jeffryan said:
Hello said:
The Program Director called me (I always record incoming calls) and said, with a huff in his voice, "HAVING FUN, ARE WE????" After 2 seconds, I knew it was him, and immediately answered him with my best Curly Stooge voice, "NAHHH, NAHHH, NAHH....." (A scared loss of words!) I didn't laugh then, but years later, I am laughing about it now....
Needless to say, I was fired from WBLQ, and starting my Providence/Boston radio career with a swift kick in the pants by the PD......
WBLQ had you shaking in your boots?? When the PD asked if you were having fun in that sarcastic tone, I would have said, "HELL YEAH, BROTHER!" ;D
I've only been hotlined once in the three years I've been at my current station (and it's not from lack of misbehavior!). The PD complained that I filled with too many slow songs back to back. Oops.
Probably my best hotline story was while I was at B101. It was a Saturday night/Sunday morning. After finishing up Bruce's show, I went downtown to meet some friends for a few drinks. After closing time, for whatever reason I stopped back at the radio station on my way home. It was probably around 2:30am or so. This was right after overnights became completely automated. I got on the air (a little buzzed) and did some talk breaks just for the fun of it. Who the hell was listening at 2:30am?
Tom St. John was!
I think his exact words were, "If I were Bill (Hess), I'd fire you. Just go home and go to bed, Jeff." Double oops. Tom and I laughed about it after the fact... although I think I did more of the laughing.
Dumb on my part in retrospect, but it still makes for a funny story!
If you never got a call from a PD, or supporting staff, during a shift, you either were 1) perfect, or 2) not in radio in this area for very long. I believe that it has happened to
everyone, at some point of their so-called career. At WKFD, my first radio job (1978), it could've easily been the beginning AND end to my radio career. Egged-on by a weekend staff member, I once played "More Than A Feeling", not an approved song. I got an immediate call from my PD, while the song was still playing, advising me of what I had done. He sternly said that he could have fired me, for this. Feeling embarrassed, and a bit more than defensive, I told him that I would put on the longest song that I could find
and then leave, if that's what he wanted. I called his bluff, and he backed down, fortunately. I never would've done it, but he didn't know me that well, yet. I apologized for the error in judgment, but asked him to NEVER again call me during an airshift. He wasn't there for much longer, after that, and neither was I, to think about it. Those small AM stations were great places to start out, but didn't offer much more in the line of amenities. To be honest, it wasn't easy to keep weekend people, at small AM's, that usually had poor working conditions, and minimum wage pay. When I left there, they didn't even have a working bathroom.
My only other notable power-play call of this nature, was in my short time as a weekender, at WSNE, back in the 80s. To say that the PD, a part of the station's prominent morning show at the time, had a slight ego, would be a colossal understatement. In order to get the weekend gig, I had to agree to work an upcoming Christmas Eve overnight. That's a shift that NO ONE wants to work. However, to get the gig, I HAD to agree to it. Now, bad enough that I had to work this shift, but after playing "Granda Got Run Over..." at 12:15 am, I actually get a call from the PD, saying that I should stick with traditional Christmas music. Now, who, besides Mr. Ego, is even listening at this time ?!?
Most people are enjoying holiday cheer with their families, or sleeping, at that time. The majority of people with a radio on, on a holiday, aren't even listening to the content, anyway. It's just on for "background noise."
So, in conclusion, calling jocks on the air is a trait of a PD who is a control freak, probably with a larger than normal sized ego (at least, in my opinion).
