It all started one cold February day in South Bend, Indiana. Out popped little Joey Suglia!
Mine was a pretty normal childhood, kind of ironic that one of my best friends spent almost thirty years at the local South Bend radio station and another close friend’s father ran the local performing arts center!
I was a late bloomer as far as my love of music goes. I used to tell my brother to “turn that crap down!” as he listened to WLS out of Chicago. Then on Sundays as dad made breakfast, the classics played on the Hi Fi - Sinatra, Dean Martin, Perry Como, Mario Lanza, Kate Smith, and so many others!
I started buying 45’s during my high school years down at Dodd’s record store in downtown Kalamazoo. Once a week I’d visit Dodd’s and find out what was new and get advice on what to buy. A kid who is now one of Chicago’s top radio personalities gave that advice to me!
I started buying 45’s during my high school years down at Dodd’s record store in downtown Kalamazoo. Once a week I’d visit Dodd’s and find out what was new and get advice on what to buy. A kid who is now one of Chicago’s top radio personalities gave that advice to me!
My trips to New York to see relatives usually included a trip to Bandstand Records, so I could catch up buying all those good 45’s that I missed out on when they were first popular! That collection numbers around 5,000 today! Want to buy it? My first concert was on September 9th, 1966 at Western Michigan University’s Read Field House. It was Gary Lewis & the Playboys. That Chicago radio personality I spoke of, it was his first concert as well. I’ve always enjoyed the concert experience and to date I’ve seen more artists and concerts all over the United States. Too many to mention!
In the early 70’s radio came calling and not long after that, the interviews started. The
station I started at was Top 40 and then changed to Country. I didn’t know much about
Country Music but the interviews helped me get to know the artists. Those many reel
to reel tape recordings are now housed in Nashville within the archives of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
When I left radio, I still enjoyed interviewing the stars, so I moved on to television (although I have a better face for radio)! Backstage with the Stars is the result of that effort and is getting better all the time.
station I started at was Top 40 and then changed to Country. I didn’t know much about
Country Music but the interviews helped me get to know the artists. Those many reel
to reel tape recordings are now housed in Nashville within the archives of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
When I left radio, I still enjoyed interviewing the stars, so I moved on to television (although I have a better face for radio)! Backstage with the Stars is the result of that effort and is getting better all the time.
I hope you enjoy watching the variety of guests we have had on as much as I have had the pleasure of sitting down and sharing a conversation with them!
As far as the future goes, I just hope we can keep on visiting with bigger stars
and bringing them into your living rooms!
and bringing them into your living rooms!
Thanks for watching!
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