A couple of weeks ago, I jumped on a plane and headed for Dallas to attend a memorial tribute for Ron Chapman, which was both a sad and happy event.
I was happy to see some of the folks again who were there when we started creating one of the world’s greatest radio stations but was also sad that Ron wasn’t there to hear all the accolades.

Anyway, the next day I got up early and slipped down to Houston, to visit my friend Tom Hoyt who just built a new home in Lake Conroe.
I’ve known Tom for over thirty years and have worked with him on many projects including KFRG in Riverside/San Bernadino. K-Frog was an incredible radio station until CBS bought it, and as usual, Mel knew better, so once again, I was gone.

Tom met me at the airport and surprised me with some Canadian Whiskey, a Diet Coke, and a bag of ice, with a glass tumbler to mix it up in. How classy was that?
Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, that wasn’t my last drink; it was just the beginning. And as you can see in the photos above, we also got involved in more than our fair share of women.

I was there for 4 nights, and I’m pretty sure we hit at least six bars and in fact, the only time we weren’t hanging out at a bar was when Captain Tom launched the Good Ship BenT. (see photo below)
Now the thing about the BenT is, years ago, when Tom and I were at a boat show, Tom said, “If I ever get to buy one of these yachts, I’m gonna name it the BenT.” What the hell does bent stand for I asked? He replied, “Not bent, BenT, Ben is my real first name.” So BenT it is.
What a glorious day! Just as we left the dock, the sun came out, and Lake Conroe was almost smooth as glass. Speaking of glass, of course, we had some fine wine and whiskey along for the ride.
Mr. Tom was full of surprises all week which started when I got off the plane and discovered that he’d shaved his head. Then on my last morning, he turned into Chef Tom as he prepared his famous Eggs Benedict along with some Mimosa to wash it down with. (see photo below)What a wonderful trip; Tom and I traded radio stories long into the night, including a bunch about Jack McCoy, which had us howling.
When I got back to Florida, the only bad moment was when Uber charged $147 to take me home. Hell, it only cost me $85 to fly.

However, my favorite moment of the whole trip may have occurred when I found myself explaining to some lovely young ladies the difference between Santa Clause and a Sugar Daddy. (see photo below)

LIFE-LINERS

What a great Indy 500 and Helio Castroneves won it now gets legendary status because he’s now won it 4 times.
Good for you Helio, Castroneves, not only are you racing’s nicest guy but you also join the ranks of Tom Brady and Phil Mickelson who like you, are still kicking ass and winning championships in a young man’s world.

Legendary Coach John Wooden once said, “Failure is not fatal, but failure to change may be.”

America could have a health plan that’s even better than Canada’s; all we have to do is pay for it the same way the Canadians do. 

Assume the worst-case scenario, and everything suddenly becomes much easier.

The more the job pays, the smarter the employees have to be.

Sometimes to get what you want, you have to risk everything you have.

Over the years, Hollywood has shown blacks and women as presidents but not Asians, Jews, or Hispanics? 

The hardest part about using running as an exercise is that first step.

Radio was much better when the owners were afraid of the FCC.

What we learn from history is that we don’t learn from history.

The thing that changes men’s lives the most is having their first child.

It’s never been the record companies that decide who the stars are; it’s always the people.

One of the things that made me crazy when I played with the Jury was hearing from my buddies on certain nights how great we sounded when I thought we sucked.

I wonder why the Israelis didn’t just build new houses somewhere else for the families they kicked out; they’ve got all kinds of money?

I wonder what the world would be like if the Arabs hadn’t discovered oil when looking for water. I know one thing for sure, we wouldn’t have troops there.

I find it so interesting that women think they are allowed to call us out, but when you call them out, they get pissed?

So what’s special about Oct 3rd besides it being my birthday, you ask? How about Tom Brady heading back to New England to do battle with two egomaniacs, Belichick and Newton. I think he’s up for it.

Who decides how much a reasonable amount of time is?

Vote by mail, Democrats win, walk-in vote, Republicans win, vote by computer, the people win. (Facebook wouldn’t let me post this as a single thought, they said it went against their community standards?)

COMMENTS

XREY: Thanks for sharing the Hugh Heller story in Billboard.  If I recall, it was our 2nd Heller jingle package that showed up in the mail one day.  Unannounced.  We learned that’s how he worked.  So Ron and I go to “The Auditorium” (a 5′ x 5′ closet we converted into a very limited production studio) to preview the new package.  We decide what we want to use on the air immediately and make notes for future use or special edits, as each 10″ reel probably had around 60 cuts.  After hearing several jingles by now, the next one opens with a dramatic chord and an announcer who sounded like “The Voice Of God” who simply announced, “AND NOW FOR THE K.V.I.L. STRAIGHT SHIT!”
Ron and I looked at each other in disbelief and said: “Did he say what we think he said?”  We rewound and played the cut repeatedly, just laughing hysterically, regretting we couldn’t use this for a news open. 🙂 (Doctor My Eyes)

Jerry Baker: George…Like most of us, I have worked at a number of stations and, therefore, for a number of management types.  I have worked for the mediocre, the invisible, the know-it-alls, the worst of the worst, etc., but I have never worked for anyone for whom I had more respect than Jim Hilliard.  I, too, have had those “therapy” sessions and come out of them feeling like a million bucks and ready to jump through hoops for him and the station.  The problem is, as you suggested, once you have worked for and alongside such a leader, you are spoiled for the rest of your career. I dearly miss the day to day grind of radio and the constant pressures of battling for numbers and always attempting and hoping to make the next day just a little bit better in my performance. Still, most of all, I miss the quality people Jim put together that made the magic I felt so honored to be a part of.
By the way, I still have my F-You account, and it has served me well! (The List)
Geo: I miss working with you, Jerry. Can you believe we had three sports guys at WIBC and yet still managed to make a ton of cash? That’ll never happen again, that’s for sure.

