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Mike O'Brien

J

jcurtis

Guest
Mike O'Brien, the All Night Rock and Roll Animal, a performer with one of the Circle City's longest runs, including stops at WIFE, WNDE and, for 20+ years, overnights at WTPI, hangs up his headphones and exits Entercom Indianapolis. Mike, in my view, has always been honest, dependable, helpful and relentless in his pursuit of operating excellence. Additionally, his alter ego, Dave Heck, is a good friend who will be missed.

On behalf of all those who work during the dark side of the day and who spent night after sleepless night with Mike, and for those of us with whom he shared the air for many years: good night, good morning, good bye and good luck.
 
Agreed.

(And well said.)

> Mike O'Brien, the All Night Rock and Roll Animal, a
> performer with one of the Circle City's longest runs,
> including stops at WIFE, WNDE and, for 20+ years, overnights
> at WTPI, hangs up his headphones and exits Entercom
> Indianapolis. Mike, in my view, has always been honest,
> dependable, helpful and relentless in his pursuit of
> operating excellence. Additionally, his alter ego, Dave
> Heck, is a good friend who will be missed.
>
> On behalf of all those who work during the dark side of the
> day and who spent night after sleepless night with Mike, and
> for those of us with whom he shared the air for many years:
> good night, good morning, good bye and good luck.
>
 
> Mike O'Brien, the All Night Rock and Roll Animal, a
> performer with one of the Circle City's longest runs,
> including stops at WIFE, WNDE and, for 20+ years, overnights
> at WTPI, hangs up his headphones and exits Entercom
> Indianapolis. Mike, in my view, has always been honest,
> dependable, helpful and relentless in his pursuit of
> operating excellence. Additionally, his alter ego, Dave
> Heck, is a good friend who will be missed.
>
> On behalf of all those who work during the dark side of the
> day and who spent night after sleepless night with Mike, and
> for those of us with whom he shared the air for many years:
> good night, good morning, good bye and good luck.
>

ditto!!!
 
Is this another sign of a pending major change at TPI? Or are they just working on going jockless outside of AM Drive, Midday, and PM Drive?



> Mike O'Brien, the All Night Rock and Roll Animal, a
> performer with one of the Circle City's longest runs,
> including stops at WIFE, WNDE and, for 20+ years, overnights
> at WTPI, hangs up his headphones and exits Entercom
> Indianapolis. Mike, in my view, has always been honest,
> dependable, helpful and relentless in his pursuit of
> operating excellence. Additionally, his alter ego, Dave
> Heck, is a good friend who will be missed.
>
> On behalf of all those who work during the dark side of the
> day and who spent night after sleepless night with Mike, and
> for those of us with whom he shared the air for many years:
> good night, good morning, good bye and good luck.
>
 
He's a pro who has been doing overnights in Indy since around 1971. Overnight listeners now have very few live people to listen to.


> Agreed.
>
> (And well said.)
>
> > Mike O'Brien, the All Night Rock and Roll Animal, a
> > performer with one of the Circle City's longest runs,
> > including stops at WIFE, WNDE and, for 20+ years,
> overnights
> > at WTPI, hangs up his headphones and exits Entercom
> > Indianapolis. Mike, in my view, has always been honest,
> > dependable, helpful and relentless in his pursuit of
> > operating excellence. Additionally, his alter ego, Dave
> > Heck, is a good friend who will be missed.
> >
> > On behalf of all those who work during the dark side of
> the
> > day and who spent night after sleepless night with Mike,
> and
> > for those of us with whom he shared the air for many
> years:
> > good night, good morning, good bye and good luck.
> >
>
 
Mike O'Brien's early days in Indy

Just a little bit of reminiscing of Mike's earlier days on Indy radio:

