While watching the series “Suits,” it reminded me of the rare times that I was treated like one.

When I left CKSO in Sudbury to become the program Director of CFRA in Ottawa, other than some great ratings and the adoption of my son, Curtis, it wasn’t a gratifying experience.
Most of my stay in Ottawa was filled with so much negativity that the only time I ever returned was when my good friend Gary Russell was inducted into the Radio Hall Of Fame there, some 30 years later.

Years later, someone told me that the owner, Allan Waters had told everyone to back off me because, as he reportedly said, “I don’t want anybody slowing down this kid’s train.”
Unfortunately, Allan had neglected to tell me so my rage began to heat up.

The studios at CFRA were all located on the third floor, and the offices including mine were located on the second.
So in order to get to my office from the studios, I had to take the elevator which opened up in front of the GM, Terry Kielty’s office.

Terry Keilty was the GM, and on this particular day, as I was headed to my office to put away a reel of promos when the elevator door opened, he waved me into his office.
Sitting in his with his sports director buddy, Ernie Calcutt. It turned out that they both wanted to know why I hired Roger Klein knowing full well that as good as he was, he’d just end up leaving?”

Finally, my rage had an excuse to erupt so I yelled my response, “WHEN YOU’VE GOT A CHANCE TO WORK WITH GREATNESS, YOU GRAB IT EVEN IF YOU ONLY HAVE IT FOR FIVE F*CKING MINUTES.”
I then threw the tape I was carrying against his Mahogney wall where it shattered.

I watched in horror as what looked like brown tinsel slowly drifted down on Terry and Ernie, and as they struggled to free themselves, I stormed out.
Terry was right though, Roger did leave, when he left with me for CFTR in Toronto.

GEO’S LIFE-LINERS

Here’s the formula; first, you dream it, then you build it, and then you convince the folks that they really need it.

Unlike fear, courage has to be conjured up.

So Putin, how’d that May Day Victory Parade go for ya?

Speaking of Putin, when he started warring he had Italy and Japan on his side whose Putin got?

The only thing that makes people perfect is their imperfections.

Doing what people want and doing what’s right is a tough choice. decision.

Only the wisest of people know how to enjoy the things they have.

Promotion/Contesting is 25% of the reason folks listen to the radio, so if you’re wondering why radio’s cume is fading, look no further.

At the moment, Florida’s real estate market is hotter than a pepper sprout which is causing me to get tons of emails and texts from real estate agents claiming that they have cash buyers for my condo. However, when I respond with, “Where the hell would I live?” All I hear are crickets.

Speaking of “cash” buyers what else would you except, Turkeys?

Data that won’t help you make a decision is useless information.

Going along with the masses only creates more of the same old thing.

In order to become bigger, you’ll need to have insiders and outsiders on your team.

The real problem with America is that the far right and the extreme left are too noisy. Eliminating both would go a long way in making the whole world a better place.

Speaking of negative noise, there’s a theory that had the farmer shot chicken little, who was running around screeching, “The sky is falling, the sky is falling,” the farm would have been a better place.

As my friend Bobby Cole recently said, “Those who say that money can’t buy happiness spent their dough on the wrong shit.”

A sure sign that you’re growing old is when you’ve never heard of the players in the current lineup of Ringo Starr’s All Starr Band.

When I flew my grandson from LA to West Palm Beach, I did so for two reasons, it was non-stop, and the fare was cheap. Unfortunately, the fare was bogus because you had to pay to check luggage, but you also had to pay for any carry-ons. Now, who the fuck would fly from California to South Florida without a bag?

Making more laws trying to prevent racism doesn’t fix it, they only make it worse.

The only thing most rich people care about is their legacy, so the way to get at the bad ones, all you have to do is to make sure their legacy is correct by including the bad parts.

According to most religions, if you’re not a part of theirs you’re going to hell. Well, if that’s true there’s nobody in heaven.

To change the world, one must change themselves first.

