Having unemployment income meant plenty of time to listen to the radio and the burgeoning New Wave music scene in Boston.  Oedipus was becoming famous in those days with a weekend over-night show on WBCN and the ‘Demi-monde’ on WMBR, 88.1 FM, “Community Radio at MIT.”  [At the time the call letters were WTBS; they were later sold to Ted Turner for his SuperStation.]

A completely accidental phone call to dj Karyn Reid for a request led to a decade of radio announcing on Boston radio (1978-1988).  Yes, the new wave scene had swept me along.  Interestingly, I received an e-mail from her in February 2002 after almost 25 years.

Anyway, that stray call led to me answering phones for Tom Lane and later Oedipus himself at WBCN.  It was at that time that I met Dave Wohlman, who later spent many years in San Jose at KOME before retiring last year.  He still lives there with his wife and two sons.

I later worked with Albert O, running a small t-shirt store (‘Tickle T-Shirts’) which was one of the first stores in Boston to carry New Wave/punk buttons and paraphernalia.  Both of us also worked later on for Brother Cleve at a local branch of WaldenBooks.  Not many people know it, but Brother Cleve got his name on my first radio show.

After two years, I began as a disc jockey at Spit (later Axis) on Saturday night, January 1980.  It was to become one of the hottest nightclubs in the city, Boston’s version of the Mudd Club and Danceteria, playing New Wave, punk and rock’n’roll for people from all walks of life, rich/poor, gay/straight, famous/infamous.

Some of the more famous names who were scene - I mean ‘seen’ - at Spit included the likes of John Lennon (shortly before his death), David Bowie, Rob Lowe and more.  We also had great musical acts perform including Jeff & Jane Hudson.

One of the more interesting features of the club was a surprise guest.  Occasionally, one would arrive on Friday night to see a curtain drawn across a portion of the club.  That meant that at midnight there would be a live performance that had been kept secret from everyone, press and club goers alike.  Indeed, the contract would always stipulate that if word leaked out than the performance would be cancelled.

I was the Saturday night disc jockey for seven years in a row, every week; Oedipus spun on Fridays, Albert O on Wednesdays and Tom Lane on Thursdays.  We later added Steve Strick on Sunday and Tuesdays, the ‘gay nights’ as they were known.  I was also manager of the club for many years as well.

My light man was Teddy Cardoza (ne Morris); an incredible man and an incredible talent.  I always said that if you were deaf, you would still know the song by his expertise composing with light.  And yes, he always loved the beach, as you can see in the picture.

[I was just noticing some parallels between the time period of the Saint and my residency at Spit.  I particularly noticed a Saturday night in 1985 that Teddy and I would have been playing; the Saint invite had the dj and light man in equal type, just like we would have.]

During the first year, Duran Duran had their first US appearance and Stomp (now running for eight years on Second Avenue in NYC) first threw their buckets around.

One Saturday night, there was an actual wedding of two people who had met at the club years before.  It was a testament to the club and its patrons that not only did it not get rowdy, the couple were surrounded by love and appreciation.  And, yes, I did play Billy Idol’s White Wedding.

On my 30th birthday, the hoi polloi of Boston rock society surprised me with a party.  One of the musicians was Slim Jim Phantom of the Stray Cats, just months away from marrying Britt Eklund.  You may remember the old habit of ‘binking’ — persuading someone to look down at their chest so you could flick their nose.  Well, Jim tried that one on me to no avail; I reminded him that we invented it right here in the States!  Afterward, we went back to my loft for a huge party.

In those days, I enjoyed my relative fame and connections; one could find me with Nick Cash, the singer from 999 (a straight guy who would chase me down within hours of arriving into Boston), at an after-hours bar with AC/DC or a late night gathering with Dan Ackroyd and Bill Murray of Saturday Night Live chatting in the corner or at a hotel room with Barry Manilow’s entourage.  Yes, life was strange!

My first real boyfriend was Robbie Brundage whom I met at Spit; we went out for two tumultuous years after which he returned to his home town outside of Chicago.  Last I heard a few years ago, his father had set him up in a small antiques business but I can’t confirm that.

Also, in 1982, after living in Somerville again and then a huge office space on Washington Street in the ‘Combat Zone’ (I seem to remember throwing a huge party for the Stray Cats there once), I purchased a condo at 11 Park Drive, just a few blocks from the club and Fenway Park; my partner at the time was Peter Aquinde and later Philip Tucker.

People on the address list from that era include Jeff Berlin (who later married Robyne Tanner, an alumna of Tufts University coincidentally).  He has worked as head of production for KISS for many years now; at the time though he was still a local rock radio announcer.

My first commercial radio gig was a one-day stint on WBOS, an alternative rock format started by Maxanne Sartori.  Unfortunately, they changed to a country-music format a day after I started!