> > I walked away...hung up the headphones. Was it a good
> > move? Well...everytime I show up at the Wing Ding or at
> one
> > of Footy's get togethers, I hear I left at a good time.
> > Personally, starting radio in 1975 was a great time. I
> had
> > a blast, and have worked with some of the best. Don't get
>
> > me wrong, there are alot of great people in Broadcasting,
> > but as an "On Air Personallity" you're not anymore. I'd
> say
> > since the later 80's early 90's. You're hired to be a
> > personallity and then told to stay quiet and let the music
>
> > speak for the station.
> >
> > In the earlier days, you were an entertainer. You had
> > an imagination and were allowed to use it. Radio was
> always
> > "Theater Of The Mind". I was lucky enough to have the
> type
> > of mind for broadcasting where I put it to good
> entertaining
> > use. The First 96X was the best. After we signed off and
> I
> > went to I-95, my former PD allowed me to do things, but
> > there was a line drawn. When I left I-95 to start up the
> > new 96X, I was Asst. PD, MD, 6-10P jock. I tell you what,
>
> > outside of the original 96X, I had total freedom to do as
> I
> > wanted. I pretty much did a morning show at night. At
> that
> > time, Teens were the market for advertising. I was either
>
> > #1 or a close #2. I had always said as a kid, if I had
> ever
> > become a DJ, remember what it was like as a listener &
> what
> > you wanted your favorite station & favorite DJ to be like.
>
> > And I really tried to stay true to that.
> >
> > When I left 96X when it was in transformation to become
> > Power96, I took a little time off, then headed to Y-100.
> > That was in 1988. After 3 PD's came and went, a gentleman
>
> > named Casey Keating became the 4th PD. Casey was old
> school
> > like I was & let me stretch the bounderies. One Sunday
> > night, we were going off the air at Midnight for Xmitter
> > work. I didn't want to just sign-off and say we'll be
> back
> > at 5:30 with Bobby & Footy & The Y-100 Morning Zoo.
> > So..before my shift started at 8PM, I went to the
> production
> > room and carted up some pink noise, oscillation tones &
> > slowed down my voice. About 45 minutes into my shift, I
> > started messing with my broadcast. Making it sound like
> > something was breaking in and interfearing. I just played
>
> > stupid to it and acted like it was some freak thing
> > happening. About 4 minutes till midnight, the Engineers
> at
> > the tower called up and reminded me that I had to be off
> at
> > midnight. So....I was in the midst of playing "Can You
> Fell
> > The Love Tonight" by Elton John & with about 2 minutes
> left
> > in the song, I closed the pot & fired up the pink noise &
> > oscillation tones. About 20 seconds into it, I hit my
> > slowed down voice and it said somthing to the effect "We
> > come in peace. We mean no harm. We are just trying to
> > contact our mother ship. We will leave after we connect"
> > With seconds left before I had to sign off, and nobody
> > caught this, I played the slow voice giving the station
> > I.D.. Then like that, we shut down the station. I picked
>
> > up my stuff and left for the night, thinking I just had a
> > good practial joke. The next day about 4 in the
> afternoon,
> > my biggest listener (my mom lol) called me at my "real
> job"
> > and said.."What did you do last night? All they've been
> > talking about is some Alien invasion that happend around
> > midnight". Well...I burst out laughing & said i'll
> explain
> > later and hung up with her, immeadiately calling Y-100 and
>
> > asking to talk to Casey. He picked up the phone, and I
> said
> > "I hear there has been a little disturbance all day". His
>
> > reply.."I knew it! If anyone was responsible for something
>
> > like that, I knew it had to be you. As your Boss and
> > Program Director, I can not condone what you did. The FCC
>
> > frowns against doing things like that on the radio....but
> > personally, I have to say, it was one of the best things
> > i've ever heard". I explained to him what & how I came
> > about doing it & told him i'd call Bobby & Footy when we
> > were done, so I could fill them in on why their morning
> show
> > was bombarded with calls about the invasion. The next
> > morning (Tuesday) They called me on air and we played it
> up.
