On April 24, Coleman will cel-
ebrate the 10th anniversary of his
show at the Asbury Hotel in As-
bury Park. The party will include
performances by Radio Fiction,
Rick Barth, Dave Vargo, Kevin
John Allen, The Williamsboy, John
Alberici, Strumberry Pie, and Jo
Wymer Band. The event runs from
8:00pm to 11:00pm.
When asked if he remembers his
first broadcast, he laughs, “Oh my
gosh yes, I remember it vividly be-
cause so much went wrong. First, I
was locked out of the radio station
because nobody had mentioned
to the program director or board
engineer that I would be starting
that particular evening. The show
first aired on April 26, 2009 from
10:00pm–11:00pm on WIFI 1460
AM Radio and occupied that time
slot for the first three years. I ar-
rived early that first night and be-
gan to frantically call the station
team. I managed to get in and then
it got worse; I had no engineer and
NJ STAGE - ISSUE 57
the set up was much different than
what I’d learned in broadcasting
school in 1982. I experimented and
somehow managed to not knock
the station off air.”
The guests on that first broad-
cast included W.C. Soulshine (the
band he was playing with at the
time) and Mike Thompson from
Agency, a band based in Asbury
Park. Fumbling with the controls,
the show began 10 minutes late.
“The phone rang and I had no
clue how to put the caller on the
air; so it was an interesting first
experience!” said Coleman who
had been a guest of several live
radio shows as a musician, but
had never hosted his own
program.
Coleman’s radio journey began
as a way of re-inventing himself
after a career ending back injury.
He says he started it without any
visions of grandeur and finds it
hard to believe that the show is
celebrating a decade on the air,
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