Monthly Archives: November 2020

Geo’s Media Blog (The Dating Game) new 2/1/21

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One day more then a few years ago when I was in my office in La Jolla, I got a call from Bobby Cole inviting me to lunch in Rancho Santa Fe where he was taking lessons at a tennis ranch.
Bobby was the VP of programming for Fairmont Communications which was a client of mine, and the reason he wanted to meet for lunch the next day was to get my opinion. (me and Bobby pictured above)

Joining us for lunch, Bobby explained, would be the former long-time host of “The Dating Game,” Jim Lange (pictured above) who Bobby was considering for the morning show at K101 in San Francisco.
Upon my arrival at the ranch I was directed to a conference room where Bobby and several other students were finishing up a morning class with the tennis pro. When Jim showed up a few minutes later we stood in the hall chit-chatting, but when we noticed that the instructor was staring at us, we moved away from the doorway so that we wouldn’t disturb his class.

Suddenly the pro stopped talking and came after us and I thought, oh-oh we’re in for it now.
Instead, he stuck out his hand and said to Jim, “You’re Mr. Lange, aren’t you? I just had to come out here and thank you because I grew up in Mexico City where I learned to speak English by watching you on the Dating Game. Because of you” he went on to say, “I now live in America doing what I only dreamed of doing those many years ago.” 

GEO’S LIFE-LINERS

Most mistakes are not life-threatening or career-ending.

One of the many things that I dislike is, today bad people are more famous than good people.

Winning a couple of battles doesn’t mean you’ve won the war.

From a distance, most good and bad ideas look much alike.

Everybody owes somebody a thank you.

Unfortunately it’s the words spoken before I’m sorry that can never be taken back.

Do you think that the folks who got rich or richer off the virus should be penalized in any way?

Only losers judge winners by how they won.

People with money should always be wary of those who don’t.

Hey Joe, if the world doesn’t care about America, why would you care about the world?

Speaking of Joe, I predict that he’ll only work on projects that he can’t be held responsible for, like the Corona Virus and Climate control. I prefer that he work on things that he can fix, homeless people, bringing our troops home, and an uncomplicated health care program.

I have in common with wealthy people because I don’t like rich people either.

One of the few things that the right and left agree upon is; Trump talks too much.

The only problem with succeeding quickly is, now what?

The more you communicate, the fewer misunderstandings.

When your instincts need a little help, try hard work.

If you can handle being alone, you can handle almost anything.

Has anybody checked to see if anything’s changed since Hollywood started making minorities the heroes in their movies?

The fact that only 53% of America voted but 83% joined Amazon Prime should give you a little insight into where America’s at.

You can’t change what you see in your rearview mirror, but you can always change what you see out of your windshield.

Destiny is tough to run from.

Corporations’ worst enemy is time.

It’s never too late.

One of the reasons that Ray Charles was referred to as being genius was because he was aware that great music came from all walks of life, not just from black folk.

Why do we continually forgive people who continue to make bad choices and ignore those who don’t?

How do you become the next big thing?

Never be afraid to fall in love.

You don’t learn very much after become the best at something. 

COMENTS

Doug Chappell: George, Funny thing between Canada and the USA many Canadians think it is wrong for Trump to want to have the Southern border secure from Latinos crossing illegally into the USA, BUT they are also pissed that Trudeau is allowing/encouraging illegal immigrants flowing across the border at Champlain NY into Quebec “OTTAWA – Canadian officials in Nigeria are working with the U.S. on developing tools to flag Nigerians applying for U.S. visas who may be at “high risk” of crossing illegally into Canada across the U.S. border.
So far this year, the majority of illegal migrants arriving in Canada are Nigerians who have recently been issued U.S. travel visas.”
Canada has become a Nation of double standards. (Classy)

Earl Mann: Excellent article, George. It is appalling to see the media’s continual attempts to castrate and crucify this man! Trump has actually done an amazing job, especially considering the slings and arrows the Left has thrown at him. The economy is booming! More people have more money in their 401K’s than they ever have before! The stock market is higher than it has ever been, thanks to Trump’s deregulation and cutting corporate taxes! “Yuge” amounts of money are now flowing back into the U.S from overseas, creating jobs and improving infrastructure! Illegal immigrants are no longer flooding into the U.S because they know Trump means business! And, finally, instead of ‘leading from behind’ as Obama did, Trump is telling the world two things: “America first” and “Don’t fuck with us”! Btw, getting China to begin to pressure North Korea seriously is the result of Trump’s leadership, no less. Gone are the “Kumbaya” days of a feckless and impotent globalist – Obama! (Unthinkable Trump)

