talking during Sunday mass, neighborhood gossip, cupcake recipes and the occasional caller ringing up and telling a joke.
I happened to land my first job in radio on my 16th birthday when the owner of the station, Jim Ward, called me at home and offered me a part-time weekend gig. I ended up spending over a decade at the crazy little AM with “10,000 watts of power, serving over one million people.” Shortly after Jim’s death, I departed and spent the next several years moving up and down the dial until I realized there were other ways to earn a much larger paycheck.
Talk, back in the late 70’s and early 80’s, was something a very, very few radio stations did. Music was still pumping out of transistor sets on the AM band and FM was starting to gain a foothold in the market. The radio landscape changed in 1981 when NBC launched a national talk radio network called Talknet which featured the talents of Sally Jessy Raphael and Bruce Williams.
While Sally gave listeners advice on love and marriage, Bruce gave callers his perspective on finance and business. The shows would start off with the familiar Talknet jingle, “Someone to talk to and something to share, someone you know who will always be there… tune in, turn on, Talknet… we care,” and the hour would begin with callers from around the country posing their questions and asking for advice.
I became a fan of Bruce Williams from the very beginning listening to him each weeknight. Like many, I became fascinated with this new form of radio. Talknet came and went and Bruce Williams went with different networks and handed out his advice for a total of 29 long years. The latter of those years it was pretty tough to find stations that carried Bruce as I’m sure program directors were looking for someone more edgy, like Michael Savage, to fill their nightime programming block.
Bruce’s last show aired in March 2010 and it wasn’t until recently I found Williams again and became a fan once more.
I’m not sure what drove me to search for Bruce, but something did. Anyway, I happened to find the guy with the calming, reassuring voice doing what he does best – telling a story and doling out his advice on life – in the form of a podcast. Every weekday at 2pm Bruce Williams does a live version of his program, which is subsequently made available as a podcast, from his home studio and broadcasts it over the Internet. He talks about current events, reads letters and emails from readers and has a phone number people can call into, but they rarely do.
At 80 years old his voice is still one that’s easily recognizable and his wit and wisdom haven’t failed him. He uses the old Talknet jingle, sans singing, and starts off the program with the same words he has for over three decades, “Welcome to my world. We talk about you, your life, your hopes, your ambitions, your dreams.”
It was great hearing Bruce’s voice again that brought back some old memories!