Author: gerry

9/9/1994

Okay partner, go for your gun!

I guess my thoughts of the old west were stimulated by doing this week’s interview with Mark Driscoll. It’s difficult for two veteran war horses to discuss the state of radio without sharing some stories about past experiences…and, of course, with Driscoll, past lives.

I don’t want this Editorial to digress into a story about the “good old days.” It isn’t an answer to the question, “…how was it in the big war, Daddy?” But in my rambling conversation with Captain Planet, the terms “renegade” and “outlaw” kept coming up.

Where have they gone? Not the “good old days,” but the renegade and outlaw programmers? They’re out there, but they’re sure harder to find.

Radio used to be a part of the music business. For the most part, programmers were drawn to radio as a profession because of their love of music. I don’t know if that is true any longer and maybe it’s why radio…at least contemporary radio…is experiencing problems.

It’s interesting to note that some major radio companies that own Top 40 stations require that the candidates for programming opening fill out detailed questionnaires to determine their programming philosophy, personality and ability. Not long ago, I managed to get a copy of one of these profiles. There were over 600 questions, ranging from, “What is your favorite color?” to “How does the recent end of the Cold War with the Soviet Union affect your daily life?” There were specific inquiries about public affairs commitments, news coverage and commercial loads. Others questioned the applicants’ knowledge of computers and software programs. But there was not one question about music.

Not one!

There was a time when programmers went out of the box on a record because it sounded like a hit. And it’s not all just about music. There was a time when programmers put contests on in the blink of an eye because of current events. There was a time when deejays were excited about just being on the radio. There was also a time when the audience was passionate about its choice of radio stations.

You can use a lot of words to describe radio today, but passionate isn’t one of them. We’ve spent so much time researching our passive audience that our radio stations have become passive.

And we’re all to blame.

Research, originated to illuminate, is being used to culminate. Research cannot ignite. Research cannot excite. Research cannot create. But it can overweight.

The Chairman of the Sony Corporation when asked about market research regarding a new technological breakthrough said, “We don’t do market research. We create markets.”

A true renegade.

Programmers, for the sake of our business and the sake of their future, must break out of the molds they’ve too often built around themselves. To survive for awhile, you can be conservative. To win, you must take chances.

To take chances, you must have confidence in your ability. And you can’t be afraid to fail.

Tell the consultant who wants you to play it safe that you’re going to do it your way because you believe in yourself. If you don’t believe in yourself, how can you expect anyone else to believe in you? If you fail, you can always regroup and do it “his” way. But when you succeed, you’ll begin to chart your own destiny.

Gather all the information you need to make the decision, but make the decision yours. That way you get the credit. And another station in a larger market that is looking for someone to lead it to success will choose you…not your consultant or your research group.

A programmer’s talent lies in being able to anticipate the social shifts and changes that will affect the audience. Get connected with your listeners by talking with them…not reading their reactions from computer print-outs prepared by an outside agency that dilutes the data. Some of the best information comes from listening to individuals who listen to your station.

Do you know who decided that call letters should be the first thing uttered coming out of a record? Buzz Bennett was at a traffic light in San Diego, getting off on the fact that the car next to him had KCBQ cranked to the max. However, as the record faded and the deejay began talking, the listener turned down the radio before the jock mentioned the call letters. From that, a basic was born. Buzz didn’t wait for a focus group.

When I was programming KRIZ in Phoenix, we played no commercials on Monday. Of course, we ran promos stating the obvious. A listener said, “KRIZ plays no commercials on Mondays, yet all day Monday you run commercials saying you’re playing no commercials. Why is that? I scratched the promos (commercials in the listeners’ ears) immediately. No further testing was necessary.

What’s all this about? Getting the talented programmers in our industry to take chances. Getting programmers to believe in themselves and take radical stances to improve and electrify their radio stations. Getting programmers to act more on their inherent impulses rather than waiting to see what the research says.

Several years ago in a panel discussion about Arbitron ratings and how you could use the strategic research to program to your audience, Scott Shannon was asked his opinion. He said, “I don’t know anything about ratings except how to make them go up.”

What an outlaw.

Most of you reading this have the talent and the ability to make your radio station different. Most of you can do it…few make the move. In an industry that rewards innovation and risk-taking, too many of us choose the road of complacency that leads to mediocrity.

Charles Barkley says that when his team is down by two and time is running out, he’ll pull up for a three-point-shot…that the difference between being a star and an also-ran lies in the belief that he will make it…that given the opportunity he will always take the chance.

Didn’t you get in this business because you believed you could do it better than others? Do you want to be an also-ran? Or do you want to be a star?

Shoot the three!

9/2/1994

What comes first?

Ah, an age-old question that has perplexed generations for centuries. Was it the chicken or the egg? The horse or the cart? Better yet, what does it have to do with radio?

