My short career as Chris Winston – Overnight Disk Jockey
// January 18th, 2010 // No Comments » // jobs, ramblings, update
After college, or maybe it was during, I had a job for about a year or so as an overnight DJ at an adult contemporary AM radio station in a small town in Southern Virginia. Actually, it wasn’t just an AM station. It was, and still is, AM stereo which has been struggling to gain a foothold ever since that pesky FM came along. The signal actually sounds pretty good if you have an AM stereo receiver and you avoid driving under any overpasses… or during the rain. Or at night.
I spun easy listening adult contemporary hits from 10 pm to 6 am and had a very small but loyal following of mental ward inmates and insomniacs. You’d be surprised to know there are many people who call in at 3 am to request songs or comment on current events. Not only are there regulars… there are fans!
I had a guy call in most every night to predict the air quality index for the next day. At first I thought he was a 70′s era prank caller who’d ring just to breathe heavy into my ear hoping that did the trick but during our relationship I learned he suffered from an assortment of breathing related issues and probably lived in an iron lung. Often, he would call to request the “Air that I Breathe” by The Hollies on what he hoped would be a good Air Quality Index day. He’d cough it into the phone, “It’s gonna be a good day, Winston. Could you play my song?”
I assumed the on-air persona of Chris Winston because I thought Chris Stork sounded too much like Chris-Dork. It was college – things like that bother you at that age. Actually, you never get over being called Chris Dork as a kid. Also, remember… this was the South. I wanted a name that fit in. Chris Winston I hoped would remind people of Winston-cup Racing or Winston cigarettes. I figured people would trust me. Like Tom Brokaw. Personally, I liked Winston as in John Winston Lennon but no one ever called to say, “Play some Lennon, Winston. Wink Wink.”
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