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Straight From The Mouth
The Morning Mouth's September Interview with Sonny & Susan
(Reprinted by permission; Copyright © 2007 Talentmasters Inc.)

How about a quick background check?

Sonny: I arrived at KyXy in 1991 and was the architect of the KyXy Morning Show with GM Dan Carelli. KyXy had been a soft AC for years, but it was our intent to ratchet up the energy and profile of the show. Up to that point soft AC mornings pretty much were the transmitter warm-up for the in-office listening. My first partner, Pat Brown, was the former host of TV's PM Magazine. A couple of years into the process, Kevin Dean came on board. We had worked together at KCBQ in the late '80s. John Q Lawrence joined shortly thereafter. My first co-host divorce took place and Dayle Ohlau joined the team from doing middays at oldies KBZT. I had originally hired her to do the night show at KCBQ in 1989. Dayle and I split when she re-married and moved to Idaho to live with the celebs like Bruce Willis and Demi Moore. Our 6 year partnership ended amicably. Then Susan and I rekindled our torrid radio KyXy after 13years doing mornings at Smooth Jazz KIFM. And the rest is

'ouch!' Damn girl quit hitting me.' Radio bliss!

Susan: Did you tell Don I was only 16 when we worked together at KCBQ?

Sonny: Uh, yeah?

A lot of AC shows are given a minimum amount of music to play. Is that true for your show?

Sonny: Not really. Our PD Charlie Quinn says we can drop as many songs as we like as long as we play more commercials.

Susan: We pretty much have the autonomy to do as we see fit. If we're on a good topic, making entertaining radio -- we can drop them all. We hold ALL the authority -- but please don't share that with our PD. He may not have gotten the memo yet.

If you had your choice, would you play less music, or is this what sets you apart?

Kevin: Sometimes a really good song is a better choice then a mediocre bit. Not that we'd ever do a mediocre bit.

Susan: There's already plenty of talk out in the San Diego morning radio landscape. We are definitely an alternative. Our listeners enjoy some music in the morning but more importantly they want to wake up to people they absolutely adore -- like us -- Come to think of it, maybe that's why we play music -- they don't want to hear us that much!

What's the trick to being edgy on an AC or Lite AC?

Sonny: "Edgy Soft AC" is almost as oxymoronic as the slogan "soft rock" -- but we've seemed to pull it off.

John Q: We take our cue from beer commercials. We pretend to be full flavored with fewer calories but we're secretly good for you.

What about pop culture? By force of nature, do you have to chat about Britney, Lohan, etc.

Sonny: By virtue of the ugly beast that it is. No that wasn't an Olson Twins reference. But we balance it out. Our pop culture references deal more with personal relationships and how pop culture affects them.

Susan: Most of the time we leave the hard core pop-cul' to our entertainment reporter Mike Evans (who by the way has an opening for another station -- e-mail us at sonnywest@cox.ne for his number.

SD is by far, one of the most personality-driven markets in radio. If I did mornings there, I'd probably have someone on staff that did nothing but monitor the other morning shows just so I didn't get beat to the punch with a topic. How do you keep your topics or discussion fresh and current?

Kevin: Every morning at 4am all San Diego morning shows meet at the 7-11 and we divvy up the bits so none of us look bad.

Sonny, have you and Susan ever come close to a divorce?

Sonny: Yes. She was dating this mutual friend of ours. Their friendly fervor turned into choruses of Seraphim chanting James Blunt's "You're Beautiful," while trains entered tunnels and waves crashed on shores. She'd obviously forgotten the vow of radio celibacy I administered to her at MSBC XIII. Of course, she was drunk at the time!

Susan: He'd like to divorce me every time I come back from visiting Boston. My accent is wicked "hahrrible." But since I'm his third radio wife he just rolls his eyes and puts up with me. That is until the Red Sox come to town -- then it's wah.

Sonny: Don't you mean "war?"

Do you work with a consultant? What's the best/worst advice you ever got?

Sonny: Over the years I've worked with Randy Kabrich, Jon Coleman, Mike

Dorn, Jack Taddeo and Lorna Ozmon. Some of the best advice Lorna had for us was "be relevant" and "literal is never entertaining." Perspective is far more entertaining than opinion.

If Susan hadn't been a radio host she would have probably?

Kevin: Had better co-workers.

John Q: News guy declines to answer fearing woman scorned syndrome

Sonny: Been Heidi Fleiss' PR person.

If Sonny hadn't gotten into radio he'd?

Susan: Moved to Hawaii to run a beachside bar. He owns 125 Hawaiian shirts so his wardrobe would never be taxed. Except he'd drink all the profits, so thankfully radio worked out for him.

Kevin: Be sober right now.

John Q: Be calling Mike Vick about how to set up a meercat fighting ring.

Susan: Our phones aren't ringing.

Kevin: Our phones are ringing

Sonny: When I've used the last of my Beano.

I had a PD once who?

Sonny: Drove his car through a police barricade on the way to the station; ran into the control room while I was on the air, hid behind a cart rack and said if a sheriff comes to the door don't let him in and tell him to go "f" himself. There'll be a bonus in it for you. Well, after I hid my stash, and answered the door, and the sheriff cuffed the PD. I really thought I'd get fired for letting the cop in -- but I didn't. So after six months on overnights...

Susan: Had a habit of throwing her shoes when she was angry. We all knew to avoid walking past her door when tempers flared or you could take a stiletto to the head.

John Q: Gave me my "Q." First news job, ready to deliver my first ever newscast and the PD pops his head in the door to say "News guys need a middle initial -- .think of something." I locked out that newscast with John "Q" Lawrence and the rest is history.

Best answer ever given in an interview?

Susan: I'm wearing a sexy negligee and fuzzy high heels. He was so honest!

Kevin: We interviewed comedian Carlos Mencia about his new tv show. He was calling us from Main Street in Disneyland. So being the nicest show in San Diego, we asked him to give our best to Mickey Mouse. His response was priceless. He said "when I see that little four fingered rat bastard I'll tell him you said hello!" That kind of set the tone for the rest of the interview.

Sonny: After hearing a toilet flush and water running in the background we asked a sitcom star if he was using single ply or double ply. He said "I'm a bidet man with 100% Egyptian cotton towels." We had done most of the interview with this putz squatting on the can and a bidet. He did sound squeaky clean, though. And fresh.

Nothing drives me crazier on the air than?

Sonny: Then when you do a bit suggested by your PD and it works.

Kevin: Sonny.

I would pay for a photo of?

Sonny: Don Anthony's face when first seeing his Swissotel bill for Boot Camp.

Amount of alcohol consumed at MSBC?

Sonny: Hmmm. I wasn't aware there was a bar. Next time please include that information in the welcome packet.

Susan: Enough to make those early-morning sessions a killer. More coffee!

Read previous Morning Mouth interviews.

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