January 17, 2011 I wonder how Top 40 would have worked on radio if there was no TV. I don't know any 20 year olds who listens to talk radio or care about politics. So why would anybody think the 22 year old psycho in Arizonawould listen to talk radio. He'd have to be crazy ... Oops! Charles Adler claims young people today prefer praise over sex or money. Well that claim if true certainly proves I'm not young anymore. I think air talent should take a lesson from Eastwood, Stalloneand Arnold.In the roles where theydidn't talk much most of those movies turned out to be blockbusters and what little they did say was so memorable that people still repeat those lines even to this day. Warren Cosfordclaims that You Tubegets 2 Billion views a day. Time to dig out those old unreleasedJurytapesand get after it baby! While reminiscing with my brotherRegthe other day I was telling himthat I didn't remember ever getting anything I really wanted by chasing it. Usually I had to wait for it to come to me which in most cases it never did. He responded with ... Maybe you just didn't chase it hard enough Bro. Hmmmmmm if there's any truth to that statement you might want to consider standing back. I'm almost certain your not prepared for the kind of tenacity mixed with intensity that is about to occur. I've always had a long standing policy about never talking over dead air unless I can get a promo out of it. Now I'm thinkin' it's time to reinstate that policy at a couple of talk stations I currently work with. I was reading somewhere that the main reason a woman would cheat on her husband would be because their man actually did everything she wanted him to do. Real men don't do that and every once in a while a woman just needs a real man. I think good Radio becomes great when life is reflected on it with a slightly distorted view. I'm pretty sure if the only thing we could have watched American Idol on was a black and white 12'' we still would have. Today I drove by what used to be the most beautiful car in the world ... A Jaguar XKE. But now it sorta just looks funny rolling along on those little skinny tires. The first rule of show "Show Biz" is to get noticed, but unfortunately if you don't have any talent that's not a good thing. When I was doing the CLASS/CLASSYformat with my brother RegI always had to bring someone else with me on the road so we could get some work done while doing a market visit. The Manager's job was to inspire and motivate his boss above him plus his staff below him. He had nobody to complain to so he chose me.Seeing as GM's now have no one to get rid of a little steam with may be the reason a lot them are turning into mean spirited people with little or no manners. No matter how much the"Geeks" sowant it to be about technology, it's always going to about the Artists. I just loved and looked forward each week to reading Claude Hall's column in Billboardeven though I never got to be in it. I feel very good now though about finally forgiving Claude for his oversight. Ermanno Barone claims Shakespeare was just the valet parking guy of his day and was given all the plays. Ermanno is going to shoot a movie about it very soon. He told me that TheBard of Avonwas also quite the womanizer, so I'm thinkin' ... Hey maybe "The Play Wasn't The Thing" Mark Twain said Shakespeare,or someone calling themselves Shakespeare wrote all those wonderful plays. AnytimeJEFF & JER of San Diegodo a radio session they claim all they really do is what I taught them to do some twenty years ago. I always write down all the specific examples they use then take them back out on the road with me. Good stuff! Speaking of JEFF & JERwhat the radio communityfears most is what radio station in San Diego is in trouble. When Jeff and Jergo back on the air soon they will attract a lot of business from clients who they have always had a good relationship with. I figure little of that money is going to be new money so it has to come from somewhere and somewhere ain't going to have a good 2011 One of the things Radio has never worked on and should have was how to make the client so big and classy that the product the client was selling became much bigger and more desired by the mere mention of the clients name in the advertising. Mercedes, Rolex and Tiffany'scome quickly to mind. Speaking of sales I was talking to Brent Farris and Tom Skinner about a KZST project when somehow my involvement with Forever Plaid The Movie came up. I explained that an old buddy of mine from Transcona who owns the movie Ermanno Baronehad asked for my help with the :60 he has on the front and back of the early spring showing of his movie on PBS.Brent quickly jumped in with ... When George Johns goes over to the dark side and starts peddling spots we're all doomed. I recently asked the Multi Talented Rich Stevenswhat he was best in the World at. He immediately claimed he was the World's Best Self Promoter. Speaking of Richhe said "My Page" GeorgeJohns.com sucked and he was going to fix it. I can hardly wait. Ron Chapman recentlysaid I was possibly the only person in the world who could persuade him to go back on the air. BUT DON'T ! Accountants can not tell the difference between good talent and not so good talent, so they of course go with the cheapest talent and that's where we are. Most air talent are more interesting on the air than off. Back when Madonnawas first becoming very hot I got a Memo fromMr. Fairbanks demanding that she be pulled off all his radio stations because it had come to his attention that she was a "Slut" I called all the PD's and told them we couldn't say Madonna'sname anymore. We successfully pulled the "Slut" off the air but continued to play her records. Dire Straits keyboardist Guy Fletcher after hearing that the group's 25 year old hit Money For Nothingwas banned from Canadian Radiobecause it contained the word "faggot" said well there goes most of the Rap music because it contains the "N"word. New Media simply means, finally accountable. I've painfully noticed thatSmart Phonesaren't smart enough to spell. The only times field goals make any sense to me is just before the half and at the end of the game for the win. Most great Radio Stationshave a "Cause" but I don't think paying down debt is really a good enough "Cause" to produce anything of any significance. I've been accused of a lot of things but normalcy is not one of them. There is nothing more important to a human than his name.
January 10, 2011
Wouldn't you love to hear about some oil company going bankrupt. Hell even with the millions and millionsBPspent on the oil spill they still seem to be doing just fine.
Did Reggie Bush, Heisman Trophyloser, turn out to be a disappointment or what.
The new jargon that now comes in with nearly every auditionaircheckis ... I'm PPMfriendly.
I understand in San Francisco they have free WiFi in public housing. Wow!
Everything can be done cheaper except greatness.
It costs $30 more a tank to fill your car up in Canadathan it does in the U.S. How's that for free health care.
Somehow someway you have to make your station's image bigger than your music.
I wonder why Arbitron goes out of it's way to dissAM Radio.Kinda like HD did also.
I think cell phone cameras must have scared off all the UFO's
Bill Ydeonce told me that he wasn't going to marry any more beautiful women because they get you into too many bar fights. ThisChristmas it was easy to see he got over that. But one can only wonder how well he's doing in the bars.
Radioshould simply be a mere reflection of life slightlyexaggerated.
I think Lobbyistsdo society a lot more harm than good but unfortunately the only people who can get rid of them are the only people who derive any benefit from them.
Corporations are just like sharks the only people they are fearful of, are larger sharks.
OK I just checked You Tube again for the hits on WHO DAT? - THE JURYand discovered the total hits for THE JURYnoware at 2500. Wow I wonder if Tommy Nast is ready to sign us and record some new product. I know for a fact that Bruce Walkerour singer is still writing and my Daughter Candis still has my 58 Strat. We could kick off our World Tour at Tommy's CanyonClub in LA. Hey maybe we could even get my one of my old palRandy Bachman bands to open for us, what would be better do you thinkThe Guess Who or Bachman Turner.Tommy can you say signing bonus.
The reason I took up the Guitar long ago was because I saw ChetAtkins playing one on TV and he made it look so easy. Kinda like howRon Chapman and Crew madeKVILsound so easy to do. Good Luck!
Great Radio Stations always did two special things, they got good ratings and they rang the cash register. Both the agencies and the clients were very happy.
PPMnowhas effectively eliminated the client. Is this going to have a good ending.
It's interesting to me that Mr. Business Man has different rules than the rest of us. Like how does the person who took their company to bankruptcy still get to run the company.
In the PPM world we now live in, you have to be bigger than music if your going to talk. Hows that show prep going ???
When I was a PD in Torontothe station gave me a brand new car and it had FM Stereo in it. One day I turned it on to hear how it sounded, on cameChicago and I went OH OH I hear the future. I was reminded of that moment the other day when my Brother Reg's partner,Hamid Badiozamani turned on his Smart Phoneand was listening to a radio station from a couple of thousand miles away. He plugged it into some speakers just like he does in his car and the sound was incredible. OH OH I think I just heard the future again.
Tim Moore and I were exchanging e mails about the fact that there needs to be a higher calling than money to have a successful business. I read somewhere that when Steve Jobswanted to lure a big executive away from Pepsihe said to him ... Do you want to sell sugared water all your life or come over here and change the World.
It's fairly easy to make money you just have to dedicate your life to it.
My old friend from Transcona, Ermanno Baronehas asked me to get involved in a movie project he and Academy Award winning Producer Benni Korzenare doing together. It's called Forever Plaidand is based on an Off Broadway show that has been playing successfully for the last 20 years. PBS has already picked it up for a showing in the Spring. I don't know much about the movie business but as my daughter Candis said ... Dad you've already re invented yourself a couple of times, why not again.
I had dinner a year or so ago at theRitz in Aspen where I noticed the waiter had a slightly different sounding English accent. I asked him where he was from and he replied, Wales.I responded with, I have a Welsh name and he said, what might that be. When I told himJohnshe said, Ahh son of King John. My research project was completed at that moment. Tim Reever recently went through a similar exercise and discovered his family name meant, "Keeper Of The Kings Pigs". Tim's research continues.
Other than irritating people what you think has very little to do with what you know.
I think Women are phenomenal but be careful because like most phenomenons they may fit into the ... "Things that appear too good to be true usually are" category.
It seems our new media star Ted Williamswas a no show athis first gig in New York. He didn't have proper ID so they wouldn't let him on the plane. When you live in the street I don't think having proper ID is a priority. Oh and speaking of 2nd chances what ever happened to all those urban folk that Oprah set up a few years ago. Oh I'm sorry was that not politically correct to ask that.
Where is it written that the police are above the law and have totally different rights than us.
Rich people only care about expenses, people who want to get rich only care about how to make more money.
Once you work for Jim Hilliard you're ruined. Your only hope after Jim, is to work for yourself.
January 3, 2011 Ahh 2011 a brand new year but the same old quest for Faster Cars, Older Whiskey and Younger Women continues. Things you will never hear Michael Vick say ... " Hey I don't have a dog in this fight but. " Jerry Del Colliano claims PPM does an excellent job of measuring all non listening. Ever since I was a young lad I have always wanted to be somebody. It wasn't until I moved my family to California and was sitting there watching my Daughter Candis sing her heart out as the lead in her High School's production of South Pacific and I was thinking about all the ceremonies I had attended through out her High School years where she received many awards for her scholastic achievements that I started to realize I had already achieved my life long goal. I was somebody, I was Candis' Dad. Every once in a while some stations have me come to their market and listen around to see if I can find any opportunities for them. Most times I can usually spot a few things that might improve our situation. But what I started to notice at every presentation of my ideas was the PD's always claimed they were already doing all that. Is there really such a thing as Too Fun, Too Beautiful, Too Fast, Too Big, Too Sexy, Too Wise, Too Strong, Too Funny, Too Majestic, Too Exciting, Too Clear, Too Healthy, Too Good, Too Naughty, Too Mysterious, Too Sensuous, Too Nice, Too Peaceful, Too Smart, Too Friendly, Too Reasonable, Too Truthful, Too Perfect, Too Special, Too Rare, Too Happy, Too Pretty, Too Solid, Too Ravishing, Too Grand, Too Faithful, Too Loyal, Too Successful Too Talented, Too Good, Too Wonderful, Too Together, Too Lovely, Too Hip, Too Today, Too Timely, or Too Much Money. As I sit here at Duffys watching Coach K on the giant flat screen I can only wonder what being the best in the world at what you do feels like. If you ever sexually harass someone at work you better be good looking. Now that Tiger is free to chase women I wonder if he still does. I just noticed on You Tube that the total hits for WHO DAT? - THE JURY was around 1500. Should I be putting the group back together for a World tour. Speaking of the World Warren Cosford says the World's population will hit 7 Billion this year. Everybody buys the media obsession with 25 - 54 demo until they reach 55. Lately when I meet an attractive woman and ask them what they do they inevitably they say, Real Estate Brokers. Is there anyone more attractive than a recently divorced woman. I wonder what wonder diets they found. My favorite license plate in Canada was Friendly Manitoba. I don't think we'll see that one in Quebec. I was just reading that TSL for Radio was down again in 2010. But I think if they added back in that hour or so of early morning listening the PPM device misses each day maybe time spent listening would actually be up. Everybody loves Mr.Free he's kinda like Santa we wish he really existed though deep down we know he doesn't, because there just is no such thing as a free lunch. March 15th, 1972, the day my whole world changed forever. Things before that seemed exciting but nothing like what was in store for me. Earlier in "The Birth Of AC Radio" I had written about how I had just become the new Program Director of CFTR in Toronto. The current ratings there were dismal so we needed to come up with something new and we needed to do it real soon. What complicated the creative process was the fact that our radio license stated that we must program to adults and adults only and believe me they were not talking about X- Rated material. What we came up with would be best described today as maybe soft CHR. We launched it on March 15th, 1972. The format consisted of nothing but softer sounding top 10 hits and we prayed the softer sound would appeal to a lot of young women but kids would be our death knoll. The ratings gods smiled upon us and blessed us with many young adults but very few kids. The big surprise for me was Ted Rogers made me the new Station Manager because of his joy for our early success. Wow, now as I look at it today I'm kinda thinking ... Hey not bad for a Transcona kid going from a board op in Winnipeg to a Station Manager in Toronto in less than four years. But even as good as things were going how was I to know it was merely the beginning of what turned out to be the stuff only dreams are made of. By this juncture Jim who was headquartered in Indianapolis was now the CEO of Fairbanks broadcasting which owned several radio stations around the country. I could hardly wait to hear Jim's comments about my great air staff. I never really thought the music was that special. To me it was just music to keep our license by and in fact I thought it sounded rather vanilla. Jim finally called me to discuss what he heard on the tape. I asked him right off what he thought of my air talent expecting him to say how lucky I was that I got to start a brand new project with such a superb air staff. But instead he surprised me by saying they all sounded a little stiff to him and he quickly brushed the subject aside because he said he wanted to talk about what I was doing with the music. He claimed he had never quite heard a musical sound like before and really liked how it blended together. He thought that each individual record sounded like a small part of one big record. It was the first time I ever thought about our music being anything more than a defensive move. Jim was convinced that because the music sounded so special and different to him it was what was attracting the listeners, not the Jox. He said he thought I was really onto something. Ahh the music! With Jim's special acknowledgement of it I focused on trying to make it sound even better. One of the things we did was colour (a little Canadian for ya) code the records and put them in their own shoe boxes. The format clocks the Jox followed required them to play certain colours at certain times and in a certain order. These colours kinda represented different sounds and emotions and the colours were a way of blending them together. A couple years later in Dallas at KVIL we took this blend to new heights by adding nature sounds to the special sweeps. You know stuff like, thunderstorms, surf, wind chimes, crickets, birds and babbling brooks. We mixed a female voice into the middle of it all whispering the call letters sorta like the wind saying them. But this is getting a way ahead of my little story. To continue forward with this I have to regress a little. While starting my radio career as a board op at CKY in Winnipeg I was inhaling radio knowledge daily at the speed of sound when all of a sudden Jim resigns and heads back to the States and a couple of the American Jox he brought in also leave. What a shock! A very exciting era in Winnipeg came to a close. CKY never sounded as good again but something positive did emerge out of that whole experience, a bunch of the young Turks who were exposed to those incredible radio days soon went on to run Canadian Radio. Not long after Jim had left and I was wondering what the hell do I do now I get a call from him. Jim had just started a new job as Program Director of WFIL where he was launching a brand new format in Philadelphia and wanted me to come and do all the promos. I got on an airplane for the first time in my life and headed to Philly to talk with him about it. Being at WFIL for a couple of days I noticed they had same excitement in the air we used to have at CKY. That was the good news the bad news was I was a Canadian which brought the job interview to a screeching halt when we found out immigration just put your name on a very slow moving list. Back to Winnipeg I go. But now I am determined to get back that goose bump producing feeling I used to have at CKY. One of the neat things Jim had done for me before he left Canada was make me the Production Director. So next, because I was a musician, I decided to chase the Music Director's title too. I soon turned those two titles into a Program Director's job at CKOM in Saskatoon. I didn't know much about programming but I was a quick study and hoped I would be up to speed very soon. I kinda dedicated myself mostly to improving the work environment at my new station. My philosophy was and still is, " If it's happening in the halls it will soon be happening on the air." Years later Lee Masters (Jarl Mohn) told me he stole my saying and my attitude with which to start his very successful E ! Entertainment on TV. You don't get to Toronto directly from Saskatoon so along the way I had to make a couple of stops in Sudbury and Ottawa. At each station I tried as best I could to install a fun attitude in the building. But in Toronto I for one may have taken that fun part just a little too far. Those Vodka Martini lunches are very dangerous. After a few months Jim calls me again but this time he has two items he wants to discuss. The first being he has just bought a radio station in Dallas Texas and he is very excited about all the possibilities. The second thing was he just found out that my name on the immigration list was near the top of the list after all this time. He then when on to say that with the purchase of the new station the company was getting too big for him to handle by himself and he wanted me to be his new National Program Director. The way Jim ran the company everything came out of corporate so he needed me to move to Indianapolis as soon as possible so we could pick up the tempo. Once again I pack my family in the car and we headed out across the Canadian Border. While going through US customs I swear I heard the thunk of huge Iron door closing behind me. I remember my wife Lana asking me why we are doing this as we headed south to Indiana. Ted Rogers has been very good to us she went on to say and I thought you said things were going very well. I explained to her that I longed for those days when I didn't have to instantly come up with new stuff for the radio everyday and didn't have to fight off lame promotion ideas nor get into fights all the time with the sales department, not to mention the f%*king engineers. I am now going back to what I used to do for Jim. I'm just going to be the implementer all his great ideas. This is going to be just like the old CKY days, I wont have a care in the world and we will live happily ever after. At my much anticipated reunion meeting with Jim he tells me to spend my first week monitoring all our stations. We would have our next meeting a week at the end of the week and discuss all my upcoming duties. On Friday morning as I excitedly sit down with my old/new boss I feel pretty sure I'm ready to have a fairly intelligent conversation with him. Jim begins the conversation with George I'm thinking once we take over Kay - Ville why don't you just put that cute music on you were running in Toronto and we'll fill with it until they combine the Dallas and Fort Worth rating book. We'll discuss what we're really going to do then. Now tell me about your first week here in Indy. Well Jim as you suggested I listened to all our stations and I feel pretty much up to date on everything your doing. Good he says so what do you want to do next. I told him I was standing by to install what ever it was he wanted to do and promised he would be very happy with my implementation of all his usual great ideas. I even went on to say how fun I thought this was all going to be for me and how I was really looking forward to being his Lieutenant again. I thought this was some quality suck up stuff on my part and only hoped it went over well. Jim looked out the window for a moment, turned to me, put his elbow on the desk, leaned in, looked me straight in the eye and said ... George if I knew what to do I wouldn't have hired you!
OK so the word NO isn't the only thing I hate, I also really detest ... " I don't know anything about programming but. "
While working at CFTR I was very lucky to be surrounded by a lot of heavyweight air talent most of whom were the national voices in Canada for all kinds of products and they were heard everywhere across Canada. Being very proud of their smooth Peter Jennings type delivery I quickly put a presentation tape together that showcased their talents along with our new musical sound sound and sent it off to my mentor Jim Hilliard. Jim was my first PD back at CKY in Winnipeg and had turned me on early in my career to our goal was to always try and do something special and different everyday on the radio. I still am obsessed by that desire even to this day.
December 14, 2010
Steve Lapa told me that John Eliott pointed out that history shows us the people who end up changing the World - the great political, social, scientific, technological, artistic, and even sports revolutionaries - are always nuts until right, then they are geniuses. Not only will the truth set you free but sometimes it will even make you laugh out loud.
Reid Reker said if Bruce Buchanan was still on KVIL he wouldn't need any show prep.
Tim Reever told me that in order to truly coach someone they must first give you permission to do so.
What you perceive the truth to be in no way ever changes what the truth really is according to my old pal Aristotle.
Cheryl Simone Miller claims the reason women say the things they do to men is because they don't have the physical strength to just punch our lights out and be done with it ... So they have to do something !
23% of the population are born leaders, the rest of us have to act like we are.
Just because it's not politically correct doesn't change whether it's true or not.
PPM claims 75% of your listening comes from your fans.
When your a huge company and you use all your power to try and squash the little guy you better get it done because your f#%ked if you don't. Just ask Jim Hilliard !
Margaret Mayer told me that Edison claimed ... "Many of life's failures are those that did not realize how close to success they were when they gave up".
Just because PPM is deaf in the early morning doesn't mean the people are.
It has been said that the best time of your life may be to be stuck inside snuggled up to someone you care about in front a roaring fire as a winter blizzard rages outside your window.
The way it works in "CPA" radio is, in order to pay the new 60 million dollar deal for Ryan Seacrest the money needs to come from somewhere so I would look for bunches of budget cuts company wide. What's that you say the cuts have already begun.
