Well, here is
how it all started. You see in late Summer 1995, Steve got himself a huge
C-Band satellite system. Big John saw this, loved it and not to be outdone
and being the gadget freak he is, just had to have one too!. A month
later, Big John had his very own C-Band satellite system and began surfing
through the skies to see what he could find. One night he was exploring
the many audio sub-carrier channels that can be found on C-Band and came across
something called Yesterday USA Radio.
Oh joy, oh
rapture! This station was playing Old Time Radio shows! Big John was
ecstatic! There had not been any OTR on local radio in 10 or more years,
and these guys were playing it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!
That night Big
John spoke to Bill Bragg, founder of the station by telephone and expressed his
appreciation and gratitude to Bill for playing those great old shows. Soon
thereafter, a working partnership and a great friendship developed.
YUSA
is totally volunteer run. The station stays on the air thanks to the
generous financial support of the listeners who pledge money much as PBS
Television viewers do, with one exception ... PBS
gets grants from the government, YUSA
does not have that luxury. The volunteers come in the form of disk jockeys
who give their time willingly and gratis, producing new episodes of their given
shows every 2 weeks. Founder Bill Bragg is also a volunteer and does live
shows Sunday thru Thursday nights. No one receives a salary of any kind.
There is one form of "payment" though ... when the dj's receive
letters from the listeners. As Big John says, "You can be in a rotten
mood or down on yourself for whatever reason and then you get a letter from a
listener telling you that this little show you do for free is the bright spot of
their day. That makes it all more than worthwhile".
Volunteering for YUSA is a labor of
love for all involved.
Big John and
Steve's working partnership with Bill Bragg began as they started producing
"fill-in" shows for the station to use when a particular dj's tape
didn't make it in on time. These shows became very popular with the
listeners and Big John and Steve had a great time doing them. Then, one
day, an opportunity presented itself. Bill Bragg announced that he had an
opening for a new show in the station line-up. A 55 minute time slot had
become available due to the departure of another dj. As is the standard
operating procedure in these cases, Big John and Steve made an official
"audition" tape and sent it in and hoped. For 2 weeks, the
listeners heard all the tapes that were competing for this spot and on a fateful
Sunday night in November of 1996, the listeners voted for what they thought was
the best of the batch. The votes were tallied and the winners were Big
John and Steve with their show "The Glowing Dial". The show was
on YUSA for nearly five years and was
one of the more popular shows on the station according to Bill Bragg.
Unfortunately, The
Glowing Dial was forced to end its nearly five-year run on Yesterday
USA due mainly to many problems in Big John's personal life. Big John
says, "It broke my heart to have to tell Bill Bragg that we could not
continue with the show ... but he was very understanding and said that he'd
'leave the door open' for us to return in the future and we're still on great
terms with him".
In its heyday on YUSA,
the guys produced a new episode every two weeks, eventually having to record
several shows in one sitting due to their increasing personal schedules.
As mentioned, the fellows got fan mail on occasion and even had some of the YUSA
listeners and supporters as sponsors of their show. The guys really loved
what they did for YUSA and hope to
return to the station line-up in the near future.
After a hiatus of over
two years, Big John and Steve started an online version of The Glowing Dial.
This version was available for download in MP3 format on the "Listening
Lounge" portion of The Glowing Dial
Page beginning September 1, 2003. At first, they produced a new
episode every 3 weeks. They even had a few contests to help kick off the
new version of the show. The contests have been discontinued but may
return if demand is sufficient. As of
July 1, 2007, The Glowing Dial became a monthly show due to Big John becoming
increasingly busy with things like his new Disc Jockey business, Brick House
Disc Jockey Entertainment. The business has lagged in recent years and Big
John acts as a disc jockey only occasionally.
There was
another hiatus which started in September of 2007 which ran over three
years. Again, this was due to Big John's continuing health problems.
Big John and Steve are now formulating plans to revive The Glowing Dial once
again in the first quarter of 2011 so the show goes on .....
Big John
Matthews: A Brief History
Big John was born on March 14, 1962 in Ferndale, Michigan. He was
adopted shortly thereafter by Robert and Ruth Matthews of Troy, Michigan and has
lived there most of his life. He was an only child with no brothers or
sisters (that he knows of). He also has never met his real parents.
