Monthly Archives: February 2020

Chapter LX (Rhyming My Life Away) 1/06/24 (60)

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It all began in Winnipeg
but we moved around a lot
Melbourne and Sydney
were only a couple
of our many stops.

After two years in Australia
it was off to Vancouver
Then, back to the prairies
to a town called Swan River.

That’s where my sister died
at four years of age.
Measles took Sandra
and filled me with rage.

I’ve few memories
of much after that
But I do recall
My mom was growing fat.

Returned to Winnipeg
for the birth of my brother
and lived in Grandpa’s house
till my folks bought another.

Met a friend named Barry
and we played some ball
Loved his sister’s
strange music
plus, she was a doll

We bought a new house
in a burb called Transcona
I went to TCI there
and began dating Lana.

 Unfortunately, wearing shades
in the classroom
and writing tunes
Appears to have gone over
like big lead balloons.

Played a little football
for the Transcona Nationals
But me turning pro
seemed a little irrational.

Had to do something
’cause my grades were so low
Hey, maybe becoming a Rock Star
was the way to go

Mr. ‘D’ gave me an “A.”
but it wasn’t enough
Time to leave TCI,
so I packed up my stuff.

Bought me a “Strat.”
and put it in tune
Started singing with the “Devines.”
the next afternoon.

Talked my friend Rolly,
into playing Bass
Added Pete Fade and Gordy
as we picked up the pace.

Became the Rebel Raiders
a rockin’ band
Then we morphed
into the Phantoms
who had a lot more fans.

Played a lot of gigs
but we partied too much
The Phantoms were over
cuz we were out of touch.

The times were a-changing
it was plain to see
So I got Bruce Ray and Terry
to join Rolly and me.

Became The Jury
with a whole new sound
Cut a few hit records
and toured more towns.

With our #1 record
still on the charts,
My baby girl Candis,
grabbed hold of my heart.

Time to grow up
and be a man
But I still kinda miss
being a kid in a band.

I was destined
to be a radio guy
And most of what I do now
I learned at old CKY.

Had a boss named Jimmy
who let me run
And to this day
we’re still having fun.

When the Americans left
I felt hung out to dry
I had to get out of KY
or my career would soon die

Packed up the family
and headed for Saskatoon
But had to promise
we’d return real soon.

Realized upon arrival
I needed my own team,
If this move was ever gonna
kick start my dream.

My first radio hire
was a hippie named Gar
He helped me a lot
as we gathered our stars.

Sebastian and Woody
where part of the gang
When we added Alfie and Doc
we came on with a bang!

Headed to Sudbury
for a four-month stand
But Ottawa came calling
and changed all my plans.

Learned to get ratings
which we got in abundance
Up until then
I just played my hunches.

Arrived in Ottawa
a family of three
Which consisted  of Lana, Candis
and me.

But a Man needs a son
so we wanted one more
We hit the “Bigs,”
a proud family of four.

Ted Rogers and Keith Dancy
tried to lure me away
But I had little interest
till they doubled my pay.

CFTR in Toronto
was the start of it all
They made me the manager
but America called

We’d created a format
which became the new way
It turned out so good
it still works today.

Roger Sharon and Keith
helped move the station along
But alas, too soon
twas the end of that song.

Headed for the States
and a brand new life,
But the move wasn’t popular
with Lana, my Wife.

Crossing the border
was a terrifying thing
But there’s no turning back
so this can’t be no fling.

What a great life
Indy turned out to be
But all that’s left now
is Fulton’s documentary.

10-70 and the Buzzard
were big back then
Wish me and Moto
could do it again.

Great seeing Cris
inducted into the Hall of Fame
Loved being back in Indy
and seeing Little Linny again.

Hung out with Chapman
at K-V-I-L
We made magic in Dallas
and gave ’em all hell.

Kay-Ville used to be
the best in the nation
Now; sadly, she’s just
another boring radio station.

Had a whole lot of fun
at F 1-0-5,
Where Austin in Boston
made the town come alive.

Show us a sign
you want some free money
RKO went talk …
they weren’t no dummies.

Launched WRMF
in sunny Palm Beach
It had a monster signal
with a hell of a reach.

Morley’s crew
showed little fear
#1 in South Florida
in less than a year.

