In Montana, We Used to Use C.B. Radios. Do You Remember?
Breaker one-nine. Breaker one-nine. You got your ears on? I'm looking for a smokey report. I'm eastbound outta Billings, c'mon.
To the kids who might read this, yes we really used to talk like that when we'd play around. Way before cell phones, the two ways you could communicate were landlines (yes, an actual phone that could be hung up) and C.B. radio, or a citizen's band radio.
Then in 1975, an advertising executive named Bill Fries was writing some jingles for The Old Home Bread Company, and one of the songs he wrote was "Convoy". And the song was a smash. It crossed over to the pop charts in addition to being the number one country single for six weeks.
While we were doing our famous CBs today on-air for callers to guess, we had a lady call in the "citizens band". And I recalled a guy calling himself Cledus Maggard whose backup group called themselves "The Citizens Band".
They cut a trucker song called "White Knight". And it was such a hit that they went right back into the studio and did an entire album.
As I was looking some things up about him, I ran across one of the songs that has a great country title. "The Liquored Up Pick Em Up Truck".
After "Convoy" got the ball rolling, country radio was deluged with trucking songs. And when the CB radio was used extensively in "Smokey & The Bandit", everybody in America had to have one. (the movie was also good for Trans Am sales. After Burt drove one on the big screen, Pontiac reported the sales of that car increased by 25,000 cars the next year. Thanks, Bandit)
So, keep the bugs off your glass and the bears off your...
I'm 10-7.