Geo’s Media Blog. (It’s Party Time At My Place?)New for 9/02/19

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Growing up in Canada as I did, it didn’t make much sense having a swimming pool. However, after moving to Indianapolis, I started to give it some serious thought because summer lasted almost two months longer in Indy than it did in Winnipeg. Also, we’d just moved into a beautiful new home (see above) so what the hell!
What an exciting time. I thoroughly enjoyed just watching the construction and will never forget during a heavy rainstorm, the pool contractor calling me and saying, “You better get the garden hose out and get some water in the pool before it pops out of the ground.
So armed with a garden hose there and a bottle of Canadian Whiskey, my friend Bob Christy began filling the pool in the pouring rain. Before long and with the aid of the whiskey and a what the hell attitude, there we were fully clothed sitting in the spa with construction stuff floating around us in the dirty water and we were so wasted that we just sat there laughing our asses off. It’s a wonder we didn’t drown.
A couple of weeks later when only the fence around the pool needed finishing, my wife Lana and I headed up north to Muncie Indiana where our daughter Candis was attending a Gymnastic Camp at Ball State. We thought we’d be there for the whole day, but it turned out that it was only a luncheon thing.
After lunch, we jumped back into the car and headed home. Upon our arrival, there was our whole neighborhood having a big pool party at our place. They had lawn chairs, coolers and towels everywhere, and were cooking dogs and burgers on their barbeques as they frolicked in our pool. I’m sure you can imagine how surprised we were when we arrived home, but not as surprised as they were whem they spotted us pulling into the driveway. You should have seen the looks on their faces.
GEO’S LIFE-LINES 
Friendship may turn into love but it seldom goes the other way. 
 
When is the government gonna figure out that they should take good care of the middle class? Unlike the rich and poor, we’re the ones who buy all the products and pay most of the taxes.
 
Speaking of the poor, why do they need to collect welfare when there are one point five million charities registered in the US? 
 
You can educate yourself by reading novels because at least half of it is true and informative. 
 
We all believe our own truths. 
 
By the time my ship came in, I’d already left the dock. 
 
There is no such as a good war. 
 
Your dreaming a new dream does not come with an age limit.
 

How come the men who do right by women don’t get to debate those who accuse us of doing wrong? I’m ready when they are and have my check stubs standing by.

Now that Andrew Luck is retired and the Colts are gonna let him keep 17 million of his new contract. Hell, who couldn’t live on that?

Just sitting here in Jacksonville waiting on Dorian.

 
COMMENTS

Ron Below: “Candis was a singer-songwriter working for a record company and yet couldn’t get any of the A&R guys to come and see her, let alone get a record deal?”
If that ever comes up again here’s a tip… tell her to mention to one of A&R guys she was thinking about listing them as a “co-writer” on one of her songs. (My List)

Geo: Ahh the old plugola game huh Mr. Below. 

Ken Sebastian Singer: Truly one of the great ones. He and his kid sister used to live across the alley from me when we were about 12. Who knew he would go on to be a radio legend. Miss him. (Remembering Daryl ‘B’)

Geo: Daryl kindly talked management into making me the music director of CKY before he left for Vancouver. This eventually led to my getting the PD job at CKOM in Saskatoon where I ended up working with you, Ken. 

Chris Duffy: Actually you hit it right on the button. Hitler did indeed have one of his famous hissy-fits upon learning that the Japanese had bombed Hawaii…..with absolutely no advance warning to Der Fuhrer. He supposedly said some rather unflattering things about their race, hinting that sneakiness was what you get when you were dealing with ‘non-Anglo Saxons’  (Poland, as well as Josef Stalin, would probably take issue with that comment, considering Germany’s deceit against both of them.) What happened next though was unemotional and methodical….and perhaps Hitler’s greatest blunder. He was convinced he would be fighting America eventually, FDR had already firmly planted our policies in favor of Great Britain. So he referred to the Tripartite Act between the Axis powers…which was mostly just a marketing scheme and didn’t require automatic belligerent obligation….and almost matter of factly declared war on the US by December 11th. Now, instead of a nearly crushed, exhausted island nation as his sole western enemy, he had a massive industrial and resource-rich nation beyond the reach of his lethal Luftwaffe that was about to use England as its’ unsinkable aircraft carrier to bring the war to him.
His post-Pearl hissy fit would not be the last. That would come 41 months later in a bunker in the ruins of Berlin. (Weird People?)

Moto: – Decolletage.. so that’s what those things were called. Even though we tried, we were always and famously outnumbered by them and obligingly so. (Decolletage)

Geo: And they still have us on the ropes, Cris.