Had a lot of successes
and was living well
But approaching 40
started ringing my bell.

California Dreaming
was the name of my game
Time for me to
chase fortune and fame.

Celebrated my 40th
in the Polo Lounge
Lots of my friends
all came round.

Even my wife, Lana
decided to show,
But her moving to Cali
was still a no-go.

Loved living
in San Diego
Hey, what’s not to like
When you’re doing great, radio.

Had an operations guy
by the name of Reid Reker
McCoy had  pre-hipped me
that he was a keeper.

We spent a lotta time
looking for muses
In dark, dingy bars
filled with losers.

He was my guy
cuz he wrote things down
Otherwise, we’d have nothing
to show for our nights on the town.

Loved Coronado,
which I did with “CLASS.”
Soon there were 40
and they all came with cash.

Time to buy stations
and be “The Man.”
Which was a hell of a long way
from being a kid in a band.

Partnered with my Brother
and CFO Bill Yde
he raised a lot of money,
but it sure wasn’t free.

We bought K103
in Portland
where we had some fun,
we tore the town up
and it’s still #1

Travel more travel
don’t know what I feel
As I sit high above Wall Street
doing a huge deal

Took a break from it all
aboard the Orient Express
When I got back
it was all in a mess.

No company, no marriage
just me on my own
But I’m kinda happy
even though I’m alone.

Did another tour
of Boston Mass
Ran on the Charles
and became quite fast.

Had some good times
with Bobby and Tim
And it felt good to be
back working with Jim.

Started dating Lesley
who worked at the station
But fate jumped in
while I was on vacation.

It was in Palm Beach
where I met the girl
Who’d soon put an end
to my New England world.

Kari lived in Florida
so that’s where I’ll be
Jim had some stations there
which was lucky for me

Things heated up
and we got a little crazy
And before we knew it
she was having my baby.

Never got married
wasn’t meant to be
But the fun years with Cami
made it all worth it to me.

She’s a beautiful young lady
who I see all the time
We travel, we laugh
and I’m so glad she’s mine.

She went to College
at USF
Where she studied psychology
and signing to the deaf.

The next lady of interest
was young and wise
Unfortunately, I was mesmerized
by her lying eyes.

The Hunny Bunny
was much too young
But all I remember
was our breathtaking fun.

Cami graduated
and now lives with me
But I’m hoping she becomes
what she’s destined to be

Getting her Masters
is next on her list
Wow another graduation
I’m not gonna miss 

Now it’s come full circle
as I return
Back to the place
where I began to learn

An overdue reunion
at old CKY
And probably our last chance
to say our goodbyes

Saw Deno Corrie
who’d MC’d for my bands
Warren and Embree
were also on hand

Unfortunately, we’d waited
too long
Cuz most of the 1st team
were already gone.

Caught up with Hennessy
and we talked about ‘B.’
Got to hang
with Bruce and Terry
and reminisced about
being the Jury

Good to see Burton Cummings
and Ray St. Germain
They sang a few of their tunes
but Burt was in pain.

His mother wouldn’t make it
through the night
But he was by her side
when she gave up the fight.

My reunion continued
in an enjoyable way
With a surprising lunch
the very next day.

Quail put it together
with Mr. ‘D.’
The only TCI teacher
who gave a damn about me.

Inducted Chapman
into the Hall Of Fame
Did it on National TV
which ain’t my game.

Now I’m blogging
and writing three books
Hoping to finish
before God gives me the hook.

It’s been a bizarre trip
that’s gone by too fast
I’m just hoping these words
won’t be my last.

Not done yet
Got more chapters to go
Like stuff about my Grandson
whom I’m getting to know.

Not sure where I’ll be
years from now
Does a woman or a place
get my final vow.

I’ve got an urge to teach
which may lead somewhere
But where that is
I don’t really care.

My life continues
with bucket list trips
like taking the train coast-to-coast
which was cool and hip

Nathaniel and I visited
Stanford and Berkeley,
then rode the rails to Seattle,
which was a hell of a journey    

 Next on our list was
Harvard and Boston College
Then off to Princeton and Georgetown
to gather more knowledge

Me and Reg did
a trip across Canada
and had a blast.
Got off in Winnipeg
to do some drinks
with folks from our past

Made it to LA
for N’s graduation
Now he’s going to Brown
one of the best
in the nation

(to be continued)

GEORGE A. JOHNS

 

Chapter LVIII (Lying Eyes) 2/20/23 (58)

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I’m attracted to broken ladies
who are also
beautiful and smart
Of course I realize
they’re gonna
break my heart.

