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Straight From The Mouth
The Morning Mouth's August Interview with Don Anthony
(Reprinted by permission; Copyright © 2003 Talentmasters Inc.)

In a departure from our regular guest interview, this month, in recognition of The Morning Mouth's 10th year and Morning Show Boot Camp's 15th anniversary, we turned our attention to Don Anthony, respective publisher and host. And if you think we'd throw him softballs, just watch. The interview was conducted by longtime associate, personality and programmer, Dave Marcum.

Since taking over the Mouth in 1995, you've interviewed nearly 100 shows or personalities. Do you have a favorite?

Until this one, they've all been great. Actually, there are several that stand out, but all for different reasons. There were some stinkers, too. And not always just because of the subject. The interviewer has blown a few as well.

What's your criteria for putting someone on the cover?

There's none really. In the last year, I've tried to highlight new shows

that are getting a lot of attention. Shows like Roula and Ryan in Houston, The Bert show here in Atlanta, etc. I also ask other personalities who they would like to see interviewed. As you may have noticed, we also feature "high-profile" personalties outside of AM drive, i.e. Glenn Beck, Phil Hendrie, Opie & Anthony etc.

Is there anyone you would like to interview, but haven't been able to get?

Yeah, Larry Lujack. He completely raised the bar for personalities. I always wanted to know how he overcame the conventional thinking of that time and did his own thing. I also wanted Don Imus, plus a few others. I don't fault anyone for not choosing to be interviewed. That's certainly their choice. On rare occasions I get "You know man, we're not into that whole radio thing." How paradoxical is that? They are where they are because of radio, but they're not into it. Fortunately, the majority of people we contact are more than happy to oblige and very appreciative.

Any interview horror stories?

I taped an interview once and accidentally erased it. To make matters worse, it was with a pretty big name, so when I called back I felt like such a weeny publisher. He was cool though. Most embarrassing? Dang, I hate that so many things are coming to mind, but one that stands out was Ryan Cameron here at Hot 107. I put his station's wrong frequency on the cover. Also, when Johnjay & Rich first went to Tucson, I misspelled their city on the cover. As far as interviews, 99% of them are a lot of fun. There is the rare occasion, where you tape for an hour and find yourself grasping for something interesting. What's bad about this is that it sometimes affects my whole attitude towards that issue. Once I had a show where someone spent the better part of the interview telling me how anti-establishment they were: "We don't do show prep," "We're not your typical jocks, etc." So their producers on the call and I ask her what her job entails, and one of the guys answers with "She does our show prep!" I grinned the rest of the interview.

What's your favorite part of doing The Mouth each month?

Next to the interviews, probably the cover. Especially if I have a great photo to work with. Too often I'm sent a very small, low-resolution photo and I have to really work with it to create a decent cover. But I like doing covers.

Do you have a favorite?

Actually, I have quite a few. I always liked Ellen K's. It was the first time I looked at one of our covers and said "Gee, they might allow this on a real newsstand." I also liked Rick Dees as well. Jamie & Danny's cover was cool. I also liked the Skip Mahaffey cover. That took some work. You see, each person gave me a separate picture. I had to put them in layers, draw the height wall behind them and create the whole mobster thing. Plus, I had to resize each of them to create different depths of perception. For someone who basically doesn't know what he's doing, I thought it came out kind of cool.

I liked the Paul & Ron cover. Although burying our name in a crowd of people took quite a bit of time. This is a process where I had to carefully erase the letters to let the faces or hands peek through.

Opie & Anthony's cover came out better than expected, although somewhat prophetic. In that issue we featured an article on "Survival." It's interesting when you look at it now and see "Survival Guide" under their picture. They'll be back, though. Michelle McKormick was one of my personal favorites. The interview entailed her battle with cancer and how she overcame it. I just thought the cover shot screamed, "I won!"

What about least favorite?

Let's not go there. People who know me will tell you I'm never satisfied with anything, but to be honest, I've had a few that I didn't want to distribute. Perhaps I was past deadline, didn't have a good picture to work with, or maybe it didn't print well. Trust me, there have been a few covers that had me tossin' and turnin' at night. If I just knew what I was doing.

Have you featured many women on the cover?

I think we've featured a proportionate number of women to men on the air, but quite frankly, not as many as I'd like. We cover a lot of male/female

shows, too. Just for fun, I always wanted to do a swimsuit edition. But men would have to pose, too. Maybe if I get enough people to let me know this would be cool, I'd do it. Any volunteers reading this?

Do you have a Mouth wish list?

I wish I had more budget to bring it up to a more polished, newsstand look. I mean, the magazine gets put together with fewer than six people. So, given that, I have to be thankful that it prints the way it does. Printing costs are very high as well as postage. Beyond the cover, I'd like to take the rest of magazine 4-color, but it may be awhile before I can do that. I just wish I had deeper pockets to produce the kind of magazine I think talent deserves.