I have the answer. Not to the age-old question, but to what it has to do with radio.

This past weekend, I took a little trip (“…take a little trip…take a little trip”) to Phoenix. Yeah, I heard “Low Rider” a lot, but that isn’t the point. It was hot (108 degrees), but that wasn’t the only comparison with hell. I had the opportunity (?) to listen to some of the worst sounding radio stations I’ve ever heard.

Something happened on the way from Marconi, through McClendon, past Drake and Drew to where we are today…and it doesn’t sound very pretty.

I heard more deejays trying to be hip and failing miserably than I thought was possible. I guess it proves that some people can’t aim too low. I swear, some of the people I heard on the radio made whale shit look like stardust!

I know, some of you are saying that it’s easy to be hard (okay, so I listened to a lot of Oldies), but I’m not writing just to be critical. (That’s only when I write about R&R). I’m just concerned about the state of radio.

Let me be quick to point out that not every station in Phoenix was guilty of bad radio. KKFR and KVRY sounded good. And Phoenix isn’t the only city afflicted with this epidemic. It’s national.

Oh, yeah, the original question: What comes first, the music or the deejay?

Let me share a couple of breaks and let you decide.

“That’s Little Feat. They haven’t had a hit since lead singer Lowell George split. Now that he’s back, you can hear the group heading for the top again.” (FYI, Lowell George is dead.)

“And you can check out the exhibit on Abraham Lincoln. He was the first President born in a log cabin he built himself.”

“It’s a shame Eddie Vedder committed suicide, but Nirvana’s music will live on without him.”

I’m leaving out the incredible stupid jock bits.

How did we get here? At what point in time did we begin to hire people who aren’t professionally schooled in the ABCs of good radio and who have no clue about the artists or music they play?

I know I have been an advocate of personality radio. I’ve said that to survive and grow, radio must offer more than music. But the key here is more…not less.

Except in extremely rare cases, the Top 40 audience tunes in to radio to hear their favorite music. What deejays do between the breaks is important only if it adds to that fact. But the key ingredient is music. So many on the air today have no respect for the music they play and their ratings show it.

There was a time in radio when the deejays did all their bits over song intros. Hey, you always hit a vocal or at least the post. But even in the weenie days of Top 40, we never talked over music that mattered. The Osmonds? You betcha. The Beatles? Never.

Too many deejays now have no connection with the totality of their audience. Because a liner card is put in the studio, few do any homework about the artist they’re featuring. Logs are done by computer so jocks, in many cases, don’t even listen to the music. There is no respect for the music…and the audience can hear it.

A jock has no excuse not to know everything about a group that is new on the station. There’s so much in print about music that one must be incredibly ignorant not to spend what little time is needed to be in the know.

Jocks who do stupid bits over the endings of records should be taken from the radio station and killed. You have your time to talk…while the music is on, let it play.

The main reason for the lack of professionalism among air talent is a lack of direction. It wasn’t long ago that some programmers began hiring “street” people instead of professional announcers. Not a bad idea. However, too often these “deejays” were given very little instruction on the basics of radio. That’s not a bad thing in some instances, because in the beginning, their knowledge of the music and the “scene” was more important than the basics. So, for a while, it worked.

But after a bit, the street wears thin and because they’re busy being deejays, their knowledge of the “scene” and the music isn’t on the cutting edge. The very things these people had to offer in the beginning are no longer there and instead, you wind up with unknowledgeable, unhip people who have no idea of the basics.

It ain’t working.

Jocks need to be schooled in the basics. Of course, for this to happen, programmers need to know what to tell them to do. Too often, programmers are too busy with sales meetings, research analysis or budget seminars to spend time doing aircheck sessions.

Aircheck sessions?

Yeah. The basics.

A good programmer shouldn’t let a week go by without an aircheck session with each member of the staff. Programming techniques should be required and reinforced constantly.

Too many deejays are trying to be too hip for the room. And you know what? They’re succeeding! Three elements should be in every break: (1) call letters or moniker, (2) time, and (3) title and artist of the song. If you’re too hip to convey these three elements to your audience, you’re too hip for most of them to listen to.

If a deejay is good, everything the ego dictates to be cool can fit in…but no one should let ego get in the way of giving the audience the things they want most. You’ll be more successful trying to fit in than stand out.

Programmers who have a problem getting their talent to following programming basics should schedule Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” and hope their talent gets it. If they don’t, blow them out!

Which bring us to another problem. It’s harder to fire someone for incompetence these days. You have to build a case. Don’t forget, it’s still legal to terminate an employee for “just cause.”

In this case, just cause they suck!

