Pot It UP!

Pot It Up!

Radio lost a great talent this week. I lost a friend.

In an industry where engineers are nameless, faceless souls who, for the most part, never “got it,” Phil Lerza was a superstar. Programmers who couldn’t tell you who their own engineer was knew all about Phil. Lerza was the superstar who perfected the KFRC sound. And what a sound. Envied by programmers across the country, many tried, but none succeeded in duplicating the sound of the Big 610. In short, Phil Lerza “Got it.”

Unless you worked at KFRC, you have no idea how perfect the radio station was. The industry measured how many hours stations were off the air during any given year. KFRC measure that time in seconds. Quite simply, KFRC was never off the air. Duplicate control rooms, backup music carts, generators, compressors and all sorts of whistles and bells were just a part of the process. In the cocoon of the control room, you were wrapped in perfection. It just didn’t get any better.

And the one person who made the Starship run was Phil Lerza. No need to ask for Warp Speed, we were already there…and light years faster. Every person on the staff loved Phil Lerza. For what he did…and for who he was.

I always told Lerza he was God’s Chief Engineer…that if God had a radio station, Phil would be His engineer. I guess I was right. The Big Station in the sky needed tweaking and God called Lerza on the hotline. He’ll have it perfect for our arrival. And when we get there, he’ll give us that wry smile and say, “Bud, what took you so long? I’ve been waiting for you. Sit down and pot it up.”

We all have specific memories of Phil and I invite all of you to share your comments. All of his friends will see them and I’ll send them along to his family. Some of mine begin the tale…

I had problems with every engineer I worked with. None understood Top 40. All wanted a smooth sound…a straight line with no peaks. I wanted it to thump. In my first meeting with Phil, I told him I wanted the compression to hit me like a wave right in the chest. I explained by pounding on my chest. Instead of looking at me like I had three heads, Phil nodded and said, “I got it.” And he did. The compression increased within minutes.

Several weeks after my initial meeting, I called him into my office and said, “I want more compression.” Phil nodded quickly and said, “I’ll do it, but you won’t like it.” I tried not to show my aggravation. “Do it please,” I snapped. He nodded again and looked at me with those wide, inquisitive eyes. “OK.” The next day, I met with him again. With much chagrin, I asked that he back off on the compression. Without a hint of “I told you so,” he nodded and said, “OK.” I love the guy. After that, we had a continuing contest. Phil would tweak the sound without telling me. I would always know. I would come into his office and say, “You changed the settings, didn’t you?” He was always amazed that I knew. What he didn’t know was that he had a tell. His eyes always gave him away.

For years, I had wanted to create a mobile studio. I never understood why radio was confined to a control room. It would be so much better to meet our listeners without sacrificing our own environment. I had talked with engineers at other stations before and was rebuffed out of hand. “Can’t be done,” was the answer. Oh, call-ins could happen or occasional remote broadcasts where the jock would speak into a mic, but nothing that showed the excitement of the whole show. I brought up it up to Phil. “Great idea,” he said. “Let me think about it.” I figured this was a stall tactic. Three days later he was back. “I think we need to buy a Winnebago, tear it down and rebuild it to our specs. And I figured out a way we could do this moving, if you want. I’ll fly a plane over the mobile studio and rebroadcast the signal back to the station.” Say what? Who had a mobile studio at the time? Who had an engineer who wanted to do mobile broadcasting while moving? Who had an engineer with a pilot’s license who flew the plane that rebroadcast the signal? The KFRC Mobile Studio, nicknamed The Sturgeon, became history and legend.

I loved Phil for many reasons, but chief among those was his honesty. Two stories underline that. One of many consultants came through KFRC. I had a party at my house and the latest consultant was there. Phil asked, “Who’s the stiff?” I told him it was another consultant trying to impress us. I said, “He’s a good guy.” Phil looked at me and shook his head. “No he isn’t.” As usual, Phil was right.

In my first department head meeting, we gathered around the conference room table. Phil and I were on one side alone. GM Pat Norman said he wanted to focus our discussion that day on P&L. Phil leaned in close to me and said, “Let me make this easy for you. Those guys over there,” pointing to the two Sales Managers, “they’re P. You and I are L.”

And who could forget those wonderful remote broadcasts from Lake Tahoe? And the dinners we had at Beni Hana where we got the private room by ordering for an empty chair. We told the waiters it was our alcoholic colleague who was in the bathroom. Phil loved that. And when I dine at Beni Hana’s this weekend, there will be an empty chair for my friend Phil.