 

Brent Farris: Cami, now that you are graduating, I can tell you that you changed the way radio sounded in America. Your dad would always tell us how you listened to the radio. He would ask you questions about music and tell us your thoughts. If you would pick up on a new band or artist your dad would alert us to Americas changing tastes.  I guess he thought that because the sun rose and set with you, the least the world could do is make sure that when you turned the radio on it would be playing a tune you liked. So congratulations from the guy in the yellow ’67 convertible who took you to dinner with the giraffes. Now go out and change the world so your dad can tell us how to be your soundtrack. (Cami Graduates Today)

 

Bob and Jan Christy: Cami,
Congratulations on your graduation and your bright future.
I’ve known your Dad for years. (sometimes it seems like we were boys together) The first time I met you was on Clematis Street in West Palm, your sister was holding you, your Uncle Reg was there and of course your Dad. So I’ve known you almost your entire life. You have no idea the changes your birth caused in your Dad’s life and they were all for the better, so congratulations on a job well done.
Jan and I feel, having known you since you were a baby, that you’re kind of “our kid” too. We’ve watched you grow from a little “binky” baby to a strong and confident young woman. (And thank god you’re not afraid of dogs anymore!) By the way, I almost went into cardiac arrest the first time I saw your Dad change your diaper, he could barely do his own laundry at the time. See how much you changed him for the better!
Love you kid, I know you’ll make us all proud. Here’s your girl pal Janny Cakes.
OMG – I am SO proud of you. You shine, really in so many ways, you are beautiful, calm and take everything in before reacting.. We have loved you dearly since you were a baby girl of 3. Please know that I am always here for you on the following: boys,( they are boys until 50 so please beware)  clothes, makeup, manicures and the occasional decision of whether to go ahead with something you are not quite sure of, get my advice first! Have a lovely graduation and look to the future in the hope you make permanent and life-changing good. You will touch many people in your life and the goal is to be remembered for heartfelt, honest, sweet words. I LOVE YOU DEARLY,
Jan. (Camera Anne Johns Summerfield Graduates Today)
Geo’s Media Blog is an inside look at Radio, Music, Movies, and Life. For a sneak peek at some upcoming Blogs or to see some that you may have missed, go to GeorgeJohns.com. On Twitter @GeoOfTheRadio. Sharing and commenting is appreciated.

 

 

Geo’s Media Blog (Weird People?) New 8/26/19

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IMG_595811While going to USF in Tampa, my daughter Cami would occasionally come home to West Palm on Amtrak for the weekend. On this occassion, while patiently waiting at the Union Station for the always late train, she struck up a conversation with a fellow passenger who was on his way to Ft. Lauderdale.
When Amtrak finally arrived, he invited her to sit next to him so they wouldn’t get stuck having to talk with all the weird people who were also on the train to South Florida. Cami claimed that he was an interesting conversationalist so she was glad that she had chosen to sit next to him and enjoyed chatting with him. Then about halfway through their journey he excused himself and went to the restroom, when he returned, he looked like this. (see photo above)

GEO’S LIFE-LINES

My daughter Cami has a friend named Jackie Sanchez who we went to see at the Improv in West Palm Beach last night.
Jackie who is very funny said a couple of things that really cracked me up like when she opened with, “Hi I’m Jackie Sanchez from Wellington and you just don’t f**k with a Wellington girl ’cause our fathers will sue your ass.”
Oh, and no, I’m not a lesbian either she went on to say, “In fact, I’m not only into guys, but I’m mostly into older guys. I guess it’s because my father is such a super guy that I thought, why not have two?”

The only time you ever hear anybody say anything positive about a radio station is when the new hire utters them.

The long journey towards becoming wise begins at young and stupid.

Adversity teaches you patience and courage.

My parents always believed our nation’s leaders would never lie to us. I, for whatever reason, do not hold the same belief.

A lot of what our parents and teachers taught us was not right, so just like with computers, garbage in garbage out.

Rivalry makes the world go round!

If you have to use a funny voice to make something funny, it ain’t!

It’s tough enough to make good radio without also worrying about a subplot going so forget about all that drama. But then again, “What have ya heard?”

Pessimism is a natural state, whereas optimism must be conjured up.

You only win arguments by being skillful, which is impossible when your in the middle of a rant or tantrum.

You can’t fake courage, you’ve got to manufacture it.

The first radio station I ever consulted was in LA and when the Sales Manager picked me up in his fire-red Ferrari on my first visit, I thought, “Maybe this market really is different?”

People call all the things they don’t like on the radio, commercials, so when you go commercial-free you have to leave that stuff out too.

There’s nothing fine waiting for you in the fine print.

My Daughter Candis told me that an organized student will always get better grades than an unorganized and smarter student. My Grandson Nathaniel doesn’t have a choice.

The Exodus story has about as much chance about being true as does the story of Noah’s Ark because there are no artifacts from either event, only movies.

Did anyone ever call you up to actually give you something?

Holistic healing only works if you believe it does.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are still leading the western division of the CFL. Are we thinking Grey Cup Yet?