Rachel: Excellent points. America is a dumpster fire under the Biden Administration.  Full of corruption, greed, lies, who knows what else… (Where America’s Headed)

Larry Macinnis: George, I am quoting Churchill here as best I can, but he said something like, “If you’re not a liberal at 20, you have no heart. If you’re not a conservative at 40, you have no brain.” (Where America Is Headed)
Geo: I love Churchill, Larry, but the Brits only loved him during wartime. They were afraid of him during peacetime because they thought he’d start another war just for the hell of it.

Gary Severson: Canadians can blame Trump for their ills bc the US owns 60% of Canada & Canada only owns 20% of the US. The Brits own 40% of the US.
Geo: I would think China would have a piece of us too, Gary?

Paul Meacham: George, have you seen the new CIA recruitment ads. I believe there has been a drastic change. (Fairweather Listeners)
Geo: Have they gone pussy on us too, Paul?

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. Your sharing with friends and commenting would be appreciated.

I stumbled across an old interview with my friend and former colleague, Keith Elshaw.
At some point during the interview he was asked,”What was it like to work for George Johns?” Keith responded with, “The talent loved him, Dee-Jays hated him, sales folks despised him, and management was afraid of him.”

After contemplating Keith’s reply, I started thinking about what it was like to work for Jim Hilliard.
I met Jim at CKY in Winnipeg, where I was a part-time board op, and Jim, who used the air name, Jimmy Darin, was the station’s program director. Luckily, he took me under his wing, which changed my whole life, but then he was gone. (see a photo of Jimmy Darin above)

Unfortunately, Jim, being an American, didn’t stay in Winnipeg long and ended up becoming the program director of WFIL, which changed his life.
However, for me, after Jim left, radio just wasn’t the same anymore, and I was thinking of doing something else.

Fortunately, Jim and I had stayed in touch, and before I knew it, he was flying me to Philadelphia to talk about me joining the staff of WFIL and doing promos for him again like I used to do at CKY.
I was excited about the opportunity, but then we found out that I couldn’t walk across the border; my name would have to go on a very long immigration list first. Unfortunately, the names on this list moved very slowly, and in fact, by the time my name got to the top, Jim was the CEO of a group out of Indianapolis, and I was the Station Manager of CFTR in Toronto.

However, the timing was perfect. Jim, running the group and doing everything himself, had just purchased KVIL in Dallas and needed some help.
When I moved to Indy to become Jim’s National Program Director, the fuse was lit.

Over the years, we’ve had some incredible successes, but the problem is, once you work you can’t work for anybody else.
In fact, when I left the company about ten years later, I had to start my own company because I couldn’t imagine working for anybody else.

Jim was like a father figure and could inspire you to do more than you ever thought you were capable of doing.
Jim was much more fun than any father, though, because when you said to him, “Jim, I’m thinking of getting a new ‘Eldo,’ ” he’d say, “I think you should, you deserve it.” Whereas your real father would probably shout, “Are You Out Of Your F#cking Mind?

One of the many things Jim would do to motivate you was to do one-on-one sessions with you occasionally.
They were kind of like therapy sessions, I guess, but you never thought of them that way; you were just happy to have the big guy’s attention.

At one of my sessions, Jim started by saying, “Johns, you realize that everybody in the company doesn’t love you, right?” I rep[ied, “No, Jim, I wasn’t aware of that, and who are these people?” Jim said, “That’s not important and doesn’t matter; I’m just trying to make a point here.”
I responded with, “Well, it matters to me, Jim, so if you could just give me that list, we can get on with whatever it is that you want to talk to me about.”

The banter about the list went on for about thirty minutes until Jim finally said, “Johns, I can’t waste any more time on this, get out of my office and get me some ratings.”
Now some forty years later, (see photo on top of Jim and me) Jim is still complaining to me that when I left Fairbanks to me to start my own company, I screwed him and I’m still trying to get that list.

GEO’S LIFE-LINERS

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 are encouraged and appreciated.

Wearing shades in the classroom
while writing tunes
Seems to have gone over
like big lead balloons

When I look at my life, I’m beginning to realize that I wasn’t really in charge of it, it was in charge of me..
I never was successful chasing much anything and most of my successes came looking for me.

Ahh, my second summer in Transcona, but unlike the song claims, “The livin’ ain’t that easy.”

My father had decided that I was old enough to become gainfully employed so there I was every weekend, pumping gas at a local service station. About the time I started working, I also started growing out my hair, which didn’t go unnoticed at home.
Once again, I got to hear, “If I buy your clothes, you wear what I buy you, and if I pay for your haircuts, you’ll get it cut how I want it cut.”

Oops, “Sorry, Dad, ain’t going to do it, I’ll just pump a little more gas and buy my own haircut.
That’s me in the shades pictured above sporting my new “Do.”