My friends and I were super into music in the mid-60s and our favorite local radio station was WAKX whose studio was located half way between our neighborhood and school. Every Monday they posted the new Top 40 list on a bulletin board in the lobby and we'd stop in on our way home from school to check it out.

One Monday our favorite DJ, Keith London, came out of the studio and greeted us. "What's your favorite song?", he asked. My friends were too starstruck to say anything, but I said, "Uptight" . He looked surprised. The song had just been released and had barely cracked the Top 40.

"Why do you like it?" I thought for a minute and said, "Because it has soul." "Soul? What does a little girl from here know about soul?" he laughed. But he really listened when I told him about listening to a station in Shreveport, LA late at night on a transistor radio tucked under my pillow, loving any music that came out of Detroit, etc.

By the end of our conversation he'd offered me a job. WAKX received dozens of new records each week, more than the DJs had time to listen to. My job would be to come in after school a couple days a week, listen to the records, and let them know what I thought might be hits. I'd also pull breaking news off the Teletype machine, hand it to the DJs, and perform a variety of clerical tasks.

The pay? Nothing ... at least not in $$$$. But I could take home any records I wanted and go to all the dances and concerts WAKX promoted with them free, as their Teen Ambassador.

Even better, Keith loaned me albums from his personal collection ... James Brown, Howlin' Wolf, Son House, T-Bone Walker, Elmore James, Sonny Boy Williamson.

This little girl was getting an education that would serve her well in the future. And I have Stevie Wonder to thank for it.