Ray McDonald - and the 'other worldly' experience
I am having a good life.
Let me begin with where it all started. I'm originally from Coonoor, India. My association with the town began in 1985 when my brother and I were 'packed off' to a school there...all boys, residential/day school. I was 9 then. Till then, we were at Kuwait. My parents came back to India in 1988, and took charge of our lives.
If you grew up in India during the late 80's, you will know that mass media was pretty boring. Doordarshan (DD) - what can I say about it? To top it all, DD Madras relayed programs instead of Hindi - and was in a different league. Apart from the yearly Academy Awards and Grammy Awards, Friday was special for 'The World This Week'. Thats about it... I guess.
I was 15 years old when I was introduced to Ray McDonald's NOW MUSIC USA on VOA. I remember since that night, I would look forward to Thursday nights with a longing I can't put in words now. A google search on Coonoor will show you that it is a tiny hill town in the south of India. There was no cable TV during those year, and all I had to keep in touch with the world was my radio (given by dad) and the weekly magazines (like Newsweek) he subscribed to. Thankfully, my dad had a good library... and record collection going back to the early 60's.
He told my brother and me about the show. It was about contemporary music,... 'the countdown of the 10 most popular songs in the USA, as determined by the editors of billboard magazine, record store sales and duration on the charts'. Dad was not too interested in newer stuff. So, during those nights, we would bum his radio and tune in. It was 30 minutes of 'transportation to a new world'. After my brother left for college, I would step out into the cold and silent night and look for the best possible signal (it was not FM, but short wave). Sometimes, I would record the shows to listen to these tracks again and again. My brother and I would then write letters to each other and discuss the show... Ray's humour and the charts. We had no decent record store in our town, and had to travel over 100 km (to the nearest city, Coimbatore) to buy new tapes. Since he was studying there, he would bring stuff whenever there was something worth buying.
I discovered a lot of new content on the show. I remember being exposed to R&B first on NOW Music. I used to track the chart performances of my favourite stars.
Nowadays, when I listen to a particular song, I remember the late nights up listening to the radio in my room. Instead of studying, I'd be exported to this mystery land... America. See, no matter how much I dislike America's policies today, she still sets the tone for the rest of the world. My room at Themi Villa was actually the 'prayer room' of the house. It looked cozy and nice. After my brother left for college, I moved into that room, and made it my own. It was tiny man... my tiny world. It had another door that opened outside. This was sealed. And during windy nights, you could feel the drafts coming in through the cracks of the door and hitting your ears. Surreal.
Now Music, USA - and its host Ray McDonald had a huge role in the way I played my life out. In the case of my dear buddy Arjun, it played THE role!! I used to look forward to the show - it was important for me to listen to his playlist (the surprise hot-shot debut), humour and opinions. It will endure as one of the most important aspects of my adoloscence.
At Sony BMG, I met Arjun Sankalia. Ladies - this guy is single. And my advise to you would be....
We had a similar experience with NOW Music, USA. We connected at a level man. It was great to talk about those times with someone who felt the same way.
So, whats with the nostalgia?
Recently, I had a huge urge to get in touch with Ray McDonald. Afterall, we are living in a world that is shrinking thanks to the internet. So, I dedicated a few hours to search for this man. And I ended up at his present employer's site (VOA Music Mix). I wrote an email to him (with parts taken from the above). A few days later, the reply comes.
It made his day that a long-time listener wrote to him. He said that 'Back then, listeners had fewer options, and I felt I was helping them discover a whole new world. Now, I'm just one voice among many.' This is true. But I assure you, if you listen to him once, he is not just one voice among many.
And to my joy... he is pretty familiar with India as well as Singapore (wife is Bengali and brother-in-law in Singapore). We may meet up and toast 2007!!
'Thanks again for your wonderful letter. I'll never forget my old "NowMusic" fans!'
Thanks Ray. You are THE man.
Let me begin with where it all started. I'm originally from Coonoor, India. My association with the town began in 1985 when my brother and I were 'packed off' to a school there...all boys, residential/day school. I was 9 then. Till then, we were at Kuwait. My parents came back to India in 1988, and took charge of our lives.
