Former Radio Free Phoenix DJ, Mariah Fleming, joins Deep Oldies Monday through Friday from 8pm – 12 Midnight. Mariah replaces Charlie Ram, who has left Deep Oldies for a new adventure elsewhere. We wish Charlie luck!
Mariah is a third generation Arizona native, had her first “aha!” moment about radio at the plucky age of five when she discovered a translucent red 45 in her best friend’s dad’s record collection. When Mariah found out he played all those records the radio, she knew it was her destiny. When she shared her dream with Mr. DJ dad, with a condescending guffaw he informed her “Girls are not allowed to be on the radio!” Never tell an Irish redhead she “can’t” do something. Mariah’s passion for rock and roll hid beneath her strict Catholic school persona until her family moved from Tucson to Phoenix. At 14 she discovered the ‘big city’ and flipped between top forty rivals KRIZ and KRUX. Her grandmother bought her a transistor radio complete with earpiece and leather case (perfect for hiding the radio under the bedcovers.) Then in the late ’60’s she discovered Little Willie Sunshine (Bill Compton) on the “KRUX Underground.” Bill Compton told her girls could too be in radio!
Compton nudged along the performer in Mariah by arranging her first studio recording of original music (a†2 a.m. session at KRUX studios.) A devotee of KCAC and KDKB, Mariah performed live numerous times on KDKB, wrote and voiced PSA’s. Then Wonderful Russ recruited her to be the voice of the fake “First Women’s National Credit and Trust Bank” ads.* They were the hilarious and irreverent brainchild of “Love Workshop” creators Russell Shaw and Todd Carroll. After four or five of the ads, KDKB got a curt “cease and desist” letter from the State for saying the bank had “a branch opening soon near you!” Mariah, founder and editor of MusicandMoreAZ.com, still does voiceovers, studio vocals, freelance writing and occasional gigs. She was an officer on the Board of Directors of the Arizona Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame in 2005 and from 2007 to 2010, Mariah was first onboard at sister station Radio Free Phoenix in 2005 and is proud to be part of the Deep Oldies air staff. Listen to Mariah weeknights from 8pm to 12am.
