Ten years ago, the program director of WHOM radio in Portland at that time decided that the evening hours would be turned over to the audience. WHOM’s new "Love Songs at Night" show would be requests and dedications. That program director was gone within the year, but "Love Songs at Night," and it’s host, Sandra Harris endure, a longevity that’s unusual in the turbulent world of radio.

Love Songs reaches listeners like no other programming on the station, according to Program Director Tim Moore. "Sandra is the most recognizable and dare I say most beloved personality on the radio station." Moore says, "Longevity has a lot to do with that, but it’s also her talent level and what she’s done."

In the studio with Sandra

Sandra Harris graduated from the University of Maine in 1983. While in college she did her first radio at the student station there, WMEB. After graduation she got married and her first professional radio work was in Ellsworth, Maine at WWMJ radio. She moved to Southern Maine about a year later to work mid-day at what was then WCME on Westport Island, near Wiscassett, but she lived in Portland and Westport was a long hour and a half commute. When WHOM called her in the fall of 1984 she jumped at the chance to work overnights closer to home, and avoid all that winter driving. She moved to evenings before the birth of her first son, a couple of years later. That was more than twelve years ago. These days, she’ll reluctantly accept the label "Soccer mom," though only one of her two sons plays soccer. (In the interest of full disclosure we’ll point out that Sandra is married to an editor at Road Runner and the author of this piece)

Tim Moore says WHOM aims to appeal to women, ages 24 plus, and Love Songs is part of that strategy. "The music is not that different from what we play during the day … but the dimension with Sandra is that she can personalize each song; There is a different flavor at night and Sandra’s sending it out specifically to one person with that message is what makes it magical."

Sandra says most of her calls are indeed from women, and generally younger women, "But I’ll have parents who’ll have their kids call up. I mean I’ve had them as young as five years old, and they’ll just want to hear a song or they might make a dedication to their mom and dad. Then I’ll have older women too that have a crush on the old man down the hall." In ten years she’s had some interesting calls. "I could tell you about the guy that wanted to make a dedication to his parrot. Oh yeah I get lots of goofy stuff. Sometimes they’re just college kids goofing on me ... You get all kinds. (Laughs) Plymouth State College is a hotbed of pranksters and then there’s USM too."

That’s not to say men never call. In fact, they get priority. "They call so infrequently that I want to encourage them." Do they sound embarrassed when they call? "Sometimes they do. They say ‘My girlfriend wants me to call, my wife wants me to call. She told me I’m supposed to say this to her,’ (Laugh) and then they’ll be getting it wrong and they’ll be getting nudged in the back…"

Over the years Sandra has put "Dozens and dozens" of marriage proposals on the air. She says she lost count long ago, but she does remember the very first one. "They still call me every once in a while. That must have been six years or so ago. David and Robin. I’ve done dozens since then, but I remember the first one. They actually came to meet me afterwards at the Deering Oaks Family Festival, and they keep in touch, like on their anniversary." Some of the proposal stories are funny. "Sometimes it’s the women asking the men. Once, she called up, did the proposal. He heard it on the radio. They were together and they heard the proposal together. He ran out of the house. She got all upset because he ran out of the house and she had no idea where he was going. He was actually running to his place, which was a couple of doors down. He came back with a ring for her because he had been planning on asking her the same question." Usually, but not always, the answer is yes. Sometimes she gets invited to the weddings. "But I haven’t ever gone."

Sandra gets an average of fifty requests a night. Over ten years that adds up. Tim Moore says, "Without a doubt she has talked one-on-one with more listeners of WHOM than any personality in the history of the radio station. …It’s phenomenal to me how the listeners bond to her."

Tim says he sees evidence of that bonding when he's out on remote broadcasts or appearances. "People always come up and say 'Where's Sandra?' They'll hand me a cocktail napkin with a request on it and ask me to give it to her."