 

COMMENTS

Wendy: If some black ops guy blew up a few buildings in Moscow it would serve no other purpose than to inflame Putin who would in turn start flinging nuclear warheads at the West and life as we know it would be finished. Not a pleasant thought! (It Was A Very Good Year)
Geo: I hear ya, Wendy, but unless they let Putin have Ukraine that’s always going to be a threat

Jay Williams: Hi George,

I must tell you the real story of the Rolls Royce and Mr. Fairbanks, just for the record.

RMF was up in Boston for his annual visit (supposedly a requirement of ownership in the day), and as a few of us were preparing to go to lunch at a mediocre Framingham seafood restaurant he liked, morning man Dale Dorman was walking out of the radio station door at the same time. Dale’s freshly washed, plum-colored RR was in the pole parking position next to the front door, and Dale was (deservedly) proud of it. So as Mr. Fairbanks glanced at it, Dale opened the passenger side door, told him that this was his car, and politely asked Mr. Fairbanks if he’s ever ridden in a Rolls. Mr. Fairbanks, thinking that this was, perhaps, the dumbest question he’d been asked that day, said, “Yes, but never in the front seat.” We were all speechless for a few seconds after that. (It Was A Very Good Year)

Geo: However, Jay, I’m sure the next call was to Hilliard saying, “How the hell does somebody who works for us afford a Rolls Royce?”

Michael O’Shea:1964 was also MY radio kickoff year. After being a jock wannabe starting in ‘61 or ‘62 in high school, I got my first REAL gig in Jan ‘64, still, a teen, doing mornings at KNEM, Nevada, Missouri, where the newbie always got the morning shift ‘cause no one else wanted to get up that early. (Smile). I started on Jan 24, 1964, the very DAY that “I Want to Hold Your Hand” hit number one on Billboard. I always looked at it as if both The Beatles and I started in the US the same day. $64/week to jock, do News, sell a little and be a real radio dee Jay.

PS I love your life-liners. Reid shoulda read them before his first marriage. Uh, me too. 🙂
Geo: I began as a part-time board op, Michael,and as you later lucked out by working for Gordon McClendon, I lucked out from the git-go by getting to work for Jimmy Darin (Jim Hilliard) when my brain was nothing but a big ol’ sponge.

Geo’s Media Blog is a politically incorrect inside look at Radio, TV, 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 not only encouraged, it’s appreciated.
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&nsbp;

The other day my brother Reg and I were discussing how inspirational the Fairbanks Management Conferences always were especially Jim Hilliard’s opening remarks.
The conferences were held annually around Thanksgiving, and because suits and ties were mandatory, many of us took the opportunity to unveil our new wardrobes.

Every rule of course has an exception and ours was WNAP’s Cris Conner.
Cris showed up in a mechanic’s smock with record patches all over it, which prompted Ron Chapman of KVIL who was at his first conference, to say, “Oh, I see; if you get the ratings, you can wear anything you damn well want.”

The salespeople had to bring an open mind and big balls because the numbers Jim wanted them to bill in the new year were going to look undoable. In fact, when Dick Yancey looked at his number for WIBC, he  said, “Jesus Christ, Jim, What if we don’t get the numbers?”
Jim replied, “Well that’s just gonna make it a little tougher Dick.”
The programming people also had to bring an open mind plus a presentation tape that we could use later to knock the socks off our National Sales reps.

Most of the conferences were held in Indianapolis but occasionally we’d do it in Dallas or South Florida where the best was in Miami (lots of bars) and the worst in Key Largo. (no bars)
In attendance were the corporate folks and all the GMs, SMs, PDs, plus some Engineers, Promotional and Financial people sprinkled in.. (see on top)

Jim made most of the sessions about where America was headed so that we could be there waiting for it when it arrived.
In fact, we were so prepared for the future that some of our best years occurred during America’s worst years.

The sessions would always begin with Jim’s opening remarks which were designed to get our attention right from the git-go.
One of them that has stuck with me for over forty years was, “Intelligent people, reasonably informed, seldom disagree.” Wow, I thought, how could you possibly disagree with anything Jim said from that moment on?

