Reminiscing about Radio

[In regard to “Radio Daze,” Spring 2014], Slichter Hall was already a women’s dorm in fall 1953 when I came to Madison. I was a disc jockey for WMHA in 1954. I brought in many of my own 45 rpm records to play, including my theme song by Jimmy Dorsey, the bluesy “Trouble in Mind.”

The rowdy guys in Gilman would call in a request and not hang up their phone, so we couldn’t get any more calls. My solution was to play any song I wanted, and happily give fake dedications from various frats to the lovely ladies of Luedke — my floor in Slichter. The Gilman residents also bombed us with water balloons — and to think I ended up married to one of them.

Carol Marquardt Laun ’56 Granby, Connecticut

Editor’s Note: Several readers pointed out that Slichter Hall became coed in 1952, not 1960 as the article reported.

I was a deejay at WLHA and it became like a second home to me. Like many of the other on-air personalities, I had an air name — Bird. The Trashmen’s “Surfin’ Bird” was my theme song and “Bird was the word!” It was great fun. Staff would often gather at Shakey’s Pizza, and there was just so much camaraderie. Grades occasionally suffered, but it all seemed worth it. I hope that there are a few folks who remember the Bird. I had a blast!

Kristen Lokemoen ’67 St. Louis, Missouri

[In regard to “Radio Daze”]: In addition to WLHA, there was another campus station, WSRM, located in the basement of Ogg Hall. We pumped a carrier-current signal to the Southeast dorms.

I remember interviewing members of Supertramp, who visited our studio before a concert at the Coliseum. I also remember one of our deejays pursuing Keith Moon of The Who after a concert. He found him at the bar in the Edgewater and got him to record a promo for our station.

We had a good following in Ogg, Sellery, and Witte. There were plenty of friends and memories made in that basement studio that I fondly look back on.

Gary Achterberg ’80 Thiensville, Wisconsin

Published in the Summer 2014 issue