I conduct most of my grocery shopping at Grocery Kart in Alliance.
I started doing so several years ago when Larry Ring served as manager. Larry was a fine advertiser at KCOW, so I utilized his service. He also would share free cookies with my two small daughters.
I still shop at Grocery Kart because I know a good share of the employees.
But what happened last week, solidified my dedication to the Kart.
I was standing in line waiting to pay for my popcorn and Diet Pepsi, when, from a speaker above, I heard Barry Manilow singing “I Write the Songs.”
Manilow’s signature song reached number one on the billboard charts in January 1976.
I was a junior in high school.
And then it struck me. ALL the songs played on the Grocery Kart speaker system are songs that I loved to listen to during the 1970s and 1980s.
So many great artists.
Glen Campbell, The Carpenters, Elton John, The Four Seasons, Simon and Garfunkel, Starland Vocal Band, The Eagles, Carly Simon, Kenny Nolan, Rod Stewart, Andy Gibb, The Bee Gees, ABBA, Stevie Wonder, Stephen Bishop . . . the list goes on and on.
During the last two weeks of April, I traveled the four corners of Nebraska and ventured through many towns in-between.
I was constantly pushing my radio’s seek button.
First the FM button that blasted hard rock, country or symphony music. Then AM stations that offered aggravating scratches and pops.
None, and I mean NONE of the radio stations played the wonderful songs that I hear at Grocery Kart.
The music offered by radio stations in McCook, North Platte, Ogallala, Scottsbluff, Alliance, Chadron, Lexington, Cozad, Broken Bow, Valentine, Kearney, Grand Island, Columbus, Norfolk, Lincoln and Omaha left much to be desired.
However, I hit paydirt on Saturday afternoon, April 29, while I was traveling from Omaha to Sioux City to attend a birthday party.
“You’re listening to Boomer Radio, 94.5,” was the sales pitch.
Boomer?
I’m a boomer!
I’m a member of that generation!
1946 to 1964.
I was born in 1959.
I’m a late Boomer, but I’m still a Boomer!
A few commercials played and then: “He Don’t Love You, Like I Love You,” by Tony Orlando and Dawn graced the airwaves.
I was hooked.
I was glued to my radio until the signal faded. At, roughly, the Decatur, NE exit.
It was time for Husker baseball anyway, so back to ESPN Radio. AM 590 in Omaha. The old WOW Radio. The station that used to play that wonderful Grocery Kart music.
During my drive back to Omaha, Boomer radio was broadcasting an indoor football game.
The Omaha Beef vs. Rapid City.
Football in April? And indoors on a 50-yard field?
No, thanks.
The drive from Omaha to Alliance on Sunday meant more Boomer Radio and then Husker baseball on AM 880, KRVN.
When the Husker game ended, I was passing though Merna in Custer County.
The radio was turned off, and it was just me, God and the Sandhills.
I can’t explain why there is only one radio station in all of Nebraska that plays Grocery Kart music.
The probable excuse would be demographics.
But I don’t buy that.
I will keep buying my groceries at Alliance’s Grocery Kart.
They offer the best radio station that isn’t a radio station in all of Nebraska.
With Omaha’s Boomer Radio – FM 94.5 — a close second.