The Glowing Dial: A Brief History

     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 subcarrier 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 recently ended 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.

    Big John and Steve have recently announced that they intend to start up an online version of The Glowing Dial.  This version will be available for download in MP3 format on the "Listening Lounge" portion of The Glowing Dial Page beginning September 1, 2003.   They plan to have a new episode available for download every 3 weeks.  They also plan to have a Name That Voice contest to help kick off the new version of the show.  The contest will be available on the "Our Latest Contest" portion of The Glowing Dial Page.  Big John and Steve say the new version should have all the fun of the original and they're counting on listeners to write in and tell them what they think of it.  And 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.  John works for several employment agencies there doing temporary assignments. 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.

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 15 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 four years now.  He likes it so much that 2 nights a week he attends graduate school at Wayne State University where he is seeking his Masters Degree in Education.  He has a Business Major and a Social Studies Minor. 

   Steve is also involved in many clubs and organizations.  Because he is the union representative at his workplace, he attends union functions regularly and serves as an alternate on 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 for the FHS 25+ Alumni Club for his alma-mater, Fraser High School.