I also wish I were a better writer. For me, that's a work in progress. I think I've gotten slightly better, but there's a long way to go yet. One thing's for sure, I've grown a whole new appreciation of people who write for a living.

Would you consider making it an online publication?

I'd consider complementing the Mouth with an Internet update, or weekly printed magazine with a picture on the cover. Plus, I don't think it gives the same value to advertisers. Economically, it's a no-brainer, but I'll stick with print as long as people want it or as long as its feasible. You've got to remember, our focal point is being the magazine where you see personalities on the cover.

Speaking of which, where did the term "high-profile" personality come from?

I'm not sure. Basically, it pertains to any personality whose star power stands on its own. I will say, whenever I'm asked for its definition, I usually respond by saying "If you have to ask, you're not one."

Do you remember the first time you ever read The Mouth?

Yeah, when Kidd Kraddick had it. I think it was during Morning Show Boot Camp, or maybe it was a Boot Camp issue. Anyway, I thought it was a very cool piece. Plus, I thought Kidd was a terrific writer.

Speaking of Boot Camp, this will be your 15th. Did you ever think you'd make it to this point?

I was more concerned with making it to the second. I recall we had about 75 to 100 people at our first and if my memory serves me correctly, most of them were panelists. But you know what? Once everyone got together, I knew it was going to work. There was just a certain chemistry that made it special.

What prompted you to do this?

The simple answer: there was a need. Here you had the most important daypart on a station, and yet the very people who are responsible for its success had no way of comparing notes. There were gatherings for managers, programmers and salespeople -- even engineers, and absolutely nothing just for morning people. It was an obvious need. Radio One's Mary Catherine Sneed was my inspiration. At that time she was handling programming for Summit and used to conduct her own morning show seminars. I loved the concept. Of course, my biggest concern was would stations support me in this effort. I talked to quite a few stations and got a resounding "NO!" However, I did gather that if programmers went with their shows, then perhaps it would work. Thus, Talentmasters first morning show Don Anthony seminar was donned (no pun intended) ATPC. As in Air Talent Programming conference. We did it at The Doubletree Hotel (now Wyndham) here in Atlanta.

Why did you change the name to Morning Show Boot Camp?

I didn't like ATPC. It sounded like a gas additive. Plus, it didn't fit what we were doing. Our original description was "A Weekend Boot Camp for morning shows who want to gear up for the Fall book." We just expanded that thought.

Where did you learn how to do a conference?

Learn? You never quit learning. Back then, my first step was learning how to deal with hotels (a science all to itself). I had conned, I mean talked Lisa Mulcahy (now with MJI) into coming to work for us. Prior to that, she had managed restaurants. Anyway, to get our feet wet, I put $1000 into a small company and test marketed a small "Career Seminar." We put out about a thousand brochures and fliers to the public, got a room at a Marriot and bam!, we were in the seminar business. As it turned out, I think we had about 20 people, a couple who were demented and as I later found out, approximately ten, who were friends of Lisa. She didn't have the heart to tell me that response was pathetic. Adding insult to injury, another company sued us over our name. My lawyer asked, "How much money did you make on your seminar? I answered "Less my investment, I've got about $39 in the account." "Great, I'd recommend you drop the name!" I did, and that division moved to a manila folder. So yes, I'm still learning.

What's the best and worst part of putting together MSBC?

Best part is the conference itself. I love the camaraderie. This is a community that didn't exist before and now does. A very vibrant and productive one. In many ways, it's more like a reunion than a convention. It really is a family affair. I also enjoy the inspiration this assembly provides. This chemistry of jocks convening from all over the country; different formats; owners; parts of the world... it's all good.

Worst part? Well, and I want to be careful how I say this because through the years we've been very blessed with great support from companies, owners, managers and suppliers from all over the country and abroad. However, to this day, there are still some who stand in the way or discourage their jocks attending conferences. They perceive it as some kind some kind jock fest. This is totally inaccurate. As someone who's been attending conventions for over 30 years, I can say without hesitation, you'd be hardpressed to find a more ideas-driven, motivational and results oriented gathering than ours. All they'd have to do is talk to people who come and they'd know. Maybe one day, we'll cut through. I'm still working at it. I wish I had the answer.

How do you think the business has changed most since MSBC began?

I don't think there's enough space in this issue to fairly answer that question. Let's start with things that haven't changed. Successful morning shows and top personalities are still the engine that drives the revenue. You could put 40 of the best salespeople in a room, but if they didn't have a great product to sell they'd never bring in what they could with a great show or shows to build it around. Having said that, with more attention to the bottom line, there's more pressure to perform. And sub-par jocks have no where to hide. instead of stations competing, it's competition of clusters. All in all, what remains intact is that a great personality can still achieve his or her dreams. And if they work hard, perform and perform year after year, they can achieve their ultimate dreams and live a life shared by a relative few.

Where will The Morning Mouth and MSBC be in 10 years?

Hopefully, in everyone's budget. In the meantime, if God wills it, I'll be there with them.

Read previous Morning Mouth interviews.

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