Just got done with a Christmas gathering at my brother Reg's house and have to admit there is just something magical in the air when some very accomplished and fun broadcasters like Roy Laughlin, Reg Johns, Bill Yde, Jack McCoy, Sam James, Ellen K, Jim Smith, Hamid Badiozamani, Ernie Kovaks, Barb Lovenguth and Tracy Johnson all gather together for a festive occasion.
Lee Abrams said you are winning the music battle every time you play a cool song.
How come they are already referring to Cam Newton as Cash Newton.
I think the main job of the station PD is to make the radio station sound as good as it's biggest fans already think it is.
In the early days of KVIL we merely eliminated Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll and added the "Celebration of Women" as our secret sauce.
William Yde wrote me that 92.3% of all statistics are made up on the spot.
Even a bad plan superbly executed has a very good shot at succeeding.
Maybe if I didn't have so much fun my whole life I would be much younger now. Too late to stop now!
Plato said to become a very successful and well paid morning host you need to be ... "A Principle Of Influence"
The responsibility of the Program Director is to make the radio station sound as good as it's biggest fans already think it is.
Radio has to figure out how to do product placement as well as Nike did when they got Michael Jordan to wear the shoes.
Socrates said it's what's above the bottom line that causes the bottom line.
December 7, 2010 Is it possible to buy anything anymore without them trying to up sell you. I understand in Alaska that STD's are growing at an alarming rate for some reason. Being originally from Transcona where the snow is already 3 feet high and rising whisky was only one of the 2 things you did to excess while waiting for the snow to melt. The only thing that could slow down their problem I think may be "Global Warming" I don't know why it is but as soon as a company gets profitable their super friendly service seems to go all to hell. 60 mill for Ryangood for him. Hey those kind of numbers aren't the usual radio chump change. In fact it just may sound good enough to tempt Howardto start thinking about coming back and how far behind couldJeff & Jerand maybe even Ron Chapmanbe. Betsy Cameron told me that even Haitiis a nice place to visit if you know some rich folks you can stay with. The real neat thing about having two strong daughters is if a woman ever does me wrong I will just turn her over to them. Don't you wonder who it was that informed Women they could say things to us that if said by another man would lead to his barely surviving the ordeal. Jim Hilliard oncetold me when he first got into radio he learned every job in the building so someday he would be prepared to run a radio station. Well I guess that just about disqualifies everyone running radio today. If I wasn't paid to do so I don't think I would listen to much radio anymore. If you wanted to hear the hit music from "GLEE" what radio station would that be on. The only way to be happy is to stop managing so many different people. You know, the person you are at work, the one you are with your friends, the other with family, the one with theneighbors, the one with clients etc. I've got it down to two now. The person who is with my daughters and the one who isn't. I started in radio when I was 20 and my first radio bossJimmy Darinsuch a fun work environment that I would rather be at work than home. When I had the opportunity to create a work environment I tried to pay it forward which worked out well for the industry but not so well for marriages. When I first went consulting I officed at KOGO/KPRI in San Diego.Tom Shadek who waspart owner of the company was kind enough to give up his office for me plus also left behind a couple of bottles of Whisky behind to be used for medicinal purposes. Not long after the entire staff would return to my office each afternoon at 5 for "Toddy Time". It became so crowded each day that I had to give Reid Rekerhis first promotion to that of Maitre d'just tohandle all the reservations. I think each and every project needs a perfect balance between ... What you've always wanted to do, what you like doing, and what should be done. In 1983 my CPARoger Snowdonlooked up from doing my taxes and said ... Congratulations George your a Millionaire! Wow your kidding, thank you Mother Kay Ville. Uh Roger just one thing are you still holding that Mil for me?? It is said that it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. But how many do you get to lose before you officially become a loser. I used to hear about Bush's approval ratings everyday but I never seem to hear about Obama's very often. Is there some specialreason for this. Mike Vance the Dean of Walt Disney Universitytaught me a long time ago that the great business leaders realize their main role at work is to support what the staff wanted to do. Of course that puts a lot of pressure on the staff to come up with something to support. When a team gets together and decides they are not going to lose they seldom do. Rich Stevenssaid most people don't act stupid ... It's the real thing. Bruce Buchanane mailed me that if he was still on the air at KVILhis show prep would all be done because he would just steal all my lines. Isn't the real answer for radio to bankrupt it just like they did GM. How did that all turn out. Once they finally convince us to convert everything to electric I wonder if we can begin to even imagine how much electricity will cost. Time to check again ... Yep I still hate the word NO ! If every politician we elect is finally totally politically correct that's sure going to make for a wussy bunch on the hill. Nobody "gets" a new radio format until it gets ratings then it gets awesome sounding. Most women go through a "Bad Girl" phase. You can only hope you are near by when it happens. Is the reason we don't carry around presentation tapes of great radio stations anymore is because we don't have tape or because we don't have any great radio stations anymore. Jo Myers said she was able to read, absorb, and enjoy my story on The Birth of A/C Radio even with " Chemobrain." Most women will eventually tire of all your great stories. At that point you have but three choices. (a) Stop telling the stories (b) Create new stories (c) Get a new woman and go with the old stories again. Speaking of telling your old stories, when you hear the line ... You've already told me that story and not only that you have told it to me several times. Now it's become time for you to figure out just what part of all the household stuff do you want to take with you. Be careful of what you dream because it could very well come true. A few years ago I had some surgery scheduled and as the day too quickly approached I was getting very uncomfortable with the whole project so I called the Doc and spoke to his head nurse about wanting to delay the operation and get another opinion or two. I expected her to chastise me for waiting so long. Instead she said, Mr. Johns we all heal ourselves we just to need to find a real good assistant that we are comfortable with. 73% of the listeners want the air talent to be some sort a benevolent dictator. They want to be told what to do, what to like, where to go, when to go etc. They just want to be told to do it nicely. Hey, I think thats what America wants too they're just tired of trying to figure out who the hell to vote for. Women are still a mystery to me but Mr. Business man sure isn't. Have you ever noticed that older people seem a little bitter. I must be getting ancient because I'm pissed most of the time now. I just love all the special things money can buy, not the money. I used to remember when there was "0" tolerance for dead air. Engineers lived in fear of it, Dee Jays were scared to death when it happened on their shows, PD's hated it. But It must of been unimportant all along because I hear it all the time now. One of our favorite tricks that my Brother Reg and I used to do when we were doing "The Class Format" all over America, was to find out who the most popular Morning Person was in that town who was still playing music on AM. We would hire them and then put up a Billboard that said if you like So & So in the morning your going to love hearing them in Stereo on **** Jamie Gold once said to me I should consider changing my name to George "ask me about my daughters" Johns. Have you ever noticed a lot of folks e mail addresses are much too cute to remember. Greg Budell says we spent 7.8 Billion Dollars this year on 67,000 TSA Agents looking for terrorists at the Airport. Number of terrorists apprehended so far - 0 In the recent election I don't think we really elected anybody, mostly we just fired a bunch we didn't like and we'll do it again. Old Money is usually philanthropic and understands wealth has "pay it forward' responsibilities. New Money often feels "entitled" and can never hoard enough. Most of us are kinda prepared for the worst but very few of us are prepared for the best. Sharon Henwood said the only good thing about her eventually working for the Government of Canada was she got to do it in Canada's mildest Climate (Victoria) and it was pensionable. There's never been any rewards or punishment it has always been the consequences of your actions that your going to have to deal with. Education is what determines your standing in society's pecking order. When it's perfectly safe at all times and everything is good for you, then what? As the Gold family always say and I whole heartily and enthusiastically agree ... Your freedom ends at the tip of my nose ! I think the GOAT of the game should get equal billing with the PLAYER of the game. I've written about having the privilege of working for three broadcasting pioneers/legends during my early years in Canada. The first was Lloyd Moffat for whom I toiled for as a rookie board op at CKY-FM in Winnipeg back when FM wasn't cool. My job was to roll a bunch of Ray Conniff records together with a lot of very smooth instrumentals that made up the bulk of our beautiful music format. The thing I liked best about Ray Conniff's music was the pretty girls on the fronts of his albums. As I checked out those front covers each day I started to pick up on something. Ray who did adult versions of Top 40 hits only seemed to cover the ones you could sing along with as you tapped your toe. That somewhat strange sound of his was slowly seeping its way into my head. Still, I had no idea that experience would play a big role in the birth of Adult Contemporary Radio. Of the three legends I worked for in Canada, Ted Rogers was my favorite. He seemed fearless. When Ted recruited me he only owned a few radio stations, CFTR and CHFI-FM in Toronto plus CHAM in Hamilton. He was soon to become a giant in the media world and beyond, owning scores of radio stations all across Canada, cable TV, a cell phone company and even the Toronto Blue Jays. Ted and his CEO Keith Dancy had lured me away from CFRA in Ottawa. Keith later told me that after meeting me Ted had rejected all the candidates a head hunter had gathered for him and sent them home, simply insisting that I be hired immediately. According to Keith, Ted liked how brutally honest I was with him about sound of CFTR . I still find it hard to believe he enjoyed my telling him that CFTR sucked and I absolutely had no intention of being associated with the station. Turns out my honesty got me an offer I couldn't refuse. I put CFRA in my rear view mirror and headed to Toronto as the highest paid program director in Canada. I still remember that uneasy feeling I had in the pit of my stomach as I drove to Toronto and my destiny listening to my new radio station. Taking radio on in Toronto was going to take a lot more magic than I was used to conjuring up. Growing up in Transcona had provided me with a couple of tools I would need like street smarts and a lot of bravado. The thing I had promised myself as I began this mission was nobody ever was going to see me sweat. Hell not letting them see me sweat was easy, learning how not to not sweat would be the hard part. As usual I was doing all this on instincts fueled by a little rage. CFTR had a radio license to broadcast to adults only a restriction which tended to stifle the creative process just a tad. What the station was doing to comply with this requirement was to play a bunch of very tired old standards by Steve and Eydie, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme, Ella Fitzgerald etc. So far this musical hodgepodge I was listening to as I drove into Canada's largest city had produced little or no ratings. My job was to get some and get them fast. Hey, all one needed was a good plan right. No, check that: I needed a great plan. Only days after my arrival an anxious Ted Rogers popped into my office to ask when I would have something to present to him. I told him I was mulling over a few exciting thoughts but the only specific I had for him at the moment was ... Not this! The rating book Ted is screaming at us to do something totally different and just how to do that is what I'm agonizing over. Are you leaning in a certain direction he wanted to know. Damn those owners are pushy. I told him that I thought we should go after young adults and slant it slightly female. Ted I've been up and down the dial and there's nothing there young adults could relate to. I'm almost 30 Ted and I hate the music TR is playing. It sorta sounds like some stuff maybe my folks would listen to but it even may be too boring for them also. In fact all the stations in Toronto are too soft or too loud I want to get in between. I hear you he said, but please keep in mind our adult only requirement. I understand that but what I don't understand is who decides what's adult and what's not. In this case he said I would think that would be the CRTC (FCC of Canada) I think you should go to Ottawa and see if they will buy into your young adult plan. The CRTC, now those are scary folks, they can take away your license. I was a little nervous about this meeting as I headed for our nation's Capitol. I showed up at their offices at the appointed time and surprisingly they seemed rather pleased to see me. They explained that this was a rare occasion for them as they usually only get to meet with the radio station's lawyer about programming issues. They then of course brought their own lawyers to those meetings. That sure doesn't made much sense to me I couldn't help but say. They smiled and said that's why some of the regulations we end up with don't make much sense either. We chit chatted for a while and they told me they were all very familiar with my work at CFRA and were big fans of the station.They were also aware that I recently had moved to Toronto and were quite anxious to hear what brought me to their door step. I was on ! I explained that CFTR's dismal ratings were such that I needed to totally blow the station up and start over. Are you wanting to to change or modify your adult requirement in any way they quickly asked, because if so you are at the wrong place because that will take a full hearing. No, I'm OK with the requirement but now I plan on trying to appeal to younger adults instead of people my parents age. Are you going to play any rock was their next question. No, I'm going to play artists that younger adults enjoy. Great acts like Roberta Flack, The Carpenters, Bread, and even some of the prettier stuff by Elvis,The Beatles plus a little of the melodic Motown sound. Are teens involved in your new plan they sternly asked. No, I just want all the young adults that are not being presently served on the Toronto radio dial. There was a momentary pause in the conversation then next thing I heard was almost like I hard it in slow motion. We have no quarrel with your plan but we would be remiss in not telling you that if too many teens show up in your ratings we will suspect that your not complying with your adult requirement and we will revisit this conversation. Be assured at that meeting it wont be as pleasant as this one has been today. Thank you for visiting with us. The meeting was over and I think I just heard my favorite word ... Yes ! I was so excited I almost didn't need a plane to get back to Toronto. The CRTC had just given me the right to do something special and something special was what I planned on doing. The time had come to gather up some talented people around me I could trust. Keith Elshaw who had worked with me in Saskatoon was now in Toronto doing a few different projects so I smooth talked him into being my assistant PD. Keith claims I only hired him because he made me look kinda conservative compared to him. I had to have Roger Klein by my side on a project as important as this. Roger had already done two other missions with me and I couldn't imagine doing this important project with out his warm smooth pipes telling out listeners everything was going be alright. We brought the recently married Sharon Henwood who Roger and I had worked with in Ottawa in next by convincing her we were all on our honeymoon for the next little while so she would fit right in. Sharon kept the sales dogs off of me by coming up with some great promotions that had them all dazzled. Keith talked me into hiring Sandy Hoyt from National TV because according to him not only did he have a lot of talent but he thought the two of us had a lot in common. Boy was he ever right about that. We spent many evenings discussing the intricate inner workings of radio as we consumed more than our fair share of Vodka Martinis a way too many times. Hey man cannot live by bread alone. Another radio mate of mine who had worked with me in Sudbury Doc Harris was now doing mornings at our sister station in Hamilton. We Talked Doc into doing a split shift for a while until we got it all worked out. Mornings in Hamilton and nights in Toronto. Doc was another one of those funny loons I always get addicted to In the middle of all this turmoil we got a surprise visit from a great programmer by name of Buzz Bennett. I was very aware of Buzz and loved hearing his stories about how he went about beating radio's programming king Bill Drake recently in San Diego. Buzz was a very strange but inspirational guy and his success against the big guys was legendary. What Buzz had done in San Diego our license unfortunately wouldn't let us do in Toronto, but he did gave us a couple of nice tricks we could use. Buzz was on his way to our sister station in Hamilton to work on a special project but he hung out with us just long enough to lure The Magic Christian over from CHUM. We gave Magic our best board op whose name was Rick Moranis. Yep, that Rick Moranis. As I look back on those very exciting days I kick myself because I should have put Sandy Hoyt and Rick Moranis together as our morning show. They had unbelievable chemistry together which made them hilarious to the rest of us. I just didn't have the intestinal fortitude needed to explain to Ted that my big new plan included putting a board op on the air for the first time in Canada's biggest market. I would do it in a heart beat now. Bruce Devine was an already there board op who made the final cut. He now is kinda CFTR's historian and recently reminded me about the time the competition approached him to sell them all my programming memos. He claimed when he nervously came to me about it I just laughed and told him he should of taken the deal because I would have written him some very special ones and we could have split the money. It didn't stop there they even had one of their board ops planted on our staff but we had him spotted, you couldn't miss him with all that red hair. They play mean in the big city. We rounded out the rest of our first team with some very talented folks like Earl Mann, Stirling Faux and Mike Marshall. What a team, what fun, what great memories. After assembling the talent it was time now to sort out the music. The mystery that needed to be solved was how do you play hit records that would attract adults without getting a lot of teens. Our license depended on us getting it right. About then and right on schedule something my British History teacher Ben Foreman said a long time ago popped into my head. "Class the roots of the present lie deep in the past" That's it ! Why don't I just play the original versions of all those Ray Conniff songs I had to play a few years ago on CKY-FM. Nothing more adult than beautiful music I figured. So I rushed out to a record store on Yonge Street and bought every Ray Conniff album they had. What I really was after was the music list on the back. I then dug up all the the originals and mixed in a bunch of similar sounding tunes I thought he should have covered. If the original was border line I would just conjure up my Mother's face as I listened on that late Sunday night and if Mom scrunched up, I bailed on the tune. Did I mention my Mom hated Rock&Roll. I was in the Zone babe and all the rest very quickly. Speaking of Ray Conniff years later my brother Reg and I bought a popular nostalgia radio format called "Music Of Your Life" and put it up on Satellite. For the launch party in Hollywood we gathered together some of the artists of that era and I had the chance to meet and chat with Ray. I told him how I used his albums to create the world's first A/C station. I also mentioned how much I enjoyed looking at the beautiful women on the fronts of his albums. He said your right they were beautiful but they were also very expensive I know because I married them all. By the way George he said seeing as I was involved somewhat in this very successful format of yours, will there will be a check forthcoming. Back in Toronto we launched our new sound on March 15th,1972 shortly after an ice storm had knocked CFTR off the air for a few hours. I figured nobody was listening anyway so why not now. It turned out the other Toronto radio stations must of been listening because soon they were all up in arms and calling the CRTC to complain how unfair this was. They demanded to know how CFTR got to go Top Forty without a full hearing. Less than two years later I launched similar music on a brand new radio station in Dallas called KVIL. The sales folks there also seemed a little miffed when we kicked off the new format. We had previously told them we would be adult so sell it that way. They were convinced we had gone Top 40 and thought we had deceived them just like the folks in Toronto did. Everyone assumed if it was a hit it must be Rock. They got over their discomfort when they became too busy buying new homes and exotic cars to care about music much. The special blend of music on KVIL along with a few thousand other things we did including having Hall Of Fame inductee Ron Chapman as our center piece soon produced the 2nd highest billing radio station in America. KVIL went on to became the most copied radio station in the world which eventually launched my consulting career. My brother and I ended up copying KVIL forty more times by doing a format all over North America called " Class/Classy FM. " Meanwhile back in Toronto the fervor from the other Toronto radio stations finally died down as we anxiously waited for the release of the new ratings. Oh Oh ! Here they come ... Can you say Champagne and Cigars served up by the now excited sales staff. Wow ! We score a whole bunch of adults with hardly any teens. No need to meet with the CRTC and better yet we were now a radio station to be reckoned with. I still have the telegram that Ted sent wishing me heartiest congratulations. He was so excited he even made me the Station Manager and put me on a plane in first class to attend a radio conference he knew I wanted to go to in Los Angeles. But how was he to know that putting a Transcona boy too near an open bar is not a wise thing to do. When I arrived at LAX I was feeling no pain, luckily Keith Dancy was there to pick me up and insisted what I needed was a quick massage to get me ready for the Convention's opening cocktail party. When the Masseuse asked me what kind of a happy ending I wanted I had no idea what she was talking about let alone how you expense that kind of thing.
November 15, 2010
There appears to be a viscous mob in Chicago running through the hallways of everything Tribune and eliminating anybody who can spell Randy's name. I wonder if as they rape and pillage they are chanting that phony slogan business guys love to use ... This Isn't Personal, It's Only Business. Keith James says I write Paraprosdokian sentences. I have never been much of a womanizer in my life although that activity may not be fully under anyones control anyway. Right ... Roberto, Robert, Bobby, Charlie, Russ, Reid, Jim, Mark, Tom, Barry and J.R. just to name some of the great scoundrels I have known through out the years, and yes your right I probably did envy them just a little bit. But that being said ... I now finally realize the women who did get involved in my life, turned out to be a lot more loyal than I deserved and I thank them for it.
I understand Lil Wayne got out of prison just in time to lease a private Jet and make it court side to for the Heat opener in Miami all in the same day. Maybe Gordo from Wall Street II needed to be a Rapper instead of a Broker.
Speaking of "Money Never Sleeps" I loved how they showed the passage of time while he was in prison by returning a cell phone to Gordon the day he got out that looked as big as a TV set.
I am presently doing a kinda new format the old fashioned way by listening to it and making the adjustments as I go. How wild & crazy is that.
The good thing about being a radio programmer is you don't have to be in an office to do your work. The bad thing though I guess is your always working at least that's what your family thinks.
Russ Morley taught me a long time ago that if sex ever comes up in a conversation on a date, thats going to be the extent of it. The tough thing about having a woman as a friend is, I don't like shopping or doing errands for them and they don't like football. So how's that ever going to work out and why.
According to Beau Weaver, Native Americans believe evil people don't have any songs so as long as who ever is around is singing, you have no fear.
Charlie Van Dyke a while back told me that the thing he hated most about doing battle with we FM upstarts at KVIL when he was doing mornings at KLIF was all the Ron Chapman Billboards. He said every where he looked all he saw was Ron Chapman and he felt it was a little like being in the middle of an unfair fight not to mention how intimidating it seemed. I told him I didn't know how to break this to him but back then we only had enough money for one Billboard so we decided to put it outside his studio window.