My friends
all warned me
that she was
much too young
But all I remember
was the breathtaking fun.

Even though life eventually begins to slow down, mine seems to be speeding up.
I continue to coach air talent and also consult a few radio stations, but now I’ve added writing a blog while writing three books to my day.

As busy as I am, I also managed to watch my youngest daughter Cami graduate from college, see my Grandson Nathaniel play soccer for his high school, induct Ron Chapman into the Radio Hall Of Fame, and be in an Emmy-Winning movie/documentary.

I even found little time to attend a radio reunion back at CKY in Winnipeg.
Let’s see, did I leave anything out? Oh yeah, I fell in love for the 6th time. (See the object of my affection on top.)

I’ve always loved faster cars, older whiskey, and of course, younger women.
So when I met Laura, who drove a muscle car, drank Crown Royal from the bottle, listened to classic rock, and was young and beautiful, I knew I was done for.

Even today, when I think about it, I can still see her walking back and forth behind the bar at my local Duffy’s, where she was training the new bartenders.
Much later, when we were walking down a street in Miami together, some cars started honking, and When I asked her what the hell they were honking at, she replied, “My ass!”

Anyway, as I said, I used to see her at Duffy’s, and knowing that I didn’t have a shot, I didn’t embarrass myself by flirting with her.
Then she just disappeared, and the next time I saw her was about six months later at the Duffy’s in Wellington.

I was there having a glass of wine while waiting for my daughter Cami to finish her gymnastics lesson.
Suddenly, the lovely Laura taps me on the shoulder and asks if I remembered her from when she served me when she used to work at the Duffy’s I usually went to

When I told her that; indeed I did, she told me that she was in a bit of a bind.
It seems that while she was at the Burger King across the street, someone broke into her car and stole her purse.

Now she had no ID or money and wondered if I would be kind enough to buy her a beer.
I remember thinking then, “I sure don’t need no tale of woe to buy this beauty a beer.”

When it was time for me to pick Cami up, I wrote my number down on a napkin and told her that if she ever needed any help to call me.
She told me later that I had her right then because the only help she’d ever been offered was from guys wanting to help her out of her clothes.
Thinking about the Hunny Bunny the other day (Hunny Bunny was her code name because she didn’t like any publicity) I now, realize why I adored her.
It was like hanging out with a guy, but she didn’t look like one. Color me smitten! (see photos above)

Over the years, I’ve been involved with some women who’ve surprised when they said, “I wanna do something with you that you’ve never done with any other woman,” also “Do you realize that I’m not wearing anything under this dress,” plus “Do you want to watch me shave my legs” and “Do you wanna watch what I do when you’re not here?”

The Hunny Bunny was up for the task when after only a couple of dates, she texted me one night and said, “What do I have to do to get you to talk dirty to me?”
I remember wondering if she was the “bad girl” my Father had warned me about.

Our conversations were exhilarating, and it was during one of those conversations that she told me that her great grandfather rode with Jesse James.
He was the youngest of the Younger Brothers and died in prison, so instead of worrying about if this kind of stuff gets passed along genetically, I just thought it was cool.

Laura and I had a fantastic two-year run, and whenever we weren’t taking mini vacays at some cool resorts in Miami, we were spending the weekend at my place enjoying the view. (See the photo of my view above)

I was having a ball, and I couldn’t have been happier.
Not only did she teach me some erotic stuff, but she also taught me things, like how “On Demand” worked on my TV and how to get directions on my phone.

Of all the things the Hunny Bunny taught me, the most exciting and also the most expensive was learning firsthand what the secret of Victoria’s Secret was.
Unbeknownst to me, Victoria’s Secret encourages men to join their significant others in the dressing rooms. (They sell twice as much)

How many things do you suppose I sent back after sitting on my little stool in the corner room watching her try on all those pretty things.
However, as the mystery of her charms disappeared with each new sweet nothing she tried on, the mystery of how so little costs so much remained.

