A Dream Come True

Music, laughter, mystery, drama and much more are heard worldwide from Tacoma, Washington on Internet radio station KNLDJ, “Internet Radio Free America.”

If you’re into nostalgia and have a wisp of gray hair, you’re bound to enjoy the music and chatter of KNLDJ, which features music and radio shows from the late 20s through the mid-60s. The station is the dream come true of 80-year-old Donn J. Moyer, a retired professional showman. Donn worked for 57 years in circuses, nightclubs, the stage, radio and television.

The existence of KNLDJ is all the more remarkable when you consider that on May 31, 2007 Donn felt a crushing pain in his chest. We assumed it was a heart attack but it was much worse—a dissected aorta. He was given a two percent chance of survival. Nine heart-related surgeries and as many months later, Donn was at home sitting on the verandah telling his wife Nancy that he “wanted an Internet radio station.”

Moyer’s interest in broadcast began at age 16 when he started a small illegal radio station in Palmer, Alaska, but he got caught and had to dismantle it. He entered the Air Force at age 17 and was stationed as staff announcer and disc jockey with the Armed Forces Radio Service in Alaska at Elmendorf Air Force Base, where he hosted Off the Record, entertaining G.I.’s from 1951-53.

After discharge, he worked in both radio and television for nearly 30 years. Flash-forward: Former disc jockey and show business personality “Buckshot” Donn J. Moyer launches the first show of his Internet radio station—Off the Record, an hour of pure nostalgia. KNLDJ is in now it its third year.

The Moyers both say, “It’s a lot of fun and a lot of work.” KNLDJ hit the Internet with the help of family and friends Donn writes the material and is an announcer. Nancy, with the velvet voice, is an announcer, too, as well as being responsible for the engineering and technical end. Their son Donn T. Moyer, who worked in radio and television for 28 years (the last 17 at KIRO in Seattle) and Carl Lambert, who has been broadcasting area football and basketball games for 40 years, comprise the unpaid announcing staff. Nancy’s brother, Charles Hargan, former mayor of Germantown, WI, is a guest announcer. For software help they call on long-time family friend, Chris St. Pierre, who wears a shirt that says Don’t ask me about your computer. Dave Clute built the broadcast equipment and computers—he seems able to do about anything.

KNLDJ sounds like a busy place but owners Nancy and Donn are the primary operators. KNLDJ operates 24 hours a day year-round. It’s free and does not accept donations. The only commercials are those left in the body of the original old radio shows. Listening on the Internet means no static, no fading in and out. It reaches anyone worldwide with a computer and Internet access.

To hear Donn and his “dream come true” radio station, do an nternet search for KNLDJ. The website includes photos, background on Donn’s and Nancy’s life in entertaining, and information about the station. Click on the “Listen Now” bar and select your media player to hear the programs.

Donn and Nancy say, “This is our free gift and is dedicated to senior citizens and veterans as well as anyone who wants to immerse themselves in the ‘yesterdays’ of our lives.”