Bertone Beatle Bonanza began at Florida Atlantic University's Boca campus back in fall 2004. It was my freshmen semester and I saw the campus radio station, Owl Radio. I had been looking to sign up for an extra curricular activity and was very excited about this one. What kind of a show would I do? I had to do something hat would have a guaranteed audience base, was different than all the other shows on the schedule and that I would be able to talk about without sounding stupid. The Beatles was my obvious choice.
Here is the little known fact; the show came very close to being called Bertone Beatle Bash. I had even signed up on a few message boards with that handle and putting in my signature that "Bertone Beatle Bash" was coming soon. I talked to another DJ in training named Syria who I suggested go by the name Syria the Siren, and in turn she suggested I swap out Bash for Bonanza. History was made although I have no clue whatever happened to Syria or if she wound up using my name.
The first broadcast for Bertone Beatle Bonanza aired on Saturday, October 30th 2004. I was still wearing the costume I had used for a Halloween party my other job was having. Technical difficulties made me start late, so the first song was "Wait". That historic first broadcast is on cd somewhere (technical difficulties and all) and I will try and find it and upload it one day. I know it'll be embarrassing to listen to.
I can't remember for the life of me if the timeslot was Saturdays at 4 or 5. The timeslot and schedule fluctuated a lot. At the time the only way to listen to the show was through the Owl Radio website or picking up FAU's frequency. Either way those early days were good. The traditional opening was "Any Road" by George Harrison and closing was "The End" from Abbey Road. "Any Road" was chosen because of my then status as an 18 year old college freshman with his whole life ahead of him.
The shows popularity really picked up thanks to members of the Beatles message board "Shabby Road". The audience expanded from local Floridians and college students to worldwide Beatles fans thanks to them. My first big triumph came when May Pang, whose novel I had just finished, agreed to be interviewed on my show. I was in awe and the interview had it's quirks but it was really memorable.
One of the biggest complaints I got from the audiences was that my shows were not archived thus they were out of luck unless they were at their PC’s or radios during the shows airtime. This was especially hard on the overseas fans that had to wake up early. During a 2005 road trip I read an article about podcasting which forever changed the destiny of “Bertone Beatle Bonanza”. I tried archiving other ways for a bit first, including Rapidshare, but that was very difficult for the listeners. I also wasn’t spending as much time at FAU as my life went on.
Thanks to some online tutorials, I was able to launch bertonebeatlebonanza.net as an online archived show in July of 2006. Every show from then on was (and still is) available for listen and download. This was after a hiatus lasting months as I settled into the Tampa Bay area of Florida. When I returned it was with a bang, for not only was I on a new website, but the first show back also featured Pete Best. A few months later, my audience grew even larger as I became available on iTunes.
The show became less and less regular as I became a working young man in my 20’s. Hiatuses started popping up more often and I even considering canceling the show a few times. This hobby has proved too enjoyable for me to drop though and the feedback from my listeners has ensured that no matter how long it takes between episodes, I can’t let this die. At the end of 2007, I asked fellow Beatles fan Eric Parashos, who I had met on Shabby Road back in 2004, if he would be my co-host. He accepted, but due to difficulties in coordination, our first episode together did not actually air until October of 2008. Now with a new website and new features Bertone Beatle Bonanza is still going strong and I look forward to an even stronger future.

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