Speaking of mystery, the Hunny Bunny was always mysterious, which was very exciting in the beginning.
However, when she’d disappear for a couple of days now and then, and with her shunning publicity of any kind, my demons awoke.

Hey, and one of the best things about being with a beautiful woman is getting to show her off.
Unfortunately, I never got to do that because I was too old to hang with her friends, and she was too young to be around the wives of my friends. 

I’m kind of a jealous guy anyway, so when some of her explanations about what she was doing when she wasn’t with me didn’t add up, my demons got heavily involved.
She claimed that my problem was my inability to handle our age difference which may have been partially true, but knowing that it was probably going to end badly anyway, I ran for it.

Here’s to the Hunny Bunny, “Whew! What a ride!”

 

Chapter LVI (I’ve lived Everywhere Man) 2/19/23 (56)

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The 5 Most Beautiful Parks in San Diego | Travel | US News

Not done yet
I’ve got a few chapters
to go

About some
magical people
I was lucky enough
to know.
As these ramblings about my life and times ramble on, I’m only beginning to realize now how good radio has been to me over the years.
I’ve met some brilliant people, got to travel all over the world, and lived in a variety of cities where I learned something from each.
Growing up in Transcona, I learned it didn’t matter where you came from. A
t CKY in Winnipeg, I figured out that if shut my mouth and listened, maybe I could make this radio thing work.

While in Saskatoon, I discovered that no matter what management claims, they prefer evolution to revolution.
Sudbury taught me to never let anybody intimidate me ever again.

Ottawa was where I discovered that no matter how toxic the situation, you only need to surround yourself with five to seven like-minded people to succeed.
In Toronto, where they made me the station manager, I learned that you’re whoever the guy who signs your check says you are.

In Indy, I figured out how to get the sales department to pay for most of our outlandish promotions.
In San Diego, I learned how to do multiple radio stations and also have some fun while doing them. (San Diego is pictured on top.)

While living in Austin for a little while, I discovered that if you bring major-league talent to a minor-league town, you can crush it.
Boston taught me that you could play country music for a city who claim they don’t want it.

While falling in love in West Palm Beach, I learned that I could do some great radio while also becoming a better Dad.

However, even though all the cities were different in many ways, what they had in common was their love of huge promotions.
Some of the promotions my brother Reg and I did were so mind-boggling that they would disrupt the whole City, and the Mayor would often order us to shut them down.

We eventually provided the GMs with the following words, which they had to memorize and say sincerely to a TV news camera if they wanted to stay out of jail.

“We never imagined, nor did we anticipate, that our listeners would overreact as they did to our fun promotion.”
Of all the promotions we did all over the country, Fantasy Park at WNAP in Indy was always one of my favorites, and it worked once again at KPRI in San Diego.
Even though it was a make-believe concert, hundreds of people were driving all over Indiana and then later San Diego, trying to find it.
Meanwhile, across the hall, at WIBC, we were auctioning off the old money near the end of the year because, as we said, the feds were gonna print up new money for the new year, so let’s get rid of the old stuff.
Eventually, we had to shut the promotion down because we couldn’t get the folks to stop bidding more than the money was worth. When the first-ever Prize Catalog was coming to a close at KOGO in San Diego, Don Walker owed the Doubletree Hotel a promotion, so I suggested a drop-off party. (Don Walker pictured above)
Here’s how the promo went, “For the final shot at a fantastic prize, simply scrawl your name and phone number on your Prize Catalog and drop it off at the Doubletree on Friday afternoon on your way home.
We were hoping to cause a little foot traffic, but what we got was a traffic jam.
Doubletree’s parking lot was slammed, their lobby and bars were overflowing, and according to the TV choppers overhead, highway 8 looked more like a parking lot than an Interstate Highway. Across the hall at KPRI, Buster Bodine was busy fixing the music as we were shooting a new TV spot (Buster pictured above. RIP)
The spot featured a beautiful blonde model named Peggy, who was dressed in skin-tight orange shorts and a yellow sweatshirt that had KPRI printed in red on the front.

As the camera zoomed in on Peggy’s face, she said, “Whenever I listen to the music on KPRI, it just makes me wanna dance.”
When the music kicked in, so did Peggy. Whew!

