What is Fame and How Long is a Minute?



this is where the magic happens


Before I became a dude at a bank, I had a previous life, a completely different life. I was an air talent... um, a DJ.

Over twelve years I chomped on several different stations, spoke over several different music genres and hit every time slot.

Redding's Rock 106X

I had the honor of starting the first rock station in our community. By starting, I literally turned down the volume of the Adult Contemporary station that was currently on that frequency and started Led Zeppelin's Rock and Roll. I still get goosebumps when I think of that moment.

mas tequila, Sammy, mas tequila

I met a lot of musicians and other semi-celebs... Sammy Hagar, Van Halen (without Sammy), Weird Al, Megadeth, the guy who played Jaws in the James Bond flicks, the woman who played the captain's daughter in Love Boat... odd I know, but you take 'em where you can get 'em.

I worked with some of the most interesting people on the planet. Seriously. Radio is filled with ultra-creative, media-mad, think junkies who love to get into a discussion about anything. That's why they do well on the air.

I took a limo ride to a Boston concert in Reno. I took a bus to a Stones/Pearl Jam concert at the Oakland Coliseum. Tool, Def Leppard, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac, Willie Nelson, Foreigner, BOC... anyway, I saw a lot of concerts.

It was a great dozen years. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Was I famous? No. But I was known in our town. A bit anyway. We covered about 250,000 with our six stations' signals. Just the other day someone asked me if I was "that Casey Freeland from the radio". That felt good, to know that there was some lasting something in what I did for a listener to remember me ten years later.

But fame is something more, I think. Fame is when you break out of your pocket of the world (virtual or real) and are known by many cross-sections of humanity.

Jack is famous

I can't help but wonder, even when a person is obviously famous, if they feel that way. Is fame part of their own self-image? Is fame a thing to achieve, or is it something that comes on slowly when we aren't paying attention... like a sun tan? And to take that analogy one step further, if we don't protect ourselves as fame comes on, will it burn us and cause life-long damage?

Moot point for me... for most of us. But it's still interesting, even fun to think about how I might handle a little real, meaty fame.

Probably not well. But I could take it for fifteen minutes.

Mama's Losin' It Prompted This

Thanks for reading, off to write!

Cheers,

Casey

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