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Big Jay Sorenson - WJRZ

Oh...one more thing. I'll be on the JOEY REYNOLDS SHOW as a guest this FRIDAY NIGHT/SATURDAY MORNING on 710 WOR-AM...not sure of the exact time yet...likely first hour of the show. We'll likely talk about message boards and how wonderful they are.

Another SHAMELESS plug. You may now resume whatever it was you were doing.
BE BIG!
Jay
 
bigjay said:
Oh...one more thing. I'll be on the JOEY REYNOLDS SHOW as a guest this FRIDAY NIGHT/SATURDAY MORNING on 710 WOR-AM...not sure of the exact time yet...likely first hour of the show. We'll likely talk about message boards and how wonderful they are.

Another SHAMELESS plug. You may now resume whatever it was you were doing.
BE BIG!
Jay

Wow! This is going to be incredible! Legends reunited. Jay and Joey with conversation covering a tremendous history timeline dating back to the great AM radio days all the way back to 117 WHLW and 66 WNBC. Very few people know and lived these rare glory day's of AM's Rock and Roll heyday's. As it was once said this is going to be a tape recorder moment.
 
I had a blast Sam.. Joey's still....Joey. And I was on for two hours on his 13th anniversary at WOR. They have NICE new studios in Lower Manhattan. I could get very used to that. So let's see...I've done Radio Greats on CBS-FM...and a couple of hours with one of the business legends... Maybe there's a place for me after all!!
Maybe on HyLitRadio.com? My face site to listen to the oldies...
BE BIG!
 
Hey Big Jay. Merry Christmas from all of us ex-patriot Jersey-ites in Frozen Fort Wayne! All the best that Anita woman, too.
 
Yeah...it's 48 and sunny here at the banks of the Barnegat Bay just north of the Seaside bridge...the one called "Barnicut Bridge and bay" in "My Eyes Adored You" by my pal Frankie Valli. Our son is in Michigan...near South Bend, Indiana and they get that Lake-Effect snow and all of the wind nature can muster coming over Lake Michigan... I reminded our son of what winter was like in Dallas when we lived there..

Say hiya to Lee Tobin for me please...you should link-up to me on Facebook.
BE BIG!
Big Jay #82
 
Merry Christmas Jay, it would be the 25th (year) oh and tell all the dumbsheets
you have many a fan down here where it's 78 and sunny, and if they had any sense
they would be down here. But as i read, i can tell they aren't that smart. God bless
your health, and your family
Doc
 
Has it been that long since we worked together? Wow. The '80s feel like yesterday...but we sure did have a good time crankin' out the hits with peak amplitude modulation.

Doc, so you know, I get quite a few calls from Florida each time I'm on CBS-FM...and they all tuned-in on the net just to hear my show. I am honored. And they found OUT from posts like this. It's one of the ways we communicate today, and I don't view it as self-serving at all. I just like people to KNOW when and where I'll be on the radio, satellite or internet...as I have fans spread far and wide. Jeez...when I was on nights at WNNBC, I got calls from Labrador to Denver to The Bahamas and everywhere in between.

Being named to the Top-100 Jocks of All-Time-list recently is another career highlight without a doubt. SO many worthy jocks from back in the day to today were on the list...and some really great ones just missed the list. Dan Ingram was deservedly #1. That makes me even MORE proud of my accomplishments...including a brief clip of my Time Machine show from WNBC being used on a KLF album!!!

Being on the WOR Network last week with one of my mentors, Joey Reynolds was ALSO quite an interesting experience as you might imagine. I felt right at home doing talk again, as he let me be ME; and I've heard so many people who either stayed up all night or listened on the WOR pod-casts.

So, while you and many others note some people just don't get WHY I post things on this JERSEY site, I'm glad YOU Doc GET it! I get to share my enthusiasm for the biz (and the bad things too) and share what I've experienced with pals, listeners and total strangers.