She became so frenzied that she started peeling her shirt off and just before she exposed her nipples, we did a freeze-frame on the call letters.
The crawler read, “Next week, Peggy takes it all off.”
What a great TV campaign, but unfortunately, none of the San Diego TV stations aired it because it was too risque.
However, their news departments ran it in their newscasts, and even the local newspapers showed photos of Peggy during the freeze-frame part.

Don Walker and his crew quickly took advantage of the controversy and sold “Peggy Parties” to all the Sports Bars in town.
They’d load up a trailer with a giant screen TV and a ton of giveaways, then hit the bars with Peggy. (I believe, if memory serves me correctly, Rockin’ Reid Reker may have been Peggy’s personal driver.)
The on-air promos went like this, “We think the public should decide what’s risque, and you can do that tonight at…”
I’m not sure if Peggy took the shirt off at those parties because when my wife saw the TV spot, she wouldn’t let me go.

Chapter LIV (The Price Ain’t Right) 2/19/23 (54)

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I’ve worked with a lot of great owners and GMs during my radio career, but there were a few who weren’t so great like Bob Price. What a prick!
Bob was like somebody who graduated from Harvard, which somehow works its way into the conversation within minutes of meeting them. With Bob, it was his table a “21.”

Old Bob never liked me from the start and believe me, the feeling was mutual.
In fact, he fired me several times but much to his dismay, he just couldn’t make it stick. The Price saga began the day Frank Osborn who ran Fairmont Broadcasting which Bob owned, invited me to meet with him in San Francisco.
Frank told me at our meeting that he was very concerned about K101’s lackluster ratings and wanted to know if I could fix them. (Frank is pictured above)

Seeing as I’ve always loved the Bay Area, I told him that I’d sure like to try.
A few days later, he called to say that we were close to a deal, but we had one more hurdle to jump, I had to meet with him and the owner in New York.

The owner’s name was Bob Price and after Frank got through singing my praises, Bob’s only comment was to say that I was too expensive.
Then he threw his hands up in the air and said, “Whatever, Frank,” and with a wave, we were dismissed like Hop Sing at the Ponderosa.

OK, now that’s out of the way, it’s time to head to San Francisco and meet with K101’s GM, the charismatic Jack McSorley.
Taking advantage of Jack’s charm, I talked him into doing our TV commercials which would distract everybody and buy me some much-needed time to strip the radio station bare and find some air talent.

The TV spots showed Jack hanging out at various neat places all over San Francisco.
When the camera zoomed in, Jack said he was remodeling K-101, but he couldn’t do it without the listeners’ help which he was willing to pay for.

Then, as the camera pulled back, he would point out the various cars, boats, motorcycles, and posters of vacation spots all over the world that he was going to use to say thank you with.
Not only did the TV spots buy me time, but they also made Jack a star.

He was now welcomed with open arms at all the agencies by the lady time buyers who also managed to find him a bone or two which once again proved that ratings are only one of the ways you sell radio time.
It all worked out much better than we ever could have imagined because before the remodeling was even half done, the ratings exploded.

When Frank first hired me, he said that he was hoping that I wouldn’t get to see much of him because I only visit a station to deliver bad news.
True to his word, the next time I saw Frank, he did have bad news; he was leaving to start his own company.

With Frank’s departure Price decided to move Jack McSorley, to New York to replace him.
Jack, who was not excited at all about leaving San Francisco, told Price that he’d only do it if he could have me as the corporate consultant.

I bet Jack’s request was the last thing ol’ Bob wanted to hear because he was probably getting ready to deep-six me the moment Frank Osborn was out the door.While working with the Fairmont group, I met some pretty amazing people, and some of them like the legendary Jim Harper from Detroit Bobby Cole from San Francisco, and Mark Hubbard from Cincinnati, remain, friends, even today. (Jim is pictured with me above and Mark and me on top)

Things were going well at Fairmont, and I was having a ball when all of a sudden, Jack does a Frank.
With Jack also leaving to start his own company, I guess Price was tired of training guys to become owners, so he put the whole group up for sale.

I was probably the first person to hear about it when he excitedly called to fire me.
A few days later, hat in hand, ol’ Bob had to call me back and say that Jim Hilliard, who was buying the company, insisted that I be put back on the payroll.

