Mike Russell 1981
Greetings fellow Broncho Broadcasters,
This is Mike Russell, proud 1981 graduate of Jefferson High, and former Broncho Broadcaster. My work at WJEF led to several part-time jobs in radio in the Lafayette area. I worked with Ron Ramhap (also on these pages) at WASK for about a year, and then worked with Ed Clay (also on these pages) at WAZY-FM for several years, including the AM station WFTE ("Your kind of Country") at 1410 AM, before the AM side was sold. I continued working at WAZY-FM all through my college studies at Purdue University. Without Bill Fraser's direction and indulgence, I never would have landed those great jobs. They helped pay for part of my tuition and books at Purdue. I'm deeply indebted and appreciative of all the hard work Mr. Fraser (like in Eraser) put in to get the facilities built, and to help us students get better at speaking and writing. Some of my favorite memories of high school are the broadcasts of basketball and football games, especially during the seasons when we went to the regionals or semi-finals. I also enjoyed audio production, making commercials or promotional announcements in the recording studio. Fabulous fun!
You current students have no idea how good you've got it with CDs and digital music. In 1981, we had to play vinyl LPs, and sometimes they would skip.
After Purdue, I became a computer systems analyst and consultant. Then, went back to Indiana University for an MBA. Now gainfully employed as an IT Supervisor in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Married with one daughter, age 4.
After all these years, I still greatly enjoy music and microphones. For many years now I have been running a hobby recording studio. I still get to play with music and microphones! For those of you who are interested, my studio website is www.firetraprecords.com <file://www.firetraprecords.com> . E-mail is mdrussell@comcast.net.
Bill Fraser, wherever you are, I can't thank you enough!
Go Bronchos!