Big John does not know his ethnic heritage but thinks he must be Irish because
of his love of Celtic music and fascination with the country of Ireland.
Big John discovered old time
radio in his early teens and was hooked immediately after hearing a portion of Orson
Welles' infamous "War Of
The Worlds". Soon after Big John went to his local libraries and
took out all the old time radio he could find and dubbed himself copies.
His collection at the time was rather meager and fit in a shoe box. The
collection, known as The
Glowing Dial Archives now comprises his and Steve's and numbers over
20,000 titles!
Big John met Steve in 1990
through a singles club they both belonged to at the time and a wonderful
friendship formed and is stronger than ever today.
Big John lives in Troy,
Michigan. He is currently on disability but he plans to get back into
television or radio when the opportunity arises. Sadly he and his "glowgirl"
are now divorced and out of communication. Also sadly, Big John's father,
Robert passed away December 8, 2001. He was 79. His mother, now 88 is still as
independent as she can be despite suffering from a stroke and hip replacement
surgery a few years back.
Steve "Archive"
Urbaniak: A Brief History
Steve was born on November 7, 1959 to Albert and Grace Urbaniak. Steve,
the oldest has a brother, Rick and a sister, Julie. Steve is now an uncle
four times over and is loving it! Steve has resided in Roseville, Michigan
most of his life.
Steve says, "It's a
shame we (Big John and I) didn't know each other in childhood, we look back now
and see that we had so much in common".
Steve currently works in the
composing department of The Macomb Daily
newspaper. He has been there for 23 years.
Steve has always loved things
old and nostalgic, which led to his interest in old time radio and his
partnership with Big John. Steve was married to his sweetheart Lorraine in
the Autumn of 2002 and now lives with her and her 2 sons and dog in Clinton
Township, Michigan.
In addition to his family and work,
Steve is a very busy guy. On his off days or before starting work, he can
frequently be seen in the classroom helping rowdy students as a substitute
teacher. He's been at this for 11 years now. In 2007, he completed
his graduate studies at Wayne
State University where he obtained a Masters Degree in Education.
He also has a State Of Michigan Teaching Certification with a Business Major and a Social Studies Minor.
Steve is also involved in many clubs and
organizations. Because he is the Vice President of the union at his workplace, he
attends union functions regularly and chairs the Executive
Committee, which is the grievance hearing body of The
Detroit Typographical Union # 18. He is the treasurer of the Printer's
Club, which is associated with the union and holds a yearly picnic at Stony
Creek Metropark for members and their families. Steve is also
politically inclined. It is not unusual to see him at a local or county
Democrat meeting. He has served as precinct delegate three times in the
past and has attended the state convention and the electoral vote proceedings in
Lansing, Michigan for the 2000
election. He is the newsletter editor and historian for the FHS
25+ Alumni Club for his alma-mater, Fraser
High School.
A very naughty
criminal mastermind (now a reformed swell guy) says of our hero,
"The most fantastic crime fighter the world has ever known!"
"He's poultry
in motion!" - an
anonymous admirer
Perhaps the
funniest series ever on radio is now available on 14 CD's -- All 273 episodes!
This is the
ultimate collector's package -- Mastered by Dick Orkin
(Chickenman's creator and voice) from the original master tapes,
with interviews of key players, behind-the-scenes stories....
and an Official Color Photo personally autographed by Chickenman himself!
Big John was born on March 14, 1962 in Ferndale, Michigan. He was
adopted shortly thereafter by Robert and Ruth Matthews of Troy, Michigan and has
lived there most of his life. He was an only child with no brothers or
sisters (that he knows of). He also has never met his real parents.
Big John does not know his ethnic heritage but thinks he must be Irish because
of his love of Celtic music and fascination with the country of Ireland.
Steve was born on November 7, 1959 to Albert and Grace Urbaniak. Steve,
the oldest has a brother, Rick and a sister, Julie. Steve is now an uncle
four times over and is loving it! Steve has resided in Roseville, Michigan
most of his life. 
