Radio Days

Back in 2002 Vinnie of the Sarah & Vinnie Morning Radio Show in San Francisco was canned. Sarah & Vinnie arrived in SF as a team that had been together for a few years before moving to San Francisco, and then they were on 97.3 together for almost 6 years. In the end his partying /drinking got the best of him and it really affected his job and as a loyal listener, on my one hour commute to work every morning, I was done with him too.... after all those years Vinnie burnt all kinds of bridges with the listeners, the station and with Sarah. I was sad but was also worried that the morning show I had come to know and love wasn't going to be any good....

With Vinnie gone Sarah had to find a replacement co-host and ultimately she found No Name (aka Mike Nelson) who used to DJ on a late night spot on the local Alternative Radio Station: Live 105 (still my fav radio station). No Name stepped in and stepped up and I really ended up liking him a lot on the show. Who knew that 5 years would go by so fast.

Outside of the Bay Area some may know No Name / Mike Nelson as the voice of the short lived / much love (by some) Boiling Points on MTV, and more recently from House Detective on HGTV. No Name brought with him an incredibly high energy and a crazy fun personality and I liked the chemistry he had with Sarah.

I don't think I'm alone when I feel that a local radio show like Sarah & No Name felt like they were people that I knew - even though I didn't really know them personally.... I noticed ages back that I'd refer to them as if I knew them (but not in a psycho kind of way). So, like any friendship you meet and like someone, if they let you down you are sad and then hopefully someone new comes along to fill the hole - & when Vinnie left the show that radio show hole filler was No Name.

We, the listeners, experienced the birth of No Name's two sons, a crazy trip to Japan, etc. I really, really liked No Name and was shocked to find that when the show returned from their two week vacation after the 4th of July holiday that No Name had been let go. Then the search for a new co-host began. I missed most of the last couple weeks as I was in San Diego so I don't even know if Vinnie's name ever came up... Instead this morning my clock radio turns on and in my half sleep I'm bolted awake to hear them talking with Vinnie on the radio! WHAT! Really? Vinnie back with Sarah?!?

Turns out the Vinnie cleaned up his act and has been sober for 4 years - it took getting fired and hitting bottom to get him to rehab. He's been in Eugene, Oregon on some rock station. They talked this morning about how he'd auditioned for a few shows but nothing worked....

So now Vinnie's back and I'm anticipating an interesting transition back to what was but in a new way (does that even make sense?). Even though my commute has been trimmed down from 60 minutes to about 15 minutes, door to door, I'll probably stick with the show.

There aren't any other good morning radio shows here in SF to turn to and I really do like Sarah and most of the other staff. Besides 97.3 FM is the one station I can actually tune in on my radio at my work desk, so I'll be listening and maybe Vinnie will find a way back to being my friend.