"It all started at a 5,000 watt AM radio station in a working-class Pennsylvania town ..."

It really did. I was a preppy private school boy in Wilmington Delaware (yeah, that Wilmington -- thanks to Joe Biden, people have finally heard of my hometown!) One Sunday night visit to our local radio station to watch the DJ was all it took - I was hooked! I never looked back. All I wanted to do was be on the radio.

Now it's 1975. And here's where that 5,000 watt Pennsylvania station enters the picture. After an attempt at TV (don't get excited - it was local cable!) - at the advanced age of 15, I took my first radio 'gig' - in the blue-collar town of Chester Pennsylvania (a blip on the map just outside Philly). I did Saturday afternoons - the format was "two-way telephone talk" - yeah, a 15 year old, pimple-faced kid talking to refinery workers and housewives about every subject under the sun! And what's more, they saw teenagers as nothing more than a group of people who stole hubcaps and hung out on street corners. Needless to say, my foray into talk radio was short-lived (the station thankfully switched to a country music format, and I quickly discovered that I was much better suited to the Disc Jockey Life!)

I made it to these parts via The American University in DC. While at AU, I had a ball as a bar DJ - in Georgetown at Winstons on M Street and at Deja Vu downtown. Maybe you even remember Pierce Street Annex or Flaps -- I played there too!

My first radio experience around here was in a house in Falls Church - the home of the legendary WEAM - 1390 on your AM dial. Only thing is, by the time I got there, WEAM's legendary days were over - and it was about to try out a Big Band format. I did a Sinatra show on Sundays, and eventually hosted the afternoon show. My WEAM days became two and half of the best years of my career!

But the best was yet to come (as Francis Albert once said)! On to KIX Country (105.9) - then a quick pitstop at WEZR (106.7). And then my big break - W-LITE (94.7) - 10 great years at the top of Washington radio. Met the best thing in my life during this time too - my absolutely awesome wife Laura! We were blessed with our daughters Ilana & Emily .... right around the time I was fired from W-LITE (no big deal, that's the way it goes in the radio biz ...!)

It's the summer of 1993, and I'm lucky enough to be part of an amazing group of creative radio people, some local and some from across the country, assembled to put together a new radio station for Washington - Oldies 100. Another 10 great years - and now Adler Acres adds a beautiful little boy baby, Aaron (Laura & I are done now!)

When Oldies 100 went the way of so many other great radio stations of our past, I went classic rock for a while at 94.7 (I know - a return engagement at that spot), and I even did a morning show in Hagerstown Maryland. I did it from my house and recorded the shows in the afternoon! That was a great job - until new owners came along and "my services were no longer needed".

Now it's been nearly 4 wonderful years here at WGRQ. I get to wake up every morning to hang out with friends like you out there, and my pals Sheila and Paul in here --- doing radio the way it's supposed to be done ... great songs, a few laughs, a show that keeps you up on what's happening that morning, a LOCAL place ... where everybody knows your name ... Oops - that was CHEERS! Sorry.

Now you know a little more about me (I shouldn't leave out Misty & Cocoa - they're our dogs ... a shepherd/collie mix & a who-knows-what-kinda mix) - so how 'bout you? What's your story? E-mail me anytime at dave@959wgrq.com.

Thanks for listening!
Dave Adler