Re: Two \
I am not, nor have I ever been involved in radio broadcasting. I own a contracting company by trade. But, a former neighbor of mine (for privacy's sake, let's just say in Metro West) taught me the difference in listening to radio rather than hearing radio as a tool to just break up silence.
At all hours of any day or night, my neighbor (whom I assumed wasn't your average "9 to fiver") would keep what I thought were strange hours. After about 6 months of this, I saw him washing his car in his driveway and I went over and introduced myself.
Right off the bat, we hit it off. After a few minutes of introductory pleasantries, "my neighbor" jokingly asked, "So, what are the neighbors saying about my odd hours?" I said, "It is a normal question, right?" My neighbor then said, "I will tell you, but you are sworn to secrecy." I replied, "Are you in the CIA." He said, "No, but I am a licensed professional; I'm Jason Wright from Oldies 103."
Since I didn't listen (up until that time) to Oldies 103, I said, "Oh, never heard of you." Jason couldn't have cared less, but said, "Now that we're officially neighbors, you've got to give me a listen."
I did and I was hooked!
This was in 1993. And for the next 7 years I became (what Jason used to refer to his avid listeners as) a Loyal Fandom.
In 2000, I noticed he was basically at home. I asked (after 7 years of neighborly friendship) what was going on.
He simply said, "I quit." After 7 years of living across the street from him, I could tell it bothered him.
All I can say is that being Jason's neighbor for 7 years, what Jason's Loyal Fandom heard on Oldies 103 was probably 5% of what the guy was all about.
Over the 7 years of being his neighbor, my wife and I and a few other neighborhood households would have get-togethers, and never did Jason come off as cocky or arrogant or what you might think a dj would be like. Actually, he is very shy, one hell of a piano player and truly one of the most down to earth, nicest persons anyone could ever hope to meet. All of us in the neighborhood miss his company. I guess you might say he's sort of one of a kind.
Anyone who was a fan of his Oldies 103 shows must recognize that Jason Wright was pushing the boundaries and attempting to simply be entertaining. God, his listener's phone calls were the best! (better than the music!)
Ask yourself, do you hear that now? Jason Wright was the last of radio's best.
Truth is, probably only Jason (from what I knew of him for 7 years) knows why he quit Oldies 103. My opinion is this, after all the speculations about his "walking off air," I'll bet Jason had a real good reason for quitting.
I do get an occasional Email from him and I can tell you Jason has never looked back. In fact he's in business for himself on the web at
www.jasonwrightonline.com