COMMENTS

Gary Donohue: You hit the nail on the head! Does anyone remember what radio was like when John Lennon died?  Elvis?  Are you all kidding, no not really, most of you just haven’t lived long enough. And speaking of living, I love those focus groups of yours. Keep on livin’ large George! You are an inspiration! (What The Hell Was Whitney Thinking?)

Geo: Gary, as I’m sure you know, those focus groups are very time consuming but I’m hanging in there as best I can.

Bruce Devine: You’re right, I think a lot of low power FMs do sound better than their big brothers and it may be because if the lack of processing. I suspect the smaller FMs didn’t have the cash have a lot of cash to invest in processors. The beauty of FM has always been that it was clean & quiet with perfect frequency response, never needed all that cooking the old AMs that most of us came from did to get above the noise & stand out. (If you have to explain who you are, then you ain’t)

Michael O’Shea: Cami, I’ve known your dad (and your uncle Reg) for perhaps 30 years…and while I like Reg a little bit more, I still think the WORLD of your dad. While we have never met, I follow your dad on Facebook, so I feel like I know you, through so many wonderful photos and terrific tributes from him to you. It’s so obvious that he’s very proud of you and his love for you is precious and real. Congratulations on your graduation, and on whatever your future life-paths will take you. Enjoy the ride. And, when you face speed-bumps or difficult decisions, just ask yourself “What would DAD do?”. Then, be sure you do the exact opposite. (Camera Anne Graduates Today) 

Dave Spence: George – I don’t know who Hollis Duncan is and he certainly doesn’t know me or the story he attaches to me. While I was there, we never charged for parking. What he is referencing was when we went up on the cost of cold drinks (5 or 10 cents as I recall) from the “Coke” machine. The note was on newsprint which was only used in the- wait for it – newsroom. I agree that Andy was a great newsman. Very well educated, expansive vocabulary, and voice inflection that left no doubt what side of the story he was on. (News To Me)

Ray Pettinger: Daryl was a very good friend but we partied together too many times. He helped many musicians and turned me on to one that I recorded on my label. Daryl produced the first demos for me and one release. The artist was Richard Stepp and he was the first signing to the Rising Star series for a major US label. Daryl had the “ears” as well as the golden voice. RIP Daryl. (Remembering Daryl ‘B’)

Geo: I had a similar experience Ray, not only did Daryl produce my first record, but he also got me the Music Director’s job at CKY which kick-started my radio career. 

Don Walker: George, something I learned in a timeshare. If you ask a room full of adults what they like about a vacation, they will answer …no stress, see new places, relax, etc. Ask a room full of kids, you get one answer…Because it’s fun…When I was a kid I loved listening to the radio because it was fun…Can anybody say that today? (Radio & Records)

Paul Goldstein: Well you George were certainly a big inspiration to me all those years ago! Sports radio is definitely happening, but I also see a lot of excitement w/these amazing audio media startups these crazy kids are building – like Spotify, Turntable.FM, Songza, obviously Pandora, etc. Dazzling original content will be audio media 3.0 – the kind of content I talked about in my All Things article – Sadly, at a time when broadcast radio needs to be playing OFFENSE, they are mostly playing defense w/weak investments in original content – I’m not sure broadcasters understand the radical change that is upon them…the stats about the migration of listeners from broadcast to online is astonishing… (The Beatles, Every Song They Ever Made)

Greg Byers: Hi George, this is T.J Byers, son. Yes, my Father dealt with depression for many years and we as a family did everything we could to get him better, but it was not in the cards. We are so glad that people are now talking about suicide more open. Dad always had good things to say about you, Jim Hillard, and Mr.fairbanks. (Depression Didn’t Get Rick Hallson)

Geo: Thanks for reaching out Greg, and know this, your Dad was one of the great ones. Some of my fondest memories are of me and him mixing up some award-winning promos in the WIBC production room.

John Walton: In 47 years of competing in good markets on fine radio stations (and still at it), nothing was ever so daunting as trying to pierce the impenetrable legend bubble of KVIL while at 106.1 from 86-88. You knew you were in trouble when you found yourself listening to the competition, not for reconnaissance, but because you liked it. I was actually sad when heard that somehow the legend had slipped into history. Success is fragile and fleeting…even for the best. (Kay-Ville’s Obituary)

Geo’s Media Blog is an inside look at Radio, Music, Movies, and Life. For a sneak peek at some upcoming Blogs or to see some that you may have missed, go to GeorgeJohns.com. On Twitter @GeoOfTheRadio. Sharing and commenting is​ appreciated.

