Category: Long Distance Dedication

Long Distance Dedication: Pete Wilson

Rick Pecoraro

DJ Rhatfink of The Continental appreciates Pete Wilson

Just as the soundtrack to American Graffiti changed my life in the 1970s, so too did DJ Pete Wilson, beginning in the early 2000s with his seminal show, Nashville Jumps!

George Lucas’s film, American Graffiti (1973), sent me down the rabbit hole of rock and roll as a young listener. What an amazing soundtrack! I loved that music so much that I had my father make me reel-to-reel tapes of nothing but classic oldies but goodies like The Five Satins, Bo Diddley and Etta James. I played those over and over again until the tapes wore thin. The bedrock rock of DJ Rhatfink is rock and roll. Yet there was still more to discover as I found out when I started listening to DJ Pete Wilson and his outstanding, long-running radio show Nashville Jumps! This was radio manna from heaven coming to us from out of the past to the here and now, flinging open the musical doors of my proto-rocker brain with tunes from Cab Calloway, Louis Jordan, Wynonie Harris and so many more! Pete plays nothing but the finest early unbleached rock n’ roll, boogie woogie, jazz and jump blues every Friday morning and has helped me continue a family tradition. Just as my dad shared mix tapes with me, I have had the pleasure of sharing Nashville Jumps! with my daughter as I took her to school. History lessons have never been more fun. Thank you, Pete! Long may you continue to spin those big 10-inch records.

Long Distance Dedication: DJ Rhatfink

Rick Pecoraro

DJ Pete of Nashville Jumps appreciates DJ Rhatfink

For “The Continental,” Rhatfink spreads his net WIDE to collect a startlingly wide variety of songs on each week’s theme. He does themes better than just about anybody, and I’m a sucker for a show that follows Lord Sitar with Lou Rawls. But what I like best is his talk breaks. They are performances in themselves. I remember reading once that when talking to a baby, you should vary your voice a lot–soft to loud, high to low, swoops and drops–to keep the baby entertained and paying attention. I resolved to do that as a DJ, but my delivery at its best is a little sloppy.. Rhatfink, you are a far better baby-entertainer than I could ever be.

Long Distance Dedication: Randy Fox

Rick Pecoraro


Big Chief Chaz of Gilded Splinters appreciates Randy Fox

I used to be scared of Jerry Reed, mostly because the song “Amos Moses” was blasted at top volume on the Matterhorn ride at the Allegan County Fair. Jerry’s raucous cackling with thumping funk backing was ominous in a way unmatched by “Free Ride” or “Space Trucking”… Smokey and the Bandit sanded off some rough edges, sure — but he still made me nervous.

I’ve grown since then; now when I think of Jerry Reed, I hear the joy and hilarity of “Guitar Man,” “US Male,” “Lord, Mr. Ford,” or a half dozen others played by Randy Fox on the HIPBILLY JAMBOREE every Saturday on WXNA.

Thanks, Randy!