> > I said i'd be in that night to "Transcribe" the tapes so
> > the audience could re-live what had happened. I went to
> the
> > station and left them the tapes I used. It was milked for
>
> > about a week before they had to move on. Eventually Casey
>
> > left & with the next PD came an eventual clamp down.
> After
> > sticking it out for another couple of years, it became
> just
> > a job. When that happens, when you go in and throw the
> > headphones on and know that you're not happy because you
> > can't be creative, it's time to go. And that is exactly
> > what I did.
> >
> > It boils to down to two words: Artistic Freedom I
> > wasn't given that freedom anymore. I know radio is a
> > business & it always has been, but it is cut-throat now &
> > outside of morning shows and on some instances afternoon
> > drive, nobody else gets to have that. I'm in the process
> of
> > going thru 2 large boxes of air chex from when I was at
> 96X
> > in the late 70s thru my days of Y-100, to make a kind of
> > "Best Of". There is alot of fun, stupid, "how did he get
> > away with saying that" kind of stuff that i'd love to
> share,
> > and if I ever get thru these tapes, i'd be happy to pass
> it
> > on. Until then...if there was a station out there that
> > allowed me my artistic freedom, i'd consider doing it
> again.
> > If not, I had a truly great time and am happy with my
> > decision.
> >
> > Regards,
>
> Stu - I absolutely loved your story. I actually read it a
> few times. Thanks for sharing it with us. Now I'm trying to
> figure out if I actually faintly remember 'Alien Invasion
> Week' on the Bobby & Footy Show because I listened to them
> virtually every single morning back then. Didn't the local
> TV stations even pick-up on the story as light fare ? Maybe
> my selective memory is playing tricks on me ? I have an
> excellent radio memory on certain events and during certain
> time periods. I remember a lot from the Bobby & Footy days.
> I also remember probably way too much from a certain AM
> radio station up in the Washington D.C. area in 1983. It was
> 'All Comedy Radio' - AM 1150 - WJOK. I remember all of the
> deejays, a lot of their comedy bits, and most of their I.D.
> jingles. It was my life in 1983. And speaking of old
> aircheck tapes I have hours upon hours upon hours of
> recorded bits from the old WJOK days. They were recorded on
> a really cheap AM-FM radio via really cheap cassette tapes
> (the type that cost three for a dollar back then). The sound
> quality of these tapes have held up amazingly well over the
> past 23 years. I listen to them occasionally to relive that
> golden year of radio for me. They just don't make radio like
> that anymore.
>
> THE MAJOR
>
I don't believe any of the local media picked up on it...this time, BUT...I did do something similar in 1985 when I was at the reincarnated 96X. If you remember back then, some guy who was working at a satellite facility that ran HBO, took over the facility, posting on the screen his distaste for HBOs pricing. Well, the next night I went on the air and did the pink noise & tones, slowing down my voice and claimed to be the guy that took over HBO. I said if you didn't listen to 96X, i'd take over every radio in peoples homes. The next day, I got a call from a reporter from the Sun-Sentinel asking if what happened was true. I just laughed and said you're as gullible as everyone else! I think that person was more embarrassed than not and politely said thank you and hung up. It was a smaller version of what I did in `93, but that is where the idea originated from.
I've pulled many pranks over the years... An all-expense trip to nowhere *96X*, Winning the Lottery and signing off the air *Y-100* again, it was xmitter work & I just can't say bye..it has to be a production, My "vets office" called that my dog was hit by a car - I ate some bad sushi and got sick..it was a great cover - *96X* , Last night on I-95 - which it wasn't, Claiming to fall asleep on the air - when we just got hit by lightning & knocked off-*I-95*, Live broadcast from the median outside the station - I watched out the window of the studio, seeing people drive up and down the street looking and not finding it-*Y-100* I'd be more than happy to share those if you want.
In some respects, i'm really suprised I never was fined by the FCC...but then again, i'm a firm believer that it's not what you do, it is in the manner of how you do it that makes the difference! Your closing statement is right on target. They just don't make radio like they used to!
Regards-<P ID="signature">______________
Stuart Elliott/TOP 40 DJ</P>