A serious retro-lunch

The world really has changed so much in my lifetime.  Not to date myself, but I grew up in the days of party lines, black & white TV and three TV networks.

However, even during the past couple of decades we’ve seen major changes in the way we do things and the way we live.  The other day, I got to go back to the radio hey days of the 1980s and 1990s and had lunch with a guy who covered the medium for the Seattle Times, Victor Stredicke.

For 25 years, Victor was the TV listings editor for the Times.  Remember, back in those days, you could cough up the money for a fancy TV Guide, or get the one that came in the newspaper for FREE (well, with your paid subscription)

When the newspaper found itself with some extra space in the guide, they suggested he write about the local radio scene and a radio tradition was born.

During those years, I was Larry Nelson’s producer at KOMO, AM-1000 and, eventually, part of the Murdock , Hunter & Alice show at 92.5-KLSY.  Every disc jockey in town did their best to get into his column.  In the days before radio bulletin boards and websites, it was the way we all found out what the latest was about each other.

The funny part is, for as much as we communicated by email during those years and how he was aware of my career, we had never met in person.  I believe I stumbled across his name recently, reached out to him, he responded and the next thing you know, we were going to lunch.

Just finding a location turned out to be an adventure.  Since he was coming from the south end and I was going to dash out from my job in Mountlake Terrace, I suggested the Northgate area as a place to meet.  That’s when he asked, “Is there a Denny’s there?”   Denny’s, huh?  While I was trying to come up with a response, he said, “Oh, there’s one just off the freeway by Northgate!”  “Perfect!” I said, “I’ll meet you there.”

The day of the lunch, I arrived at the address only to find Victor in the parking lot, looking at  his phone.  The restaurant was no longer a Denny’s, but a Saphron Grill.  Victor said he had gone in and asked when they made the switch and the manager told him, “Fifteen years ago.”

So, Victor looked up another on his phone, at 155^th and Aurora.  I said, “I know exactly where that’s at!” and led the way.  Soon, we pulled up in front of a boarded up Denny’s.  Strike two.  I asked if Sherri’s across the street would work, he said “Yes” and we were off.

During our chatty lunch, we got caught up with each other’s careers, talked about mutual acquaintances and some of the “behind the scenes” dirt.  I talked about the demise of our show, he gave me the low down on several famous names and even some from before my time that I didn’t recognize.  I also found out that day that Victor had become very good friends with Delilah Rene and you have to give him at least partial credit for helping launch her into the mega career she enjoys now.   Delilah will be the first to tell you that she owes him a lot and when I told her about the lunch, she asked how to reach him.  They’re now reconnected.

A lot of years have passed since both Victor and I had any influence with the Seattle media and as we looked back, I am more convinced than ever that the time I was able to play in the northwest radio arena, those really were “the good old days!”  The medium is quickly losing its relevance and is just a generation away from being the newspaper of electronic media.

I’ve always made it a point not to live in the past.  Oldies stations bore me.  “Really?  That song AGAIN?”  However, for an hour, it was fun to relive a couple of very fun decades and hang with the guy who was a big reason why radio still mattered.  It could really use a writer like Victor today.

Tim Hunter