Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame - Class of 2011

[BossRadioDJ]

A quick reminder: The BARHOF 2011 luncheon and celebration is this Saturday at the Doubletree Berkeley Marina, followed by an "after party" at the CHRS Bay Area Radio Museum & Hall of Fame. Reservations and details at http://www.BroadcastLegends.com

 

[RadioJunkieMike]

Ben Fong-Torres' article about the ceremonies in today's Chron:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/30/PKK51LJLRQ.DTL

Sounds like Barbieri was kind of a ******... guess you can get away with that when you're sick.

 

[DavidKaye]

Ben Fong-Torres' article about the ceremonies in today's Chron:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/30/PKK51LJLRQ.DTL

Sounds like Barbieri was kind of a ******... guess you can get away with that when you're sick.

The last thing on EARTH I want to do is go to an awards ceremony where a bunch of irrelevant retirees and loud-mouthed currently employed folks spout off. While I've had a fascination with broadcasting, especially radio, since the age of 8, I can't think of a more boring time than to listen to these guys talk shop. Frankly, this kind of thing gives me the creeps. It's all OLD people, and while I'm going in that direction myself, I prefer to talk about today, not yesterday. Yesterday's gone. While it's true that I'll post from time to time about how things used to be, I'm not intending to post about nostalgia, but about changes in the industry for good or for bad, and the occasional entertaining (I hope) anecdote.

 

[DyingMedium]

Bitter, party of 1, your table is ready...Another asinine post brought to you by the Never-Was DK...

 

[lenhockey]

Dyingmedium you couldn't have said it better.
The Radio Hall of Fame honors the people that laid the foundation that Mr. DK wants to forget or ignore.

 

[darwood]

OR....be a part of. I'm thinking he's a wannabe who never was? Wait a second. He did work at.....what/where was that station? What did he do?

 

[DavidKaye]

Bitter, party of 1, your table is ready...Another asinine post brought to you by the Never-Was DK...

Not bitter at all. I was "enough" of a celebrity to let me know that fame is not all that much fun. I'd have people chat me up at Safeway because they'd seen me on TV as a host or doing a car commercial or whatever. It was annoying to be famous, and that was tiny fame. I can hardly imagine how horrible big fame can be.

I'm still a performer, playing button accordion or fiddle for parties, at civic events, and on the street. Lots of people want to take photos of me. I'm not that into being photographed, but it goes with the territory.

There are actually very few broadcasters I want to hear tell about their experiences. I don't care about any of the local folks. I'd like to have heard Bill Drake and Chuck Blore together a few years ago, but I missed it. However, a great Chuck Blore interview is online. Aside from those two, I can't think of anybody I want to hear talk about their radio (or TV) experiences.

 

[DavidKaye]

OR....be a part of. I'm thinking he's a wannabe who never was? Wait a second. He did work at.....what/where was that station? What did he do?

The whole list? KOFY 1050, KSOL 107.7, KCSM-FM, KCSM-TV, KWUN, KTHO, KJAY, KXL, KKEY, KALW, KMUV-TV, leaving out some weekend and vacation fill-ins here and there.

 

[darwood]

Wowzer! I had no idea. Quite the resume. What was your air name? (maybe I remember you.) And why did you quit doing radio? Its obvious from your credentials...you had (have?) a passion for the art.

 

[DavidKaye]

Wowzer! I had no idea. Quite the resume. What was your air name? (maybe I remember you.) And why did you quit doing radio? Its obvious from your credentials...you had (have?) a passion for the art.

David Kaye, Roger Stark, and Scott Taylor (until I learned that there was a Scott Taylor who was a rising porn star). As far as remembering me, I'm afraid I wasn't all that memorable, and often on the shorter stints I didn't give my name much. I'm one of those rarities in broadcasting who is equally at home on both the mic/camera side and the techie side. Thus, I have never had much drive to be a star. I don't have the star itch to scratch.

What really drove me to radio and TV were the mechanics of how it worked, especially with radio, not being a star. I loved the idea of spinning records and CDs, opening the mic, saying something, reading spots, etc. But doing "bits" and marketing myself was never of much interest to me. In TV I loved that you could create something out of nothing -- make a chilly TV studio seem as cozy as your living room, or a spot by a roll-up door look like a workshop, etc.

I could actually become a talkradio star, but I'm not so sure I want to go there. I know I have it in me to do a snarky style, sort of a leftwinger version of Rush Limbaugh and with about 1/2 of his talent. There's a gaping hole in talkradio for this kind of thing. But I don't really like snark anymore.

Or I could be a journeyman talkshow host or DJ, certainly suitable to listen to, but not memorable. But I've already gone that route.

I subscribe to Jerry Garcia's philosophy: Don't be the best at what you do; be the only person who does what you do. I'm happy being a freelance tech troubshooter and a button accordion player who plays obscure pop tunes for rich people's parties.

 

[darwood]

And I just won 5 bucks. Thanks!

"I'll bet I can get this joker to do a whole paragraph on his radio career, (K-WHO?) his accordion and maybe his general philosophy of life....with just 1 (count it - 1!) line!"

"You're on! But you have to use the word "Wowzer."

DONE!

"I could become a talk show star...."
Whadda putz. (YOU)

 

[DavidKaye]

0

"I'll bet I can get this joker to do a whole paragraph on his radio career, (K-WHO?) his accordion and maybe his general philosophy of life....with just 1 (count it - 1!) line!"

Okay, you got me. You win. I never listed my past employers before on any broadcasting forum in 20+ years of web forums and Usenet and 10 before that on Fidonet and Compuserve, and you managed to get me to do it here. Fine. Is this the extent of what you do for entertainment?

