FOOTY & CHIO - BACK ON Y-100 !!!

[The-Major]

How's that for a headline-grabber ? Actually it's sort of true. Longtime Y-100 radio personalities Footy and Chio are doing new commercial spots for various local businesses on Y-100. It's good to hear both of the legendary deejays again on the heritage amidst all of the new deejays. Footy 'retired' from the Morning Show after 30+ years, and he was replaced by 'Elvis Duran & The Morning Zoo' out of Z-100 in New York. I'm actually a fan of this show, and I've grown to love it. Chio was last heard deejaying during the weekends on Y-100 as recently as late last year, and he was replaced by voice-tracking from out-of-town deejays such as Ashlee and Kane out of 93.3-FLZ and Brotha' Fred out of Austin Texas. (Brotha' incidentally has a new morning show gig at a North Carolina station.)

In other Y-100 news new Program Director Dan Mason has taken over the mid-morning slot, and there's a new girl - Nicky - who's on from 12 to 3. I can't figure out if Nicky is 'live and local' on Y-100 or voice-tracked. She sounds local, and she's got some Miami street personality to her. I'll keep listening. I'll figure it out.

Stu Elliott - POST MORE ! How about some more classic Y-100 / 96-X / I-95 stories from yesteryear ? RadioPages needs some content for its future Y-100 tribute page, and 954 is listening ...

THE MAJOR

 

[top4odj]

I will try Major, but it is easier if you throw stuff at me. There is alot stuffed in my brain, but it is hard to just reach in and fly with something. Any topic, question or area you want to know about, pass it and i'll run with it! There's a million stories from the radio magic city, and I most likely know 999,995 of them!

 

[The-Major]

OK let's see ... How about a flashback to the Summer Of 1985 into the early part of 1986 when South Florida was fortunate enough to have not one - not two - but three TOP 40 stations rockin' the airwaves. There was the heritage Y-100. There was I-95 (WINZ-FM). There was the second-coming of 96-X (just before it switched over to POWER-96). CHR-POP radio (then known as TOP 40 radio) was at its all-time peak in 1985. It was an exciting time for hit music.

What was it like working at I-95 during that time ? How did the three stations fare against each other in the ratings ? How did they all distinguish themselves against the others as far as music, deejays, promotions, and imaging were concerned ? Was the competition fierce, or was it all friendly ? Do tell ! Take me back to 1985.

THE MAJOR

I will try Major, but it is easier if you throw stuff at me. There is alot stuffed in my brain, but it is hard to just reach in and fly with something. Any topic, question or area you want to know about, pass it and i'll run with it! There's a million stories from the radio magic city, and I most likely know 999,995 of them!

 

[top4odj]

AH YES....The summer of 1985. I remember it....sort of lol. I had left I-95 in May of 1985 to become Air/MD/APD of the not yet on 96X. At that time, I-95 and Y-100 were battling it out for top CHR contenders. I-95 the "Miami" based station, Y-100 the "Broward". They were both strong stations and if memory serves correct, they were close in ratings. Y-100 had the edge of the 2. While they had extreme status and a lustery shine in the 70's, Tanner had gone, so had Cramer & Robert W. The morning show consisted of Sonny Fox & Ron Hersey, Mid-days was Chio, I believe Doug Dunbar was afternoon drive & Paco Lopez was doing nights.

At I-95, Cox was doing mornings along with Dave Ryder doing news, Stevie Knox was mid-days, Earl The Pearl was afternoons & Johnny Dolan, nights. I really had a fun time at I-95. Keith Isley was a great PD & Mark Shands was the MD/APD. For the most part, we all got along well. Keith was a practical joker as was Johnny Dolan and I, so that was to our advantage when we did stuff on air. Of course I had to push the envelope. My warped mind just came up with the craziest stuff.

Side story (On a Saturday nite about 2:30AM, I got knocked of the air from a nasty storm. When I came back on around 3, Keith just happened to be in the station doing some work. The next thing you knew...I was on air saying that I deeply regret having committed one of the most cardinal sins in radio. Falling asleep on the air. I coaxed Keith, who wasn't an on air PD, to come in the room, and fake ripping me for letting it happen. The next thing you knew, people who were working, coming home from partying or even studying, started to call the station to give words of encouragement. People said that the station most likely overworked me and it shouldn't be my fault. A bit later, Keith came back in and said that it is possible i'd be fired for what happened. So...as people were being reeled in, I just said that I need to get a petition going from the audience to help me keep my job, that I was truly sorry for what happened, but it did. Over the course of a week, the station reveived about 2000 letters, one envelope with about 500 signatures from the UofM, from people asking that I not let go, that it was an unfortunate incident, and wouldn't happen again. This told you the type of people that listened. Here I was, working just weekends at the time, over night...and you had that type of listenership that really loved your station. It really freaked us out on the response).

Y-100's PD at the time was Rick Stacey & Chio was the MD. Both stations pretty much played the same stuff, just doing it in eaches own style & doing some things music wise to differenciate <sp> one from the other. Ratings were still good for Y-100 and decent for I-95, but the stations started defecting from the Dade or Broward based theme and were trying to break down the divider between the two. Y-100 still had the pull with artists coming to the station. It seemed like when ever a group was in town, they got em. At that point, it wasn't neck & neck anymore, Y was pulling away. I-95 had lost some of its luster. In March of 85 You had the yearly Dade County Youth Fair & the Broward Fair. While both stations had partaken in both, you knew that I-95 was still Miami based from their appearance at the DCYF & Y-100 was still strong in Broward from the showing at the BCF. Side Story #2

