Friday, February 7th, 2014 would prove to be an amazing day and for the simplest reason - an interview. Just the week prior (on Thursday January 30th - at the Chicago History Museum) I was in the audience enjoying a lively panel discussion on various topics surrounding the early Chicago House Music Scene. The moderator was Monica Hairston O'Connell (executive director of Columbia College Chicago's Center for Black Music Research) and the panelists included: DJ Alan King (The Chosen Few), DJ Derrick Carter (Resident of Queen! at the Smart Bar), Robert Williams (Owner of the Warehouse and the Music Box), and Micah Salkind (music scholar and historian from Brown University). At the end of the discussion I made it a point to approach Micah and let him know that he struck home with his opening remarks when he briefly mentioned four Chicago radio stations: WBMX, WGCI, WKKC and WNUR. WKKC (Kennedy-King College) eventually became MY favorite station, and I asked Micah if he knew what the station was up to. He said that he didn't. I told him that they were back to doing House shows...from there Micah's curiosity was piqued, especially since the panel did not go into lengthy details of the impact of radio. Micah suggested that he should interview me and I was more than happy to oblige. Fast forward to February 7th. I was excited to be a part of this interview. I had a list of things that I needed to ensure were included, regardless of the questions that were asked. In my mind the questions could basically be geared in one of two directions: WKKC specifically, or Chicago radio in general. In either case I had enough recall that I could paint a simple picture of what radio was like in Chicago, even after my departure for the military. [One of the perks of military service was 30 days' vacation each year beginning with the first year, so I was always able to stay connected to the happenings in Chicago radio.] Micah asked all of the right questions, beginning with my upbringing and how I was introduced to music in general. We went all over the place with radio and my discovery of House Music and the 'culture' as a teenager. We discussed my connection to Chicago after my departure for Air Force Basic Military Training, and my newfound mission as an "ambassador of House" to the troops. We discussed the national attention and crossover appeal of House Music during the 1990s. We discussed my routine in Chicago and England, and compared the two scenes with their similarities and differences. We ended with a shout out to a radio station that I was unaware of until my aunt gave me a bit of information -- WSDM, which had an all female roster. All in all it was great to take the trip down memory lane. More significant was the principle purpose behind the interview. I was made aware that Micah is heavily involved with the Center for Black Music Research (CBMR) at Columbia College. His mission was to collect oral history narrative from individuals who were involved in House Music culture and community in Chicago. The narratives will be made available to other scholars as well as the general public through the CBMR archive. I then became a willing volunteer to supply mixes to the archive. I also provided Micah two gifts: a snippet of one of the legendary "Roachbusters Mixes" mixed by WKKC's Walter "Get Down" Brown, and a guest mix by DJ Purple (me) on WKKC's Friday Night Audio that was aired on March 21st, 1997. These could very well be the first two of my many contributions to the archive, as I told Micah that I have 10 Case Logic cassette wallets filled with radio mixes from Chicago(and a portion from England). This was a great day. It was another milestone for the year 2014, and only 38 days in...