My brother Reg reminded me recently about how when we worked in Canada, by law a radio station could only give away $5000.00 a month. We programmers all spent most of our time figuring out how to make it sound like a lot more. You know stuff like a $5000.00 winner on the last day of the month and again the next day on the 1st day of the month. Today radio just wishes it had $5000.00 to give away.
If It's true it ain't braggin'
For me music on radio is a conceptual thing. Country music is fairly easy to spot but now that kind of music is even getting blurred. The listeners know what they want to hear on each station and our job is to figure it out. But first we have to agree on just what kind of Restaurant we have here.
I have worked with a lot of great talent over the years but I must admit this is the first time an on air personality has left us and made me feel proud about it. Joyce Kaufman has been hired away from 850 WFTL by newly elected Congressman Allen West to be his Chief Of Staff. You go Joyce! Oh and when you get to Washington we sure could use a little help with our night time signal. Wait a minute what are all those TV trucks doing outside ... Whats that you say, Joyce is staying. Great! The hell with the night time signal.
Who counts the vitamins and calories in all the food. They're not just guessing are they.
I have always been overly impressed by people who can do things I can't do.
There is only one way to make decent money in Radio is to make management afraid your going to leave.
Great humor comes from great pain.
The thing I look for the most in air talent is their ability to observe life and then comment on it in a slightly exaggerated emotional manner.
One of the few times I have empathy with a radio sales rep is when they introduce them selves to a potential client and the client responds with ... I've never heard of your radio station.
I think if we got to vote on whether or not there should be Lobbyists in Washington I'm thinkin' we would vote them out and that would change the World more than any Politician could ever do.
November 9, 2010
Jerry Moss (A&M) said talent does best when it does what it wants to do not when they do what you want them to do.
Have you noticed that the only people radio are looking for are sales people. They seem to be getting rid of all the rest
Cris Conner says everybody hates their job thats why they have to pay you to do it. Do you sometimes get the sinking feeling that things are going a way too well and you just know you have overlooked something.
One of the smartest radio sales person I've ever met is Jerry Bobo. Back in the day at KVIL he would go to Ron Chapman and ask him if there was anything special he wanted to do on the radio that he hadn't already done yet. When Ron would mention something, Jerry would take a few days to figure it out and of course include a sales angle which made it possible for Ron to do be able to do it. I cant ever remember a KVIL promotion not working.
If you want to silence a very talkative woman just bring up sex.
Success looks totally different when seen through the eyes of the Sales Manager compared to how the Program Director sees it not to mention the rest of the staff including the GM and the Owner.
What with having a young Daughter and an even younger Grandson I'm going to have to live forever just to be able to attend all the important functions they have coming up in their life. So far it's going pretty good.
Have you ever noticed you know exactly what you should have done immediately after doing what you shouldn't have.
When coaching good talent I tend to say the same things over and over again but use different words until the lights come on. Then and only then do we unleash them on a unsuspecting audience.
I think Florida is the only State in the union where you have to drive a way up North to get to the deep South.
I will never forget the day my singer song writer Daughter Candis sent me a song she had written and recorded for me for Father's day. It was called ... "Here's To The Man Who Will Never Leave"
Bob Christy told me the first thing they train you at Mercedes Benz school is how to tell your neighbors at a cocktail party that you sell cars.
I guess they have kinda figured out that we are burned out on all political parties because what party the candidate was from was sure missing from all the advertising signs here in Florida.
Women don't tolerate nasty women only men do.
Mark Hubbard told me a long time ago that to have a successful business you needed to have 3 special people. The Dreamer, The Business Man, and The Son Of A Bitch.
Radio for some reason has over loaded on just one of those types.
I still agree with the line that we have to support our troops in Iraq and Iran but we don't have to support the people who keep sending them there.
During the 60's we used to know the names of a lot of DJ's all over North America. Then in the 70's it was the PD's who became nationally known. In the 80's Programming Consultants became the flavor of the era. The 90's brought us Researchers, and now finally it's the owners who are famous. I'll let you have last line about how well you think it all turned out.
The politicians in Canada and the USA have never figured out what all the revolutionaries in 3rd world Countries figured out a long time ago. You take over the radio stations not the TV stations. They're smart enough to know that they just look silly on TV.
Tim Moore says yesterday is history tomorrow is a mystery but today is a gift. That's why they call it The Present.
Joe Raineri now possesses the secret formula for radio. Guard it with your life Joe the accountants will soon be on your trail trying to track it down so they can destroy it.
The client isn't always right but it serves us well not mention it to them.
I still remember a great liner I just loved on an old KCBQ air check. "Communication Is The Beginning Of Understanding" signed K-C-B-Q.
Dennis Linsin in response to my claim that Government people would starve if they had to live off of tips said the origin of T.I.P. is ... "Too Insure Promptness"
Well that definitely wraps up my theory and puts a bow on it don't you think.
I don't know why the government hasn't figured out by now that we are very very tired of them spending all their time helping the wealthy and the poor. If they don't start taking care of the rest of us soon we will vote them all out again, and that is a threat.
The last time Jerry Brown was Governor Of California he was asked about what his plan for the state was, his reply was ... Plan, what plan, I don't have a plan. So here we are Jerry 25 years later and surely by now you have some sort of a plan because your going to need a good one buddy, your broke!
I just got hooked up again with Gary Bachman an old buddy from Winnipeg. Gary runs a very successful real estate company now but the last time I saw him was at a dance my band was playing at in Tuelon Manitoba. The dance was being promoted by J Robert Wood. Gary's brother Randy was playing guitar for us that night and Donny Burns was our singer. Little did we know that night that eventually 4 of us would end up in radio. Gary as I recall was working the ladies real well and was even tripping the light fantastic as he won the Twist contest on that cold and wintry night.
Teens I'm told only go to one live concert a year. Who would have thunk.
November 2, 2010
Jack McCoy told me a long time ago that the ratings gods always smile best on the folks who paid for the survey.
Speaking of ratings have you noticed that Arbitronhas most of us in radio tied now. Back in the day there were always a couple of stations in every market with double digits. Now we all have 4's and 5's. Could it be that ARB got tired of hearing the very loud complaints from all the stations that didn't have double digits and thats how they fixed it.
Now I think they have figured out how to even take it a step further by making sure the PPM device is deaf during the early mornings.
A lot of radio stations of course didn't stand a chance against huge high profile morning shows so a deaf PPM is the ticket to happiness it appears.
As soon as all the big radio stations get rid of their expensive morning shows I think we will all be tied in the 3's. Then Selector and Music Master will be fighting it out for the personality of the year award.
Women figured out when they were in high school exactly what we wanted. They of course pretended like they didn't in hopes they didn't have to give it to us. But like every rule there are exceptions ... My Daughters and my Niece come to mind.
A good sales person to me and one I am impressed by is the one who can sell a station with no ratings. Hell even I can sell a #1 radio station.
Delilahtold me that the reason women don't ask each other if they got lucky last night is because they don't have to. They always KNOW who got lucky and even how many times.
Red Robinsona legend in his own right said at a recent gathering of radio folks in Vancouver,Frosty Forstanother legend when asked what he thought about radio today he replied with, "I have no comment, radio doesn't exist any more".
When you mix Ego and Fear together it produces a very lethal fuel that when used correctly can propel one down the road towards $uccess at quite an intense and torrid pace.
Woody Cooper claims that if the Mother of invention is necessity then Greed must be it's father.
If government employees had to live off of tips I think they would all starve to death.
Ken Moultrytold me he loved Ben Taylor's response to the question about what he had learned from his father James ... "Oh you mean besides how to be on the road for 40 years without ever taking a break".
I keep hearing about all the great talent the Dallas Cowboyshave but when I look at them I just see a bunch of very expensive losers.
Speaking of The Cowboys, Ron Chapmanwho knowsJerry Jones quite well says,Jerry's gotta bethinkin' ... I spent almost 2 billion bucks to showcaseJon Kitna ... ?
I think Lee Abramsforgot one very important rule. No body's for ya!
One of the most surprising things I learned early in my career was that not everyone at a radio station wanted to win. I'm still undecided whether learning that was a good thing or not. One thing I'm sure of though is ... I'm still very angry about it.
When I was a young and very impressionable program director I attended a meeting in Toronto at one of Canada'sbiggest radio stationsCHUM. We were there to form a Canadian Music Network. After the meetings we all went out to the CNEwhich is a huge fair in Toronto. As we approached the CHUM trailer where they were doing a live remote I noticed this huge line and I thought this must be how it is in the big time. When we got closer though I discovered they were lined up to meet the Board Op not the Dee Jay who was out front. They wanted to meet the person who touched the music. I have never forgotten that.
Texting is a girl thing.
It has been said that I spoil my daughters because I give them everything they want. Luckily for me they don't want much.
Any one trying to raise money to buy a radio station who doesn't have the ability to fix it should of course be turned down and escorted out of the bank by security. It would also be helpful if the police were notified so they could be there waiting to arrest them for fraud as they were being escorted out of the building.
There are only two things important to a radio station, making product or selling time. Seeing as most of the people who run the radio biz at the present time can do neither, I wonder what it is they do all day.
My daughters give me 85% of everything I need from females. But I do have to admit that other 15% is pretty powerful.
For some reason the greeting "Happy Halloween" seems strange to me.
Intelligent People Reasonably Informed Seldom Disagree.
October 25, 2010
I think the saddest thing about America right now is how fearful the media is about reporting that very few people are watching Oprah anymore. I guess it's not politically correct to mention that. But it does make me wonder what else they're keeping from us.
If you want a quick jump start for ratings on your morning show simply substitute the word
"You" every time you feel the urge to use the letter "I"
I loved the line in Wall Street II where Gordon says to Jacob. "Is green the new bubble"
I hear some rumors that my old pals David Wolfe and Sammy Jamesare considering bringingPlato's 2000 + year oldtheory ThePrinciple Of InfluencetotheDigital Worldby merging itwith David's futuristic concept ofSearch Engine OptimizationandSammy's creation of the right nowLead Generation. The purpose being toform a Super Companydesigned to dominate the quickly growing accountable world of radio sales. It all sounds very scary to me.
Al Mair wrote from Beijing where he is vacationing that there are over 60 TV stations and all of them are controlled by the Government. In our World before ratings programming was selected by the Manager's wife. She did what ever she and her friends liked because she was convinced that what she wanted on the radio everyone wanted. Turned out she was wrong.
In politics I don't like how it's going right now nor did I like how it went. Cant we have a new and better way.
Years ago the rest of theBeatlestold Ringohe better start writing some of this stuff other wise he will have to tour for the rest of his life. I understand he's coming to the Hard Rock Casino in Ft. Lauderdaleagain next year.
When I was but a young lad I hung out with a bunch of guys who I thought were exactly alike with a few minor differences. Turned out the minor differences were who we all really were.
You really don't need credentials you are whomever your boss says you are.
The most dangerous person in the world to lie to is yourself.
When I was withCFRA in Ottawa years ago,we had film of the Prime minister ofCanadaanswering a TV reporter's question with ... " All I know about that is what I heard on CFRAthis morning." Ask me how many times we ran that in a TV spot baby!
Robert Murphygave me his Murf's Radio Theorem #101: The Program Manager who hires you based on his respect and admiration for your talent, will exit within six months of your arrival, to be replaced by some small market hack who loathes each word you speak, does not understand why you can't squeeze in eleven songs per hour, and is livid that you missed the 1/4 hour "More Variety" one liner.
Frank Sinatra said there are only two types of shoes, black and brown and you lose the browns at 6.
The thing I like best about Randy Michaels is he makes the rest of us almost appear normal.
Necessity is the mother of invention = There will be no new thing until we run out of oil.
Seeing as you learn very little from your victories you might as well just celebrate them and move on.
Very few things turn out better than you thought they would.
Life is something you will never ever experience again.
As I reluctantly watch my beautiful young daughter Cami grow into a beautiful young women who spends most of her time dreaming about her freedom. I cant help but think about the fact that her birth took away most of the freedom her Mother and I used to have. Luckily for us I guess is we enjoyed most of our prison time.
I remember Woody Cooperonce telling me about a neat new radio format called Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow which was played in 3 record sweeps. It was a complete failure, turned out nobody wanted to hear tomorrow.
It cost me Millions to be as free as I am today but right now I'm wondering if a person really needs this much freedom, because I sure could use an extra million or two right about now.
They're shooting a documentary that is going to use two of the records my bandThe Juryrecorded back in the mid sixties. The only difference is it looks like the documentary may pay us more than the records ever did when they were on the charts.
Most successful radio stations that finally get beaten were usually destroyed from the inside.
The more successful you become the more you tend to stop doing the things that made you successful.
The only interview the folks really want to hear on the radio is an interview with a person who doesn't want to be interviewed.
Things are never quite what they appear to be.
Good radio is just a slightly exaggerated reflection of real life.
Paul Cavenaughtold me that in a recent IBM survey of 1500 CEO'sthat Creativity was the most important trait that top executives needed to have. Why am I thinkin' that Radio CEO's were probably not surveyed.
I don't think women ask each other if they got lucky last night. It must be a man thing!
Well I can hardly wait to see what creative new ideas the "executive council" at Tribune is going to bring to the table.
It has been said that you should never have a relationship with a Woman who loves cats because they have nothing left to give. But maybe the same could be said for Men who have daughters.
When I mentioned to Linda Steinthat I never see young men driving Mercedes Convertibles only young women. She claimed that my remark was sexist and went on to say that maybe the young women bought her own cars and that just maybe, young men do not want to drive a Benz. Right Linda!
October 18, 2010
Change is inevitable except from a pay phone or parking meter.
Giff & Tazmay be the onlySales Gurusleft in the radio biz now. The rest have been replaced bysales drivers.This is just a crazy uneducated guess but do you think this may be because the driver types tend to work a whole lot cheaper than Gurus.
I think the word that bestdescribes today's most successful talent is"Flamboyant"
If radio was easy to do it wouldn't be worth that much in fact It wouldn't even be worth what you paid for it.
The best inspirational tool a PD could ever bring to the table for an air talent is hope.
I have always loved working with people who are a lot smarter than. That way when I use logic to explain how you actually should put a winning show together they understand it a lot better than I do.
Tim Moore in a recent column claimed I was sagacious which I hope is a good thing. But I suspect it's not really a good financial thing unless your the Godfather.
I have always believed in letting my kids sample as many activities as possible. My theory being, maybethey willfind something outside of school that they really enjoy doing. Hey you never know, maybe they'll find something they really love to do and are passionate enough about it to turn it into a lifetime career.
With that in mind my Daughter Camisofarhas been given lessons in Ballet, Tap, Drama, Swimming, Tennis, Violin, Horseback Riding, Choir, Gymnastics, and Guitar. The results of all these numerous efforts are finally in ... She loves to text! Now based on how many times she texts each day I'm betting she's probably getting pretty good at it. But I'm just not sure what kind of a lifetime careerit will turn out to be.
Speaking of textingSteve Lapa tells me that people read over 97% of their texts. I believe that makes texting the most powerful communication device of all time.
Even though I have spent most of my career directing I find myself to be almost undirectable.
My Brother Regsays the onlyword that counts in Radiois RESPONSE!
Disneyland is still going strong and it was created way back in the 50's. I wonder why it hasn't gone out of style yet. No of course I don't.
A radio station's greatestenemy is the off button, not their competitor.
It doesn't take any brains to buy a radio station just money.
With a couple of daughters out there in the real world, I think I'm for a lot more prisons where do I donate.
When you have a thing called a sweat equity deal in radio, eventually when you sell the station at the closing you will hear these dreaded words ... What you don't understand about this deal is! Translated what that means is, you are not going to get anywhere near what you were sure you were getting.
Police in camouflage cars lying in wait for unsuspecting speeders on our freeways is chicken sh*t. Get a real job!
Running has a very weird effect on me it makes me feel optimistic even when I have absolutely no reason to be so.
Programming promotions with a sales twist are a hundred times more successful than a sales promotion with a programming twist.
A strong lifetime bond between two men can only be broken by a woman.
Perhaps the only reward for you being a good parent may be that one day you might get to look back and realize you were and that should be enough.
All men speak at least three different languages. One when they are just hangin' out with men, another when there are women present, and the special language they speak when Mothers, Wives, and/or Daughters are around.
After watching a bunch of College Football this weekend I'm thinkin' maybe they should spend a little more time practicing tackling than on the touchdown dance.
Speaking of football what are we politically allowed to call Reggie Bushnow that he has single handily dismantled USC's greatness with his personal greediness.
Does anyone have any suggestions when I should let my 9th grade daughter know that even though she hates football right now in less than 4 years not only will she be going to football games but she is actually going to be excited about it.
There is no such thing as Business Ethics there's just Ethics.
October 7, 2010
I began my radio career at CKY- FM a 360,000 watt radio station owned by Lloyd Moffat. Mr. Moffat was known through out Canada as a Radio Pioneer/Legend and was the first of three I would have the honor to work for before leaving Canada for America. I only saw Mr. Moffat a few times when he would bring by his cronies for a short tour of the studio to show them his new special toy, the World's most powerful FM.
I doubt Lloyd Moffat knew or cared that I worked for him, but the next two sure did which is a good thing in our biz because it's not who you know but who knows you. What I eventually came to know is ... All Radio Pioneer/Legends are not created equal. I will endeavor to try and make what I mean a little clearer as my story continues with a bit of background.
I was hired part time by CKY-FM to roll Ray Conniff type records on I guess what you would call our beautiful music format. The job required suit and tie type garb along with the wearing white cotton gloves so as to not harm the records. The work was pleasant enough and nicely supplemented my small income that I made playing with my band The Jury.
Each day I would sit at the studio consul for a couple of hours just spinning the tunes while kinda checking out all the beautiful women on the front covers of the Conniff albums. I couldn't help though but glance up more than a few times and look through the studio glass at the place where I yearned to be, CKY-AM.
CKY was the big Top 40 station in town and they playing all my favorite tunes by The Beach Boys, The 4 Seasons and lots of Motown. But I was stuck in the FM station at a time when FM wasn't cool. I laugh now as I think back about those days because how was I to know that those corny renditions of the tunes The Ray Conniff Singers covered on their Albums were slowly seeping into my system and would soon be hugely responsible for most of my Radio Career and the birth of AC
It took a little while but I eventually got to CKY-AM with the help of the AM's leader Jimmy Darin. (Hilliard) Jim made me the assistant to Chuck Dann (Riley) in production which was a real good thing because not only did I fall in love with doing promos, but I learned how to do them right from the best. I also started a friendship with Jim that has lasted a lifetime. We have worked together on one project or another for most of our broadcasting careers.
Things were going real good for me and I was having a ball while learning as much as I could from anybody who would teach me. Not only was the radio thing coming together but The Jury started cutting records so I was becoming very busy.
The next big thing that happened to me was the birth of my daughter Candis. Her birth made me realize I was at the tipping point and there was no room left in my life. I could no longer do Radio, The Jury, and my Family, so I chose my new love, Radio and left the Jury in order to put my head down and devote more learning time to my new craft.
When I next looked up and took a deep breath I was the program Director of CKOM in Saskatoon where I got my first taste of some decent ratings and learned how good that felt which led to my addiction through out my life for ratings parties. The celebration was short lived though because I soon heard those dreaded words no programmer ever wants to hear "Hey congrats on the ratings but we cant sell it, your going to have to change it".
That was my signal to move on so I thought why not go east young man. I moved my family to Sudbury Ontario and went to work for CKSO AM&FM. I was hired by a great guy George Lund who after a few weeks finally introduced me to his boss Ralph Conner. That's a whole chapter on its own better left for another time.
One of the main reasons I chose to go east was maybe by doing so I could get on the radar of legendary radio station CHUM in Toronto. CHUM was the radio station all we young radio Turks dreamed of working at one day. Sure we all had heard the persistent rumors that they were a cold hearted bunch. But we were young, arrogant and bullet proof. They were the very best in Canada so if you got a shot at working for them it meant you were the very best too.
One of my old friends from Winnipeg who used to book my band a few years earlier J Robert Wood ended up at CHUM and had recently been named their Program Director. Being the Program Director of CHUM was one of the most powerful radio positions you could ever hold in Canada and only proved to me that a western boy could make it in the east. The man who owned CHUM along with several other stations in eastern Canada was Allan Waters the next Radio Pioneer/Legend I was destined to work for.
Sudbury turned out to be a great experience albeit a short one. CKSO already had a very good air staff which I had shored up with a couple of my guys which included my life long friend Gary Russell. Sudbury was where I discovered the fact that if you bring a couple of your people with you things move forward a lot more quickly. They explain to the other Jox that your not as crazy as you appear to be. One of the things I was most proud of at CKSO was we sounded much bigger than our market size. This was possible because Ralph Conner demanded it. Ralph always wanted to live in New York and seeing as that was not possible he wanted the radio station to at least sound as good as the Big Apple and was willing to pay for it. Ralph was just starting to compliment us on our improved sound when Fred Sherratt the V/P of programming for the CHUM group came to town to recruit me. Fred wanted me for the CHUM station in Ottawa, CFRA. I can only suspect that J Robert had a lot to do with Fred's newly found special interest in me. So after only 4 months in Sudbury I packed up the family and headed to the nation's Capital.
