This one comes out for all senior citizens who love music who remember when the actual DJ – not Spotify or iPod – was there to play your favorite song.

Take heart, dear elders, and turn your dial – your web browser, actually – to Radio Recliner, the first and only retired managed radio station dedicated to the music and memories of the Silent generation.

The DJs and “100% run by residents” programs and stations operate 24 hours a day on RadioRecliner.com, with new shows airing every day on EST during the day. Each program, which lasts about an hour per DJ, features their favorite songs, stories and screams for family and friends who are tuned in from outside the senior’s home.

“I never thought that something like this would happen to me,” said Bob Strand, 73, from Rochester, who was asked to volunteer for a performance by the lifestyle director at his nursing home. His performances included an eclectic set featuring classic rock and folk, such as E.L.O., Jethro Tull, Mamas and Papas and Slim Whitman.

“I’m just beaming about it. I think it was very fun, just that experience,” Strand, and “DJ Ras Man” – R.A.S. be the initials – tells the Post.

The project began as a campaign to encourage residents in senior life centers throughout the US to share memories and connect with loved ones – especially those at high risk who were most isolated during the coronavirus pandemic.

“We think a lot about retirees, and especially people in the senior community that live,” said Mitch Bennett, chief creative officer at Luckie & Co., a marketing agency based in Atlanta. “Even at the best of times, social isolation is a problem for them.”

Bennett, one of the creators of Radio Recliner, on behalf of his client Bridge Senior Living, told The Post that his team “wanted to create a way for them to have some form of social media that made sense to them.”

What began as an activity specifically designed for Bridge Senior Living residents, with 24 facilities throughout the US, has been expanded to include retirees in nursing homes outside the brand. They also boast a request line that is open to anyone who has a song and dedication to make.

That’s not like traditional radio. Resident DJs generally range from the 60s to the end of the 90s, so no one asks them to learn audio engineering. Instead, Bennett appointed Denise Arnold, Luckie’s creative assistant director and, now, radio station director, to produce the program using sound bites from interviews with local DJs.

Arnold, who does work almost exclusively on his own, estimates that he spends at least an hour talking to new DJs every day since the station airs, and the waiting list continues to grow, he said.

Being able to connect with others is “very important with this audience,” Arnold told The Post. “[They have] so many personalities, depth, diversity, and amazing stories to tell. “

Cindy McGreivey, 83, from Rochester, said, “This brings back musical memories that my husband and I will listen to since we were in college.” She told The Post that her late husband was a jazz drummer, with the experience of DJs from the radio station St. Lawrence College.

And if you think dating a DJ and musician is pretty cool and tense in the 60s, McGreivey will agree: “Yes, that’s right.”

Arnold, who has no prior experience on radio, said he “did not know what to expect” at first.

“We just want to let real people do the real thing. And that, you know, basically becomes a good listener and let this be about them, “he said. “And they have inspired me, and I have seen them inspire each other.”

Strand described the experience as something of a therapeutic nature. “Just exchanging information, getting the chance to say some music that I have enjoyed over the years,” he said, “I have never really discussed it before. And talking to people who are easy to talk to is fun. “

Interviews and song selections give residents an opportunity to explore memories that are triggered by music.

“‘I’ll See You'” by Bing Crosby. . . is the last song, and I dedicate it to my wife who died about two years ago, “said Victor Frascia, a DJ Yankee Forever, who lives in an assisted residential facility in Pennsylvania. The 93-year-old man was very grateful to share the story of wartime.

“They asked me some of my experiences in the ministry,” he said. “I’m happy to talk about it.”

He said, “I told some funny stories. . . some things that I did on the boat, which I should never have missed. “

One such story, Frascia told his listeners, was when he conspired to steal a pie from the ship’s baker. “The smell of apple pie is driving me crazy,” he said. It was a sweet victory: He and two of his friends stole three pies in the middle of the night – and left a note that read “Kilroy is here,” a reference to popular World War II era symbolism that is often seen in graffiti.

“I want to hear that story again,” he said.

While Radio Recliner is designed to be an outlet for all the elderly to share, the channel maker acknowledges that he has one thing that was specifically thought of when he gave birth to the idea. Back in June, Bennett told The Post about being separated from his mother, 72, because of a pandemic. “I can’t see it at all and, and that’s really sad,” he said.

He took a breath, and continued, “So. . . it is one of the inspiration for the station. “

He uses his platform to give his mother, who enjoys just listening to Radio Recliner, a very special scream. “I left it devoted to Mother’s Day,” he said, “[and] play a song that means a lot to both of us “-” Sunny Came Home, “by Shawn Colvin, which they watched live 30 years ago.

For now, they can only remember what it was like to see live music with loved ones. Until then, Radio Recliner will be there to help more seniors and their families reach out through songs.

After talking with many DJs, Arnold discovered there was a similarity between them: endurance.

“We want to ask them if they have suggestions for other seniors,” he said. “They feel like this is not the hardest thing they’ve ever had in their lives so they let people know that it will be okay and you will get through it.”