God’s Gift To Brain Surgery

(Interview By Jeff Silberman)

8/26/1994

“Genius” is a word that’s bandied about a lot these days. In the radio business, there are those who assign it to anyone whose station rose more than a tenth of a point in an Arbitrend. Yet to be honest, the true geniuses in this business are very few and far between. In the entire history of hit music radio, you actually can count the real programming geniuses on one hand.

Gerry Cagle is one of those fingers…to many, the biggest finger. Check out “The Long And Winding Road” on the opposite page; the man has buried more heritage stations than most PD whizzes have even dreamed about running. He has been there and done that, all with unerring insight and undeniable vision that have earned him a vaunted place in this industry. At a trade magazine. This trade magazine.

Who were the most influential people you’ve met in radio and what were the most important lessons they taught you?

Paul Drew, who is the person mot responsible for the success I had in radio, taught me how to make my whacked-out ideas work within the framework of a format. KFRC GM Pat Norman taught me to allow the people I hired to make mistakes and thereby learn rather than remain clones. And the infamous Tondelaho shared the secrets of the universe with me.

Was there at time when radio stopped being as much fun as it became a business?

Not really. Radio has always been a business; it’s just that the business has changed. Whether or not your job is fun is up to you, not the circumstances. So many people today want to hide behind the excuse that they are unable to perform because radio is such a business. I’ve got news for them. It’s always been that way. Too many programmers want to impress their superiors with their business acumen. The truth is that good PDs are artists. They aren’t hired to save money, they’re hired to make money. If you are a good business person with poor ratings, you’ll be a good business person in the unemployment line. Programmers should be proud that they have a unique ability and avoid conforming to the attitudes set by those who aren’t fortunate enough to have that vision. I’ll give you a great example. When Jerry Clifton was hired to program the RKO station in New York, he was told that he couldn’t do call-in contests. The phone company promised to shut down telephone service to any stations running such contests because there were no high-density lines in the Big Apple. Clifton ran call-in contests using pay phones in different sections of the city. That way, when phone service was shut down because of the high number of calls, his station wasn’t affected. The phone company finally relented and put in high-density lines to all stations. A good programmer will also always find a way to make what he does fun, because if it isn’t, his audience won’t enjoy it. Listeners don’t choose radio stations because it makes good business, they choose their favorites because they enjoy sharing the music and entertainment. If it ain’t fun…it ain’t happening.

Two words: “label politics.” What’s the best way to deal with it?

By dealing with it. Bill Gavin said it best: “Be nice to the people who are paid to be nice to you.” Radio has to recognize that record companies service us with product. We need to respect their needs because radio needs record companies to survive. If radio programmers would spend more time with record promoters explaining the format, restrictions and needs of their station, most relationships would improve dramatically. Good record promoters can take “no” for an answer if they understand the reasons behind the answer. By taking time to explain your philosophy beforehand, you will save time and avoid negative attitudes in the long run. PDs who haven’t got the time to spend with record company representatives should make time. It’s an important part of their business.

Where do you draw the line between legitimate promotions and add/rotation blackmail?

Simple. If you never ask a record company for favors, they have no right to ask you. If you work with record companies on certain promotions, there will be a payback.

You wrote a book called “PAYOLA.” Where did you get the inspiration for the title?

There was no inspiration. I wrote it for the money. It was fun and mostly fiction. Just like the title.

Why did you get out of radio and go into politics?

I was asked by the Governor of Mississippi to become his Chief of Staff. I thought it would be a fun, learning experience and it was. At the end of his term, elections were being held for Congress. I never really believed I would win, but how many people can say they ran for Congress of the United States? When I went across the district in a wagon pulled by a team of mules, we sealed our fate. Mississippi just wasn’t ready for such a futuristic approach.

Why did you get back into radio?

Simple. I lost the race. Otherwise, you would be calling me Congressman Cagle and I would be doing this interview with a real reporter.

With the aging money demos, can Top 40 survive programming a Mainstream mix?

That is not now, nor has it ever been, a programming problem. That’s a sales problem. In every other medium, youth is seen as a positive, not a negative. Nearly every advertisement features young, sexy images. Top 40 needs to sell that image, not campaign for the opposite. If Top 40 radio did a better job selling what it is rather than trying to be something it isn’t, revenue wouldn’t be a problem.

What are the biggest obstacles a programmer must overcome?

Politics, lust, power, money, booze and drugs…and the absence of politics, lust, power, money, booze and drugs.

In a competitive situation, does it help to take a personal fix on your rivals?

You have to identify your opposition as much as you identify your target. If you have competition in the format, you have to counter-program. You must point out the differences to your audience and make sure you benefit from the comparison.

So how important is it to play mind games on your rivals?