( On Sunday nites, I-95 played a syndicated program called "The Satellite Top 30 Countdown". It was on 6-9pm, and I was on from 9-1am. It was the end of March and April 1st was Monday. You know what that ment. I HAD to do something for April fools day since I wouldn't be on Monday. During the breaks of the countdown show, I just decided to go on saying "This is Stuart Elliott...join me after the countdown for my final show on I-95"..Bam...back into the program.....I did this for about an hour, between 7 & 8. People started calling and asking what was up, and I said i'd explain when I went on at 9. I even got calls from Staffers asking if what I said was true..of course I had to let them in on the pre-April foold day joke. When I got on at 9, I started playing back people who called in asking why I was leaving. If you milk them, they will come! I said due to contractual agreements, I wasn't allowed to specify what or why or whom, but at the end of my shift, my contract was over and i'll fill everyone in. As i've said, and i'll go to my radio grave saying this: Radio Is Theater Of The Mind. If you have enough to back what you're doing up, just about everyone will believe you. Being the joker I am, I kept putting people on the air asking why. It was funny, but I really felt bad for some of these listeners. They'd say things like "Stuart, I know i'll miss your voice on the air" or "I've been listening to you for years, I can't believe you're leaving". I was feeling guilty on one hand, but jumping up and down on the other hand, knowing i've pulled off another prank. at the 12:50 stop-set, I said "Ok, as promised, I will tell you what you've wanted to know. I want to thank everyone whos called with their kind words & best wishes. This is one of the most difficult things i've ever had to say.......I'M NOT GOING ANYWERE!....APRIL FOOLS!!!" I explained that I felt bad doing this, but since I wasn't going to be on offically for April 1st, I had to get my prank in. With that, I gave the ID and went into the stop. The phones lit up. Most of the people were really cool with it and laughed along, saying they really had been taken, that it was very believable. Then you had the others who didn't appreciate being sandbagged and they in turn told me to drop dead, hope you get fired, KMA, FU and all the things that go with it.) Little did I know that within a month, i'd be leaving I-95.

.....Next....How I left I-95 to go start up the New 96X...what started out as a joke.....TO BE CONTINUED!!! ;D

 

[The-Major]

FANTASTIC - I LOVE IT !

OK so now you've left I-95 (which continued the TOP 40 format for another two years I'm guessing before it morphed into ZETA). The second-coming of 96-X was starting up later that Summer (of 1985), and from what I've read and heard they apparently had a real tight playlist at the time where they played the same 16 or so songs over and over and over again. You pretty much knew the exact time when your favourite song would air.

Take me Stu to those wild and crazy days at the new 96-X !

954 - Are you paying attention here ? We're practically writing your future Y-100 / 96-X / I-95 tribute page for you.

THE MAJOR

.....Next....How I left I-95 to go start up the New 96X...what started out as a joke.....TO BE CONTINUED!!! ;D

 

[954]

954 - Are you paying attention here ? We're practically writing your future Y-100 / 96-X / I-95 tribute page for you.

10-4, Major ... fascinating!

When all is written, a volunteer (you?) needs to edit everyone's contributions into something usable.... rather than just stream of consciousness. And list the names of all the contributors, so they can be listed in the byline.

Then, please e-mail me the completed text, if you want me to use it in South Florida Radio History. (I wouldn't just copy something from a board to put on my web site, for obvious reasons.)

I especially like the April Fools anecdote. That could stand alone.

Thanks, Stuart!

73s from 954

 

[top4odj]

;D AND NOW....THE REST OF THE STORY!.....well...almost!

In April of 1985, a few of us (Including PD Keith Isley & I), got word that Wodlinger Broadcasting out of Houston, Tx., paid off a couple other potential owners to get the "dark" 96.3 FM frequency. Imagine, paying off a total of 2.6 MILLION and opening the door to a new station in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale market! SWEET!!

We were discussing it one day, and out of the blue, Keith looks at me and says...."You know, since you signed 96X off, you should call the new owners as a joke, and see if they'll let you sign the station back on!" I kinda chuckled at the idea, thinking this person whom ever it is has no idea what i'd be talking about, let alone taking my call and hearing me out. I kinda shruged it off with a "yea, i'll do that". A couple days later, I was at home and built up enough nerve, calling Wodlinger Broadcasting. I asked to talk to the owner (who's name was Mark). After a few moments on hold, this guy gets on the phone and introduces himself. I'm thinking to myself...dayam, he really picked up! So with that, I introduced myself, and gave him a brief history of myself and 96X. He listened to what I had to say, and when I was done, he said something to the tune of "Yes, i'm the owner, but I already have a PD. His name is Jon Holiday, and you should talk to him....this is where you could find him."

I couldn't believe that he said that! I called the number that Mr. Wodlinger gave me, and sure enough, Jon answered the phone. Again, I introduced myself, gave a bit of history, and Jon replied..."While I don't have an office yet, they're building the station, i'm at the Gannett Transmitter Site, come see me, i'd like to talk to you. So we set up an appointment for the next day.

I got to the site about 11ish the next morning. It was weird, because every time I was there, it was usually to be at the top (1000 ft level) to help out the engineers from about 9 different radio stations tuning the antenna or adding other transmitters and running lines up (it was fairly new at the time....maybe about a year or so old, I practically lived their, earning my Jr. engineers wings. It was my way of legally getting high. Engineers loved me because besides being a "jock" I actually knew what I was doing...if equipment broke when I was on, I was able to fix some of it, so it was a feather in my cap).

I introduced myself as did he, and we talked. My background, his background, goals and stuff like that. I also explained to him why I actually came by. On the chance that "since I was the last voice on 96X in 1981, I think it would be neat if I could sign the station back on." Jon really didn't know what to say. He was new to the area and had no clue of the market what so ever. I also asked him what the plan was for the frequency, target for sign on, where the facillities will be and so on. We talked for about 4 hours. At the end of our discussion, Jon said "This is a start-up station. You have a very strong history of this market, I don't have a Music Director, or anything done yet since the station was still under contstruction....(and i'm wondering where he's going with this)......Because of your background...how would you like to be my first hire....you'll be my Music Director & when we eventually go live, you'll most likely do 6-10 at night. I can't offer you alot of money right now, but as time goes on....

