Mason Lee Dixon's On-Air Poetry

[Travis]

A sampling of some of Mason Dixon's on-air poetry can be found on the airchecks page. Mason usually ran these at 55 minutes into the hour following a spotset, but since there was not as many spots at night, the poetry generally followed the WAKY jock-hop promo (Here's where you'll find the big 79 jocks, etc.). Mason never said anything going into these poems or coming out of one; they always followed the :55 spotset and led directly into a "WAKY oldie" which would then lead to the top of the hour station ID. When possible, Mason would choose an oldie that was in some way relevant to the poem. One of my favorite poems was titled, Harbinger (mankind beware) which foretold of grim things to come as a result of our crimes, abuse & exploitation of our world. Mason would generally follow this poem with Zager & Evans' "In the Year 2525." The song was not "right on" with the poem, but made for a nice segue. You had to be there and it had to be late night with Mason Lee Dixon in order to really experience the atmosphere created by his show. Hearing the poetry, in its somewhat raw form, on the airchecks page will not convey what it was actually like to hear them when they were part of Mason's overnight show. Thanks to Mike Griffin, who apparently is quite a pack-rat for having saved these recordings, and many others, for well over 30 years, we can at least hear some of these poems again.

[Mike Griffin]

I wasn't a big fan of the poetry, or any poetry, when it was on the air. It was alright but I wanted to hear music and such. After Mason left WAKY and I had the carts to recycle I put them aside for awhile. Then I listened to one and after that I couldn't erase them so I put them on reel-to-reel tape. Now here they are 33 years later. Good stuff, I'd like to hear them back on the air again.

[SonofaMasonLee]

Well I love my fathers Poetry. Not just because it was coming form my father but because the poetry itself marks a generation emerged out of the 60's and 70's.
I mean when you think about it the late 60's and early 70's we had such an expansion of consiousness with the civil rights movement and the hippi's and the mindset of the younger crowd back then to get on the Peace and Love bandwagon.
I think that his Poetry reveals some of that mentality and spirit of the day.
I mean i agree with the fact that putting the poetry in the day spots on the radio wouldnt have been a good idea mainly because radio in the day back then had to have this fast and energetic flow. But at night i think it was perfect for those laid back listeners,,hehe and of course the Women back then must have liked hearing those words.
Hey you got to cater to all of your listeners and at the same time let your creativity flow forth. Ole' mason i think did a decent job of that.

Thanks for keeping the poetry alive,,,

Peace,,Jason

[Mike Griffin]

I can't imagine you Dad's show now without the poems. Your Dad was also on weekends on a day shift and played them there as well. The did see the light of day and had a large audience. I know a lot of people remember him, maybe more than many of the other jockes. It's because he was real and the poems were just another aspect of it.

[SonofaMasonLee]

Hi Mike. So they were put on during the day? That's great. His Poetry inspired mine. I wrote alot back in my high school daze . and kept them stashed in folders here and there. I had a chance to recite them at a local coffee shop in Taos new mexico when i lived there a few years back. I got decent response,,,but i utlized a music format for the poetry i wrote just like Dad did. It just enhances the writings when you select the right music to go along with it. anyway,,,thanks again for keeping the poetry alive.
Many regards,,Jason

[Travis]

Aside from his beautiful poetry, Mason would sometimes leave humorous rhymes on the request line's answering machine. Under the name of Ronnie Radio, he would speak very rapidly and record some rhyming nonsense onto the machine's greeting. Listeners calling in to make requests were no doubt thrown for a loop by these greetings. I know I certainly was.

"Hi. This is Ronnie Radio at the big 79. At the sound of the tone please leave a request for which you would like for Ronnie Radio to play for you and your mother, too." BEEEEPP!!

To quote Johnny Randolph, "Mason Lee Dixon. Man, what a piece of work he is."

So true. So true.