Bob Christy: On December 30th, 1994, I was driving to a meeting with our station’s attorneys in Wellesley, MA. I was on the Mass Pike and had dialed around the radio checking things out, KISS, EEI, WBZ regular programming on the air. I turned on WBUR, Boston University’s NPR station, and they are doing wall to wall coverage of a shooting at an abortion clinic in Brookline. I listened for a few minutes and turned back to WBZ, nothing. I called Len Malo at our station and told him what was going on; he checked it out and broke in on the air with a bulletin. I went back to WBZ, still nothing…I knew at that moment the clock was ticking on the number one radio news outlet in Boston. It took WBZ a half hour to catch up. The funny thing, or maybe not so funny, is at the time, WBZ was in the same building as WBZ TV, which was all over the story. WBUR is the top radio news station in Boston today. They are on top of breaking news and do brilliant deep-dive coverage of stories as well. The long-form stories they did on the Whitey Bulger trial were excellent Today in LA. If KPCC in Pasadena had a better signal, they’d be on top of radio news in LA in short order. All these NPR news operations have in common is a total commitment to news, and they get great demographics by doing it. Fred Heckman once told me, “if there is a column of smoke in the sky and you can’t tell them why it’s there, you’re finished.” it’s still true today and always will be. (I Write The Wrongs)

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 appreciated.

Geo’s Media Blog (Twenty Feet From Stardom) New 12/7/20

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While being locked up for six months here in my condo in West Palm Beach because of Covid 19 I watched a lot of music documentaries, “Twenty Feet From Stardom,” “The Wrecking Crew” “Muscle Shoals” and the one about The Funk Brothers at Motown.

Being originally from the music business and having a few records out myself before I got into radio, I found the documentaries extremely interesting. What I really enjoyed was hearing all the inside comments made by the unsung heroes of the music biz, the folks who backed up the stars.

However, what I found most surprising about the recording industry, the only people making money while recording, are the backup singers and musicians.The stars don’t make a cent unless the tune is a hit.

Years ago I toured with Ral Donner who had a couple of medium-sized hits out and sounded like Elvis. In fact, Ral sounded so much like Elvis that songwriters would hire him to sing their songs so Elvis could hear how he would sound singing them.
I didn’t realize, though, was that Ral got paid to sing those songs; the King didn’t.

I also found it surprising that many of the backup singers and players complained about how they never got a sniff of the money or any credit for all the hits they were on.
They neglected to mention that most records don’t make any money, but the background singers and musicians always got paid.

Hell, even if the recording was a hit, the artist has to pay back all the expenses before they receive anything.
Most background singers and players don’t step out front because of the financial risk involved, not to mention the great money they make while standing twenty feet from stardom.

 
GEO’S LIFE-LINES

Bigness is the result of doing many small things.

I find it amazing that even though thousands of people in America have died from Covid 19, the FDA took a 4 day Thanksgiving weekend instead of working on the approvals for 3 vaccines. Another one of the many reasons you can’t let the government be in charge of anything.

You have to know what the rules are before you can break them.
 
I’m growing weary of all the attention the losers are getting, let’s hear it for the winners.
 
Most beautiful women are very powerful but just like gifted athletes, it lasts about ten years.
 
Speaking of women, the other night at Duffy’s, I overheard a lady at the bar say to her girlfriend, “I don’t think everything should go all-electric, isn’t that gonna drain a lot of energy from the sun?” 
 
As Leon Russell said, “You have to earn the right to wear shades at night.” 
 
JUst because it’s popular don’t make it any good. 
 
Do you find it strange that the government debates on and on about raising the minimum wage but when they want a raise, it happens instantly? 
 

Information scarcity is now a rarity.

The one place that women are definitely equal is as an executive for a giant corporation; they’re all pricks.

If you think the radio industry is in rough shape, aren’t you glad that you don’t own a taxi company?
 
Hey, you media types, freedom of the press gives you the right to call out the rich leftists too, they’re also ass-holes.
 
If one has the ability to take action, they also have the responsibility to do so. 
 
When I get nervous, I talk too much, so I guess I’m nervous all the time? 
 