I about died...all this stuff was running thru my head. Finally, after 10 years, someone sees what others have not. Of course I got this "S" eatin grin on my face, and said yes....BUT...I have to go back to I-95 and give a months notice. Even tho I was only working weekends, I don't believe in burning bridges. Jon was cool with that, since, as he then said that the target date was mid June for going on air. With that, we shook hands & I was on my way back to I-95 to break the news.

......NEXT....SHOCK AND AWE... ....FACING THE "I-man" & Starting From Scratch....TO BE CONTINUED!!!

 

[PirateRadio]

I just love the story !! More more more !! Maybe you should write a book or E-book. I know I would get a copy !! Thanks for sharing anyways !

 

[The-Major]

Jon replied..."While I don't have an office yet, they're building the station, i'm at the Gannett Transmitter Site, come see me, i'd like to talk to you. So we set up an appointment for the next day.
I got to the site about 11ish the next morning. It was weird, because every time I was there, it was usually to be at the top (1000 ft level) to help out the engineers from about 9 different radio stations tuning the antenna or adding other transmitters and running lines up (it was fairly new at the time....maybe about a year or so old, I practically lived their, earning my Jr. engineers wings. It was my way of legally getting high. Engineers loved me because besides being a "jock" I actually knew what I was doing...if equipment broke when I was on, I was able to fix some of it, so it was a feather in my cap).

I've always wanted to talk to someone who was wild and crazy enough to scale the heights of a 100-story tall radio transmitter. I get nervous when I climb on top of my car ! What was it like to be all the way up there looking at miles and miles of terrain. Did you ever wonder 'What would happen to me if something went horribly wrong from way up here ?'

......NEXT....SHOCK AND AWE... ....FACING THE "I-man" & Starting From Scratch....TO BE CONTINUED!!!

OK so now you have to go back to the station that you love - I-95 - to give them the news that you're movin' on up - and back to the second-coming of 96-X. Take us to that memorable time for you !

THE MAJOR

 

[top4odj]

MAJOR-
Unlike the old days....I guess pre 1980 <just a guess on the time frame>, This was a new state of the art tower. You didn't actually climb up. It had an elevator that took about 8-11 minutes to make the ride up to the almost top. The actual tower was 1000 ft, but the antenna was about another 100 or so feet atop. Besides 9 radio stations, there are also 2 TV station antennas. Now mind you the FM's are 100 Watts Effective Radiated Power or ERP. TV Station antennas are like 5 MILLION. As we got past the 800 Ft level, we had to crouch down inside the elevator, because as you passed 5 million watts....you felt it!

Now, the elevator stopped at 400, 600, 800 & the 1000 ft level...BUT to get onto the actual antenna, you had to come out of the elevator to the 1000 ft platform and climb to the outside of the tower onto one of 3 stabilizers and up those into the antenna. There are 3 rows of 6 antennas each bay being about 8 circular feet, and about 4 feet deep. To get to each individual bay, you climbed out of one to get to the other. I guess the first time I went up to the 800ft level it was about 11:30 in the morning on a miserable day...cloudy..windy..and a bit freaky. When I went up with the engineers to the top, it was usually after midnite, so depth perception is alot different, besides being dark out (we had lighting up there, but at 2am, the only other lights you saw were like watching out of a plane. Real small!)

The first late nite run...I was asked by then Chief Engineer Rick Edwards, (who was also the corprate engineering wizard) during the week, If I wanted to spend a few hours up top to help on the upcoming Sunday Nite (Sunday Nite/Monday Morning were usually the times stations picked to shut down for maint. because it was the least listened to time). It took about 1 millisecond to say yes. Come Sunday, a few of us met up at the tower, I grabbed a saftey belt, went over the details of what was going to be happening and we started up. Mind you, i've never really done any tower climbing before this. The 800ft level was it...and I didn't move when I was on it.

But I tell you, it was so amazing, after a half hour of climbing around...and going out on the stabilizers to get to the antenna, Rick said to me..."Are you sure you've never done this before?" I just answered, that if I really thought about what I was doing, i'd be a wreck...so i'm just going with the flow. It was an awesome time, and I eventually went up at least a half dozen to dozen more times. In the back of your mind, you say to yourself.."ARE YOU )#$Y% CRAZY??"...but you really are doing so much up there, that before you know it, a few hours have passed and you're done. You don't have time to wonder what if...until you're finished and on the ground realizing what you just did. I've even taken pictures looking toward the Miami skyline from the 800ft level, as well as pointing the lens down the center of the tower & over the rail, looking at the ground. I'll scan and pass them, just email me. Gannett has since sold the tower to another company (not CC), so it's been at least 20 years since i've been up there...But if I was called to go again, i'd do it in a heartbeat!

 

[PirateRadio]

Stuart, again, I love the stories.......Brings some real radio theathre to the mind. Well, at least to mine ;D

Would it be possible to send me some photo's as well, would be highly appreciated !! [email protected]

Looking forward to the next trip to the good ol' days


Mark

 

[top4odj]

First, i'd like to make a correction on the FM ERP....It is NOT 100 watts...it is 100,000!!! Maybe a small market would have 100..but hey...I get excited writin this stuff....And with that...lets continue the story.......