If you grew up in India during the late 80's, you will know that mass media was pretty boring. Doordarshan (DD) - what can I say about it? To top it all, DD Madras relayed programs instead of Hindi - and was in a different league. Apart from the yearly Academy Awards and Grammy Awards, Friday was special for 'The World This Week'. Thats about it... I guess.
I was 15 years old when I was introduced to Ray McDonald's NOW MUSIC USA on VOA. I remember since that night, I would look forward to Thursday nights with a longing I can't put in words now. A google search on Coonoor will show you that it is a tiny hill town in the south of India. There was no cable TV during those year, and all I had to keep in touch with the world was my radio (given by dad) and the weekly magazines (like Newsweek) he subscribed to. Thankfully, my dad had a good library... and record collection going back to the early 60's.
He told my brother and me about the show. It was about contemporary music,... 'the countdown of the 10 most popular songs in the USA, as determined by the editors of billboard magazine, record store sales and duration on the charts'. Dad was not too interested in newer stuff. So, during those nights, we would bum his radio and tune in. It was 30 minutes of 'transportation to a new world'. After my brother left for college, I would step out into the cold and silent night and look for the best possible signal (it was not FM, but short wave). Sometimes, I would record the shows to listen to these tracks again and again. My brother and I would then write letters to each other and discuss the show... Ray's humour and the charts. We had no decent record store in our town, and had to travel over 100 km (to the nearest city, Coimbatore) to buy new tapes. Since he was studying there, he would bring stuff whenever there was something worth buying.
I discovered a lot of new content on the show. I remember being exposed to R&B first on NOW Music. I used to track the chart performances of my favourite stars.
Nowadays, when I listen to a particular song, I remember the late nights up listening to the radio in my room. Instead of studying, I'd be exported to this mystery land... America. See, no matter how much I dislike America's policies today, she still sets the tone for the rest of the world. My room at Themi Villa was actually the 'prayer room' of the house. It looked cozy and nice. After my brother left for college, I moved into that room, and made it my own. It was tiny man... my tiny world. It had another door that opened outside. This was sealed. And during windy nights, you could feel the drafts coming in through the cracks of the door and hitting your ears. Surreal.
Now Music, USA - and its host Ray McDonald had a huge role in the way I played my life out. In the case of my dear buddy Arjun, it played THE role!! I used to look forward to the show - it was important for me to listen to his playlist (the surprise hot-shot debut), humour and opinions. It will endure as one of the most important aspects of my adoloscence.
At Sony BMG, I met Arjun Sankalia. Ladies - this guy is single. And my advise to you would be....
We had a similar experience with NOW Music, USA. We connected at a level man. It was great to talk about those times with someone who felt the same way.
So, whats with the nostalgia?
Recently, I had a huge urge to get in touch with Ray McDonald. Afterall, we are living in a world that is shrinking thanks to the internet. So, I dedicated a few hours to search for this man. And I ended up at his present employer's site (VOA Music Mix). I wrote an email to him (with parts taken from the above). A few days later, the reply comes.
It made his day that a long-time listener wrote to him. He said that 'Back then, listeners had fewer options, and I felt I was helping them discover a whole new world. Now, I'm just one voice among many.' This is true. But I assure you, if you listen to him once, he is not just one voice among many.
And to my joy... he is pretty familiar with India as well as Singapore (wife is Bengali and brother-in-law in Singapore). We may meet up and toast 2007!!
'Thanks again for your wonderful letter. I'll never forget my old "NowMusic" fans!'
Thanks Ray. You are THE man.
posted by Arun Nair at
5:17 PM
1 Comments:
" And now we meet in an abandoned studio.
We hear the playback and it seems so long ago.
And you remember the jingles used to go.
Oh-a oh
You were the first one.
Oh-a oh
You were the last one.
Video killed the radio star. "
Guys like Ray are a testament contrary to the above.
Toast to the good ol' simpler times!
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