Wow things are really rolling for me now, I'm on fire. Hard to believe but only a couple of years ago that I was a board op on a beautiful music station in Winnipeg and now I'm in the Majors as a Program Director and I'm working for the CHUM group, how hot is that.
When I arrive in the beautiful city of Ottawa I soon realize that I'm the only one there who is excited about working for the CHUM group. The station was previously owned by a guy called Frank Ryan who they still totally worshiped. I guess they didn't notice the part where Frank took the loot and scooted. Anyway the CHUM folks were all openly referred to as the Sharks from Toronto who wore matching sharkskin suits. Fred Sherratt was lovingly referred to as Fred the Rat.
It was a strange time for me but I didn't give it much thought because the Toronto folks all treated me fine and even when I met Mr. Waters he seemed to come off more like a pleasant General Store owner than a guy who headed up a bunch of sharks. Hey the way I figured it this was my shot and I was going for it so I just put my head down once again and focused on how to make CFRA sound better. The local staff of course had no interest in any of that they liked how it sounded now. They ran the place kinda like a big old country club with the long time GM deciding who was a member of the Club's inner circle and who was not. I definitely was not.
I didn't worry about any of that because the CHUM brass had promised me all the help I needed. This was great news for me because even though I now was in a Major Market I still felt relatively new to the Radio business.
They supplied me with two programming consultants, George Davies from Winnipeg and Ted Randel from LA. George was a nuts and bolts kinda guy and Ted was the concept guy. I had regular weekly calls from Fred Sherratt and J Robert and I'm pretty sure Warren Cosford another Winnipeg lad that had made the CHUM dream team must have checked in with me now and then. Even Mr. Waters called me every once in a while just to see how I was doing. I was covered man!
While listening to CFRA I noticed fairly quickly that even though the station was a 50,000 watt blow torch, it technically sounded horrible. The station engineer it turns out used to work for the phone company and that's exactly how it sounded. He was most proud of the fact that he had it cranked up so loud that we managed to reach places that were well beyond our coverage map. I argued with him night and day and finally got him to back it off and the ratings coincidentally started going crazy. The full coverage cume went down a little, but the average 1/4 hour just soared. Hello TSL, and bring on those ratings parties. Despite all the bad attitude in the place things on my end were going pretty well so the local management didn't bother with me much.
Ottawa is a beautiful city but I saw none of it, I mostly worked all the time. I was on the mission of trying to get every other station in the city to just give up and sign off. The angrier I got with some of the local staff the more determined I was to make the station sound great. What made the place even a little tolerable for me was as usual I had brought a couple of my radio buds with me. This time it was Roger Klein and Woody Cooper who helped me convert a couple more of the staff members around to our way of thinking so now we almost had a gaggle and thats all we needed to do some serious radio damage.
Most of my programming conversations and planning were with the guys at CHUM, CFRA's management mostly wanted to talk about how things used to be.
Then one fateful day all the communication from Toronto just stopped. Nothing, just silence from Toronto. The only noise was the usual local noise putting down the Toronto bunch and singing the praises of their old owner Frank Ryan. I think they expected Frank to come riding back into town on a white stallion, buy the station back, and get rid of all the nonsense from Toronto. It hadn't taken me long to figure out that they thought I was just the resident shark sent from Toronto to watch them.
So there I was working in the cone of silence wondering what the hell went wrong. I heard years later that Mr. Waters had told everyone ... The kid is doing a great job in Ottawa, lets all back off and let him do his thing. I don't know if it's true but it sounds nice doesn't it.
In the middle of all this disarray the next Radio Pioneer/Legend shows up in my life, Ted Rogers. Ted along with his right hand man Keith Dancy successfully recruit me for their floundering radio station in Toronto, CFTR. I later learned that some of the staff at CFRA had a going away party for me couple of weeks after I had arrived in Toronto, where they celebrated my departure.
Working for Ted Rogers was a wonderful experience for me. Ted seemed to be a great guy and he and Keith always treated me very well. Working for Ted who acted like a regular guy was full of surprises like the first time I went for dinner at his home. When me and my family ring the door bell it was answered by a Butler which was the first time that had ever happened to me. I used to think that kind of thing only went on in the movies. In spite of all his trappings Ted made you feel like he never even noticed any of them or really cared about them that much. Ted seemed only interested in what you were dreaming about and had really great questions about how you were going to make those dreams come true.
I will never forget him shortly after that first dinner at his home, excitedly showing me this very strange looking device. This peculiar device that he handed to me had several rows of buttons on it and was connected to his TV by a very long cord. He said go ahead play with it as our children played together elsewhere in Ted's huge mansion. As I played with his new toy he informed me that if I could fix his radio station his new focus was going to move to a new thing called Cable TV. Go ahead push all the buttons he said as I studied this strange looking object I held in my hand, because that's how many channels the folks will soon have to choose from. Wow I said this is great but why is the same program on every 5th button I asked him. That's your problem was his reply your the programmer, I'm just an engineer.
Ted always treated me like I was special and was even kind enough to even invite my kids over to his home to take private swimming lessons with his kids all summer long.
When I first arrived in Toronto I did what I usually do and that was to bring a few of my radio buddies with me. This time it was Keith Elshaw, Doc Harris, Roger Klein and Super Promotion lady Sharon Henwood. We all went to work hoping to do something special enough to put a dent in the Toronto Radio skyline.
One day while I was sitting at my desk plotting our next move, suddenly Ted Rogers appears at my doorway. He looks at me kind of strangely and says, George I just received a disturbing phone call from Allan Waters about you. Oh Oh I thought to myself this cant be good because when two Radio Pioneers/Legends are chatting and your the main topic of conversation what are the odds that ever turns out in your favor. Ted continued on with ... Allan asked me why I would ever hire a untrustworthy despicable character such as you let alone turn your great radio station CFTR over to him and allow him ruin it like he has. I feel he has forever disgraced the much honored Rogers Radio name handed down to you by your brilliant father. Before I could say anything in my defense Ted lit up like a Christmas tree and said ... "George I think we have them on the run lets turn the heat up" With that he turned on his heel and hurried off. The War was on!
September 30, 2010
Before I got into radio I had a band back in Winnipeg called The Jury and we just happened to play a lotta gigs with a friend of mine, Randy Bachman (The Guess Who and BTO) This morning I got a call from Tommy Nast inviting me to LA on Oct. 14 to see Randy and Fredwho have reunited on a new Album calledBachman and Turner.Tommy told me theyare planning to debut their brand new single from the album called Slave To The Rhythm at the Canyon Club in Agoura Hills. He told me that Randy had said that I need to be there so I could see and hear that Neil Young who is also from our hometown, isn't the only one who is still Rockin'. I'm bettin' that Fred and him will throw in a littleTaking Care Of Business, You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet,Let it Rideand maybe even No Sugar Tonightlike I saw him do with Ringo Starin Ft. Lauderdalea few years ago.
Neil Youngsays he only likes to do a couple of takes of each song when he is recording a new Album because even though it's true that the extra takes may move you closer to technical excellence. He feels each take moves you further away from the spirituality of the song.
Why do you suppose pro athletes always seem to need to lay back a little when they are leading in a game. Amateurs in the same situation seem to turn up the heat so they can pour it on.
I keep hearing that the recession is over but I don't see it and I sure cant cant feel it or even get a taste of it coming, in fact it still smells real bad out there and the word "over" makes absolutely no sense to me let alone stand up to the five sensing I just gave it as Mike Vancethe Dean of Walt Disney Universitytaught me to do those many years ago..
Jim Morrison said,"None of us are getting out of here alive" So I'm thinkin' ... Hey we might as well sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride eh.
Like a lot of people I have learned a lot more from my mistakes than any of the wins I may have had. It was never scary for me try new stuff on the radio because I knew only one of two things were going to happen. Either we were going to kick some major ass or I had another chance at becoming a whole lot smarter.
All I ever hear about is attitude is everything. But I'm thinking if you don't have a little ability mixed in with all that attitude ya still got nuthin'
My Father Sandy Johns was born when the Great Warbegan in 1914. My Dad was already a young man before he saw his firstairplane. But by the time he was middle aged he watched a man and on the Moon on his TV. After World War IIthingsreally started to pick up speed. There has been more advancement in the World in the last 100 years than the thousands that came before them. The reason being ... Education!
A hundred years ago only the well to do got much schooling. When that was all changed and everybody had a chance to finish school if they wanted the World as we knew it exploded. Turns out there were some pretty smart Peasants out there.
Speaking of education I see no reason to let a person go to college who who wouldn't otherwise qualify just because they are a good athlete. Let the NFL figure out another way to train them.
I still remember the magical nights when both my beautiful daughters were created
I believe the new money for radio is going to come from figuring out how to do product placement and how radio becomes accountable to advertisers like the digital world is.
Some Radio marriages have really worked out well. The reason may have been because when put together they produced great ratings and oodles of cash at the same time. For exampleJack McCoy's Last Contest+George Johns' Magic Ticket =The Prize Catalog. The Prize Catalog + American Airlines Advantage Program = Reg Johns' Radio Rewards Program on the Internet.
I suspect somewhere somebody is burning the midnight oil and getting ready to propose. Then before you know it ... The next big thing will be upon us.
I think the most wonderful word you will ever hear in your life time isDa Da. There is no more special momentthen your daughter says that to you for the first time. But as special as that is an even better word is on the way and that word is Daddy. It is said that anybody can be a Father but it takes a special person to be a Daddy. You try to hang on to this special part of your relationship with your daughter as long as you can but before you know it she is calling you Dad, which is OK I guess but it's just not Daddy. Then you graduate to where I am now, Dude. Now I'm not quite sure what to think about Dude, but I do know it's a long long way from Daddy.
I have noticed though if I'm in the right place at the right time I get to hear the Daddy word again like when she is wondering about if I'm going to buy her a new car when she turns 16 like I did her sister. Sometimes it shows up when she needs me to take her shopping for the latest hip new shoes or when her Mother has grounded her and could I come and get her. The Daddy word shows up most often when she needs a ride for her and her girl friends to go to the mall and hang out for a few hours. She'll call me when she needs me to come and get them ... But Daddy please don't talk to my friends just drive us OK.
Sometimes I'll hear it when she needs her hair done, or her phone isn't working and for sure I hear it a lot around her Birthday and Christmas. Now that I think about it what am I bitching about, I really cant afford to hear Daddy any more often than I already do.
After being through this twice I have painfully finally figured out that little girls turn into women somewhere between Daddy and Dad with out any warning.
I think the Presidentshould call up Bill Clintonand see if he's still got that old sign still lying round somewhere cause it sure worked out well for us. You know the one ... "It's the economy stupid"
Is it true that in all the world there are only 12 humans who look like they do, and they all model forVictoria's Secret.
What the research says people want and PPM says people are listening to is starting to drift far apart from each other. Kinda back like when the people told Ford to build theEdsel
I wonder how many good athletes are good human beings.
It used to be that if you had a good education you could make good money. Now it takes higher education just to make the wages high school drop outs used to make.
If you don't have greed or sex on your Web Pagedon't expect a lot of visits.
I think whats wrong with Americais too many choices. You have to keep clicking your way through the hundred Cable channels all night to make sure you don't miss what you would have really liked to have seen. Way too many radio choices of practically the same thing. Satellite is even worse. How do you settle on one perfect car and which one would that be.It even seems to take forever to order a meal anymore, I wish they would just bring me what they think I should eat.
It didn't take me long when I was just a pup to out earn my father. Alas there is no chance for my kids to do the same and it has nothing to do with how much money I may have made.
Even though the music on computers balanced all the music out and stopped the Jox from playing their favorites it like everything has a side effect. It now takes at least three days instead of 45 minutes to hear your musical changes on air.
Doug Ericksonsaid ... Greatness, true greatness, is always linked to originality.
To be even close to becoming a successful morning show there are two things you must do. Talk about what the people are talking about and then get the people to talk about you.
Until that happens there is no need to talk about yourself.
© 2008-2010 George Johns
George Johns
george@georgejohns.com
September 20, 2010
Are you aware that a lotta folks are a lot worse off than you?
I for one would never want to follow a legend like Gerry House. I just want to follow the fool who followed him.
I was just reading a fact that in the late 30's very few Germans were true Nazisobviously though they still had enough people on their side to almost ruin the World. With that in mind does it really make any difference if very few Muslimsare true terrorists.
I never realized until I got into radio and was producing commercials that the big department stores in town,Eaton's and The Hudson's Bay Companynever did not have a sale going on.
Reggie Bushhas always been about money, we just didn't know it. Of course he gave the Heismanback it already gave him all the money it could.
Speaking of Football -Lou Holtzsaid when he was coaching he would always began the season at Notre Dame with a special meeting. At this meeting held in the locker room Lou told the players that every football season should start with a dream. His dream for this season was forNotre Dameto win the National Championship.National Champions! Now boys, wouldn't that be something. But my dreaming about being #1 will never happen until my dream becomes your dream.All was very quiet for a moment, then just like he was going to lead them in prayer Lou asked them if they would all just close their eyes for a moment. See if you can visualize yourselves standing along side your team mates on a very large stage near the edge of the very field where you just conquered your opponents and became #1. See if you can see in your minds eye the tons of green and white confetti swirling about you and the camera flashes going off like strobe lights as your being presented with that special trophy given only to the best in the nation ... The National Champions.
Now with your eyes still closed, can you also see and hear the 100,000 people in the stadium who are wildly cheering for you and chanting your name. I guarantee for the rest of your life you will never forget that moment. Can you even start to imagine the millions of people from all over the world who will be watching you on TV and the millions more who will be listening to you being interviewed on the Radio.
Do you see your folks in the stands with all your friends, man how proud do you think they are. Wait a minute listen to that music. I think it's our favorite song being played by our favorite band and don't you agree that the Irish fight song never sounded so sweet as it does today on our day of days.
Do any of you have any idea what that moment will mean to you. I do, that moment will mean you have just become immortal. Lou let all of what he said sink in for a moment or two before he asked the all important question. Do any of you see what I see. Do you? If you do, I promise you this. I know I can show you how to turn that dream into reality because I already have the plan right here he said as he raised the Notre Dameplaybook high into the air.
I wonder what dream our Radio leaders today are dreamin' today. I for one can't visualize anything but continued losses for them.
Speaking of Lou Holtz -I remember once sharing a car with John Lynchtogo from the airport in Las Vegasto theNAB hotel. John excitedly told me as we rode that Lou had called his house early that morning to speak with his son. Lou was trying to recruit him to come toNotre Dame. John didn't have a lot of radio on his mind that day I don't suppose.
I have always told my kids what they should do for a living is something where they lose all track of time while doing it.
What does the expression "Business is Business" really mean. It might be a good thing if you own the business but I think it may be a bad thing for the rest of us.
Isn't it strange how the term ... I just got f**ked means something real good or something real bad just happened.
I think maybe the most creative times of radio were done during the days the owners thought they were going to go broke if they weren't #1.
If marriage was as tough to get in to as it is to get out of it would last a whole lot longer.
Do radio people still carry around air checks of great jocks and great stations. If so, who are they.
Have you ever worked at a #1 radio station. Ain't it fun!
Back in the mid 80's, my Brother Reg,Bill Yde,and I bought a radio station in Portland Oregon from an engineering type. We launched it as K103 (KKCW)andIt took us a little over a year to make it number one which was very fun. What makes it even more fun today is it still is number 1. Wow that for me pretty well puts them in the same league as WIBC, KVIL, and WRMF. But then again when you start to do the math they just may be getting ready to pull out and pass the other big three in my life.Congrats to whomever it is that's still fighting the good fight.
Thinking aboutPortlandI remember the time I flew to therehelp launch the first ever direct mail piece that was a promotion, a contest, and a research project all at the same time. My Brother Reghad come up with it and seeing as K103was in the early development stage (no ratings) we were all in town to help Jason Williamsget it started.We were also very excited about the possibility of this new endeavor it being cool enough to blow the market away. (which it did)
Our Sales Mgr. was kind enough to pick me up at the airport and was take me to the Holiday Innwhere they had booked me for a few nights. Portland is a beautiful city and I was just enjoying the scenery as we drove. Whenwe were crossing the river near downtown Portland I couldn't help but notice that most of the redevelopment on the river was almost done. I also couldn't help but notice that on the near side of all the new construction was a recently completed brand new luxurious hotel. I excitedly said to the SM, "Hey we should try and get some trade with that new hotel" His reply to me was ... We already have trade with them. Then why are we headed to the Holiday InnI said to him astonished over his reply.He patronisingly explained that the trade was to be used exclusively for our clients.
A couple of days later still seething I called my mentorJim Hilliardand said, Hey Jim I remember whenMr. Fairbanks made all those market visits when we all worked together and it seems to me that he stayed at nothing but the best. Now please explain this, I'm an owner just like him but they are booking me at the Holiday Inn,what the hell am I doing wrong. Jim easily explained it ... You just don't have me! It was me years ago who got those places for the Boss, if I left it up to our staffs they would have stashed him in a Motel 6.
Gary Russellonce told me the only way you get more money out of a market is when you hire rookie sales people because they are the only people who will call on all potential clients who don't presently advertise on the radio
September 13, 2010
Has there ever been an NFLteamthat has managed to become anything special without a charismatic coach to lead them. Hello Miami, Indyand Dallas.
Have you ever heard about of any of the "Hey look at me" loud mouth athletes who make huge money ever giving anything back to the communities they came from. Or could it be that's the only thing they want kept low profile. Yeah right!
It is hard for me to understand what with the price of tickets for the college football games, not to mention, concessions, shirt sales, shoe deals, bowl appearance money, TV/Radio rights and such why a college education isn't free for everybody.
You should only do the things you really like to do because they are probably the only things you'll be any good at.
Several times lately I have had a conversation with my Daughter Cami which ends more and more with her saying, I already knew that Dad, I am no longer a child ya know, I'm 14 years of age now. So the other day with that in mind I say to her, hey Cami now that your an adult we need to talk about something very important, at that point she interrupted me with ... Dad I'm not an adult, I'm only 14.
About 15 years ago one of the most embarrassing things that ever happened to me occurred while I was on a skiing trip in Telluride with Kari Summerfield. Kari later became the mother of my daughter Cami, but that's yet another story and best told over adult beverages.
Around the time of this skiing adventure a song calledI Swear by a group calledAll 4 One had recently been #1 all overAmerica for about 7 weeks in a row and now was becoming a #1 world wide hit. Heck there was even a country version of it out so you couldn't turn the radio on without hearing it all the time.
Just before leaving on our ski tripe I put that very popular song on a cassette and put a plan together to play it for Kari at a perfect moment. The perfect moment arrived at 12:01 AM when it officially becameValentines Day in Colorado.At that moment I nervously put the tape into the cassette machine and hit play. So far so good and even much more importantly, everything worked and the song played. How romantic huh!
I chose that song because I loved it and the words in that tune best communicated what I felt inside for her far better than I ever could way back then. It also voiced how strong my commitment to her was. I had it all going on, the perfect song at the perfect moment for the perfect woman.
When the song ended I of course asked her to marry me and she graciously accepted. Whew! I couldn't have been happier at and was also pretty proud of myself for managing to put that special moment together and how rather well I thought it had come off seeing as how nervous I was.
I also think I might just escalatedI Swearto the lofty position of record of the year for her because now every time she heard the song the lyrics would have a new and special meaning, almost like they were written especially for her. I was even thinking this tune had to have a good shot at becoming "our song" for the rest of our lives. Hey maybe I could even get All 4 One to play at our wedding, would that be hot or what. I'll have to give my palCharlie Minora call and see what he can do for me.
Now as Kari was sitting there admiring her new engagement ring and getting ready to call her folks back home in Florida and I was just sorta basking in the after glow of it all she suddenly turns to me andasks what my reason for playing that strange music was, just before I proposed to her. Huh!
At the time of this very special event, which now was turning into a very strange moment I was living in Boston.Kari lived in West Palm Beachwhere shewas ahuge fan of WRMF. She really liked the station a lotand loved listening to all of its personalities. I would with some certainty guessWRMFwas probably the only radio station she ever listened to. Well now! Who would have ever thunked it ... Who could ever have predicted it ... Who could ever guess what the odds against it were but It turns out thatRuss Morleythe PD during the time of this special event, hadnever ever played I Swear on WRMF.
Kari of course hadnever ever heard it before and probably would never ever be hearing it ever again. Color me totally embarrassed. Forever!
I know I have written this beforebut there are certain people whom I love dearly, thatneed to read this statementeveryday. "A Tattoo Is The Permanent Record Of Momentary Insanity."
Merle Haggardsaid when your young you waste all your time chasing women. When you get older bunches of women aren't nearly as important to you so you finally get creative and try to do something special with the rest of your life. He used a different word for women but I'm sure you get the general drift.