I'm going under the knife again in PHILLY this time on TUESJAY. I'm in VERY good hands considering my high-risk situation. I'll be back good as new very soon. Thanks for all of you who write to me personally on my email...or on this Radio-Info thingy.

One more thing Doc...Not everyone is negative on here. There will always be some who need to show how juvenile they are by the things they post. I think ALL entertainers of any kind are subject to this stuff. Its part of the sometimes odd world we live in.

Rick Nelson was right: "You can't please everyone, so ya got to please yourself."
BE BIG!
Big Jay #82
 
sorry, that should read, 100 top jocks list, thats a big deal.
I MADE the 400 worst speller's to ever come out of Jersey
Public schools, and that included CAMDEN! Now that's a feat
 
Hiya Doc...it's actually #83...I was dilusional to think that I was #82 on that un-scientific list...but none the less, I'm quite honored. I went to school in Lakewood, so my math skillz ain't the bestest it can be neither.
Yes...surgery went ok...worse than they expected...as usual...and I may NOW have another infection. Seeing doc in Philly Thursjay. Cross fingers dude.
BE BIG
#83
 
Quite the anniversary.

It was exactly TWO years ago today that I was dismissed from my morning co-hosting duties at WJRZ-FM radio. I guess I was way ahead of the curve (so to speak) regarding "budgetary cuts" as it was explained to me. I loved that gig. It was LOCAL as local could be, I was able to be myself. I was able to do a HIGHLY rated Sunday morning talk-program and do a week-day show with a very talented cast of fellow broadcasters.

Rather than go into a lengthy and disgruntled diatribe about what I think really happened two years ago today, I want to publicly thank all of you NON-RADIO people for constantly writing and asking when I'll be on the radio again in any capacity, including my stints on CBS-FM, or asking about my health (I just had yet another surgery and I'm much better thank you) and about my teaming with Anita Bonita as well, who suffered (almost two years later) the supposed "budgetary" issue that I was slashed with.

So you all know we still consider ourselves partners on the RADIO, even though we haven’t shared a mic for TWO years. We're very good friends who speak almost daily. When we ARE together, it is like we’re DOING a show live. Yeah…it’s that funny. And we will try to make something happen again when the time and facility is right. We both know...and the audience knew the chemistry was right. And that can happen if someone uses their brain to realize that we just plain WORK well with each other and as team members on ANY level.

Until then, she'll do what she has to do, as I will to survive in this dang-awful time for talent not only in NY/NJ/Philly, but everywhere in this recession-blasted nation of ours. Radio as a whole, however…should have seen the rapid technology swings happening in advance (some did) and the need to get young listeners and young performers interested in our craft, while retaining a HUGE audience now largely left in the dust; the good-old “baby-boomers”.

Radio IS still a viable medium. I still believe in it. I still listen intently waiting for SOMETHING to happen on the air that will stimulate my theater of the mind.

However with each passing day, I read of SO many of my friends and colleagues getting the so-called "budget" ax. Most of it is SO unnecessary...and most LOCAL execs get that, because THEY have to fill in the cracks somehow and make it work with less talent or support staff.

Other people who write daily blogs have turned up the heat recently on their scathing indictments on ownership of the big companies who now have penny stocks. It's mainly the corporate folks who are just hell-bent on cutting, cutting, cutting and cutting some more. SOON, virtually every station in NJ (and elsewhere) will either be voice-tracked most of the day, or syndicated in some way as many already are!

I just won't turn to ANY Ocean County, NJ station IF (and G-D forbid IF) the Nuke Plant blows up. Why? Because NO ONE WILL BE ON THE AIR LIVE at ANY LOCAL STATION. Sorry if that rubbed a few the wrong way. We all know it's true. Prove me wrong. And that my friend is criminal in my eyes, having lived here my entire life (except for that glitch in Dallas.)