Geo’s Media Blog (The Mystery of Sales & Engineering) New 8/12/19

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While growing up in radio as I did, I thought that everybody wanted to win so I was always confused about the folks in Sales & Engineering. 
I’d waste hours and hours arguing with engineers about my station’s lack of highs, or why the carts won’t start all the time, and why did the studio mic sound so tinny? However, when I  got into FM, the question of the highs went away, but not the other stuff.
As I moved from station to station during my career, I discovered that for whatever reason, the more unsuccessful the station, the more powerful the Chief Engineer was. Unfortunately, the only radio stations that would hire the likes of me, was the unsuccessful ones so I got to see a lot of engineers at a lot of the early meetings. Not only was I arguing with them about engineering stuff in the halls, at the staff meetings they’d be all over me about the music and station promotions which they suddenly became experts about.
At some point, I accidentally discovered that the engineers belong to an engineering fraternity that shares everything with each other. (I believe alcohol may have been involved.) None of your secrets are safe with them, and the only way to get them out of the meetings is to get some ratings. Color me motivated.
The notable exception was Dick Smart who was the corporate engineer at Fairbanks. (pictured above, 2nd from the right) He’d challenge me daily to come up with something that he couldn’t solve. R.I.P. Chiefy, I miss you, man!
 
Now salespeople are a whole other animal. My love/hate relationship with them began when I was a young production board op at CKY in Winnipeg.
One of the sales folks would sneak in when I was out of the room and place his orders to the top of the pile which was very irritating enough. Even worse though was that most of his stuff was not only small order stuff but also very difficult to produce and I can still feel the rage I felt when after pulling off one of his more epic creations, he rewarded me. The reward was a movie ticket for one. (I know, I know, Jim, it was a long time ago and I should let it go, I’m working on it, I really am)

For most of my radio career, the sales folks just wouldn’t stop f**king with me which went to a new level when I became a program director for the first time. It was at CKOM in Saskatoon where luckily, after some long hours and a lot of hard work, we showed up #1 in the new ratings. I was elated, but the sales folks sure weren’t, they claimed that they couldn’t sell it so when management ordered me to change the station back to the old format, I chose to walk instead.

After working in Sudbury for a few months, I ended up in the majors at CFRA in Ottawa where lo and behold we had the same national reps as Saskatoon did. Each week, the GM, the SM, and I had a conference call with them about the promotions we had to do so they could get us in on the buy. I don’t think they remembered me from Saskatoon, so during one of those boring conference calls, I finally interrupted and said, “You probably don’t remember me, but I remember you, and what I remember the most was when I asked you what I had to do to get rid of these lame promotions?” Your answer was, “Just get bigger ratings. “Well guess what, we’ve got ’em, so this conversation is over, and with that, I hung up the phone and walked out of the room. (Over 80% of the radio listeners in Ottawa, listened to CFRA )

My next stop was CFTR in Toronto, where years after I moved to America and became much kinder and gentler, right guys? My brother Reg ended up there as their new PD and as they were taking him around and introducing him to everyone, the sales manager upon hearing his name said, “You’re not related to that prick George Johns are you?”

Now that I think about it, I’ve been doing battle with sales and engineering for most of my career because I could never understand why they couldn’t see or hear the obvious, so I was confused. However, my confusion went away the day I realized that sales and engineering don’t really answer to the radio station, we only pay them. Engineering answers to and shares secrets with their fraternity brothers and the sales folks answer to and work for their clients.
Don’t get me wrong, I love to hang out with the sales folks because they’re a hell of a lot more fun to be with after work than the air talent or engineering but I just don’t like working with them.
Notable exceptions, Tom Skinner, (on top) Jerry Bobo, (on the left below Tom) Dick Yancey, (middle) and Tim Reever. (on the right.)

 

 
GEO’S LIFE-LINES
Courage becomes easier to conjure up the more you use it. 

It looks like the date, October 18, has been locked in for the “KVIL Casual Reunion”. The fun reunion is going to be held at a bar near downtown Dallas and a bunch of folks from the “Glory Years” are going to be there. If you have an interest in joining us, get a hold of Jack Schell at Jack@recallmedia.com 

Can you imagine what it must have been like when you had to deliver pizza using a map? 
 

Sometimes the question is more important than the answer.

I find it weird that an active shooter can be killed by the police, no Miranda rights, no warnings, just boom. However, if the shooter is captured alive, the shooter becomes the alleged shooter or a suspect?

When you’re the first, you have to be on your best behavior. There was no way that Barack Obama could be anything but a gentleman while he was in office just as Jackie Robinson couldn’t come off as an angry athlete when he was finally allowed to play in the Majors. This is what a woman, a gay, a Hispanic, a Muslim, or whoever becomes president as the next first, needs to think about. The second can do whatever they damn well, please.

If you were surprised at all by Epstein’s suicide, imagine how surprised he was.

What the hell has happened to the Red Sox?