Speaking of women they appear to be very serious creatures which much to your surprise starts to show up shortly after you tell them you love them. Then lo and behold they get even more serious if thats possible immediately after that quick trot down the aisle, when they become experts on every topic known to mankind.
Joe Raineritold me at lunch today that he figuredRon Chapman would tolerate about 10 minutes of all the morning shows in West Palm Beach. Joealso mentioned that Tom Watson hadtold him earlier that I should leave the radio business because I've lost touch with it. Little does Tom know ... But I have never been in touch with it.
A while back two things occurred almost simultaneously which inspired me to begin writing. First my brother Reg suggested because I was a story teller I should start writing a couple of them down because maybe my kids or even my grand kids might enjoy reading them at some point. Next I discovered spellcheck on my lap top which completely set me free until it claimed I was misspelling both of my Daughters names.
The answer has always been ... Ask the right question!
Just because something is not against the law certainly does not mean that it's not immoral.
Even though I didn't get along well with my father while growing up I find much of what I believe in today was actually taught to me by him.
Knowing exactly what to do brings on an enormous problem. Now you have to do it.
In Canada when the Government doesn't do what it claimed it was going to do there has to be another election called. That of course is just another set of problems, but at least it keeps down a few of the empty promises politicians cant resist making.
When you first become a father along with the joy comes the fear of providing for them so you work a lot harder than maybe you should. With this 2nd time around for me you would think I would be able to change my outlook and be calmer about it all. But no the fear of not being able to provide still pulls at me still
Even gay guys are totally distracted by a beautiful woman.
In Major League Baseballall you ever hear about are the hitters and the pitchers. But what is unbelievable to me are the plays the infielders make. Some of them are not humanly possible, but I know I saw them with my own eyes.
Getting ratings on a radio station is just like trying to seduce a beautiful woman. First you have to get her to notice you, then you do something very special so she'll like you, and finally you have to make her fall in love with you. Good luck!
My brother Reg and I grew up in a household that didn't have a lot of huggin' & kissin' going on in it. In fact the showing any kind of affection was certainly not a big priority at our house. The result of being deprived of that is we both need a lot of hugs, but hey please don't hug us or could ya just make it a quick one.
Sex & Greed are the only two things that make fear disappear.
September 7, 2010
Al Mairasked me how radio was going to handle what he claims is going to be the #1 song of the year. F**K You - Cee-Lo Don't you wish that just once when a person parted company with a radio station that both sides would say what they really thought of each other.
When ever I read about a new PD being hired somewhere she/he inevitably always tells the trades about how great the station is and how much they have always admired it. Then they go on to talk about the wonderful the staff they have. Hey If all that is so true It's extremely difficult for me to figure out just what the the new PD is going to be doing.
Paul Cavenaughasked me if I've noticed how quickly those yellow lights go to red now that they've installed those cameras to catch people going through a red light.
The way something or somebody becomes great is through repetition. Radio of course is trying to eliminate that.
It is rumored that the reason The Beatlescreated Sgt. Pepperwas because they had heard The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds albumand now the competition was on. Turns out The Beach Boysdidn't even play on their records so what kind of competition was that.
When you tell your music system what not to do, you are actually telling it what you want it to do. The problem is you don't have any idea at all what you just told it to do until one day you say ... Why the hell are we doing that.
When I was almost 50 and living in San Diego I hired an Elite World Class runner by the name ofThom Huntto help train me because I was entering a new age category and thought maybe with the right training I could pick up some hardware.
Back home my nephewJamie Boychukwas running track for his High School and just for fun we entered a 5K together. I was lucky enough to beat him, which surprised our whole family, what with our age differences and all. A year later Jamie called me up and said, Uncle George I've been training for longer distances now and want a rematch. Oh Oh I say to coach Thom what do I do now, he says just take him long. The young Turks always go out a way too fast and soon flame out.
Back to WinnipegI go and talk Jamie into entering a half marathon which featured a former great Olympic runner and current author of very informative running books,Jeff Galloway.
Off we go at and at about the 2 mile mark with slightly more than a 11 to go on a very sunny not so cool day, I spot Jamie just up ahead of me. I decide to pick up the pace a bit and as I go by him, trying to look like I'm just loping along very relaxed, I ask him how he feels and he says fine, so I pick it up even a little more trying to throw a little intimidation his way.
During the remainder of the race I just feel like I'm dying because I have never run this far this fast before. I'm thinking Jamie must be right on my tail and is probably just waiting for the last hundred yards to go racing by me laughing
Finally thank God there's the finish line up ahead and with out even being able to breathe anymore I run all out and cross the finish line and almost pass out from sheer exhaustion.
Whew! While still breathing hard, no check that, more like panting like a dog I still manage to look around, but no Jamie. Wow did I actually beat him again. I stand there exhausted thinking he must be rolling in any moment now but hey I might as well do a little stretching while get my breathing back as I waited for him to cross the finish line. Wait a minute what is this. I notice the arrival of not Jamie, butJeff Galloway.I beat the Olympian, Impossible!
Later that same day and still very excited about my finish time which was 1 hour and 31 minutes which was a new PR for me and good enough for a 3rd place medal, I calledThom Hunt back in San Diego. I give him the good news about my time andalso excitedly tell him I finished ahead of Jeff Galloway. Then I cant help but realistically say but hey, I bet he's in these these races all the time and he probably didn't run full out. Well that's his story Thom said ... Yours is you beat him.
Women probably understand what Mrs.Woods did do that got her those million dollar bills in her divorce from Tiger. But a lotta men out there are kinda wondering what she stopped doing that might have contributed to the whole mess.
It is said that it's better to give than receive but I bet even ol' Santa sometimes gets weary of being Santa Clauseall the time.
I think Kobe Bryant probably lays awake at night thinking about what more he needs to do to become bigger than Michael Jordan.Now wouldn't you know it, 3 guys show up in Miami who are going to do everything they possibly can to make sure that never happens
I hate the word no so much that I even find myself getting angry whenever I find myself even anticipating I'm about to hear it again .
I think the penalties should be a lot more severe for crooked cops and politicians than for ordinary citizens. Regular folks don't have any shot at covering up their misdeeds.
The Republicans and the Democratshave at least two things in common neither are afraid of the rich, but both are deathly afraid of the wealthy.
The phrase "This isn't personal it's just business" had to have been invented by somewimpy business guyhoping we would buy it and not hit him.
I really like most radio sales folks I just don't trust them, I don't have any reason to.
Jack McCoyonce told me that if he didn't say it yesterday it's probably not true anymore. I think I'm gonna go with that myself pretty soon.
Selling radio time never gets any easier, as the ratings go up so do the rates.
I love the "Daddy" word the best, but it still makes me a little nervous about why it is being used at that particular moment.
Athletes always seem to forget that to get into any hall of fame you have to be the best at what you do plus be a decent human being too.
One of the good things I have going is neither of my daughters ask me for much. I would probably would probably give them anything they wanted if they asked and they would have turned out to be terrible human beings. So far it's worked out well for all of us.
Hey as Jim Morrison said, "None of us are getting out of here alive". With that in mind let me ask you this ... When do you suppose would be a good time for us all to lighten up.
The thing about air personalities is you have to teach the audience to like them. They already like the right music.
Brent Farris and I recently did a jingle session together in LA.One of the singers was very excited because he was going on a world tour soon with Pink Floydas their new lead singer. How much I wonder are they are going to charge us to see a jingle singer.
I wonder if most of the athletes who spend most of their time telling us how great they are ever realise they probably will never be in the hall of fame.
Bobby Bowden said he doesn't want to coach a player with talent, he only wants to coach one with passion.
John Madden says what ever you do, do something that makes a memory.
Inside every older person is a younger person saying WTF happened.
One of the very amusing things that just popped into my head today was the time I waswatching my oldest Daughter Candis, tear 'em up with her band at The Roxy onSunset Stripin LA.During one of her great sets she did one of my favorite ZZ TOP tunes of all time and when she came off stage for her break I complimented her on how well her version sounded. But as I told her I was very surprised that she chose that particular ZZ Top tune to do becauseIt seemed alittle out of character for her even though I enjoyed it immensely.To put it mildly, Candis was and still is a kind of a liberated young lady. Color her horrified at my disclosure to her about "Tush".Candis all along thought the tune was called "Touched", and that's what she was singing.
August 24, 2010
Some of the e mails I send to people that don't get responded to always tell me a lot more than the ones that do.
John Lundclaims that about 50% of your audience is interested in your station's contest and will probably mentally play along if it's interesting enough even if they don't physically participate.
In the radio biz the only time the spotlight is on you is when you are losing. When your winning you seem to be working in a vacuum and your wins become a very closely guarded secret.
So as I take my youngest daughter Cami to her High School orientation tonight I cant help but think back to my first year in High School and how it shaped my whole life. Things sure were sure simpler then and it seemed a whole lot easier to achieve your dreams. Life now looks a whole lot more complicated to me and I'm frightened for her.
I'm starting to figure out that the expression "It's All Good" isn't really a good thing. It usually means it's all pretty bad, but we're covering it all up as fast as we all can.
Now that we have instant communication all the time, are things better ?
So the word is according to the experts and PPM much more music is the way to go in the AM. Well the experts better just pray that the Howard doesn't come back because all the experts will need to re tool and Arbitron will just say, hey all we do is measure.
I love the line when Chelsea was asked by Hillary before the wedding if she and her fiance had sex yet. Chelsea supposedlyanswered with ... Not according to Dad.
Bob Christytold me when a sports franchise fails they fire the management and keep the players. At a failing radio station they do the opposite.
Have you ever noticed that even though the Government has the most employees, pays them decently, and gives them great perks, somehow every project that the government is involved in seems to be behind schedule and the employees look very unhappy.
Recently I was traveling east through the Rockieson Amtrakand was having dinner with a couple on their way to New York. They asked me if I had done the train from LA to Seattle. I responded I had a few years ago and found the service and the train staff's attitude to be superb. They said they found the service on the train we were presently traveling on was OK but no great shakes. I told them just wait until you switch trains in Chicago, you'll look back on this ride as a great one. How can that happen they asked, isn't Amtrak allowned by the same company. Well thats another story isn't it.
When I was growing up I was always told by the Chamber of Commerceto be good to the tourists we need them. I started to noticed though that I always seemed to have the same amount of money in my Jeans whether they were there or not.
In Floridawhere I make my home we swell by several million residents each year comeThanksgiving. But the spot rate on radio stations doesn't go up nor do we seem to have anymore running. Other than I cant get in my favorite restaurant while they are here, To this day I cant understand why theChamberever thought I needed these people.
I just got through reading a great article by my friend Tim Moore. Tim was writing about motivation and mentioning the kinds of things that motivated him for most of his life. I was kinda nodding along as I read but it got me thinking that maybe you have to be sensitive to motivation to be motivated. Or better put, you may have to want to be motivated to be motivated.
Everyone seems very upset about the music industry. The Artists, The Songwriters and The Record Companies all claim the Internet has ruined the music business. My daughter Camiwho has about a thousand tunes in her I Pod seems happy enough with it though.
When I once asked Joe Amaturowho is heavily involved in Muvico Theatres,why some of his theatres seemed more splendid than others. Joe told me it was because he beleived the theatre in some way had to match the community it was located in. Wow I wonder if that would work in radio(-:
The more I learn about howPPM works the more all the mysteries of the old diary method tend todisappear.
Giving away a lot of money to charity doesn't make you a good person. Just how you got the money your giving away is what determines that.
I think a lot of people misunderstand Arbitron'sintention. They are not in the business of searching for the truth about what radio stations people listen to. They are in the business of searching for money and most of their decisions are based solely on that, and that only.
Boy theDr. Laura announcement that she is hangin' it up come the end of December has driven the sales dogs into an e mail frenzy, all of course claiming their talk client that they represent is the perfect replacement.
I have come to the realization that Art must be an unnatural phenomenon. I have never found it to happen naturally.
After sitting at a red light for what seemed like eternity again the other day and with absolutely no sign of any traffic, I couldn't help but wonder how much they paid the people who set up the systems for all the traffic lights. What ever it is they are definitely overpaid and owe us money.
The goal of every radio station should be to sound like they are not doing it for the money.
August 12, 2010
Where is or better yet, what is the symbol on your lap top to make a smirk instead of a smile.
Everything you have ever done in your life that was kinda bad and your embarrassed and ashamed about it now still make the best stories. But usually you have to be a little little loosened up by some fine wine so as to work up the courage to tell them.
The only people who can control Mr. business man is his competitors.
My Daughter Candistold me that she was driving along the other day with my 5 year old Grandson Nathanieland kinda heard him singing and humming something from the back seat. When she listened a little closer it turned out to be a JURYtune he was singing from 40 years ago. Go ahead ask me how I feel about all that but only do it if you have an hour or two to waste listening to my answer.
Speaking of The Jurysomebody is shooting a musical documentary and wants to use two of our records in it. They contacted me to find out who owns the rights to the songs now. I gave them the name of the publisher and suggested they might also contact my daughter Candis in California because she used to be in the music licensing businessbefore she took on the even more formidable job of raising my grandson and could probably help out.
Turns out the publishing company doesn't exist anymore, so I suggested maybe the rights to the songs reverted back to the writersBruce Walker, Terry Kennyand myself.Candis said Dad I've seen all those contracts nothing ever is in them that would return anything to the artist or writers. Back when I was singing and writing she said, I just couldn't bring myself to sign them like you guys probably did without hardly even reading them.
Of course now you have four records nicely framed hanging on your wall and people shooting documentaries about your music and I sure don't. So how smart was I after all.
I think Wars are between Governments not people, we just get dragged into it.
I only deceived my oldest Daughter once and that was when walking her down the aisle I did the symbolic gesture of handing her off to her Husband but I really didn't mean it. It was only symbolic to me and always will be. Oh the figuring out how to drive her and her date to and from the senior prom didn't count. I was just being very helpful as all fathers should be.
When Buzz BennettandJack McCoywere PD's they were a way ahead of their time. Some of the stuff they figured out even works better today.
It must be weird living in a world where you spend most of your life doing what ever it takes to become famous. Then suddenly you realize some other person can become famous in an instant just by killing you.
My best friend from High school Jim Quaile mailed me the other day to tell me how envious of me he was. He seems to be struggling with his early retirement. He spends most of his days golfing and worrying about whether the golfing everyday is going to tax his stamina because of course each night his fantastic wife will want him to make love to her like she does every night.
Then there is also the added pressure of trying to figure out where in the world they should consider living for 4 months of the winter. It has to be a fun place and there are so many too choose from that it's just exhausting.
He claims that he would give anything to be on the road with me struggling to get through security at the airport, sitting in center seats on jammed airplanes, listening to the endless on board announcements that are only done for our safety, waiting for the ramp to be pulled up to the plane, apparently even though the pilot to the second knows when we are going to arrive they never inform the ramp driver, waiting for the car rental shuttle bus as two or three from the other companies go by empty, lining up for the rental car because once again we are a surprise so there are only two at the desk and ten walking around with sheets of papers in their hand that are a lot more important than us, stuck in traffic on the 405, explaining to the front desk clerk at the hotel that the person who answers the phone knows who you are and they also have your reservation please check with them.
Jim says he still remembers and misses those great late night dinners where they keep working you and all the after hours club somebody always knows about which leads sometimes to you waking up with some woman who somehow in the morning just didn't manage to quite match the beauty she had the night before. You quietly try to chew your arm off rather than disturb her because you've got to get to that very exciting early morning meeting even though you have a big splitting headache.
But hey you live for those meetings man, they are your life. You can hardly wait for the part where some sales type says ... I don't know anything about programming but! His or her about what they don't know explanation takes about an hour. The only thing about their speech that was useful was they were absolutely right about their opening line and maybe in the future we wont have to suffer through another hour of their meanderings.
The best part of it all is you get to head back to the airport to do it all over again in another city only this time you are running a little late because the big guy had to take a bunch of phone calls during the meeting which he claimed would only take a moment. Those little special moments made the meeting run over but everyone said it was a great meeting, even though nothing was decided and no tasks were assigned. Meanwhile your wondering what your going to do if you don't make the plane, so your mentally making alternative plans. You cant even get on your cell phone because your in California.
Johns your a lucky man my buddy said, don't you worry about old Jimmy you just enjoy yourself out there, I'll be OK. I'm just not sure right now if I should take the boat out or do another round of golf. Trying to make all these decisions is about wearing me out. Awthe hell with either of those two things. I think I'll just have my self another afternoon delight.
I understand in the State of Nebraska alone they could grow enough food to feed the whole world. But I understand for economic reasons or something the Government pays them not to grow stuff. Are the people who decided this the same people who decided what ever got us into this current recession.
About 35% of your listeners are listening to you the rest are just hearing you and some reluctantly.
Have you ever noticed the amount of creativity that goes into telling you no. Yes is still just yes.
I wonder if the American women ever have forgiven Oprah for turning her back on a woman and endorsing Obama a while back. Lets check the ratings ... Nope, time to retire.
Tim Moore wrote that his Dad told him a long time ago that the cemeteries were filled with serious people and that maybe he should pick a different attitude.
August 4, 2010
Nobody has ever thought they were overpaid. But I know of a few and after a couple of glasses of a nice red I start naming names.
If nobodyin Germanywas for Hitler everwho were all the people in those huge stadiums cheering loudly and wildly for him for all those years.
When I google myself I seem to be an entrepreneur, a lawyer, an author of fine books and a military man of some importance. Hmmmmm now how do I turn all those great credentials into something useful.
Robert Murphy recentlyreminded me about the time he was leavingWRMFin Florida and heading back to Chicago. He remembered me tellinghim that I really admired the great unapproachable attitude he seemed to have. I knew at the time that I wished I had that same look so the sales department would be too afraid to approach me also.
Robert asked me at dinner recently how come we didn't talk a little more to each other when he worked at the station. He thought it may have been a good idea and maybe little more fun for him and the station too. I told him I was too afraid to. He was The Murph, Man!
Sales departments are very similer to a few women I know. They dont take any responsibility nor do they want to be accountable for their effect on the ratings.
A lot of people ask me why I dislike sales people so much. The truth is I really love hanging out with them they are fun people. I just don't like working with them, they lie for a living!
As predictable as talent is off the air they need to be equally as unpredictable on the air.
I bet in Nashvilleeven theChinese waitershave Southern accents.
Jim & Pat Felton (Jim Brady) e mailed me while back with the following quote "Your an overrated jerk"
When KVILin Dallaswas in it's infancy stageBILL Gardner,our then midday jock submitted his tape to BillboardMagazine for the coveted personality of the year award.
Bill's tape it turned was the one that the judges liked the best but Claude Hallsaid we cant have a winner from some station nobody has heard of.So for that year there was a tie for first place. Bill's trophy which he still proudly keeps on his mantle even has the call letters wrong KXIL.But it wasn't too much longer until the whole country had heard of KVIL includingClaude.
You could turn a lot of movie stars into great Jox but I don't think the reverse is true.
Have you noticed the latest scam at the pumps. Sometimes when you slide in your credit card it says see attendant. They move that around everyday because it's designed to get you to go inside and maybe buy something, that's where the real profit is just like at the movies.
If you really want to be happy I've been told you have to live a balanced life. You have to spend equal amounts of your time on your spiritual, physical, intellectual, and financial well being. No wonder the rich only smile in photos.
The PPM device is deaf for the first hour of morning radio which means the agencies get that first hour for free.
Speaking of morning radio it's still the only day part with any influence on the listeners because they are listening to it not just hearing it.
I was watching a TV show that had a bunch of comedians on it sitting in the round in the middle of the audience. They were all just kinda chatting but at the same time being very competitive with each other and trying to make each other laugh.
Jonathon Winters was just sitting there not saying anything until somebody said, Hey Jonathon you knew Richard Burton right? Jonathon nodded and the guy went on to ask him if he ever talked about Elizabeth Taylor.Jonathon waited until the room got real quiet and responded with ... Yes he saidshe was very furry ! The place fell down.
Jonathon also said he tried explaining to all the Frenchpeople whilein France, that unlike them,when an American person holds both of his arms upright over his headit just means, touchdown.
What I cant understand is why shortly after first meeting them women seem to want/need all my money for the rest of their life.
If you have ever wondered if your crazy or not, your not. Crazy people don't have crazy thoughts like that.
Once a player makes theNFL there are only two other things he covets. A Super Bowlring and induction into the Hall Of Fame. I don't thinkT.O. will get either.
I told my DaughterCamiwho is going into High Schoolin a couple of weeks that for some reason my memory record button didn't kick until that time. I don't remember hardly anybody from the 8th grade or before. But I sure remember and am still in touch with a bunch I started with in the 9th atTCI. Oh yeah and I also remember what I was thinking about, so I will be staying close to my little girl. I bet she loves this part(-:
It used to be that marketing was 70% of the whole deal and product was 30%. Now consumers are demanding the reverse.
Women lose there power over us when we no longer want to sleep with them just like we lose our power with them when we run out of money.