Wow, how exciting was this going to be? Jim and his wife Barb had already picked out a mansion, so everything looked good.
Then the money guys started piling on more and more fees, so Jim walked from the deal.

Once again, my phone rang, and once again, it was an excited Bob Price telling me that I was fired.
Bob must have had bad karma because, with me, he just couldn’t win for losing; the new buyer was Frank Osborn, who also insisted that I be put back on the payroll.

When Bob called me back once again to rehire me, he couldn’t resist asking what kind of pictures I had of these guys.
John-Hayes

When Frank’s deal went through he hired John Hayes to run the group. (John is pictured above)
John was a no-nonsense buttoned-down kind of guy, and even though he was very different than most of the others I’d worked with, surprisingly, we got along quite well.

Legend has it that the first thing John did was tour all the stations.
Then when he hit KKOB in Albuquerque, he told the driver to take him downtown, and when he was told that he was downtown, John said, “Then take me back to the Airport.”

Unfortunately, just like those who came before him, John also left to start his own company, so Frank put Mark Hubbard, from his small market division in charge of it all.
Mark and I hit it off instantly, and I’ll never forget our first visit to KKOB in Albuquerque.

While there, I was surprised to learn that the GM, Art Schreiber, was part of the news crew that traveled with the Beatles on their first American tour. Wow, how cool was that.
When I quizzed Art about how the Beatles managed to resist the charms of all the pretty things, he just laughed and said, “They didn’t, and we were amazed that they still had the strength to play.”

Our next stop was to attend the K101 Christmas party in San Francisco, and I can still see the look on Mark’s face as our married with kids, News Director slow-danced his way by us with one of his fellow newsmen.
Then when the music director holding our sweet young receptionist in her arms floated by, Mark leaned over to me and said, “Let’s get the hell out of here before this place gets struck by lightning!”

Geo’s Media Blog (Who Dat?)

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Nine months after my daughter Candis got married, there I was flying back to LA for the birth of my grandson and after checking into my hotel, I got a surprise call from the expectant mother.
She said that she was coming by to have dinner with me which came as a bit of a surprise because her Doctor was planning on inducing labor the very next morning.

After we finished dinner, she then asked me if I could take her back to work because she had one more thing she had to do before she became a mother. Her husband Charlie and her mother had refused her request to take because, as they said, “Enough of work already, you need to focus on becoming a mother.

However, seeing as Candis has never heard no from me, I didn’t think that this would be the best time to start so off we went.
When we arrived at Warner Brothers, she went immediately to her office, so I wandered around checking out all the gold records and posters that were hanging all over the walls.

When Candis came out of her office a few minutes later she was holding a box set of CDs. After handing them to me, she said with a tear in her eye, “Dad, your grandson is going to be so proud when he discovers that his grandpa was a Rock Star.”

The CD collection she had handed me was titled “Nuggets II” (see on top) which contained a track called “Who Dat?” by The Jury.
Now what was so neat about that was long before I was ever in radio, I played with my band The Jury back in Winnipeg and we’d recorded Who Dat? before Candis was even born.
941443_10151878371704307_282448850_nEarly the next morning, we all headed to the hospital for the big day. However, the induced labor thing wasn’t going very well, so they went the cesarean route. As the Doctor said to me, “Mr. Johns, your daughter is much too tiny to be giving birth to a big guy like this.” Thankfully, the cesarean went well, and soon I was welcoming my beautiful grandson Nathaniel into the world. (pictured above with his mother and me)

Candis had her Mom and Charlie helping out so I headed back to Florida where I picked up the now new aunty Cami from school the next day.
After telling her all the details about her nephew’s birth, including how cute he was, I also told her about the surprise gift her a sister had given me.

When I asked her if she would like to hear it and she excitedly said yes, I slipped the CD into the player and cranked it up. Terry’s thundering fuzz guitar soon filled the car with sound and I began singing along.

About a minute later though, my singing was interrupted by a tap on my shoulder. When I turned the CD player down she asked, “Is it almost over?” When I inquired why she was asking, she said, “Because it’s not very good, Daddy!”

(To hear what Cami heard, click on the link near the bottom of the page.) 