I'm curious what (if anything at all) YOU have done in broadcasting. Actually, I'm not that curious because I doubt it amounts to anything. I suspect that you're simply blowing words out your posterior.

 

[cayenne]

H-m-m getting a bit out of character here friends. It's my experience that Dying Medium, David Eduardo and David Kaye tend to contribute some of the most compelling content we share in this forum. The personal attacks do little to further the discussion and tend to detract from the credability of the message.

 

[calguy]

H-m-m getting a bit out of character here friends. It's my experience that Dying Medium, David Eduardo and David Kaye tend to contribute some of the most compelling content we share in this forum. The personal attacks do little to further the discussion and tend to detract from the credibility of the message.

He riled up a few people with his post about not wanting to listen to stories from "irrelevant retirees". He may be honest in his statement but it was a crass post that was a little insulting to those being honored for their radio careers. That brings out the insulting nature in some folks who feel the need to protect their heroes...

 

[weav]

Dissing people in public rarely makes for good results.

Unfortunately there are too many examples of it in the media and it's easy to slip into trying to emulate them.

 

[cayenne]

David Kaye's observations on The Hall of Fame do miss the spirit of the honor. By the very nature of the award, it's quite likely the recipient is either “old” or “retired”. The Hall is reflecting, looking back, at the quality and character of a broadcasters or associates contribution to the profession. If David Kaye’s or anyone else’s career had developed in such a way that he/she was in consideration for such a distinction. I imagine the honoree would find it rewarding…So I understand the dust up. The reactions to David Kayes remarks had merit but might have been framed with more substance and a bit less vitriol. If there’s a Judge…you are it.

 

[DavidKaye]

If David Kaye’s or anyone else’s career had developed in such a way that he/she was in consideration for such a distinction. I imagine the honoree would find it rewarding…

The only time I wanted an award was in high school when I ran the audio-visual department, did tons of chores for the school at no pay (it was Catholic school), and at a school assembly with all the students on graduation day they gave award medals to members of the baseball and basketball teams, but not me. I'd put in countless hundreds of hours and no gratitude. I guess my being miffed reached the top and a hurriedly put together ceremony with just the parents and the grads and gave some unengraved medals to the rest of us. We then had to return the medals for engraving, and about a month later I got my medal in the mail in a sloppily crushed box.

My dad pulled me aside and asked me if I'd felt good going volunteer work for the school at the time that I did it? Yes. Had I been expecting an award medal at the time I did it? No. He said something like, "There you go. Take the memory of the good stuff and you won't forget it, but you'll probably forget where you put the medal."

Years later I mislaid the medal, but I still have the memory. I have never craved any awards since. In fact, when I was given a public service award a few years ago (let's not get into it), I actually felt embarrassed. Today I still do quite a bit of volunteer work, but I carry my dad's words with me about it. I savor the good times and I don't think about any recognition.

As to the BARHOF, once again, I have no problem honoring people who have advanced the art in significant ways, but it seems that BARHOF has become simply a way of honoring people for getting old. I could never understand it when game show hosts got rounds of applause for people in the audience simply because they're old. Getting to the point of being old is a reward itself, given the alternatives.

 

[skyrocker]

"It's all OLD people, and while I'm going in that direction myself, I prefer to talk about today, not yesterday."

Busted, David! For being rude and typecasting living souls into your lifeless personal labels. As one of your "irrelevant retirees," I can testify that we also like to look to the future, David. If you chose to actually ask the right questions and then listen to their experienced answers, you would discover a wealth of information you CAN use. You dad, for example, had some great words for you.

It is, however, very hard to come up with the right questions when one "has all the answers."

"The only time I wanted an award was in high school, ya da ya da..."

Whoa! Did someone else just win another five dollars on that last four paragraphs?

"I have never had much drive to be a star."

Well, it shows. Often the more driven folks choose their words with more care. And please relax. With the exception of playing your fiddle and button accordion for the wealthy, you are not what readers of this forum would call a "star."

That's not the job of a DJ anyway, David; it is to be a presenter of the real stars, the day's pop musicians and songwriters.

"I'm curious what (if anything at all) YOU have done in broadcasting...I suspect that you're simply blowing words out your posterior..."

...through the mic and into the air, yes, David. Perhaps one day, when you are much older, you will find out the skills that can go into something like this.

 

[DavidKaye]

That's not the job of a DJ anyway, David; it is to be a presenter of the real stars, the day's pop musicians and songwriters.

Thank you for saying in 1 line what I was trying to say in many paragraphs. We're on the same page! Radio DJs aren't worthy of stardom, and they're usually not worth listening to at gatherings. Oh, I've been to 2 BARHOF luncheons over the years, and I went to a couple gatherings Ben Fong-Torres held to promote his radio book. These folks simply weren't interesting. I had a more interesting time chatting with Dr. Don Rose's son, who was CE at KMEL at the time than I did with anybody else.

Again, I have no problem honoring the people who have done groundbreaking work in broadcasting. James Gabbert, Belva Davis, and other true pioneers definitely have things to say that are interesting. But most of the BARHOF winners are run of the mill DJs who are recognized simply because they're old and they have high name recognition.

 

[skyrocker]

Oh, I've been to 2 BARHOF luncheons over the years...

Those events are totally out of control free-for-alls, ain't they? If anything one might find fault with the luncheon menu provided by the Bay Area Legends <http://www.broadcastlegends.com/>. It hasn't changed since the days of magnetic tape.