Thank goodness Jerry Bobo from KVIL saved the day when he said, “Jim, you lost me at intelligent.”(To hear what Jim (pictured above) heard as he approached the podium at one of our sessions, click the link below.)

GEO’S LIFE-LINERS

Everybody wants to be the exception to the rule which is why I’m first in line but not to worry, you’re first behind me.

Sometimes preaching to the choir is the only way to get anything done.

It only takes action from 5% of the population to change everything. Maybe we should applaud them and ignore the rest?

A lot of talented people come from the dark side but unfortunately, that’s where most of them stay.

Love is blind which is the best part and worst about falling in love.

If all women really want is equality, why don’t they give up their special privileges?

You’ve gotta go all out all the time if you want to end up with anything at all.

I still remember the day Jack McCoy said to me, “You wanna get rich, just write a book that contains the exact number of how much money is enough.” I still haven’t come up with it.

So, when can we watch a movie or a TV series where black people and women are not smarter than everybody else? If it’s true, where the hell is their cure for cancer?

Why does the media think that they have the right to report that America was involved in the sinking of a Russian warship?

All this kind of reporting can do is put our families in danger. You change tomorrow by first changing today.

According to my buddy Big Bob, if you limit how many words a woman can use each day, the world would become a much better place.

To become successful you need an enemy.

The best way to get better at something is by working with people who are better than you.

If I ain’t teasin’ ya I ain’t lovin’ ya!

From difficulty comes opportunity.

How come Biden hasn’t noticed that the oil companies made 48% more money this year than last?

COMMENTS

Jed Duvall: Hello George: As your nephew might tell you, part of Amtrak’s problems is that they have been traditionally underfunded, and they do not have absolute priority over the train tracks they travel. When the railroad owners ran passenger trains, up until 1960, almost all passenger trains had priority over freight trains and ran usually at 79-m.p.h. (or higher). Most Class 1 railroads today run their trains at 49-m.p.h. or less and do not give Amtrak clear tracks as was the practice 65-years ago. The western railroads (Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe) do a better job of running trains than the railroads east of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers (Kansas City).
Geo: Your right, Jed; the freight trains do have priority because the freight train companies own the track. When I asked my Nephew why the passenger trains didn’t put more time on the clock at all stops so they could shorten the duration of each stop if needed. He said they would have to publish times that may cause people to fly instead.
However, I love riding the train so much that I don’t care how late they are, but I sure don’t want to wait for one.

Geo’s Media Blog is a politically incorrect inside look at Radio, TV, 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 not only encouraged; it’s appreciated.
.

However,  before any of that happened, I was still living at home and made money by playing with The Phantoms.
Unfortunately though, as my father always said to me, “Son, the Johns men don’t play guitar for a living, we work.”

I could never find any work so my Dad found most of my jobs for me because he didn’t care if I liked the work or not.
This resulted in my being involved in various industries which included my becoming the Assistant Manager of a bowling alley.

Now what made this endeavor so unusual was that I really didn’t know anything about bowling.
Then one day when I spotted them building a new bowling alley I decided to check out how strong my title was by applying for the GM’s job.

The new place was called Chateau Lanes and what made it so appealing was that it was also going to have a pool room.
As I said, I didn’t know squat about bowling, but pool I knew after having been educated at a poolroom on my way home from school every day.

My interview with the brass went very well, but they said that before they could consider me, I needed to be a certified bowling instructor.
So it’s off to bowling school I go where I crushed the course and got certified. (see below and on top)
Unfortunately, because the building wasn’t finished yet, it would be a while before I knew if I got the job or not.
As I said, I wasn’t hurting for money, and because my folks were off my back about finding a job, I was loving life.

Early on one of the things that I learned was that fame usually leads to fortune.
So with that in mind, I’d always suggest to whoever booked us that they should also hire a dee-jay from CKY.