So i'm in my car on the way to I-95, wondering how to break the news. ARRRRGH!!! I get to the station about 2:30, walk in say some hello's and head to the I-Man's office. Keith is the "I-Man". I said good afternoon....do you have a moment, there is something I need to tell you. I sat down and said that I just met the new PD for the start up station and had asked him if I could sign it on. The I-Man was sitting there waiting for my reply, and I was kind of delaying the next few words, because he had a smile on his face, me with a cheesy grin...He knew that I was going to sign the station on from the look on my face. I said that indeed the PD would let me sign on the station, and I-Man was pretty much laughing that I actually went to ask. Then the BOMBSHELL....I paused for a couple seconds to compose myself, then blurted out..."Well Keith, I don't know how to say this...Not only can I sign on the station, but I just became the Music Director & 6-10pm jock when we go live (yea, I said WE...after all...I got me a newwwwwwwwwww job!!). The I-man's look was a cross between i'm pulling his leg with another prank, and the look of "Did I really hear what I just heard?

I said.. It isn't a joke, I really was just hired! I said that it surprised me too, It was unexpected & happened real fast, but it is something I needed to do for ME (With all due respect to the I-Man, I don't think that a full time slot would be given to me at anytime in the near future, and after 4 years of doing weekends and training the new full timers on the board & formatics, it was time). Stunned, he said congrats, and I said that i'd stick around for a month till he found somebody else, because the station was about a month and a half from going on air, and it wouldn't be a conflict. My duties at that point for 96X (i'll explain why it was again called 96X in a bit). He said ok, but he didn't think a month would be necessary. I went around the station (it was I-95 & sister AM WINZ-AM all news), to tell everyone the news. A lot were shocked, but happy for me. This was on a Tuesday. Thursday I went into I-95 to check my schedule, and SUPRISE!!! I wasn't on it! I asked the I-man what was up, and he said that Kathy Wild West will pull my shifts, that there was no reason for me to stay. I guess payback is the Mother of all Mothers. With that I cleared out my stuff and said goodbye to the I. When I left there and went home, I called my new boss and filled him in on what had just transpired. He pretty much said, i'll see you in the morning!

Friday, I walked into the new facility. Boy was it quiet. I checked out the air studio & production room as Jon gave me the nickel tour. Then it was down to business. We went to his office, sat down and started to draw up the game plan. CD's weren't fully utilized at that time, so there were a few hundred songs to be carted up. Those reading this who knew the format, are asking "Why a few hundred songs if you only played 16? Well grasshopper, it's like this: Even tho the format was the "Super 16", we threw in at the :15 & :45 what was called the "96X Flashback". A popular Top 40 song from the last 10 years. Jon had his ideas, and I made suggestions too. Since there wasn't alot of product on CD from the last 10 years, I went home that nite & dove into my record collection (I have between 3 & 4000 albums) and picked out some choice flashback material. That was one of the great things being MD & Market veteran to new territory employers, you had pull! Side story (The station was called 96X again, because when they did research of the market, the name still tested and was still a viable entity. Thanks to research, I was able to not only able to say that name I was so proud of again, but I also started wearing all my original 96X t-shirts. It didn't cost the new owners a dime for my wardrobe!).

Over the next few days, I carted up the music we'd be needing. As the game plan was evolving, we started figuring out the rest of the programming staff. I guess it was good to keep touch with people, and have a good relationship with them too. Jon had some resume's and I made some suggestions. Hired were Mike Ritter-who worked with me at the original 96X, Linda St. James-whom did news at WINZ-AM, but had told me when I was at I-95 that she'd like to do a music format if the chance came, so I brought her with. Dave Caprita-who had worked mornings at Love 94. We also brought in a few "stringers". From that point, we explained to everyone that when we first sign on, roughly June 14, about a month away, we wouldn't be live in the sense of us as personalities right away. It would start out running the boards, and outside of live tags for spots, everything else would be pre-recorded. We'd also be playing a lot of jingles & promos explaining the station. Then were the dry runs, so everyone got the formatics down. You'd be surprised how many people never used jingles, and if you didn't utilize the right ones at the right time, or get the timing down right....it sounds like spooge!

If memory serves, it was on June 12th give or take couple days, when everyone gathered into the main studio around 3:30. Mark & Constance J. Wodlinger (Triva lesson...now you know where the CJ came from in WCJX), Jon, A corprate PD for the chain, myself, engineers and the rest of the staff. Jon manned the console & I reached over to the Transmitter, and with the reverse fortune that I had 4 years and 4 months earlier, I pressed the button and 96X was reborn!

........NEXT......Personality Jukebox....The First Commercial...96.3 to 96.5...and more........The Story Continues.....SOON!

 

[954]

This is great, Stuart.

Can't wait 'til the next installment!

73s frpm 954

 

[top4odj]

...And as we last left off, 96X was reborn. Thru the first couple of months, we hammered into peoples minds "The Super 16". Why 16? Well...most people who listen to radio are button pushers. Unless you're in an office where you have the overhead muzak or say a 101.5 WLYF type station on, the tuner knob is always moving, except for the hard core station listener. As a listener, you knew by turning on 96X, you'd always knew how far/close you were to YOUR favorite song. 16 was picked because thats around the line when the true current fav's start turning into just another song (as done by research, then again, nothing is scientific, but it held validity). Of course, the speed of the rotation depended on the length of the 16 songs. If you averaged 4 minutes, with no commercials, you'd rotate in 64 minutes. I think the average rotation at that time was about 80, which in todays standards was still quite fast. This is why we had the "96X Flashbacks". They were to offset the Super 16...break the pounding of repitition. The flashback was anywhere from say 3:30 up. There were really no rules to time because being a brand new station, we had nothing to lose, which brings up another point.

