Is This What Talk Radio is For?

There is a blog I read almost daily. The blog is written by an employee of a well respected teacher and talk show host.

I genuinely enjoy the blog and the writer. Let me explain why I enjoy his blog so much and later why I wrote this in mine.

He has to read books faster than Evelyn Wood ever could as he writes about just finished books frequently. I have read or thumbed through some of his selections and have never been disappointed. He makes great choices and while typically focusing on motivation and business themes, he sometimes strays into other interesting areas. He's a great resource.

My guess is he's about a generation younger than me in age. He's a Christian and seems to be a great representative for Christ. There are far too few people who can do that these days.

While I've never read the book, I've seen reviews on one called Lord, Save Me From Your Followers. He doesn't appear to fall under that heading. Believe me, I've often felt the urge to duck the Lord's ambassadors. Not because I don't want to hear the Good News. I do cause I've got tons of questions. But I don't need it crammed down my throat or beaten into me. I need and want exposure and education.

The blog writer seems level headed and seems to want to expose rather than impose his faith to others. That is so cool.

He sometimes writes of his family and of family events with that certain flair that lets you know that they are a very important part of his life. There are far too few family men in our society today and seeing a great representative always gives me pleasure.

Now to part two of this post. As I mentioned, he works for a popular teacher and talk show host.

I have to admit there are times I wince when I've heard what I thought was the host "laying into people" for the sake of doing it and the joy of having done it. I blew it off many times as being overly picky in my listening.

Now, I have no problem in being straight forward, if it is done in a respectful manner. And no, it's doesn't have to be wimpy and with no passion. A good firm talk when someone's done or said something stupid is not out of line. Again, let it be straightforward.

And I've often wondered if those in the organization, from the host to those internally, seemed to get a special joy when someone got "layed into" on the air. If there was a circle the wagons mentality.

That question may have been answered when I read the blog the other day. The blog noted in part "Plus it's always pretty fun to listen to (the host) lay into people who are...well..."not the sharpest tool in the shed."

Oh?

The comment sort of confirmed my theory. There is a certain joy they are getting when the boss lays into someone on the air. Not just a straight forward "host to listener" lesson to be learned, but a voice raised, name calling tirade which are sometimes part of the show.

And clearly they must believe that a large portion of their audience is....as they would say......"not the sharpest tool(s) in the shed" as there are many who have received the wrath of the host.

I don't know. Maybe that comment in that post was an over exuberant comment. If not, then all I can say is it's sad.

And I will be the first to admit I have also heard some of the most touching moments of talk radio on that same show. But for every touching moment, there's an offsetting name calling tirade that sort of negates the touching moment.

As anyone who has browsed the pages of this blog know, I had a love for radio and some of the people who graced the airwaves. But as time has passed by, radio now seems more and more geared toward appealing to our most basic of instincts.

And no, this isn't the only show that does the same or a theme and variation of the same. General Sherman could have used a lesson or two in how to effectively scorch the earth from some of these folks. Savannah would not have been spared.

What is it in our society that gives not only this group, but our society in general, the joy and glee of hearing someone have their clock verbally cleaned by an on air host? Why do we enjoy listening to the host "lay into people"? Is this some sort of guilty pleasure.

For radio in general and talk radio specifically, to be successful does it have to resort to appealing to our most basic instincts? Have we devolved to that level? Has our culture mandated that we must have a certain level incivility in order to thrive?

And while we must enjoy hearing someone else get their hair verbally blow dried, would we enjoy just it as much if it were us being the recipient of that treatment? If we in our innocence had posed the dull knife question to this host or scores of others?

Frankly while I don't know the specifically host personally, my educated guess would be he wouldn't tolerate that kind of treatment or response if he were the recipient of it. Even if he somehow posed a question with the intelligence of a knife that couldn't cut butter. No, not a chance.

Remember, we've all done stupid. And we will do stupid in the future. We're human. We are all ignorant in some area of life.

This isn't a rant on the host or the blogger, but rather food for thought. You see, there is so much about this group that deserves to be admired.

