“I've worked in every format of radio from Christian to Country,” said Matthews. “The only thing I haven't done is classical.”
In 1986, Matthews moved to California, where he worked for five years as a television news anchorman before becoming a freelance actor and voice-over artist.
Birth of Beatles-A-Rama
In the mid-70's, Matthews put his vast collection of Beatles records to use by producing and hosting a syndicated radio show out of New Orleans called Beatles Forever, based on the book of the same name by Nicholas Schaffner. After a brief but popular run, the program was nixed and Matthews shelved the tapes. But the advent of the Internet and a collaboration with a then little-known radio website called Live365 rekindled Matthews' desire to share his love of the Beatles with the world.
Matthews launched Beatles-A-Rama (named as an ode to a New Orleans radio station Matthews used to listen to as a boy) on September 11, 2001, unaware at the time that that date would become synonymous with the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history.
“Of course, nobody listened that day,” Matthews said. “But the next day, the airwaves were jammed with listeners.”
To keep those listeners, Matthews devotes about 60 hours a month to Beatles-A-Rama, scheduling music, selling advertising and overseeing all content that comes into the website. Running a popular Internet radio site isn't cheap. The monthly cost is about $925, which goes toward bandwidth and server costs, music licensing and program software. Matthews recoups some of that cost from banner ads and donations from listeners, which can be made by going to the Beatles-A-Rama website. The rest comes out of Matthews' pocket but he views it as small price to pay for keeping the music of the Beatles alive.
“I'm a real fan of Pop tunes,” he said. “The Beatles' music is timeless. I think that's why so many bands have been influenced by them.”
Since it first hit the Internet airwaves, Beatles-A-Rama has become almost as popular as the group for which it pays tribute, gaining honorable mention in Rolling Stone magazine and winning Live365's Classic Rock Station of the Year award two years in a row. Some of its biggest fans are people who actually knew the Beatles, like George Harrison's big sister, Louise, and Monty Python alum, Michael Palin, both of whom have recorded segments for the show.
In 2005, Matthews left Live365 and now runs Beatles-A-Rama from his own server. He also has an official website: Beatlesarama.
A married father of four and a grandfather of six, Matthews continues to do voice-over work for radio and television, with most of the voice-over work done out of his home studio. He also teaches voice acting and Internet broadcasting at Saddleback Community College.
