The other day, I heard “A Taste of Honey ” by Herb Alpert and the Tiauna Brass on the radio, which brought back memories of my Dad, who loved TJB, and a vivid memory of legendary promotion guy Charlie Minor. (Pictured above)

Charlie and I are walking across the lot of A&M Records right after meeting with his boss, Herb Alpert.
I proposed a joint venture between A&M Records and the Class FM radio stations where we’d produce a “Love Songs” Album using tunes A&M already had in their vault.

As we walked toward Charlie’s office, I asked him how he thought the meeting went.
He said, “I could tell the boss liked you, and I think he found your proposal interesting.” “Great,” I responded, “So what happens now?”

“Absolutely nothing,” he replied, and when I asked him what he meant, he said, “George, what you want would require a lot of work, and Herb would rather have fun.”
“Fun,” I questioned, “Yeah,” Charlie said; “He’d prefer going into the studio with some unknown group to record an unknown tune than look up who owns the songs you want for your album.”

“Wow,” I said, “Charlie, I think there’s a lot of money waiting for us with this project.”
“I think you’re right,” he responded, “But what you don’t understand is when guys like Herb record new stuff, nine times out of ten, they’re wrong, but they’re still multi-millionaires.”

COMMENTS

Jerry Kiefer: How’d you forget the prize closet? You got all the rest… (Jargon)
Geo: Had to leave a little something for ya, Jerry.

Steve Eberhart: “..why not turn over some radio signals to kids?” Interesting question because “back in the day” when radio was great, weren’t we all just kids running these multi-million-dollar properties? Look at stations today; there aren’t many 19 or even 25-year-old air talent out there, much less 25-year-old program directors with fresh from-the-street ideas that lead to greatness.  Many 55+ program directors and managers don’t have ANY fresh ideas other than reducing costs to temporarily make the bottom line look better to the board of directors. (Jargon)
Geo: You’re so right, Steve; when I was in my early thirties, Ted Rogers turned his radio station in Toronto over to me so I could put a new format on the air that had never been heard before. One of us had to have been crazy.

Mike Buxser: We lived by the motto, if we can dream it, we can do it. Working in radio was a labor of love.  It wasn’t a job; it was an all-in way of life. We lived and breathed it.  When we weren’t in the station creating great radio, we were hanging out with each other at a local watering hole talking radio. That passion, energy, and commitment to excellence is gone. We were proud to be in radio. Today, it seems so corporate and emotionally dead. There’s a sameness to what you hear.  I was blessed to have spent 50 years doing radio from 1968-2018. I miss what it was, but I was happy to get out when I did. It’s time to let the corporate geeks finish ruining the business. George, keep up the good work. (What Happened)
Geo: Well said, Mike.

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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