Reporter’s Notebook: In which I guest-DJ on ‘Opie in the Afternoon’

Michael Olohan with Opie — Pascack Press/Northern Valley Press senior staff writer Michael Olohan enjoyed guest DJing on the ‘Opie in the Afternoon’ show on WFDU-FM. Peter Olohan photos.

TEANECK—Over the last few years, my wife and I have enjoyed the “retro radio” sounds of WFDU-FM, 89.1 on the dial, a highly popular radio station that during most of the day plays an eclectic selection of top pop and rock hits from the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s.

In fact, I would highly recommend that if you miss the old-time AM radio of the 1960s and 1970s — but with more song selections and super-friendly and engaged DJs — then you want to make 89.1 FM a permanent setting on your radio dial, or stream it on your phone via the WFDU app.

My wife and I both generally have our car radios and cell phones tuned to WFDU-FM, as so many other pop and rock stations play a mind-numbing selection of Top 40 hits from a very limited playlist. You can only hear “Beat It” by Michael Jackson so many times!

WFDU-FM features highly entertaining DJs, who daily play hundreds of not-often-played pop, contemporary, soul, jazz, folk and rock selections — sometimes even country — and often provide entertaining musical facts about the songs and artists. Their songs span the Baby Boomer and even pre- and post-Baby Boomer generations.

And recently, I got a chance to try my hand as a guest disc jockey (DJ) on WFDU-FM.

It pays to donate

During a recent fund drive that the station had — it has several throughout the year — my wife and I made a donation and we were able to become guest DJs for the day. We were selected June 2, 2 to 3 p.m., as our slot to sit in the WFDU studio with one of WFDU’s most popular afternoon drive DJs, Opie in the Afternoon.

While I did most of the talking with Opie — no surprise there to most who know me — my wife, Kathé, also was able to get in her own personal dedication for a favorite Bruce Springsteen song that she said she had found particularly meaningful while in her teens and early adulthood. The song was “Growin’ Up” on Springsteen’s “Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.” 1973 album.

We had a fantastic time as we arrived at WFDU-FM in Teaneck, which is owned by and on the campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University. We first met with Mike Phillips, a behind-the-scenes technical wizard — and on-air DJ with his wife — who welcomed us and regaled us with stories about prior and current radio experiences. Our son, Peter, also accompanied us to the station to take some pictures while we “appeared” on the radio.

Weeks before my one-hour appearance, I put together a list of songs that I liked, and which also had some special meaning to me. I also thought: What would WFDU’s regular listeners like to hear, and maybe might bring a smile to them as they toiled at home or drove around town.

My original list started out at nearly 100 songs, which I reduced over several days to 25 songs, and then eventually to 15 songs, which is what the radio station says can usually fit within the hour “guest DJ” time. (Opie was able to fit in 16 songs during the hour, in addition to our amiable chit chat between songs.)

Michael Olohan photo by Peter Olohan; Opie inset via WFDU-FM.

I was a little nervous, not having done radio while in college. Instead, I was on my college newspaper, The Beacon, at William Paterson College, now a university.

However, on Friday, June 2, Opie, the afternoon DJ greeted us warmly with hugs as we entered the WFDU radio studio and was so enthusiastic, gracious and accommodating — despite my obvious DJ shortcomings — that I felt totally at ease and warmed up to her instantly and was encouraged to share a few song “factoids” that I had found on YouTube for some of my selections.

We arrived at the radio station in Teaneck, on the Fairleigh Dickinson campus, about an hour before air time and came into the studio around 1:50 p.m. to meet Opie and get settled in behind boom mics and headsets near where she was programming the upcoming hour of music.

Our one-hour radio debut was also recorded for the WFDU-FM radio archive and when my wife and I listened to it days later, we realized what Opie had told us then: We pretty much forgot most of what we had said while on the air and while we had a great time, the experience was extra meaningful because I got a chance to celebrate my mom’s birthday on the air and dedicate a song to her.

Discretion prevents me from revealing any age ranges but suffice it to say my mom’s a little older than her oldest child and son, yours truly, who also shares her birthday.

While I did not go out of my way to hype my appearance, my wife posted news of our early June radio debut on Facebook, and we had family, friends, cousins, and acquaintances tuning in.

Of course, Opie was there to facilitate our between-song banter, and also helped to organize the flow of my musical playlist. She did a fantastic job on all counts! She was engaging, friendly, musically curious, and even a little self-revealing about her former hometown, Waldwick, (Something about that football rivalry between Waldwick and Midland Park back in the day!)

Opie was movin’ and groovin’ to the music playing on the air, clearly enjoying the tunes and preparing the next selection or listener request.

