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Mark Sebastian Q-102 Incident???

I

Imlivinontheair

Hi All,

Someone asked my about the story of Mark Sebastian locking himself in Q-102's air studio and playing a song over and over. Did this happen and what are the details and what were the results???

I recall the story but do not know if it is a myth or if it really happened.

The way the story went was he played "I Love Rock N Roll" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts 100 times before the incident ended.

Help me verify this or deny it.

Thanks!

;D
 
I've always been told that the song in question was "Everybody Wants You" by Billy Squier. I don't remember hearing the incident itself, but it was a famous event at the time.
 
It was Billy Squier. It was a stunt and it was very successful. People talked about it for weeks. They still ask him about it.
 
OK. This is good information. So it was actually Billy Squire "Everybody Wants You".

Does anyone know how long he kept the stunt going and what were the results?

Would love more input on this.

Thanks
 
I heard the tail end of the "Everybody Wants You Twenty in a row marathon" from late 1982. He was off the air the next night for "suspension".

Speaking of that song, "Q", well mostly Sebastian, would add some kind of a drop during the pause before the end of the song. Usually it was the harmonized, "The froggy's dead, the froggy's dead, the big fat frickin' froggy's dead".

Speaking of incidents, somewhere in my piles of tapes was a incident involving boxer Aaron Pryor. This was early 1983 and Pryor showed up at Highland Avenue and walked in while Sebastian and Pat Barry were doing their changeover. It seems Pryor was unhappy about some comments made a few days earlier and some kind of a fight started. Was that real or staged?
 
radiorob2.0 said:
I heard the tail end of the "Everybody Wants You Twenty in a row marathon" from late 1982. He was off the air the next night for "suspension".

Speaking of that song, "Q", well mostly Sebastian, would add some kind of a drop during the pause before the end of the song. Usually it was the harmonized, "The froggy's dead, the froggy's dead, the big fat frickin' froggy's dead".

Speaking of incidents, somewhere in my piles of tapes was a incident involving boxer Aaron Pryor. This was early 1983 and Pryor showed up at Highland Avenue and walked in while Sebastian and Pat Barry were doing their changeover. It seems Pryor was unhappy about some comments made a few days earlier and some kind of a fight started. Was that real or staged?
Click to expand...

Of all the songs to do the staged marathon of from that time period, that'd have been one of the last ones I'd have picked :p

Oh yeah, nice memory on the Aaron Pryor thing. I remember hearing about that too, but am not sure if it was real or staged... all the scuttlebutt at the time was that it was very real but who knows now that enough time has passed....
 
As good as it may have sounded, It was all staged, It was inpossible to get into 1906 Highland or to the studio without an invite. At that time all was at 1906. WKRC-TV News, WKRC Radio, Q102 and several others. It was impossible to get into that building without credentials.

But it worked. Remember the old saying, "Radio is theatre of the mind". You can make anyone think anything on radio.
 
Credentials? Yes you had to have the guard call the newsroom or booth but most of the time, whenever I was asked (usually Sat AM or noonish), it was "Radio News" or "Here to record a show". Then again, that was 1981 and 82. Times have changed. Especially after the channel 9 incident.
 
And the gate around the parking lot and the building. I remember security being quite heavy though I haven't been to the building since the late 80's/early 90's. I also think vistors were issued tags to wear if I'm not mistaken. Someone help me..........
 
By credentials I meant "having a reason to be there". Not many people wandered onto the LIVE news set! Especially back when Nick Clooney was Managing Editor.
 
Hey, guys:

Realize...any of these "incidents" were intentional ratings stunts.

They always were. They always are. They always will be.

They're about as "real" as the WWE. And, 20 years or so down the road, they are totally, utterly, irrelevant.
 
Other incidents from around that time:

The three "Honk Offs" was where Q would meet listeners at a location and they would honk their horns at the same time. After the "Honk Off" listeners would get a Q-T-shirt if they had underwear on their head. The first was in Hyde Park, the second involved a country club in Northern Kentucky that had a hepatitis outbreak. The last one was on tax day 1983 at the IRS office in Covington. The staff tempted fate and stayed longer than they should, the police showed up but they kept broadcasting until the police chief showed up. The police chief expressed his anger in an Enquirer article, regardless it was great radio. Nothing sounded as amazing as Sebastian doing a legal ID over the intro of China Grove while in transit to Covington.

