Quite the rant, spin dr. And quite true. Allow me a line or 40.
Two turntables, a triple stack, a mic and reel. back before 'puters, I got a kick out of hacking tape during request shows. 5 edits in 3:40. Plus I could take a dump, on the other side of the building, in the 2:33 of a Boys II Men cut. Nothing like pulling a saturday morning with a puking hangover and not having automation. Nothing like being flat on your back in the studio floor, and have to get up every 4 minutes to hit buttons, load discs and carts and do breaks.....then puke in the garbage can......ah yes, the good ole days. Even started radio at an AM daytimer, 15 feet from the transmitter and rack, with the only ventilation being a huge exhaust fan in the back room....in the 98 degree summer heat, in a cow field, 40 yards from active train tracks. Pull from the front, put at the back rotations. About 20 years ago. Thats where I started. Of course my old man did it before me so I was always around the biz. I remember going on remote with my dad, and those were real remotes......spinning the tunes and playing the spots from the 300 pound portable studio desk (mr. d probably pulled a few of those around). I remember thinking how cool it was for my dads name to be on the front of it. Those are my good old days. The days when everyone in radio got the biggest kick out of making an adverse situation sound like radio gold. We always enjoyed chaotic behind the scenes situations, when the format went out the window so we could do what we do best, get info out and make it shine. Not alot of that anymore. But I can manipulate the latest automation and make it work for me. Automation makes a lazy jock lazier and a good jock great. I think Warlock said it best in another thread, lose quote "if your still working in radio these days, YOU ARE GOOD." or crazy. I quess it really is in the blood. If you are new to radio, you'll find out really quick if its for you. You gotta realize, many came before you.......and many will follow.....don't expect to be taken seriously for 3 years.......thats the magic number. If you make it that long, you've pulled the crap shifts, realized you suck on the air and need work, you then know you don't know a thing, your ego has been crushed, you make no money and probably never will....and you bitch about it ALOT, but you'll do anything for your station. Yep, three years......at that point you've officially joined a dwindling eclectic club of wierdo's, ner-do-wells, egomaniacs, and overly eccentric radio people. And If you are new you've probably heard this from a vet or two in you building: "You just gettin into radio? What the F%$k are you thinking!?!" Thats just the standard greeting, think nothing of it.
OK.....where's NYQUIL. Time for my third dose.