Mornings are still the most listened to day part on radio no matter what PPM says.
There is nothing more powerful than a beautiful woman walking into the room.
Speaking of beautiful things,Lindy Romewho left radio a while back to start her own business proved you don't have to be or look like a man to make Man Sized Money.
My Dad always told me to stay away from the bad girls. I thought that was strange advice at the time because I really really liked all the bad girls. I now know what he was talkin' about.
I was proudly thinking about my nieceChristina today. She graduated from High school in San Diego a couple of years ago with a 4.0, but for some unknown reason to me that wasn't good enough to qualify her for UCLA.I have a strong feeling though that some very spoiled athletes who are there just to train for the NFL, NBAand MLBand will probably leave early with out ever graduating got in very easily not to mention free. I don't think many of them attendingUCLAat the moment equaled let alone surpassed her grades and yet we the public get to pay for all their training. There's just something wrong with all that.
How come Asianpeople don't whine about their circumstances in America.Shouldn't they be demanding some special privileges. What's wrong with them.
Don't you just hate that moment when you are in the middle of a very intense argument and you suddenly discover your wrong!
July 29, 2010
It is said that greed is the biggest motivator of all, It like sex makes you immune to fear.
Frank Osbornwho came from the financial side of the biz told me he always went with the concept that GM's got two PD's and PD's got two books.
I had always heard that the the character Pig Vomitin theHoward Stern movie really was a combination of Kevin Metheny and John Hayes.
No wonder divorced women are pissed. When they were married they controlled the spending of 81% of the family's income, after the divorce they have to live on 50% which is impossible for them to do
Please tell me this 50 year or older sales trick isn't still being used. ... "If we don't do this immediately the client will cancel. Or the even lamer, we wont get the money if we dont do this.
I always figured that it really doesn't matter who owns Pizza Hut until your Boss says the new concept is, we are going to use a little less cheese in each Pizza now. In radio I think we are a way beyond that and have moved on to no cheese at all in the cheese Pizza. Now would be the perfect time to be running around screaming ... THE SKY IS FALLING THE SKY IS FALLING !
Speaking of Chicken Little, Jim Hilliard once said in a meeting I attended, " Had they just killed the damn chicken that would have ended all that nonsense." It would have made story a whole lot shorter that's for sure.
I always loved Ron Chapman's answer when pressured for an immediate answer to a sales promotion. If you need an answer right this moment the answer is NO he said, but if you give me a couple of days I might be able to turn that NO around. But that's not a for sure. I just need a couple of days to really ponder it. Do you think he got his extra time???
What is the prediction on Idol's ratings show business is based on the Star System (unlike radio)and like Elvis, the star is leaving the building. OK maybe just one of The Beatles likePaul or John.I predict a little curiosity interest at the beginning then the ratings will begin to plummet.
I understand that Obamawants to extend the unemployment benefits. I'm all for it but he needs to add one little thing. They all have to look for work or they get cut off immediately.
When I was on the train recently coming through the Rockies and was getting ready to get off the train the Steward said, Mr. Johns we didn't see much of you this trip in fact you were the quietest person on the train. I told him a lotta people will find that hard to believe so he might as well keep it to himself and not bother to alert the Media.
I never realized until recently when I was meeting with Brent Farrisand his morning partner Debbie Abrams,that women actually believe they need all those shoes.
I learned a long time ago how to keep a woman from getting too close to me, but I have no idea how to get them too close.
I for the life of me can't figure out why God made Kari, Cami's mother and me her Father.
It is hard for me to believe that some men are as successful as they are when every 7 seconds they are thinking about the beauty and charms of certain women and not about the task at hand.
It is said that if you want to find an assertive engineer just look for the one who is looking down at someone Else's shoes.
When I was the the National PD of Fairbanks BroadcastingI was always trying to recruit some great air talent for all our stations. One I really liked and pursued for years was a great jock at WAKYin Kentucky by the name of Lee Masters. Lee got so tired of me hounding him that he left town and changed his name. Recently I discovered he is now calling himself Jarl Mohnand is hiding out I understand at some NPR station in Pasadena.If he hasn't lost his chops I'm coming for him again, he can run but he cant hide in a building named after him.
Have you ever noticed that all the airline staff seem totally shocked when the flight is full. You would think someone from ticketing would let them know so they could begin boarding a little earlier rather than giving us all these silly instructions on how we can speed up the boarding process so they can leave on time.
I had to stay at the downtown Oakland Marriottrecently so I could board Amtrak early the next morning for my trek through the Rockies. At the bar on the Mezzanine floor I told the bar tender that I was very impressed by the hotel. He asked if it was my first trip to downtown Oakland, when I told him it was he said ... Were you a little bit frightened ?
I stayed in Redwood City a week or so ago and saw literally groups of police cars giving out tickets. I couldn't help but wonder who the hell was fighting crime.
In Florida as I'm sure in other spots around the nation the Police and Firemen have great benefit packages.In Florida there are no fires so I'm not sure what the firemen do other than start their own businesses on the side.
July 20, 2010
I was thinking about the Clear Channel new plan of cutting the wages of Morning show folks who cost more than 30% of the income of their shows. Now of course if the show doesn't cost 30% they will all be getting raises right? Yeah ... Right!
While vacationing in VancouverI had the privilege of lunching one day with two radio hall of fame rs at the same timeRed Robinson and Gary Russell. Luckily they didn't let me say much because what would I say to them anyway. I think maybe my role was supposed be the paying of the check. But I long ago forgot how that tune goes.
Brent Farris said, when the bean counters are the ones planting the seeds, it's time to sell the farm.
The word I think best describes a great morning show is "Unpredictable"
I heard a teacher on the radio up here in Victoria, Canadasay that the schools should worry a lot less about a students self esteem and more about their learning ability so they can begin to cope in the real world. Hmmmm I wonder if that would work in America.
With the passing of The Magic ChristianI couldn't help but notice that all the stories that have been pouring in about him are exactly the same even though most of these people never worked together but they all worked with Magic. But then who didn't.
My very socialist friends in Canada were asking me while I was on my recent bucket list tour ... What's up with Obama, he seems to be a little over the top. Jerry Del Colliano wrote a great column the other day explaining how PPM really worked. I was a little upset about the fact that I thought he was giving away all the secrets until I suddenly realized there are very few people left in radio today who would even understand what he was writing about.
PPMhas changed a lot of things but it didn't change the fact that most of your 1/4 hours come from your fans. Turns out they just weren't as loyal as they thought they were in the diary method.
Things continue to be what they are, and not what we wish them to be. Holding on to what you have keeps you from having what you want. Case in point, almost 100% of Americans have some kind of insurance but less than 20% invest in anything. Have you ever noticed that guys never seem to buy their favorite cars until they get 50 or 60 years of age. Why does Government think we have the extra money they need to balance their budget. Before PPM broadcasters spent a lot of time pounding call letters so the "Phantom" cume would mark them down. They never did and all we managed to do was irritate all the people who did know who we were. Speaking of Phantom cume, according to PPM it did exist and wasn't just some phantom myth. What the hell is a SIG Alert? I think the Government spends too much time helping the rich and the poor, neither does much for the country but whine. I'm on what I call my bucket list trip, you know visiting people and places I haven't seen in a long long time. It started Fathers day weekend in San Diego at my brothers house with my two daughters Candis and Cami. When Cami and I headed to LAX to fly her back to Florida I thought I had plenty of pre paid gas to get us back to Enterprise Rent -a- Car but with a couple of miles to go the gauge moved into below empty and I was real nervous. Finally I saw the facility and breathed a sigh of relief and told Cami that when they said bring the car back empty Daddy finally did it because we were on fumes. When we pulled up the rent a car guy jumped in as we were dragging our stuff out of the trunk and yelled ... HEY GOOD JOB ON THE FUEL, THAT'S THE WAY YOU DO IT. I think Orville and Wilbur Wright were the last airline guys to make any money. I have been drifting around Canada and America now for over a month and have come to the conclusion that you cant drift. Friends and relatives need pretty exact times about your comings and goings if you expect to stay with them. Kinda like if you want your listeners to listen to your station you better make an appointment with them otherwise they will be the ones doing the drifting.
July 13, 2010
Have you ever noticed that all estimates are always a lot lower than the actual final bill. So the actual ratings must be much bigger than the estimates ARB gives us also. So I'm thinking the rating party should also be bigger too right???
Whisky lies to you (you really can't fly) as it seduces you into telling the truth when you definitely shouldn't.
If the truth is not politically correct do you still have to tell it in a court of law.
Vic Goldtold me that all fiction novels were at least 50% true and you could actually half educate yourself by simply reading more of them.
Another one of the great things about vacationing inVancouverthis time of year is, not only is it much cooler up here than in Florida, but I have already seen two football games and it's only early July. Oh did I mention that my home town Winnipeg Blue Bombers beat up the Hamilton Tiger Cats pretty badly.
I have known and worked on and off with the Magic Christianfor most of my broadcast career. During that whole time Magic always claimed he was dying thus needing a lot of time off and a lot of drugs to ease the pain. Last night his early prediction sadly came true but needless to say he has left most of us with a ton of stories that we will never tire of telling.
Men and Women sure live in two different worlds. When a Woman gets engaged it shuts down the whole office for the day as she shows off her engagement ring. When a Man gets engaged the first time you hear about it is when he's already married.
Jim Hilliard and I have worked together so long that now if he just thinks something he expects me to somehow hear it and do it.
Freedom of speech is a wonderful thing but it only works out on the street, it sure doesn't work at the office.
I quit smoking back in the 70's and just happen to notice a bright sign advertising the low price a carton of cigarettes were on sale for today. Wow how can anybody afford to smoke anymore.
I just noticed that Arbitron is bringing out a new and improved PPM device that they claim will measure listening more accurately. But I still don't think it hears the clock radio when it goes off so what good is it.
Radio like the car business used to be all about image. With cars it's still all image until you finally choose your brand then it becomes all price. With radio it's all image until you get in someone else's car.
I have only been in Canada my friend Gary Russell for the last 5 days and have managed to have seen4 Football games already and I'm not talkin' World Cup. Now that's the way I think one really kicks off an excellent summer vacation.
It's competition that keeps down prices not the goodwill of the owner who yearns for a monopoly.
What ever happened to the coffee break.
Speaking of breaks, don't those people who are milling about outside some building having a smoke look a little sad and lonely to you too.
While I was doing some radio work in Detroit a while back I remember heard a bunch of car spots saying you could buy a Ford today for the lowest price ever. I couldn't help but think wow how could they afford to sell them for a lower price than Henry sold them for. They weren't lying were they.
Chuck Knappsaid ... "Finally Magic will have nothing to complain about".
Jay Williams claimed thatMagictold him once that the reason he wore suchcheap after shave was so his scent remained at the station long after he went home.
Bob Christysaid he fondly remembers hearing a girls voice on Magic'sshowsaying, "This is Patty Hearst,and when ever I am hiding out inBostonI always listen to The Magic Christianon WVBF.The FBIcalled in shortly thereafter.
Christopher Coleridge founder of V Wateraccording to John Picanosaid ... Mornings were the best times to get some body's attentionbecause they were filled with optimism unlike evenings when they were slightly annoyed and frustrated.
June 29, 2010
Have you ever noticed that most of the things you don't want to do but you are ordered to do so are all supposedly done in the name of safety.
I read somewhere that depression was merely anger without much enthusiasm.
Has a secret relationship ever had a good ending.
My least favorite word is no, and my absolute least favorite line is, "I don't know anything about programming but"............................!
When Jim Hilliard was running Fairbanks Broadcastinghe announced that there was only one person who was allowed to see the new ratings before he did.
That person is George Johns. Jim said because George just loves ratings parties and I as some of you may know, believe the sole purpose of my office is to bring good news to the sales department. I am very confident that George will always find me some so he gets the first peek at the rating book.
Is it safe to say that the new boss of Clear Channel wont be a radio guy.
George Burnsonce said the secret of a great sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending. But to make it very special all you have to do is put the beginning and end as close together as you can. That sage advice sure sounds like it would work real good on radio as well.
I don't believe that all women are as awful as their so called girlfriends claim they are.
How the hell is Mark Mays going to live on a million a year, there has got to be some skimming going on somewhere.
My brother Reg said to me ... How many people do you think reads your stuff. Just the ones I want to was my reply.
Joe Amaturo finally met my Daughter Cami and I think she softened him up a bit which isn't that easy to do. Mr. A went into a very long philosophical dissertation about "Act In Haste Repent At Leisure" which was very interesting to me because it more resembled how I try to get points across than the specific filled way he does it.Later on I asked Cami what she thought of him. She said he was nice and she really liked his story about not getting pregnant.
Cris Conner was telling me that he was thinking about his Dad on Fathers Day and remembers years ago him asking Chris what his plans were for after High School. Chris said he mumbled, "I don't know maybe go to College or sumpin' " His Dad said if you choose something instead of College you will get to put "Dumb Ass" on your resume.
For some reason loud records tend to soften with age.
It seems to me almost all new records are perceived as too loud.
There is no music as fast as a radio station Jingle.
My experience is ... You must grow a morning show to make it better, you cant just order it up.
Radio programming is now in the hands of the mechanics and they continually adjust the Art to fit their mechanics, which of course is the exact opposite of how it works.
Less time should be spent on the decision making process and a lot more time spent on the implementation of the decision.
I think compromise is something you may have to do in your business life but I definitely don't think you should do it in your personal life.
I went away for a week and when I came back I discovered gas is up 10 cents a gallon again. Which one of you scared those oil wimps.
I hearDelilahis getting ready to take on John Tesh in LA.
I think most cars are bought by women but they send a guy (Husbands) to pick them up for them. If it was really up to the guy he would probably be at the Harley store.
Have you ever noticed that the sales folks seem to be what I call "Fair Weather Listeners". They always seem to forget how much they were against things in the early stages of a new format but once the ratings show up they claim they were for it and knew it was a big hit all along. But then again I guess they really don't have to remember because I do.
Back when I was an aspiring young musician I was also a sheet metal apprentice only because my father said ... In this family we work for a living we don't "play" in a band.
When your a programming guy it doesn't matter if you like the music your playing or not. In fact it may even help if you don't. But if your an air talent you'd better like it because the fans of that music can generally tell in a minute or two that you don't unless of course your a great actor. But then again if you're that good then you need to be in Hollywood because as you already know Radio only pays chump change compared to them.
I don't ever think I've heard a woman say she got "lucky" last night.
June 22, 2010
Beefs&Bouquets. ( I'm sure this title brings a small tear to Warren Cosford's eye.)
There's an old saying that pertains I would think mostly to men. If your not good lookin' "You Better Learn To Dance".
Bill McMartin E mailedme my first hug after reading that my Daughter Cami claimed not many people liked me because I was too mean. Bill disagreed saying that he remembers meeting me for the first time when I came toSyracuseto meet with him. He said the first words out of my mouth were ..." Where The Hell Am I And Can You Show It To Me On A Map" Bill said how can you not like a guy who makes you laugh right from his opening remarks.
Jim Hilliard's reaction toCami's statement was ... I just love that kid!
When we finally go all green I wonder how much will electricity cost. Scary thought huh.
I think both my daughters understand how committed to them I am, but I get the feeling they both wish I would ease up a tad.
While at the Transcona Homecoming I went out withErmanno Barone and Willie Parasiuk to look at a movie lot Ermanno had just built. After that we had lunch with Willie's old boss the former Governor General Of Canada and Premier of Manitoba,
Ed Schreyer. While at lunch Ed's wife asked me what happened to the Winnipegmusic scene that used to be so huge when I was playing with The Jury.
I explained to her that because they built so many Hockey Rinks in the Winnipeg area they also had to build community clubs so the kids could change into their skates.With those Community Clubs came places to play, so bands started forming to match how many community clubs there were.
Then one day they lowered the drinking age to 18 so a lot of 16 year olds got fake ID's and went to the bars to watch the bands while enjoying adult beverages. That of course immediately killed most of attendance at the community club dances.Mrs. Schreyer thenturned to her husband and said ... Ed you single hand idly wiped out our greatWinnipegmusic scene.
I was saddened to hear of the passing of the greatJohn Wooden. Years ago when my daughter Candiswas going to UCLAand we were training to run the LA Marathon together. One day we decided to do our training run around the Campusso she could show it to me.
All of a sudden I just stopped running and just stared. Candis said what's wrong Dad, I said nothings wrong this is real right. Honey they named an arena after a legend while he is still alive.The John Wooden Arena and it's not a memorial arena. Wow how neat. Never heard of him said Candis as she ran off.
Your own sales department can destroy your radio station a lot faster than any of you competitors could ever even dream of.
If the first word used to describe something is "illegal". Don't you think it should be the last word as well.
Now that the Airlines no longer trust the flight attendants with cash do they have any other duties we should be concerned about.
Banker Bill Lewis who wrote the song Cherish for his girlfriendwhile going to College told me a while back that he thoughtThe Associationruined it.
When I was going to High School in Transconathere were several guys like Marshall Quelch and Bill Taylorwhom I was real afraid of. I noticed while attending the Homecoming and seeing them again nothing had changed. I was still afraid of them.
Speaking of the Transcona Homecoming it was real neat to watch and hear Bruce Walker sing The Jury's first hit "Until You Do" I asked Rolly Blaquiereif we should join him on stage for a couple more of our hits. He replied ... F**K 'em!Hell It's only been 40 years why would things have cooled off that quickly, what was I thinking.
Seeing all my old High School buds was neat but several of them accused me of now having an American accent. I responded with ... If that is true why do all my American friends break out laughing every time I say the word "about"
Helen Torchia wanted to know when I was going to grow up. I told her not anytime soon, I don't see that many happy grownups.
Egos are great for giving you the courage to climb up on the stage, stand in front of the cameras, or talk on the radio. Other than that they are fairly destructive.
My son Curtis academically I think takes after me more than both my daughters Candis and Cami do which is not a very good thing for Curtis.
I still vividly remember going to the parent teachers night when we lived in Coronadoand how I would try to trick their Mother Lanainto splitting up the visiting duties with her. I thought she should visitCurtis' teachers where they would immediately put up the sign of the cross when we walked in and introduced ourselves, unlike Candis' teachers who started up the band with our arrival, and quickly crowned us parents of the year. So much for household environment.
You would think psychics would have a real good shot at the lottery but you never hear of them winning. What's up with that???
Wow what a Fathers Day! For the first time in 14 years I was with both my daughters. Talk about a breathless moment.
Speaking of Fathers Day, I was a better father than my Father was. Then I got another chance to become a better Father than I was and took advantage of it. But now I think it's time to leave it there and hang 'em up. But.........
A lot of people don't think I take life seriously enough. but the way I figure it why should you. No matter how you live, none of us are getting out of here alive anyway.
Now that we are all armed with Cameras in our cell phones, isn't it strange that we no longer seem to hear about UFOs
June 15, 2010
One of the things I am very grateful for is my "No Regrets" list is at least 10 times longer than my "Regrets" list. According toBrian Tracyas time moves forward and you start to look back on your life, the only things that will count will be the quality of your relationships.
People who only have the power to say no always tend to way over use their power.
If you asked the Government to point out to you their greatest accomplishment what do you suppose that would be.
I just finished a home coming reunion in Transcona and I have to say that my boyhood friend who was the one responsible for me getting into musicPeter Proskurnikstill has great sax chops. I'm almost over him leaving The Phantomsthose many years agobecause he fell love, or was that lust. Hard to tell the difference back then.
At the same reunion,Jack Wrightwho played with my Brother Reg in a band together back when they were kids said of Reg's drumming when he sat in with the makeshift band at the affair was that it was memorable, and he was totally stunned by it.
For some reason I seem mostly attracted to broken women, so if for some reason I hit on you, my advice would be that you should make an appointment with a shrink asap.
A lot of people ask me when I took up writing ... The moment I discovered spell check! Now, where is that punctuation button
Jim Hilliard says he cant spell because as a jock you had to write everything out phonetically so you could say it correctly. Even though I wasn't on the air much I'm gonna go with that too.
Everything I read says you should only get into the kind of work you are passionate about, mainly because your probably not very good at anything else.
Women generally like male singers the most because it's the only time they ever get to see or hear any emotion from men.
My Grandfather claimed life was all about Faster Horses, (cars) Older Whiskey, Younger Women and Mo' Money. If I pass all that down to my Grandson Nathaniel I think my Daughter will kill me. I think I'll just go with the Mo' Money part, if he gets that the rest goes with it.
The great thing about living in Florida and California is you don't grow old as quickly as my old friends in Transcona did ... Well that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.
While at the Transcona Homecomingdinner they were rolling tons of pictures of all of us in High School and on sports teams and stuff. They even ran a bunch of great pictures of The Jury. The thing I miss most about the band, is my hair.
What just hit me is ... What the hell is BP doing drilling off of our shores for anyway???
Speaking of BP Have you noticed that even though they are spilling thousands and thousands of gallons of oil into the Gulf, the price at their pumps is going down. Got to be just huge margins in that stuff.