What are your memories?

500 Pound Gorilla

January 14th, 2000

For three years we’ve been trying to move the Network 40 Summer Games to another month.  Lake Tahoe is arguably one of the most beautiful places in the world, but in early June, it can get a little dicey.  The first year, it snowed the sunday after the The Games were completed.  The second year, it snowed three days before The Games began.  Last year there was a blizzard the week before The Games.  After three fantastic years, we managed to convince the people in Tahoe that record executives and radio programmers were nice people, would act accordingly and would bring no great harm to the environment or manmade structures. Last week, for the first time in history, South Lake Tahoe granted us a convention in August.  The most beautiful month in the world’s most beautiful place.  I was so excited that I prepared a wonderful soliloquy for The Network 40 Games IV (The Final Conflict) August 24-26 in Lake Tahoe. Nothing could be more important.

Then Ted Turner put his sex life in perspective, AOL and Time Warner merged and I decided to wait on the soliloquy.

Am I the only one who feels we’re out of control?  We’re spinning wildly into an Internet abyss where the future is so bright, we have to wear shades.  The only problem is we can’t really see.

That’s unnerving.

But it’s nothing to be afraid of it we have the talent to survive and prosper.  Years ago, I was taking my daughter through an amusement park.  She began crying because she was afraid to get on a ride. I told her she didn’t have to get on board if she was scared.  She frowned and scolded me.  “Dad, if you aren’t scared, it isn’t any fun.”

I’m having a blast.

The future of the Internet is now.  If there were any doubters, they all left the room this week.  AOL’s merger with Time Warner signals the end of the entertainment world as we know it.  A dream has become a reality and the only way to prevent it from becoming your personal nightmare is to strap yourself in, keep your arms and legs inside and enjoy the ride.

Bob Pittman, the innovative radio programmer and co-founder of MTV, is  one of the guiding hands that will steer this mothership into the millennium.  His counsel?  Forget radio and records as we know it.  There’s a new sheriff in town and his name is World Wide Web.

You can stop thinking about if records will be downloaded on the Internet.  Concentrate on when.  AOL, the company that petitioned against any particular concept of downloadable CDs, will now be leading the way in developing the technology and bringing it to the front page.

If I owned interest in a record store , I would get out now.  Retail outlets are in serious jeopardy.  AOL and Time Warner will lead the charge to toward online music purchasing and in the process, revolutionize the way we do business.  If you aren’t ready for the Internet, it doesn’t matter.  You can either ride the train or get run over.

And music isn’t the only part of our lives that will change.  The way we view and use television is going to change so drastically in the next couple years that the concept we now consider commonplace will be outdated before you can adjust the color.

No longer will you have to rush home for your favorite program.  You won’t have to remember to start the VCR. (Does any normal person really know how to get that flashing 12:00 off the LED?) All images will be stored by your Web TV.  Play back the whole thing or bits and Pieces whenever you have time.

Many see this merger as the initial hard step of the Internet actually affecting our lives in a tangible way.  Those who look at the computer as something to be afraid of will miss the boat.  How we use the information and services available will not affect our lives adversely, but will give us more time to enjoy life.  The computer and Internet access will allow us to use information and technology to make our lives better and less hectic…not more so.

If the rest of you think you’re safe, get ready.  This 500 pound gorilla is headed your way.  Your company will be sold by the end of the year.  Dot com companies that have been selling their future are now buying the real programming that makes that future a reality.  The time for the ostrich syndrome is over.  Pull your head out of your ass and get on board.  If you don’t know about it…find out.  You’ve got one choice: you can either be part of the future or part of the past…part of the solution or part of the problem.

It’s going to be an interesting year.  Now that I think about it, this is the perfect time to make your plans for the Network 40 Summer Games IV (The Final Conflict) August 24-26 in lake Tahoe.  This year, we’re really going to need it.

Are you scared? Then you’re having fun!

Winds Of Same

November 19th, 1999

I was speaking with a record company president last week who felt a change was coming. In music? No, in the way radio responds to music. This president went on to say that although Top 40 is currently enjoying huge ratings, Top 40 PDs are looking for artists to carry the flag in the future.

We continued talking about the perceptions of record executives regarding programmers.  Unfortunately, the perceptions turned out to be more wishful thinking than a concrete movement of change.  Record executives have misunderstood PDs since music became a staple on radio.  Although the record and radio industries are tied together symbiotically and each needs the other to survive, the end results expected from the divergence are often diametrically opposite.