Doing so resulted in our getting an enormous amount of on-air publicity which in turn also made the event much larger.
The dee-jays would kick off the evening by first throwing out a bunch of records, and then after introducing us they’d be gone before we finished our first tune. Every Monday my job was to deliver the Dee-Jays their appearance fee and on this particular life-changing Monday, I was at CKY to give Mark Parr his. (Mark pictured above)
When I arrived at the station, Embree McDermid who was at the front desk told me that Mark was waiting for me in the FM studio.

Mark who was reluctantly filling in for the FM board op asked if I’d ever run a radio board before.
When I told him no, he sat me in the chair and proceeded to show me how it all worked.

It seemed simple enough and was going well until he spotted Deno Corrie in the production studio two studios away and said, “I’ll be right back.”
Can you spell P-A-N-I-C? Damn! Everything was running at once.

There I was frantically waving at Mark who was too busy yucking it up with Deno to notice.
Then to make matters worse several “suits” walk into the studio. I was told later that one of them was the owner, Lloyd Moffit who was showing off his brand new 360,000-watt radio station to all his old cronies.

Hey, I bet he would have freaked out had he known that the kid piloting his new flame thrower only had about ten minutes of radio experience?
When they finally left, I took a deep breath and began sorting things out, and by the time Mark finally got back, all was good and all he had to say was, “See, I knew you wouldn’t have any problems kid; you’re a natural.”

I’m forever grateful to Mark because soon after that he pestered everybody until they finally hired me part-time.
It didn’t pay diddly, but who cared? I also had no idea that I’d be doing this for the rest of my life. As excited as I was about getting into radio, it wasn’t at all exciting to my Mom.
She actually cried when she overheard me on the phone telling the Chateau Lanes owners “Thanks, but no thanks, I’m a radio guy now.” (Me pictured below at CKY-FM)

GEO’S LIFE-LINERS

If you don’t stop and smell the roses pretty soon you won’t be able to smell the funeral flowers either.

Regrets, yes, I have a few: I wish I didn’t get divorced, I wish I’d spent more time with my kids and I wish that I’d told fewer people to fuck off.

Speaking of fuck off, those are the only words I have for the far right and the extreme left. Updates when they become politically correct.

Every man’s “Achilles Heel” is the woman he loves.

One thing Technology can’t do is make a bad song better.

Wow, the worst tickets for the Paul McCartney concert at the Hardrock Casino in Ft. Lauderdale next week are $400.00, the best, $7000.00.

Silver spoon girls do much better than silver spoon guys.

I wonder how many Ukrainians give a shit about climate control?

Hey ladies, when you’re pretty, large breasts are just a waste; save your money.

It seems to me that Hitler was much more popular in his day than Putin is today.

Creating anything worthy is never convenient.

Why is the equipment and the service on Amtrak better in the west?

If I were the Ukrainians, I’d sneak some black ops guys into Moscow and blow up a few buildings. That should scare the shit out of them.

Does anybody believe the word free anymore?

So if you’re reluctant to go into a black neighborhood at night, does that make you racist?

There are not many win-win solutions, so it’s much more productive to figure out the winning side.

I find it amazing that the world’s greatest hockey players still come out of little towns in Canada.

Joe Biden sure picked the wrong time to be President. Nevertheless, his party will have to pay for it come November because, as Bill Clinton used to say, “It’s about the economy, stupid.”

Discussing that supposedly, God created the World in 6 days with my brother Reg, I couldn’t help but wonder, “How long is a God Day?”

How many final notices do you have to get before you get the final warning?

Asking a psychologist if it’s nature or nurturing is like asking a general if it’s the welfare of the troops or the mission. Unfortunately, they both have to lie.

So great to see all the tributes to hockey great Guy Lafleur, but it’s too bad he wasn’t around to see them.

Hey Meghan, unfortunately, a former Prince is not a Prince. Good luck! Nothing has changed,

“He who controls the language controls the budget.

