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I have mentioned that I recently had the opportunity to go back on the air at a local radio station. I did a couple of shows and at this stage it was more work than it was fun.  

I must admit I was treated royally and presented with hand picked music for my shows. I have no complaints, but I spent more time preparing than I did actually being on the air. 

I believe if I did it enough to get through the curve of learning a new board and format to the point of it becoming like breathing – not having to concentrate on the technical aspect of producing a show – that it could be more fun than work. 

At this stage it is work. 

I think it is because today it is not my life and it seems like I take it more seriously because I have to actively find time to prepare every bit; prepare for every time I open the mic. I don’t feel comfortable just ‘winging it’ or flying by the seat of my pants and letting what happens on the phone determine what the content of my show will be… too unpredictable. ‘Unpredictable’ is what I want to be, but in a pre-determined way. 

Observational material isn’t enough; what my listeners are doing isn’t enough. Yes, I want to know what they are doing but I can pretty well determine that beforehand. 

I want to bring them something compelling. I want to make sense of the music; to have a reason for playing the songs I play. It is a music format after all. 

It just seems like more work now… or is it? Do I take it too seriously? 

I recognize the big difference being that then I lived it. It didn’t seem like work. It was my life. It gave me everything and I gave just as much back. I was a part of everything that went on. Everything I absorbed, while I wasn’t on the air, I gave back on my show. 

It was really tough then for someone, who had family and other responsibilities not directly related to the radio station, to be a part of the family of jocks that fed off each other and the activities the station was involved in … which was everything. 

You went to every concert, every sporting event, did ‘remotes’, on-the-street giveaways, dances at schools every week, hung out with one another when there was nothing else going on. 

I am guessing that times have changed, radio is more’ family friendly’ as far as employees go, but at one time radio personalities went through about as many wives as radio stations they were employed at… and I saw it first hand. It is hardly an exaggeration. It was either your ‘radio family’ or the other. It was very difficult to juggle both. 

It is my impression that things have evolved to where it is your ’job description’ that determines your involvement in the radio station and related activities. The job description involves doing the occasional remote or to MC an event now and then, make an appearance at a station event, do a little production… and these days that means voicing a spot or two, you no longer necessarily have to actually produce the spot and put it in the run. 

So, here I am now (30 some years later, to give you a little perspective). I have other responsibilities; other interests. My life style now is more ‘unplugged’. That doesn’t mean I can’t plug back in, but my lifestyle is what it is. I currently make my living primarily doing voice over and I love it… yes, even the part about not knowing when your next job is going to come, or if at all. 

Here’s the kicker. As much as I may have professed over the last few years that I finally got radio out of my blood, I know I haven’t. 

I still have the desire to entertain and communicate, to connect with an audience through a radio with all the mystique and possibilities that I always talk about with my like minded radio geek friends. 

I tried my hand at teaching radio at a secondary school thinking that would be the ultimate outlet, but talk about work and responsibility, it wore me out. Granted, I was co-hosting a morning show at the time… 

Now, I am agonizing over whether to even do ‘vacation relief’ on a regular basis. Sure radio talent budgets ain’t what they used to be, especially for part timers and to perform at the standard that I have set for myself is a lot of work. I can’t afford to do it just for the ‘fun’ of it, but in some masochistic way, I want to do it.  It’s almost like I have unfinished business and can make a difference by not just writing and romanticizing about it, but doing it. 

Like jazz singer Kurt Elling said at a recent performance I attended “everything is a work in progress until you die or give up”.  

Even though I haven’t been directly active in the business of radio for the past few years, I have stayed on top of it and am very much aware of the challenges the business faces. My days of listening to the radio for entertainment purposes are long gone. I always listen to the radio and think how I would have done this, or how I would do that… okay, more accurately, I actually yell at the radio in frustration with what I hear more often than not. Yeah, I’m a picky bastard when it comes to the little things, but I digress. 

There is lots of talk about ‘local’ these days versus ‘canned’ or syndicated shows. You want the current weather conditions, maybe the time and temp, the traffic conditions, what’s going on in the city… but that’s not entertainment. 

It seems now you get one or the other - syndicated entertainment or local content. I and most jocks want to deliver both. That is what determines the ultimate in ‘local’ radio. 

Can it be done? I guess the question is, can I do it?… should I do it? 

There are plenty of kids out there that would pay the station to push the buttons and give the time and temp. I am not a kid… I do kinda feel like one, though…

 

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