So because of weather concerns…I decided to leave a few days past schedule. Between tornadoes, damaging thunderstorms, and a general bad feeling,  I’m pretty sure it was the right thing to do. For those following on Facebook and/or Twitter you pretty much got the full scope of what I saw through the lens of my 1.3 megapixel iPhone lol!

I had a lot of time to plan what is to be executed in the coming weeks and months with my move to NYC. What do I need to learn, how different are the politics going to be, and what direction do I want to go? Those that know me and how my mind works are already expecting me to be this way since everything is always under constant analysis. There are so many details that need attention before I even lift a finger once I touch down in the Rotten Apple.

So in preparation for the next phase I did what anyone worth a salt in radio would do (not to say that I am…but not to say that I’m not…lol) I listened to a bunch of different stations as I drove through 5 states. To sum it all up, there are two factions as I see: good radio and bad radio…regardless of what the market size is.

the standouts

Tulsa – heard a chick doing middays on a “hits” (top 40 ) station…airing a caller that won a trip…the winner was excited, screaming, out of control…all of the things that we hope to find in “the right caller” and the jock was 97% on top of the presentation…all was good except for one thing…the damn music bed* drowned out the whole call…damn I felt bad for her because it was a perfect situation muddled by a small detail that got out of control…she’s good though! but I expect nothing less of that PD.

why is this relevant? It reminded me to pay extra attention to details and as an old Classic Country personality taught me, always be the most booming sound above anything else on air.

OKC – Caught a mixshow on a Hip Hop station (a 5′clock traffic jam of sorts) – Poor, poor DJ…He was clearly using Serato for the show but was trainwrecking and didn’t know how to blend in regular tracks so he bored the listener by dragging out instrumentals longer than neccessary while cue’ing up the next record.

What I learned: Master the craft in which you call your profession and don’t be lazy! Audition 1.5-3 are readily available at most stations…thank god I learned how to use non linear audio production software! If you’re a DJ reading this…learn how to make your own intro and outro versions for tracks…this helps in the long run; it helps continuity and allows you to blend in intros without the over the top production that gets old quick that a lot of services put out (ie. Funkymix) 

OKC again: another Top 40 show with a guy I’ve known for arguably too long doing his benchmark tabloid check in…BTW Kram…I think Billy Bush stole the celebrity skanks name when he dubbed his little segment “rank or skank” …solid and to the point as usual.

What I learned: a continuation of the lesson of brevity…quick to the point and non drawn out segment. It also made me continue pondering the question…does it make sense to always bring up celebrity situations a la Perez? I go back and forth as countless jocks outside of the morning shows continue to rehash who did what and when. I’m personally over taking that on…unless I’m told to. There are too many things going on in the world for me to rely on which older guy Mylie Cyrus isn’t bangin’ this week (btw that didn’t come up in the segment I heard…just a common topic).

Same question arose when listening to a morning hip hop show in Albuquerque  boasting “the hottest gossip every hour” I really wonder if gossip in really that much in demand or if it’s merely a crutch to fill time or a little bit of both…

The biggest thing I noticed driving cross country was the amount of open frequencies with nothing…NOTHING!

One last thing…I’m gonna call these fools out! KDUC in Barstow CA. Damn! I got to jam out to some nice old school funk and freestyle…a nice suprise and I felt like it was groundbreaking for a night show just to focus on throwbacks…then just as Stevie B’s “Let Me Be the One” was 1/2 way through the first verse, it was cut off and went into some sattelite show with some douchebag name Art Leboe…sounded like a fake ass Casey Casem…real 80’s cheesy and he immediately played “Benny and the Jets” …….WTF…….great trainwreck kids… so imagine hearing some old “More Bounce To The Ounce” and  ”Brass Monkey” then some damn “Benny…” Leave the syndicated love show to R-DUB

So now that I made all of you non radio geeks bored, you can at least see some kind of thought process lol.

It’s been a great trip just to relax and get mentally prepared for the new life. More than that I’ve had to leave a lot of people that I care about…ALOT!! 

On another note…I was listening to CNN on sattelite during my drive and happen to have HLN on right now and everyone keeps talking about this chick Nikki Catsouras. There’s reports on how bad the CHP (California Highway Patrol) are for leaking, what I have unfortunately come to see, horrific pics of her car accident. Naturally, did a google search on her name and the sick f***s that decided to mask a seemingly legitimate site with such insensetive regard for her and her family…I’m not trying to judge as much as I am asking “why?” Why would people say things about her being spoiled and make light of what happened because of affluence…Even if she was “spoiled” or a “bitch;” what does that say about the jealous, contemptuous, evil lowlife’s that are fed with joy by this situation.

I’m really putting this out there because it’s fresh on my mind…I honestly never heard about this until today. It’s a sad, sad story and I hope justice is served…not neccasarily monetary compensation as much as the pics being taken down. I mean, yeah, curiosity gets peaked when such issues make headlines but to rub it in the nose of the family is just sick! My heart goes out to them… 

Music Bed: a song instrumental played while longer talk time occurs to either set the tone and/or guarantee that there is never a pocket of silence to  suppliment the personality.

To end on a lighter note: This is the worst commercial out right now…and I’ve seen it a zillion times in the past week…ugh…I don’t give a damn who stole the damn cookie from the damn cookie jar…