When I was maybe 13 years old, I won a clock radio in a contest. Actually, I won a kitchen sink, and when they saw who showed up at the appliance store that sponsored the contest, they let me take home the radio instead of a sink.

It was a beauty. Not quite a foot and a half long, the shell was of sturdy off-white plastic. The clock was on the left, the speaker on the right. Every night when I went to bed around 10, I set a little timer knob on thirty minutes, and gradually fell asleep listening to 'moldy oldies' which to this particular disc jockey of the mid to late 60s meant songs from the 50s. He always started off with 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' and often included some Elvis.

During the day, especially in the summer when school was out, I listened to the top hits and felt connected to every other teenager in the continental United States. And once a week there was the top 40 countdown (country wide) with lots of noise and fanfare.

In this way, I became acquainted with Mo-town's Supremes, Johnny Rivers, Otis Redding, and Gladys Knight and the Pips. The Beatles, The Association, The Cowsills, Procol Haram, the Beach Boys, The Jackson Five, and - was it Strawberry Alarm Clock? Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs? The Monkees.

Not everybody listened to this station - I mean it was really geared for teens, tweens, and young adults. There was a country station that was separate (though Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash and eventually Willie Nelson crossed the line into top 40), and there was an adult station that went with Dean Martin, Peggy Lee and the like. At noon it carried Paul Harvey, and read aloud all the stock exchange shifts of the day (This and That Consolidated, up by three quarters, Such and Such Incorporated, down by a half). Those were the FM stations. The truly local music, like Clifton Chenier and various Cajun bands and commentary in local French patois could be found on the AM stations of the little towns of central Louisiana.

The local high schools each week sent in a student to read off the news from their school. One week, the girl from our school who held this job was unable to make it, and I filled in. This was fun. The spiel was taped, and I got to hear my voice on my favorite station later that night.

The stations turned off around 11 PM or midnight. Sometimes, wide awake at 2 AM, my parents and sibs asleep in other rooms, I caught distant stations in places like Oklahoma, and wondered what were the people like who lived that far away.

By age 18, I moved on to an 8-track player. This had the advantage of letting me listen to what I wanted, whenever I wanted, however many times I wanted. The sound quality was better.

But it's the clock radio with the station with the contests, the 60s hits and local DJs, and the wistful call of 'Lion Sleeps Tonight' that are dear.