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Radio DJ Resigns On-Air
- Thread starter sdol
- Start date
I've heard one or two of those impromptu goodbye's over the years and am wondering what effect it might have on future jobs for that DJ?
The DJ is obviously correct that on-air talent isn't treated well at times in this biz but everyone knows that going in, right?
Not sure why this thread is in the New York board as the station in question is apparently in Jacksonville, FL. The departing DJ evidently got replaced by someone called "The Greaseman" who worked there before. Lots of comments on the station web site (WFYV).
The DJ is obviously correct that on-air talent isn't treated well at times in this biz but everyone knows that going in, right?
Not sure why this thread is in the New York board as the station in question is apparently in Jacksonville, FL. The departing DJ evidently got replaced by someone called "The Greaseman" who worked there before. Lots of comments on the station web site (WFYV).
It is real, and when I heard it, I was so glad someone had the huevos to go on air and let the listeners know how the biz can be at times. Obviously the jock has integrity. He said despite the bad times he wouldn't have traded that time at the station for anything. Sometimes those who are doing wrong by their employees need to be called out on it.
I've been at a station in a major market and have witnessed all of the on-air staff let go except for the Overnight and Morning Show.
I have NEVER heard of someone being fired before they did their last shift. It's always after their shift so something like this doesn't happen.
So maybe it was this DJ's bit, and maybe he's already signed on with another station.
I have NEVER heard of someone being fired before they did their last shift. It's always after their shift so something like this doesn't happen.
So maybe it was this DJ's bit, and maybe he's already signed on with another station.
...for whatever it's worth, I quit on-the-air at WRPX, a St. Paul-Minneapolis suburban station, in August 1986. The circumstances were moderately similar to this guy's. I even kinda billboarded my announcement by playing Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come" as my last record. ;-) Perhaps the real reason it didn't seem to harm my career is the fact that the station went silent nine months after I left, so it was obviously being mismanaged in the first place...
...come to think of it, I've worked at no less than twelve different stations that have gone silent since I left them -- am I a carrier of some sort? ;-) ...
...come to think of it, I've worked at no less than twelve different stations that have gone silent since I left them -- am I a carrier of some sort? ;-) ...
There is a classic tape from the 70's of a KHJ jock resigning on the air. Coming out of "Don't Rock the Boat" - an appropriate song - the guy reads maybe a 30 second declaration stating Nixon and his cronies needs to be indicted. He repeats it and turns off the mic. There's some dead air and then ... jingle, music.
A guy who was there says the jock walked out of the booth, down the hall, out of the building and ... was gone.
I quit once at a major market talk station. The consultant was so clueless he pretty much told me it was over the next day. The first hour or so I hung in there and finally just told listeners what was going on and I wouldn't be back. i didn't bad-mouth anyone but took loots of calls. Might of been on of my best days on air. The consultant/PD (it was a weird deal) came in the CR begging me to stop - but why? It felt great to be honest. I walked out with my head held high and a terrific memory.
For the record - I never understood Greaseman's appeal. Maybe his woes have changed him but I rarely have been around a guy with such an overblown ego. If he is getting another chance I hope he uses it well.
A guy who was there says the jock walked out of the booth, down the hall, out of the building and ... was gone.
I quit once at a major market talk station. The consultant was so clueless he pretty much told me it was over the next day. The first hour or so I hung in there and finally just told listeners what was going on and I wouldn't be back. i didn't bad-mouth anyone but took loots of calls. Might of been on of my best days on air. The consultant/PD (it was a weird deal) came in the CR begging me to stop - but why? It felt great to be honest. I walked out with my head held high and a terrific memory.
For the record - I never understood Greaseman's appeal. Maybe his woes have changed him but I rarely have been around a guy with such an overblown ego. If he is getting another chance I hope he uses it well.
TheBigA said:
Interestingly, while Grease will be doing afternoons for Cox-owned WFYV, he will apparently still be allowed to do Saturday mornings on Clear Channel-owned WWDC, a gig he's held since February of this year, if I'm not mistaken...
