Straight From the Mouth

If you could go back in time, is there any one thing about your career you'd like to change?

Several... Leaving Q-106 San Diego for WQXI Atlanta. There was a last minute format change and what kind of morning show they wanted. It wasn't fair for me or Clarke Brown (then GM of WQXI, now President Jefferson-Pilot) the man who hired me. I acted immaturely for 8 months and we were all miserable. Thinking they would see the error of their ways and things would get better, I declined the morning job at Z-100 during that 8 months and soon found myself unemployed. It was a low point to say the least.

There was another situation, where Randy Kabrich, a great consultant and programmer with whom I'd worked in Charlotte, asked me to come to Dallas to Y-95 after Sonny Fox had left. There was a fierce battle going on with Y-95 and KEGL. The most unpleasant owner I ever worked for made this place unbearable. Both stations spent most of their time attacking each other and I regret getting caught up in a lot of the personal attacks that happened on air. In the end, neither station did very well and almost everybody on both staffs were eventually let go. This business has always been fun for me. That wasn't fun. I lost some friends in that deal and had to say I was sorry to some people I respect.

Favorite thing you've ever done on the air?

We've made Christmas happen for a bunch of families that have just had some bad stuff happens. Last year a little boy named Tyler had his father commit suicide and his mother die of cancer in a 6-month period. His aunt, who took him in, had lost her job. She wanted nothing for herself just him. Involving our listeners we decorated the house, put up a tree, loaded it with every cool present a kid could want and then sent him and her to Disney World for a week. Those are the coolest things about this business.

Your biggest coup?

Got Stevie Wonder to come to Z-100 when I was co-host with a little Casio Keyboard. He hung around a couple of hours and played requests live on the air.

Calling 911 to report a blow-up doll in a window of a building in San Diego then hanging up. The police were not amused when they got there a few minutes later.

Event that got you the most press?

April Fools beer truck stunt that totally stopped rush hour traffic. We announced an overturned beer truck that had to be drained before being moved and Rolling Rock was giving it away.

You came up from the same place many jocks of your time did. Where's today's farm league?

We've had a lot of luck with our intern program. We bring them in and put them on the air. We find out real quick if they have drive and talent. If we spot one or the other or if lighting strikes and they have both we try and find a place for them. Chris Kelly who has the show next door "Two Guys Named Chris" was full time on the show his last two years of college. It was pretty obvious from day one he got and I put him to work. He's had a successful show of his own for 5 years now on our sister station Rock 92. In fact we've had better luck in the last few years with interns than with people we've hired who were already in the business.

Stern confronted Chairman Powell on the air. If you could speak with him, what would you ask?

Howard or Powell? I would ask Howard why are you still working? How much freaking money does one person need? Powell? How about a set of written rules we all understand... and can follow.

Speaking of Stern, he's headed to Satellite. Do you feel terrestrial radio is going through denial when it comes to this technology, or are you concerned with it's impact?

Competing against it is no different that fighting syndication. I always start planning my show by thinking what's something Bob & Sheri or John Boy & Billy can't talk about today. We even cut intros that say that, "Here's Listeners picked up on that and started using it when they called into the show.

What concerns you most with today's radio as it relates to personalities?

Spot loads that I think make it hard for people to stay with you even if they love you.

Which morning shows impress you?

I like a lot of them. Jeff & Jer, Ace & T.J., Gary Craig, Chris & Chris, Scott & Todd, Dave Shelly & Chainsaw, Elvis Duran, Rick Dees was still making me laugh when he left KIIS.

How much longer do you feel you can do CHR?

We don't play a lot of music in the morning so it's really not a big deal. I'm under contract until 2008, so unless the station changes format at least till then.

At 45, how do you stay plugged in younger listeners?

I have two great co-hosts who are young and hip. We get along really well and I let them talk about their personal lives a lot.

Who are they?

Josie Paza a former intern and a real radio star in the making. She is bright has a great laugh works hard and is mature beyond her years. I might add she's under contract! Josh Anderson, a singer/songwriter who got his job by making up songs about stuff we were doing on the show and e-mailing them to me. He is doing a great job and sounds like he's been on the air forever. We also try and use every member of the staff whenever we can. That's a lot of eyes and ears out in the market everyday you just have to make it fun for them to come into your studio.

Who does what?

I run the board and anchor the show. Josie? What doesn't she do; producer, secretary, liaison, P.R. etc. she does so many things well I don't know what we did before her. Josh answers phones, gives great laughter, whipping boy for us both and writes and produces great parody songs.

What's your main source for material?

The biggest,our personal lives. I have two teenagers and two weiner dogs, need I say more? Josie lives with her half Mexican boyfriend and about 5 dogs and some chick dumps Josh at least once a week. Plus, he's divorced and has a 2-year-old little boy. We also make a lot of fun of our PD Jeff McHugh. We also brainstorm at least once a week. Randy Lane and Stan Main have really helped us learn to flex the creative muscles.

What would most people be surprised to know about you?

I just learned how to ride an Air-Chair. I can bench press over 300lbs.