“Unlike a kind word, wise sayings are soon forgotten.

Have you ever noticed that there are no critics, businessmen, or committee statues?

Saying negative things out loud is bad but writing them down is disastrous.

So, would whoever is on Putin’s side please stand up. (crickets)

The best part about our parents thinking that my brother Reg and I would never amount anything was … They were wrong!

COMMENTS

Bill Gardner: Great “Dick” Fairbanks story! Thank you.
One of my favorites that I heard over my years with the company was that Mr. Fairbanks wanted TWO lists every year. On the first list was every employee in the company who made over $25,000 per year. And the second list, why!
Proud to be on both lists back in the 1970s and to work for the two real heroes of Fairbanks Broadcasting, you and Jim Hilliard. (Fairbanks)
Geo: Fairbanks was ok with the talent and salespeople making over 25K; it was the rest of us that Jim had to justify. He handled it by paying us a 25K base and then the rest in bonuses twice a year. Those bonus checks were a thing of beauty, Bill.

Buzzaroni: Hey, Radio Geo! Screw all the ass-kissers, rhymers & schmoozers on Your brilliant blog … I wanna read more from Ken LeMann!!! (Ask The Pastor)
Geo: I love his stuff, Buzz. 

Doug Erickson: “Encouragement works much better than criticism.”
You are a wise man, George. I wish I’d known you earlier in my career. (The Misfits)
Geo: Me too, Doug.

Reid Reker: Awesome prelude to this, Geo. As always, also some great life-liners. I’ve yet to find one I disagree with. (The Misfits)
Geo: As always, thanks for the read, Reid.

W.T. Koltek: Hello George! In response to signing up for your blog, unlike a lot of people who comment here, I’m not an old colleague or friend, just a longtime fan of your radio work who really enjoys your stories. Please keep sending me your newsletter, and please stay well! Thank you!
Geo. And, thank you for the kind words and also the read, W.T.

Geo’s Media Blog is a politically incorrect inside look at Radio, TV, 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 not only encouraged, it’s appreciated.
.

 

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The Mavericks. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.
Last week, I presented the photos of a few of the folks who changed the world; this week, may I present some of the Mavericks who changed radio. On the top is Bill Drake and below him are L-R, Chuck Blore, Buzz Bennet, Howard Stern, and Randy Michaels. Next row down, Jim Hilliard, Rush Limbaugh, Lee Abrams, and Jack McCoy. At the bottom is Bill Clinton who not only changed radio, he ravaged it.

GEO’S LIFE-LINERS

Have you ever noticed that neither the Republicans nor the Democrats ever talk about the price of gas if it’s up, prescription drugs, lobbyists, or corporate funding? They only talk about the things they can’t be blamed for, like Covid 19 and Climate Change. “It’s not my fault, man!”

Speaking of Climate Change, is Al Gore still the only one who’s made a buck from it?

Fame corrupts creativity.

Unfortunately, a gun is the only thing that makes us all equal, so I predict that guns will not go away anytime soon. 

Doctors, until they get your insurance numbers are all great. After that, it isn’t easy to get their attention.

Mortgage rates may be low, but closing costs sure ain’t.

The other day I was at the Dentist’s, and the Today show was on TV, but I could only hear it because the sun was on it. Anyway, they were all excited about some Bubba guy who had just won a Nascar race where he was only the second person to do so. As they were interviewing him, I thought, hell, I don’t even remember who the second man on the moon was; why would anybody care about this? The mystery was solved when I found out that Bubba was a black man. Ahh, of course. However, I  can’t help but wonder why Asians and Hispanics aren’t newsworthy?

Another thing that I can’t understand is why a Father, what with plea bargaining and stuff, would buy into letting the law handle someone who hurt his daughter? I know I’m not.

Paying dumb people more money doesn’t make them any smarter.

Trying to make something that’s already big bigger usually results in it becoming smaller.

When did Canadians go from feeling inferior to Americans to feeling better than them? That’s a hell of a jump.