Unlike other stations that just change format, 96X was brought back from the dead. No signal, no listeners, no real pre-promotion. The Super 16 was figured to be the best way to get people to listen, then grow into a ..for the lack of a better term "Full Fledged Radio Station". The Jukebox ran for the better part of 2 to 2-1/2 months. Then as quietly as we snuck on, we dropped the automated sound and started adding live people. Jon did the inital mornings, which were simple...some news, traffic and weather and the Super 16. Linda St. James followed 9-12, Riitter 12-3, Dave Caprita 3-7, yours truly 7-12 & the overniter Eric 12-6. It was basic radio at first. There wasn't a promotional budget like the I and Y, but we did the standards.....Movie Tickets, Albums (yea, they still did albums then) & T-shirts. This went on for a few months, and ya know what....for being as simple as 96X was, in our first Arbitron, we scored a 2 share in our first book. We were estatic!! We had no idea where we stood until then, except for your word on the street type stuff. For starting from scratch, a 2 share was mid pack. We had dented into the I and Y and couldn't be happier. The often laughed at Super 16 had done its job. By November, we got word that the Wodlingers were selling the station. This is why we had no real budget. Wodlinger ment to flip the station all along. Get this: The frequency was purchased for 2.6 Million and sold for around 10.4 Million. Great business decision! In walks our new owner (drum roll) Greg Reed. Now while the transfer of power (no pun intended) was going on, Greg had no official ownership duites, he pretty much came in to see the operations....Sales, Programming, Promotions, Engineering. We just met alot to see where each other was coming from, future targets, so on and so forth. By January 1986 things started to roll. The sale was final and Beasley-Reed Broadcasting was now our new owners. The station finally got the infusion we needed. Budgets!! At that point, tho not to the extent of the Y or I, we were able to start promoting the station correctly. First order of business....Hire a morning person. Jon and I went thru alot of resumes & tapes, but only one person stood out. The name: Mark Mosley. Mark was a natural. He'd done voice over work, production and little on air, stand up....BUT, after listening to his tape, Jon and I knew he was a great fit. He was a one man show. I was dyin at some of the things I heard. I loved it! So, Jon went back to full time PD duties and some fill in when needed and Mark pretty much got free run for the moring show.

At that point, we were cutting into the market, and I-95 became the victim, phasing out to become "95INZ" ( A cross between a hip Top 40 & adult contemporary format. The I-Man had left & it just seemed to be a lost station until they brought back Zeta4). As for me, they were brutal days. I was in the station by 8-8:30a and didn't walk out on the average between 12:30-1a. But I was so hell bent on making the station work, it didn't bother me. Ratings wise, at that time Teens were the market (now its the 25-54 market) Mark had decent numbers. Linda, Mike & Dave had ok numbers. Me, well.... ;D!! I figured that i'd do something diffrent from 7-12. What amounted to a morning show style at night. If I wanted to stop and do non-music stuff for 20 minutes I would...If I wanted to play more music and less personality, i'd do that. As said before, my mantra was "Remember what it was like to be a listener & what you wanted your favorite DJ to be like". I stuck to my guns. I was just like a kid who had the chance to play DJ. I made my listeners (which were heavy teens & some adult females) feel like they were always part of the broadcast. That worked to. Paco from Y & I were always neck and neck, #1 & #2 in the coveted teen numbers..back and forth who outdid the other. Only on ocassion would I listen to him, because to me, you can not succeed worrying about the other guy. And I didn't. I did things unheard of at that stage. For Halloween I opened the doors to the station and if you came in in costume, you got a bag of candy....I had DJ for a night, where you wrote in and in so many words told me why you wanted it. That happened on Monday nites....I had a call in segment where if you had school questions or questions about life, my on site co-worker "Juan Hertzberg" (me just talking like a goofy latin male), would give sometimes serious, most times, humorou answers. When artists came into town, they went on my show. My 2 best memories were 1) Gloria Estefan...who, besides Dr. Beat in the early 80's, was trying to better cross over to the anglo arena with Conga & Bad Boys. Gloria stopped by alot to promote the album. I loved it because she is a very funny woman and it was very comfortable. I turned down a chance to go touring with them..a story for another time. 2) Mark Clayton..#83 for the Miami Dolphins. Mark was a friend of one of our sales guys, and he brought Mark & Marks mom to see the station. I didn't mention on air that they were there, but funny, I talked more to his mom than him. I later found out that it blew Mark away, so I invited him back to do an air shift with me. He did, and no matter what anyone said about Mark, he was also a down to earth person & he even enjoyed playing announcer.

As time rolled on we were having fun. I was having a blast, because besides having a say on the programming operations, I was no holds barred on the air. Speaking of which....Sometime between March & May 1986, we were told that another station up-state was signing on and we'd have to change our frequency. From 96.3 to 96.5. Most people unless they had a digital radio wouldn't notice. Me, being the "Let's make a big deal out of nothing" kinda guy, did a promo saying that 96X as it was known was going off the air AGAIN.....then explaining the frequency shift which would happen on a designated Sunday nite, and when people woke up Monday, they'd just have to make a minor adjustment to the dial.

Thats it for now........NEXT.....THE FINAL CHAPTER.......The death of Rufus, Cletus Washington-Station Janitor, The chance to be King, Desputed Burnout, 96X to Power Hits 96X to Power 96 & Thanks Mr. T!!!

 

[The-Major]

MAJOR-
Besides 9 radio stations, there are also 2 TV station antennas. Now mind you the FM's are 100,000 Watts Effective Radiated Power or ERP. TV Station antennas are like 5 MILLION. As we got past the 800 Ft level, we had to crouch down inside the elevator, because as you passed 5 million watts....you felt it!

HEAVENS ! What on Earth did 5,000,000 watts feel like in that elevator ? If you insisted on standing up through the pass would it have knocked you down to the ground ? Are there any ill effects on the human body ? I mean aside from premature baldness !