Giving advice is hard to resist, but listening to it is even harder. 
 
Getting people’s attention isn’t as important as getting their interest.
 

The more praise you give, the more of it you receive.

COMMENTS

Jed Duvall: George, another of the great lessons that you and Jim taught me along the way at WIBC-AM was that if there was a personnel problem that could not be fixed within the station that was jeopardizing the “Plan,” no matter how inconvenient it was for the staff and me, the program director, take care of the problem immediately. Don’t string it along; orchestrate it out to make excuses while waiting to hire the right person for a replacement.  Root out the problem, terminate the employee if rehabilitation (or retraining) is out of the question.  Then hire the best available “athlete” for the role, be it the weekend person or whomever…because there are always good coachable people if you look hard enough. You and Jim also taught me by example to make a list and build a “recruitment” file to cultivate talent.  I won’t say that every decision I made was great, but my batting average was better than Ted Williams (.406). (The Big One)

John King: Frank Sinatra did pull off the remake of a 1935 Fats Waller track, “Truckin’,” which he updated in 1962 as “E’v’rybody’s Twistin’,” with a smashing big band arrangement by Neal Hefti. But he didn’t pull it off by much – it lasted two weeks on the Hot 100, topping at #75. (It’s The Song Man!)
Geo: I can’t even imagine it, John.

Mark and Bridget Hubbard: Cami,
We think it is great that you could help your dad get through college; we know this is a big accomplishment for him. You are a hard-working gal with so many talents, but he’ll need all the help he can get. Good luck. (Camera Graduates)George, Tim Moore here. Jake Hoot from “The Voice” has been on one of our client stations’ sales team. Great guy, and the team there felt that he would win it all. (It’s The Song Man!)
Geo: I can see the look on the client’s faces when he’s making cold calls; Tim, what a hoot. Oh, I’m sorry. 🙂

Russ Morley: Hey George,
You know, I hired Jack in Memphis and Dallas with that magic phone machine he had. It seemed to work and temporarily put lipstick on a ratings pig (In Dallas anyway). Thinking back, I had my reservations about the machine but just wanted to spend time with Jack as he would come to town regularly for checkups and consulting the contest. Truly one of the most interesting guys I have ever known. But then again, so are you, but I would find you even more interesting if you buy me lunch soon! (My Friend Jack)

Bruce Walker: Excellent blog George. I still remember Chuck and Daryl recording our first record at CKY. I really liked both of them. It’s funny but what really sticks out in my mind was Chuck wrapping tape around the center of the recording tape reel to make the recording sound better. I don’t remember how it helped, but the London records guy was impressed. (What The F**k Happened To My FU Account?)

Josie Thomas: Trains have always been a big part of our family. Hours are long but the benefits are worth it. You may be called out on holidays, birthdays, and family time but in the end, the rewards are great. Congratulations to your nephew as he is a prime example of what perseverance will accomplish.
Thank you, George, for being a truly awesome friend to Bob Thomas. Your words of wisdom inspire me. (First, ya gotta get noticed)

Doug Chappell: George…what a great pic, cream of the radio biz I remember, I worked records on all of you !!! Actually, now that I think about I was actually helping all of you pick your music and make the station sound even better !!! (Hidden Mentor)
Geo: You worked us all very well, Doug. I still remember that great rating book you gave me when I first arrived in Toronto, from it came my first happy ending.
(I just got word that Doug has passed, rest in peace old friend, I miss you already. 🙁 )

Geo’s Media Blog (The Stimulus) New for 11/23/20

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It’s a slow day in the small Alabama town of Foley, and the streets are deserted. Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody is living on credit.

A tourist visiting the area drives through town stops at the motel and lays a $100 bill on the desk saying he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs to pick one for the night.

As soon as he walks upstairs, the motel owner grabs the bill and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher.

The butcher takes the $100 and runs down the street to retire his debt to the pig farmer.

The pig farmer takes the $100 and heads off to pay his bill to his supplier, the Co-op.

The guy at the Co-op takes the $100 and runs to pay his debt to the local prostitute, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer her “services” on credit.

The hooker rushes to the hotel and pays off her room bill with the hotel owner.

The hotel proprietor then places the $100 back on the counter so the traveler will not suspect anything.
At that moment the traveler comes down the stairs, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, picks up the $100 bill, and leaves.