Have you ever noticed that when a person is hired at great expense to fix something, and it doesn’t go well, a sex scandal involving them suddenly appears? Yeah, I’m talkin’ morals clauses, Urban.

Looking around before you say anything no longer works. Saying it is a career breaker.

Doing more than expected comes with rewards.

The hardest thing to do is to stop tinkering with something already great. I’ll never forget when you could hear KVIL in Dallas everywhere, but the ratings came out, and they were very disappointing. Knowing how bummed I was, Hilliard said. “Johns,  don’t you dare touch it; it’s perfect.” Sure enough, when the following ratings were released, KVIL blew Dallas away.

A man who can love a woman enough to love her children from another man is a hell of a man.

Our having so many choices obviously isn’t leading to happiness, everybody’s still bitchin’.

Being able to do many things doesn’t mean a thing. What counts is what you do with what you’ve got.

People are usually at their best when faced with unreasonable expectations.

Storytelling is still the best teaching device.

The road to success is a long and winding one.

You only overachieve when you underestimate.

When you look at how much free money the government is handing out, it seems like we must have elected Santa Clause.

If 1 out of 12 people can’t handle alcohol, how many can handle drugs?

Why are people always ready to do the right thing when it’s already too late?

If they took the magic out of religion, it would be much easier to understand.

Being the age I am, I finally have the balls to say, “I ain’t doing that.”

How do they know how many calories there are in everything?

I believe in God, but I don’t believe in those who claim they talk to him.

When Jim Hilliard was asked after my throwing stuff at the sales department why he tolerated my behavior, he said, “I hate it when George does that, but something extraordinary always happens next.

The higher the minimum wage, the higher the expectations for it to be a job well done.

Your freedom of speech ends at the front door of every establishment.

Doing good radio is in a grey area, but doing great radio is only black or white. Either it is, or it ain’t.

The shortage of one product usually leads to the lack of others.

The only people in the radio biz who think they’re doing excellent work are the management at the various radio companies. I wonder if they believe their press releases?

According to the law, we’re all innocent until proven guilty. However, according to the police, we’re all guilty of something.

Sucking in your stomach for a photo session may fool the camera, but it won’t fool the scale.

The only Americans moving to Mexico are those running from the law.

When everything you do seems wrong, maybe it is?

The passing of my wife Lana only proves that Billy Joel’s song, “Only The Good Die Young,” was right.

So are the folks who live in the South Side of Chicago just misunderstood, as the liberals claim?

When do you ever stop measuring yourself against your father? Attention to detail is what makes lucky people lucky.

If you know the odds, you have a shot at beating them.

The people never really wanted a car; they wanted the freedom it offered.

I wonder how many men didn’t want their sons to be like them?

Good words are easily said, but doing good deeds, not so much.

As unique as children are, how do they manage to grow into ordinary adults?

Does being #1 mean anything to anybody anymore?

Speaking of #1. I learned a long time ago that if you want a shot at the golden ring, you need a strong #2.

I don’t know any father who didn’t wish that he was a better Dad. Unfortunately, unlike our Mothers, who spent their lives training to be Moms, we were never taught how to be Dads.

Trying to appeal to everyone keeps you from appealing to anyone.

Holding on to what you have keeps you from having what you want.

The only person who doesn’t get paid at a recording session is the singer.

No matter your situation, somewhere somehow, somebody is doing much better and much worse than you are.

I wonder if the CIA or Homeland Security is politically correct? I think not?

Is it just me, or since slow Joe became president, is there not more gun violence than ever?

You have to fit in to get in.

When a beautiful woman comes into your life, it’s the best and worst thing that will ever happen.

Speaking of women, only they are capable of faking it.

In 1963 James Bond took us from Benny Hill to the Beatles.

On any given Sunday, any team in the NFL can beat any other. All they need are a few new plays that haven’t made the game film yet.

Geo’s Media Blog is a politically incorrect inside look at Radio, TV, 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 encouraged and also appreciated.
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