Ya know I used to worry about saying things like this on public boards...and I do hesitate with certain sentences, (and yes I do leave some things out) but now after two years of seeing just how wrong this WHOLE situation IS, I can't sit by and be silent. I worked hard to get to my goals, and largely, I achieved what I set out to do in my 38 + years behind a mic or desk.

But my best days are NOT behind me. Nor are the thousands of other talents who have GIVEN their entire adult (and sometimes earlier) lives to this thing called radio. It just needs a little butt-kickin’ and some really gutsy programmers and managers to be ALLOWED to bring it back to the once lofty heights. But ONLY if upper management and owners can muster the GUTS to do what IS right. I suspect that many won’t or just can’t because they’re in over their heads.

In the words of John Lennon: "How do they sleep?"

Thanks to everyone who has written to me on Facebook, here on Radio-Info, on other boards, via personal email and even bumping into folks in the stores. Sometimes when people hear me speak in a normal conversation, it gets me noticed by fans. I had three at one time in Shop-Rite not long ago. It was SO strange hearing people discuss ME right to my face. I had to walk away gracefully and they were still at it!!! (They may still be there!) Things like that happen to many RADIO folks because we BECOME your friends! And I for one have always recognized that…and never take it for granted.

My wife and I can't thank you enough for your support through these sometimes very confusing, yet crystal clear times. I may have been given the ax two years ago today from one company, but instead of being some bitter former broadcaster, I live in the present and look toward the future with optimism, realizing that it CAN be saved before the average listener even realizes something was wrong to begin with!

I would once again enjoy comments at: [email protected]

