YOUR FAVORITES AND NOT SO FAVORITES!

HELLO LOVE- HOW IN THE WORLD ARE YOU?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56C8ct7_wYo
I thank God for music and I couldn’t imagine what this life would be without it. Many times I believe that the Lord has given me a special melody at just the right time to remind me that I am not alone or a ballad to give me the much needed strength necessary to face the next mountain to climb or storm to survive or provided me with a triumphant tune to celebrate the victory. I have certain songs that I will forever associate with a certain moment and a specific place in my adventure. Maybe you have the same! All I have to do is hear a few notes from the classic Bobby Helms version of “Special Angel” and tears fill my eyes as I am whisked back to that night when my Dad shocked my Mom by taking her in his arms and relived their wedding day as they danced together on that anniversary in our living room as if they were not surrounded by 6 kids at! And when the Righteous Brothers’ song “My Soul and Inspiration” plays- I am once again singing that song with my brother to my new girlfriend at that time- the very woman who would become my wife- my Terri! I could go and on.

How about you?

But I also have certain songs that are my favorite to hate.

As a disc jockey on the radio, these are certain tunes that I can not wait to use my explosion special effects upon and blow to smithereens with pieces of the vinyl flying everywhere! Records like “Feelings” by Morris Albert, “The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald” by Gordon Lightfoot, “YMCA” by The Village People, “Torn Between Two Lovers” by Mary McGregor and Pat Boone singing “Ain’t That A Shame.” Let just say that Fats Domino would agree it was a real shame anybody let Pat Boone near his song!

Two songs that would cause both my eyes and stomach to roll in disgust were one, “Mac Arthur Park” by Richard Harris. This never ending saga of an overly melancholy someone who left a fresh baked cake out in the rain and the recipe is now lost forever and how that should cause dismay and despair in my life is beyond me. Go to the nearest bakery and eat it inside and all should fine! And two, in the sad story of “One Less Bell To Answer” by The 5th Dimension, the woman is now complaining because her man has left her and she now has one less bell to anser and one less egg to fry! No wonder the dude left! What grown man is supposed to survive on one egg??? Had she had enough sense to scramble or fry a few more or make the poor guy an omelet now and then, chances are real good he would still be there! And as a bonus bogus lyric that so many people wrongly think is such a wonderful happy little ditty because it is entitled, “We’ll Sing In The Sunshine.” If you listen carefully to the words- this chick has already made up her mind that she does not believe in commitments and so if you are choosing to be with her- don’t get your hopes any higher than one year because as soon as 365 days go by, she is hitting the highway! It makes me want to scream and I usually do.

How about you? What are some of those songs that for you cause you to experience the same sensation as if I was to scratch fingernails on a blackboard or chomp my corn on the cob right in your ear? Be honest.

I would love to know the records you love to disdain and why. I would also, on a positive note, love to hear about those special ones that will always bring a sincere smile or sentimental tear. Don’t be shy. I promise I will not get mad at you unless you start picking on Barry Manilow songs. 

Have a safe and meaningful February and remember to keep looking up so you can look out and know the best is yet to come!

RUDY ON THE RADIO

I am a radio guy. I always have been and I probably always will be. Maybe because I have the perfect face for radio- one you don’t have to see. To this day I would rather listen to my favorite teams play with their games described on the radio rather than watch the television broadcast. I am a child of the transistor days when we would all hide our little sets under our pillows at night so we could hear stations from all over the country! Personality radio was the mainstay of the 1960’s when I got to hear the disc jockeys that were larger than life. Having been raised in the northern part of the State of New Jersey, I would be influenced by the amazing men that came across the airwaves from New York City! Such talented voices such as Herb Oscar Anderson, Harry Harrison, Ron Lundy, Dan Ingram, Cousin Brucie, Scott Muni, Bob And Ray, John Gambling, Ted Brown and many more! Radio was so much more than a glorified iPod. I considered these people like family and my day wouldn’t be complete until I woke up with them and got ready for my day in the morning and then do my homework with them after school and then be tucked in by them at night!

