- January 28, 2026
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Windermere’s Thomas Thorp sits in his desk chair staring at two monitors with a microphone in front of him.
The sounds of various rock and pop bands from the 1960s through the 1980s are blasting on his speakers.
Fleetwood Mac.
38 Special.
The Bangles.
Elvis Presley.
The Rolling Stones.
The Beatles.
Thomas listened to all these artists, and even met a few, throughout his life. Certain songs bring up memories.
He’ll never forget when his sister brought home The Beatles’ first album, “Please, Please Me.” He took one look at the cover and thought he was looking at “a bunch of Japanese guys.” He was surprised to learn they were British when he watched them on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”
Back in his studio in the afternoon of Friday, Jan. 23, Thomas tapped on his microphone for a mic check.
He cleared his throat.
He hit record.
“You’re listening to ‘Flashback’ on Boyd Street Radio, broadcasting from Winter Garden, Florida,” Thomas said with authority into the microphone. “Hope you’re having a great night. A special two-hour segment of psychedelic rock from the ’60s and ’70s every Friday night, 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern. Glad you could join us. Got a great show lined up. We like to let the music do the talking. Coming up next, Emerson, Lake and Palmer — ‘Still … You Turn Me On.’”
A voiceover for his two-hour psychedelic rock show on Boyd Street Radio was ready for the airwaves.
At his convenience, Thomas takes the thousands of rock and pop songs from the hundreds of vinyl records he’s collected over the years to create a playlist that will fill the sound waves of his radio station, Boyd Street Radio.
Thomas dreamed of becoming a DJ in sixth grade.
Little did he know he’d spend his retirement days as a DJ for Boyd Street Radio, the local station for Winter Garden.
Boyd Street Radio’s origin story is simple.
Thomas’ wife, Pam Thomas, wanted music to play in her sandwich shop, Pammie’s Sammies, on Boyd Street in downtown Winter Garden.
They weren’t fans of streaming services such as Spotify because of the commercials.
They wanted great music to play, commercial-free, 24/7.
Thomas already had experience helping another business set up a radio station, so he thought, why don’t I create one for Pam Thomas?
Boyd Street Radio was born.
He played his hundreds of vinyl albums in his collections, specially selecting songs that were popular and personal favorites, and recorded them on his Mac. He used Adobe Audacity to clean it up, and he’d transfer the songs to another software program to create playlists.
With a click of a button and in 16 seconds, he would have 24 hours worth of rock music ready to play on any given day.
For two hours every Friday night, Boyd Street Radio features a psychedelic rock show based on Beaker Street, a radio show he listened to as a child in Little Rock, Arkansas, on KAAY AM 1090. The host, Clyde Clifford, was an inspiration. Thomas and his friends would listen to the show, wondering where Clifford was, hearing weird sounds in the background he later found was Nik Raicevic, an early experimenter of synthesizers. Thomas bought six copies of Raicevic’s album “Head” to have the similar sounds playing in his voiceovers for his psychedelic rock show as a tribute to Clifford and Beaker Street.
Besides the voiceovers introducing the radio station and others promoting Pammie’s Sammies, every second heard on Boyd Street Radio is music.
Thomas said it took him a bit to adjust to hearing his voice — most people hate the sound of their voice. He said he could use filters or have a “radio voice,” but he wants authenticity so he doesn’t make any changes to his voice.
He chose rock and pop from the 1960s through 1980s, because that’s what was playing on the radio growing up, sitting around the house listening to music or watching bands perform on TV.
Growing up, everyone in Thomas’ family was involved in music. His mother sang, his dad played clarinet, his three sisters played guitar and his little brother played keyboards. Thomas gravitated toward the drums.
A self-taught drummer, Thomas bought a cheap drum kit and played any chance he had.
When he attended the University of Arkansas, he jammed with other musicians between classes and working a part-time job. He even rocked out in at least five different bands, including the Badneks, named because at the time, “bad” meant “good” and “nek” was slang for guitar.
Thomas said being in a band was similar to being in a fraternity as musicians always tended to hang out with one another to talk about, listen to and play music. When they weren’t rehearsing, they would go to clubs and listen to other musicians.
“You’re happy to be performing,” he said. “All during the weekend when nobody had to work and I didn’t have to go to school, we would play for hours and hours. You do the same song over and over trying to be perfect. It’s like muscle memory. You don’t have to think about it.”
Thomas said he knew the Badneks never were going to make it big, but he loved playing for an audience, rocking out to cover songs of Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd and others, or the original songs a bandmate forced on them.
“We weren’t anything grandiose,” Thomas said. “It was more fun than anything. It was a good way to meet girls.”
It worked out for him. Thomas met Pam Thomas through a mutual musical friend. Pam Thomas went on to sing for the Badneks.
But after graduation in 1980, Thomas said he knew it was time to find a real job. He was marrying Pam Thomas and needed to focus on the next chapter of his life.
He never forgot his days in the Badnecks, though. He had vinyl records created of the one album they made that featured cover songs including Elvis Presley’s “Jailhouse Rock” and Kool & The Gang’s “Take it to the Top.” The back of the record shows photos from his days in the band, and he gave one to each of the other band members: bass and vocalist Chuck Draper, guitar and lead vocalist Marc Temple and vocalist Pam Thomas.
From 1980 when he married Pam Thomas to 2023, Thomas didn’t touch a drum. He was busy working in accounting, traveling for work and raising a family.
The music never stopped beating for Thomas, though.
Thomas said he was blessed to be able to attend numerous concerts throughout his life.
He’s met 38 Special, Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac, The Bengals and others.
His studio at home could be compared to a rock ’n’ roll museum.
Memorabilia from a plethora of bands and musicians — The Temptations, Foreigner, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd — hang on the walls. His vinyl collection of hundreds of albums sit neatly wrapped in shelves against the wall. An original painting of Raicevic’s that matches his album cover hangs on the wall.
Looking at a photo of him meeting Mick Fleetwood, Thomas recalled the moment as if it were yesterday. Fleetwood Mac was playing in Tampa, and Thomas and his wife had the opportunity to meet Fleetwood before the show. While they were standing on the stage, Thomas told Fleetwood he met the manager of his restaurant in Hawaii when he was in town for business. The two started talking about the view from Fleetwood’s booth on the rooftop, Fleetwood’s old car that remains at the restaurant and more.
“He’s just such a down-to-earth, nice guy,” Thomas said of Fleetwood.
Suddenly, the main doors opened and everyone had to hustle down from the stage to their seats. On the way, he saw Lindsey Buckingham, the former lead guitarist and co-lead singer for Fleetwood Mac, rehearsing his guitar. Thomas snapped about 200 photos.
From his seat in the center of the front row, Thomas recalled feeling the drops of sweat from Buckingham and Stevie Nicks pouring onto him.
“It was the coolest deal,” he said with a smile.
Every time Thomas has a Fleetwood Mac song on Boyd Street Radio, or songs from any of the other bands he met, he can remember those moments of talking to and taking photos with rock stars.
Whether people are or whatever they’re doing, Thomas hopes those listening to Boyd Street Radio enjoy the music and it brings back memories for them.
“I know I’m never going to make money doing this,” Thomas said. “It’s not about the money. It’s when I meet people and they say, ‘I really like your station,’ and ‘I listen to it all the time.’ That’s pretty cool. … It’s a labor of love. When people say they enjoy the music, that’s reward enough for me.”