Although many PDs pay lip service to the needs of record companies, the majority don’t care.  And why should they? Whether or not record companies are able to establish an artist’s career isn’t a primary motivation for programmers.  It isn’t even secondary.  As a matter of fact, it doesn’t even cause a blip on the radar.

If you’re a promotion executive and you really are naive enough to believe PDs are interested in the development of your artist, let me sell you an ad in the Country Network.  Forget that deep, emotional conversation.  Just put it out triple-bonused with a big promotion and see what happens.  When you take the PD to dinner, talk about his career.  You’ll be much better served.

Top 40 programmers are interested in hits.  Nothing more, nothing less.  (Okay, also promotions and independent dollars that must accompany the hits.)  Expecting a PD to buy into a lifetime plan for establishing an artist is like expecting to get laid on a first date.  It might happen, but it ain’t likely.

Record executives moan about the shortsightedness of Top 40 programmers.  They complain about the throw away mentality exhibited with their records.  It’s a waste of time.

If PDs had their way, every record would be uptempo and three minutes long.  They don’t care whether the artist in question has a string of hits later.  They’re only interested in the first.

Why? because their jobs depend on ratings.  PDs don’t have time to build careers.  Like a developing artist, they’ve got to have a hit…now.  No owner is willing to invest money in “developing” a programmer.  PDs are hired to generate ratings.  And those ratings have to be generated today.

Have you heard of a five year plan for a programmer? It doesn’t exist.  Five trends is more like it.  That’s why there is such a dichotomy between PDS and record executives.  Record companies want hits, but executives want those hits to establish careers.  The strength of an artist enables record companies to thrive and prosper.  Hit records make radio stations thrive and prosper.

Although its easy to blame programmers for the lack of artists in today’s music world, the fault lies just as much with record companies and more with the times. With the exception of a few superstars, most artists don’t make enough records to satisfy programmers.  Not so long ago, artists established careers by generating a ton of hit records.  Today’s artists record less.

Who can blame them? Artists make more money from touring than record sales.  Record companies can sometimes bribe the artists by upping the royalty rates, but this drives up the already huge cost of making records, cutting profit margins further.

In the golden days, when Top 40 ruled and acts became artists by producing a string of hits, all was well.  Radio stations were able to choose from a stack of potential hits, record companies put out albums like donuts and artists toured for $10,000 a night if they were lucky.

Today, its a whole different ballgame.  PDs are less interested in the welfare of artists and record companies because the pot of gold isn’t at the end of the rainbow.  Record companies are bottom line accountable.  And artists become rich on the road.

We all know that the future of the music business, and with it, the future of music radio, is all about artists.  When superstars sell, the music business profits.

But don’t expect radio to lead the charge.  Programmers are interested in today’s hits, not the promise of tomorrow.  Top 40 has always been a reflection of today’s culture, not a magic mirror into the future.  The winds of change are the winds of same in radio.

If a programmer tells you he wants to help establish the artist, don’t be fooled.  He either wants a trip to Hawaii for himself and a few listeners, or a job in A&R.

Or maybe a production deal.

Probably all three.

March 22, 2012

Good Morning and thanks for visiting. I’ve posted another classic picture from the archives. Hope you can relive some memories by reading through the commentaries. As soon as you’ve had enough time to check out the ones available, I’ll be posting more. This picture was taken in the hallway of WAPP in New York circa 1985. From left to right: Harry Nelson, Jane Dornaker, Paul Shaffer (who was doing Friday mornings), Gerry, Lynette Abraham and Steve Ellis.

March 20, 2012

Hello and welcome to Gerrycagle.com. Here you’ll find all the commentaries I wrote while with The Album Network and Music Biz. There are also pictures from the years…with hundreds more to come. Thanks to your comments, we’ve made the site a bit easier to navigate. Now, if you want to browse through the commentaries, you can down page down a listing that gives you the title and a few sentences that describe the commentary. Just visit the “Commentary” page and go to “Archives” for specific months and years. If there are other elements that you find challenging, please leave me a note and we’ll do all we can to make it easier to navigate. Also, any comments on specific articles or pictures are welcome. Thanks and enjoy yourself!

March 19, 2012

Good Morning and welcome to GerryCagle.com. I’ll be posting additional commentaries and pictures on a regular basis. You’ll find there are more than enough here to get you started. Network Magazine Group Editorials and Music Biz Commentaries are found under “Commentaries.” You can browse by title or date. You can also do the same with the first of the pictures that are posted. Please feel free to leave a comment. If you have any suggestions that can make the site better, let me know. Enjoy!