COMMENTS
Hollis Duncan:  George, I can understand why you would not remember me.  We were in the same room at KVIL maybe twice, once in the production Room with Terry Munn and Jack McCoy, but I don’t think that we were ever actually introduced.  Larry Reid & I were like flies on the wall who got to sit back and watch you at work.
Mike Rey, who kept KVIL Programming running and well-organized, is a huge fan of yours and would fill me in on the cool ideas that you had for KVIL – the Daily Sheet, the People’s Choice Contest, and others that I don’t remember. I watched much of the second or third year of KVIL and witnessed the results.
I do know that your visits would inspire Ron and he would be full of new ideas that would involve Engineering.  I had a great relationship with Ron and I was always happy to help but was usually stymied by Fairbanks Engineering Politics.  More on that in a later episode.

Geo: Sorry, but you’re right Hollis, the bad news is that I don’t remember you, but the good news is that I sure remember Heather! 🙂 Ron and I also had a great relationship, in fact, we could almost finish each other’s sentences. Case in point, when he’d pick me up at the airport we’d chat about the Cowboys and other things on the way to my hotel, KVIL, of course, would be on in the background. Upon arrival at the hotel, Ron would point at the radio as I was getting out of the car and say, “Oh, and that will be all fixed by tomorrow.”

Randy Michaels: The planets are not perfectly round, and fission theory that says that the moon once part of the earth is only one theory.  The planets were superheated liquid when they were formed, thus the shape, but the gravitational pull of other plants keeps them from actually being round. The earth is actually an oblate spheroid.
OK, I’d rather discuss a Gretzky plus one. (We’re Becoming Animals)

Craig Hodgson: When I worked for Jimmy, he wore custom made shirts without a pocket so he could come down to the studio floor at some time during the day on his “stroke stroll” and borrow my cigarettes, as he searched for his in his perpetually missing pocket. I was making $200 a week and he had a Lamborghini parked outback. What’s wrong with this picture?

Geo: Craig, you mean like how he used to stand in front of the coffee machine and say, “Does anyone have change for a hun?” (Oh Jimmy Where Art Thou)

Robin Garrett: George you take an awful lot of liberties with misquoting people to fit your agenda. I never said you are raising your daughters incorrectly. What I specifically said is today there are very few young men out looking for a young princess that has to be taken care off. Hell, it’s no longer the time where men have any incentive to get married… they even have kids without marriage. I know plenty of men with kids (even daughters) but NONE go on and on about their daughters the way you do. And I’m pretty sure all those dads love their daughters as much as you do yours.  Which brings me to something my dad once told me… sometimes less is more.
We’ve been friends a long time (since before Cami) and for the first few years, you never told anybody she even existed! What I said, for the record, was stop blogging so much about your daughters and start at least giving an honorable mention to your son,  Curtis. Yes… impart your wisdom on us mere mortals about raising your son too! (Daughters Are Boring To Some)

Jim and Barbara Hilliard: Cami, from a quiet, little girl, to a shy little lady, an inquisitive and exceptionally bright teenager, and now a beautiful young woman, all in front of our eyes! Take the training wheels off, it’s time to steer on your own! And you’re ready!  We applaud your graduation and wish you continued success on your next and exciting adventure. If you were a tree, you’d be a peach. They’re the sweetest!  (Camera Anne Johns Summerfield Graduates Today)

Reid Reker: Jack McCoy = Creative Genius!  Not only is Jack a good friend but he also resurrected my early fading radio career and put me in the hands of my longtime best friend and programming mentor, George Johns. How fortunate I was to be just a punk kid learning at the hands of these two radio greats!
I also shared the privilege of being in the studio watching Jack perform his promo magic where he said to me, “I don’t work with copy cause the copy is in the music”.  We would set out to do promos for the latest contest but end up with 20 imaging promos for KOGO, it all depended on where the music took him. On top of that, Jack could have easily made it on the stand up comic circuit being one of the funniest people on the planet. He had me laughing so hard one night at dinner (or maybe just cocktails now that I think about it) that my stitches from a recent surgery literally burst out.
Jack McCoy is the most futuristic person I have ever met.  I will never forget hearing him speak at a Fairwest convention in 1989 where he told the audience that one day all radio stations would have a 2 share and that commercials would be purchased electronically.  All I can say about that is WOW!
Thanks, Jack for showing me the definition of the word “BIG” and for being a huge inspiration! (My Friend Jack)

Geo’s Media Blog is an inside look at Radio, Music, Movies, and Life. For a sneak peek at some upcoming Blogs or to see some that you may have missed, go to GeorgeJohns.com. On Twitter @GeoOfTheRadio. Sharing and commenting is appreciated.

 

Geo’s Media Blog (We’re #1 Right Here, Right Now!) New 8/05/19 #4

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When I began consulting, my very first clients were the Shadeks who owned KOGO and KPRI in San Diego. KOGO was an AM radio station doing a unique format called the Radio Magazine and KPRI was an FM album rocker. Luckily for me, Tom and Ed also owned the radio station in San Antonio that changed my life. They’d tried every format under the sun, and were hoping that I could bring a little of the KVIL magic to San Antonio.