BE BIG
Big Jay Sorensen #83
 
Motivation?-- Wanting to share with many fans in once central location.
Disgruntled?-- Maybe a tad, but I realize that there are THOUSANDS across the country in my shoes...radio vets out gigs. I ain't alone...so that leads to...
Self-Serving?-- Last time I checked, message boards and the internet IS the way we communicate today. If I want to say thank you to loyal fans and other radio pals on a public board...so what? I am NOT living in the past man...I am proud of my accomplishments, but I am always looking forward. And also, if you knew what I've been through personally, you'd back off of your slightly sarcastic stance.
Former Star? I was just pointing out that it's been two years since JRZ made a boneheaded move. I can't give you specifics about INSIDERS who agree with me TOTALLY because it could cause them anguish which they didn't cause. I may not be on regularly, but when the biggest station of its genre asks ME to guest on a Radio Greats Show...I'm HONORED, and not all full of myself. I earned my spot on the totem pole. I may not be Dan Ingram, but MANY of the folks who WORKED with Dan ON THE AIR have told me I could have EASILY been "one of them". And that is fact...not my inflated ego speaking or my so-called self-indulging posts.
No AXE to grind? Then why such venom. Is it fashionable to kick a guy when he's been down? I've never done that. I always am proud of my pals who have "made it" to a bigger station or to a goal they set for themselves... See this is why I sometimes say I don't want to post anymore. It's stuff like THIS that just baffles me. I don't know where you GET the ideas that you've mentioned. I am not some sad, pathetic loser who has just one place to re-live my glory days...on Radio-Info. I let OTHERS do the accolades. I just want to entertain. And IF my time has somehow past in YOUR mind, then that's on YOU. Otherwise, I just live my LIFE the way I see fit. I could go on and on...but what's the point? Just to make YOU even more MAD and by making myself look worse by responding to something YOU have NO IDEA about? Nope. I said too much already. Now if my pals want to continue to let this kind of post get added every time I have a comment or two to make...fine. But somehow I think that I've affected an awful lot of up and coming broadcasters...perhaps even YOU in some strange way. You compliment me on one hand while spanking me with the other...which I find QUITE odd. So to reiterate.
I am NOT "washed up". I am NOT "living in the past". I am NOT trying to see how many HITS my name gets. That was a JOKE, clearly missed by you and few others for some ungodly reason. And frankly, I never thought of myself as a STAR. There are only a few I think of in that regard. I was just some kid from Lakewood who was given a chance to be on the radio at age 17 and made a living for my family!
Good grief these posts are maddening.
Email can be very bad when trying to convey a message. Sometimes you don't get the nuances and subtle jabs or pieces of satire that I've been known for. Look...somewhere, at this very minute, there is some guy just waiting to pounce on me for some conversation or something that happened a long time ago to come on here cloaked, ready to rip me a new one. That's fair. But to say that I'm SAD is just way over the top. I LIKE to teach a new generation about what I know and have learned. I mentioned that to Joey Reynolds recently. Ever hear of him? DJ of the year 3 years in a row...and still at it into his mid-60s. He said if guys like ME don't TEACH, there won't be anyone to fill the positions once we're gone! How incredibly correct. So if you think that my "self-serving", "self-congratulatory" posts are that offensive or make me look SAD to you...I'm truly sorry. Perhaps you'd like to chat with ME either on the phone or on personal email. I always provide it...AND I use my real name. No cloaking comments by me. I'm sorry that by mentioning my so-called "achievements" makes you so uncomfortable. Remember, NOT EVERYONE is as blessed as YOU are to have liked what I did enough to even REMEMBER it all these years later. I'm honored by that. But you have turned innocence into something BAD...and that is just patently wrong.
I am bitter about SOME aspects of what has happened to the radio biz...and to some people specifically...but notice that I usually say that it can be, and should be fixed. I have tried my whole adult life to be honest and forthcoming with my thoughts and actions. Sometimes ya win, sometimes ya lose...but I stand by my motives and my love of the business to overcome comments like YOURS One Time Only.
Oh...and by the way, I hope I can catch Judi's thread now. Oops...that's self-serving...YET she and I like and respect each other. This isn't some competition...or race. Give it a rest now. Lighten up. It's just a message board. And real people read this stuff and maybe actually LEARN something about what's happening in our once mighty biz. Does Jerry DelColliano get notes like these when HE makes comments about the Radio Industry? Does Tom Taylor? Does ANYONE who blogs (which this has almost become) simply because they have an IDEA? Maybe they do. I don't know. All I know is TALK TO ME next time you want to rant about my comments.
I'm a big boy and have been around a long time. This THREAD has gone on like this for a reason... I answer people or help them understand what really happens inside the walls of stations...something MOST people never know or have the chance to be involved with. That's IT. Nothing MORE, nothing LESS. Time to breathe in and out slowly....
It's ONLY a message board...MESSAGES...IDEAS...and some goofiness now and then. Come on dude. How about it?

BE BIG!
Big Jay #83 on The List
 
Jay, was your last post directed at anyone in particular? Was there a post that you responded to that was deleted after the fact? It looks like it came out of nowhere.
 
Ya know Joe, I don't KNOW!
There was a very personal and distorted view of my "2nd-year-Anniversary" post before Sam Lit's by some guy...and I responded to that because my character and other things were severely brought into question. Like me or not, no one has ever been that biting in their attacks on me... And yet, the guy said he had "NO AXE TO GRIND".

It was so odd...so I was answering point by point. That's why it looks like it does. He was saying I was SAD, BITTER, etc....way beyond the truth to ANYONE who knows me personally... I got MANY email privately saying this person was WAY off base. I simply was pointing out that it was two years ago on Jan. 12 (which happened to be my saintly wife's birthday) that Greater Media let me go. I then discussed the radio industry as ALL of us IN the biz do all the time...because it's our bread & butter. I was doing nothing different than any blogger does like Jerry DelColliano, and others who regularly see how far our biz has gone from it's core values to the state it's in now...and I also described ways to FIX it...or at least help save it FROM itself.

