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dj_niceshot
Guest
Rollye James Interview of the former night jock @ KB... (interview on Sept 9)
Great stuff...
Highlights....
His confession that he used to listen to 'KB as a kid and dreamed of working there, until he finally did. His childhood hero was Dick Biondi.
-He also revealed the salary he made at KB: just $18,500 a year!
-KB used to be trounced by no-signal WYSL, and Armstrong admitted no one liked him much when he first arrived. But after a few books he took off, and then some, saying he earned an unheard of 85 percent share with teens in his timeslot.
-While KB was raking in the money from his show, they refused to give him a raise. He then negotiated a deal with a station in Pittsburgh for more dough, and submitted his resignation. When KB found out he was leaving, they suddenly offered to renegotiate and pay him substantially more than what Pittsburgh was offering. But since he already agreed to the job, he felt obligated to take it and left Buffalo.
-He took major shots at the owner of the old WMEX in Boston, who apparently put the 'cheap' in cheapskate. In fact, he insists the pennypinchers of today are nothing compared to the way owners used to act. He left 'MEX and came to CHUM, although he said nothing about his time here.
-Speaking of cheap, he says he got his first on air job at WCOG in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1964 only because he had the proper class of FCC license, and station management was able to get someone who could take the required transmitter and maintenance readings and do an airshift at the same time - saving them a salary.
-He believes Bill Drake, while undeniably successful, isn't the genius many make him out to be. He points out that almost every single station he ever changed to his vaunted play-the-hits-and-shut-up format was a high powered clear channel AM monster, with a killer signal, which naturally gave it a ratings advantage.
-On that subject, he told the story of how Drake was called to Ohio to change over what I think was then called WUBE at 1230 AM. Armstrong said he got into the cab from the airport, asked the driver to take him to the station and requested he turn it on while he was going so he could listen to it. When he discovered it was a 1,000 during the day, 250 watts at night go nowhere operation, Armstrong claims he told the driver to turn around and take him back to the airport. He flew out the same day without ever actually calling or making it to the studio.
-Armstrong went to WIXY in Cleveland, which at 1260 had signal problems at night and was always trounced by the clear channel giant at 1100, then called WKYC. But Armstrong became so popular with teens he always won the book - even in parts of the city and the state where he knew he couldn't be heard! He later wound up working for the flame throwing competition.
-He once stopped a riot at Beatles concert in Cleveland. While police and station personnel were trying to figure out what to do as kids stormed the stage, Armstrong stepped up to the mic and screamed through the P.A. system, "If you guys don't sit down right now, they (John Paul George and Ringo) are leaving the stage for good!" It worked - the kids calmed down and the show went on, saving WIXY a major headache.
-He claims he always changes his schtick and keeps trying to 'improve' as a jock every year, because if you keep relying on the same old thing, everyone will eventually get tired of you. Maybe that's why he's been so popular for so long.
He's a class act and proved again this weekend why he's still among the Leeeeeader's of the pack
Great stuff...
Highlights....
His confession that he used to listen to 'KB as a kid and dreamed of working there, until he finally did. His childhood hero was Dick Biondi.
-He also revealed the salary he made at KB: just $18,500 a year!
-KB used to be trounced by no-signal WYSL, and Armstrong admitted no one liked him much when he first arrived. But after a few books he took off, and then some, saying he earned an unheard of 85 percent share with teens in his timeslot.
-While KB was raking in the money from his show, they refused to give him a raise. He then negotiated a deal with a station in Pittsburgh for more dough, and submitted his resignation. When KB found out he was leaving, they suddenly offered to renegotiate and pay him substantially more than what Pittsburgh was offering. But since he already agreed to the job, he felt obligated to take it and left Buffalo.
-He took major shots at the owner of the old WMEX in Boston, who apparently put the 'cheap' in cheapskate. In fact, he insists the pennypinchers of today are nothing compared to the way owners used to act. He left 'MEX and came to CHUM, although he said nothing about his time here.
-Speaking of cheap, he says he got his first on air job at WCOG in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1964 only because he had the proper class of FCC license, and station management was able to get someone who could take the required transmitter and maintenance readings and do an airshift at the same time - saving them a salary.
-He believes Bill Drake, while undeniably successful, isn't the genius many make him out to be. He points out that almost every single station he ever changed to his vaunted play-the-hits-and-shut-up format was a high powered clear channel AM monster, with a killer signal, which naturally gave it a ratings advantage.
-On that subject, he told the story of how Drake was called to Ohio to change over what I think was then called WUBE at 1230 AM. Armstrong said he got into the cab from the airport, asked the driver to take him to the station and requested he turn it on while he was going so he could listen to it. When he discovered it was a 1,000 during the day, 250 watts at night go nowhere operation, Armstrong claims he told the driver to turn around and take him back to the airport. He flew out the same day without ever actually calling or making it to the studio.
-Armstrong went to WIXY in Cleveland, which at 1260 had signal problems at night and was always trounced by the clear channel giant at 1100, then called WKYC. But Armstrong became so popular with teens he always won the book - even in parts of the city and the state where he knew he couldn't be heard! He later wound up working for the flame throwing competition.
-He once stopped a riot at Beatles concert in Cleveland. While police and station personnel were trying to figure out what to do as kids stormed the stage, Armstrong stepped up to the mic and screamed through the P.A. system, "If you guys don't sit down right now, they (John Paul George and Ringo) are leaving the stage for good!" It worked - the kids calmed down and the show went on, saving WIXY a major headache.
-He claims he always changes his schtick and keeps trying to 'improve' as a jock every year, because if you keep relying on the same old thing, everyone will eventually get tired of you. Maybe that's why he's been so popular for so long.
He's a class act and proved again this weekend why he's still among the Leeeeeader's of the pack