Gessner
Program Director
00:00 - 04:00 GMT M-F
bgessner@worldspace.com
It all began in late March 1966 in the hills of West Virginia..well at least for me it did. I was born the only child of two only children. A family small in number but big in heart with minds as open as the world. Music played a big part in my growing up, though the influences were sparse. My father loved Billy Eckstine (Mr. B. he always called him) above all other singers and there were few other records in the house. Sarah Vaughan, Dean Martin, Mills Brothers, Herb Albert and Spike Jones were amongst the records I played in my early days and I did enjoy them.
As my teen years began my influences were my friends and in the mid 1970s it was all about rock and roll. I can remember the moment in time when I bought my first Boston and Ted Nugent records..even that strange day I came across Frank Zappa in the cut out bin and played the record in secret in the back room of my grandparents house.
In high school New Wave made the scene and turned to alternative rock…the early days of the B-52s, R.E.M. and U2 before they were superstars. That led to college where I spent the six best years of my 20s working at the college radio station..a special place where the music really mattered.
Even before I graduated I knew commercial radio was not for me…I was used to playing the music I wanted to listen to and not what I was told to play. Audio engineering was in my blood so I choose to try my hand at television and took a job with the local Public TV station as a sound recordist working on various documentaries. During the next six years my real life began.
I first traveled out of my country in 1994 for a working trip to Poland. My eyes had never been so wide open and I started to understand the big picture. To South America and Peru in early ’99, following more my heart than destiny but changing forever both. Japan in late ’99 was the real kicker though. That was when I realized that culture shock was not leaving "home" but having to come back. When I came back this time it was only to say good-bye for I had been accepted to join the WorldSpace family.
Seven years have since passed and they have been most enlightening times. My duties have been varied but I have truly found my niche programming The HOP. The opportunity to explore three decades of music during such a pivotal change in social and popular culture and thinking is a fun challenge. To share it with the world is a privilege.