I think what gets some of you guys confused as NON-Radio people, is the view that I and some other radio folks talk about stuff to show off...or to show what we've done...thus being labeled "ego-maniacs". Look. I got to NY radio within two years of a goal I had set when I was 17. So as far as that goes, I don't need stroking. I may not be ON the air regularly, but at least I'm still getting a shot here and there. MANY of my friends in the biz have lost their only means of making a living within the last two years as well. We put our entire LIVES into making what we do count. And it turns out that it did in many regards...and yet, the CEO's on down the chain of command looks at us as liabilities these days...just numbers to scratch off to make some ledger balanced. Why on EARTH would you get rid of the very product that in good times, made lots of money for these very same companies? Would a car dealer get rid of the star seller because the economy went south? No. Would the star chef at a restaurant who draws in the few remaining people who dine out BECAUSE of him or her be fired because of the drop in patrons? No. It's their PRODUCT. So why on earth would radio companies be firing TALENT that brings them ratings and faithful, loyal audiences?

This is being lamented daily in MANY blogs, journals, newsletters and trade mags. I didn't make this up. I am not the smartest guy in the world. I am just a guy who put a lot of years into what I do. And I've been able to get great feedback as a bonus. Then...after all of the good will that I have giving out for years to any station I've worked for, it all turns out that it didn't matter! It didn't MATTER! We were just the milkman delivering milk before WAWA opened. Now you can get your entertainment from an I-pod by stealing files, or by listening to music on the internet or satellite radio.

And now Clear Channel is going to centrally program stations in their chains (from what Tom Taylor is saying) leaving MANY MANY HUNDREDS of more people on the street so guys like Ryan Seacrest can be on 300 stations at once. See what I'm talking about? The LOCAL flavor of almost every station you listen to will likely be GONE by this time next YEAR. If that doesn't disturb you, then I don't know what will.

So for ME to be the brunt of some guy saying he LIKES me and grew up with me on the radio, and now calling me sad because I tell it like it is, is just short of pathetic. I'm sad for the biz right now...and unless things change to a more internet driven course, many MORE live bodies will be cast to the wind. If THAT is being sad...and a fallen-star reliving his past, then he doesn't get what I was going for. This is very real to EVERY BROADCASTER.

I would imagine some in the higher realms of these big companies HATE what is happening and really must have trouble sleeping at night, knowing they put a lot of people either out to pasture or on a road where no one knows where it leads. Sure, some of that is just LIFE. Life ain't fair sometimes. We've ALL had stuff...Lord knows I've had more stuff than many, but many folks have had tougher times that I have.

I don't sit around moaning. I did the first few weeks after I was let go...but in the past, all I had to do was make a phone call and I had a job sometimes within hours of leaving a station. HOURS. Today, it's harder and harder to find that gig you want, because it either ain't there anymore, or some 27 year old dude who doesn't know or care that the White Album was a masterpiece and couldn't tell you one track from it. A track? Oh...I can get one free online. I'm entitled to it.

So Joe from Toms River, you and I have locked horns in the past...why? I sure don't know...wait...I think it was over something like why I'm responding to the note that was deleted by the folks who run this board... It's possible that you ARE right and he is too...that I'm pissed that I ain't working. But so what? This IS a public forum...about ideas, feelings, etc. It's ok for CLOAKED people to throw barbs at mini-celebs...but when that person reacts, they are labeled as pathetic, sad has-beens.

Well let me tell you and everyone else. I'll be back in some form. I've been working tirelessly on many things that most of you don't know about. Some are visionary; some are in the familiar terrestrial arena. I have kids and grandkids, yet I STILL have the drive, ambition and stamina of a 20 year old right NOW. Nothing can slow me down, or keep me down for long. I've proven that with my health. I've proven it by response when I AM on the air somewhere or even on a little internet show.

Lastly, if a majority of the people who read these posts NEVER responds...that's who I'm gearing the things I write about to help you understand this thing you're attracted to... Radio...JERSEY RADIO. Something I just happen know just a little bit about.

If you somehow came in touch with me in a radio station setting and you didn't LIKE me...that's fair game. I'm sorry if you confused intensity for arrogance as I've been told. But, on the other hand, I helped COUNTLESS people to further their careers...sometimes at my own expense because I saw something in that person that I just KNEW was star-potential...some now in VERY high places and HUGE stations...in some cases making MILLIONS now.