Yet why do they have to stoop to admitting "it's always pretty fun to listen to (the host) lay into people who are...well..."not the sharpest tool in the shed"?

http://echo4.bluehornet.com/ct/ct.php?t=2027763&c=1924092463&m=m&type=1&h=5F338477D29B7020F63400AEABA6927A

No Wonder We're So Confused

This photo of the highway signs was taken between Wytheville, Va and Max Meadows, Va.

The photo in a strange sort of way illustrates life.

We seem to be going both directions at once. We're going north while going south. What's even more strange is in reality this stretch of highway really goes more east and west at this point. So what you see isn't always what you get. Check this stretch of highway out on the map sometime.

But life is often like the posted signs. No matter whether it be religion, politics, marriage, family, career or any other important matter, we often are pulled in many directions all at once. What is the real truth? What is the best choice? Should you or shouldn't you?

Sometimes the signs all come together and the direction to be taken is clear. Other times, like these signs indicate, the direction to be taken can be deceiving. While we seem to be going north or south we in reality were going east or west. Which direction are we really going?

Some people say you must have faith to understand the best direction to take. Yet it seems all of my faith trip tiks always contain the same conflicting information seen in the above highway signs.

How about yours?

The Big Bucket

The Big Bucket belonged once to one of the largest earth moving machines in the world.

The Big Muskie was dedicated in 1969. She roamed the Southeastern Ohio strip mining fields for the next 21 years until the Ohio coal boom turned to bust. During her productive life, she moved more than 608 million tons of overburden. Built for American Electic Power by Bucyrus Erie at a cost of 25 million, it took three years to complete the fabrication, assembly and delivery of the machine.




After no longer being needed, efforts to find a permanent place for the machine failed to come to fruition and the machine was dismantled by AEP.

The remaining piece of The Big Muskie, her bucket, came to a final resting place, just east of McConnelsville and just to the west of Caldwell.

Standing in the bucket is Diana and our daughter in law Abby.

The bucket itself weighs 230 tons and could hold 220 cubic yards of earth.

A park was built to commerate the giant machine and the people who worked the coal fields of the region.

Capital City Niagara

One of the prettier scenes in Columbus is Hayden Falls.

Located where Hayden Run empties into the Scioto River, this waterfall was running at full force after the rains and storms of Mothers Day.

It's one of Central Ohio's little known secrets. During my visit there Sunday, I was the only person looking over the beauty until I was just getting ready to leave.

Although the drop is not huge, about 25 feet is what I've read in other places, it still makes for a beautiful shot of Central Ohio scenery.
The falls is also pretty during the winter when the water freezes. The normal water flow is not as ambitious as these photos represent. Although the area is much more dangerous due to other surfaces being icy from splashing or other typical freezing and thawing.

Diggin Deep at the Gas Pump

Nothing deep or from the ol' memory bag.

Gasoline prices continue their unprecidented rise to prices never seen before. And just in time for the summer vacation/activity season.

Has the cost of gasoline caused you to change your summer travel plans?

What is the breaking point before you start using mass transportation?

Do you foresee the United States becoming a cities with mopeds, scooters and bicycles as the major forms of transportation like you so often see in Asian cities?

Let The Galivanting Begin

This weekend marks the first road trip of the year. With gasoline at record price levels and my level of radio work as well as other obligations, Diana and I simply haven't had the time to go out and explore like we like to do.

We're off to the big bucket. More on our return.

The Magic of Columbus Nightime Radio

I've written before about broadcast announcer Bill Smith.

Bill was a member of the WTVN 610 air staff when the station was playing contemporary music splashed with great oldies. An AM station playing music tells you how long it's been since Bill's voiced graced the Columbus airwaves.

The image to the left is Bill taken from an advertisement that appeared in the May 2, 1974 Columbus Dispatch. For you broadcast and audio professionals, note the bird cage microphone that was used by TVN at the time.

WTVN's imaging, especially in todays world, would be considered amateurish. Yet that imaging made them the perceived "giants" of Columbus radio. As a matter of fact, they called themselves the Full Service Giant. They used a jingle package that used the theme Friends, not Rachel and Ross, as its cornerstone. WTVN called the music played the Great Blend of Music.

