WMTH Alumni

My story after WMTH shows how the WMTH experience is valued by college radio stations and Chicago area broadcasters. That is further down in this story. To put things in sequence, here is my WMTH story.

MY THREE YEARS AT WMTH-FM

In the Spring of my freshman year at Maine East, I saw the “ON AIR” light along the hallway where my English class was. One time, it went on then off as I walked by at the end of a Friday afternoon. I decided to stick my nose in the door and ask what was going on. There I met Bill Moehle, a senior (class of 1967). He was engineering the Twin-Eight Survey show. It turns out that this was one of the few high schools in the country with a radio station.

The following month, there were WMTH auditions for the coming year. I was interested in engineering primarily, as I had stage fright like most everyone else at that age. I made the staff and enjoyed every possible moment for the next 3 years at WMTH.

I got really good at forging “C. Schaulis” on hall passes and never went to a study hall for my remaining years of high school. The radio station was my passion. I kept a spiral notebook that became my WMTH diary. I logged over 1,300 hours in the station by graduation week.

I engineered shows on short notice. I did a few on-air shows, nervous as hell. But that is where I overcame stage fright. I learned from a DJ neighbor, Art Roberts (a WLS-AM DJ at the time) that I should just focus on speaking to one person, a friend or family member. You are doing the show for that one and only person listening to the show.

I recall many unique situations and circumstances that I was on the air or engineered. The most memorable was a Saturday remote from a frozen lake near Touhy Avenue. It was an Illinois State Finals ice skating tournament preliminary to the Olympics. We were not on the air continuously, so I would run to the snack bar to get another cup of hot chocolate each time we had a break. I think it took days to warm up again.

The highlight of each year was the WMTH Banquet. Sometimes it was at the school, sometimes it was at a banquet hall. One year, we were at a hotel near downtown Chicago. Larry Lujack was the featured guest. He spoke to our group two of my three years on staff. I think the other year was Clark Weber, another WLS deejay.

By my senior year, I had made many new friends that became life-long friends. Some were classmates, some were older or younger. Those were special years and I wish I had more photographs and recordings. The few I do have will find their way onto this web site over the coming months (I am the admin of this web site, so that is under my personal control 😉 .

AFTER WMTH-FM

After leaving WMTH, I arrived at SIUC (SIU Carbondale). On the first day, I went into WSIU-FM, the powerful station that got into 3 states. I told the Program Director I was just on staff at WMTH for 3 years. They said “Good. You can do Tuesdays 3 to 6”. This was my first, weekly “on the air” show. My WMTH time had been 99% at the console, not speaking on the air.

Within a couple days, I learned there was a campus AM station broadcasting to the dormitories. I walked into WIDB, in the Wright 1 dorm at the time, told them I had just been on staff at WMTH for 3 years mostly as an engineer. They said “Good. You can engineer the “Justin Case” show in the afternoons”. That was the on-air name for Marty Bass, who has since been a TV weatherman in Baltimore. WIDB was modeled after WLS-AM at the time. DJ’s with a mike and a window, an engineer behind the window playing vinyl records or carts.

AFTER COLLEGE

After leaving SIU, I worked in electronics while pursuing a broadcasting job “someday”. I worked weekends at WVVX-FM Highland Park then later on weekends for WEDC-AM Chicago.

After that, my career focused in data communications and computers. PC’s hadn’t been invented yet. Following the money, I left Illinois for Texas, then Oklahoma, the back to Texas. When my career got me to Atlantic City, I befriended a DJ in the area, Tom McNally, who was also chief engineer AND program director. I told him my background. He said “Good. You can combo an oldies show on Saturdays on WOND-AM Atlantic City). And that wraps up my “on-air experience” since leaving WMTH. I hope to get back on the air as a retirement career.

THE BOTTOM LINE is that time spent at WMTH was a great introduction to broadcasting. It was my choice to eventually not pursue it full time.

Outside of broadcasting, I have worked in data communications, mainframe computers, mid-size computers, PC computers, and technical writing. Most of my career has been associated with aviation and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). As of this writing, I am a direct employee of the FAA working in the Chicago area maintaining equipment for a room full of air traffic controllers. Previously, I was a contractor / contract employee where I faced layoffs over and over. Finally after a 35-month layoff this position became available.

I might embellish this story more in the future. Come back and see.