KMPC – Robert W. Morgan – 8-9:00 am – August 23, 1979 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
Mornings in L.A. – traffic jams, accidents, construction, lanes closed, crime scenes. Always been that way, only more so over the years. As L.A. spreads out, and stories of The Promised Land flood the conversation in places East and Midwest, the endless trek of new arrivals multiply – and somehow L.A. doesn’t burst from the crush.
And there’s that thing called Rapid Transit; the buses that come maybe once an hour and the terminal waiting. Not everybody in L.A. drives – not everybody in L.A. ever did. And so mornings, the bus stop becomes the waiting place.
Some people who wait for the bus have been doing it for years – it’s a ritual and a procedure. Some people who wait for the bus aren’t used to it. They are one of the unlucky drivers whose car has broken down and sits in a shop, waiting. You’re one of them. You haven’t been on a bus since High School, and even then it was your one goal in life to get your learners permit and finally your license so you don’t have to spend your life waiting for the bus. But not this day. This day it’s just like High School and it feels strange. Standing all around you are blank faces, staring into space; waiting. Some look resigned and some look hassled – it’s just the morning and everyone could use an extra hour sleep.
But you hear something above the din of cars and delivery vans and car stereos. Somebody sitting in one of the few spaces on the bench is playing a radio. The speaker is small and the sound is tinny but you know that voice – you remember it well. It’s Robert W. Morgan and he was one of the Boss jocks. You fell out of bed listening to him on school days – you were Morganized. But you haven’t heard him in years. And now he’s on KMPC, still Morganizing everybody. You listen – you forget where you are.
And you almost miss the bus.
Welcome to one hour’s worth of 1979 from August 23th, compliments of Robert W. Morgan and KMPC.
