Why I listen to Power 88
My radio past
Back in my teenage days I had two radio stations of choice. One was a rap station and the other was the popular rock/pop/and whatever else they felt like playing station. There was no internet radio, satellite radio, or anything of that sort. The music selection was not the reason why I chose these stations because it did get a little aggravating hearing the same song played over and over 274 times in a day. I was lucky enough to have one of those things called a CD-Writer so I made mix CDs like crazy, but the reason why I chose those stations were because they broadcasted local news. For the most part that is how we, as teenagers, heard what was going on in our great city of Mobile. We didn’t watch TV, unless it was Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, not everyone had internet and if they did AOL Chat was the highest priority, and we absolutely NEVER read the newspaper. Our only viable option to know what was going on, what concerts were coming, and the latest on our favorite artists were the radio stations. Even to the essence of coming in from out of town and finally being able to receive the signal on the radio was what made it part of being home.
My radio change
When I was 19 years old (I’m 32 as of writing this) I made the crazy crazy crazy decision of taking my 100+ mix burned and purchased CDs to the altar at Friendship Baptist Church and gave it to my pastor Bro. Teddie. The reason it was crazy was because to everyone else I just gave up cash money, but I knew that God was calling me to make a change in what was going into my head daily and I didn’t want those CDs influencing others in the wrong way so I gave them up to the Lord. Since that time the only type of music I chose to listen to is Christian music. The type changes from day to day, but for the most part it is Contemporary Christian music. For the longest time all we had was Power 88 (88.5). Some of us would always complain about the station because it wouldn’t play what we wanted and when we would hear stations from other places we always wished someone would start another Christian music station in Mobile.
My radio future
One day a couple years ago our wish became a reality. The great K-Love radio station, that we heard when out of town, took over that favorite of my old self’s FM dial and it seemingly would be exactly what we all had wished for. I’ll admit that I ditched Power 88 and went to K-love predominately for a little while, but I knew there was something missing.
The longer I listened the clearer and clearer it became, there was nothing being said about my hometown of Mobile or even the Gulf Coast. It took me a little while to realize that this radio station was not based out of Mobile, or Pensacola, or Gulfport, or even New Orleans. They were no where close. The same thing that drew me to those secular stations was drawing me back to the local Christian station. So why do I listen to Power 88? For me it’s not about the music that is being played, it is about having a connection with the station and that station having a connection with you. Goes back to that fact of making me feel at home and that is what Power 88 does for me.
Website: www.goforth.org
On the Dial: 88.5 FM