Before you can win with your audience, you must win within your own company…in the halls…at the water cooler. Then, as Randy Kabrich once said, “Before you can successfully program your radio station, you have to successfully program your competitor’s.” You must beat them within their operation. If they are busy talking about you, they aren’t working on their own product. The more they worry about you, the easier it is to beat them.

What are the most effective mind games to play on the competition?

Anything that makes you their focus. Not that I would ever stoop to this level, but going through their trash, finding memos, then sending one to the GM with a note attached might make them believe there is a traitor in their midst. Showing up at their promotions with something better is always fun. Any of the small things you can do to make their life miserable.

If or when the hammer falls on you, what’s the first thing you should do?

Find another nail.

How long can a person program Top 40? Is there or should there be an age limit?

Age has nothing to do with it. It’s a state-of-mind. There are 20-year-olds who are too old in their mind set to program Top 40. There are many over-50s who have what it takes. Ability is what counts.

You have the reputation for being sort of a desperado. Has that helped or hurt?

Both. I always did it my way because I have the confidence and track record to believe my way is the best. I was hired to win, period. It was, at times, chaotic and all-consuming, but it worked. I accepted no restrictions going in because I considered programming war. After the war is won, a new general is often needed to keep the peace. I found it boring. It’s a fact that ladies love outlaws, but many GMs don’t share that same emotion.

Why did you get out of radio and into publishing?

I was lucky. I managed to achieve all of my goals. I had nothing left to prove as a programmer. I wanted to do something that would combine my love of music and my relationships in the record community with my knowledge of radio programming. Network 40 provided the perfect opportunity.

Why did you pick on R&R so much?

Good programming. If Network 40 was to become the most important trade magazine, it would have to beat the number one. Because I dealt with R&R for so many years as a programmer, I knew the shortcomings from the radio side. On top of radio’s legitimate gripes about R&R’s dictatorial policies and attitude, it didn’t take long to identify the record companies’ areas of dissatisfaction. Pointing out those problems to our listeners gave them the opportunity to choose the better station.

Was it personal?

Only in the sense that R&R didn’t care about the audience they served. As I was once a part of their audience and had to survive within their dictates, I must admit it was more satisfying than if I had never been involved on that level. But as VP/GM of this magazine, I’m concerned with the success of Network 40, not the failures of others.

How should radio look at the trades? What the most good they can get out of them?

I can only speak for Network 40. I don’t read the other trades and I don’t believe anyone else should either. Network 40 operates on a very simple premise: We try to provide our listeners with information that will make their jobs easier. Everyone employed by Network 40 was in radio before they began working here. We understand the industry like no other. Network 40 serves as a published on-line system that allows our radio and record company listeners an opportunity to interact and share ideas. We work with the radio and record industries…not for either. In the coming months, our expansion will be dramatic. Thanks to our listeners, we are growing…and they are growing with us.

Any final words before we’re finished?

If you want to be a desperado, you can’t be afraid to die.

The Long And Winding Road

WRBC, Jackson                                  Program Director

WFUN, Miami                                    Air Personality

WMFJ, Daytona Beach                       Program Director

KTLK, Denver                                    Program Director

KRIZ, Phoenix                                     Program Director

WRKO, Boston                                   Program Director

KHJ, Los Angeles                               Program Director,

RKO VP Programming

KCBQ, San Diego                               Program Director

Mississippi Governor’s Office           Chief Of Staff

KFRC, San Francisco                         Operations Manager

WAPP, New York                               VP Operations

Summit Communications                     VP Programming

Y106, Orlando                                     Station Manager

TK Communications                            National PD

KWOD, Sacramento                            Station Manager

 

8/26/1994

Since its inception, Network 40 has made subtle shifts and changes to reflect the needs of our readers. The past year has seen massive changes in our industry, both real and perceptual. The move to actual airplay in the form of Plays Per Week (first championed and debuted by Network 40 over two years ago) has virtually rewritten the rules we had become accustomed to following. The entertainment industry as a whole has had to redirect its efforts to deal with reality. As a mirror to the industry, it was obvious to us that many of these changes should be reflected in our magazine.

We’ve spent the past few months researching new and innovative ways to feature our information. During that time, we spoke with virtually all of our friends in the radio and record industries (unlike our competitors, who seem to make almost monthly revisions that best suit their needs). We asked you to help us design the best industry trade magazine available. This week’s issue debuts the changes you’ve suggested.

It starts with the cover. No, we’re not demanding that all of our cover features appear in drag…though we did discuss it. We just wanted to make sure you noticed the changes. This cover makes us impossible to miss. Future issues will feature people in the radio and record industries who are making the news. Since we depend on your thoughts and ideas, we thought it only fair to use your pictures as well.

You’ll notice the new logo design (jingle package) and the cover spread. But there’s a lot more than just rouge, lipstick and fake fingernails.