The first thing we did was change our call letters to KLLS and our name to Class FM and then launched it the same way that we launched KVIL in Dallas and WRMF in Palm Beach. The concept was called, “Build Your Own Radio Station” and then with the help of legendary Bill Gardner, (shown above) Reid Reker, Bruce Buchanon, and Cat Simon, not only did we blow away San Antonio, but before long, “Class FM” went nationwide.

The GM at KLLS was Jack Collins and got my attention when he got the money before we became #1.
The way he did it was by getting Arbitron to do a zip code run for him that showed Class FM was #1 in the northern half of San Antonio (See above) which was where most of the malls were located and the affluent lived.
Next, he printed up some maps of San Antonio and drew a line down the middle of the city and on the north side he wrote,“Class FM Is #1 Right Here, Right Now.” He then sent them to all the advertising agencies which instantly got him most of the radio dollars.
You probably couldn’t get away with that now, but back then it was a killer move. Good on you Jack!
GEO’S LIFE-LINES
The only time a PD clearly hears his radio station is when he’s listening to it with his boss.

I wonder if they teach socialism at the Harvard Business School?

The mere passage of time does not change the rules.

How is one supposed to handle your 14-year old grandson having a much more manly voice than you do?

Why do women think that their family is more important than ours?

Women make a lot more sense when you love them.

Women are into the why of ‘it’ whereas men are only into what ‘it’ is?

One performance is worth a hell of a lot more than a bunch of promises.

Every major event on our planet has left behind some kind of artifacts except for two. The Exodus and Noh’s Ark. Hmmm!

Sometimes baby steps are just not big enough.

If I had it to do over, the smarter way to go would have been to have the big fancy place down south for eight months a year and a small cabin on a lake up north for the rest of the time.

COMMENTS
Chris Duffy: As an imaging director, I had to come work at WGN to finally learn the most stop-in-your-tracks method to announce important breaking news is not a powerful drone, stab or sweeper intro. It’s the news guy cutting in saying …’ Hey can I interrupt here?’ (It’s Ok To Lie About Sex)

Bruce Munson: “A woman you adore saying to you, ‘Hey, but we can still be friends’ feels about the same as someone saying your dog just died but you can still keep him.”
Yes, that one will be on my Facebook page soon.  Now, it’s not plagiarism if I give you credit, is it, George? (It’s ok to lie about sex.

Geo: Have at it Bruce, lord knows where I got it?

Paul Meacham: George, you are a great storyteller. I did a TV commercial and jingle for your Classy in Kansas City and I think also for Seattle with my company Eagle Marketing … Was that Sandusky? I think Dana Horner was one of the GMs. Great format.
Keep em coming, George…

Geo: Yes it was Sandusky, Paul. Toney Brooks ran the company which was mostly AOR stations but he decided to give my “Class Fm” a shot at KLSI in Kansas City. Steve Dinkle was the GM and it all went so well that we also got KLSY in Seattle where Dana was the GM. Fun days!

Steve Dinkle: Paul, every once in a while I get out that song that was written around our TV commercial and play it again.  No one would ever play a 2 to 3-minute promo song anymore but when you get the University of Missouri marching band playing your song at a Chiefs football game.. not too shabby!
In the beginning, KLSI was the strange station in the Sandusky group because the rest were AOR. That, of course, was until the money truck pulled up at our door and unloaded! They were fun days George. (Women Are Not Welcome Here)

Geo: Steve, I remember when we showed up in Phoenix for the annual Sandusky meetings. All of their other stations rocked, so I’m pretty sure that when our presentation tape was about to be played the rest of the stations expected to hear something very wimpy. Instead, KLSI blew the room away.

Moto: Good advice; Never Kill a Client – you could end up in a bit of a bother.  If at all feasible, attempt to find a less drastic and more reasonable solution.  Killing a client is just plain wrong – no matter how well thought out your excuse. – Inspiration from Brett Halliday. (For The Good Of The Country)

Geo: Moto, as one of our former sales managers told me recently. At every Hilliard meeting,Jim always said, “Nothing happens until somebody sells something.”

I told him that at our programming meetings Jim would say, “We don’t have anything to sell until you guys put something on the radio worth selling.”