Your children spell Love T-I-M-E
Speaking of time,Ken Schlafmann (LeMann)says "Father Time is a Mother"
A couple of weeks ago as I was having dinner with my super tax accountant Cindy Adairshe mentioned that she really liked listening to someone called Delilahon the radio at night. So I asked her if she would like to meet her. I had heard a few days before that she was in West Palm Beach headlining some sort of women's Expo. Cindy was rathersurprised that I claimed to know her and just thought I was teasing her as I tend to do. I told her it didn't matter if I knew her it only mattered if she knew me. She asked if I thought we could even get in. I said if Delilah knows me we sure can, do you want to test it. She said I buy a lot of things you say, but I'm calling you on this, lets go.
When we got to the expo there was a huge line waiting to talk to her get pictures signed by Delilah. We kinda worked our way around the side of the line where we could see her and I was hoping she could see us but she was focused on the people in line.
The whole time Cindy is saying how could you know her, your just spoofing me right. I said lets find out right now and I loudly called outDelilah's name. She looked up a bit startledand shouted GEORGE with a big grin on her face as she came around the table with her arms out stretched and gave me a big hug. What a perfect moment that was soon ruined by the crowd yelling ... "Hey back of the line buddy" and some other not so nice things. Our sweet reunion soon came to an abrupt halt and Cindy and I ran for it. It was time to go check her Puppies anyway.
People who are crazy never wonder if they are.
Hey what if its not just paranoia, and they really are watching you.
I've been told my whole life that supply and demand sets prices. If that's really true shouldn't Wine cost about a dollar a bottle.
The Ump who blew the perfect game call is the only sports figure I can recall that admitted he was wrong and offered up an apology. But then again he's not a player is he.
My Daughter Cami recently told me that a lot of people don't like you because I'm too mean. I said that's not true honey a lot of people like me. She responded with ... Most of them are only pretending to like you Daddy because they are afraid of you. I think I need a hug!
In the world of being somebody is Steve Jobs leaving Bill Gates in the dust or what.
They say any plane landing you can walk away from is a good one. But traffic reporter extraordinaire Paul Cavenaughlimped away from his last landing, that's the bad news, the good news is he will soon be recuperating on that yacht the settlement is buying him.
I told everyone at the reunion that would listen that I would have been a Rhodes Scholar had Pete not gotten me in to music. They had to give it to Willy Parasiuk instead but I no longer hold any grudges about it(-:
June 8, 2010
REGRETS? I HAVE A FEW.
Wanting to be somebody a way too much.
Not running track in High School, "I coulda been a contendah".
Not paying enough attention in Mr. Deering's English class.
Not paying enough attention in anybody's class.
Leaving baseball.
Not being in the classroom the day my life long friend Jim Quail punched out our smart assed science teacher.
Never having a great relationship with my Father and unfortunately carrying that tradition on with my own son.
Not being a very good husband.
Never winning one discussion/argument with my mother even though logic seemed to be on my side
Leaving The Jury.
Leaving Transcona.
Not leaving Saskatoon sooner.
Leaving Sudbury too soon.
Being just a radio guy with a radio brain and not fully realizing how neat Ottawa really was.
Not putting Rick Moranis together with Sandy Hoyt in Toronto for mornings on CFTR.
Leaving Canada.
Not teaming The Magic Christian up with some other jock for mornings somewhere.
Leaving Indy.
Not going to Hawaii enough.
Going to Venice too often.
Not accepting the Shadek's ownership offer in San Diego and beyond.
Buying a radio station in Indy and pissing off all my old friends
Selling KKCW in Portland.
Buying Star in Milwaukee.
Not killing the money guys who didn't show at our closing of WMET in Chicago
Not being a very good older brother.
Leaving Fairwest
Leaving San Diego
Missing some of the neat smaller events my kids were involved in.
Being so intense on all the family vacations.
Walking away from it all and now not even remembering why.
Leaving Boston.
Telling too many people over the years to F**K OFF but still managing to miss a few that so deserved to hear it. Damn!
Not winning some kind of reward so I could thank all the people publicly who made me who I am today.
Not laughing as much as I really feel like doing mainly because people say this life stuff is all very serious and it would be very inappropriate to laugh about it.
Turning down the charms of a few beautiful women while trying to take a rain check. There is no such thing of course.
Not resisting the charms of some I should have.
Never buying a Ferrari.
Not being able to totally calm my rage.
Not completing my mission of getting to everyone on my revenge list, but at the same time feeling kinda bad about even having one.
Not keeping in touch enough with all the great talent I had the pleasure and privilege of working with over the years.
Not starting each and every conversation I ever had with a sales person with those special words ... Don't lie to me now!
May 31, 2010
How come nobody asks the President of Mexico who is currently complaining about our border policies, what his are?
I don't know why everyone at a radio station feels the need to communicate that they once again have spotted something wrong. The kind of people who do this usually dump that stuff in your lap and go home. I for one only love the people that say ... Hey we have a problem but here's how I think we can solve it. My all time favorite people of course are the ones who say .... We had a problem but I fixed it. Those are the types that I'm always begging the big guys to please give them some more money.
Bill Gardner and I were laughing on the phone the other day aboutPaul Drew. Joe Amaturowho craves specifics and attention to detail would have loved this guy. Billwas working for him at WIBG inPhillyat the timeand on this particular day was filling in on the morning show. At the top of the hour he did the time and the special ID which ended with his name. But on this occasion Bill also threw in the words good morning as he punched in the first hot hit of the hour.
The hot line went off immediately and it was Paul shouting at him, BILL LEAVE OUT THE SUPERFLUOUS BULLSHIT! Bill asked him what he was talking about. Good morning you said good morning, thats superfluous bullshit and we don't need it. STICK TO THE SCRIPT, and with that bit of wisdom communicated he slammed down the phone leaving Bill speechless.
Carl Reiner said sometimes you have to leave out the best stuff just to make the whole show work.
Jim Hilliardand CBShave been doing battle in the courts for almost 11 years over an on air News person. It was finally over a couple of days ago in his favor. Wow, World Wars don't last that long never mind the battles.
When rejecting The Beatlesin 1962Decca Recordssaid ... "We don't like their sound and guitar music is on the way out" They were all later fired of course and when last heard of were running something called radio.
The biggest perks in the world belong to some Corporate executives and all Government employees. I really think they should try some other incentives like maybe fear, because the perks don't seem to be working. Have you ever seen any more miserable people in your life.
If you couldn't run any commercials on a radio station would you really want one.
Listeners work hard at not listening to or even noticing commercials our job is to make all that impossible.
A good bit always starts with the end already done, then you add a strong beginning, put a little mystery in the middle and you are close to being syndicated baby!
All women want to lose 10 lbs
Are the police really fighting crime like they say they are or are they just mainly handing out speeding tickets for a living that pays great money, with great overtime, great perks and a great pension. They better smile while they're handing out those tickets.
15% of the folks claim they have sex while driving.
So how pissed are the oil companies at BP after they coerced Obama into talking about off shore drilling maybe being a good thing for America again. All of a sudden the oil spill hits the gulf. Hey Mr. president we're ready to vote on it now.
Have you noticed that everything is shrinking. A Lb. of coffee is no longer a pound and those giant bags of everything you used to buy have a little less in them but the price is the same. Mr. business man for some reason thinks he has been given the God giving right to cheat us. Maybe it's called Divine cheating.
How did that Divine right thing work out for those crusades type Kings. I think it's even going to work out worse for Mr. business man.
Tim Reeveris a radio sales type I actually like but probably mainly because he's a runner. When I lived in Boston we would go racing every two weeks but Tim who was good enough to go to college on a running scholarship, always finished a way ahead of me. When I called him recently to wish him well on his B day. He responded with ... Now that I'm the same age as you when we first met back I just wish I could run the times you ran back then.
Anybody who just checks off a punch list everyday thinking that's a career, deserves exactly what happens to them.
I think the people of America are the most charitable people on earth and I'm not talking about our Government who just love to give away our money. I'm talking about all the regular folks who send their own money to devastated folks all over the world even with out receiving much love in return.
My brother Reg and I have always had great conversations about everything under the sun but I've noticed lately that he finishes a lot of our chats with ... Hey don't write about this OK.(-:
Just because it's politically incorrect to mention that some people are incompetent doesn't make them any more competent.
I don't think it's right to give special privileges to people who aren't special.
Sometimes being ignorant of the so called rules is good like Jimmy Bowen who was recording Frank Sinatrafor the first time. Frank walked into the studio took off his nifty fedora and did his usual "one take" put his hat back on and headed for the door. Jimmy interrupted his hasty departure with ... Mr. Sinatra could we get another take. While the whole orchestra gasped for air, Frank said sure, turned around took off his hat and laid down another excellent take like only he could do.
With the Stanley Cup finals on now it reminded me about when Jack Kent Cook brought The Kings to LA. After their first season Jack said it was a no brainer bringing Hockey to Los Angeles mainly because he knew there were over 2 million Canadians living in the area. But what he missed he said was the fact that these Canadians must hate Hockey and they had moved to LA to escape it.
Speaking of Hockey you didn't choose to play goalie you were chosen, probably because you were the slowest skater.
I recently read a headline that said ... IS BP LYING ABOUT THE OIL SPILL.Hey they're an oil company if their lips are moving we all know the answer to that question dont we..
May 24, 2010 Brent Farris said he was recently standing backstage chatting with his long time friend Tommy Smotherswho was patiently waiting to go on stage for the last time ever with his brother Dick as theSmothers Brothers.Brent asked him if there was a secret you had to know in order to have a long and successful career. Tommy replied ... Having talent is good, luck is good, knowing people in the biz is good, but there is nothing as important and powerful as being different. Being different is the only secret you will ever need to succeed. Last week my daughter Cami and I were walking through the men's shoe department at Dillard'son our way to to ladies shoes to find something to go with the beautiful dress she was going to wear to the 8th grade dance.As we strolled together along the aisle I happened to notice these real good looking Ralph Laurendeckshoes that were in black, red, and navy blue. They also had that specialPolo logoon them and I was kinda wondering how much they were as Cami said ... "Dad if you ever wear anything like those I would immediately have to De-Father you." I have been involved in A/C music most of my life and it's been very very good to me. The funny thing though is I don't even like it which allows me to very cruel and harsh about what I do and don't play on the radio. After seeing the movie Robin HoodIt became very clear to me why the Muslimshate us so much. I have never heard the words slutty and beautiful used together to accurately describe a particular person of interest. Income is not based on need it's based only on ability, perceived or otherwise. I used to hear a lot about South Africa when the world was angry about how it was being run.Has anybody checked lately to see how things are going now.Are they happy? I saw some research a long time ago that said the 3 main things that caused tune out were.1- Bad Music 2- Bad Jox 3- Bad Commercials. OK, I'm working on the Music and the Jox, whose got the Spots??? HELLO! HELLO ... CAN ANYBODY HEAR ME? IS THIS WORKING (thump thump) IS THIS ON? HELLO! Woody Cooper (Gary Housley) said he likes my longer "life" stories a lot more than my liners. Speaking of a liner King, what say you Bill Gardner? I just got off the phone with David Martin who reminded me about the time we were working on a project together in Chicagobackwhen we were mere pups. But of course we thought of ourselves only as young Turks. We were winding down a busy day that was filled with meetings about why we couldn't do all the things we needed to do to so as to have have some impact in a town that was already filled with morning legends. We discussed our dilemma high above the city in some roof top bar sipping on a large glasses of wine as we gazed out at the magnificent skyline of downtown Chicago. David claims he can still see the moment clearly in his minds eye when he turned to me and said ... George, what question are you asked the most as you travel around the country visiting your client stations. Like what would you say would be the all time # 1 question, the one you get tired of having to answer all the time. He said that he rememberedthat I paused for a moment or two before taking another sip of wine then finally turned away from the beautiful view of the city and tiredly said ..."When are you coming back" Yep, that's the question they most want to know, thats definitely the # 1 question by far. When are you coming back. David said he laughed out loud and said to me, that's real funny because that was my next question. When your a runner you run slow mostlyso you can race fast. In the movie The Dark Knight, The Jokersays ... "If your real good at something never do it for free" I love women meeting women who refuse to be intimidated by a man mainly because I've tried to teach both my daughters how to become just like them. Being an experienced broadcaster is like being an experienced football player. Where does that all end up. Not in a good place I wouldn't think. What happened to all those women going crazy at all those hard rock concerts you see on You Tube. They sure don't listen to the stations that are still playing all the groups they were all throwing themselves at just a few years ago. I was kind of an irresponsible guy until I held my first child in my arms. I have to admit when she got married years later and I had to hand her off to the man she chose as her husband, that I was just faking it. That hand off to me was just symbolic, I'm still here, I'm still on guard and I'm still watching. David Mametclaims the audience is not tuning in for information they are tuning in for Drama. The big thing with a lot of pro Athletes is getting the respect they feel they deserve. I think we all respect their athletic ability but getting us to respect them as decent human beings is another thing. That's conditional, they really have to deserve that kind of special respect. To be or not to be is not the question ... The question is, how do you make the same old s**t sound different? As Jeff & Jerprepare to go back on the air again in San Diego there will be a major difference. For the 1st time they will be on the air 7 days a week.Wow isn't that kinda like the big guys learning Karate. What do all the little guys do now. Alcohol and fame are a lot alike, eventually they both turn into truth serums. When it's real quiet that usually means something real loud is about to happen. The boys in pin stripe blues always want the on air talent to be very clear and precise about what they are talking about. But the audience begs to differ they want drama. The audience wants to wonder about what the talent is really saying, like where this is all going, and what's this all really about. When I listen to the radio now It sounds to me like the boys in blue are winning! It is said that we should all live in New York once but get the hell out before we get too hard. It is also said that we should also live in Northern Californiaoncebut get out of there before we get too soft. I've noticed that all the New Yorkers who visit Florida didn't get out in time. Damn! For some reason I feel more Canadiannow than I ever did as a Canadian. Jeff Blazysays the evilTylenolperson was a woman who poisoned her husband and tainted a bunch of of the pills in stores so it looked like the Tylenoldid it.Tom Mullane sends a story out of Chicagothat new evidence now links a man to the murders who was charged with extortion years ago in the same case. You would think that being sold out at a radio station would be the best day anyone could ever hope for at a station with a new format. But with the huge amount of anger I have witnessed when it happens, it has to be the worse day. John Lund says you have just 3 seconds to get your listeners attention. Turns out that new research says that folks listen to the radio twice as much as they do any other audio device and three times more while in a car. During an interviewThe Beatleswere asked about why they didn't speak up about the war in Vietnam, Johnanswered with "because somebody would probably shoot us" ... Turns out somebody did anyway. One day back at Corporate Headquarters in Indianapolis Dick Yancey walked into Mr. Fairbanksoffice and told him he had figured out how to double the billing. Why would we want to do that asked Richard M. Dick responded with ... I don't have that answer sir I thought you did. In the olden days of radio before TV the producers would have the voice actors audition scripts fro a studio where they couldn't see them. The producers would mark down black hat or white hat beside each actors name. The listeners still do it to this day. Nobody really prepares for success they only prepare for failure. Holding on to what you have keeps you from having what you want. About 5% of the American public invest in the stock market in hopes making a better life for themselves. A 100% though invest in some kind of insurance, trying to hold on to what they all ready have. It's a different radio world in all of Southern California.Hell, show producers out there than make a lot more money than the air talent does back here inMiami/Fort Lauderdale. Of the many things that can ruin your life, one that is most surprising to me is ... Becoming successful at what you were always trying to be successful at. A couple of weeks ago I was driving with Brent Farrisfrom LAto Palm Springsfor meetings we both were involved in. As we creeped along I decided to tune in The Frogwhich used to be one of my favorite radio stations when Joe Amaturoowned it and Tom Hoytwas the GM. What a shock! Instead of sounding very fun and friendly like they used to now they just sound loud and angry. The music, the promos, the spots, the jingles the liners, the Id's and even the jox sound extremely loud and angry. KIIS-FMsounded softer smoother and more fun than they did. Maybe they're bummed about the ratings??? Years ago when I was at CFTR inTorontoI had most of the national voices in Canadaas my air talent. I proudly sent an air check tape of my line up to my mentor Jim Hilliard who was running Fairbanks Broadcastingin Indianapolis.I called him in a few days to queried him about what he thought of my great air talent. He claimed they all sounded cold and stiff to him but what really interested him was my music. What was I doing that made it sound so good he asked. I know every tune but for some reason it sounds very different and magical. Hey I think I need you to get your ass down here to the States and put that music on a new station I've just bought in DallascalledKVIL. A very similar magical musical sound that is different is starting to show up on the air at JILL FMin Orange County. Had drinks the other evening with "The Socialites" along with "Supertech" Matt Greeney.Their Cocktail Confessions were both stimulating and exciting. The Caveman sounds like quite a character and I can hardly wait to get it all on the air as Americagoes wild over Sex In The City 2 While watching theCeltics beat the Cavaliersthe other night at a sports bar I overheard an older guy say to his buddies ... "The longer you stay around the less you get" They all knowingly shook their heads and laughed a very weary laugh. When I was with The Jurywe had the number one Canadianrecord inCanadaand I never received one penny from the record company. We made all our money playing. Now I hear the record companies want a piece of that. I wish I was still back playing so that the mob that run record companies had to come out and talk to the guys who really run Transcona about who owes whom. The out of towners would have never gotten out of there alive back then. If your not a household name you better be talking about the neighborhood where their household is located if you expect to get any ratings. Ron Chapmansaid my line about the homeless having all the great locations made him think ... Why don't the Jehovah Witnessesalso deliver the mail, they're going to visit every damn home in North America. My Father always said "if you need a task done quickly give it to a lazy person". Neil Simon's play "It Happened On The 13th Floor" is about the death of manufactured bits. In a couple of weeks my brother Reg and I go back to our hometown of Transconafor a town reunion. It will be fun to see all the guys I went to high school, played Football, Hockey and started Bands with. Guys like Easter, Termite, Baronie, Fade, Hughie, LoLo, Willy, Shpog, Bruce, Shift andPete to just name a few of them. It's time to tally up how it all turned out for us. Some wont be there because they are gone a way too soon, Bomba, Gibby and Ringach will be missed a whole lot at this fun affair. I also can hardly wait to see how all the pretty girls I remember so well, held up. Rhys Hollymansays he knows he should be more patriotic and stick up for the Habs against the Flyers. But he cant help feeling that would be anti the Toronto Maple Leafsand maybe even more importantly it's anti English speaking Canada.So the final result is, he is very glad they got blown out. OK one more time here's the formula that superstar air talent use to make over a mil per year. T+S=A+(p+i)+(Ee)xP+I=$uccess The most important word an air talent can use on air is "YOU" Most air talent and me over use the word "I", but then again I'm not on the air. Have you ever noticed that the only part of show business that sales moves in front of the art is radio. I wonder how thats working out for us compared to Movies, Broadway, Cable, TV,Concerts, etc. It has been rumored to me that Roy Laughlin when he was the GM of KIIS-FM in LAwas once approached by the sales department who wanted to know why he treated them like s**t compared to how he treated Seacrest,Ellen K,andthe rest of the KIIS on air staff. Roy responded with ... Because you are s**t -- you're sales people. How does the hostile work environment law work for the workers male and female in Iraq? You can order an on air talent to be excited on the air about your new promotion but that never gets it done and ultimately they are in charge of weather or not your new promotion is successful. Does anyone have the name of the guy who screwed with the Tylenolcontainers years ago and poisoned a bunch of people. I'm sure by now some liberal judge has let him out of prison and I don't really want to hurt the guy (well maybe a little) I just want to go over to his place and beg him to help me get this shrink wrap off this container I'm trying to f***ing open. The scan button don't stop on unfamiliar. Have you ever noticed the person who is lying to you (Airlines and Stuff) always claim that they're not in charge and cant do anything to rectify the situation. The people in charge of course always seem to be too busy elsewhere to deal with us. The worst person in the world to lie to ... Is yourself! Why don't they hire the homeless to wave all those big signs at you ..."We Buy Gold", "We Do Taxes" Etc. They have the absolute best locations. Have you ever noticed that errors on the log always occur with more spots running than should be, never less. How do it know. In this world of no radio jobs you get people cheaper but they are all so happy to have a job that they move immediately into the "CYA" mentality and have no creativity to offer up. How do all the food companies know how many calories are in their products. They wouldn't cheat would they. If you didn't get any of the blame you cant get any of the credit. Sales folks can sell anything they are excited about. You only need good ratings if they are not excited. There is a lot of money being made off of shipping and handling. That's the business to be in I figure. I think the people who complain the most about problems, are the problem. While watching The Jersey Boysin Vegas I started to realize thatThe Four Seasons were never as good as these guys. William Shedd wrote ... Ships in the harbor are safe but that's not what ships were built for. How come charity executive positions seem to pay more and have a lot better perks than regular executive positions. It is fairly simple for a singer to become a musician, but it is very difficult for a musician to become a singer. Speaking of musicians I saw Van Morrisonin concert the other night. Wow he was so good it made me want to play again. Is there such a thing as an underpaid under perked Government employee. How many people who work in service related areas today could get a job at Starbucksdo you think.