The regular features you’ve grown to know and love remain the same. You’ll still find the industry’s hottest gossip on Page 6. The Editorial, Interview, Conference Call, Station Spotlight and Promotions pages follow.

An in-depth look at music begins on Page 20. Network 40 remains the only trade magazine to spotlight new music before it comes out. You can check on records you might be considering by studying Network 40’s research across all formats. Our new A/C Chart debuts next week. This week, take a good look at all the new A/C stations in our reporter base. It’s a new section many of you have requested and we’re especially proud to debut it in this issue.

Following the A/C section is the Crossover Section, the Alternative section and a new exclusive Retail section that charts actual record sales nationwide and highlights the hottest sellers across the country. Our retail information features many outlets that aren’t a part of SoundScan. Real sales are highlighted here.

Show Prep is on Page 32. It is what it says: A feature to help prepare your talent for their air shift. We highlight different artists each week with facts your listeners will enjoy knowing. Its companion piece is “Rimshots,” whacked-out observations on the news of the weird from the cracked minds of a couple of our staffers.

Our exclusive Overnight Requests follow with listings of the most requested songs on the nation’s hottest stations along with featured night jocks, artists and the biggest Buzz records.

Our in-depth research section follows. You’ll find playlists from our hottest reporters by market size: Major, Large, Medium and Small. Then, a “Now Selling” list featuring sales charts from selected record stores across the country.

The biggest changes come next with our Spin Cycle. Here you’ll find everything you need to know about every charted record: Plays Per Week, the total number of stations playing the record, how many adds, how many drops, requests ranking and the average PPWs. Is there anything else you could possibly want? Oh, yeah, an index that lists the page number where there’s even more information on each record.

The Crunch Page is next. It’s a quick look inside the numbers, listing the Most Added records. There’s also an Accelerated Airplay Chart that shows the Top 20 records ranked by the most increased airplay of the past week.

And on the black page is the heritage part of our stats: the Mainstream Chart. It’s a compilation of the top records in the nation, ranked by Plays Per Week according to Network 40’s reporters…the most Top 40 stations of any trade.

You’ll find the new Network 40 easy to read. If you’re interested in just the facts, start with the Mainstream Chart, then work you way backwards through the Crunch Page, Spin Cycle and Playlists. If you’re interested in the features, start on page 1. Either way, you’ll find that Network 40 provides you with all the features needed to keep you informed and make your job easier.

Although the look of Network 40 has changed, our attitude hasn’t. We’re different from every other trade magazine in a lot of ways, but in once specific way that we are particularly proud of: Every person who works for Network 40 has radio experience…from the receptionists to the VP/GM. No other trade can make that statement. We don’t write about radio, we life it…and continue to live it daily with our constant networking.

We may play the music too hot, talk up every vocal and oversell from time-to-time, but it’s something everyone connected with radio and the record business can understand. It’s a personality oriented, up-tempo attitude we share with our readers and reporters.

The growth of Network 40 and the changes debuted in this issue are the culmination of literally hundreds of conversations. It would be impossible to list everyone who has contributed. It sounds trite, but we want to thank all of you.

But there’s one I must name and thank personally. Scott Shannon and I started our careers about the same time many years ago. Scott was a baby deejay in Nashville, Tennessee…I started in Jackson, Mississippi. Both stations shared the same AM frequency and when one of us forgot to lower power, we jumped on the other’s signal. A friendship somehow developed and over the years, through all the successes and failures, we’ve somehow managed to fight through our egos and tell each other the truth, even when we sometimes didn’t want to hear it. Scott’s insights have been invaluable, given without any ulterior motive except to help me succeed.

To him I give a special thanks and, in return, he will be the first of many radio people featured on our cover…after me, of course, continuing the long tradition of his futile attempts to follow in my footsteps!

8/12/1994

I got five…who’ll gimmie ten? Now ten…who’ll go twenty?

Last week, a record company needed an add at a certain radio station. That in itself isn’t unusual. It happens every week at every radio station with every record company. This particular record company will remain nameless, but it could be just about any company. The radio station? Nameless as well, although it, too, could be just about any station.

So, the record company wants this record added. And the program director wants a promotion.

I got your twenty…now who’ll give me thirty?

The record company wants…needs the record added, so a promotion is offered going in. The promotion person is feeling confident. His record is good. There are others with more strength, but it’s not as if he’s pushing a dog. And he’s got the war chest combination. There won’t be much negotiation. He’s been given the goods to get the add.

No problem.

We’ve got a thousand dollar bid! Now who’ll gimmie twelve-fifty?

The program director wants a promotion? It’s easy. The first offer will knock him on his ass.

“How about two tickets plus airfare, lodging and expenses to see Woodstock II?” the record promoter proudly offers.

