There’s nothing more enduring than a great line from a classic movie…and how art tends to imitate life. Like the line spoken by Hyman Roth, played by the immortal Lee Strasberg, to Michael Corleone on the shooting of Roth’s associate, Moe Greene, the life we’ve chosen has its peculiarities.
Such is the life of anyone in the broadcast industry in 2011. We all know, pretty much, what we’re in for; that the ride will end at some point; and the likelihood that goodbyes never get their airing.
I remember sitting with my soon to be in-laws and saying to them that I’d never be a 9 to 5 kind of guy; and lived to realize that dream….for the better part of 34 years. But along the way, there have been many times when the goodbye was never given a chance to be said. Not that I didn’t try. For instance, when Danny Hernandez left Z-100, there was a tersely made phone call from ops manager saying that the line about Bonnie Tyler "....holdin' out for a veal and pepper hero"...did me in. When Bobby Valentine left PLJ, there was no goodbye either…only a visit to the general manager’s office to tell me that I’d just done my last show. Same for my goodbye from WYNY. My farewell from Y-107 was drowned out by the sound of jackhammers right outside my studio window. And I did attempt a goobye from Hot 97, when I recorded a tag on the end of the Disco Classics Showcase with Paco much to his surprise. (He called me right after the show with his very heavy Latin tinged accent and said, “….hey baby, where’s the sign off I did!)
So for all intents and purposes, it is sort of an unspoken rule that you really don’t get that chance.
However, we now have social media, and while not everyone gets to share in goodbye…many do….like you. So that’s why I’m taking this opportunity to give you a hearty “thank you” to the many that have shared the ride with me, and hopefully will continue to do so.
Till we meet again,
Ray