 WHOM has a huge coverage area. The studios are located in Portland, but the transmitters and towers are on top of Mount Washington. Sandra gets calls from all over. "Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont. A few every once in a while from New York state, a fair amount from the North Shore of Massachusetts. Then there are a few regulars from Canada who call me. Quebec province, they listen up there." Sometimes they call from about as far away as they can get. "One of the coolest ones was a long time ago. There was a soldier stationed in South Korea. He called me and his girlfriend was back in Maine. It was one of those overseas calls, you know, where it takes a few seconds for the transmission to go through. It was very cool because you could tell he was calling me from very far away. But I get calls from all over. Hawaii, Washington State, Texas every once in a while. They’re mostly from people who are away and they have people back here in New England. They’ve gone away on vacation ... and left someone behind or they’ve moved."

Sandra gets mail, too from all over, "I do get letters from prisoners. Windham is the big one, only a few from Thomaston. I think in Concord there’s a penitentiary; I’ve got letters from there. Windham seems to be the hotbed. Actually I’ve got file folders full of letters over the years." And e-mail from the WHOM web site. "Every night there’s a pile waiting on the web site, people that have left dedications. I check a couple of times a night."

With an average of fifty telephone calls every night, plus e-mail and faxes, how does she decide which to put on? "I try to put on the most interesting dedications, the ones who have the most interesting things to say. The marriage proposals will get top priority. Anniversaries, happy birthdays, those all get on. A first time caller is going to probably get priority."

What are the songs that get the phones ringing at Love Songs? Sandra says, "Currently, the big songs are Brian McKnight - Back at One, Amazed from Lone Star, I Knew I Loved You from Savage Garden, Those are the three big current ones. There are some perennial favorites through the years, Richard Marx - Right Here Waiting, Somewhere Out There - Linda Ronstat and James Ingrahm, You’re the Inspiration - Chicago, That’s What Friends are For - Dionne Warwick and Friends, The Power of Love - Celine Dion, Bette Midler’s The Rose and Wind Beneath my Wings always get requests. Then there’s All My Life-Casey and Jojo, people call for that one. My Heart Will Go On - Celine Dion that was a huge song." Men, on the other hand, choose different tunes. "They go for the Eric Clapton, the Journey, Angel Eyes from Jeff Healy is another song guys pick. Open Arms from Journey." When I comment that some of these are a little schmaltzy, Sandra makes no apologies. "You know, that’s what it’s all about."

Another inside tip for actually getting your dedication on the air is call on a Friday. "Friday night is my slowest night, I think because probably people are out on Friday night. I ask people sometimes, because I was trying to figure out why Monday is so busy, and they say it’s because they’ve just been with that person all weekend ... and they weren’t going to see them for a couple of days. They missed them and they wanted to tell them what a good time they had over the weekend."

Sandra has answered many other memorable calls over the years. "I had a woman call me once in labor. I said ‘why are you calling me? Go do your work.’ (Laughs) I got her song right on. She was in the hospital and she was bored I guess. I have people who will call me up to do the birth announcement. You know right after you have a baby you want to tell everyone, this is a way to tell everyone. Those are fun."

Valentines is a big night for Love Songs. The show is expanded from eight to midnight to six to midnight. While a typical night is busy, according to Sandra, "Valentines is INCREDIBLY busy. There are no words to describe how busy I am. I just can’t answer the phone fast enough."

The annual Jim Brickman concert is also big for Love Songs. Jim Brickman wrote the Love Songs jingle before he became famous. "This guy I never heard of called and said he’d do a jingle for free if we just mentioned his name a few times." Now Brickman’s Portland concert sells out every year, his songs are regularly requested on Love Songs and Sandra and her colleagues get on stage and introduce the show. She says it’s a great chance to meet her listeners, "After the Jim Brickman concert all kinds of people tap me on the shoulder and say "Hi Sandra" and I have no idea who they are. Actually it’s kind of fun when people introduce themselves. Because then I can put a face together with a voice, especially if it’s a regular caller who’s been calling me over the years."