Trophies

Have I led myself down a dead end path? What I mean is does all of this radio rewinding finally crash into a brick wall? Is there a point in recalling a past career that is for all intents and purposes over? My radio career was shrouded in obscurity anyway so how could it be useful to my readers (making this word plural might be wishful thinking.) I have seen blogging and podcasting as an outlet feeding my hunger for broadcasting. But I need more.

My passions have not diminished just because I no longer work in the field. In 1995 economic realities forced me to part ways with radio. I could not make a strong living at the only real work I have ever truly loved. My second career provided more money at its peak year than as many as seven or eight combined lean years in radio. Sad. I am tortured and to an extent handicapped by the past. Radio continues to be an obsession that roadblocks my future. Therefore tough decisions must be made. I can no longer pine over an unremarkable past. I must return to my original intention for getting into broadcasting, audio. The much bigger picture is my aptitude for anything sound. 26 years ago I saw a little 5,000 watt AM daytimer as my springboard into professional sound recording. Twelve years followed at four more radio homes with no more than a glimmer of fruition. I dreamed of owning and operating my own recording studio and briefly interned at a small semi pro facility with a Foxtex 1/4 inch 8 track machine. This was a tape deck that I rightfully considered purely amateur compared to the 2 inch multi-tracks used in real studios. Where I was short sighted was prematurely severing my ties to the tiny studio due mainly to my disgust over their use of foul language. Reporting to my regular day job at the AM and FM studios provided probably as much or more colorful talk and vulgarity as the Waving Girl studios although escape from it was provided by our isolated control room. Looking back, my snobbish prejudice for inferior equipment might be a more valid theory of my early exit although I insisted at the time the cursing kept me away. For years I supposed my exposure to pro recording added credibility to my resume but it now feels like another dusty trophy on a long forgotten shelf.

Church sound, like podcasting, has been an extra-curricular outlet for me over the years. In fact, it precedes radio by about three years when at 14 years of age I began recording services for my preacher dad and his subsequent broadcast, Jesus is Lord.

Doing sound has flustered me a time or two. It detaches me from the worship and makes a fool of me when some untrained individual holding a mic makes a mistake and blame is directed to the booth. Not to imply I’m perfect but I do bring to the table a unique skill set. The tight cues and quick on you feet thinking I learned in radio have proved very valuable in church work. Getting into the sound booth lately has been impossible though. I just recently left a congregation over not wanting to use me. My expertise was offered free of charge but I was squelched and hurt badly because I had finally decided to return from pew warmer to an active participant following a self imposed 10 year hiatus. I was not even given a fair audition. My one and only turn at the board the choir director unwittingly sabotaged me by setting the stage mix too loud. I discovered that church sound guys were still a close knit group unwilling to let in anyone not associated with their particular clique. Needless to say nepotism rules the day in their world. The diva affected by brief feedback from her monitor criticized me openly in church prior to service by reporting me directly to the main sound man for something I had not originally set. Such pettiness is the reason I abstained from even mentioning my talents for a decade!

My new church seems to have a need, although this time  I will be more guarded. The sound guy’s skills and background are an unknown commodity but I have seen his family members assisting on occasion. Is this more nepotism? I have offered my services and the pastor sees me doing “Media Shout”, which are slides of song lyrics and video stored on a hard drive projected via PC on a pull down movie screen. I suppose I could re-purpose my intuition toward video but as stated audio is my passion, my comfort zone.

In future installments I will go into deeper detail. I will keep all you rewinders updated on my progress at the new church. Next time I’ll recall the best, most positive, situation I have had in church sound where the pastor himself had an enormous passion for audio excellence along with superb musical ability.

Stay tuned

Brick and Mortar

There is something very special to me about a physical location as opposed to serving up MP3’s via the World Wide Web. Internet radio may catch on, but the hands on contact with the music I play and the people I interact with through terrestrial radio will never be replaced with an electronic substitute. I started this weblog with the intention of recalling “old fashioned” methods of radio and the tools we used to get our message out to the public. Right now when I do my podcast I record my voice tracks first, assemble the music, sound effects and other elements separately then combine them all for a complete show in pristine multi-track digital. This process has its advantages and editing by random access makes possible the once impossible in the analog world. However in the old days the process was much more organic, live and to some extent more alive. I would intro a record, let it play through then return again live at the end. This all happened in real time. In contrast to live presentation digital lacks soul, it is hard edged and unforgiving.

When I began in broadcasting in 1983 I became aware of “voice tracking” through observing documentaries profiling Top 40 syndicated radio shows. The host would stand in an isolation booth in front of a microphone recording their contribution to the show while technicians would add in music and other elements of the show later. So a four hour show would take the talent only a fraction of the time to produce. The announcer had to imagine that music was playing in his headphones so even with the best vocal talents their performances could seem detached. Nice work if you can get it.

Those of us not fortunate enough to have a multi-million dollar contract with Westwood One spent from four to six hours on-air actually hearing and responding to the natural rhythms of the music we selected, taking phone calls and sometimes making personal appearances when freed from our brick and mortar radio stations. When I resume broadcasting on the GRIN (my hobby web station) this fall I intend to bring to the Internet this organic method of radio mixed with the new tools on occasion. I never have rejected new technology or voice tracking for that matter I just feel the classic ways of doing things are still valid and should be preserved for a new generation that refers to me as old school.

Stay tuned.

Live from the Traffic Circle

Talk about a one of a kind personality. I grew up listening to this guy in Savannah. It was a peanut whistle in Garden City, Georgia owned and operated (literally) by one man, Chris Watkins.

The station has been long abandoned. A daytimer that served most of the coastal town’s market. His format was hillbilly music served with Chris’ homespun humor, random musings and Paul Harvey news.

Chris preceded me as a DJ at WEAS-AM by at least 15 years and we never crossed paths. It’s a mystery how this guy got into radio much less how he had a successful local Country music show on the 5,000 watt WEAS and eventually his own station known as WNMT an ABC news affiliate. His was a gravely voice instantly recognizable. Imagine pulling your tongue all the way back into your throat affecting a deep southern accent and and odd chirpy staccato delivery while munching on rocks and you’ve got Chris.

He was known to do some odd things on the air seeing that he was not only the owner but sole DJ sunrise to sunset for a period of time. Once I was listening to him ramble off a local announcement then out of the blue he remarks, “Hmm, thought I heard a dog bark.” Then he goes back to his copy without missing a beat. Those long air shifts must have addled his brain temporarily.

Chris was opinionated and apparently a shrewd businessman. He refused to take on any religious brokered programs as he told my preacher father, “I’ll never have any pastors on my station.” I understand a few years later he rescinded his vow and allowed a few preachers on shortly before the station’s demise in the late 1980’s. He must have realized that despite his negative opinion of religion, carrying these brokered shows is almost a given in the peanut whistle world. It pays the bills.

When I moved to the Atlanta area, a top 10 major market radio town in 1986, I thought I had left behind the quaint radio personalities of Savannah. Surely all the radio announcers in the big city were golden throats speaking the king’s English with great precision. Boy was I naive. I was surprised to find Ludlow Porch on 50,000 watt clear channel WSB-AM. This guy did a mid-day talk show and later became syndicated all with Chris’ voice. The man could have been his twin. Sure his banter was more coherent than Watkins but this was a major market for crying out loud. I mean no disrespect to either of these unique men because my whole point boils down to realigning my own perceptions as a listener. Instead of fodder for ridicule I’ve learned to accept these unconventional voices for what they are or just simply listen elsewhere.

I did an audio parody of Chris Watkins years ago and will include it in a future Radio Rewind podcast so…

Stay tuned.