An Important Radio Station

+++ title = “11” date = 2019 +++

At the dentist’s office. In the shopping mall. In my parent’s car. At the grocery store.

All of these places played the radio station Wash FM when I was a kid. Wash FM marketed itself as the “best music of the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s.” They eventually updated their slogan to “and today” when the 2000’s hit.

On this station, you’d often hear artists like Jon Secada, Toni Braxton, Michael Bolton, Kenny G and other soft rock super stars. And at night, it would transition entirely over to love songs, and you could hear over-the-phone dedications from lovers to their partners.

This was an important radio station for our community. Because it was family friendly, non-offensive, non-distorted pop music, any institution could play it. And those beautiful songs lined the walls of my childhood, influencing me, and changing the way I hear music.

They were playing in the background when I got my teeth cleaned, when I visited the doctor for a cold, when I sat waiting in traffic with my mom in the car, when I wandered around the mall looking for anything exciting as a teenager.

The songs themselves don’t matter very much. I found some great songs that I loved on there, but nothing that has lasted a significantly long time. It’s the station itself, its very existence, that I am thankful for.