I’m sunsetting the Nightowl Radio Show at the end of the summer.

Background.

My involvement with radio station WHCL-FM at Hamilton College was arguably my happiest moments on campus. During my undergraduate years, I had a reasonably popular radio show that played a mixture of modern “new music” and whatever else I could rustle out of the record libraries. I named the program the “Nightowl Radio Show,” as a tribute to those late-night radio hosts who used nicknames like “Night Bird” and “Night Hawk.” Eventually “Nightowl” tied more into a popular Little River Band hit of the era, “The Night Owls,” so there’s that.

I graduated in 1985, and my final show aired a few days before I received my diploma and my commemorative wooden cane. And although I did do some professional radio work, mostly for Schenectady station 3WD in 1987-88, my time in the broadcast booth was a part of my past.

In 2020, however, Hamilton College asked if there were any alumni broadcasters who would be interested in returning to the airwaves while the college was on pandemic-enforced lockdown. The shows could be pre-recorded and uploaded, and as long as everybody played nice – no songs with curse words, no protracted screeds about offensive topics – alumni could return if they so chose.

And after 35 years, the Nightowl Radio Show returned to WHCL. First on Fridays at 11:00 p.m., then gradually moving back down to a more manageable Friday night 7:00 p.m. run. 

I’ve said this before. Just as WHCL got me through the toughest years of college in the 1980’s … it also got me through the pandemic. And further. I had fun creating themed episodes, I explored many of the memories from my days at the station, and I just straight-up had a good time doing all of this. 

However … I had some personal barriers. I would only do the show for as long as I knew that my participating on the show did NOT take away a spot from a Hamilton College student who wanted air time. And over the years, as the broadcast lineup grew and grew, that thought still entered my head. 

Plus … this semester, Spring 2024, will mean that I’ve had this Nightowl Radio Show revival for a longer period of time than the length of my original 1980’s broadcast time. 

So here’s how this will work. My last “original” episode of the Nightowl Radio Show will air on May 17, 2024, the weekend before Hamilton’s 2024 graduation and commencement ceremonies. During the summer, I’ll schedule “Best of” episodes from the past four years, with my final episode airing on August 22, 2024, weekend prior to the arrival of the freshman class. I’ll also provide the college with a USB flash drive that contains all 200+ original episodes of the Nightowl Radio Show revival. 

With that in mind, there are people to thank, and I thank them now. Thank you Jonathan Mead, faculty advisor to WHCL, for giving me this opportunity to come back to my personal “happy place.” Thank you to all the general managers who let this old head back on the radio for more music and fun. This has been a personal blessing beyond anything you can imagine. 

I didn’t get to leave on my own terms in 1985. Once I graduated, my time at the station was complete. 

This time, however, I AM leaving on my own terms. And I’m totally fine with that. And by posting this on my blog today, I can’t “wimp out” and change my decision.

So if at any time I’ve given you happiness with my broadcasts, either in the 1980’s or in the 2020’s, I’m happy. Which, in the end, is exactly what I want from my college experience. 

Now if you’ll excuse me … I’ve got a program to create. And plenty of special songs to include. 

May is still a couple of months away.

And I still have new shows to make. For now. 😀