But ya know, I don't LIKE everyone either...but I ALWAYS (ask ANYONE) want them to succeed. Even people who dissed me in ways that were laughable or sick. I have reached out to many of these people with great end-results. Some of my pals are cringing right now...thinking, "Why does he even respond to these oafs on boards?" It's simple. I must set the records straight. Life is too short for petty, incorrect remarks. I'm still a work in progress and so are all of you. I wish everyone the ability to reach their goals and be as proud as I am of their accomplishments.

Let there be NO mistake. (Now I sound like a politician.) I'm ok. Better than OK. Look for some exciting things from my camp and my close business associates in the future. I ain't done yet. I especially want to thank Greater Media for giving me the TIME to work on other projects, and for making me realize that I was just a number. (Is that 30 SHARE on Sunday morning being MISSED right now?) Not by the local management mind you...but above that level. I was JUST a number. And we ALL are in the biz, unless you're in that upper atmosphere of the talent-pool...and we all know who they are.

But I was the best NUMBER (and so was Anita) they ever had. I DO know that this IS a business and CEO's and owners have the last word, and only THEY know what they have to accomplish for themselves or what's best for the company. I get all that..

But I hope I woke-up some well-meaning, but WAY off-base posters on this platform.

Don't forget to tip your waiters...I'll be here every Tuesjay night..

BE BIG!
Big Jay #83 on THE LIST
www.bigjayandanita.com
 
He was right, there was some radio listener ( maybe) who ripped on Jay
for a post, so when Jay responded, well, it looked like Jay was arguing with
himself or some imaginary poster. I think they moved the post to a " take it outside"
thread. Wait, just found it, it was moved to, " remove your head from your ****"
Nothing to worry about big guy. He was an idiot. Did your Doc visit in Philly go well?
 
shoothoops said:
I think they moved the post to a " take it outside" thread.

YAWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Perhaps Jay should lobby for a board all of his own... while I tend to agree with certain things he posts, it has become rather excessive, namely as of late with a "pity party" of sorts :'(. Being the professional that he is/was I find it highly unnecessary that he should post his EVERY thought about the current state of radio which hasn't changed from his writings of 2 years ago and if anything its become more long-winded.

No disrespect meant, but there was a previous post that mentioned a halt in all future posts from him...I almost headed off to the liquor store to pop open a bottle of champagne.

:-\
 
Yep...doc says I'm doing really well this time. NO MRSA.
Thankfully.
As for the previous post, give it a rest guys. I was only defending myself, NOT that I have to in all honestly. This is NO pity party. I have a lot in my life that makes me happy. I don't need folks like you making ME sound anything other than a guy trying to get through my time on this rock in one piece.
You guys can hammer me all you want. I know who I am, what I've accomplished and my pals do too. So...if you don't like what I post in response to what OTHERS write, then just don't read it. Or just turn the DIAL like all radio people say when folks like you don't like what you hear. It's that's simple.
My comments about radio haven't changed much in the last two years...and thanks for taking the time out of YOUR obviously very busy day to read them each time. I AM correct about the state of radio...and yes, sometimes it IS obvious...but I can NOT stand by and watch the biz that I love go down in flames without some constructive commentary. Maybe I will start a blog instead of having to face your firing squad each time I DARE make a comment. I DID say I wasn't going to post and would only do things via email. But when you CHICKENS don't post your address and hide behind mommy's apron, it's hard to have an adult dialog with you...even if you ARE correct..and in some cases you might BE. So that's my comment for now. Obviously this is becoming some kind of game to try to take pot shots at me each time I post...whether it is to not GET my tongue-in-cheek nature of the amount of people who READ what I have to say, etc.. I don't care if only ONE person reads it. I am communicating (JUST like YOU are) by doing the same thing that you acuse ME of doing. So let's call a truce here.
BE BIG
Jay
 
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