But unlike todays radio formats that appeal to our most base of senses, the WTVN of that day was safe. And yet being safe didn't mean not entertaining. The music, while contemporary, never ventured into being overly top 40ish. There was a sprinkling of standards from Sinatra, Dean Martin and others. There were 610 Flashbacks, not drug induced flashbacks, but select truly golden oldies. The format was not "tight". The station would play abbreviated instrumentals from such artists as Booker T and the MGs, the Nite Liters, the Ventures, Peter Nero, The Aldrich Brothers and others to get to the top and bottom of the hour news. They were the radio home of Paul Harvey. It would be so neat to hear that format today.

While I listened to Smith during his earlier WTVN days when he held the late evening and overnight time slots, I really got tuned in when he was promoted to the evening 6:30 to 11 pm time slot.

The sad thing is, despite the ad indicating Bill was a ratings leader, most people in Columbus would give you blank stares if you mentioned his name. He simply wasn't in a key time slot or in the market long enough to make a forever imprint.

Smith had every on air broadcast quality that I wished I had. That's not to say my goal was to be a drone clone, but rather be gifted with his talents and incorporate them into me.

Bill fit the TVN format like a glove. He was playful, yet safe. His voice imparted friendship that complimented the on air imaging jingle package. As you can tell by the 1973-74 photo, he was contemporary , yet respectable. Bill knew who he was and packaged himself well.

In April or May of 1974, WTVN decided to overhaul and retool it's afternoon drive host spot. That was the second time the afternoon drive shift was open in a little over a year.

The beginnings of all the changes began in early 1973. Long time and very popular afternoon drive host Bob Conners took a flyer and left WTVN to host the morning drive slot at rival WBNS. The vacuum left by Conners made way for then WTVN evening host Dave Parr to be elevated to the afternoon slot.

Bill Smith to me was like Bill Smith. He had that "something" that made him an audience magnet. Meanwhile Parr, while solid, just didn't seem to fill the huge shoes Conners had left. And Parr was a good replacement.

Whether Parr was orginally the actual long term replacement for Conners or just someone to plug in while a search for a true replacement began, only TVN management at the time and maybe Dave Parr knows.

The upside to all this is due to the Conners departure in early 1973 and the movement of Parr to the afternoon slot to replace him, Smith was elevated to the evening show.

It gave Bill a more attractive and exposed daypart.

Here's where the story gets interesting. By the spring of 1974, WTVN announced Parr would be leaving the afternoon drive spot and be moving to sister station WTVN-FM to host the morning show as a beautiful music announcer. Thus, a new personality would be needed for afternoon drive.

David Drake, media reporter at that time of the old Columbus Citizen-Journal, noted in one of his columns that radio competitors "in the Columbus market breathed a sigh of relief" when the station went outside their studios and hired Phil Whitelaw. Smith was left in the evening slot.

When asked why Smith wasn't elevated to the prestigious afternoon drive time period, then WTVN program director Jim Lohse responded that Bill "elected to further solidify his current evening slot". My guess is corporate deception and response to questions slight of hand was alive and well in that statement.

Plus I always had the feeling when visiting Bill at the studio that he and Lohse didn't always see eye to eye. For it wasn't long after the Whitelaw hit the airwaves that Bill packed up and left for Boston and a gig at powerhouse WBZ.

Maybe it was all for the better. The morning gig at WBNS apparently didn't suit Conners, especially after teaming him with his "Perfect Partner". (That's a story for another time.) Bob was back in his old afternoon slot by early 1976. Although Smith was gone by that time, had he stayed, he may have become a casualty of Conners return as Whitelaw was soon gone on Conners return.

Bill was a great guy. He was always generous. After he left the market, I got a gig at suburban WBBY working for Wild Bill. We needed liners and Bill agreed to voice them at no charge. He did a great job. And the effort got me deep brownie points for Bill's generosity.

Bill's still in Boston. He's lived half of the old WKRP show theme. While's he not left Boston, he has been up and down the dial. I understand he currently resides as production director for talk station WRKO.

The picture to the left was found on the web and shows a recent Smith photo relaxing in his home studio where he records local artists in the blues and jazz genre. Reading the reviews of his work from those who have had work produced in the studio reaffirms my belief that he continues to be a talented and generous pro.

Someday, somehow we need Smith back in this market. Maybe through the marvels of the web someday we can once again hear Bill segue to the next song and smile as he tells us we're listening to the magic of Columbus nighttime radio.