No one produced anything. No one earned anything.  However, the whole town is now out of debt and now looks to the future with a lot more optimism.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how a Stimulus package works.

GEO’S LIFE-LINERS

When the past controls the present the future becomes a sequel; kinda like you still voting as your grandparents used to.

The only women who are really special are the ones you love.

It’s the rough seas that produce the better sailors.

You don’t have to be smarter than everyone; you just need to outlast them.

The way it works in the real world is when companies continue to perform badly, they usually get rid of the top management not the employees like radio does. What’s up with that?

Adversity gave birth to a lot of greatness.

Only the difficult tasks are worthy of your time.

What you think is just an opinion; what you know is what the world is waiting for.

I don’t recall anybody ever saying, “I’m getting into radio because that’s where the big bucks are.”

Women who marry for money deserve exactly what they get.

Upon the hearing of, “Until further notice” did you ever hear a further notice?

Truth is Truth, it doesn’t need your belief.

Seeing as some Canadians joyfully participated in the bringing down of Trump, surely they won’t mind if we return the favor by helping to topple their clown prince?

COMMENTS
Paul Cavenaugh: Just to back up the comments of Jerry K regarding Buzz Barnett.  The guy is a brilliant talent.  I too had the best time playing radio with him. I understand that Buzzy may soon be moving back to beautiful Palm Beach County. He might even become one of my condo neighbors. The place is Doomed! (You Ain’t Seen Nuthin’)
Geo: Always loved Buzzy, Paul. It would be great to see him again.

Bill Gardner: I love The Jury” picture! What makes me smile every time I see it, I’ve known you for almost forty years, and I’ve never seen you with as serious a look as a radio guy as you have as a member of The Jury 🙂 Maybe it’s all that hair! (You Ain’t Seen Nuthin’)
Geo: Rock&Roll is very serious, Bill but our style of radio was always very fun.

Dave Charles: Radio George, Love your bucket list road trip. Why not now eh!!. Train travel is the best and the great way to drink it all in! It’s the people I see and hear from that make life interesting. Hope Biden flushes the toilet in the White House. Trump will be dangerous in his last two months. Beware because he did get 71 million votes! Bringing America together is no easy feat. I wish him and his team good luck. Gotta get Covid under control first. (The Draft)

Doug Thompson: What a wonderful poem from a wonderful dad.
Camera Anne should really be glad.
That you’re the dad, that’s in her life.
To help her through the world’s strifes. (Cami Turns 25)
Geo: Ahh another tortured poet.However, Dougie, I don’t think the Bard is fearful.

Doug Chappell: What a great comment about the San Francisco new tax….betcha everyone looks the other way. By the way, your comment about hanging up playing once you got into radio really hit home. I worked in the record biz for 6 months to see if I could do it and stop playing music. At six months, I felt it would work, so I sold my amp and my bass not to be tempted to go back to playing. The experience of standing on a stage with your bandmates and hitting a groove is one of the most powerful feelings I have ever had, stronger than any drug ….. it is addictive. (You Ain’t Seen Nuthin’)

Geo: Very addictive, Doug, I couldn’t even go to concerts for the longest time.

Chuck Knapp: Daughters and Dads. You just can’t beat it, in my opinion. Congratulations, you two, and many, many more great years to look forward to. (Cami Turns 25)

Daniel Townley: Super montage. Well done. (Cami Turns 25)
Geo: Thanks, Cuz!

Buzz Barnett: “Bard” beware! A most B-E-A-You-ty-full post, Geo!
Much Affection to You Both, Buzzy. (Cami Turns 25)



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Geo’s Media Blog (The Christmas Fun Run) New for 12/21/20

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Having been an athlete for most of my life, after turning forty, I found myself in terrible shape. I had just moved to California to start my own consulting business so when a friend suggested that I should try running, I thought, what the hell! 

The first thing every morning I’d roll out of bed, have some coffee, lace up my running shoes and head out the door for a two-mile run. Now the thing about living in San Diego is it’s perfect place to be a runner. Not only does it have a lot of spectacular running trails, but it’s always so cool in the morning that your first mile just warms you up.
 
After a couple of months of doing my two-milers, my daughter Candis, who was running track at school suggested that we should run a 10k, I said, “There’s no way I can run 6.2 miles.” She responded with, “Sure you can Dad, we’ll go slow.”

