From Power 1490 to Forever: How Slow Jams—and R Dub!—Changed My Life

 By a 39-Year-Old Tucson Girl, Still in Love With the Music… and Tony

I was just a 10th grader at Sunnyside High when I found it—by total accident—scrolling through the AM dial late one Sunday night in 1994. Back then, I had this little black boombox I bought with babysitting money. It wasn’t anything fancy, but that radio meant freedom. It meant escaping my noisy house, escaping the drama, and getting lost in the music. That’s when I landed on Power 1490AM—and my life changed.

It was like the radio just whispered my soul back to me. A soft voice came on the air, smooth as silk, and he said, "You're listening to Sunday Night Slow Jams…"

I was hooked.

I stayed up every Sunday night after that, sometimes under the covers with my headphones in, pretending to be asleep when my mom peeked in. Those Slow Jams? They were everything. They told the stories I didn’t know how to say out loud. About love, about heartbreak, about that ache in your chest when you liked someone so bad it hurt.

And yeah—I called in. A lot. I used my mom’s kitchen phone, stretching the cord all the way into the laundry room for privacy. I’d get so nervous dialing the number. My voice would shake when I’d say, “Hi, R Dub… Can you play ‘Tell Me It’s Real’ by K-Ci & JoJo for Tony from a secret admirer?” (Yes, that Tony.)


Then… one night, it happened. I was laying there with my boombox low and the fan on, and I heard it: “This one’s going out from Tony to Joanna… he says you’re beautiful and he’s been feeling you for a long time.”

I. Died.

I probably screamed into my pillow for a good ten minutes. That night sealed it for me—not just the crush, but the magic of the show. It wasn’t just songs. It was confessions. It was connections. It was real.

What makes it even more special is knowing now that R Dub, the voice behind those dedications, wasn’t some older radio vet. He was literally a kid—a teenager—just like us. While we were walking the halls of Tucson high schools, so was he… and then at night, he was on the air, building this show from scratch. He invented the concept of Sunday Night Slow Jams right here in our city. Tucson was the birthplace of something beautiful, and we didn’t even realize how big it was going to get. R Dub created Slow Jams on the radio.

Over the years, I followed the show as it grew. I’d tune in wherever I could find it. Eventually, it landed at home again, this time on 97.5 The Vibe. And guess what? I still listen. Only now, I’m not under the covers with a boombox—I’m in the kitchen cooking dinner or in the car with my kids, sharing the songs that raised me.

And Tony? The one I dedicated all those love songs to? We’ve been married for 14 years now. Still slow jammin’ together.

So yeah, I owe a lot to Sunday Night Slow Jams. To that scratchy little boombox. To teenage love. And to R Dub—the guy who turned quiet Tucson nights into lifelong memories. The show is still the same. The host is still the same. And the love? It’s only grown deeper with time.

Long live the Slow Jams.

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