Local connections

As a staff writer at Pascack Press/Northern Valley Press, I felt a connection to WFDU as we’ve covered nearby Teaneck, Tenafly, Cresskill, Demarest, Englewood, Englewood Cliffs —all near where the station is based. The station broadcasts from the Armstrong Tower, a 425-foot tall lattice tower in Alpine, another town we cover. (Also, the tower was the location of the first FM broadcast station and FM transmission in 1938.)

Another “local” connection was my first song played on the air, ”It’s Your Thing,” an Isley Brothers’ classic, which was their first record after splitting from the Motown label in 1968. The record was put out on the “T Neck” record label, based in Teaneck, the hometown of WFDU-FM.

I didn’t realize the connection when I picked the record, including also that two of the Isley Brothers lived nearby, one in Teaneck and one in Englewood, where streets are named after them.

‘I thank the heavens…’

My hour flew by, and I became a reporter again, and asked Opie her secret for keeping her radio show so fun.

“Radio is my favorite thing in the world, and it’s even more fun when the format is the greatest music ever recorded. I bounce into the radio station for every shift because I cannot believe that this radio station exists, right here in Bergen County! I thank the heavens every day that Fairleigh Dickinson University understands the value of it and supports what we are doing,” she told me.

Opie said, “Being able to play music that takes the listener to their happy place. A good show should be an escape, and in our case a nostalgic throwback. In radio you always have to imagine that you are speaking to one just person, so I actively try to picture our listeners and how they are reacting to the music and stories. We are living in unprecedented times in just about every way, and having a local station that plays the familiar favorites of days gone by is just what we all need now.”

Opie joined WFDU-FM in November 2021. “In 1995 I started at Seton Hall’s famous radio station, 89.5FM WSOU, and that experience really laid the groundwork for everything to come. I’ve had the great honor of working at places like Q104.3FM, Sirius Satellite Radio, 92.3 K-Rock, Air America, and Westwood One.”

She said our appearance also helped her better relate to the music she plays.

“It’s very intimidating to put yourself out there like that, so kudos to you! Also, narrowing down a library of thousands of songs down to a playlist of 16 is no easy task. Normally in the studio it’s just me and the microphone, so it was really a treat to have you and your family there with me, all enjoying the music together. It was also special hearing your stories, and how you personally connect to the music,” she said.

She added, “Since I am younger than the average listener these stories are how I am able to put the songs into the context of what was happening at the time.”

I asked her for her favorite groups…

“I have hundreds of favorites! I try to focus on the songs and artists that have essentially disappeared from NYC radio (i.e. Motown, Elvis, The Four Seasons, Jay & the Americans, etc.). The best part of this gig is surprising people with an old favorite they forgot about or haven’t heard in forever,” she said.

Mike’s stacks of wax…

My lineup was a mishmash, a musical scrapbook of songs I selected that appealed to me but also that, hopefully, had some meaning to family and friends. I found out most people listening liked the diversity of my selections. What’s more, I got to ramble about nearly every song.

One song I chose, Elton John’s “Friends” was apparently the first song ever played over WFDU-FM airwaves when the station began broadcasting in 1971. Opie told me this while we spoke on-air and I was surprised to learn it. My wife, however, an avid listener, knew that bit of trivia.

RetroRadio a collaboration

According to the WFDU website, “RetroRadio on WFDU was a collaborative effort of the programming department of the station. Drawing upon his 45 years in professional radio, Duff (Sheffield) wanted to provide an exciting familiar broad-based radio format that would appeal to WFDU’s larger NYC Metro listening area. Duff, Mike Phillips, Ghosty, & Kenny O’Boyle put their collective musical heads together to determine which songs would ignite enthusiasm to the Baby Boomers AND the later generations who are hearing these terrific songs in stores, movies and commercials.”

“What they came up with forms the basis of WFDU’s RetroRadio format; a core period of 1960-1975 with occasional forays earlier and later. These are the lost tunes that the commercial stations have dropped in search of advertising revenue. The RetroRadio DJ hosts present their music in a style reminiscent of the NYC top 40 stations of yore; WABC, WMCA, WOR-FM, WINS, WMGM, & WWDJ,” notes the WFDU website.

If I could describe my hour on the air in one word it would be: Exhilarating. So much fun in so little time, while playing unusual songs, personal favorites, and some oddball choices that resonated with people important to me.

During the show, I talk about the songs and make some dedications. If you wish to listen on the WFDU-FM archive, or stream it on your phone, please do. Any reader or WFDU listener interested in a possible “guest DJ” appearance should visit wfdu.fm and click Donate.

Here’s my playlist, selected by me and arranged by Opie. Thanks, Opie, for a great hour!