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Fantasy Radio

I

ItsNotMe

Guest
Here's a little mental excercise...If you could build your own radio station...let's make it an old-fashioned Full-Service station...which Jacksonville talent would you hire?

Have at it!

ItsNotMe
 
I guess since this isn't directly about Renda or Gator Country, nobody likes this one. Almost 100 views..no posts...I'm a failure.

Its Not Me
 
I'll play along... Since we don't know what your definition of full service is, there will probably be very different ideas about who to put on this imaginary station. I'd go with Eden Kendall from APE, Arthur Crofton and Valerie Seagrave from Lite, Paul Rassmusin from QIK, Cole Pepper at WOKV, David Lamb on 930 Fox. A good reporter I've heard is Nick Gale on WOKV. I'd use Val as a weather caster. The others: Arthur and Eden could host shows, Paul would be the news person and Cole and David would handle sports duties. There's a start.
 
Fantasy Radio in Jax hmmm.... Well Robbie Rose and Boomer would probably have to fit in the station somewhere they are local radio legends.... the greaseman (sp?) if he could come back.. . Patti Haze would definately need to be thrown in the mix since she is the original rock babe... Steve Fox would need a job at the station as either program director or general manager...Heather White would be a good addition as well
 
Lets see
Heather Shea would have to be involved..she is the best....Dave Scott, TraneOntheRadio, Shotgun, John Scott for the airstaff....... Paul Rassmusen amd Sam Jordan for news, Cole Pepper for Sports...Coty White and Tim Kelly for Traffic........thats a good start I think
 
The constant here is personality. And with the exception of morning drive and even that is becomming more and more restrictive, talent has little opportunity or the freedom to be a draw as was in the past. To get an Arbitron mention in the diary, stations once banked on talent to deliver and they complemented the format and they were often the real stars. But now the cheaper end to the means is to pump out the safe hits with sweepers in between every song reminding the listener of the format and some catchy marketing gimmick. It doesn't make for exciting radio but everything is strictly revenue-based and so that's where we are.
Honestly when I moved to Jax some 10 years ago, I listened almost exclusively to Cool 96.9. I liked the entire line-up.
I grew up listening to WABC and to this day when I hear a song from the 60s or 70s I can still hear Big Dan Ingram in my mind doing some clever and funny talk-up for that song. That's quite an impression. All the jocks on WABC were unique. Nowadays, the average listener doesn't know who is even on the radio outside of morning drive.

I'll take the liberty of speaking for most boomers, but fantasy radio for us would be to hear the talent of yesteryear. Anyone under the age of 35 has no clue how good Top 40 once was.
 
I don't listen to John Scott, so for a half-second I pictured John Collins (traffic reporter) in my mind. I have a friend who does a killer John Collins. Almost as good as my Scott Walker impersonation. But seriously, folks...

I've heard the Reel Radio airchecks of WAPE and KHJ and have thought, "Why can't anyone have fun anymore? This stuff is awesome!" I have also read John Long's book at oidar.com about back in the day. Oh well.

Ditto to everyone's suggestions, especially of walking music encyclopedia Steve Fox. I would also add Tom Murphy and Rick Baron to the list, as well as one of the last great overall talents--who unfortunately is out of radio--John Harrell.

Finally, for what it's worth, let me predict now that Chase Daniels will be around for a long time. I can't stand top 40 music, but anytime I hear WAPE in a store or restaurant, or flip past it in my car, Chase always seems to be having a great time hosting his own weekday afternoon party.
 
Tommy, you hit the nail on the head!

I've listened to many of the reelradio airchecks too and virtually everyone had that in common - all the jocks sounded like they were having a ball.
A shame too the local Saturday night request shows have virtually gone away. Cool 96.9 had a good one in the late 90s but now I don't remember who hosted it. John Harrell, as you mentioned, did a 70s request show on Mix 103 that I found enjoyable. It was good radio but eliminated because the powers that be have written weekends off for live talent on most stations.

With respect to radio today I can't help but think of that famous Godfather line, "It's strictly business, nothing personal." LOL
 
The unchallenged all-time morning ace of Jacksonville radio was/is Doug Tracht, The Greaseman. Still alive and well in DC on 1160/WMET, a dogshit station at the bottom of the Washington radio pile. If you're not familiar with him you can catch his act on www.wmet1160.com. Doug is infamous for making world-class on-air lapses in judgment resulting in his banishment from major signals where the guy belongs. He ruled Jax for the better part of a decade on 690 The Big Ape and IMHO deserves the AM Drive spot on your Fantasy Team. But, beyond that, if any clear-thinking Market Manager in Jacksonville had a damn CLUE, Grease would be doing mornings on a major Jacksonville FM NEXT WEEK. Doug is a great guy and one of the two or three most creative people ever to grace the radio dial. A risk? Yeah, like Kobe Bryant is a risk... like Ricky Williams is a risk. If you like to win, you give 'em the ball.
 
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