THE Voice

I heard the news as I drove to work this morning. Gus Mircos died yesterday at age 70. For just about anyone who reads this, you won't know the name. Even if you grew up in the Denver area you may not recognize the name, but you've probably heard his voice.

Gus was a legend in Denver radio. He had one of those great, deep, warm, rumble-ly voices, that used to be a requirement to be on air. I can hear his voice now if I stop and think. This morning I listened to Peter Boyles and others telling stories about Gus and the glory days in radio and how much it's changed. I was very saddened by the news of Gus' passing. I met him briefly one day, I heard his voice before I saw him, it's always a weird moment to put a face to the voice.

I guess this prompts me to come clean about my anonymous, online name, since a few of you have asked. I spent about 3 1/2 years working in radio and it was the most fun I've ever had. The GM at the first radio station I worked at (who talked me into the industry) told me that if radio gets in your blood, it's like a curse. He told me that if I "took to it", for the rest of my life, no matter what I was doing for a living, I would miss radio.

He was right. I worked first at little radio station that had very small listenership. At the second station I was a producer and did 3 different shows on the air, and loved every minute of it. Okay, that's a lie. That first job, getting up before dark every day to do a morning show for a year was brutal. But that was eclipsed by the amazing interviews we did. Like the one we did with Brushy Brush, the singing toothbrush. Stuff like that really makes up for driving in your car, in the dark, in the cold, with wet hair at 4:30 AM. That station was so small we had an audience of about, ummmm, 10 people, if you don't count my family. But being involved in the "Theater of the Mind" sucked me in.

Hearing the news this morning brought back how much I miss it. I haven't worked in radio for nearly 13 years, and yes, I still miss it every day. Thanks BT, for cursing me.

I use the name Chick Voice because at one point, a friend actually asked me to be on a show he was starting, and wanted me to do it because they needed, you guessed it, a "Chick Voice". I thought it was funny way to ask me, but I could never say no to a radio gig.

I was happy to be "The Chick Voice" and one of these days, maybe.......................

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