Recently, I was telling a female acquaintance of mine about an encounter I had in an airport Dwight Yoakam, and the legendary Buck Owens which I wrote about in the book, “Guitars & Radio & Wild Wild Women.”

During our discussion, the topic of why there were more male country stars than female stars came up.
My theory is, women hear their girlfriends whining and crying about breakups all the time so they don’t wanna hear them sing about it too. However, the only time they hear a man cry is on a record.

I can only recall crying twice in my life, and yes, both were provoked by women.
My first one was when I wasn’t feeling well at work, so I came home early to take a nap.

As I was dosing off, the phone rang, so when nobody else got it, I finally answered, and it turned out to be our family, Doctor.
He immediately said, “Mr. Johns, the tests are back, and I’m sorry to say that your daughter has Mononucleosis or Leukemia; we won’t know which one until we do some more tests.”

I didn’t even know Candis had been to the Doctor, so I went into total shock, and all I could do was cry.

We immediately took her to a specialist who immediately said to me as we entered his office, “Mr. Johns, your daughter doesn’t have Leukemia, which I know because, unfortunately, I’ve seen too many that do.

The second time I cried was when we proudly, or so I thought, bought our first big home. (Shown on top)
It was located in Carmel, Indiana, on a tree-filled acre lot with a creek running through it. Oh, it also had a large deck with a pool and spa out back.

Pretty cool, right? However, one day, my wife decided to say,” You know the only reason we live in this house is for you, don’t you?”
I was so angry and disheartened that all I could do was break down and cry.

That incident changed me so much that when we moved to California, where I started my own business, I bought an even bigger house and didn’t run it by anybody. (see below)

Tonight, my Daughter Cami and I are heading to the Pompano Amphitheater to see the Steve Miller Band.
We both like a bunch of Steve’s songs, which is rare for a Father and a Daughter, so of course, we gotta go. Hell, we even text each other whenever one of Steve’s tunes comes on anywhere.

Also, another cool thing is before the show, we get to hang out with my new friend from the band, Kenny Lee Lewis.
Being an old rocker, I love talking shop with guys like Kenny, who is still out there rockin’ it.

When I was figuring out how to purchase the tickets online, I started thinking about the time I saw the Steve Miller Band at a Jazz Festival in Aspen, Colorado.
I was staying with my friends, the Hilliards, in their beautiful home near the top of the mountain.

Being an avid runner back then, I decided to go for a little run the morning of the concert.
However, before heading out, I arranged with Patricio, who took care of the house and stuff, to pick me up in about a half-hour near the bottom of the mountain. (The run down the mountain was going to be fun, but there was no way I could run it back up)

As I began, I couldn’t help but marvel at all the gorgeous scenery surrounding me as I sucked in the wonderful Mountain air.
About five minutes into my downward trek, the riff to Jet Airliner suddenly echoed its way up the mountain to me. How cool was that?

My timing couldn’t have been better because they were doing a soundcheck, and the mountain served as a gigantic megaphone.
Jet Airliner only lasted about thirty seconds before they went right into The Joker, followed by Take The Money and Run, Abracadabra, Rock’n Me, Fly like Eagle, Swingtown, Jungle Love, and more.

As good as the concert was, later that night, there was no way it could match the mini concert I heard that morning.
Some of my all-time favorites were wafting up at me as I ran, so I couldn’t help but pick up the pace, which made the whole experience breathtaking in more ways than one.

George Ferko: King Edward?? The figurehead who abdicated the throne after 326 days as King? I’d say Wallis Simpson had little influence. Juan Peron and Evita?? Juan was elected el-Presidente in 1947, and Evita was a powerful influence during her husband’s first term. But she died in 1952. Juan, meanwhile, was elected to a second term. After a couple of military dictatorships, Juan was elected to a third term when he returned from exile in 1973. He thus became President long after Evita’s death. As far as Reagan listening to Nancy or Prince Harry (another figurehead) listening to Meghan, I have no idea what the wives’ influence was or is. Do you? Or is conjecture the best you can do? In any event, you miss the big picture. You can always find isolated instances of where a wife of a politician influenced her husband. Jill comes to mind. Michelle too. But the passage of the 19th Amendment passed the Senate 56-25 and the House 304-89. It was then ratified by the required 3/4ths of states in near record time. With the 19th Amendment, men voluntarily relinquished their monopoly on political power—by huge margins. This fact should not be overlooked. Let me apologize in advance for writing another dissertation. But things are not always as simple as you present them in your “Life-Liners.” (Radio Geo’s Media Blog)
Geo: No apology needed, George; I appreciate your comments. My Life-Liners are not intended to simplify life; I’m trying to provoke some out-of-the-box thinking instead of the usual far-right or ultra-left opinions we boringly have to suffer through. 

Earl Mann: ANOTHER GOOD ONE, GEORGE. SO MANY INSIGHTS. SO CLEVER. (Soup Du Jour)
Geo: My goal was always to be at least one day ahead of you guys, Earl, but it was tuff sleddin’.

Old pal Bob Christy and I were talking the other day about how sad it is that most of the legendary stations we grew up with are already gone.
You know, great ones like KCBQ in San Diego, KHJ in LA, KGO in San Francisco, WLS in Chicago, KJR in Seattle, CKLW in Detroit, WMAL in Washington, WIBC and WNAP in Indianapolis, CKY in Winnipeg, and CHUM in Toronto.

The demise of great radio stations can usually be traced back to new owners taking control.
What I wonder about, though, is how many radio people spotted the moment one of the great ones began to go south as I did when KVIL was about to fall.

When Blair bought KVIL, the only change was Mr. Fairbanks was no longer involved.
Jim Hilliard was still in charge of the same staff, and I remained on as a consultant.

However, later on, when CBS purchased KVIL, Jim Hilliard’s and my services were no longer required.
They, of course, knew better, so they put one of their guys in as the new program director.

Before long, the new PD told management that Chapman was killing him because Ron was too old to do what he wanted done.
CBS, thinking that he may still have some financial value left, moved him to KLUV, which was their oldies station.

Lo and behold, the new PD turned out to be right because when the new rating book came out, Ron did kill him.
Unfortunately, KVIL never recovered and is still free-falling.

Upon his retirement, and after being inducted into three Radio Halls of Fame, Ron and his wife, Nance, fulfilled their lifelong dream by buying a two-bedroom Condo aboard the ship “The World,”
The World, of course, lived up to its name by sailing around the world each and every year.

While circumnavigating the globe, The World would dock at all the major events being held in various cities, which was very exciting.  
The system worked this way: each New Year’s Day, all the condo owners would vote on what city they would like to be docked at the following New Year’s.

Once the destination was agreed upon, the Captain would then plot a course that would take them a whole year to get to. How cool was that?
However, the second time they sailed by the Great Wall of China, Ron turned to Nance and said, “Can you get me off this fucking Merry Go Round?”
(“The World” is pictured on top, and Ron & Me below in Chicago just after I inducted him into the National Radio Hall of Fame. RIP, Ron.)