As a long-time Indy radio listener, I first heard Mike when he was doing overnights at WIFE. During 1974 and early '75 (before he moved over to WNDE), he had the Midnight-to-6 AM shift, in-between Buddy Scott and Pete Sullivan. I still have a few old airchecks from his shows during that time. (Of course, many if not most of us would rather burn those early airchecks than let them see the light of day, but they are still interesting to listen to.) Unlike today's "10 in a row with no talk" formats, WIFE had the DJ's talk between virtually every record, so it gave the jocks a chance for some great jokes and one-liners. WIFE also had an instant request line that was taped and played on the air and Mike took every advantage of that with the "crazy" overnight listeners. He developed some regulars. One regular who had an uncanny ability to get in, and who used to constantly bug him was a guy who dubbed himself "Beatneck Ricky". Mike would talk to him, ask him questions, let him ramble on, tell jokes, etc. for at least a minute or two before he had to reel him in and finally get his request. He played the straight man to this guy's weird and wacky rants. He would play these entire recordings and it made for some very interesting radio. His stint at WNDE was far more straightforward as they did not let him record and play back the listeners calls. The format was far more structured, with Jodie Lyons "All Hit Music" jingles between EVERY record and little flexibility compared to WIFE. Of course, today's radio is even more controlled by programmers than ever before.

One of Mike's best lines that I heard was a response to a request line caller, who admitted she was up at 3 AM because of her insomnia. Without missing a bit, Mike sincerely yet sarcastically told her, "Thanks! It's good for my show......"

Long before voicetracking was even thought about, Mike was on the air every night, all night. Thanks for a great 31+ years here in Indy, Mike! It won't be the same without you.




> Mike O'Brien, the All Night Rock and Roll Animal, a
> performer with one of the Circle City's longest runs,
> including stops at WIFE, WNDE and, for 20+ years, overnights
> at WTPI, hangs up his headphones and exits Entercom
> Indianapolis. Mike, in my view, has always been honest,
> dependable, helpful and relentless in his pursuit of
> operating excellence. Additionally, his alter ego, Dave
> Heck, is a good friend who will be missed.
>
> On behalf of all those who work during the dark side of the
> day and who spent night after sleepless night with Mike, and
> for those of us with whom he shared the air for many years:
> good night, good morning, good bye and good luck.
>
 
Re: Mike O'Brien's early days in Indy

Thanks. I've already corresponded with Brian about some of these and plan to get copies of them to him ASAP.


> Some of us would love to hear those old airchecks from the
> 70s. Send them to Brian Stevens at the Indianapolis Radio
> History site.
> http://guardianmartian.com/
>
 
> He's a pro who has been doing overnights in Indy since
> around 1971. Overnight listeners now have very few live
> people to listen to.

If the stations don't want to staff overnights, why don't they shut turn off the TX til 5 AM? That way, no electric bill for the "no one listening" hours.

BTW, it is 11:30PM to the cheap skates reading this and I am on my way to work!!
 
WOW! The first time I met Mike O'Brien, he became an instant friend... someone whom I felt I knew for years. He trained me for some part time overnight shifts at TPI many years back and he took it as seriously as if it was a drivetime slot. If you have people listening, no matter what hour, they deserve your best.

With more and more stations voice tracking or going jockless during the so called "off" hours, these companies can't seem to figure out why the numbers just aren't there. Shed no tears for these morons because they just don't get it. If I want to listen to 55 minutes of non-stop music, I'll pop in a CD. Personality? Why bother having morning shows if personality isn't important?
Their views on radio programming is skewed by stockholders and the all mighty dollar.

Off my soap box and back to Mike. He's a hell of a guy and I wish him all the best for the future. And Dave, how are the trains?<P ID="signature">______________
[email protected]</P>
 
> Mike O'Brien, the All Night Rock and Roll Animal, a
> performer with one of the Circle City's longest runs,
> including stops at WIFE, WNDE and, for 20+ years, overnights
> at WTPI, hangs up his headphones and exits Entercom
> Indianapolis. Mike, in my view, has always been honest,
> dependable, helpful and relentless in his pursuit of
> operating excellence. Additionally, his alter ego, Dave
> Heck, is a good friend who will be missed.
>
> On behalf of all those who work during the dark side of the
> day and who spent night after sleepless night with Mike, and
> for those of us with whom he shared the air for many years:
> good night, good morning, good bye and good luck.
>
Time for me to chime in.