May 3, 2010
Chapman, Johns Team for Talent Consulting Firm LegendaryDallas air personality Ron Chapman and consultant George Johns are launching a talent coaching company. The duo are partnering with radio entrepreneur and former market manager/ GM of KIIS-FM/Los Angeles Roy Laughlin. For crystal clear thinking, for leadership, for creative approaches to unlimited opportunities, I turn to God. If she's under contract to Clear Channel, I go to Chapman and Johns. They too are in a league of their own. - Jim Hilliard/ Founder James Crystal Radio. "Jeff and I met George Johns 22 years ago. In three hours with him, we learned more about how to do morning radio than we had in the previous 5 years. He's been our coach and mentor ever since" - Jeff&Jer San Diego. George Johns is synonymous with Fairbanks, Ron Chapman, Jeff and Jer, Class FM, creative contesting and unique, powerful, impossible to duplicate talent. We've all stolen from him - Randy Michaels/ CEO Tribune. What a great idea! ... What a team. "With George and Ron, you have two radio legends, who also happen to be great teachers, thats a lethal combination". - Scott Shannon/ Citadel Broadcasting. "Finally something for terrestrial radio to get excited about - talent coaching from the masters of our trade, Ron Chapman and George Johns. Put all that repeater radio aside. Live and local is the way to radio's future. And these two guys wrote the book. - Jerry Del Colliano/ Inside Music. Having the opportunity to have George Johns and Ron Chapman offer personalized wisdom on radio is like having Michael Jordan and Larry Bird tell us "how to play better basketball" - Bill Gardner/ PD/ Mornings JILL FM Orange County I used to fly into Dallas and listen to KVIL's Ron Chapman ... and try to walk-away with the "lessons" that I heard on the air. I read every word written about George Johns and his teachings. I am a better programmer and a successful consultant because of them. I wonder how much better my performance and how much greater my success would be had I been privileged to listen to them directly. I am envious at the opportunity that they're offering "students" No one is a better at programming than George Johns and there is no greater living personality than Ron Chapman - Mike McVay/ President of McVay Media "After a recent visit from Ron and George I framed Ron's hand written notes about my morning show so I would always remember". - Brent Farris, Mornings/PD KZST Santa Rosa. "Radio is Lucky to have George and Ron willing to keep working, saving us from the bland. Not only have I found from long experience with George that he is the master at coaching talent, but also in leading management to successful strategies while making everyone laugh"- Frank Osborn/Founder Qantom Communications. "The pendulum has swung again. It began at talent driven personality radio, swung to pre-recorded voice tracked automations, and now has swooped back to people who stand out for the right reasons and bond listeners to their stations. There are no two better people in broadcasting more experienced or better equipped than Ron Chapman or George Johns to make good talent great" - Russ Morley/ Mornings 850 WFTL. "I have known George for almost 40 years, worked with him as a programming colleague in Canada, acquired his services as a consultant and then taken many of his most creative ideas and claimed them as my own. I met Ron Chapman through George and like many others I was greatly influenced by his unbelievable understanding of what it takes to motivate and encourage creativity with on air talent. These two together will be explosive." - Chuck McCoy/VP Cluster GM Rogers Toronto Radio. "George is the gold standard in talent coaching and his partner Ron, one of only a handful of truly great morning radio personalities, is the proof." - Al Gardner/Morning Host and Executive Producer WBT Charlotte. "Ron, It's been an honor to watch a vivid picture of what morning radio greatness looks like. Many Thanks for what you give our industry". - Brian Purdy/Senior VP CBS Dallas/Houston. A Pastor friend of mine says "nobody gets all the gifts" but having worked in the trenches with George I'd have to say "he" did. I've worked 19 stations from Boston & Cleveland to Chicago & Atlanta. George and Ron are simply "THE BEST" - Chuck Knapp/Mornings KLCI-FM George Johns is unquestionably one of the most brilliant programmers in the history of modern broadcasting. His genius, motivational skills and inspired programming strategies have been the central factor in the development of many of America's most successful radio stations and on air personalities. - J Robert Wood/J Robert Wood & Associates George Johns and Ron Chapman have never held a job. To them, broadcasting is a mission. They're responsible for nurturing the kind of personalities and creating the type of stationality that makes you afraid to turn off the radio for fear you'll miss something. - Rollye James/The Rollye James Show. The Chapman/Johns combination rates a solid 10 on the Bo Derek scale. In an age of vanilla wafers, these guys are the Keebler of Radio - Uncommonly Good! - John King/FCC Attorney. What if you could have the man who created the A/C format and the man who built the morning show formula that adult radio emulates to this day on your staff? Now, more than ever, radio must connect and entertain, with every element on multiple planes. Take your PD and your air staff to the highest level, hire George Johns and Ron Chapman. If your station can't find the money ... Pay them out of your own pocket, it will change your career. - Jeff Roper/Mornings WTQR-FM. For details on how you can get started in your market(s) contact Roy Laughlin 
April 26, 2010 Have you ever noticed they don't ever use the word genius when describing any Government employee including the President. Dana Horner said you've got to include Chris Mays in your "Last Programming Conference" she did some great work when we all putKLSYinSeattletogether. I agree. Chris c'mon down! In 1927H.M. Warner ofWarner Brotherssaid "Who the hell wants to hear the actors talk" I think radio today has come around to his way of thinking. I ran into one of my all time favorite FCC attorneys John Kingat Ron Chapman'sinduction into theRadio Hall Of Fame. John reminded me about the time I came up with a promotion called the "Magic Ticket".The promotion had produced incredible numbers both in ratings and billing at both KVIL Dallas and WIBC Indianapolis. In Indy though our competitor turned us into the FCC and bragged to their staff that we would never be able to run that promotion again. John handled that whole mess with the FCC wonderfully, in fact he came out of there with which we laughingly referred to as the only FCC approved contest in America.Dick Yancey of courseimmediately put it into syndication, and the "Magic Ticket" ended upbuying me my first Mercedes. Thank you Mr. King. Just in case you were thinking that finding more off shore oil might lead to lower prices at the pump check out the $4.35 per gallon price in Canada where they could never run out of oil. But then again that could be all taxes as the oil companies claim. Gotta pay for that free health care somehow. Lets see if I've got this straight. The way radio fixes itself is to get the multiples back. The multiples come back when the stock rises. The stocks rise when there is financial growth. There is financial growth when listener ship increases. So when does the meeting about how to increase listener ship begin. When do we get back to the basics. Not going to happen anytime soon it appears, they are all a way too busy doing another series of endless sales meetings. I must be missing something. I don't think very many radio people are working on the radio station owners mission. I think they are mostly are working on their own. If you want to know how the Government run health care system will work go to the post office like I recently did. They invented the word no and love saying it. Just talked toPam Cesak about some of the plans they have for the Jeff & Jerweekend syndicated show. Very very exciting. People understand real well and vocalize loudly how they need specific tools in order to complete their assigned tasks. But somehow they just fail to understand why you do. Shortly after being inducted into the Radio Hall Of Fame,Ron Chapmankindly said from the stage. "When I first met George Johns he taught me never to get into anything I didn't know how to get out of. Turns out George was talking about more than a radio bit ... He was talking about life." If your not getting any complaints about your radio station you don't have a very good one. Wow!Jerry Jonesdida quick fly in and was asurprise special guest at Ron'sinduction into the Hall. It's always what you do say and how you say it that counts, never how much you say or didn't say. The word sexistdoesn't just pertain only to men as racist doesn't pertain only to white men. How come all women except my Daughters and my Niece of course know what a Lap Dance is. I think the best radio ever done is on some tapes somewhere in someone's garage disintegrating. They can never be played again so they remain the best radio of all time forever. There was a time when I couldn't believe I got paid to listen to the radio. Now I almost don't listen unless I do get paid. Speaking of listening to the radio, I was out in LAchecking out JILL FMand I do have to admit thatRick Shawand Bill Gardner have the music sounding so good I couldn't turn it off. So with the recent make nice agreement between the PPM Coalitionand ARB will the ratings be moving closer to the truth or what a few want the truth to be. Who ties all the knots in your charger cords. If they are not racial profiling on I 5 North at San Clemente in California what are they doing? Any other words other than yes still mean no. Why does it always take so long to explain why I cant have what I want? RadioStationsdon't realize the image of the client washes over them when the clients name and the station call letters are side by side as in ... Presented by! The difference between National spots and Local spots is ... The Nationals talk to you and tell little stories. The Locals yell at you. Someone has got it very very wrong. A short time ago my good friend Gary Russell visited me in my Florida home so he could take a little break from the Winter's gloom in Vancouver. Vancouver of course was just coming down off it's Olympic high what with Canada winning the most gold ever and maybe even more importantly, the winning of Hockey gold in overtime against the USA. Gary was the first air talent I ever hired as a PD and even though I didn't know it at the time, it must have been a great hire on my part because much later Gary went on to being inducted into the Canadian Radio Hall Of Fame. I am very proud of him, what a great career he had. Gary when I hired him was a self professed hippy and proudly claims he still is. We sat around my Florida condo for a few days drinking a little wine and checking out my view as we reminisced about those early days in Saskatoon. That time was very special to us because we were learning first hand what we would and wouldn't do in our broadcasting future. I'm also pretty sure the amounts of red wine we were consuming made us feel like we had a whole lot more fun back then, than we actually had. My daughter Candis who is really into nutrition told me that drinking red wine is good for you but I can never remember if she said a glass or a bottle. As I sat there chatting with Gary my mind started wandering back to the day I was loading my wife Lana and our six month old baby girl Candis into the car on a frigid life changing afternoon. I still remember how unsure I was about the whole idea of leaving our home, family, and all our good friends behind and plunge into the unkown. But I had made the decision to leave and I had made it for the right reasons. There was no turning back now so it was time to head to Saskatoon and the beginning of my brand new radio career as a Program Director. As we drove away that cold winters day waving goodbye to the rest of our family, we had no idea that we would never live in Transcona again. My plan was to just get my programming chops in Saskatoon as quickly as I could and become competent enough to get a PD's job back home in neighbouring Winnipeg so we could live happily ever after. Even though we were barely on the road but for a few minutes we could hardly wait to come home again and reunite with all the Grandparents, Aunties, Uncles, Brothers and friends we were leaving behind. What a great party that was sure to be. As we headed west to Regina on the Trans Canada we were listening to CKY where I was recently the Production and Music Director for a short after leaving my band The Jury. A bunch of the great folks I worked with at the station, Porky, Jim Coghill and John Wells were saying goodbye to us on the radio and even though they were all wishing us well, it had a kinda ominous sound to it that made me feel sad and scared at the same time. But I knew I couldn't show any of this to my family. Once we reached Regina we headed north out across barren prairie on highway 11 to Saskatoon. It was cold enough doing the trip that way there was no way I was taking the shorter 'Yellowhead Route' out of Brandon which was even more barren and even a lot colder. As we drove Northward I remember quietly pushing aside a bunch of clothes we had hung on a rod in the back just to check on Candis who was back there sleeping in her Bassinet. As I peeked back through all the hanging clothes, there she was on her tummy all stretched out and just looking back at me with a big toothless grin that seemed to say ... It's all going to turn out OK Daddy. As we approached Saskatoon late that night I finally picked up what was to become my new radio home CKOM.The station seemed to be doing some strange kind of programming as we listened. I though It just must be some special weekend show that didn't turn out as good as someone had anticipated. I'll fix it first thing. I never suspectedthat weekend show was a sneak preview of things to come. Management earlier on had decided they wanted me to spend a week or so in the Motel and just listen to the radio and make notes before I came in to the station. When I was ready they would introduce me to everyone, show me my office and then decide what time we should sit down and discuss all my findings. They were quite anxious for me to get on with the fixing because the ratings were dismal. Much later when we finally arrived in Saskatoon, we checked into the Motel the station had provided and tried to settle in as best we could. It was so cold outside that we had to turn the heat on high in the room and leave it there which soon made the air unbearably dry which wasn't very good for our daughter We had to keep wetting bath towels and hanging them on the heating vents so she could breathe properly while Daddy did his radio thing. As bad as the conditions were in the Motel, I still couldn't believe they were paying me to do what I would do anyway ... Just isten to the radio. I got up early the next morning and turned on CKOM. The morning guys name was Easten Wayman he was kinda just OK and was playing what I guess you would call MOR ( middle of the road) music. You know Patti Page, Dean Martin, Frank, Tony, and all the rest of the usual suspects. There also was some News done by Bill Stovin Jr. and Gord Hume. Sports was handled by Wally Cameron whom I found out later on also sold used cars on the side. I was just starting to pick up the rhythm of the whole morning show and get an idea of what Easten's style was all about when suddenly he was joined by a piano player. Easten and Mr. Piano just kinda chatted on and on about nothing and I believe if memory serves me correctly they even took a few piano requests. The thing I picked up on as this nonsense continued was the fact that they hated each other. That was their problem mine was trying to figure out why this show is on the air or even better yet find out who is the piano player related to at the station. Mercifully soon the morning show was over and on came a pleasant enough sounding guy by the name of Dale Heath. I liked Dale's smooth sound right away. He had one of those those rich warm Peter Jennings type voices that a few Canadian announcers possess. Jim Hilliard says I'm a sucker for that sound to this very day.That was all good but for some unknown reason Dale was playing Country Music. He didn't look or even sound anything like a Cowboy. What the hell happened to all the MOR music was the next notation I made in my note book. I was glad the tinkling piano was gone, but Country. I didn't know much about Country Music other than I didn't like most of it. I did sorta like Buck Owens though because when I weekend toured with my band The Jury sometimes Country music was all you could get on the car radio and as I remembered it Buck's band sorta rocked. I will always remember teasing Dale about how I thought Tammy Wynette's days were numbered now that Patti Page had her version of "Stand By Your Man" out. As I recall he just laughed at me. What a strange sounding station this was turning out to be I thought as my listening marathon continued. I had never heard anything like this before but most of the surprises were still ahead. Next up was a kid by the name of Ken Sebastian Singer. Ken also referred to himself on air as The Psychedelic Banana and as he came blasting out of my radio lo and behold he was playing rock. My note book was filling up and I was only about halfway through the day. Later when I met Ken I found out Ken was a musician who like me was coming off the band thing and this was his first radio gig so like me he was a rookie too. I hadn't seen Ken since I left Saskatoon but I got to catch up with him last year in Ottawa at Gary's induction into The Radio Hall Of Fame. Ken laughingly told me he remembered when he me for the first time. At that brief meeting he said he asked me what what a PD did. He claimed I said ... I hire and fire the jocks. I got it he said, then quickly disappeared. When The Psychedelic Banana finally said good night on came Gordy Brown who was not only married to the Continuity Director but like me was also from Transcona.Gordy played some more MOR music and this went on for a couple of hours, till it happened! Are you ready for this ... Are you sitting down. Square Dance Party hit the air! You've got to be S**Ting me, I thought to myself. Square Dance F**King Party, are you kidding. Is this some sort of trick my old station CKY had prearranged with these folks. Naw! I'm going to bed this has got to be a giant mistake. It's got to be some disgruntled engineer who has gone mad and taken over the transmitter and locked himself in. Someone hopefully will soon break down the door and drag him out while I'm sleeping and all will be well with the world by sunrise. OK then! I'm up and at 'em again bright and early the next morning thinking it must have just been one of those strange Monday's where they were filling some CRTC (FCC) requirements or something. I'll find a better place to hide that kinda stuff soon as I go in. Nope 2nd verse same as the first. As I go threw the day it seemed to follow the same pattern as the day before but with one big exception. This time after the MOR serenade we didn't go to the Square Dance Party which was a blessing in it's self ... We went to Schizophrenic Anonymous. I'm not kidding that was the name of the show, Schizophrenic Anonymous. The crazed engineer who had locked himself in the transmitter shack last night must back in there again tonight, only this time he has put himself on the air. That's it, I cant take anymore, I'm going in coach! This place needs major construction. The only thing I could consistent about CKOM was it's inconsistency. I think the real reason I was really going in was because I was afraid to listen any more. I knew I would be frozen in place out of fear. My going in away ahead of schedule and blurting out to the man who had put it all on how much the programming all sucked cost me a year and also introduced me to the monster whom to this day I have never mastered. Politics! But all of that some other time because another meeting has broken out here in South Florida and this time it's sales. They claim they really need my help. That's radio speak for they want my promos.
April 13, 2010
Women are a lot more current than men.
When my oldest kids Candis and Curtis were both very young, they saved up their allowances and baby sitting money so they could present to their Mother and I, a quit smoking plan called "One Step At A Time". I have never ever smoked again. It turned out my children were and are lot more influential and powerful than any Teachers, Politicians, Doctors, Wives or Bosses in my life.
It's been said that if you think you can or you think you can't your absolutely right.
Morning shows should take tip from Garth Brookswhen he was on stage at all his sold out concerts. He sang to the people in the back row not the ones in the front row.
Thinking about my "Last Programmers Conference I thought hey who have I missed that needs to be there like Paul Dunn who had a pretty good run in West Palm Peach and George Francis said we've got to include Dick Orkin. George also wondered if the odd SM could sneak in. I told him it would be OK as long as they were prepared to serve drinks to the rest of us.I know I've gotta be missing a bunch of super radio guys. Bring 'em if on you've got 'em. george@georgejohns.com
Radio needs to entertain the people who are only hearing it, not just the ones listening to it.
You cant make anybody love you more, no ratings there. But if you can turn like into love, a whole bunch of ratings waiting there.
Now thatJeff & Jer are going Nationalon the weekends, I wonder what station in San Diego is going to be savvy enough to put them on weekdays. They then of course would have Jeff and Jeron the air7 days a week. How the hell do you beat that.
Other than our Government can you find anybody else that believes anything the oil companies say.
One of the big reasons Ron Chapmanis being inducted into the Radio Hall Of Fame today is because Ron has always been a champion of women, and they could hear it everyday on his radio show.
Speaking of Ron Chapman, We have put together a little partnership we think could cause a little radio damage aroundAmerica.Details at GeorgeJohns.com
Have you ever noticed that when your impatiently waiting for a red light to change and it finally does you still sit there anyway because all the very slow drivers always manage to be first in line. How do they get there first.
I'm working on a new radio concept called "Cocktail Confessions Of The Socialites"with four very beautiful Miami women,Marnie, Angela, Beatriz and Josette. At some point Angela turned to me with a sly smile on her face and said, your a Cuchacho. A Cuchaco!Yeah anold guy who acts young was her response.
Jo Jo Holotka sent me a couple of her unmixed tracks from her upcoming album that seemed very hot to me but still nothing a cold shower couldn't take care of.
My old pal Bob Christyall going well, will take possession of what was a lifelong dream for a lot of us, his own Radio Station. The station he is buying is even in his favorite cityBoston,and he is doing it with no debt. That will make it kinda tough for him to fail I figure. Congrats Bobby.
The best location for radio station facilities is where the talent can bring 'em to work, then send them home.
I've had a lot of pleasure from being a part of the radio industry but none as great as sitting at Gary Russell's table as he got inducted into the Canadian Radio hall Of Fameand now as you read this I'll be proudly sitting at Ron Chapman's table as he most deservedly gets inducted into theRadio Hall Of Fame at theNAB inLas Vegas.
I remember the day I sat down with my son Curtisand explained to him that it was the end of the money supply from Dad. But I said should he want to take any courses to better his career opportunities, I would gladly pay for that. He said he had a feeling for a while now that this little chat we were having was coming. I asked him if he had any idea what he would like to do or what courses he would like to take. He responded with ... I just wanna hang out Dad! I've watched you work hard my whole life and you don't look that happy to me, so I think I'll just hang out.
In June my brother Reg and I are headed back to my home town ofTransconafor a big reunion of people born in the 30's 40's and 50's. Each group probably thinks they are the most important, but our group invented Rock&Roll and nothing else has lasted as long as that, so we win.
In 1964 a momentous occasion occurred whenElvisandThe Beatles met for the very first time. There must have been so much electricity in the air that special day that everyone one must have been frozen in place because not one picture was taken at the historic meeting.
I read somewhere that a tattoo is the permanent record of temporary insanity. More@ www.GeorgeJohns.com
Radio Performance Legends Ron Chapman and George Johns Launch Talent Coaching
In order to do something uncommonly well, you simply can’t do it for everyone. Yet for a select group of radio companies and their talent, two of our industry’s most prolific personalities will soon be available to help craft advanced skill development for people with an unassailable commitment to rise above the field.
Through the seventies, eighties and into the nineties, NAB Hall of Fame inductee Ron Chapman and KVIL were synonymous with the rare air of achievement. KVIL was acclaimed “AC Station of the Yearâ€