Steve Taylor: On another subject, Dion.  Mr. DooWop finding new ways to reinvent himself. He is like the Eveready bunny of the music biz. After over a decade in the music biz, he reinvented himself with Abraham, Martin, and John. Fast forward to April 19, 1974. I was witness to one of the biggest musical trainwrecks ever. Dion unplugged on the stage at Grand Valley State College, near Grand Rapids, MI.  Dion was the “surprise” warm-up act for Frank Zappa!  Frank’s legendary sonic orgies fueled by his fusion of jazz, screaming Stratocaster arias to an audience predisposed to experiments with chemical auras led to the most outrageous vacant stare in music history when Mr. Dimucci quietly walked to the middle of the stage and sat upon a tall, gray, 4 legged stool.  I thought to myself, this guy has got more guts than a government mule!
What is Dion going to do to win this crowd of pre-lit college kids over?  No horns, no driving beat?  Dion with an acoustic guitar playing his biggest hits, and new socially aware tunes.  He attempted to appease the crowd with a brief editorial about the fact that he was surprised to be there too!  Unless that spruce top had a secret pickup, fuzzbox, and stack of Marshall amps connected, Mr. DooWop was going to find out the hard way when the music died.
He left the stage after a couple of songs, with tear-filled eyes and a one-handed salute celebrating the smallest whole integer.
Fast forward to December 2011, and Dion 37 years later is promoting a new album? Frank Zappa is dead and his legend lives on.  Dion is alive and still trying for one more grab at the brass ring.
Stranger things have happened, but you will know when Dion has arrived… when he does his first commercial for Colonial Life or some reverse mortgage outfit.  “I’m the kinda guy that likes to hover around… “(Who The Hell Are You)

Geo: I’ve always loved Dion’s sound, Steve, in fact, I think if James Dean was alive today and wanted to sing, he’d want Dion’s voice.

Chuck Knapp: Hey George, My wife Cheryl told me that she instantly fell in love with you. So take that. She’s using lower case letters for love though, not the upper case, but hey at least you’re on her keyboard. Keep smiling. (What’s Love Got To Do With It)

Geo: Tell Cheryl that I’ll take all the love she’s got, upper or lower. It’s lonely out here, Chucker.:-)

John Lund: The Big 8. Just taught a graduate radio journalism class Thursday at MU in Columbia, MO.  Nothing illustrates the best of radio news in the Drake era than CKLW.  Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDCdbmwy9l8

(Hockey Football & Sex)

Geo: I understand that they had 23 people in their the news department alone, John. Hell, they don’t have that many at a whole radio station now.

Geo’s Media Blog is an inside look at Radio, Music, Movies, and Life. For a sneak peek at some upcoming Blogs or to see some that you may have missed, go to Geo’s Media Blog @ GeorgeJohns.com. On Twitter @GeoOfTheRadio. Sharing and commenting is appreciated.

 

 

Geo’s Media Blog (The Great Gift) New 7/29/19

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As the controversy about immigration rages on in America, it takes me back to when I crossed the border into the U.S. from Canada to become the National Program Director of Fairbanks Broadcasting. It wasn’t easy getting a work permit so that I could get into the country, and I have no wish for it to be any easier for others.
As I have said before, “If Americans and Canadians spoke different languages, they’d understand each other better.” Hell, it was hard enough adjusting to the culture changes, but after my first week of work was when I wondered just what I’d gotten myself into.

In Canada, I worked on one radio station and even though now I had a bunch of them I still wasn’t worried because I thought it would work somewhat as it did when Jim Hilliard was my boss at CKY in Winnipeg. Back then, Jim would create a bunch of product and I’d put it on the radio, no problem, right?
Wrong! At our very first meeting in Indy when he asked what my plan was and I told him that I was standing by to implement whatever he wanted me to put on the air, he said, “Johns, if I knew what to do, I wouldn’t have hired you.”

Oh oh, In Canada I worked twelve hours a day on one station, but the math didn’t work out for this situation, I was going to have to work a lot smarter

The first thing I did was to cut out the three-hour meetings with the engineer, you know, the ones where you beg him to give you some highs on the radio. Next, I put all my responsibilities into two separate piles. One had all the stuff in it that affected ratings, and the other had everything else. Then when any one of the Dee-Jays would wander into my office to tell me that they were interested in programming, guess what pile I gave them? Unfortunately, though, I was still running out of time until Jim pulled me into his office for our second meeting.

At that meeting, he said, “Johns, I’m going to give you a gift. This gift is extraordinary because it speeds everything up. What I’m giving you is the right to be wrong. From this moment on, you can do anything you want on any of our radio stations, no committee meetings, no politics, no checking with anybody, get it on the air.” Of course, there’s a catch he went on to say, “You have the right to be wrong, but what you don’t have is the right to live with your mistakes. Whenever what you put on the air doesn’t sound as good as looked on paper, your responsibility is to get it off right now. Speaking of right now, he continued, “What I want you to do now is get out of my office and try out your new gift. Make me some decent product, I have work to do!”

GEO’S LIFE-LINES
Women have several reasons why they want to get married; men only have one.

When I declared myself a Centrist I found out rather quickly that the left thought of me as a right-winger and the right didn’t give a shit.

Whenever I hear a Jamaican accent, why do I feel like they’re conning me?

What country’s election has America not interfered with?

The best things in life are free, but then again, they’re not things but they are free.

COMMENTS
Roy Cooper: I always thought talking to Mike Bader was like talking to Fairbanks twin brother if Richard M. had one, not too exciting.  Not sure Bader ever understood why we did promotions that sometimes put us on the edge, but he did know how to get his billing statements out.

