Spring 2006

[malibu]

Bingo... never lose the passion

ch

 

[RoddyFreeman]

I recently contributed a lot of airchecks to reelradio.com. One of them is of John Young doing middays on WMAK in 1972, recorded as I traveled through Nashville. It might wind up on the site at some point.

 

[ChannelChanger]

John Young and Charles:

Rebecca Stevens says hello. I'm her husband and she smiled when she heard you guys were online. She too remembers when Z93 was a powerhouse.
FYI, she's a mom now. We have an energetic 3 1/2 year-old redhead named Rachel. Rachel's verbal skills seem to have developed early. Gee, imagine that!

David

 

[jy]

I do the weekend show on WNIV for fun. I learned talk radio is a lot different than music radio and I didn't want to be a "one format" kind of radio guy. But I live in Roswell and do voice work for 31 television stations and a little radio. I find radio stations just harder to serve. They tend to be a little nervous and jumpy changing an image voice for poor reasons as if that's really the problem. I mean look at Jeff Davis on wsb-am. Sure every cut he does sounds like the first cut he did 10 years ago but when you hear him you know it's wsb-am. I've been fortunate to have several tv stations that have stuck with me for over 20 years. The important thing is to be a student of the business. Trends in stations and voice work change and instead of assuming everybody is wrong if they don't hire me to do their spots or promos, I find it more beneficial to just listen to the sound they are buying and be very tuned in to what's current. My personal opinion means absolutely zero...in any given station the only opinion that really counts is that of one..maybe two people..the one who decides everything. He's not asking my opinion about playlists marketing, slogans or if I think his girl friend is cute..so I try and listen and deliver and sometimes I do..and others I miss the mark. The hardest part in today's world is figuring out what PD's want from the talent. They know it when they hear it, but often aren't very good at explaining what's in their head. I'm not trying to ramble and dominant a website, just perhaps suggest that if anybody here is still with a station and you don't have a clue what the pd is trying to say...that's more normal than you'll ever know in today's world..Probably more people are apt to hear what they did wrong than get praise for what they did right. G o figure.

 

[taylorengineer]

John Young....Gomer says "Hey!"

Tom Taylor

 

[JPA]

How many people in today's radio world can not only get the following said in the 10 second maximum, but also make you honestly believe that Atlanta life was more exciting on 92.9? Try this out and time yourself, no cheating now, and sell it:
"IIIIIT'S (TIME) AT HOTLANTA'S Z-93! WZGC ATLANTA - WHERE WE PLAY AT LEAST 20 TOTAL MUSIC SETS EVERY DAY...WE'RE IN ANOTHER Z-93 TOTAL MUSIC SET RIGHT NOW! CULTURE CLUB AND THE FIXX FOLLOW DURAN DURAN ON Z-93!"

Ooh. If that didn't give you a tingle, well, I'll just say "yuh just had to be thar". John Young built the FM equivalent to the legendary KHJ and then added more to it, and Z-93 was simply monstrous from '78-'85. Yeah, it was that good. The problems I keep reading about here involve basic show business and leadership. Most PD's today are only given the responsibility of keeping a schedule, and that's a terrible trend that breeds low expectation and frustration. John talked the sales department into giving away all kinds of things. But we went on the air at Z without tons of give-a-ways or station materials - the on-air sound WAS Atlanta. Plain on-air excitement and thew chance to brush with greatness was nearly all we had to use to compete and beat very great, very merchandised stations like 94Q. John hired passionate radio people who were going places, and he pushed hard. My name's Jay Andrews and I was fortunate to work at Z-93 for 3 years, produce McCoy stuff...I loved working in that incredibly great place. Thanks for the unbelievable station John - and there's not a soul - me, McCoy, Randy, Steve Davis, Mel Cargle, Chris Thomas, Steve Mapel, Rebecca and all the others whose professional lives weren't made better for working in your Z-93. Don't you wish we'd written it all down?

I'm still on the air and I hear so many talented people doing shows that they're not excited about. If you're on a show that you feel is stuck and that you can make better - do it.

Jay Andrews