CLICK ON LINK AT END OF THIS POST TO LISTEN TO THE STAN MAJOR .....NATIONAL ALL NIGHT SHOW!
...Randy was one of our “original” listeners to the first LIVE all night talk show in America when it began in 1992. He was right...there were NO live talk programs that a guy like him or his buddy, Bill, could call in toll free and participate in the discussions.
I got the idea for the show by doing just what he describes, dialing eveywhere on AM & FM but it was just re-feeds of Larry King’s earlier program...along with a few others from earlier hours in the evening.
The Sun Net in Clearwater had three satillites orbiting ready for us and off we went.
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©1992, 2014,Randy Tedford
title: A "Major" Change in Late Night Conversations
THE NIGHT WATCH
by Randy Tedford
“It sure gets lonely out here on the night watch from 11:00 pm to 7:00 am. While the Friday and Saturday night shifts are usually busier, I find a feeling of isolation especially prevalent Sunday through Thursday nights. There wasn't anything that would remedy the feeling. Until last fall, that is.
Before I continue, take a moment and mentally place yourself in a what is supposedly a constantly moving metal box. Atop this box you'll find a siren and blue light bar. Along its sides are markings that, for all the words they display, could be simply translated into one word, "COP". Inside, there is the sporadic squawking of a two-way radio. Lights and gauges flash their sometimes important, but mostly redundant, information to you, the sole occupant. You are a knight of the night, waiting for the next call of distress or the next violation to occur. There are dragons to be slain everywhere.
There is no one to talk to as you cruise through the darkened streets. You've visited every all-night convenience store and have consumed enough coffee to raise the Titanic. Monotony creeps in like a panther stalking its prey. With weary eyes, you not only prowl the streets, but the store fronts and roof tops, too. Nothing is moving except you and your metal box.
Your subconscious mind tells you how nice it would be to have a partner to talk with. On the conscious level, you notice you're actually acknowledging that thought. You're telling the dashboard, the steering wheel, and the darkness on the other side of the windshield that you want to hear a human voice other than the dispatcher's or your own.
Have I got you in a sufficiently ominous mood? Do you feel the solitude that is imposed upon a cop moving through the night, enclosed in an automobile? Good. Now I'm now going to tell you about the cure I found with the help of another Oak Ridge Police Department officer.
Last November, while working "the night watch", I stopped to spend a couple of minutes talking with ORPD Officer Bill Griffith. He'd also been driving most of the shift and had played "radio dial roulette", searching for something to listen to on the AM-FM radio. Bill and I both tire of the same kind of music every night. And we've tried talk radio before, but we all we got were recorded repeats of Tom Snyder, Larry King and a few others.
Before I had a chance to say much more than "howdy", Bill told me to tune my radio to 92.7 mhz (WLIQ-FM in Harriman, TN.). While I did so, he began telling me about the programming.
Bill had begun a journey through the radio tuner. He hit the jackpot and found himself listening to a new, all-night, L-I-V-E, radio talk show hosted by a man named Stan Major. I agreed to tune in and listen for the remainder of the shift.
It didn't take long before I was hooked on this show. Stan Major does five hours of live talk radio, five nights a week over the Sun Radio Network. Excerpts from previous shows are rebroadcast on Saturday and Sunday nights.
Due to a rotating work schedule, I only get to listen to Stan Major one out of every four weeks. Even then, my listening time is controlled by what the workload will allow. Starting at 12 midnight, until the show goes off the air at 5:00 am, I keep one ear on the police radio and one ear tuned to Stan Major.
Just about every topic is open for discussion with a few suggestions made at the start of the show. Stan Major is knowledgeable on many topics, but never seems to try to out-talk his callers. His approach appears to be to allow an interesting caller the opportunity to say what is on her or his mind. Only in jest have I heard him mimic Larry King's infamous line, "What's the question?". He does not appear to be as conservative as Rush Limbaugh and is not as confused as Tom Snyder. He is definitely more enjoyable than a taped program.
I've never heard Stan Major cut off a caller whose political beliefs were diametrically opposed to his, even if it is obvious that a difference exists. He will, however, show you the "radio door" if you attempt to sling half-truths or baseless accusations across his air time. I don't always agree with what he or his callers may say, but it is most often interesting. I've noticed that listening and comparing my thoughts on various topics does keep me more mentally alert.
While he will often have an interesting guest for the first hour, the majority of the show is available for call-in commentary from the listeners. (And, yes, while off duty, I've stayed up late enough to hear portions of the show and have actually called in a couple of times.)
Sometime in the last few years, I read that listening to music on the radio, regardless of the tempo or volume, is not really any help if you're trying to stay awake while driving. Whatever I was reading went on to tell that listening to talk radio would be more likely to help keep you awake and alert.
The Stan Major Show works for me. You other night owls ought to try it, too.”
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My thanks Randy...then and now.
Now for a REAL surprise. Click below and listen to an aircheck we did for that All Night Show.
my email:
stanmajor@aol.com
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