Inevitable Reflections: November 1st marks 23 Years Hosting The KUIC Morning Show

It seems like just yesterday…getting up at 2:00am, unable to sleep the Halloween night before, pacing around my dark house as I prepared to drive from Roseville to Vacaville that Monday Morning, November 1st, 1999. I was about to embark on a radio adventure that I never dreamed would unfold the way it has: four broadcast partners, and literally hundreds of technological advancements later, I’m still the unlikely host of KUIC Hometown Mornings. So much has changed since the late 1990’s, including the digitization of radio stations, the advent of social media, and of course the music I’ve been playing (although some tunes I played that first week I was on the air, like Del Amitri’s “Roll To Me,” continue to pop up). Some things haven’t changed: I continue to offer up a daily trivia question in the form of our “What Do You Think?” game, which has had the same premise (and theme music) since that first day I went on the air. There is still the unfounded warning blowing through the wind that “radio is dead,” although KUIC continues to make that statement seem silly with its’ commitment to “hometown” and providing a connection to community that other stations just can’t match. That fact is especially relevant as KUIC marks its 50th year broadcasting in the 95-3 FM position next year (the station officially became “KUIC” when it was sold to KPOP Radio back in 1973). It’s pretty unlikely that a former Social Worker and Musician from Orange County, CA would end up connecting so deeply with the areas KUIC broadcasts to here in NorCal…I’m very grateful, but EXTRA grateful every 1st of November 🙂

John Young