Radio Wars !

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A new movie called Naptown Rock Radio Wars premiered at the Imax theatre in Indy over the weekend. Having being in the middle of that war between WNAP & WIFE I’m anxious to hear if they got it right. Those were very exciting times and I was proud to be associated with all The Buzzard Boys led by Cris Conner and including Bruce Munson, Mr. Below, Mike Griffin, Tom Cochran, Big John Gillis, Fast Freddy Fever, Adam Smasher, Booger Mathews, Majic Mitch and the always very beautiful Anne Craig to name but a few. Hey as I always told you guys just follow my directions you could become very big(-: Now look at you, Movie Stars! Congrats to all.

Stephen Hawking arguably the smartest Man on the planet claims he has a pretty good grasp on most of the mysteries in the Universe except one. Women!

Speaking of Women one of the good things about being from Winnipeg/Transcona was and Billy Gibbons said it best when he growled “They Got a lotta Fine Lookin’ Girls Up There”

It’s tough making any changes because none of the current staff like them. A new staff always loves changes.

Mark Parr told me that 23% of car accidents are alcohol related which means most of the accidents are caused by people who are not drinking. That’s very scary!

The only other people who like changes are the folks making them.

Just because we have been raised never to hit girls doesn’t mean we don’t want to.

Jim Hilliard claims I’m giving away too many Radio secrets in my Blogs. Very few people ever understood what I was saying back in the day when there were a ton of smart guys in the biz. I figure the secrets are pretty safe now.

I’m not sure if it’s the word NO that is wearing me out this week or the reason why it’s NO. All I know is I’m exhausted.

My Father told me that anything worth while doesn’t come easy and I get that, but it’s the “stay away from the bad girls” I’m still having a problem with.

I’ve finally figured out that people who fit in with the crowd generally don’t fit in with me or is it the other way around.

It is much easier to remember the truth than it is to remember a lie.

Most of the oil we consume in the USA comes from North America and in fact only 9.2 percent comes from the middle east and the figure is declining. So when something weird happens somewhere in the middle east and our gas prices go up, relax it’s just the oil companies screwing us again. I wonder if they hang out on the weekends with all the Bank, Pharmaceutical and Wall Street people.

I go to 3 different Duffy’s to eat most nights and have been doing so for a few years. The one closest to my Condo is I guess is what you would call my home Duffy’s and used to be my favorite but they keep firing the folks I like. At the other two it’s been the same people there for a couple of years now. I cant help but wonder what the hell is going on at mine.

Things are how they are and not how we wish them to be. But if one does not work on his wish list he is destined to go round and round in a never ending circle.

I know we have a plan if we fail, but what’s the plan if we succeed.

Wow! John Elway finally noticed Tebow played for the Broncos or maybe better put by Moto. Tim Tebow to John Elway … “HOW DO YA LIKE ME NOW” Even Dean Goss jumped in with a good one claiming Tebow is now the most famous white Bronco since OJ’s truck.

Speaking of Tebow, tons of black athletes in the NFL are just as spiritual as Tebow and show it the same way Tim does. Somehow this doesn’t seem to irritate anybody or is it just politically incorrect to be irritated by them and Tebow is just fair game.

It’s my experience that only Artists understand that there something else between ON & OFF, UP & DOWN, FAST & SLOW, LOUD & SOFT, MELLOW & INTENSE, HAPPY & SAD etc. obviously we have very few artists today in Radio.

In my world I have both Women and Men occasionally asking for my help on various radio projects. Most Men always ask how much my helping them will cost but for some reason most Women think my services should be free I guess because money never comes up.

Mark Ramsey said it’s time to stop worrying about technology and start worrying about content.

Every Tuesday night one of my most favorite things to do is go to a bar on the inter coastal called the Waterway Cafe. I get to watch my friend Joe Raineri (morning man on WRMF) playing in his Dad’s band and they are just great. Last week I was approached by what turned out to be a local radio guy who said he was told I George Johns I admitted I was and he immediately said … But are you “Thee George Johns” How the hell do you answer that so I said no, I’m just a facsimile. It was the best I could come up with under the circumstances.