GEO’S LIFE-LINES
Adversity awakens the talent inside you. 
 
The only men I know who refer to it as a vagina, are Doctors. 
 
Scarcity is what makes things valuable. 
 
Going slowly is ok, it’s the stopping that ends everything. 
 
The client isn’t always right but our job is to not let him know it. 
 
If you don’t set your own goals you’ll be working on somebody else’s. 
 
I think that the DOJ is just as irrelevant as the FCC, what do either of them do? 
 
When the companies who don’t have any debt start making cuts, you know their f*cking ya.
 
Nothing is perfect. 
 
Have accountants ever created anything? 
 
When people gather to tell your story after you’re gone, what will they say? 
 
Half of all fiction is true. 
 
As a nurse once told me, “You have the power to heal yourself, the doctor is merely your assistant, so pick a good one. 
 
The rich are just another minority who expect the government to take care of them. 
 
Patience is an activity that mostly goes unnoticed. 
 
The mere Passage of time changes a lot of things including minds.
 
COMMENTS
Josie Thomas: Geo. Who is this Tyler? Sounds like his description fits him to a tee. Maybe he should stop spewing his nonsense and make a more sensible comment.
I enjoy your words of wisdom.
Sincerely,
Walking in Memphis (The Genius)
Doug Chappelle: I have no idea who Tyler is but his post shows what he is. I think he may be an accountant 🙂 (The Genius)

Ron Hamilton: Tyler, At least have the cojones to write your last name, totally disagree with you about George. For the record, my name is Ron Hamilton and George knows what the hell he’s talking about! (The Genius)

Nick Alexander: You sure know when the New Yorkers are in town. Nothin’ but horns! Here in Texas, we have a different kind of horns: we bow to burnt orange and say “Hook ‘Em”. :o) (The Genius)

Mark Masley: Great hearing the WVBF clip. Some great jocks passed through there. My favorites were Frank Kingston Smith, Ron Robin, Harry Chase, Dale Dorman, and Bill Stephens.
I have met them all but Harry. Man what a voice. All these guys were terrific talents and wow what a great radio station that was!
I would still be listening if they were still around! (WVBF Boston 1974)

Mike McVay: George: As someone who built a large radio consultancy myself, and learned much from listening to your stations, you are undoubtedly the father of Adult Contemporary.  You also taught us all how an AC could perform stronger than the then-dominant Top-40 stations of that era by building big entertaining morning shows. The model you created continues to be a huge part of the “Best Practices” of Radio today.  You and I had some great battles that drove the overall shares of radio upward. We grew the audience by competing. In the words of Sun Tzu … “When the elephants fight, the ants take a beating.” (The Birth Of AC Radio)

Geo: Great hearing from you Mike, and thanks for the read.
I’ll never forget while attending a George Burns conference with a beautiful companion and when George spotted me, he pointed me out, I thought it was very kind of him.
However, when my companion leaned over and asked, “Did he just refer to you as the Grandfather of AC radio?” I had to respond with, “Nope, he said, Godfather ” 🙂
We did have some great battles, Mike, and the radio industry was the better for it. You’re always at your best when you’re competing with the best.

Tim Moore: Well, as a 27-year-old VP at TM Productions, the career leap of a lifetime thanks to Jim Long, Tom Merriman, and Jerry Atchley, I arrived from Michigan a “Northern radio Snob.” It’s not that I lacked respect for DFW radio; I simply hadn’t heard it. So shortly after occupying my office on Regal Row, I kept hearing staffers make references to “KVIL” and “Ron Chapman.” So I asked my top sales guy Mike Baer, “What is it about KVIL? I hear it mentioned all the time” He looked at me as if I was a Martian and asked. “Have you LISTENED to them?” I assured Mike I would, and for the first 2-3 days said to myself, “well, they’re really solid and the morning show is very good, but…” Then, after two weeks I said to myself, “This is the most incredible interpretation of AC on the face of the Earth. Chapman and his cast are incredible; everything the station does is relevant to the target and purposeful!” From there forward I coached KVIL’s packaging and atmospherics. The trouble was (and still is), so few can “hear it” much less execute it. (KVIL Jingles)

Geo: I love the word atmospherics, Tim. 🙂

 

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.