KSLQ St. Louis was top in the Arbitron ratings, with its relatively new Top 40 format, and squeeky-clean bubble-gum image. Joe would discover it was only an image.

Mason arrived to KSLQ via the local chapter of S.A.M. and I.B.M.; Society of American Magicians (founded by Harry Houdini) and International Brotherhood of Magicians, respectively. Growing up as a magician, Mason belonged to both of these nerd-fests, and it just so happened the new morning disc jockey, Jeff Baker, was interested in magic and had stumbled across Greg Ginsburg, who belonged to both magician organizations and also happened to be a good friend of Mason's. Ginsburg had already begun teaching Baker some tricks, but did not have the reciprocal interest in radio. Mason, on the other hand, was riveted by the possibilities.

Before long, 16-year old Mason, as professor of prestidigitation, had worked his way into the hearts and minds of the KSLQ group, as resident magician "Q-Dini." (rhymes with "Houdini") A clever nickname, it made Joe seem and feel like he was more part of the gang than he really was, but that seemed to be fine with the station management and airstaff, and it certainly was more than fine with the young Mason. Of course, it probably helped things along - the fact that Mason also had been working part-time at the renowned Fatted Calf Hamburger restaurant down the street and was partial to bringing by free Calfburgers at the whim of hungry (and curiously, red-eyed) D.J.'s. Morning man Jeff Baker (magic protege of both Mason and Ginsburg) was promoted to Program Director, and voila, a permanent part-time position answering the listener request lines and tallying song requests (needed to help formulate its Top-40 playlist) materialized, and was enough for Mason to quit Fatted Calf, and begin what would be the start of a radio career that would eventually bring him to number one in the market.

KSLQ was an amazing radio station. Located on Bemiston in downtown Clayton, it was a hotbed of 1970's radio activity. The station was managed by the infamous Englishman Ted Smith, and famous Program Directors who passed through its doors included Bill Bailey, Charlie Lake, and many more. Assistant chief engineer was Brad Hildebrand, On-air talent included: Sam Weaver, "Young" Bobby Day, Chuck "Chucker" Geiger, Overnight jock Otis Thomas, the "Boogieman",  Bob Stout, Bo Jagger, Marc (need last name), Mike Walker (Waterman), Mason also met and befriended Capitol Records promotion rep David Burd, the man responsible (along with Wayne Meisenholder) for the explosive careers of Sammy Hagar and April Wine, among others. 

Other names from that era include Anna Smith, General Manager Ted Smith's attractive daughter, and Mac, P.D. Baker's bespectacled, geeky photo-snapping girlfriend. According to Mason, KSLQ was the wildest station he ever worked for, with regular sessions of weekday pot-smoking by even on-air office staff (although the sales staff would bang on the locked door), cavorting after hours with instant on-air studio access to females and anyone who would bring liquor, drugs or food to the station (with the exception of Bobby Day and Mike Walker), regular suspicious gifts/drugs/payoffs to those in charge by record executives of dubious character (payola, plugola), wholesale concert ticket scalping of promotional seats (Mason freely admits supporting himself by this lucrative task), and thousands of record albums that would flow from the music director's office to the Q employees, both with and without his knowledge. And let's not forget the complaints called into the radio station when the Q Money machine (customized van) that was supposed to drive around handing out $50 bills to people sporting "I Q in my Car" bumper stickers, was spotted parked for long periods of time in the parking lots of several massage parlors. We're assuming that some of the Q jox didn't just "Q" in their cars . . . .

Other fond memories include hearing the debut of Boston's "More than a Feeling" in the air studio on a pair of JBL 4312 Studio Monitors. Between the high fidelity of the speakers and the never-before-heard sound of late 70's lushly-produced rock, a young Joe Mason was captivated and hooked on FM radio.