A lot of people are remembered for their courageous and/or gifted work is by Statues with likeness being erected or Highways, Bridges and Buildings being named after them. The only way Mr. Business man is remembered in this fashion is if he pays for it. The problem is most people ask, I wonder who the hell he was but they don’t care enough to Google them.

If you are are good we already know. Your telling us how good you are only leads to us believing you’re not as good as you think you are.

What I have never figured out was why a football player gets tackled in the end zone after scoring a touch down. Isn’t it kinda too late.

Back in the day you could judge how unsuccessful a station was by how powerful the Chief Engineer was. Who is is it now.

I still haven’t changed my mind, both the Republicans and the Democrats are still spending a way too much time taking care of the Rich & The Poor at our expense.

15 thoughts on “Radio Wars !

  1. George, Chris invited the WIBC stagehand to the “reunion” last night in Indianapolis.
    Chris, Buster, Freddie, Mr. Below, Griff, Bruce, Anne (!), Tom Cochrun, Dave Dugan, Yance, Connie, Bobbette and many others were there. Sitting there nursing my scotch and water, surrounded by GREATNESS, I realized that the magic of WNAP was in the focus (provided by you and implemented by Chris) of all of those incredibly talented people working to an ideal standard of what a 1970s personality rock and roll station should be. WIFE, WNDE and WXLW never had a chance.

    • How cool you were there Jed. My job was to not get in the way of greatness. I am the absolute best at that as the legends like Cris Conner, Ron Chapmen, Gary Todd, Chuck Riley, Jeff n Jer, Delilah, Loren n Wally, Don Bleu, Cat Simon, Jim Harper and many more could attest to.

  2. Your friend Mark Ramsey is right about content. It’s sad that so few people actually understand what it is. Time and temperature by itself is “relatable” “content”…but nobody even does THAT! WHY?

    Jim Hilliard shouldn’t worry about your “secrets”. Today, few “broadcasters” are listenting, particularly the so called “consultants” who “think” differently…or must appease the “sales/management” team in order to keep working.

    The very reason people like you and Jim Hilliard are regarded as “pioneers”… is because your entire basis of thought is about “winning” …not just a percentage of “market share”. Winning is where the big money is.

    Yes, the Beatles may have changed the importance of the “music” to radio 30 years ago…but that was “THEN”. If you take a long hard look the music “product” over the last decade or longer, alot of it has sucked! What do you do now???

    Cavenaugh

  3. Sorry, I gave all of those Fairbanks tricks away years ago, when my blog was hosted by Adam Curry, ran a series that talked about everything from contests to what a hot zip code was.. speeding up records, to contesting, was well read too..sorry Curry lost the site in his divorce that will teach me to back up..lol.
    Sad thing is today, there is no miday jock, night jock, or overnight jock on most stations so what we did that worked..oh thats automated now..or worse voice tracked my someone in New York or elsewhere…as the singers say “it’s a shame what’s happened to radio.”
    Saw the long trailer for the radio was movie…hope they put it all on the net.

  4. “Back in the day you could judge how unsuccessful a station was by how powerful the Chief Engineer was. Who is is it now.”

    OK. I was a Chief Engineer and I am not sure what you are implying. :confused:

    • At a successful station the Engineer didn’t get a vote on programming or promotional items. At a unsuccessful station he had a very powerful vote in all these matters.

  5. Great article George – Love the radio wars! I am honored that was in the market during the radio war! Almost happen here but no one participated.

  6. Unless you worked for and had the secret handshake from the Big OkeeDokee, JCH, you cannot possibly imagine the laboratory we had and the ever-evolving formage stew of Format? What Format!?! Fairbanks broke all the molds and it all flowed from the genius of JCH.

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