The PD’s answer is nonchalant. “I’ve already got that.”

Problem.

Fifteen hundred…who’ll give me two grand?

The record promoter, although a bit put off, recovers quickly. He does, after all, represent a major label. He has promotions to give.

“How about,” he offers, “four tickets, plus airfare, hotel accommodations and spending money to Woodstock II?”

The answer is still nonchalant, though maybe a little irritated. “I’ve already got that for eight people.”

I got two thousand now…who’ll give me three?

The record guy swallows. It’s going to be a little tougher than he initially thought, but he’s got some moves left.

“Okay, let’s send six people, all expenses paid, to t he MTV Music Awards.”

The promoter smiles tightly. No one else could come up with that many tickets to the show. He had a lock. Absolutely. Positively. Without question. Probably. Maybe. He hoped.

“Aw, man,” the program director says, “I’ve had ten of those tickets since the middle of the summer. I need something really big.”

I’ve got four…now let’s take a jump. Anybody give me ten? Have I got a ten thousand dollar bid?”

A fine layer of sweat coats the upper lip of the record promoter. The confidence he once felt is long gone.

“Well, ah,” he stammers, “what did you have in mind?”

“How about a trip around the world?” comes the quick answer. “Let’s make it for two weeks with stops at all the major cities.”

The promoter’s tongue is thick. The thin layer of perspiration now turns into a heavy flop sweat. “Can I put you on hold for a second? I’ll have to check with my boss on this one.”

“Sure,” replies the PD. “I’ve got another call coming in now anyhow.”

It only takes the promoter ninety seconds to get his boss on the phone and get is approval…and feel his anger. But it is done. He punches back to the radio station.

“Okay, we’ll do it.”

“Hey, man, I’m sorry,” says the PD. “While you were away, another company gave me the trip. Why don’t you call me back next week?”

I’ve got twenty…who’ll give me thirty?

To steal a line from the summer’s biggest movie, “God damn it, Gump, this thing is getting out of hand.”

Where will all of this end? Record companies are offering more and more and radio stations are demanding even more than that. There was a time when record companies hired independent promoters to enhance a project’s worth. Now, in too many situations, they’re acting more like auctioneers.

Once upon a time, The FCC frowned on stations that accepted extraordinary promotional expenditures. Although the agency has turned its head away from the practice of “promotional consideration” in most instances, it hasn’t changed its policy. At any minute, the agency could reverse its stance and many stations could suffer sever recriminations.

Is a radio station wrong to consider promotions offered by record companies? Nope. Are record companies wrong to offer promotions? Nope. If a record company offers promotions that can possibly directly enhance an artist’s growth with a radio station’s audience, nothing sinister can be attributed to the offer. However, we’re stretching that maxim to a breaking point.

Bringing the group in for a station promotion or flying listeners to see the group in concert is one thing. Other promotions and trips that aren’t related to a group (except to buy the record onto the playlist) are dangerous and the long-term consequences could definitely outweigh the short-term gains.

What would happen if every record company stopped offering wild, expensive promotions? What would happen if radio stations had to consider each record based solely on merit?

Scary. For both radio and records.

It’s something that has to happen. The system as it is today is out of control. Will the FCC have to get involved to bring order back to the chaos?

Most major radio companies see the flaws in the present system and understand that the license of a station is worth far more than any promotion.

As a matter of good programming, you should be careful. There is a thin line between asking for promotional support for a record that fits with your programming philosophy and playing a record that doesn’t fit because of a promotion.

I’ve got fifty…who’ll make it seventy-five?

You say you would never do that? You would never prostitute yourself or your radio station? If you ask form promotions with each record add, you’ve already established what you are…the record promoters are just negotiating the price.

Sold!

8/5/1994

It’s that time of year again, although lately, almost any time of years is that time of year. Again.

I’m referring to the T.J. Martell Golf Tournament. Actually, the official name of the round-up of the usual suspects is something much more sophisticated, but to most of us, it’s the Martell Golf Tournament.

And that’s what has me hot.

Not the charity, mind you. The T.J. Martel Foundation is supported by our industry like none other…and rightfully so. It’s the golf tournament…or more accurately, the size of the golf tournament that is out of control.

Let me put it to you in a way you can understand. There are too many radio and record people playing golf. Years ago, the golf tournament was conceived by a few die-hard hackers who weren’t into the bowling that was the major feature of the fund raiser. That first year, they were hard-pressed to come up with six groups.

Now? Forget about it.

There are at least two groups of five teeing it up on each hole. And two tournaments: One begins at 7:30 am, the other at 1 pm.

And it’s getting like this every day on every golf course.

I have only myself to blame. Along with a few others who share my grief and pain.