I guess the first time I went up to the 800ft level it was about 11:30 in the morning on a miserable day...cloudy..windy..and a bit freaky. When I went up with the engineers to the top, it was usually after midnite, so depth perception is alot different, besides being dark out (we had lighting up there, but at 2am, the only other lights you saw were like watching out of a plane. Real small!)

I guess that old well-known motto applies here: What you don't see (in the dark) won't frighten thee ! I choose to follow that other well-known motto: If I know it's there then I beware !

THE MAJOR

 

[The-Major]

Stuart, again, I love the stories.......Brings some real radio theathre to the mind. Well, at least to mine ;D
Looking forward to the next trip to the good ol' days
Mark

I feel like I'm the host of "Biography" on A&E, and my subject is the legendary 96-X / I-95 / Y-100 radio personality Mr. Stuart Elliott. He's enjoyed an amazing 20+ year career in Miami TOP 40 radio, and the most fascinating part of it all is that he seems to remember every single detail of it. Loyal fans of my web site would refer to him as having a MASSIVE Memory !

Stu - Have you every thought about writing an actual autobiography of your life and times in the Miami radio business ? Here's a possible title:

'The Long & Winding Road - The Theatre Of The Mind: The Stuart Elliott Story'

THE MAJOR

 

[top4odj]

Major-It's difficult to describe in words. Lets just say it was a weird feeling in your body. Kind of like putting your tongue on a 9 volt battery to see if its still good lol. But lets continue....

By now we're into April 1986. Life has been treating me good. Before I get into my final couple of months, I have a couple stories to tell. This one Sushi eaters will enjoy the most. It's a quickie, but it shows you how I have ultimate contempt for a good prank. New owner/General Manager Greg Reed, New General Sales Manager Dave Donahue, myself and a couple other staffers went to a Sushi place not far from the station for lunch one day. I was like a "meet your new fellow staffer" type thing. we tried to go out and do lunch a time or two a week, just to break up the in the office routine. So we're at Masa San ordering up. Dave never really had Sushi before and was watching intently. As we're being served, he looked at this green stuff on his plate and said "What's this?". I jumped on that as fast as I could before anyone else could. I said "Dave, its awesome, it's a japanese mint (wasabi...mint hahaha). Just grab some and put it into your mouth". Before anyone could utter another word, Dave grabbed the whole thing and scarfed it down. !! PRICELESS!! His eyes bugged out like i've never seen before. Nobody...not even Greg could say a thing...they were shocked. I just burst out laughing as Dave grabbed a glass of water and chugged it down. I was in tears as I apologized for the move, but I said that was just my way of welcoming him. Later, we all got a laugh out of it, and Dave was a good sport about it.

Then there was Cletus Washington, a voice that Mark Mosley did from time to time, and one night he came into the studio when I was on air. I am the type of person, that if you're there, you become a part of the show. Without saying it was Mark, I just said....Who are you and what are you doing here? He came back with this old, drunk sounding man of color, saying he was the station janitor, that he'd be cleaning up the studio, not to mind him at all. Next thing you knew...we were shifting stuff across the mic, making things sound like they were falling & breaking. Then, I said...Cletus...DON'T TOUCH THA......then you heard silence. What I did was turned off the mic's and hit some pink noise to make it sound like he shut us down. HEH! about 15 seconds went by, I turned off the Pink Noise and after 3 or 4 seconds turned the mic's back on. I yelled (either of us trying to keep from laughing hard).."DID YOU SEE WHAT YOU JUST DID??"...and he replied "I...I....I'm sorry Mr. Elliott....I won't do it again." I said.."Of course you won't....get out.....NOW!". But this was the kind of stuff that Mark and I did all the time....Theater Of The Mind <==.

Finally, there was Rufus. On one of those Sushi days, I came back to the station about 5ish, having to be on at 7. About 6, I got real sick. This was the first time that I got some bad Sushi. It was horrible. At 6:45 i'm still giving the sewer system anything I had in my stomach. With about 5 minutes to go, I figured i'd try to go on and just have a low key show. This is where having the type of mind I do comes in handy. I went on, and within 15 minutes, my stomach gave out again. Our restroom facilities were outside the station across the hall (we were in a bank building, having the whole 3rd floor). I ran out and got back in before the song ended. After I started the next song, I went into Jon's office and said "I'm dyin...you have to cover for me for the rest of the night. He said he would, and I told him that i'd give him about 20 minutes to prep, then i'm out. With that, I walked into our sales office, and one of the female sales types were there. I told her what was happening, and said to call me on the hotline...and say you're from my vets office, that my dog Rufus was just hit by a car and it doesn't look good, we need you to get over here ASAP. This would be my out, instead of sounding like a wuss on the air for eating bad sushi. I get back into the studio...phone rings...and we go thru the motions. When she hung up, I just said that I have to go...Rufus was my dog for years, raising him from a pup and I had to do the right thing and be with him, that i'd let everyone know how it went tomorrow. The next day I recovered and was back on. At the first break, I stated that Rufus didn't make it. That I would be on tonite, but in a down mood, but being with my listeners helped me to cope (Gawd am I bad or what). People were calling in with their wishes of sympathy (I'm a heel eh?). I knew it worked, because the next nite my mom called me up and said "Stu, what's this about your dog Rufus dying? I have people at work telling me to tell you how bad they feel because you lost your dog...YOU DON'T HAVE A DOG!...SHAME ON YOU!!". I just said Mom....that's radio, I sick from sushi and that was my out to leave, saving face. Cruel? Yep...but that's what personality radio is about. Making your listeners a part of your station and your life. I just have a different way of presenting it.

*** Due to the maximum text allowed on the board, I had to split up the above and the rest of the story*** It continues in the next frame***

 

[top4odj]

And now....THE FINAL CHAPTER.......

