What is Flashback?

Eight-track tapes, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall", Rubik's cubes, the McGovern campaign,  Members Only Jackets, Tiananamen Square, Woodstock, the DeLoreon, Pet Rocks, Jonestown, Polyester Leisure Suits, Joe Camel, Birkenstock Sandals, "I am not a crook", the great Human Be-In...There's been a lot of water under the bridge since this stuff was unfolding, but it all melts away every time you tune into "Flashback!". 

Flashback! is radio's original time machine.  A mind bending, time tripping free form trip through our history - the big breaking news stories, the TV shows, classic advertisements, the scandals, the movies, politics and tragedies, pop culture, and the rock n' roll that was the soundtrack for all of it. 

Flashback! is radio theatre that will take you back with it, dredge up some cool memories and, best of all, provide the perfect musical accompaniment.


Who is Bill St. James?
Bill St. James is a major cog in the success of Flashback! that summons up memories of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s through television and movie clips, newscasts and – of course – the music.

The Hartford native grew up listening to several great personality stations including WDRC and WPOP. "A lot of legendary talent went through the market when I was young, including Jack Armstrong and Lee 'Baby' Sims, who could weave some incredible stories," St. James states. "Hearing people like that really inspired me to do something creative on the radio; they were so good. I was also within earshot of [New York City’s] WABC and WMCA so I heard a lot of great radio."

But strangely enough it was fascination with radio equipment – not the great pipes he possesses – that proved to be the impetus for St. James to pursue a radio career. "I quickly discovered the only way they'd let you play with the equipment was if you worked at the radio station," he jokes. "I'm an Audio Visual Club guy at heart and am still best friends with many [radio] engineers."

By the time St. James was 17, he landed his first radio job, and if your television remote has a tendency to find its way to Nick at Nite, you're very familiar with St. James' work as he’s been its voice since the cable channel started. "They changed the face of promotion in television," he declares. "They were running 'Donna Reed' and 'My Three Sons' in the early days and had to find crazy promo hooks." For the most part, they mocked their own product and St. James, who also has many movie trailers to his credit, remarks, "That type of tongue-in-cheek promo became a style that was stolen by other cable networks and network television.

With the exception of spending Wednesdays and Thursdays in Manhattan, St. James can be found on Cape Cod the rest of the week. "I can do a lot of the voiceover stuff from my basement on the Cape. In a very fickle business, I must say I’ve had good luck."

NBC-TV was so impressed with the Flashback! host that the web selected him to be the voice of its Olympics coverage.