MUCH MORE TALK (Part IV)

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Radio taught me that there was life after “The Jury”.

Cami claimed I may be the hippest Dad in the world but I was certainly not the hippest person in the world.

Radio station owner Ed Shadek once said to one of his GM’s … If George Johns or one of his people don’t like a certain Radio commercial either do the Shadeks.

My Niece Christina showed me when you mix English and Scotch together with Korean and Italian you end up with something very beautiful!

Ryan Seacrest showed me that Plato was right, once famous you can be a person of huge influence even if you can’t sing or dance.

The airlines showed me how you can get those carts down the aisle quicker. Just charge for everything on it.

The disciples figured out early that claiming Jesus was the son of God moved the needle much faster than saying I’m the son of God.

Dave Charles told me the rest of the world used to wait for the new radio format to come from America but that may no longer be true.

Walt Disney was the one who taught me that you can turn fame into fortune.

Shakespeare claimed “the play’s the thing” not the client.

Lee Abrams told me if you want the ratings to go up you’ve got to play more Superstar music.

Rich guys showed me that they all love to share the downside with you but not the upside, that’s theirs exclusively.

Sales folks taught me over and over that if they missed out on a buy it was always because of ratings but when they got one it was because of their ability to sell.

Tim Reever once told me he was pretty sure he could sell the squeal of a pig if somebody could hold it.

Tom Hicks once told me I was exactly what his brother needed.

Speaking of Hicks, Steve once said to me … We just went number 1 in Arbitron.  How can that be true!

Reid Reker asked me many times, why can’t we have it all.

Russ Morley convinced me that having too much stuff took away your freedom.

I convinced myself that surrounding yourself with people smarter than you made you the smartest person in the room.

My Mother taught me that reading was the real “great escape”.

Cris Conner showed me that the observation of life with your twisted comments about it is the real definition of Art.

I learned that attitude is an hourly thing and may need an adjustment or two as we move through the day.

Arbitron taught me that some listeners lie and others have no idea they are even listening to the Radio.

I figured out you can’t use logic to figure Women out you have to love them before they make any sense.

Victor Gold explained to me most communication is done with the eyes.

Brent Farris reminded me that a consultant was just like a expert about women they advise you about them even without having one.

Tom Skinner convinced me I should learn how to run “Client Run”

Ted Rogers advised me that sometimes you have to leave the people behind who got you to where you are in order to rise even further.Gordon Zlot says he is sticking with the ones who brought him to the dance.

A lot of people told and taught me a lot of things and I’m mostly grateful for it except for the stuff I didn’t want to know.

Valerie Geller said there is no such thing as a boring news story there are only boring story tellers.

8 thoughts on “MUCH MORE TALK (Part IV)

  1. Elizabeth Smith and I were in Niagara Falls this week and somehow got to remembering how we first got together in Transcona.

    It was 1963. I was a Lieutenant in The Royal Winnipeg Rifles Cadet Corp and one of my buddies was Ron Stanky, a Corporal. He lived in Transcona and had a girl friend who had a friend. For me, at 16, it was time to break away from West End Winnipeg. I was running out of girls.

    So…Elizabeth Fiske and I “got together”.

    After a week, when I hadn’t called as I told her I would….she called me. As my mother would have said…..Elizabeth “took me down a peg”. I was impressed. Elizabeth was right.

    I didn’t know it then. In fact I wouldn’t know it for almost fifty years but……..Elizabeth was pretty messed up.

    She grew up in downtown Winnipeg in a big ole house on Young Street near Portage Avenue. An orphan, she was adopted by The Fiskes…..even though they had a natural born son ten years earlier.

    Young and Portage was getting a little “rough” so the Fiskes moved to a home in the new suburb of Transcona…..not an easy move for a young girl who was blossoming into Marilyn Monroe and didn’t understand what was happening.

    To Elizabeth’s peers in Transcona….she was a “freak”. To say that Elizabeth’s “self esteem” was low would be an understatement.

    So…..imagine what happened when I took Elizabeth to a dance at Transcona Collegiate Institute and we won The Twist Contest?
    Self-esteem has never been An Issue for me. To her credit….Elizabeth “stepped up”.

    It was a “Defining Moment” for Elizabeth. But just another night for me.

    Hell….in those days I was working part time for CJOB and winning the Twist Contest at the CKY Exhibit at The Red River Exhibition with whatever girl happened to be around. I just LOVED the look on Suet Sam’s face as he gave me the “prize” of a LP with all the ‘KY Good Guy’s on the cover and I was wearing a CJOB jacket.

    I sensed that Elizabeth was “different” than most of the girls I knew. She became My Date for the Fellini Films at The Rose Theatre and The Musicals at Rainbow Stage. I was discovering “Creativity”. Cliff Gardner, Bill Stewart and later Pat Withrow and Bill McDonald would help me to take it to a Whole New Level.

    A Level that…..no one in Radio has ever taken Radio.

    Long Story Short….Elizabeth became a nurse, a mother of two, and eventually led The Nurse’s Union in Manitoba even as her brother became one of Manitoba’s most respected Accountants. Go ahead. Google Norm Fiske.

    Elizabeth and I began Our Latest Journey when she came to my mother’s funeral in 1994.

    And The Hits….Just Keep On Comin’

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