By mid May, we were chugging along doing our thing. We were phasing out 96X, slowly moving into Power Hits 96X. I was putting in 16 hour days...Greg and I had very good communication....it was better than his and Jon. Greg saw that. He saw I was the radio station and knew I was bustin backside to do the right things. With that back bustin, Greg and Jon thought it would also be best that I gave up my weeknight shift & put my mind to just being the APD/MD, and just do 1 weekend shift. Man, was that hard to swallow. It was like cutting my legs off. After stating my case, that I wasn't burned out and was actually enjoying what I did, but the Radio Courts saw different. While I felt that I was fine, they (Greg & Jon, even tho they appreciated what I was doing, felt that I would fry in the near future) My final full time air move was that we had a promotion that was a national thing called "Hands Across America" which was to help raise money for people in need. A newer version of USA For Africa if you may. We were going to send 3 listeners to Chicago (since it was from LA to NYC, not going thru Florida). Of course, me being born and raised in Chi-Town, it was obvious I should go, because I knew the city well. That was around May 25th. Within a week of returning, I was called into Greg's office. He said that he and I were going to go for a bite to eat, that he need to discuss something with me. When we were eating, shooting the basic bs, he said that While I was gone, it was a corporate decision to let Jon go. That threw me for a little loop, but I knew at that point, that I was doing a lot of things idea wise and programming wise that while I liked Jon, I was doing things that should have been from him. Jon and I were friends, Jon got along with Greg, but Greg and I just clicked a lot better. With that, Greg looks at me and said something to the tune of "I see how you work, I love your work ethics, how would you like to be the PD of the station".

I have one word to describe my look. STUNNED! Of course my mouth moved faster than my brain and said Hell Yea...Sure! We finished our meal and headed back to the station. I walked into Jon's office, sat down and said "Get out of my seat"....NOOOOO I didn't, just kidding!! GOTCHA! I was actually at a loss for words. I said that I was sorry that it happened, that I enjoyed working with him, thanking him for allowing me back to my heritage & wished him well. We exchanged words of kindness, albeit nervous for the moment, shook hands, and I went back to my office. Feeling weird about the moment, I just dove back into my work, and prepped for my shift. Jon came in during my shift and said he'd cleared his things and we said our goodbyes. When I left the station after my shift, I was on my way home thinking...Geez....what did I just accept?...Then a million things went thru my mind. Now this next tidbit may make you think that i'm an idiot, or a smart, un-selfish team player.

I walked into the station about 8:30 the next morning. It was a whole new world. First issue of business, was to put out a memo explaining what happened since last night & to talk with each of the air-staff and what it meant to them. I was the PD/MD/Night Guy. But I wasn't finished, what I was about to do next would show what I am about.

I went into Gregs office and sat down. I looked him straight in the eye and said "I really appreciate you handing me the PD job........BUT.....after really thinking it over, al night and up until now, I am going to have to decline the offer". And this was my reasoning as I told Greg.....with Beasley-Reed being the new owners, the full game plan hasn't been made in which the direction of the station was going. I'd rather take a back seat for a bit & help hire a viable PD to come in and let me work with him/her to get our ground set. We know we were phasing into a more traditional Top 40, but didn't know the approach. Greg looked at me and said "I really appreciate your honesty. Not many if any would have just done what you've done". With that I went from APD/MD to PD/MD to IPD/MD within about 14 hours. And the hunt began.

It's funny to be in this situation. Funny because people you've known over the years and haven't talked to you in just as long, all of a sudden start coming out of the woodwork. "Hey Bro....remember when"....."Yo Buddy.....how goes it"...."Do you think you could put in a word to Greg for me..." All of a sudden, I meant a lot to these people whom I haven't spoken to in years, and now i'm everyones pal. HAHAHA.

In July, after about a month sifting thru resumes, it came down to 2 people. My former boss...The I-Man and Bill Tanner. After discussions with Greg, it was decided that Mr. T come in and grab the reins. I figured what the hell....I've worked against him for all these years, it's about time I work side by side and learn some more from one of the best. About 2 weeks later, Mr. T came in and took over. I was still the APD/MD, but I wasn't exactly feeling like it. In the following week or so, Cramer, Cox, Mark in the Dark and several other former Mr. T co-workers started coming thru the doors. Next thing I knew, Mr. & Mrs. Mark in the Dark were brought in to handle the Music Duties with me. Mr. T had little words with me, it was more like just going thru the motions. Even Greg was acting weird. My duties have now gone from being 100% involved to feeling like an outsider. I had handed over my PD office and was back in my old office.

----- 1 Sacrificial Lamb ----- Lightly Toasted Coming Up -----

I came into work on a Thursday morning in August. I remember it like it was yesterday. I sat in my office looking around at the walls, and thought to myself.."Tonite, I should start taking stuff off the walls and clearing my desk. I just had that feeling something was up. I went thru the day like any other day, giving my all. Between 4:30 and 5 that evening, Greg called me into his office. He shut the door behind me and said have a seat. He looked as if he was telling me that someone died, but I knew. So, I said...what's up?. He said "I don't know how to say this, you have been one of the most, if not most loyal employees i've ever seen or worked with. I've been mulling this for 2 weeks, trying to find a way to keep you here, but Bill is the PD now, and this is what he wants. I have to let you go". In all honesty, I knew Greg wasn't blowing smoke up my backside. We honestly had that good a rapport & I knew it bothered him.

