Famous Firsts with Michael Dukes
Michael Dukes
PCBRJ - President/Chief Broadcaster/Receptionist/Janitor
KWVV (K-Wave 104.9 Alaska's Alternative)/Homer, AK
1987 KJJZ/KVOK Kodiak, Alaska. Was working as a commercial fisherman in Kodiak and heard that the local stations were looking to hire someone part-time on a temporary basis. Since I was in between seasons I applied and got the job as Board op for American Top 40 as well as an evening and weekend shift. I was just supposed to be filling in for a guy that was on vacation, so it was kind of awkward when he came back and they fired him and gave me his position full-time.
Club Nouveau (of "Lean on Me" fame a la 1986). It was weird as it was held in a ballroom at the local convention center in Anchorage. It was a super small space, usually used for chamber of commerce lunches and there were only about 300 people there. But to see artists I knew, live right in front of me? It was pretty awesome.
Def Leppard - Pyromania (1983), followed immediately by Men at Work - Cargo(1983) (I've had pretty eclectic music tastes even then). I bought them both on cassette and used to lay in bed at night and listen to them when I was supposed to be sleeping on my new Walkman! Remember those?
Mac Powell from Third Day (Christian Rock Band). They were doing a concert in town that the station was promoting. I don't remember what we discussed, but I do recall that I really enjoyed his down to earth attitude and passion for the music.
July 1987 - See my "1st Industry Job". I kinda faked (read: lied...don't do this at home kids) my way into that job and at one point on my first day I failed to switch out the turntables for the second hour record of AT40. This unfortunately was also my 1st (and only) on-air curse word, since I'd accidently left the mic open as well. The funniest part was that I thought, in my 17 year old innocence, that nobody had noticed. It was about 3 months later the program director mentioned it to me in passing with a wink. Told me he'd "forgotten" to mention that to the GM for my performance review.