Geo: That’s why they finally gave me John King, Roy, he understood and liked the challenge of getting our promotions on the air. Mr. Fairbanks warned him that Bader had burned out the No word with me.  (This Isn’t For Publication)

Joe Cannon: Great stuff George, god it was great to be a teen rock jock in the ’60s. I was in Cornwall and Kingston Ontario as an 18 -19-year-old jock just at the time you describe, playing the Beatles every half hour, being a local hero when home town radio was king, exceptional times.

Geo: It was magical Joe. I was making very little money but couldn’t imagine being anywhere but at the radio station. Why would you hang out at one today, eh? (The Brits and the Yanks invade Winnipeg.)

Cris Conner: When a painting is good, it does not need to be framed. The world, per se, has no idea regarding Jim Hilliard. Of those who made it to the secret handshake level, there isn’t one who would ever refuse him anything. However, one should never ask him why the Sales Manager makes more than the Program Director.

Geo: Amen to that, Moto. (The Brits and the Yanks invade Winnipeg)

Jerry Del Colliano: George, all the best to a great guy.
While I was reading your eloquent narrative of the happy day, it occurred to me that when some of the consolidators in today’s radio have their future birthday parties, I wonder how much love will be in the room. To be successful is to be surrounded by friends who love and respect you — and money is nothing without that.
It was a treat to hear about a very happy day.

Geo: Thank you for the good wishes, Jerry. (It’s Party Time)

Jo Ann Pflug: Belated Happy Birthday George!!!
You said your daughters were giving your a toast and roast birthday celebration and they really lived up to their word by your comments. How wonderful to have so many ol’ friends who love you so much that they flew all the way to San Diego to toast you and be there for you. Now that shows what type of friend you are too!
Congratulations and remember “Age is a number and ours is unlisted.”
See you soon for a birthday glass of wine. Salude,  amor y dinero el Tiempo para gustarlos.
Jo-Ann

Geo: Thank you, pretty lady. (It’s Party Time)

Dick Taylor: I attended a meeting once where the speaker had the opportunity to ask President Clinton why he signed the Telcom Act of 1996 that started radio’s consolidation.  Clinton’s answer was that he never knew that was in the bill.  He said he found it had been added about 30-minutes before he signed it.  The bill was supposed to let the phone companies into the cable TV biz and the cable companies into the phone biz with the goal being that both consumer rates would go down. Oops!  That didn’t happen on either my phone or cable TV bills; how about you?  *** On another subject you posted today: I think the reason an artist gets a rush from being heard on the radio vs. YouTube is that radio is a curated medium.  Anyone can appear on YouTube.  *** Today’s blog post was overflowing with lots of mental stimulation along with some great laughs.  When I get your email that a new post has gone up, I immediately go to your website.  Thank You, Geo! (If Monica Had Only Kept Bill Busier)

Nancy Grace: EVERYONE LOVES YOU GEORGE JOHNS.

Geo: I don’t know about that Nancy, there are a few pretty ones out there that still haven’t come around to my way of thinking. (-: (Are Lew, Dan, & Bob, smarter than Socrates, Disney, & Jobs?)

Dave Martin: Bravos, George! You spin such wonderful yarns, thanks for sharing. Storytelling was always your métier.
Chasing your ending here, Reid went on to achieve great success with his male-targeted format in both Chicago and Dallas.
One of my favorite Reid Reker stories involves his earlier, first run in Chicago at WMET. Reid ran a TV commercial featuring Smokey Robinson and a cast of crying babies which was created by the brilliant Dale Pon (Creator of “I Want My MTV”). The tag line, delivered by Smokey, was “Don’t cry, baby. Listen to 95.5, WMET.” The spot caused such a controversy that it became the subject of an entire morning on the market’s then #1 AM drive program. WGN’s Wally Phillips took calls from listeners who were, in the majority, negative on the spot saying it was horrible and should be taken off the air immediately. Reid got an incredible free commercial for his station on WGN!
Alas, the battle was lost when the general manager folded. He demanded the commercial be pulled. Several of the station’s biggest clients were “concerned” and worried how those precious little babies were made to cry in the making of the spot. Still, for my money, one of the most clever and certainly most talked about TV commercials ever run for/by a radio station.
p.s. It should come as no surprise to readers here that George was behind the scenes during Reid’s run at WMET and was very supportive, vocal about the merits of keeping those crying babies on the air. “Take it off? Are you crazy? How often does anybody get the entire market talking their advertising?”
Geo: Well, you can always count on management to cave Dave, but not much else. (Women Are Not Welcome Here)

Geo’s Media Blog is an inside look at Radio, Music, Movies, and Life. For a sneak peek at some upcoming Blogs or to see some that you may have missed, go to GeorgeJohns.com. On Twitter @GeoOfTheRadio. Sharing and commenting is appreciated.