By the way... There was another recent example of a jock doing his own sendoff on the air: Bob "Blade" Robinson, who was a legendary rock jock at WRDU in Raleigh, actually stayed on the airstaff when it flipped to Rooster Country in October 2006; a few weeks later, after a song from I think Sugarland, he cracked the mic and quit on the air, then played a track from The Who. LOL!
mimo said:
We had a similar on-air resignation a couple years ago: After legendary classic rocker 106.1 WRDU (Raleigh, NC) went country, they'd initially brought back the old 'RDU PM-drive jock, who'd been at the station during all but two of its 22 years as a rock station, to the same time slot in the new format, but he abruptly resigned a week later at the end of his shift, saying that the country format felt out of place for him. He then played The Who's "This Song is Over" as a tribute to the old 'RDU--- a tribute that also harks back to 1984 when another rock-station-gone-country, 94.7 WQDR, dumped its rock format for country. That same Who song was the last song 'QDR played as a rock station before going country. Soon after 'QDR's flip to country, the rock WRDU was born, and many of the former 'QDR rock jocks migrated to 'RDU. As for that jock, known as "Bob the Blade," he is now on another rock station in the Raleigh market, WBBB 96Rock.
There's a widely available snippet of a DJ from Mobile, Alabama's big urban AC station "93 BLX" quitting on air. She goes on a little bit of rant about not getting a raise for six years and backstabbing (are we sure this is radio? ;D ), then manages to segue right back into the mix.
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/inettamoodsettaradioresignation.htm
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/inettamoodsettaradioresignation.htm
S
SallysPizza
Guest
So Kabrich must be consulting WFYV.
Saw the 'Greaseman's' death-stunt online last week. Now it makes sense...
CBS fired David Lee Roth during his show (about half-way through). He didn't rail against the 'suits', just sounded really gutted and then went to music. He did call out the suits a few days prior, though. It was liberating for this listener; must've been great for him. I think he's still getting some of the millions CBS Radio promised...
sdol said:
CBS fired David Lee Roth during his show (about half-way through). He didn't rail against the 'suits', just sounded really gutted and then went to music. He did call out the suits a few days prior, though. It was liberating for this listener; must've been great for him. I think he's still getting some of the millions CBS Radio promised...
No way this was a stunt. Those called out and the company itself are, suffice it to say, aptly named... that little twirp of CEO too!!! Rock on!
I recall the "Inetta 'the Moodsetta'" clip. When researching it, I found this extended piece on it from the Bob Rivers' show.
http://www.bobrivers.com/ontheshow/brsnews.asp?dismode=article&artid=5728
Turns out it was a blessing in disguise as she was more or less inundated with job offers after that, including one that the Bob Rivers' show was trying to set her up with! ;D
In conclusion, I hope this guy finds the same outcome for him. He sounds like a guy with a true heart for radio that would never let you down unless you f'ed him over. It seems to me that if stations' that wish to can folks like that without giving them the respect of knowing ahead of time deserve no better. Good for him! (Honestly, normally wouldn't you give them at least that obligatory 2 weeks' notice if they treated you with respect?)
Incidentally, I myself (while not holding an on-air position) have been so incensed by a certain manager's poor handling of situations that in a phone conversation in which we were both pretty heated over my not showing up at an expected hour (even though I was hired with the verbal approval of "flexible hours"), I just up and quit that moment. It sounded as if he was getting ready to fire me on the spot so I made sure to beat him to the punch. :-\ I was never happy that it boiled down to that, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't the first for this guy.
http://www.bobrivers.com/ontheshow/brsnews.asp?dismode=article&artid=5728
Turns out it was a blessing in disguise as she was more or less inundated with job offers after that, including one that the Bob Rivers' show was trying to set her up with! ;D
In conclusion, I hope this guy finds the same outcome for him. He sounds like a guy with a true heart for radio that would never let you down unless you f'ed him over. It seems to me that if stations' that wish to can folks like that without giving them the respect of knowing ahead of time deserve no better. Good for him! (Honestly, normally wouldn't you give them at least that obligatory 2 weeks' notice if they treated you with respect?)
Incidentally, I myself (while not holding an on-air position) have been so incensed by a certain manager's poor handling of situations that in a phone conversation in which we were both pretty heated over my not showing up at an expected hour (even though I was hired with the verbal approval of "flexible hours"), I just up and quit that moment. It sounded as if he was getting ready to fire me on the spot so I made sure to beat him to the punch. :-\ I was never happy that it boiled down to that, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't the first for this guy.
Kabrich said:
I disagree. This did not sound scripted at all. I cannot say that it was not "pre-planned", but scripted it was not.
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