The race started and ended in Balboa Park and as we finally headed up the hill to the finish line, Candis (shown over my right shoulder in the photo on top) said, “Dad look behind you.” As I looked back down the hill and saw hundreds of runners, I remember thinking, “Hey, if a fellow did a little training, maybe he could do a little better?”

Being competitive and also obsessive, before long, I was running fifty and sixty-mile training weeks as well as racing every second weekend well into my sixties.

One of the toughest races I ever did was the LA Marathon, which I ran with Candis, which was the only time that not running hurt more than the running did. In fact, when we finished, my legs were so stiff that I couldn’t bend them to sit down, so I just fell over.

While living in San Diego I belonged to the Sab Diego Athletic Club which was located a half-mile from Balboa Park which was where my all-time favorite run occurred.

Every Christmas week, the club did a 7-mile fun run in the morning, and the best part was, in attendance were several Olympians who lived and trained in San Diego along with some of the Padres and Chargers. The term fun run was intended for them because I had to run my race pace to keep them in-sight.

On this particular memory-making run, as I came around the corner and entered the half-mile downhill back to the SDAC, I spotted the pros stopped at a traffic light at the bottom just across the street from the entrance to the club.Even though I was totally out of gas, I wasn’t missing this opportunity so I hit it, and just as I reached them, the light changed and we all slowly jogged into the SDAC together.

As we entered the club, the manager spotted me and said, “Wow, look at you, running with the big dogs now, huh!” 

GEO’S LIFE-LINES
We should use things, not people. 
 
Life is a tough teacher; it gives you the test first, then the lesson. 
 
It was bad enough when my friends started to leave the locker room, but now that they’re leaving the planet, it’s devastating. 
 
If there were no money in it, there’d be no war. 
 
Unfortunately, we can’t go back in time to fix things, but fortunately, we can move forward and make things better every day. 
 

When Trump claimed that he was going to make America again, he forgot to tell us just what that looked like to him.

One of the neat things about Canada is that there are several political parties to choose from, so you don’t have to declare that you’re left or right, you can actually be somewhere in between. Unfortunately, this slows things down so much that Canada actually missed the financial crisis because they couldn’t deregulate as fast as the Americans could.

The King of the hill didn’t fall there.

When a man becomes a father, sometimes a man has to give up his dreams whereas a mother has already achieved hers.

There’s no such thing as new comfort music.

 
COMMENTS

Steve Eberhart: There are a hundred KVIL promotions I remember well.  One of my favorites was the “6 pack of Chevettes” we gave away on 1 day during a rating book. I remember at the meeting when Ron was giving the details of the promotion. He said, “..now understand, a Chevette is not exactly a Mercedes, but I don’t think anyone will turn down a new car!” So with that on a Thursday (of course), we started on his show in the morning, and on each jocks shift throughout the day and night, we gave away a car.  I even gave one away at 11:20 p.m. on my 11-2 night shift!  WHO gives away a CAR at 11:20 at night??!!  KVIL did. (The Future Is Now)

Jack Schell: I realize that the ratings chart available to one-and-all on the internet is 6+…but, all things considered, the listing may be worth a look-see.  KLTY, very nice folks, is probably thrilled to be at number 1.  Bill G. and I trade comments now and then on all this, noting that your (“I’m also ashamed of the fact that the biggest of them all, KVIL in Dallas is not among them.”) comment is certainly well taken.  But, hey, KVIL appears (on the Nielsen report) to be nestled at a solid 18th / 2.0 rating.  Besides, there are about 30 to 40 calls that fall below 18th!  I don’t want you to be ASHAMED… it’s NOT your fault.  Don’t be silly. (The Big One)Geo: Wow, just like the song said Jack, “KVIL’s Right Back Where We Started From.”

James Molly: Bob Marks sends me your stuff and I enjoy the content AND the humor! Thank you & keep ’em coming! (The Economy)Geo: Thanks to you for the read, James, and thanks to Bob for sharing.

Doug Chappell: Hi George,
We would love to attack Turdeau (Not a mis-spelling), but with this virus attack, we are fighting he cannot be found as he is hiding in his cottage !! I see Trump is working every day… The story of Buck and Dwight is wonderful; even when I was not particularly fond of country music, I loved them. They were the original bridge between country and rock…but we have to add Johnny Cash into that club. The first record I ever bought was a 78 of “I Walk The Line.” (Hillbilly Music)