Once upon a time, there was space available for anyone who wanted to play. You could tee it up almost anywhere for about $20 weekdays and $50 on the weekend. But there were few people to play with. Plenty of old men in funny clothes, but none who could relate to what you were all about. So those of us who played began trying to convince others in our business to take it up. That was our biggest mistake. We were too successful. Not at golf. At getting others to try it. The industry fell in love with the game with a vengeance.

Time was, a good rock-and-roller wouldn’t be caught dead on a golf course. Now, half of them have their own tournaments. This year, no less than Eddie Van Halen hosted his own. And the tattooed arms of Motley Crue, Alice Cooper, Judas Priest and other hard rockers book their tours around the availability of golf courses near the venues at which they play.

No wonder Ben Hogan hung it up.

I taught a lot of people in our business the game. It was born of necessity. I had to have someone to pay. I’m sure others will claim that they wee in the same line, but I believe that I (along with Clay Gish) was the first to play golf for adds. I even recall the first record bet I lost. I took on Bob Garland, then of Columbian Records, for “We Just Disagree” by Dave Mason. If I had made par on the 18^th hole, the song might have never made it.

Golf has been a large part of my life…and my business. I was taught in Mississippi by my father, who refused to buy me golf shoes until I beat him playing barefoot. He also made me shoot 40 on the front side with one club before he would get me a full set. (My favorite bet is to play nine with one club and no shoes!) My dad also taught me at an early age to control my temper. The first time I hat a bad shot and threw my club, he fired his 5-iron at my knees from about 20 feet. I still walk with a slight limp, but haven’t tossed a club since.

Growing up in the South, I learned to gamble on the game. Naturally, I passed this along. Nassau, Automatic 2 Downs, Air Press, Rabbit, Captain, Pirate, Skins, Hammer and Pingo, Pango, Pongo just to name a few. I also learned the needle. In golf, you aren’t supposed to talk when your opponent is hitting. In the South, you can jabber right up to impact. Some of the most common phrases in the entertainment foursomes? Heidi Fleiss (a hook, as in hooker), O.J. (slice), Billy Martin (a dead Yank), Linda Rondstadt (a ball that flies past another on the fairway is in “Blue Bayou”…blew by you), “Help Me Rhonda” (or any other Beach Boy song, meaning the ball landed in a sand trap), Obi Wan Kanobe (out of bounds…O.B.), Jethro Tull (in the water…from “Aqualung”), etc.

I believe I first met Bob Garland, Bruce Hix, Sammy Alfano, Bill Richards, Todd Cavanaugh, Rick Gillette, Justin Fontaine, David Leach, Jerry Dean and John Brody playing golf. And it’s a lead-pipe cinch I’ve had some down-to-the-wire finishes with these and more, including Les Garland, Rick Dees, Al Coury, Bill Pfordresher, Jim Burruss, Steve Smith, Michael Prince and Rocky.

I must admit I got a lot of people to take up the game, including Burt Baumgartner. He was an LPM in San Francisco when I programmed KFRC (back when it meant something). I insisted on golf games on Tuesday mornings and didn’t give out the adds until the turn.

I’m even responsible for the impossible: Getting Network Forty publisher Gary Bird hooked. So far, Gary’s favorite club is his “fore” iron, but he’s coming along.

Golf has shown me a lot of great times. Playing in the snow with Jim Parsons in Tahoe; making an eagle on 18 at Calabassas with Gar-Man to keep a decade-long string of ties alive; making my first hole-in-one in the presence of Dave Urso (his first visit to a golf course) and hearing him nonchalantly say, “Nice shot;” chipping out of the scorers’ tent at the L.A. Open to within three feet of the pin as the gallery roared (I missed the putt), seeing Bill Thompson throw his club into a tree and watching it stay there; meeting John Wayne in the Lakeside locker room; witnessing Hix choke the club pro for putting another group in front of us; Rocky running his cart into the tree at Pebble Beach and watching Burt and his famous “pudge” shoot that nearly killed Dutch in a sand trap.

My greatest joy was beating Kid Leo out of a free set of golf clubs on the last shot of the day in the “closest to the pin” contest at last year’s Martell. Also starting the “Kind of Annual Gerry Peterson Memorial” 18 years ago when I changed my air name. The third one is coming up in a month if I can find anyone to pop for the T-shirts.

But all these stories bring me back to the original problem: There are too many people in our business playing golf. It’s damned near impossible to get a tee-time in Los Angeles because of you people who wear bright shirts and plaid pants and shoot 150 with a mulligan after every shot. Can’t some of you go back to tennis?

Fore!

7/25/1994

The largest contingent of radio and record people in the country got together last week in Fargo, North Dakota. That should have been the tip-off. We were al supposed to be in Minneapolis. But such are the stories that make the Conclave what it is. Don’t press me on an exact definition.

