In my younger years, I had my share of heartaches and heartbreaks. As a way of dealing with the pain, I turned to the radio and listened to love songs. This started my friendship with music.
At the time, there were a few local radio stations that played these types of songs. My favorite was 94.7 WWLL (pronounced as double U double L). Identifying itself as “The Mellow Touch”, the station became known for playing purely soft and mellow love songs; hence the tag.
It operates 24/7, plays a string of pure and beautiful love songs, and has no talking DJ’s. Only a male recorded voice-over aired every now and then to tell the time and to identify the station can be heard in between the songs.
The Mellow Touch became a favorite of many radio listeners, especially those who prefer love songs. Other than that, the station adopted a part of a haunting tune as its theme song. Entitled “Nadia’s Theme”, this instrumental piece was also the theme music of a long-running US TV soap opera called “The Young and The Restless”
Composed by Perry Botkin Jr., and Barry De Vorzon in 1971, “Nadia’s Theme” actually referred to Nadia Comaneci, a former Olympic gymnast who was the first to get a perfect 10 in the game en route to winning a total of 9 gold medals.
For many years, The Mellow Touch and “Nadia’s Theme” was the perfect pair in radio music, enjoying the support of numerous listeners. Played in the background, “Nadia’s Theme” was the ideal complement to the songs that the statiion regularly played.
Unfortunately, the emergence of modern music changed the landscape of the local radio scene and 94.7 WWLL The Mellow Touch had to keep up with the changes. Otherwise, it will fade into oblivion.
These days, the station still plays love songs but it has also included pop tunes currently topping the music charts to cater to the present generation of music lovers. They have also hired talking DJ’s, tasked to discuss on air the latest news in the music scene.
Change was ostensibly inevitable for The Mellow Touch, but I still miss the old days, when it played music in its own unique way – soft and mellow.
Interested in knowing how Perry Botkin Jr., and Barry De Vorzon’s “Nadia’s Theme” sounds? Listen to it here:
AKA Music 