As some of you may know, when I was a young lad, I was in a band called The Jury.
The Jury, who had evolved from The Phantoms, were fortunate enough to release four records in the mid-sixties. They all hang on my wall to this day.
Unfortunately, even though The Jury had the #1 Canadian record on the national chart, unless you have worldwide hits like fellow Winnipeggers, The Guess Who, BTO, Burton Cummings, and Neil Young, there ain’t no money in it. (See RPM chart below)
Not being what you would call a great musician and having a child on the way, I knew I would be unable to do both, so I chose broadcasting.
The move to radio, even though it meant giving up on a childhood dream, was a no-brainer because I turned out to be much better at radio than playing a guitar.
Fast forward some twenty years later, and there I am, living large in San Diego as a national radio consultant.
(See me and the rest of the guys from The Jury hanging out backstage below)
(Click the link below to see a clip of the concert.)
They claimed they had about an hour and a half of top 10 records, which came from their time together in The Guess Who, Randy’s in BTO, and Burton’s solo stuff.
At some point, I say, “Hey Randy, whatever happened to that tour you and Burton were gonna do?
GEO’S LIFE-LINERS
When Dave Mathews inducted Willy Nelson into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he talked about when Jimmy Carter’s son got caught smoking pot in the White House. He then said that it was too bad Jimmy hadn’t been reelected ’cause we probably would have been free to smoke dope a lot sooner.” Yeah, Dave, fuck the economy.
Problems can be fixed, but not situations.
To be clear, ladies, trotting down the aisle does not turn conditional love into unconditional love.
If I were to do a new radio format today, I’d create one that the three Johns girls could listen to together. One is a Gen X, and the other two are millennials.
Blonde women earn 7% more; now, how dumb is that?
If ya wanna win, ya gotta keep on fightin’.
Seeing as only 9% of the population would participate in a radio survey, are we sure that they represent the other 91%?
Speaking of radio, I used to aim the marketing at the folks who’d participate in a radio survey. On air, we talked to everybody, hoping that some of them would go into a client’s store and buy some shit.
Interestingly, men are only referred to as Mr., while everyone else is now a Mrs., Miss, Ms, or Mx.
The only people who are free in America are the gangsters; the rest of us are tied up in bureaucracy.
If you haven’t stood on the corner of Portage and Main in Winnipeg during the twelve days of Christmas, you don’t know from cold.
If you can see it, you can be it.
There are seven intellectual gifts but only two artistic ones. You can sing, or you can’t, and you can draw, or you can’t.
Doing things wrong is the only way you learn how to do things right.
The other night, I watched a documentary about David Foster, who, like me, is a Canadian, so I so wanted to like him, but he made it almost impossible.
COMMENTS
David Chesney: Having worked for the largest record company (CBS RECORDS) for over a decade during the time of radio’s flameout, to me, the death was when music was available EVERYWHERE. Up to that point, radio was KING; they had the tunes – PERIOD! Couple that with getting rid of all the personalities on the radio, add it up, and you have what we have now when we turn on the radio. (An Epiphany)
Geo: Yeah, radio got lazy when we had the music exclusive, David. Then, when Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh, and a few others showed us that there was more to radio than music, we still didn’t learn.
Richard Skelley: Great descriptions of Winnipeg and The Guess Who in the Sixties. As a kid, I visited relatives near Selkirk every summer and zealously alternated between CKY and CKRC. A couple of Easter Holiday trips as well, when snow was still on the ground. It was interesting to read the commentary about radio from your contributor, who once worked as a broadcaster in Indiana. Coincidentally, one of the Guess Who’s post-Randy Bachman hits, Sour Suite, referenced the Indianapolis zip code 46201. That’s because Burton Cummings wrote the largely autobiographical lyrics in his Indianapolis hotel room while on tour. (Guess Who)
Geo: So weird, Richard, because when I got into radio, I left Winnipeg and the band scene behind. I eventually ended up in Indy and had no idea that the Guess Who was in 46201. However, now I’m proud that Burton wrote about a town that was very good to me.
The Countdown continues tomorrow with #5 from 2023.
Radio Geo’s Media Blog is a politically incorrect inside look at Radio, TV, Music, Movies, Books, Social Media, Politics, Religion, and Life, primarily written with men in mind.
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Steve Eberhart: “If you can see it, you can be it.”
I paused when reading that this morning. When I was at my first radio station at the age of 16, a co-worker and I visited KVIL in Dallas. It was thee station I aspired to work for. They let us see the control room and we stood there and admired the guys on the air. It was almost noon, so we saw Bill Gardner do his last break and Jack Schell do his first break of the day. Behind us in an office, Ron Chapman walked out and said hello. He couldn’t have been nicer and said, “Well, you’re welcome to stay as long as you like, just stay out of the way.” I stood there mesmerized. It was a funky old control room with a huge Gates board and they even still played records on turntables. I watched and could figure out what knob controlled what and envisioned myself there being on the air. A few years later I was hired at KVIL and my first night stood there where I watched Bill and Jack. I felt perfectly comfortable operating that board my first night because in my mind I had already done it over and over. I could see it, and I did it.
Geo: You understood visualization very early on Steve and it’s probably why you own a radio station today.
Wendy Holmes: My older brother met Neil Young at Earl Grey elementary school and were friends at Kelvin High School. When Neil and his mom lived in an apartment block on the corner of Corydon and Daily, Neil would walk up Warsaw Avenue, where we lived, and call on Keith. I was still in elementary school so when he knocked on the back door, I would be sitting at the kitchen table eating my breakfast. I, of course, would answer the door and let him in. He would stand there waiting for Keith to appear while I ate my breakfast and finally Keith would charge into the kitchen and off, they would go to Kelvin! Little did I know that one day he would be a worldwide, much loved troubadour!!
Geo: Strange how things go, Wendy. I’ll never forget hurrying down the stairs at CKY with a recording contract in my pocket and passing Neil on his way up. I remember thinking, “What the hell is he doing here? Surely he’s not gonna record anything; he can’t sing.”
Doug Thompson: George, I can’t sing and I certainly can’t draw…so I guess I’m in BIG trouble. (To Play or Not to Play.)
Geo: What you are, Dougie, is brilliantly creative, which in its own way makes you gifted. However, you weren’t born with it; you learned it.
Marc LaFrance: Always enjoy your blog. Love hearing about the Winnipeg music scene back in the day and all the places you have worked due to your various positions you have held during radio career. Keep on Rockn’ (To Play or Not to Play)
Geo: I’ve had a great life, Marc, but I’m kinda envious of yours, you’re still out there rockin’ with the likes of BTO. I put my guitar down in 1967. 🙁
Bruce Devine: I was still in high school & working gigs with Dave Charles at a club in Belleville.
Pete Best came to town, The Beatles are on Ed Sullivan & Pete Best is in Belleville
I’m backstage (an old kitchen) & Best is peeing in the sink:) Isn’t show business wonderful. (To Play or Not)
Geo: Nobody ever claimed that Rock & Roll folks had any class, Bruce.