But, there we were. In Fargo. On the taxi-way. Waiting for the weather in Minneapolis to break. Planes and people from all points west. Los Angeles…San Francisco…San Diego. In Fargo. In the rain. In a plane. What a pain!

I could look out the window and wave to Dave Sholin. He was in another plane. On the same runway. Waiting. Like me, not happy. Unlike me, he wasn’t as vocal about it.

This story will tell you a thing or two about the Conclave and the people who attend. There is a point and I will get to it…eventually. On my flight, among other luminaries, was Laura Henson of Island. I didn’t know Laura very well when we boarded. After Fargo, I feel she is one of my closest friends. Three hours in Fargo does, after all, seem like a lifetime.

Our plane was due to arrive in Minneapolis at five o’clock. After the thunderstorms, tornadoes, hail, fire and brimstone closed the airport, we were informed that our flight wouldn’t touch down in the Twin Cities until ten-thirty. This is five-and-a-half hours after our scheduled arrival. Both of us were being met by radio programmers. During our sojourn in Fargo, after the second (or was it the third?) double-vodka, we figured that our rides had long since given up hope that we would be arriving within a reasonable waiting period and had returned home. We would be left to fend for ourselves.

Not that we were nervous about it. Minneapolis, though quite off the path beaten to death by all of us in the business, still provided taxis. I was sure of it. Not positive, mind you, but pretty sure. Rumor had it.

Anyhow, we decided to share a cab once the plane landed. Of course, that was assuming we would ever leave Fargo. And we did. Eventually. We landed in the Twin Cities at ten-forty-five.

So what’s the point?

The radio people who promised to meet us were there waiting. Both of them. Smiling.

Tell the truth. Have any of you reading this ever waited for over five hours at the airport to pick up anyone other than a close family member? Don’t even think about it. You know you haven’t. But that’s the Conclave. And the people who attend it. And, I guess, the people of the Midwest in general.

My only question is are they really this nice or is Minneapolis so boring that waiting at the airport is more exciting than just about anything else there is to do?

The answer is yes. The face it, they really are and it really is.

So why go to the Conclave? Hey, for one thing, we’ve had about a convention a month this year and I wanted to make sure Network Forty was represented at all of them. No matter where I had to travel. Besides, the Conclave is fun…sort of. The people are nice. And it is the only place that you can really sit down, meet new faces and have a dialogue that is meaningful. If only you didn’t have to fly Northwest.

Minneapolis is a trip in itself. Full of very white people who breathe through their mouths and have a lot of space between their eyes. And their teeth. My kind of folks.

The Conclave has meetings that begin at nine in the morning. And they’re full. What’s wrong with this picture?

Minneapolis has to be the only major city in the country where the O.J. Simpson trial wasn’t the main topic of conversation, thank God. Actually, there wasn’t a main topic of conversation. Come to think of it, there wasn’t a lot of conversation, either.

But where else can you drink for two hours with 12 guys at the bar and the tab comes to $55? The biggest rumor at the Conclave was that TGI Fridays was closing. Steve Leavitt usually hosts a dinner for radio people there and this year he didn’t make it. That caused a lot of forlorn faces. Mark Gorlick more than made up for it, however, and in the process spoiled a lot of programmers with the MCA dinner at Ruth’s Criss. That TGI Fridays ruse won’t work next time, Leavitt.

The Conclave is a little quirky. It reminds me of Ocean Spray cocktails. They both mix odd combinations of fruits. At first glance, it doesn’t make a lot of sense, but once you experience it in total, it’s tangerine!

Where else could you find a panel that consisted of legendary programmer Paul Drew and soon-to-be-legendary Jerry Clifton? It was 20 years ago this summer when Drew pulled Clifton from oblivion and hired him to program the RKO station in New York City. Drew asked me to spend some time with Jerry to teach him the RKO way. WE both got dead drunk. I would like to take credit for teaching Clifton a thing or two, but I honestly think he already knew how to drink.

And where else could you find me agreeing with Joel Denver? (Almost. About monitored airplay. In a meeting hosted by Dave Sholin. What can I say? I got confused. It happens in meetings with Sholin.) I just feel that in many cases, the record industry is placing importance on radio stations for the wrong reasons. All to often, a stations becomes important because it is monitored…not because of an aggressive music policy or because it sells records. It reminds me of the Parallel System the industry fought so hard to lose. We should be careful to judge each radio station’s worth on individual merits. Not because of ordained status.

Hey, it’s just my opinion.

As at just about every convention, some of the panels went too long and some of the speakers were a bit boring. I even left my panel early, so I can’t blame everybody else. But taken as a whole, the Conclave remains unique among all conventions. Unique enough that I’ll go back next year and give it another shot.

Maybe they should hold it in Fargo!