I want to talk a little bit about music today. Don’t ask me why but it’s been a big part of my life. Music in the teenage years – I think I got a radio in my room when I was like thirteen years old. All of a sudden, Rock and Roll hit and I loved all those guys – Elvis, Ricky Nelson – all of them back in the late ‘50s. Then in the early ‘60s, for some reason, everything went kind of crazy. We had that Hootenanny thing – hey, like the Kingston Trio, bring them on! But then I started in radio in the early ‘60’s and there wasn’t much of a format to go by because it was basically easy listening music. You just got albums and played the “easy listening” music until 10:15 at night and then for forty-five minutes we got to go crazy with Rock and Roll. While I was still at the radio station it went to twenty-four hours a day nonstop, Rock and Roll, whatever. It was a good time to work in radio. KBWD was the “big” station and KOXE came along in 1975 with a country format but KBWD is where the radio station was – that’s where it started. When FM got real popular they switched the FM to the “big one” and that’s still the case today. Of course I stopped being a DJ in 1980 or 1981 but I still listen to music.
I tried not to cheat my kids out of concerts, I mean, I was a pretty good dad! I took Dena to see Duran Duran at Six Flags. Then I took Christian to see Bon Jovi at Star Plex. The opening act I can remember, Blue Murder, maybe the worst I have ever been pounded by music! I will never forget at that concert I was hiding. Everyone was standing but I was just hiding in my chair. This young lady finally got down on her knees and said, “You’re really not having a very good time are you?” I don’t know what my answer was. My son says he remembers standing up in a chair with 20,000 or so other people and looking down at his dad who had his head down in his hands! Me! I also took Christian down to Houston to see – YES – Michael Jackson! Gee, what a concert!
I was a Christian during this time and I had to plug my ears up a lot.
Every once in a while my wife and I would get away and we went to Austin one night and watched Sandy Patti in concert. We went to the Cove, Billy Graham’s center out in North Carolina, and heard great music there with Cliff Barrows in charge. Linda and I went to a lot of Christian concerts, I can’t remember all of them, but the one that really sticks out was down at the Alamodome when we took a group of youth to hear Billy Graham. It was headlined by DC Talk and we got to hear ‘Jesus Freak’ and all of their stuff. Now, about the only time I get around that kind of music is because I’ve developed a real friendship with a girl named Alexa – “Alexa play me some Jesus Freak” or whatever.
My wife, to this day, still loves the Debbie Boone song, “You Light Up My Life” and it brings back good memories for both of us. I’ve got so many friends here now, since I’ve become a Christian, and I love their music. The Messengers when they were together, 4 By Grace, Patti and Frank Moreno, Danny Bingham, and I could go on and on. I love Christian music, but I also love that other “stuff” just don’t tell my wife.
Until next time, so long everybody.
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‘Out of the Box’ with Dallas Huston is published each Monday morning at BrownwoodNews.com. Dallas was the radio voice of the Brownwood Lions and Howard Payne Yellow Jackets for more than 55 years. He currently is Pastor of Center City Baptist Church and hosts a Men’s Bible Study in Brownwood on Monday evenings. Your comments are welcome at [email protected].