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

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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.

3 thoughts on “Chapter LVI (I’ve lived Everywhere Man) 2/19/23 (56)

  1. Angela Manfredi: WONDERFUL! Another amazing chapter. I laughed. I learned. (I’ve Lived Everywhere Man.)
    Geo: Thanks for the read, Angela.

  2. Buster:Those were some great times, George. Thank you for it. (I’ve lived everywhere man!)
    Geo: No, thank you, Buster, you guys gave this kid from Transcona a hell of a life.

  3. Reid Reker: Yes, I was Peggy’s personal driver for every event because I was the only person her husband trusted. I’ll leave it to your imagination as to whether or not I was worthy of that. (I’ve Lived Everywhere, Man.)
    Geo: I think I’ll just leave that one hanging. Buddy.

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