During my brief stint at Mystar, I got to know him pretty well. When Cooper and I would get there in the morning, Mike was ready to cut loose with all the conversation he'd pent up for the past 4 hours!

Great guy...I even liked his girlfriend's little rat-dog he'd bring with him from time to time.

Entercom's playing with fire. 3 stations on Audiovault and no one home at night. Ask O'Brien. He'll tell you how unreliable that system is!
 
When I started at WTPI 7 years ago, Mike became an instant friend. He is one of the most loyal friends I have ever had in this business. Working in Indianapolis was kind of scary for me at first but Mike made me feel comfortable and at home. Over the years that we worked together we shared laughter and tears, good times and bad, but we always knew that we could lean on each other for support. I lost my job at WTPI on Aug. 31st and Mike was one of the first to call me and give me support. After 27 years in the radio business I hung up my headphones, and now my dear friend has to do the same. Mike you are a professional and I admire you very much. I know that you will have success in any venture that you choose and it has been an honor to end my radio career with you as a co-worker and a friend.

All the best!
Oleta

> WOW! The first time I met Mike O'Brien, he became an
> instant friend... someone whom I felt I knew for years. He
> trained me for some part time overnight shifts at TPI many
> years back and he took it as seriously as if it was a
> drivetime slot. If you have people listening, no matter
> what hour, they deserve your best.
>
> With more and more stations voice tracking or going jockless
> during the so called "off" hours, these companies can't seem
> to figure out why the numbers just aren't there. Shed no
> tears for these morons because they just don't get it. If I
> want to listen to 55 minutes of non-stop music, I'll pop in
> a CD. Personality? Why bother having morning shows if
> personality isn't important?
> Their views on radio programming is skewed by stockholders
> and the all mighty dollar.
>
> Off my soap box and back to Mike. He's a hell of a guy and I
> wish him all the best for the future. And Dave, how are the
> trains?
>
 
Corporate radio ... what a damn shame! I was a studen at Butler University when WTPI first came on the air and have listened to it since. But lately it just doesn't seem the same. I listen to Coop in the mornings because I know him but after that the dial gets changed. So sorry to hear about more good people losing their jobs or giving it up.

rebelgrey


> When I started at WTPI 7 years ago, Mike became an instant
> friend. He is one of the most loyal friends I have ever had
> in this business. Working in Indianapolis was kind of scary
> for me at first but Mike made me feel comfortable and at
> home. Over the years that we worked together we shared
> laughter and tears, good times and bad, but we always knew
> that we could lean on each other for support. I lost my job
> at WTPI on Aug. 31st and Mike was one of the first to call
> me and give me support. After 27 years in the radio
> business I hung up my headphones, and now my dear friend has
> to do the same. Mike you are a professional and I admire
> you very much. I know that you will have success in any
> venture that you choose and it has been an honor to end my
> radio career with you as a co-worker and a friend.
>
> All the best!
> Oleta
>
> > WOW! The first time I met Mike O'Brien, he became an
> > instant friend... someone whom I felt I knew for years.
> He
> > trained me for some part time overnight shifts at TPI many
>
> > years back and he took it as seriously as if it was a
> > drivetime slot. If you have people listening, no matter
> > what hour, they deserve your best.
> >
> > With more and more stations voice tracking or going
> jockless
> > during the so called "off" hours, these companies can't
> seem
> > to figure out why the numbers just aren't there. Shed no
> > tears for these morons because they just don't get it. If
> I
> > want to listen to 55 minutes of non-stop music, I'll pop
> in
> > a CD. Personality? Why bother having morning shows if
> > personality isn't important?
> > Their views on radio programming is skewed by stockholders
>
> > and the all mighty dollar.
> >
> > Off my soap box and back to Mike. He's a hell of a guy and
> I
> > wish him all the best for the future. And Dave, how are
> the
> > trains?
> >
>
 
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