My favorite stations were always 77WABC, 710WOR, 66WNBC and whatever channel my New York Mets happened to be broadcast upon. In the 1970’s and 80’s, I became quite the fan of classic country music when the Metropolitans were being aired on 1050WHN! I adored the team of Bob Elliot and Ray Goulding when they would perform all their crazy cast of characters every afternoon from 3-7PM on WOR! I don’t know if I would have made it through Junior High without them making me laugh out loud every afternoon as I did my homework to their entertaining skits and spoofs! Another man that was not only a familiar voice in my upbringing but also a huge help in my present day radio career is Cousin Bruce Morrow. He has been on my shows here with me locally offering his still energetic and contagious enthusiasm and now at almost 80 years of age; he has once again offered his talent to get my newest radio venture off the ground.

I am once again on the radio in 2016.  I am on the air doing what I love best, which is playing music and connecting with the listeners in celebrating the memories combined with the wonderful music that has been so important to the moments becoming eternally cemented into their hearts and souls! My show is called “The Sunday Ride with Rudy On The Radio,” and it is broadcast live every week from 3-5PM on 98.7 The Coast WCZT.  Bob and Jim Maschio and everyone else at Coastal Broadcasting know that when that “On Air” light goes on- every ounce of who I am comes alive! I will once again be interacting with my audience taking their requests and dedications- trying to fill every musical order with all the passion that I can physically muster! Free form radio is when the DJ is given room to not have to be tied to a heavily preordained play list. I will be celebrating the greatest hits of our generation dating back to the 1950’s through today! You may very well hear Nat King Cole and Taylor Swift on the very same program.
 
Growing up, my musical taste was quite eclectic. I loved the balladeers and the Beatles! I played Sinatra and Survivor. I was just as moved by Barry Manilow as I would be by Stevie Wonder or a Waylon Jennings tune for that matter! My Uncle Joey was once a child star in a New York Television Talent Program called Star Time. Also in that cast was Connie Francis. You can say that show biz is in my blood and I was always drawn to my “performing” genes that God wired me with. While what I do as a Preacher is far from an act, when I believe in something- I can’t keep it to myself as I literally bubble over with enthusiasm over what I believe that the whole world needs to know and hear and experience! Maybe this is why I get along so well with so many of the Artists that I have had the privilege to meet and interview in the past. Individuals like Shirley Jones, Janine Turner, Connie Francis, Gary Lewis, Lou Christie, Jimmy Beaumont, Mark Lindsay, Little Anthony, Maureen McGovern, Bobby Goldsboro, Peggy Sue Gerron, Sonny Curtis, Norman Greenbaum, Dodd Darin, The Rip Chords, Barry McGuire, Chuck Girard, Cousin Brucie, Lana Wood, Cathy Silvers and Mary Elizabeth McDonough who we all better know as the gal who played Erin from the Waltons! I am hoping to have many more interviews in the days to come as I love chatting with those people who are so much a part of who we are today!

I also will continue to do my Christian Based Program called “My Lighthouse with Pastor Rudy.” This sixty minutes of music and sharing I actually record live midweek but it is heard on Praise FM 88.1 at 7AM on Sundays and Lift FM 97.9 at high Noon later in the day! So in reality- Sundays can be a day with lots of Pastor Rudy coming at you from morning to night- not only on the radio but also at The Lighthouse Church with our Services at 9 and 10:45 AM! But much more than me- I want you to know that it is my faith in Jesus that drives everything I do! If you ask me why I do what I do it is simply to fulfill my earthly Dad’s daily admonition to me to “Show them Jesus and Not Fool Around!” So let me close my article with the well-known words that Radio Preacher Dr. Robert A Cook closed every one of his broadcasts with and that was, “Until I meet you again by way of radio, Walk with the King today and be a Blessing!” I pray that I will do just that Dr. Cook!