I loved radio once

I was born and raised in Del Rio,TX and grew up with the stories of border radio and all of XER's incarnations. I was told Wolfman Jack rented a house down my street while he was employed at the station. Paul Kallinger still lived in Del Rio the entire time I was there. He  used to sit in front of us at church sometimes and when he'd stretch out his arm over the pew you couldn't help but gaze at the enormous gold nugget ring and bracelet set he always wore. At his store was a photo of him receiving those as a gift from Elvis. The man was a legend and it was awesome to hear him give the sign of peace in his still deep, "Good Neighbor Across the Border", DJ voice. He was a very tall man, huge voice and a good person.

I wanted to be a DJ really bad and would broadcast through a walkie talkie to an FM station (because in the late 70's early 80's there were no FM stations reaching Del Rio) that I would hear through a transistor radio I would put out in the yard. I had pre-recorded a station ID on my tape player with "commercials". The music came from my toy turntable. I played 45's and whatever albums I found at garage sales with my grandparents. The future looked bright and my goals in life were set, I was going to work in radio.

Radio deregulation hit and ruined it all. I made it as far as KVRX, the student radio station on the UT campus, and that was the end of the line. Radio had not been in the hands of the audiophiles for years. Greedy corporations killed the romance.

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