Another moment of Q craziness happened in January 1984. The advances came out and Q102 was number one and the party began on the air. Commercials were thrown out, the jocks started drinking and played what they wanted and sung along on the air. The climax of the night was Jim Fox declaring on the air, "We're the only station that is worth a s**t!"

By the end of summer 1984 Pat Barry and Sebastian left at the same time. Sebastian had an on-air going away party and a stripper was involved, use your imagination. Though J.C. McCoy and Steve Hawknuts...I mean Hawkins gave us the All Night Barnyard (I still have my member letter), Q102 settled down and by 1990 was your basic CHR.

P.S.: I often wonder what the folks at TM productions thought when a jingle was requested that had the lyrics Q102, The Frog is Dead!
 
Imlivinontheair said:
OK. This is good information. So it was actually Billy Squire "Everybody Wants You".

Does anyone know how long he kept the stunt going and what were the results?

Would love more input on this.

Thanks
Click to expand...

I seem to recall that it went on for a little over an hour and a half, complete with the next DJ (Janeen Coyle I believe) coming on the air and saying that he went down the back steps to avoid the boss. At the time, my first years of radio ahead of me, I was stunned and worried about Mark. Little did I know. Mark stated on the air that he liked the song so much, he was going to play it until they made him stop.

The results? Those of us that were around to hear it still remember it. I'd have to say it was one of the better stunts in Cincinnati radio for it to have lived this long in memory!
 
If anyone still reads this post, I remember the incident. It was fall 1981 (I think!) Was cruising around in Hamilton, Ohio with a friend and turned to the Q (I flipped between Q-102 & WEBN-102.7) When we heard Billy Squire singing "Everybody Wants You" Of course, we loved the song, so stayed on the Q to listen to it. Mark Sebastian comes on saying he has locked the doors and that the FCC was calling & was going to break down the door, but he didn't care, he was going to do it anyways. Mark starts off saying for the 52nd time here is Billy Squire...We just started cracking up! Now, I by then was on to heavier rock than the Q had to offer, so back to WEBN, Flipping back and forth, last we heard it was up to 78 times! Here 30 years later, I DON'T listen to Q 102, but I still listen to WEBN! Long live the FROG!
 
Also something I remember Mark Sebastian doing was he always played "Stairway to Heaven" and when the long pause came at the end, he would whisper "Bite Me"! I still do that when I hear the song, I hate it now cause every morning on the school bus, that damn song would be the last one played before getting off the bus. Now this was in 1972, so I was 12, (yes, I'm old!) and that song was in my head all day. He also came to our school, Talawanda High School I think my junior or senior year for prom, but I was to cool for prom. Also, was listening to him do the top ten countdown at night before going to bed when he broke in with a shaky voice announcing that Lynard Skynard had crashed and he was crying! Of course, so was I. 1977, I had just turn 16...Hadn't thought of this crap in a long time. Anyway, hope this helps answer any questions. Mark was a cool DJ. But, he's gone and the FROG! still live on....
 
WGTZ Z-93 did a similar stunt to the Sebastian stunt in March 1992. Wilbur Wright ended up playing "Bohemian Rhapsody" 15 times straight. This was around the time that "Wayne's World" was all the rage and the Queen tune was rereleased. Still one of my favorite radio stunts to this day. This was the brainchild of then-Z-93 PD Kevin Kenney.
 
I remember all that Sebastian stuff. Great radio!

One in particular I remember is Sebastian gave a way a Q102 T-shirt to the 9th caller. After giving it away he went on a rant about how cheap Q102 was giving away T-shirts and stuff like that. He went on and on, really trashing the station. Finally the station manager calls and tries to calm him down talk him into talking about this off the air. Sebastian refuses and finally rants his way into having the station do a contest to give away a new Corvette.

Being about 12 years old, I ate it up. Great Radio!
 
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