A lot of people in the industry may have flown off the handle...raising their voice...saying a few choice words. Not me. I knew when I got into this business that this stuff happens. Like it or not. My only words to Greg were "What do you expect me to say. While i'm disappointed & finally felt comfortable in this business for the first time ever and even bought a car, this is the nature of the business. I'm not going to go into a tirade, that's not my style. Thanks for believing in me, i'll be back over the weekend to clear my stuff & i'll bring back my keys on Monday". With that, I walked out of his office. The first person I saw was his secretary, and she was in tears. I guess word had spread while I was in Gregs office. I walked over to her and said "This is what radio is about. You're new in this business, so get used to it. As fun as it can be, it can be just as vicious and cruel at the drop of a hat". We hugged and then I went to Mr. T's office.

I knocked on the door and walked in. I sat down and he said "You have to understand, I have 6 months to make this station work, and i'm doing it with people i'm comfortable with". That was it...nothing else. I looked at him and said "Thanks for the opportunity to work with you", got up and walked out.

My last stop before heading out the door was the Sales office. A few of the sales people were still there. I walked in and they all looked up with disbelief. One guy said "I can't believe this. It's YOUR station. You're an Icon here, what is he thinking???". Again, I said it was ok, while I may not agree & wasn't even given a chance, it's the part of radio we hate, but always expect. I shook some hands...gave a few hugs and left. Came in on Saturday & Sunday, cleared out my office, and as I told Greg, I was back Monday handing him the keys. Within a month, it was a whole new air staff & Power96 was born.

And that.....Is That.......

 

[The-Major]

Jon manned the console & I reached over to the Transmitter, and with the reverse fortune that I had 4 years and 4 months earlier, I pressed the button and 96X was reborn!

What was the very first song that was played on the new 96-X ?

...And as we last left off, 96X was reborn. Thru the first couple of months, we hammered into peoples minds "The Super 16". Why 16? Well...most people who listen to radio are button pushers. Unless you're in an office where you have the overhead muzak or say a 101.5 WLYF type station on, the tuner knob is always moving, except for the hard core station listener. As a listener, you knew by turning on 96X, you'd always knew how far/close you were to YOUR favorite song. 16 was picked because thats around the line when the true current fav's start turning into just another song (as done by research, then again, nothing is scientific, but it held validity). Of course, the speed of the rotation depended on the length of the 16 songs. If you averaged 4 minutes, with no commercials, you'd rotate in 64 minutes. I think the average rotation at that time was about 80, which in todays standards was still quite fast. This is why we had the "96X Flashbacks". They were to offset the Super 16...break the pounding of repitition. The flashback was anywhere from say 3:30 up. There were really no rules to time because being a brand new station, we had nothing to lose, which brings up another point.

Just a few personal notes here. I arrived here in South Florida towards the end of 1987, and a friend of mine who had been here for several years by that time told me all about 'The Super 16' and how it worked and sounded. I think he said that it was the same 16 songs over and over again, and then about once a week songs would be rotated in and out of the playlist. Is that about right ? This sounds like today's '20 On 20' on XM (which is my favourite station today), but each countdown is different as it's based on real-time requests and votes. I guess that was a good way to set 96-X apart from I-95 and Y-100 at the time, but the gimmick didn't last long.

This went on for a few months, and ya know what....for being as simple as 96X was, in our first Arbitron, we scored a 2 share in our first book. We were estatic!! We had no idea where we stood until then, except for your word on the street type stuff. For starting from scratch, a 2 share was mid pack. We had dented into the I and Y and couldn't be happier. The often laughed at Super 16 had done its job.

What were I-95 & Y-100's shares like at that time ?

THE MAJOR

 

[The-Major]

In July, after about a month sifting thru resumes, it came down to 2 people. My former boss...The I-Man and Bill Tanner. After discussions with Greg, it was decided that Mr. T come in and grab the reins. I figured what the hell....I've worked against him for all these years, it's about time I work side by side and learn some more from one of the best. About 2 weeks later, Mr. T came in and took over. I was still the APD/MD, but I wasn't exactly feeling like it. In the following week or so, Cramer, Cox, Mark in the Dark and several other former Mr. T co-workers started coming thru the doors. Next thing I knew, Mr. & Mrs. Mark in the Dark were brought in to handle the Music Duties with me. Mr. T had little words with me, it was more like just going thru the motions. Even Greg was acting weird. My duties have now gone from being 100% involved to feeling like an outsider. I had handed over my PD office and was back in my old office.

I'm thinking that if 'The I-MAN' had been brought in instead of 'Mr. T' then this story would have had a much different ending (and probably brighter for you). But then perhaps 'POWER-96' itself would have had a much different history as well.

It would've been ironic (the best word that I can think of right now) to help hire the guy that let you go prematurely a day or two after you told him that you were leaving eventually to join the new competition. Instead you ended up helping to hire the guy that would lead to your quick alienation and ultimate firing from the station that you essentially created. Life can be cruel sometimes, but then there's always a way to make lemonade out of lemons. I've done it so many times in my life.

And that.....Is That.......

Thanks so much for sharing this story with us. And to think that all of this happened during the course of about 18 months or less during 1985 and 1986.

As I've stated a few times before I arrived here in South Florida towards the end of 1987, and I came to know you as 'the late-night guy' on Y-100 during the early-to-mid-1990s. You obviously did fill-in work here and there on 'The Y'. We've discussed many of your experiences at Y-100 before in here as well as your fun with the legendary Footy, but I don't recall ever hearing the story of how you went from 96-X to getting the gig at Y-100 in the first place. Take us to that time in your life when you applied to work for the heritage.

ALSO - I've been meaning to ask you this for a few days now. Back on the original Radio-Info board you had a link to your personal web site that had some basic pictures of you working at the three radio stations. I accessed it a few times, but since then I've lost the link. Can you post it again ? I need to add it to my Favourites. Have you done any updating to it ? Some of these experiences would be wonderful to see on it.

THE MAJOR